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Hanna Hitting the Bahamas, Ike Next in Line
Most of us are thankful that the news is saying that Hanna is heading north, sure to miss Florida. Listening to U.S. reports, it would be easy to believe that the next concern is "will Hanna now hit the Carolinas?" But Hanna is pounding Nazarenes in the Caribbean right now. Tonight Hanna's winds and rain are bearing down on the Bahamas. Rev. Antoine St. Louis of Nassau, himself in the path of the storm, called for prayer and assistance for the Palmetto Point Church of the Nazarene on a different Bahama island. Palmetto Point, on the island of Eleuthera, is being hit hard right now. Pray for your brothers and sisters who are enduring the storm at this moment. We won't know for a few days the extent of the damage in the Bahamas. Reports from other affected islands from other storms are just now coming in. Over the last few weeks Gustav and Hanna have been slamming Haiti with unrelenting rains, and we are starting to understand just how devastating it is.
One such report came in the Miami Herald today. We encourage you to read the startling article Rescuers Can't Get Aid to Starving Haitian City by Jonathan M. Katz about Hanna's effects on Haiti, specifically the town of Gonaives north of Port-au-Prince. In it, we read that even the fully equipped United Nations contingency stationed in Haiti could not reach those most affected by Hanna's flood waters. "The situation in Gonaives is catastrophic," Daniel Rouzier, Haiti chairman of Food for the Poor, wrote in an e-mail. "We, just like the rest of the victims ... have limited mobility. You can't float a boat, drive a truck or fly anything to the victims."
During this desperate situation, though, Nazarene churches in Haiti aren't waiting for flood waters to subside or the UN to arrive before they offer relief to those displaced by opening their doors. Pastors and church members are sharing the little they have and trusting that God will provide additional assistance through fellow Nazarenes around the world.
Even as Hanna's rains subside, Ike is forecasted to blast through the Bahamas this coming Sunday as a category 3 or 4 hurricane. If it swings south, it will pummel Haiti again, as well as the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Now is the time to respond. As Christians who are a part of the Kingdom of God that transcends all borders, it is time to respond to the cries of our distressed brothers and sisters in island nations off our southern coast.
Let us pray tonight. Let us act tonight.
Here are some of the ways you can help.
Pray for the safety of our Nazarene brothers and sisters, as well as people the local churches can help through this trial.
This page also at caribnaz.org/prayer
Monetary donations are the best and fastest way for you to help with the immediate needs of the hurricane victims.
Consider some of the ministries that will help the church in Haiti rebuild and minister after these storms.
Here you can watch a video of how Nazarenes helped during 2004 hurricanes.
Download the videos here and show them to your small group, church and friends.
Be on the look out for new videos from the Caribbean this week.
Download them in any format and in customizable sizes here.
You can find the current Crisis Care Kit packing list and information here.
Looking for additional ways to help, contact communications@caribnaz.org
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