Statement by Rev. Dr. Cortroy Jarvis Chairman, Moravian Church, Eastern West Indies Province
The Moravian Church Eastern West Indies Province is pleased identify itself with the people of Haiti and their struggles. The massive earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, did untold damage to the infrastructure of that country, but more than that, the death toll rose to between 217,000 and 230,000 people. An estimated 300,000 persons were injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless. They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged as a result of the earthquake. This destruction has brought to the fore what the forces of nature can do. It has brought to the fore that as a people, we must make every moment count for something good, for we are here one moment and gone the next. It has brought to the fore that we should be our brothers and sisters keeper, for we do not know what the future holds.
God has blessed the Moravian Church with men and women who have a heart for Mission; A heart to reach out and meet people at their need; A heart to realize that God has called us as a Church bless one another, as he has blessed us. Scripture declares, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38). As a Church, we have been pursuing the Blessings of God and He has been tremendously good to us. So even in the midst of the economic and financial crisis that we are going through, our people were moved and have risen to the occasion to help the people of Haiti to get back on their feet. We want to see the people rebuild their lives, maintain their dignity and self worth, and to get their infrastructure up and running again. God has been good to us and so the Moravian Church, Eastern West Indies Province is pleased to announce that from our efforts of our Members we raised EC$125,224.39. We have decided to share this amount equally with three organizations: Emmanuel International, The Board of World Mission and the Antigua Haiti Disaster Response 2010. Today therefore we are pleased to hand over a cheque in the amount of EC$41,741.46 to the Antigua Haiti Disaster Response 2010 to help the people of Haiti pick up the pieces and get their lives back together again.
