Greeting from the Dominican Republic. I arrived here on Thursday for ten days of ministry, teaching the Dominican staff and to preach in several churches. However, I also found myself in the middle of YWAM’s earthquake relief for Haiti.
I will be here until Jan 25th and would be only glad to help in any way possible if you wish to send help through us. Please pray for the tremendous logistics involved in the relief effort.
Below is an article that I wrote for YWAM International:
Blessings,
Darren
Darren McCrea
Mobile Teams - YWAM Bogota
www.ourlovingfather.com
www.colombianteams.org
International Tel. 305-677-0100
(Miami based number)
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Flying into Santo Domingo just 48 hours after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti you could already see the heightened activity and feel the anticipation and dread. UN workers, Missionaries, the international press and even firemen from places like Peru filled the plane. Santo Domingo, Haiti’s wealthier neighbour has now become a major hub to help the victims of Tuesday’s quake and YWAM Santo Domingo (YWAM S.D.), overnight, a way station for relief efforts.
Located just six hours from the quake zone and home to the closest fully functional airport, Santo Domingo has turned into a collection centre for aid and a stopover for workers heading into the zone. YWAM S.D. has opened its doors to help them and is providing logistical support for aid and money heading into Haiti.
YWAM SD has been answering calls from all over the world, people looking for temporary shelter, help to find transportation into Haiti and assistance to buy food and medical supplies. Doctors, aid workers, and even television crews have shown up on the door step looking for help and no one is turned away.
Close by Kent and Janet Norell, National Directors for YWAM Dominican Republic, are also working furiously. They are fielding calls from the most unexpected sources. People that they have not heard from in years are calling looking for ways to help. One phone call comes, “we have a helicopter at the airport, can you help us to fill it and send someone along to guide us?”
Sleep has been fleeting for everyone, yet no one is complaining. Instead there is a sense of urgency and quiet pain as local YWAMers seek to do something, anything, to touch the need.
Saturday, January 16th, 3:40 am local time. After three days of collecting supplies, contracting transportation and helping to send off dozens of people into Haiti, YWAM S.D. sends its own four vehicle caravan. Loaded with food, water, clothes and medical supplies, they have a mission – scout out the land, help where needed and above all find the family of YWAM S.D. workers who have not been heard from since the quake. One Haitian staff member fears the worst. His family lives in one of the most affected areas. Kent Norell says, “The news that we have received has not been promising. On the block where his father lives there is not one building that still has a second floor, his father lived on the second floor.”
Kent stands watching as the group prepares to leave. Although he has been working tirelessly since the quake he does not feel burdened. “My sacrifice has been so little compared to these guys, they humble me. I feel like I am sending my children into harm’s way.”
Saturday noon. The team has crossed the border into Haiti and met up with a team from YWAM St Mark, Haiti. The search for family begins.
While many agencies are looking to ship donated goods into Haiti, YWAM Santo Domingo is buying supplies locally and transporting by land directly into Haiti. You can help:
Contact info – info@ywamdr.org Tel. 809 307 5914
