On disaster relief...

Dear family & friends,

It seems like natural disasters are becoming all too common of an occurrence.  Even now as I am writing this I am reading news of even more devastation in Oklahoma due to the recent outbreak in tornados.   In the aftermath of disaster, you see humanity at its finest.  Relief organizations flood in to help the survivors.  Millions of Americans donate time and money to help with supplies and rebuilding.  It’s amazing to see how people come together to show survivors that they are not alone.

While this immediate attention is very helpful in the aftermath of a disaster, the rebuilding process unfortunately continues long after the attention has faded away.  Food & shelter can arrive in days.  Buildings can be constructed in weeks.  But entire communities can take years to rebuild.  People can take a lifetime.

This summer I am fortunate enough to be able to help out in two such disaster areas.  The first of these locations is Port au Prince, Haiti.  On January 12th, 2010, Haiti was hit by a 7.0 earthquake.  Port au Prince was devastated.  The recovery effort has been incredibly slow, as natural resources are very hard to come by and corruption runs rampant.  As the poorest country in the western hemisphere, the situation in Haiti is desperate.  80% of the population live underneath the poverty line & child slavery continues to be an inexcusable problem.  On June 3rd I will travel to Haiti to help provide safe & secure shelters for Haitians so that they will have at least one less thing to worry about.  More importantly, I go to remind them that they are not alone in the fight for their survival.

The second location in which I will be working is New Jersey.  In October of last year, New Jersey was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.  Many of the small, coastal communities were wiped out by the wind and storm surge.  Most of these communities have yet to be rebuilt.  There are many reasons for this including a harsh winter that slowed down the clean-up process.  However, for many of the poor families living in the region, the problem has come down to a lack of resources.  Houses are sitting empty (some damaged beyond repair) and the families are still living in shelters after 8 months because they haven’t received the money and manpower to begin the process of rebuilding their homes and their lives.  

During my 4 weeks in New Jersey, 450 adults & high school students will be traveling from around the country to begin this process of restoring hope to the community.  We will be partnering with local agencies to clean up debris, rebuild homes, distribute food & clothing, and provide community outreach to show the poor that they are not forgotten.

So in closing, please pray for the people devastated by the tornados.  Volunteer your time and money if you have any to spare.  But don’t forget about them when the media attention goes away.   Also, don’t forget about the victims of previous disasters.  The need is great & the work is waiting for somebody that is willing to help.  If you would like to donate to help me in Haiti & New Jersey, go to www.missiondiscovery.org and click “donate” at the top of the page.  You will find my name in a drop down box.  If you would like to donate to help the tornado victims there are plenty of trustworthy organizations for that as well.  Most importantly I ask for you to give something of yourself.  Money, time, supplies & prayer all have the power to change lives when used appropriately.

Recovery from a disaster is a long process.  Too often people feel forgotten and abandoned.  It is important to rebuild homes & provide people with their physical needs.  However, I believe that the greatest need of any survivor is the need for hope.  They need to know that they are not alone.  They need to know that we are there with them through the storms.  We will mourn with them as they mourn.  We will celebrate with them with there is reason to celebrate.  We will journey alongside them as we show them the love that comes from the God of love.  We will show them that in the end, love always wins.

Thanks for your support!  I’ll be posting pictures to Facebook throughout the summer, and hopefully this fall we will be able join together to offer our time and resources to help restore Oklahoma as we continue to remember those in Haiti & New Jersey.

Sincerely,

Rob Cantwell