Our total contribution
to Haiti thus far is
$280,971.85. | While we still grieve the loss of life, devastation, and continued health and safety issues in Haiti as a result of the January 12 earthquake, we can help! You can help! The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) are asking those who wish to help those so disastrously impacted by the earthquake in Haiti to do so in four important ways:
- Donate money. It is the quickest and most effective way to support.
- Assemble health kits to be distributed by UMCOR.
- Plan on sending Louisiana Volunteers in Mission teams (medical, repair/construction, other) as soon as teams are allowed into the country.
- Continue to offer up prayers for all those impacted by the Haiti disaster, and for those who are providing stabilizing first assistance within the country. When donating money:
Gifts to support UMCOR's Haiti Relief efforts can be made to Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325. Please make checks out to your local church and mark Advance #418325 Haiti Emergency in the memo line. Checks can be put in your church's offering plate or mailed to Louisiana Annual Conference, 527 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70802. Those who mail checks to the conference office should indicate their home church, if they have one. When volunteering:
Volunteers in Mission, GBGM and UMCOR have worked together to launch a National Database www.umrespond.org/Haiti for volunteers wishing to go to Haiti. There will be specific requirements that must be met to be invited to be on a team. You will need to have Haiti experience. From this database, teams will be formed once the invitation is issued from the Methodist Church of Haiti. As soon as possible, Louisiana Volunteers in Mission will be forming teams for Haiti, but only after teams without Haiti experience have begun to be allowed into the country. GBGM estimates this will be in two to six months. Those preparing to serve on teams, when the time comes, should visit the following website, http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/news-announcements/relief-workers-haiti.aspx to find out recommendations from the Center for Disease Control when preparing to travel to Haiti. For example, some inoculations should be received at least three months in advance of travel. Architectural engineers are needed immediately to discern the integrity of damaged structures. Those wishing to volunteer in this capacity should contact Rev. Cynthia Harvey, UMCOR Haiti Liaison, at
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or (212) 870-3874. Please remember many UMVIM teams will be needed for years to come. GBGM/UMCOR will advise when UMVIM teams have been invited. No doubt you are hearing of United Methodist teams going in to Haiti. They are not Volunteer in Mission teams approved by jurisdictional coordinators or GBGM. While the desire to offer immediate help is universal among Christians, please understand that at this time prayerful waiting is the most faithful witness we can offer. Team members with the proper credentials will be invited to join a medical team. All team members must have Haiti experience, have been on an UMVIM team or team leader training, the ability to speak French, Creole Haitian or Spanish will be helpful. Medical professionals wanting to volunteer immediately may have the opportunity to deploy through National Disaster Medical Assistance teams through the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. There is need for trauma surgeons, orthopedists, anesthesiologists and others with experience in treating crush injuries. Preference will be given to physicians who are Creole or French speakers and to those currently credentialed through the Medical Reserve Corps in their home state, or the Emergency Services Advanced Registration of Volunteer Health Personnel. Contact Michala Koch at
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for more information. |
Joe Kelley and Tony Lawrence are pictured after loading Joe's truck to the brim with health kits assembled by churches and individuals in the Alexandria District. The District plans to ship more kits to UMCOR Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, La. at a later date. --- 
A United Methodist church in Louisiana and another in Indiana have found a way to harness the energy surrounding Super Bowl XLIV with a friendly challenge—Which church can assemble the largest number of health kits for Haiti? --- 
As a seminary-bound college graduate in 2004, Katie McKay Simpson found herself at a conference-sponsored Discerners Academy still wondering if the call to ordained ministry was “really my life’s purpose.” --- 
Creating a hospitable environment says more about you as a church than music and preaching, said Rev. David Walters, pastor of a new United Methodist Church in Georgia known as The Vine. Rev. Walters spoke to United Methodists at the recent Congress on Evangelism held in New Orleans. --- 
