23,099+ Health Kits for Haiti

2/15/2010

“When the Holy Spirit knocks on my door, there’s no telling what will happen,” says Lorena United Methodist Church’s pastor Rev. Christie Robbins. She challenged her congregation, which averages about 150 in worship, to create 500 health kits to be sent to the people of Haiti. They assembled 1,500 kits!

The word got out into the community that kits would be assembled at the church on Wednesday evening, usually the time devoted to Bible study. But that night, the Bible study group grew from 12 to 40 mission-oriented folks who acted on the gospel rather than just reading it.
“I believe the church leaders who say the church can and will be resurrected through mission evangelism. I saw evidence of that on Wednesday night,” said Robbins who then challenged every United Methodist church in the Waco District to assemble 500 health kits. She urged them not to unduly burden their own congregations, but to involve their communities.
Members talked with their neighbors, with aunts and uncles, with community groups and before they knew it, kits were coming in from the Lorena Independent School District, from two schools in Robinson, another in the Bruceville/Eddy area, and a nearby Presbyterian church.
Altogether, the Waco District brought in 4,822 health kits for Haiti. “I am so incredibly proud of our churches in the Waco District,” said Rev. Allen Grant, district disaster response coordinator. “We have so many volunteers from within our churches and communities who have helped that it is an incredible report that I have to give.” As of the Feb. 6 drop off date for all the churches and ministry groups in the Central Texas Conference, Waco District health kits totaled:
Brownwood District — 884
Fort Worth District — 1,876
Mid-Cities District — 4,433
Temple District — 2,063
Waco District — 4,822
Waxahachie District — 5,741
Weatherford —  2,280
Miscellaneous — about 1,000

Driving the more than 5,700 totals in the Waxahachie District is the resourcefulness of members of First United Methodist Church of Mansfield. They brought in 3,000 by the conference collection date, and plan to continue until they reach 5,000. This was the challenge presented to members by their senior pastor, Rev. Mike Ramsdell.
 “We e-mailed members and posted the details on our website,” said Rev. Sharon Reid, associate pastor. “Our members got so excited about the possibility of helping the people of Haiti that many got their children’s schools involved. Sunday school classes and our children’s ministry pitched in,” she said. “This was primarily our church family,” states Reid, but it went beyond that, deep into the community.”
In the Weatherford District, Graham High School joined 19 congregations in the district to participate in providing well over 2,000 health kits. In the Hillsboro area, Rev. Reed Justice reports that sharing the health kit plans at a local Rotary Club was met with offers of help, including First United Methodist Church’s neighboring Baptist Church.
Rev. Joseph Nadar, director of the Wesley Foundation at the University of Texas at Arlington, reports that campus ministry nursing student Elliott Schmidt was the spirit and energy behind raising over $900 on the UTA campus.
He distributed fliers outlining the need for health kits and set up collection booths at a number of campus locations. Four completed health kits were donated, but mostly the students gave money for supplies. Wesley Foundation students were able to purchase supplies for about 60 health kits and extended an open invitation to students to help in “building” the kits Tuesday evening, Feb. 9.
The Shorthorn, UTA’s campus newspaper, quotes Schmidt in saying that people should not stop donating now because incoming donations are only addressing immediate needs. Haiti will need help for a long time. The Wesley Foundation is now considering a trip to Haiti and possibly an annual donation drive to help earthquake victims, Schmidt said.
Youth groups at a number of churches, including First Burleson, Bedford and Mineral Wells, worked at assembling health kits, and junior and senior high school students attending the Central Texas Conference Mid-Winters at Glen Lake Camp had their own focus on global ministries. Students gathered under the evening stars on the steps of Turner Hall to read aloud the collection prayers for Haiti that were assembled by the General Board of Discipleship. Out of the darkness a flashlight would light the reading of a prayer, followed by a moment of silent meditation. Then another light and prayer, and another, and another.
White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake will host a Rock Haiti Benefit Concert from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, with five high school rock bands performing. Proceeds from the concert will benefit Haitian earthquake relief. For more details on the concert and how to attend, contact Kristen Blalock.
The Youth Ministry at First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth will observe Shrove Tuesday with a pancake supper from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, in the Justin Youth Building. All proceeds from the supper will be donated to the Haiti Relief Fund. Tickets are available at $6 per person or $20 for a family starting this Sunday at the church or Shrove Tuesday at the door. “Shrove-to-Go” pancake mixes will be available for $5.
The conference is grateful to Bill and Linda Eslick of Acton United Methodist Church and Win and Jinny Hatt of First United Methodist Church of Mansfield for volunteering to drive the two 26-foot U-Haul trucks to the Sager Brown UMCOR Depot in Baldwin, La. This is the distribution point from which health kits will be transported to Haiti.  
“God is amazing and so are the people of the Central Texas Conference!” exclaims Rev. Laraine Waughtal, chair of the Conference Disaster Response Task Force and the coordinator for the conference-wide call for health kits to help the people of Haiti.
“I just want to praise God and the people of the Central Texas Conference, and to say thank you to Bishop Mike Lowry for his support of Haiti, all the District Disaster Response coordinators, churches, district collection sights, the people who drove the trucks to Hillsboro, First Hillsboro for being the main collection site, the conference office, UMCOR for all they do, and so many others who made this all possible,” Waughtal said.
She also praised U-Haul executives who, after learning how the two 26-foot trucks would be used, gave a great discount so that the delivery to Sager Brown was possible. “What an amazing response,” Waughtal said.  
“As I have talked with various people at Sager Brown about the delivery of the kits and making arrangements for their arrival, every single response has been ‘Wow!’ when they have heard what you have done,” Waughtal said. “They have not had a response like this from any other conference, and they are grateful for your faithfulness and responding to God's call.  Thank you and God bless you all.”