Local connections to Haiti relief

Churches around the area are stepping in to help with relief efforts in Haiti.

Sunday morning saw a special moment of prayer at First Baptist Church in Neosho. The congregation broke into groups of three or four and took turns praying for the safety of rescue workers and that Haitians would have food water, medical supplies.

 “You could just feel the sense that our prayers were answered,” said Susan Conness, ministry assistant at FBC.

Special offerings were received at several congregations to go towards aid under the umbrella of denominational organizations.

The Springfield organization Convoy of Hope has set up 30 water purification units and distributed approximately 300,000 meals in the past week.

Family ties
For Ray Prihoda, there is a personal tie to Haiti. His daughter, Rachel Prihoda, 28, is a missionary-teacher, just outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti, at the House of Compassion orphanage.

Rachael has been in Haiti since August. Her goal is to become a missionary pilot, but after a short-term mission trip to Haiti last year, the group contacted her with their need for a teacher and Rachel went. She planned to come back to Neosho in June, raise funds and return in time for school, but now things are more uncertain.

“They’ve got supplies food and water for a while yet,” Ray said.

Mission director David Lloyd, said two weeks after the earthquake he would evaluate the safety of the situation and if it is too dangerous he plans to send his children, wife Alicia, and Rachel back to the states.

“If they feel that it’s unsafe for her to stay and they can’t get out we’ve checked the possibility of getting a plane and flying down there and getting her,” Ray said. “We’ve talked to them about the possibility of just taking supplies in. At this point it still depends on what happens down there.”

The Lloyd’s ministry, Missions to Haiti, is filling containers in Tulsa and Indiana with supplies.

“Usually, we tell people the best thing they can do is just give a cash donation,” Ray said. “That way they can buy what they need.”

Shipping the containers will not come cheap, but for now Rachel is OK. In an e-mail Wednesday to her family, she described the early morning aftershock that rocked Port-au-Prince.

“We woke up with an aftershock, everyone had to run outside in their PJs, fun, fun,” Rachel’s e-mail said.

Their buildings were not damaged, but part of the compound wall fell and they have already started rebuilding it. When they take the children outside, mission workers carry machetes for protection.

A container shipped last year is still providing food, water is another matter. Supplies are starting to run short.

“They have a well and they can boil it,” Ray said. “But they don’t want to use that if they don’t have to.”

Water, water purification kits, canned and shelf-stable food are on her wish list. The House of Compassion is on the edge of Port-au-Prince and they have had no problems with looting or rioting in their area.

Support in pray and cash donations is important, Ray said. Rachel’s first prayer request is for safety, but also for the people she is there to reach.

“The main religion in there is voodoo,” Ray said. “Just pray that there’d be an openness to the gospel.”

UMC connection
Two members of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, were killed and a colleague injured during the Jan. 12 quake. The three were in Haiti to extend Methodist health ministries in the country.

“It makes us feel even more connected in a way,” said Rev. Sara Chaney.

The United Methodist Church in Neosho took a relief collection Sunday/  Monday the Neosho mission board meets and will finalize a plan to collect funds for medical kits, working with local vendors to raise funds and purchase supplies in bulk.

“There are needs all around the world and our hope is that we will be able to sustain our other global mission and trusts while responding to this immediate need,” Chaney said.