Christian Direction
actively partners with Christian leaders in five centres in Haiti: Cap Haitian,
Balan, and Gonaïves in the north and Pétionville and Port-au-Prince at the
epicentre of the earthquake.
We have designed a special project for Haiti
called Paraclete. Our
partners in each of these five centres will hire people to become grief
counselors for their communities. We will help them train the counselors and
mobilize them through the church communities. They will serve the hurting in
their cities. Second, we will begin to replace Bibles in French and Creole for
the churches in these five centres. Christians excel in times like this in trauma
counselling. People in suffering need people of faith who will listen and walk
alongside them.
We are seeking to raise $50,000 for these two needs. With the help of
our Haitian Board member, Félix Pauléus, we are forming a team of four to five
people to train these grief counsellors. Once we have our funding and the
situation is secure enough for non-emergency people to be on the ground, they
will go. We will prioritize helping and equipping our networks. We are
coordinating all our efforts with ACF.
If you have
ever walked through a tragedy in your community, you understand the important
role that trauma ministers play to help a community accept, heal and move
forward in redemptive ways – together. The counselors of Paraclete will walk alongside and help others work through their
grief, with the presence and help of the Holy Spirit, THE Paraclete. Perhaps
this service will bring the spiritual comfort while the relief agencies address
the structural and physical needs of this dear country – Haiti chéri.
P.S. Upon the recommendation of the Canadian Council of
Christian Charities, Christian Direction is collecting funds for our project Paraclete
until February 12th which will be matched by the Canadian
government for direct relief to Haiti.
