Real Stories
STORIES FROM THE GROUND - Hope for Haiti
Update - February 26
Report from Gerd Persson, UBS Program Consultant
The three days spent in Port-au-Prince has marked my life forever. To see the devastation from the earthquake with my own eyes was more than I could ever imagine. All those buildings, the cars, the collapsed houses - just gone!
Port-au-Prince Cathedral (the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption) stands in ruins after the earthquake of January 2010.An earthquake of this magnitude hitting a country already lacking in decent housing, roads or public utilities like water and electricity make the challenges of reconstruction almost unimaginable. Key buildings, including the presidential palace, Parliament, the Justice Ministry and the main prison have collapsed. I saw desperate people picking through the masses of rubble to find something they could use. I drove by tented cities where several thousands of people are living as they have nowhere else to go. Many people have made temporary shelters on the walkways as those who still have homes are too scared to stay inside. The frequent aftershocks are leaving people in a state of constant stress and anxiety.
Yesterday, we were shaken by two aftershocks with a magnitude on the Richter scale of 4.7. The first one happened in the early morning. I was woken up by my bed shaking. The second one happened when we were at the Bible House. We ran outside as fast as we could. People are so traumatised and every time they fear the worst again. We didn’t go back inside. Instead Magda invited the staff to her house and we had a beautiful time of sharing and praying outside in the yard at the back of her house. I delivered greetings from Melvin and the Service Organizaton staff in Miami. It was such a beautiful time in God’s presence. I asked everyone to share their experience from the earthquake and each one said that God had had his hand over them and all considered it a miracle that they were still alive.
In spite of the trauma that everyone has gone through the staff were in good spirits. However, I did get a sense that were worried. One of the translators, Ambreu Jean Berniste, said, “The earthquake is supposed to be over, but it’s not over in our minds. We feel sick”.
Pasteur Paurice, the Translation Coordinator, said, “We can’t concentrate on our work right now. We need to be part of the distribution of the Selections and Portions and engage ourselves with people.” I told him that they need to take time to heal and recover and not to feel pressure.
The staff are devoted to fulfilling the Haitian Bible Society mission of giving the Word to all and, I am sure, will overcome this difficult time. They know that God’s Word is critical for spiritual strength in the midst of tragedy.
Magda Victor (left), General Secretary of the Haitian Bible Society, stands with Gerd Persson, UBS Program Consultant in the Americas region, in Port-au-Prince nearly six weeks after the earthquake which struck on January 12, 2010The 200,000 Portions arrived without problems on Monday night by truck from the Dominican Republic as well as the 100,000 Selections. These publications have been funded by donations to the Bible Societies Haiti Earthquake project. Magda has developed a distribution plan engaging every staff member and church volunteers, concentrating in first place on the enormous tented cities among those who have literally lost everything. Magda said, “I want to grasp every opportunity”.
At 1am this morning an even stronger aftershock woke me up, magnitude 4.8. Scary! I slept the rest of the night in a tent that Magda has erected in her backyard.
Magda is so thankful to whole UBS Fellowship who have stepped in to help and pray. She kept repeating it over and over. She is overwhelmed by the love and compassion that has been shown by everybody.
I’m happy that I finally could make my visit. I am blessed.
> Canadian Bible Society and partners respond through Hope for Haiti
Update – February 1
E-mail from Magda Victor, Haitian Bible Society General Secretary
.img_assist_custom-300x225.JPG "The old Bible House in Port au Prince")
The old Bible House in Port au PrinceAfter the disaster we were in shock. Now that we have settled down, somehow we are beginning to see the extent to which the Haitian Bible Society has been affected. More important than anything else, we¹ve lost many great friends, people who supported us over the years with their encouragement, their hard-earned income and their prayers. We¹ve lost many of our old neighbours - those young ladies, who became our friends over the years, settling under the supposed protection of our old headquarters in the downtown area to sell their trinkets. They all died when the building gave way and collapsed.
Many members of our staff had their houses destroyed when the earthquake struck; the luckier ones had their houses only damaged; yet others have seen family members perish.
.img_assist_custom-150x261.jpg "The portion, God is Our Strength\" in Creole")
The portion, God is Our Strength" in CreoleBut one overriding fact is that God was with us and with our staff on that day, for on that day not one of them died.
We are the lucky ones. We are the faces of testimonies to come, those heart-wrenching stories of men and women, young and old, struggling for two or three days to try and pull their loved ones out from under the rubble.
I¹m sure you have heard many such stories or seen them on TV. Over the last couple of weeks, these have been our stories.
In a week or so we will send you more detailed information, with an evaluation of some of the losses endured by members of our staff.
Our response to the catastrophe is continuing. So far we have successfully distributed some Bibles along with the Proclaimers that Hosanna had supplied us with.
We want to thank you for all your help to our staff. It is much appreciated and, on behalf of all our employees and their families, we want to express our sincere gratitude.
Magda
First Humanitarian supplies arrive in Haiti
Update - January 22, 2009
Letter from Melvin Rivera Velazquez, UBS Americas Area Secretary
Dear colleagues,
Supplies from the Dominican Republic arrive at the Bible Society building in HaitiYesterday morning, the first shipment of humanitarian aid from the United Bible Societies arrived in Haiti. Thanks to all the Bible Societies in the Americas region that made this effort a reality.
Dominican Bible Society (DBS) staff loaded the truck, and, despite the difficulties in crossing the border, they arrived in Port-au-Prince, where they were met by Bible Society of Haiti (BSH) staff. Their eyes brightened with joy and emotion when they saw what their brothers and sisters had sent.
Rice bags, canned food and medicines were unloaded at the damaged building of BSH. Magda Victor, BSH Executive Director, upon receiving the donation said, "I would like to thank you for all the wonderful ways of help we have received. Today...were at the Bible Society of Haiti when our Dominican brothers brought us the gifts that the Regional Center sent (on behalf of the United Bible Societies). While unloading the truck we had another earthquake. Our Dominican friends were amazed. It was then that I realized how much trouble they went through to get here. They are amazing."
HBS General Secretary Magda Victor gratefully receives humanitarian aid from Bible Societies."The Bible Society of Brazil has promised to provide 4,000 Bibles (SEO34), which we are very thankful for. Considering the situation, we are going to distribute for free 4,000 Bibles that we already have in stock.
"We thank you all for joining in prayer. We thank Carmen Checo, DRBS General Secretary, for making her staff available to buy and pack food and medicines. And we thank all the Bible Societies in the Americas who, through their spontaneous donations, made this shipment possible.
We are very grateful for all these contributions. However, the need is still great. The Haitian Bible Society will not be able to generate the income needed to pay staff, who will be responsible for delivering the Word of God to the suffering people."
Please continue to pray and to seek ways for people to donate to this project, which will be a blessing to people who are desperate and distressed.
Haitian Bible Society Building Left Standing
Update - January 18, 2009
Magda Victor, General Secretary of the Haitian Bible Society, summarized the situation on the ground today.
Haitian Bible Society BuildingShe reports that the old Bible Society building, in the downtown area, has collapsed into a pile of rubble. But, the new building, built in 2008, still stands. Magda believes that the structure could be fine, since the building is located west of the center of where the earthquake hit. One person was in the building at the time, and they were not injured. The Bible Society building will provide a center for ongoing ministry and the hope of God’s Word to men, women and children who have been left with nothing.
The new Bible Society building was opened at the end of May 2008. The new location was a welcome addition, as the previous downtown building had become a site for violence, kidnappings and murders, since it opened in 1983. Most of the local businesses had closed down or left, and it became hard to bring people to the Haitian Bible Society. American Bible Society, along with the United Bible Societies fellowship, helped to bring dreams of a new Bible Society location to light in Haiti.
Despite hardships, Magda and the Haitian Bible Society have been able to help change lives by making the Bible accessible and affordable to impoverished Haitians. And she is certainly not unfamiliar with providing hope and much-needed critical care in the face of disasters. Following floods in the mid-1990s, the Bible Society responded by providing 30,000 Scriptures and food baskets to afflicted families.
St. Catherines Mayor receives Poverty and Justice Bible
Vice-President of the CBS St. Catharines/Thorold Branch, Dr. Kevin McCabe, presented a Poverty & Justice Bible to Mayor Brian McMullen of St. Catharines. The Mayor was very pleased to receive it and commented that he would include the presentation in his report to City Council.
The Poverty and Justice Bible highlights more than 2,000 verses that reveal what God has to say about poverty and injustice and you can purchase a copy by visiting www.biblescanada.com
This is a Bible to surprise a watching world and to enrich our lives as they we learn just how much God cares for the poor!
Christmas Hope and literacy in Haiti
By Kent Annan
Haiti Partners
It was Christmas Eve in Haiti a few years ago. My wife and I had gathered on our porch under the tall palm trees and starry sky with a dozen friends and neighbors. We’d shared a meal—rice and beans and all the fixings. The plates had been cleared away.
Someone said let’s read the Christmas story. We got out our Creole Bible, lit the kerosene lamps, and one of our neighbors, a young man with a strong clear voice, read aloud the narrative of Jesus’ birth from the gospel of Luke. In the style of the Bible study materials developed and promoted by Haiti Partners, the story was read several times and then each person present including the children shared their thoughts on the story.
There were comments about Christ entering the world as a child, comments about Joseph and Mary’s faithfulness, and then the discussion began to focus on the phrase: “There was no room for Mary at the inn.” Except in the Creole version this read, “There was no place for Mary at the inn,” a slight variation in translation that seems inconsequential. At least it did to me, when I heard the verse read that night and understood it as I always have that literally the inn had no rooms—a full house, a flashing “No Vacancy” sign.
But our friends on the porch understood it a little differently. To them, “no place for her in the inn,” didn’t mean so much that there wasn’t a vacancy, but that there was no place for someone like Mary in the inn. There was no place for someone who had just ridden in on a donkey. There was no place for someone dressed in peasant clothes. No place for someone who came from the no-wheres-ville of Nazareth.
One neighbor who is a farmer said, “If Mary and Joseph would have been wearing nice clothes and had lots of money, there would have been a place for them. They would never have made her give birth with the animals.”
“Yes,” someone else said, “they would have treated them differently if they had money.”
Then the farmer spoke again, “And that is just how it is for us too. If we tried to go to one of the good hospitals in Port-au-Prince, there would be no place for us. If we tried to go to one of the hotels in the city, they would see our clothes and shoes, and they would know we’re peasants. There wouldn’t be a place for us either.”
The conversation paused—a silence that acknowledged the truth of his words. Then another friend spoke up, “But isn’t it amazing that our Lord chose to come to this earth through a woman who had no place, who was given no place. And even more amazing, God came to Earth with good news to tell us: that we do have a place! He came to tell us, ‘You have a place here as a child of God. And you have a place after this. In fact, right now my Father is preparing another place for you too.’”
There was another pause, but this time it was a silence of peace and of hope.
It’s a holy moment that I think I’ll remember every Christmas for the rest of my life. But maybe even more amazing, is the opportunity to be part of facilitating moments like this all over Haiti—and not just at Christmas time.
Haiti Partners’ Disciples program has developed Bible study and Christian education materials that are being used in many places around Haiti. And now in partnership with the Canadian Bible Society we’re able to distribute Bibles to people who are eager to have God’s Word but can’t afford to buy a Bible.
When more than 80% of people in Haiti live on less than $2 a day, when many people struggle to eat enough calories or can’t afford to send their children to school, it’s not hard to understand why the $10 for a good Creole Bible is out of reach for many. On top of the cost, the adult literacy rate is only somewhere around 50%.
With this partnership between the Canadian Bible Society and Haiti Partners, we’re responding to these needs in three ways:
We’re providing 10,000 Haitian Creole Bibles a year.
At the same time, we are providing training and Bible study materials that provide an excellent way to study the Bible in small groups—in a way that is based on reading a short passage aloud several times, so that those who are illiterate can fully participate.
We are distributing Bibles through literacy centers, churches, and schools that encourage better education to address some of these core problems that ripple out through society.
The innkeepers may have turned away Mary or, if they went down to the city to a nice hotel, might have turned away our neighbors. But we know that God has a special heart for those facing poverty.
Just as my wife and I felt privileged to be part of that Christmas evening remembering God’s love for us in Christ, we invite you into—yes, the privilege—of partnering with people in Haiti whose faith is strong and whose courage is remarkable, but whose resources aren’t enough.
We can share with people in Haiti the gift of Scripture, of good Bible study materials, and of better education. All in all, I’d say that’s not a bad way to celebrate the gift of grace shown to us in Christ’s birth. Thank you for your partnership in this work.
Desperate hunger for God's Word inside a Rwandan prison
Chloe Morland of the British and Foreign Bible Society visited Rwanda in 2009
It was a warm day when a group of staff members and supporters of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) arrived in Nyanza, a town two hours drive away from Kigali, the capital city. We had come to visit and distribute Bibles at the Mpanga prison with a team from the Rwandan Bible Society.
Many of the 7,500 prisoners are perpetrators of the genocide of 1994, which left about one million Rwandans dead. We had no idea what we would find inside the prison walls.
A Startling Sight
When we entered the main courtyard, we were met with a startling sight – a sea of orange and pink-suited prisoners – waiting eagerly for the service to start. There were at least 7,000 men and 30 women there, and they all turned to greet us with waves and warm smiles and we felt very welcome.
Pastor Deo Gashagaza led the service and the prisoners listened intently. But when the worship began, we saw an amazing sight that we didn’t expect to see inside a prison – hands raised in the air and eyes closed in praise.
When the Bible was read, we could feel the prisoner’s desperate hunger for God’s Word. A few were fortunate enough to have their own Bibles and followed the readings. The rest strained forward to listen and we realized that each one carries many memories, regrets and traumas but they are finding hope and comfort in God’s Word.
Just before the service, the Bible Society of Rwanda had distributed about 300 Bibles. But there were not enough to go around. At this time, I realized that I had hardly ever thought about prisoners and their needs for healing, forgiveness and the love of God. This experience showed us what a huge opportunity we have for taking God’s Word to people in prisons who are desperate to receive it.
Let’s take action and remember to pray for these prisoners at the Mpanga prison. It is because of generous donors that Bible Societies are able to share God’s life-giving Word with them and others who are incarcerated all over the world.
