“Hurricane Matthew’s trail of destruction in Haiti stunned those emerging from the aftermath on Friday, with the number of dead soaring to 842, tens of thousands homeless and outbreaks of cholera already claiming more lives” – Reuters, 4:41pm October 7, 2016.
This was much worse than anyone had predicted or imagined. It was now a full 5 days after the storm had actually hit, and we had still not been able to make contact with Jeriel (preacher in Chambellan), or any of our friends and loved ones on Haiti’s southern peninsula.
JT was finally able to make contact with Jeriel on October 9 – here’s what we found out at that point:
We knew that various relief efforts were being staged in the Jeremie area, but we also knew that Chambellan is so remote that it might be an extended time before critical resources made their way out to that village. All of us started praying for the right resources to be delivered to the right places, and quickly enough to prevent any further loss of life.
The Chambellan church building when our team first visited there in May of 2015:
The Chambellan church building after Hurricane Matthew:
Home of one of the church members (or what was left of it):
Gut-wrenching cell phone video from Chambellan, taken the morning after the storm, of the area immediately around the church building and the preacher’s house (or, more accurately, what had been the church building and the preacher’s house):
On October 13 I got this email from JT:
“Hurricane Matthew nightmare In Haiti: Greetings I want to thank everyone for your prayers and concern for the people affected by the weather. Since 1986 I have been planting churches all over Haiti, and reporting many baptisms throughout the country. Ten years ago there were no church of Christ in Jérémie area. We sent Jeriel Pierre to establish Church of Christ there, and we now have 11 churches of Christ in the area working in communion with us and God. All 11 of those churches were destroyed by the Hurricane, and our brethren there are now facing chaos, cholera and homelessness. Attached are pictures of the Churches destroyed by the Hurricane. We want to count on your prayers to bring hope to this people in despair.”
Six of the other church buildings destroyed by Hurricane Matthew:
By October 23 – a full 3 weeks after the hurricane had struck – no international relief agencies or resources have made it out to Chambellan yet.
A few members of the Delmas 28 Church of Christ in Port-au-Prince (where JT preaches) were able to make it out there successfully in a 4-wheel drive pick up. So the Christians at Delmas, in all their poverty, started collecting bottled water, medicines, food, clothing, and materials for temporary shelters, and shuttling them out to Chambellan every few days, whenever they could collect enough for a full pick up load (that was pretty humbling to me – reminded me of Jesus’ story about the widow giving her last two mites…).
At that point The Haiti Fund started collecting donations specifically to go toward Hurricane Relief for the churches in that region. Some of it was used to assist with the immediate, urgent needs of safe water, food, and medicine, and then everything else was used to help with the reconstruction of the church buildings. We also began planning trips for teams to go visit all those churches.
October 26 – JT visits Chambellan:
A few days later I got this note from JT:
“Hurricane Matthew Devastation: A church planter is often in jeopardy or in despair when Mother Nature is chastising us. The greater southern Haiti received a real setback, resulting in death, destruction, and quarantines from Cholera illness. We documented 11 churches and schools in the area totally destroyed. We needed to respond to this urgent need of our brethren as they counted on us, and we thank God for your support and quick responses. Food, clothes, tarps, medicines, and first aid essentials were brought as relief to this chaos. Ultimately, our goal is to help rebuild the churches and schools, in order to bring the glory of God back to the area. We have provided some assistance to all 11 churches, along with 5 orphanages. The people in these areas are thankful for what you have done for them so far.
“In the midst of this awful situation, the people of southern Haiti are asking ‘who cares?’ We know God and his people care for these people. The Church of Christ cares, and we have many brothers and sisters in this area. Monday 24th of October a delegation of 11 brothers and sisters left Port-au-Prince to travel to Jeremie, Chambellan, and other close locations to slow our solidarity to the brethren there. 2005 was when we established the first Church of Christ in this region, and now we are responsible for 11 churches and 6 schools. The Delmas 28 Church made a generous contribution of clothes, food, and items of first aid. The Delmas School Children have responded unexpectedly to the cause of the school children at Chambellan. We have a child at Cite Soleil saying ‘I have no money, no clothes, but I have 2 pounds of salt I can give.’ God provides when his people take action.”
Pretty humbling.
I’ve included below the rest of the photos JT sent, along with his captions:
The Haiti Fund sent a total of $13,000 to assist the 13 churches whose buildings were partially or completely destroyed by Hurricane Matthew.
Update from JT – May of 2017: “In October 2016 Hurricane Mathew hit Haiti so bad with the worst Hurricane in 50 years. In the greater southern area, some of our schools and churches were completely destroyed. We thank you brethren for responding so quickly to restore God’s glory in the area. We went 3 times with food, medicine, first aid products, and construction materials. 3 teams of workers have worked on the structures. The Mayor of Chambellan and other government representatives are expressing great admiration for the churches of Christ, and the people of southern Haiti have their eyes on us, as challenges – hunger, rain, sickness – continue to afflict them. We anticipate great things will happen in the near future. Let us continue to pray for the work of Haiti.”
Some very exciting news – final update and photos from JT – June 2017:
“In the fall of 2016 hurricane Matthew devastated all the southern peninsula. The people in the south didn’t know what to do in the midst of despair and desperation.”
“We couldn’t address all the needs, but we wanted to give hope to our church people and their community. Because of your response to the disaster at Chambellan, God’s glory is shining in the area.”
“On June 18, 2017 we had an opening meeting with 1100 souls, 9 baptisms and 9 weddings. The mayor of the city congratulated the Church of Christ for our love in action.”
“The whole city recognizes the Church of Christ as a loving brotherhood, and people are baptized by great numbers every week.”
“Chambellan will never be the same again. I want to thank all of you who contributed to this great response.”
