Laman

03 Desember, 2010

Artikel Rohani

All Buried But Hope

Adventist Temple Church #1, Port-au-Prince, Haiti 


Members of the Temple Church #1 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, stand upon the rubble that was their church home before the earthquake of January 12. With at least 3,000 members, Temple Church #1 was the largest Seventh-day Adventist church in Haiti. Twenty-six members died when the earthquake destroyed the building. Twenty-two of them were members of a choir who were practicing when the earthquake hit.

During the month of January nearly every Adventist church in Haiti holds evangelistic meetings. These meetings are usually held between 6:00-7:30 p.m. The quake struck at five. Had it struck an hour and a half later, thousands more would have been killed.

Members of the Temple Church # 1 were determined to give the victims a proper burial and dug through the debris until they recovered each body.

Photo credit: Robert Kyte, president of Adventist Risk Management at the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters.







Sabbath School starts early in many Haitian churches. This photo was taken at the Temple Church #1 in 2004 at 7: a.m. At that time, three separate Sabbath School/church services met in the church on Sabbath. Note all the Sabbath School teachers standing as they lead their classes.


Photo credit: Charlotte Ishkanian, editor of Mission, Adventist Mission.





Within three weeks after the quake, the members of the Temple Church #1 had cleared away the ruins of their church and set up a tarp so that they could continue worshipping on their church property. They plan to rebuild their church as soon as possible.


Churches in Haiti are the heart of the people’s lives. Some Adventist churches have up to three congregations meeting in them every Sabbath. So when a fourth of the 450 churches were destroyed or damaged, it had a huge impact on the believers.

This quarter is unprecedented in the history of mission offerings. For the past nearly 50 years the Divisions have received the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in a rotating order. However, following the earthquake in Haiti in January, news of the tremendous destruction prompted church leaders to ask the division that was to receive the offering to wait and allow our church family to help the believers rebuild their churches and other church-owned buildings that were destroyed or severely damaged in the earthquake.

This Thirteenth Sabbath we can help rebuild or repair these churches so that every Adventist can have a house of worship again.

Photo credit: Charlotte Ishkanian, editor of Mission, Adventist Mission. 


 

Adventist Elementary School, Haiti


Hundreds of schools, including several Adventist schools, were destroyed by the earthquake in Haiti.

This elementary school was operated in conjunction with the Seventh-day Adventsit Evangelistic Auditorium Church in Port-au-Prince.

What appears to be the first floor of the building on the right is actually the second floor.

Photo credit: Bob Kyte, president of Adventist Risk Management at the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters.



 

Cleaning Up,
Haiti


People in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, took it upon themselves to clean their city. They hauled away the rubble and swept the streets, hoping that the government would pay them a meager wage for their work.

Photo credit: Charlotte Ishkanian, editor of Mission, Adventist Mission.



 

A Shining Light,
Haiti Adventist Hospital



Built with the help of a Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in 1978, the Haiti Adventist Hospital received minimal damage from the earthquake. During the first month after the quake, the 70-bed hospital served more than 6,000 patients. 




The hospital grounds was turned into an outdoor facility with a mobile surgical tent and ...

 


individual tents for patients requiring long-term care. 


Photo credit: Charlotte Ishkanian, editor of Mission, Adventist Mission.


 

Back on His Feet,
Haiti

Eight-year-old Sebastien lay buried in the rubble of his crumbled home next to his grandmother. When his aunt came looking for her mother and nephew, she was told that no one in the home had survived. But two days later, a passerby heard Sebastien calling from the rubble.

Taken to the Adventist hospital in Port-au-Prince, Sebastien's leg was amputated in order to save his life.

Now Sebastien is learning to adapt to life on crutches. He lives with his aunt on the hospital grounds, playing games with other children in his tent neighborhood and making new friends with doctors, nurses, and staff members, who shower him with love. His future is uncertain, for his aunt doesn’t know how she can care for her own four children plus Sebastien. But one thing he knows. “When I grow up, I’m going to be a doctor!” he says.

Sebastien represents the hope, faith, and tenacity of the people of Haiti. In minutes on January 12 more than 200,000 people lost their lives. A million people lost their homes and all their possessions. Life is uncertain, but the Adventist church—and our Haitian believers—are making life a little better for those we come in contact with.

Photo credit: Michael Wolcott, Loma Lnida University.
 
 

At Home in a "Tent"
Haiti


This girl and her brother are living in a homemade tent made of bed sheets on the Haitian Adventist University campus. After the earthquake, the Adventist university became the temporary home of more than 10,000 people. 

Haitians are resilient and adaptable. They’ve learned to survive disaster and hardship. While they grieve for their lost loved ones, they are moving on. They have to; they have few alternatives.

Photo credit: Charlotte Ishkanian, editor of Mission, Adventist Mission.











 

Turning Grief Into Joy,
Haiti

 

This young Haitian boy probably lost all of his toys when his family's house collapsed, but that hasn't stopped him from being resourceful. With a bit of imagination, using bits and scraps, he has made himself a new toy.

What would you play with ifyou lost everything? Would you sit around doing othing, or would you look around and try to make things better?

For an intersting experiment, try making a car, truck, or other toy out of scraps or used materal. If you put your mind to it, you can be just as resoruceful as other children who have had to start from scratch.

Please pray for the children of Haiti; that their grief may be turne dinto joy.


Thoughts by Nancy Kyte, marketing director for the Office of Adventist Mission. The photographs were taken by her husband, Robert Kyte, president of Adventist Risk Management at the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters.

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar