ML church readies help for Haiti
Courtesy photo The city of Jérémie, in the far southwest of Haiti, took the brunt of Hurricane Matthew’s fury. Moses Lake Presbyterian Church helps sponsor a mission near Jérémie and is gathering supplies to send there.
MOSES LAKE — As Hurricane Matthew ripped across Haiti, devastating that already impoverished nation, one Moses Lake church had a very personal stake in the situation.
“Matthew was devastating,” said Curt McFarland, pastor of Moses Lake Presbyterian. “We’re putting together a response team and getting ready to send them down in a couple of weeks.”
The church is one of the sponsors of Haiti Bible Mission outside Jérémie, a coastal town on Haiti’s southern peninsula about 120 miles west of the capital Port-au-Prince. According to McFarland, Moses Lakes Presbyterian has been supporting the mission in Haiti since 2010.
The far western tip of Haiti’s southern peninsula bore the brunt of Matthew’s destructive fury, and much of the city of Jérémie was destroyed by the storm. The official death toll stands at more than 1,000 people, with many buried quickly in mass graves, according to press reports.
McFarland said initial reports on the damage indicate that most concrete structures survived Matthew, but many buildings are without roofs, which were ripped off by the hurricane’s 145-mile-per-hour winds.
McFarland also said many of the subsistence crops that Haitians rely upon were destroyed, making the precarious lives most Haitians live even more so.
“Their bananas and vegetable plants are all gone,” McFarland said, adding that many wells are also contaminated, making it difficult to find drinking water.
McFarland said his church plans to help Haitians rebuild and replant.
“They [the Haitians] will tell us what they need,” he said. “And we’re going to send people there who are experienced in Haiti, who don’t need an orientation, so they can hit the ground running.”
The 10-year-old Haitian Bible Mission trains Haitians to start and pastor churches. The organization also oversees schools and orphanages and fights for “justice for the oppressed and the overlooked,” according to its website.
McFarland said anyone wanting to help can donate to Moses Lake Presbyterian or give directly to the Haiti Bible Mission through its website.
“Everything marked Haiti we will hand deliver to the mission,” he said.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.