01-22: LCMS Assessment Team in
An LCMS assessment team crossed from the
Team member Dr. Jorge Groh, LCMS World Mission regional director for Latin America, reported that as the group entered
The team left the police station with Kessa and four other Haitian pastors and trekked toward
The Haitian police have promised to provide security, and will accompany us into Port-au-Prince, said Rev. Glenn Merritt, LCMS World Relief and Human Care director of disaster response, a member of the assessment team that is eager to talk with the ELCH president to learn how best the LCMS can assist its partner church in meeting the needs of congregations and communities shattered by the Jan. 12 earthquake. We ask for your prayers, Merritt said.
The assessment team, coordinated by LCMS World Relief and Human Care and LCMS World Mission, also includes: Rev. Dr. Douglas Rutt, former LCMS World Mission area secretary for Latin America; Dr. John Lautenschlager, a medical and health relief consultant; James Neuendorf, LCMS World Mission communications specialist missionary for Latin America; and Chaplain Steve Lee, a critical incident stress specialist.
The team spent the night Jan. 21 in a vacant house near the Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani in the
Two additional LCMS teams also continue their work in the
A 13-person Mercy Medical Team (MMT) of volunteers from the
According to published reports, the 7.0-magnitude earthquake killed an estimated 200,000 people, injured 250,000, and left some 2 million homeless in this impoverished nation of 9 million.
On behalf of The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod, LCMS World Relief and Human Care (the mercy arm of the LCMS) is working cooperatively with LCMS World Mission (the mission sending arm of the LCMS), LCMS congregations and districts, and U.S. and international partners to provide immediate and long-term relief for the people of Haiti and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti.
LIMM is funding the transportation costs of the following members of the LCMS Assessment team in Haiti: