Safe haven after the earthquake

Tristan Taylor
IMB

He couldn’t find the words to pray. He could only sing.

Concord Baptist Church pastor Ronel Mesidor had left his Port-au-Prince office at Compassion International, a Christian child advocacy ministry, at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 12 to drive to his home in nearby Carrefour. Before he was halfway there, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people shook Haiti.

Dusk soon settled over the chaotic city. Shocked and grief-stricken people, crumbled buildings, crushed cars and dead bodies made streets impassable, so Mesidor continued home on foot.

Feeling his way through the darkness and devastation, the Haitian Baptist pastor sang every song that came to mind as he walked throughout the night. It was the longest night of his life, he said.

Unable to reach anyone
“First, I tried to call my family on my cell phone,” Mesidor said in Creole through a translator. “It was difficult because communication was down. I also tried to call the church, but I couldn’t reach anyone.”

It was the next morning before Mesidor arrived at his church in Carrefour, a Port-au-Prince suburb about 12 miles south of the capital. He heaved a sigh of relief when he found his wife, Manise, there and unhurt. He soon learned his five children were OK as well. Miraculously, the church and his house, located on the same block, were intact.

But the earthquake has taken its toll on the 250-member Concord congregation. Eight church members died as a result of the disaster, leaving four children as orphans. In addition, 100 members suffered broken bones, 130 homes were destroyed and 45 damaged.

People who had lost their homes soon began arriving at the church — they had nowhere else to go. Manise, a nurse, turned the Mesidor home into a clinic to care for the injured. When space ran out, the pastor opened the church.

Alive for a reason
“I think God left us alive for a special reason,” Mesidor said. “Because these people need someone to take care of them.”

Carrefour is known as a dangerous place to live because of gang violence and other crime. Plus, nearly 4,000 inmates escaped from a nearby prison damaged in the earthquake. But Mesidor has noticed a change in the community since Jan. 12 — people are more subdued. Regardless, these are the people the pastor is dedicated to serving.

“I still believe we should show them the love of Christ,” he says. “Once they understand who God is, they will know how to love others. This is why the church is here.”

Haitians helping each other
People continue flocking to the church in search of medical care, food and a word of encouragement. It has become a hub of grass-roots relief activity. One of the pastor’s friends with medical experience is treating people in the makeshift clinic set up in the sanctuary. Manise helps prepare food for all the workers. And church members help clear rubble around the building.

Relief has started to arrive from other sources, too. Dominican Baptist and Southern Baptist assessment teams have visited the church and delivered supplies.

International Mission Board missionary Dawn Goodwin, who has worked with Mesidor, says the church is being used as a distribution center for supplies sent by Dominican Baptists. It is one of several churches the Dominican Baptist Convention is assisting following the quake.

Rising leader
“He’s extremely organized,” says Goodwin of Mesidor. “On his own, he sent people out to seek information from all these other churches” in and beyond the epicenter — such as damage to churches, church members’ homes, injuries and deaths.

“He’s a young, up-and-coming leader in the convention (Baptist Convention of Haiti),” Goodwin continues. “He goes out of his way [to help], not just for his own church. … He’s very self-sacrificing.”

The Mesidors have 12 additional people living in their home now, including four children they’ve taken in. Three are orphans of deceased church members. And 20 people are sleeping inside the church, 40 on the church grounds and others in the Mesidors’ car or on their porch. But they all have a place to call home. Each night, Mesidor leads a small worship service.

“Every night we meet together and tell jokes,” Mesidor says, to find comfort and relieve stress. “And after that, we pray and sing together.”

Mesidor believes good can come from this tragic earthquake. More than anything, he prays that Haitians will find hope in God.

Act

Give
100 percent of your gift will be used for meeting needs of earthquake victims in Haiti.

• Haiti Response Fund, IMB
• Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, Baptist Global Response

Pray
CompassionNet: Watch for daily prayer updates.

Twitter: To watch for latest updates from the Haiti follow @IMBconnecting. Please use #haitiprayer for your updates and prayers.

Blog: Join those adding their prayers to the IMB Prayer Director blog.
Volunteer

E-mail: E-mail haitiresponse@imb.org. Indicate your name and contact information, what skills you have and when you are available. Southern Baptists interested in donating supplies or offering other assistance also can send an e-mail to this address.

Learn more
Web: Watch IMB.org for the latest updates.

Tristan Taylor is a writer for the IMB in the Americas.