After the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, United Methodists across the connection responded with money and volunteers.
In late February this year, a team from United Methodist
Communications went to Haiti to look at ways in which life has
improved. This is part of a series about what that team found.
A UMNS Report
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
3:00 P.M. ET, March 22, 2013 | PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
Parishioners sing a hymn during worship at St. Martin Methodist Church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. UMNS photos by Mike DuBose.
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As they sat on the front pew of St. Martin Methodist Church, a
gentle breeze ruffled the little girls’ frilly dresses in the colors of
a rainbow — pink, white, turquoise, yellow — and tempted little boys
trying hard to be quiet for the two-hour worship.
Lucienne Bazile stood in the open doorway by the 20 children, gently
shushing them or separating them when they got a little too busy and
forgot where they were.
On that day in 2010, and this Sunday in 2013, Noelzina Doavil and Bazile were at their church — grieving then, joyful now.
The two faithful church members are happy to be in the rebuilt
structure that is now one large two-story building with the church on
the second floor and the primary school on the first level. The
original church and school were separate one-level structures next to
each other.
Noelzina Doavil (right) joins fellow parishioners in singing a hymn
during worship at St. Martin Methodist Church. Doavil, who was at choir
practice when the earthquake hit, and another choir member were trapped
in the rubble when the church collapsed.
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The beautiful white building shines in a poor neighborhood that still shows scars from the massive earthquake.
On Jan. 12, 2010, Doavil and Bazile were just finishing choir practice in the church with three other friends when they felt the first tremors.
“We were just having prayer to end our time together,” Doavil said.
She and Bazile were in a doorway and that saved them from being
crushed. Their friends were farther back in the room and all died.
Three “brothers” in faith pulled them out, Bazile said.
They both beamed when they spoke of the new church and school
constructed as part of the Haiti Response Plan, a collaborative effort
with the Eglise Methodist d’Haiti, United Methodist Volunteers in
Mission and the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
“We lost some members because they are afraid to come back in the
building,” said Gaston Hormil, a local preacher in St. Martin. But many
came back and brought new people.