Operation Noel brings hope to Haiti in midst of despair

FBC photo by Dennis Wilbanks

JACKSONVILLE (FBC)—Noel brought little joy to Haitian Pastor Jean Bazile this Christmas season. After the torrential downpour from the tropical storm flooded and destroyed his home, the pastor of Eglise Baptiste Maratha in City Soleil sent each of his five children, whose ages range from 6-to-18-years-old, to live in separate homes until their house can be rebuilt.

FBC photo by Dennis Wilbanks

“They had little to begin with, but lost all they had,” said Dennis Wilbanks, associate in the Florida Baptist Convention’s Partnership Missions Department. “Yet the pastor’s concern is not for what he lost, but getting his family together again and helping his people survive this disaster.”

Although not in time for Christmas, “Operation Noel,” soon will bring the gift of unity to the Bazile family.

In the aftermath of the storm that hit Haiti Oct. 29, Florida Baptists spearheaded three massive distributions of rice into all corners of the Caribbean nation. During this time, 87,900 pounds of rice costing $28,000 were distributed to 6,450 families, feeding more than 65,000 persons. Another $10,000 has been earmarked for the fourth feeding in late December.

FBC photo by Dennis Wilbanks

Now the Florida Baptist Convention is preparing to respond with the next phase of the project dubbed “Operation Noel” to meet long-term needs of the Haitian pastors and churches.

In early December, Wilbanks returned to Haiti for the third time since Noel struck and visited the nation’s towns and villages to see first hand the success of the feeding program and assess the long-term damage caused by the storm’s overwhelming rainfall and subsequent flooding.

He met with pastors and directors of missions from each association who reported that 184 churches and 96 pastors are in need of financial assistance for rebuilding and repairing their homes.

“Some are able to live in a room in their home that is not damaged,” said Wilbanks. “A few are staying in dangerous situations. Some are staying with other family, friends or church members. Most of these families are separated with part of the family in one location and part in another location.”

Like Pastor Bazile, 37 Haitian pastors have lost their homes and are essentially homeless, Wilbanks said. “A few are living in their churches.”

Repairing the homes of these pastors will the priority of the second phase the “Operation Noel.”

FBC photo by Dennis Wilbanks

Wilbanks is amazed at their faith despite their desperate situation. “Despite his needs, Pastor Bazile was very hopeful and very peaceful,” reported Wilbanks after meeting the pastor in the Haitian town. “His sustainer is the Lord.”

Eighty-three Haitian Baptist congregations are meeting under trees, Wilbanks reported, unable to use their church buildings destroyed by rising flood waters. When it rains, the congregation postpones services. But few have discontinued worship.

During his most recent visit, Wilbanks provided financial assistance to a pastor to bury his teen-age son who died from complications caused by living in the stagnant waters filled with raw sewage. “He picked up some kind of bacteria and couldn’t survive,” explained Wilbanks.

Living in such squalor from their deluge and mildewed homes is affecting the health of families as more and more are reporting diseases and illnesses caused by the unsanitary conditions, said Wilbanks.

For more than a decade, Florida Baptists have supported a partnership with Haitian Baptists by establishing the Confraternite’ Missionaire Baptiste d’Haiti (CMBH), which gave structure and financial assistance to the churches there. The 88 churches that existed when the partnership began have now increased to nearly 700 churches.

In this partnership, Florida Baptists employ six indigenous directors of missions and a director of ministry to give structure and help strengthen the 700 Baptist churches. From the network that was created, these missionaries can easily disburse food and meet needs of their local pastors.

This is the fifth time that Florida Baptists have undertaken a campaign to provide food to the churches and their communities after a natural disaster or economic crisis struck the impoverished nation.

In November, John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention asked Florida Baptists to underwrite the relief effort, which to date has brought in more than $56,000 from individual Florida Baptists and churches. The Convention earmarked an additional $38,000 from hunger and disaster relief funds.

The money not used in the feeding program will underwrite the rebuilding of pastors’ homes and possibly churches, said Wilbanks. There are no other government funds or charities in place to restore the pastors and their churches.

Because the Haitian people have lost everything, Wilbanks said, they are in desperate need of clothes. Few of the towns and villages have access to stores. And few of the poor Haitians who eke out a daily existence have money to buy clothing and personal belongings. Even children cannot attend school without shoes.

Yet, Wilbanks said, getting clothing into the impoverished country presents a challenge, citing one example.

After visiting Haiti earlier this year, Pastor Silair Almeida and his congregation, First Brazilian Church of Pompano Beach, collected and shipped a large container of clothing and other items to Haiti. But the cargo sat in the Haitian port for weeks with the government refusing to release it until an additional $2,800 in taxes was paid, reported Wilbanks.

As the Haitian directors of missions shared with Wilbanks the need of the clothing and unreleased freight, the group “stopped and prayed that God would somehow find a way for the container to be released. Within minutes of saying ‘amen,’” Wilbanks said, a phone call told them the cargo was free to be moved. Within hours, the clothing was delivered to the mission house in Port Au Prince and distributed to all corners of the nation through the efforts of the six directors of missions.

“Our missionaries are tired in the battle,” said Wilbanks. “There are so many needs. We had a time of worship as I encouraged them to stand strong in the Lord. I knew it, but I realized again how much they depend on Florida Baptists to be the instrument that the Lord uses.

Wilbanks recalled that “a pastor of another denomination stated to one of our director of missions that while other groups make contributions to the Haitian people, their gifts rarely gets to the ones who need it. But CMBH churches always get what is needed to the needy. He spoke of the integrity of CMBH, especially in a society that is so enveloped in corruption.”

“We are blessed to have directors who do the right thing rather than think of only themselves.”

Wilbanks continued, “Because of what Florida Baptists are doing, the Haitians have hope. Many are coming to salvation.”

Many are learning the true meaning of Noel.