Baptist Global Response

Disaster in BGR’s backyard

May 2nd, 2010

Heavy rains have triggered severe flooding in Tennessee — BGR’s own backyard — that took five lives on Saturday and continues today. Tennessee Baptist and the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Network are mobilizing to respond and will need volunteers and donations.

While BGR focuses on international crises, if you would like to contribute toward relief efforts in Tennessee, we would be happy to channel gifts 100% to the Tennessee Baptist Convention disaster response ministry. You also can find information about how to help by visiting the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s disaster relief page or the North American Mission Board’s website.

Posted in Zimbabwe, disaster relief | No Comments »

Crisis response in Afghanistan

April 26th, 2010

Life was hard enough in the remote villages of central and northern Afghanistan before a magnitude 5.3 earthquake killed at least 10 people and destroyed or damaged some 2,000 houses on April 18.

But the World Hunger Fund is making a difference even in this isolated area, says Francis Horton, who with his wife, Angie, directs BGR’s work in Central and South Asia.

“I was in this part of Afghanistan about one month ago and the needs under normal circumstances are great,” Horton says. “When something like this happens, it can be devastating to families.”

An initial emergency distribution of $30,000 has been released from the World Hunger Fund for relief supplies, Horton said. BGR partners are mobilizing emergency flour, rice, beans, and cooking oil for approximately 7,200 people – directly assisting 1,200 affected families at a cost of $25 per family.

“This help will reach into very remote areas,” Horton says. “Thank you to all who have donated to the World Hunger Fund that makes it possible to immediately connect people in need with people who care.”

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You can help people in need after disasters like this by donating to BGR’s Disaster Response Fund or the World Hunger Fund.

Posted in Afghanistan, earthquake | No Comments »

La. school shows true heart for Haiti

April 20th, 2010

BATON ROUGE, La. – As Martha Long watched the unfolding news reports about the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, one of her first thoughts was about the children at Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge, La., where Long serves as director of the elementary school.

These Valentine's messages for children in Haiti were created by children at Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge, La.

“Seeing the reports from Haiti, my first thought was that the elementary school would definitely be doing something,” she said. As Valentines Day approached, Long said the opportunity to respond was obvious.

“The Lord truly put it on our hearts to have the elementary school children make Valentines for Haiti,” she said. “Plus, we would give the children an opportunity to respond through a love offering for Haiti relief.”

Leading up to the day, promoted as Hearts for Haiti, elementary teachers taught the children about Haiti and the needs of the people. “All of our children could find Haiti on the map,” Long said.

During Parkview’s weekly chapel service the week of Valentines Day, students in classes K-4 placed their Haiti love offerings in a decorated box, along with paper hearts lovingly decorated with pictures, scripture passages and words of encouragement.

“It was a such a meaningful exercise for the children,” Long said. “I remember thinking it would be wonderful if we collected about $600.” Following the chapel service, Long’s secretary had a surprise for her.

“When she told me the total was $3,412, I had chills and tears came to my eyes,” Long said. “I had underestimated the children. They gave from the goodness of their heart. To get that amount – that’s a lot of nickels, pennies and dimes!”

Long approached Collin Wimberly, the pastor of Parkview Baptist Church, for advice about where to direct the offering. Parkview Baptist School – the largest private K-12 school in Louisiana with approximately 1,500 students – is a ministry of Parkview Baptist Church.

“Dr. Wimberly had encouraged those in the church wanting to give to Haiti relief to go to Baptist Global Response,” Long said. “My main objective was that all of the offering would get to Haiti. We had received a lot of requests from other organizations, but because BGR is a Baptist affiliated group that doesn’t take an administrative overhead, that was all I needed to see.”

“It is so meaningful to hear how the Parkview children responded in such a loving, sacrificial way,” said Jim Brown, BGR’s U.S. director. “This is such an example of what scripture says time and again how we should respond with the innocence and conviction of a child.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s exciting to see how children respond when they are given an opportunity to help other children in need. There are children in Chile who are suffering because of the earthquake there. Would your school group have a heart for Chile? E-mail us at info@gobgr.org. To donate to relief efforts in disaster zones like Haiti and Chile, click here and select “Disaster Response.”

Written by Russ Rankin, a BGR correspondent based in the Nashville, Tenn., area.

Posted in General | 1 Comment »

Afghan women finding hope through business venture

April 14th, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan –– In a rural area of Afghanistan, where unemployment is high and many of the people lack job skills and literacy, nearly 50 women are finding new hope for their families through an independent business venture launched with Southern Baptist world hunger funds.

Ministry partners in the country recognized a need for helping people in the village develop sustainable sources of employment. Working with Baptist Global Response, they developed a plan that would help locals launch a self-sustaining business to supplement their families’ incomes.

“The problems are compounded for women, who are generally hard-working but have little opportunity to earn income because they appropriately invest their energies into their own households and children,” the project director explained. “Our aim was not to take them away from those ongoing responsibilities, but to provide sustainable supplemental income to them, income that would boost their total household income and provide some dignity to these ladies.”

The ministry partners worked with the women to begin processing and spinning camel down into yarn, which they hope to begin exporting to buyers in the United States this spring. The project initially was designed to involve 10 to 15 women, but more women came as the word of the new venture spread.

The initiative is helping the women find hope and peace so they can raise their families in confidence and have full, meaningful lives, the project director said.

“This project has provided supplemental income to poor Afghan women,” the project director said. “As it is supplemental, rather than primary income, it is difficult to know just how much of an impact it makes in alleviating physical needs. I suspect that most women use the income they earn for basic food supplies, such as potatoes, rice and flour, and children’s needs, such as clothing and school supplies.”

The husband in one family being helped had been paralyzed by a fall from a tree. After a doctor in Kabul said nothing could be done for the man, both the mother and her oldest daughter were able to join the camel down project to provide income for the family of eight.

As field partners continue to work to sell the product and develop the business, they hope to continue to provide employment to Afghan women, the project director said. He said the business venture has had a positive effect on the community.

“Afghans want to experience the freedom and dignity of earning what they work for, rather than needing handouts,” the project director said. “The surprise was not that the women enjoyed this type of relationship, but that the community also largely seemed happy about it, including those who did not directly benefit from the project.”

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Submitted by June Lucas, a collegiate correspondent for Baptist Global Response. Donations to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund or to BGR General Support can be made here.

Posted in Afghanistan, World Hunger Fund | No Comments »

RT/Share to help Chile’s quake survivors

April 1st, 2010

The post-earthquake situation in Chile is very difficult. Although the damage there was much greater than Haiti, the bulk of donations and relief effort have gone to the Caribbean nation. That’s not to take away from the critical needs in Haiti, just to say that ministry opportunities abound in Chile and donations simply haven’t matched the opportunities.

For example, while more than $3.5 million has been given through BGR and the International Mission Board for Haiti relief, less than $20,000 has been received for Chile. Yet more than $875,000 in projects have been approved for Chile and much more than that could be done. The only reason Southern Baptists have been able to respond in the country is that many people who care have given generously and continually to the Disaster Response Fund so people in need could be helped immediately, without waiting for donations to roll in.

If you’d like to help, donations of $10 can be made by texting “CHILE” to 40579. The donation will be added to your cell phone bill.

Please help support crucial ministries to earthquake survivors in Chile by passing this note along to those in your network who care about people in need.

Posted in Chile, earthquake, prayer | 1 Comment »

Clean water saves lives

March 12th, 2010

A wonderful project in a remote Kenyan village — funded by the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund — is saving lives with a simple ceramic water filter that strains out harmful bacteria and parasites that cause diarrhea, cholera and other waterborne diseases.

Catch this great video!

Read more — and see other videos — by visiting our ministry partner’s site, africastories.org.

Posted in Clean water, Kenya, World Hunger Fund | 3 Comments »

BGR-trained teams respond to Turkey quake

March 10th, 2010

Turkish disaster response teams – trained by Baptist Global Response – are responding well in the aftermath of a magnitude 6 earthquake that struck eastern Turkey at 4:32 a.m. March 8.

“BGR has trained disaster response teams in Turkey. I am in contact with them,” said Francis Horton, who, with his wife, Angie, directs BGR work in Central and South Asia. “They are determining the needs. Turkey’s government is handling the situation very well. They have not asked for inernational help.”

Fifty-one people died in the tremor, which shattered the mud-brick homes common in poor villages. Because many families keep their livestock on the ground floor of their houses – to keep them warm during the harsh winters – hundreds of animals also died in the quake. The loss of livestock will mean great hardship to families in the area.

Survivors took shelter in tents delivered by the military and crowded around bonfires to keep warm, according to news reports. The army also was delivering food supplies in the area.

Posted in Turkey, disaster relief, earthquake | No Comments »

Haiti: New areas of work in areas of great need

February 26th, 2010

The Direction for Civil Protection (DCP) estimates that 222,517 people died in Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake, an increase of 5,000 people since the organization’s report a week ago.

Currently, the most pressing needs continue to be shelter and sanitation. There is still rubble to be removed and suitable land has to be found for the construction of transitional shelter.

The Dominican Republic Baptist Convention (CBD) is partnering with four Haitian Baptist churches in Port-au-Prince and extending assistance to 16 other Haitian Baptist churches with emergency aid to help in their respective communities. There will be six distributions (one distribution every two weeks) of food, hygiene products and tarpaulins.

Volunteers from the United States are needed to help in packaging and delivering the goods. They are also needed to work in selected churches with clean up. Pray that communities will be receptive to a touch of God’s love through this disaster response. Pray for distributions to be fair and safe to those that have not yet received assistance.

Southern Baptist volunteer teams heading to new sites in Haiti include a medical team from Nebraska, a student team from Georgia and a medical team with professionals from various states. Baptist Global Response has identified projects that meet short-term needs with a big-picture perspective. Pray for BGR and partners who are trying to implement these projects. Ask God to give them wisdom and guidance as they work in Haiti.

Posted in Community Development, Haiti, IDPs, disaster relief, earthquake, hunger relief, prayer | No Comments »

Medical work in Haiti: ‘incredible privilege’

February 11th, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (BP)–A team of medical volunteers from Florida hasn’t stopped working since arriving in Haiti on Feb. 3. There is just too much to do.

It has been nearly one month since the massive earthquake shook this impoverished nation. Some estimates have placed the death toll as high as 200,000. Following an initial assessment by Florida and Southern Baptist disaster relief representatives, Florida joined South Carolina, Kentucky and Mississippi in mobilizing emergency medical teams to help lead the Baptist response, following initial medical teams from Arkansas and North Carolina.

Each day, Haitians line up to be seen by the Florida medical personnel who are working out of a field hospital situated in the police barracks directly across from Haiti’s presidential palace — a once-proud looking structure whose grand domes now sit slumped in crumbled surrender.

Rick Picerno, an orthopedic surgeon and member of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, helped organize and recruit the Florida medical team.

“This entire process, although we all feel very thrown together at the last minute, has obviously had God’s hand all over it,” Picerno said. “The needs here on the ground specifically for this week so accurately met the makeup of our team. There was a big need for a dentist, an OB/GYN and a pediatrics nurse. That’s exactly what we brought, without knowing the need.”

Picerno said the entire Florida team has been moved by the spirit of the Haitian people they have treated. “The people we have seen, even those in such desperate situations, have come across so thankful and grateful,” he said, adding that the doctors and nurses are praying for each person with whom they come in contact, even if it’s for the briefest moment.”

Florida team members have seen evidence of a society growing restless – gunshot wounds and stabbings have come through the clinic – but there have also been moments of joy. On Feb. 6, team members assisted with three births, one by emergency Caesarean section.

“Even now, it’s so hard to explain what we’ve seen and done in these first few days,” Picerno said. “It’s an incredible privilege to be able to help the Haitians as we have.”

The makeshift hospital across from the presidential palace was birthed by Omayra Alvarez, a native of the Dominican Republic who rushed to the scene after the earthquake and persuaded the authorities to allow her to begin treating wounded survivors of the quake.

When the Southern Baptist assessment team met her, Alvarez was extremely low on medical supplies and critical elements such as infant formula. The assessment team responded immediately with in-kind donations and an agreement that Southern Baptist medical teams would be on the way to help.

Brenda Outlaw, an emergency room trauma nurse at Baptist Hospital (South) in Jacksonville, Fla., has been working in the hospital’s makeshift triage center — the first point of entry for the several-hundred Haitians each day waiting to see a doctor.

The triage unit consists of eight lawn chairs lined side by side under a blue plastic tarp. The doctors and nurses conduct a quick interview and assessment and determine whether the patient’s needs call for them to see a doctor in another area of the facility — general medicine, dentistry, obstetrics, surgery, or pediatrics.

Most of the quake-related treatments involve changing bandages and treating infected sores and wounds. Some have needed fingers or toes amputated. The majority of treatment, Outlaw said, has involved quality of life issues.

“Just about every child we see complains of flu and stomach ache, but what they all have is worms,” Outlaw said. “So many are living in horrible conditions; you know they aren’t getting clean water and sanitation. And so many kids and adults are suffering from respiratory problems – obviously from inhalation of so much [airborne matter] after the quake.”

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Written by Russ Rankin, a freelance writer based in Franklin, Tenn.

Posted in Haiti, disaster relief, earthquake | No Comments »

Ark. volunteers see Haiti’s anguish

February 4th, 2010

By Lisa Watson

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BP) — Devastation and despair — that’s what an Arkansas Baptist medical team encountered when they touched down in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 18, just seven days after a 7.0 earthquake ravaged the struggling nation.

The 11-member team spent Jan. 18-22 in Haiti on a mission of healing and hope.

Port-au-Prince was “a city in shambles, with buildings down, people displaced, lots of injured people,” said Tamra Gore, who serves as a chaplain for the Benton, Ark., police department. “There were lots of people just living in fear, depressed, hungry, thirsty – not knowing what to do.”

“Haiti was at its best a poor nation. Now, hope has been ripped from the people,” said team member Carl Garvin of Omaha, Ark.

“It was almost like once they recover from one disaster there is another disaster. There is just a lack of hope.”

However, people are beginning to go about their normal lives, though still living with the terrible aftermath of the Jan. 12 quake, Garvin said.

“I noticed people walking by collapsed buildings where there was a smell of dead bodies,” he said. “But they seemed to shut it out of their minds like it did not exist. It was like if it was out of sight, it was out of mind. There was just a lot of mass confusion.”

The Arkansas Baptist team stayed at an orphanage just a few miles outside of Port-au-Prince. They went prepared to purify water and eat only the MREs (meals ready to eat) they took with them. But instead, orphanage workers prepared daily meals for the group. They found another “surprise,” a diesel generator that provided electricity at least part of every day.

The team, which included two medical doctors, four nurses, an emergency medical technician, a physical therapist, a crisis counselor and a nurse practitioner, treated a range of injuries, including a woman with a protruding bone from her chin.

“We also saw much fear,” Garvin said. “There were headaches, nausea and other forms of stomach distress. These are the physical signs and symptoms following great stress.”

Amid the pain and despair, the team also witnessed glimmers of hope.

Gore related instances of God’s “miraculous” provision involving, for example, two large bags they took to Haiti filled with food for children who visited the clinic. As those sacks emptied, Gore noticed a third bag of food. “We didn’t have three bags,” she insisted.

Team members even had opportunities to minister at the airport while they waited several hours for their return flight to the U.S. Gore said the airport was full of search and rescue teams from all over the world who spoke English or had translators. “They all needed to share their pictures and have someone hear their stories,” she said. “One man told me, ‘You are the first person to let me cry.’”

Garvin called the situation in Haiti a logistical nightmare. Supplies are pouring in with no structure to distribute them.

He suggested future teams bound for Haiti spend time together getting to know one another and praying together to develop “spiritual cohesiveness” as they prepare to go.

Gore agreed. “They need to be in prayer about what they will face and what they will do,” she said. “They must be spiritually prepared. They need to realize they are not going in as heroes, but to help people and love the Haitian people.”

Teams also need to be prepared to deal with the lack of security, to be in good health and have all the necessary shots for traveling to Haiti, Gore said.

“It also would help if someone in each group had knowledge of Haitian culture and history,” Garvin said. “There are dos and don’ts in each culture.”

Team members were aware of the risks involved in their trip, said Robby Tingle, missions ministries team leader for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

As the team prepared to depart for Haiti, Tingle told them, “I can’t guarantee you will get there. I can’t guarantee where you will be once you get there. I can’t guarantee what you are going to eat outside of what you are taking with you. Nor can I guarantee that I can get you back home.”

Tingle and two others, an advance logistics team for the state convention, have since traveled to Haiti to work toward ways of minimizing such risks for future teams.

Gore asked for prayer for Haitians to find peace. “They need to feel some peace…. They need to feel God is with them and that they can call out to Him in their time of need.”

Garvin said there isn’t a quick fix to the problems in Haiti. He said Baptist volunteers must be there for the long haul.

“After the crisis disappears from the news, we need to be aware that Haiti is still there and much needs to be done in the months and years ahead,” Garvin said. “Let’s don’t forget about the Haitians.”
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Lisa Watson is associate editor of the Arkansas Baptist News (www.arkansasbaptist.org), newsjournal of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.