EDITOR’S NOTE:

Anyone wanting to make a donation to the ministry of our January author, to be used for earthquake relief, may send it c/o Mary Anne Bryant, Diocese of Virginia, 110 W. Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23220. Make checks payable to the Diocese of Virginia and in the memo line write "For Haiti, Lauren Stanley."

You can also make a donation to Episcopal Relief and Development here.

God bless you.

Within a few hours of the earthquake striking Haiti on Jan. 12, I began working on relief efforts, trying first to find Bishop Duracin and our missionaries, and then to help coordinate relief efforts through Episcopal Relief & Development, The Episcopal Church, and The Diocese of Haiti.

Since that dark day, I’ve been working with Haiti partners around the world, gathering information, being in constant contact with people on the ground in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, gathering in friends and strangers alike to help. Everyone has responded magnificently, giving even the tiniest bits of information. People all across this land have received calls from total strangers, who abruptly are asked for help. Everyone we’ve reached out to has helped, and for that we are most grateful. And I’ve been trying to post as much information as possible on this web site, which began as an endeavor to help us speak about mission and has become a way to share information about Haiti.

Yesterday, I went silent on this site. In part it was because there was so much other work to do. But mainly, I needed to take time to grieve. Yesterday morning, I learned that 14 of my parishioners at St. James the Just Episcopal Church in Petion Ville, where I serve and live, had died in the quake. I do not know which of our approximately 100 parishioners died. So I can mourn only in general. Somehow, when it came time to do the updates on the web site, I could not.

I ask your prayers for my friends, my parishioners, for the people I serve in Haiti. We have lost so many, and may never know who they are, or where they are buried. I am still waiting word for about 125 other people, friends who have loved and cared for me, and whom I love and care for. I have received news now of about a dozen of my beloveds, and pray that I will continue to receive more.

Please pray for those who have died, and for their families, and for all who are mourning this day. We have a “big grief” in Haiti right now, and need our time to mourn. We need time to cry, which I did a lot yesterday, several times. We need your comfort and your prayers and your strength, so that we can go on doing the work God has given us to do, to help those in need, our brothers and sisters in Christ, many of whom we cannot find.

I ask your prayers ...

Dear Friends in Christ:

In the midst of the ongoing horrors of Haiti, many have been asking what they can do to help. We're praying and giving money, they say. But what ELSE? It's as though we are trapped in the idea that prayer is not enough, that a few dollars (or even thousands) from each person are not enough.

An Update: January 21, 12:00pm

Dear Friends in Christ:

Dear Friends in Christ:

When I wrote these meditations last year for this January, I was still a missionary in Sudan. Today, I read this again and wonder at how appropriate they seem for Haiti today. Every day since the earthquake, I wonder how I could have written what I wrote, and how it could be so appropriate for today. Even though I am the author, I am struck by God's grace and blessings, and wonder, too, how I could have written them.

This I do know: In the midst of the horror - the tragedy, the destruction, the devastation, the whatever it is for which there is no word in ANY language - God WILL bless us, as long as we serve the saints.

Our brothers and sisters in Haiti are suffering. They are dying. They are being hit over and over again by aftershocks that would be, by any other standard, major earthquakes unto themselves.

And yet they are praying, they are trying, they are helping each other, even when they don't know each other. They are sharing what little they have and trying to figure out how not just to survive, but to thrive anew. Because the people of Haiti know that God is NOT unjust and God will NOT overlook their work and ours, and the love that they and we show for his sake in serving the saints.

The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley

TEC Appointed Missionary in Haiti

An Update: January 16, 9:00am

Dear Friends in Christ:

Early Saturday morning: I've been working all day on gathering information, trying to find people, rejoicing when they are found, and crying when they are not. I'm told my church in Petion Ville is still standing, thanks be to God. We think my apartment, at the church, is still there. We have found many of the Episcopal clergy and their families. Bishop Duracin is running a refugee camp of sorts at a soccer field in downtown Port au Prince. One of our Young Adult Service Corp missionaries, Mallory Holding, is home safe in Chicago.

The other missionary, Jude Harmon, is safe in the Dominican Republic.For all that news, we give thanks and rejoice.

But there are still thousands -- tens of thousands -- who are missing.
Tens of thousands more have been buried, and more will be buried in
the coming days. And our hearts break each time we learn of another
death of someone we knew. The pictures make us weep all the more. The
stories make us want to scream in anguish.

And yet through it all, the people of Haiti are standing together
faithfully. They are singing hymns -- hymns of praise! -- to God. They
are sharing what they can, helping each other, being faithful to the
commandments of our Lord and Savior: Love God, love your neighbor.

The horrors of this tragedy will remain with us always. But Haiti will
recover, in time -- far too slowly, we know -- because the people are
faithful and they know that God is faithful.

So we go forward, each of us, sure in the knowledge that God is
calling us, helping as we can, as often as we can, knowing, just as
our Haitian brothers and sister in Christ know, that God is faithful.

The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley
TEC Appointed Missionary in Haiti

An Update: January 15, 9:00am

Dear Friends in Christ:

One of the hardest parts about all this tragedy in Haiti is that we here in the United States cannot confirm information. We hear someone is alive, try to check the source, and then find out that report is second- or even third- or fourth-hand. And that what someone says is not always true.

So I ask you prayers, your continued prayers, for all who are hurting, all who are wondering, all who are suffering, all who lack water and food and medical care and shelter, all who do not know how long this nightmare will long.

And know that the prayers you already have sent are sustaining me as well.

Blessings and peace,

Lauren

An Update: January 14, 6:30pm

Dear Friends in Christ:

The latest news is good. We are finding more and more of our people, and finding out that some of the places are not as badly damaged as previously thought. We are working hard to help as many people as possible, and are telling folks that indeed, our first priority is to get financial aid to the organizations that are first-responders. Please keep the prayers coming, and the money as well. The faith is strong, the work is much, the need is great.

Blessings and peace,

Lauren Stanley

January author, Episcopal Missionary in Haiti

An Update: January 14, 10:30am

Dear Friends in Christ:

As you can imagine, the last 36 hours have been filled with uncertainty, fear and prayers. I have been trying to work with The Episcopal Church both here in the U.S. and in Haiti (the latter is quite limited contact, of course). And I have not been able to keep everyone updated via email.

Please know that I am putting as much information as possible on my website, www.gointotheworld.net, and using Facebook for other updates. Right now, those are probably the best ways to keep track of what I know.

The good news is that yesterday evening, we were able to hear from two of our missionaries, Mallory Holding and Jude Harmon, and received news of Pere Oge Beauvoir, and his wife, Serette. All have been found and are alive. What happens next for them we don't know yet.

I have heard from one dear friend, Pere Kesner Ajax, who is attempting to drive from Les Cayes to Port au Prince today to help. We know that Bishop is alive, and that his wife was injured in the quake. They have lost their home. I do not know the fate of my other colleagues, my friends, my students, my parish or my home. I live and serve in Petion Ville, above Port au Prince. The area has been quite hard hit, but last night I received news that the hotel across the street from my parish is still standing, and that indeed, some visiting missionaries are there right now. But I have not been able to be in contact with those folks, so I've no more information on that front.

Also, I do not know what the future holds for me. I desperately want to return to Haiti, to work on the relief efforts. But right now, it seems that at least some of my work is here. Until I am able to speak with Bishop Duracin, I will keep working from the United States.

I ask you to continue praying for our brothers and sisters in Haiti, and to help in any way you can. Episcopal Relief & Development is already sending aid, and will continue to do so for a very long time. It is an excellent aid organization; please give generously to help the people of Haiti. (www.er-d.org)

And know that the Church is alive and well in Haiti, that God is present, and the people, although in desperate need, have not lost hope.

Blessings and peace,

Lauren

The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley

TEC Appointed Missionary in Haiti

Posted January 13, 6pm

Thank you to all for your concern for our January author, who is now serving as a missionary in Haiti. She is well and was not actually in Haiti when the earthquake occured.

She writes to us the following:

Dear Friends in Christ:

Thank you so very much for your support. This earthquake and its aftermath is devastating, and so seemingly unfair to the people of Haiti. Please keep the prayers coming. I do not know when I will be going back; I am waiting to hear from my Bishop in Haiti, who has many other things to think about, including how to care for all of his people, and where to sleep this dark night. His house was destroyed yesterday. I'm in the States, in Virginia at VTS for my doctoral. Working the phones, trying to get information. We are still missing three missionaries, but looking very, very hard for them. The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, along with the whole of Port au Prince, has been destroyed ... the cathedral, the music school, primary school, high school, the convent ... all are gone. We fear that much more has been destroyed. The Catholic Archbishop was killed in the quake when the Catholic cathedral collapsed. At this time, prayers -- and the abundance of our bounty -- are what are needed most.

Blessings and peace,

Lauren Stanley

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking website: