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DiggWhat Can We Give? Honoring MLK Jr. and Helping in Haiti
On Martin Luther King, Jr., Sunday Trinity welcomed the Rev. Lonell Wright, vicar of All Souls' Episcopal Church in New Orleans, as guest preacher and also remembered our friends and partners in Haiti in prayer and action. Below, a letter from the Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, rector of Trinity Church, to the parish family about honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. and helping the people of Haiti following the devastating earthquake that struck that country on January 12.
Dear Parish Family,
I am in Nairobi, Kenya with our grants team this week.
I'm sorry I cannot be with you in person on this day of many emotions.
We continue to pray for members of our wider parish family affected by the earthquake in Haiti. These include families of staff and congregation, the Sisters of the Society of St. Margaret, and Oge Beauvoir, who is Dean of the Theological Seminary in Port-au-Prince and our missionary in Haiti.
Immediately after the earthquake struck, Canon Beauvoir was asked to oversee a displacement camp run by the Bishop of Haiti, Jean Duracin. He and the Sisters are there, providing help to roughly 1,000 people.
Parishioner and former staff member Ali Lutz was not in Haiti at the time of the earthquake. Ali currently works for Partners in Health, an organization started in Haiti that provides access to basic health care for the world's poor. Ali will return to help in Haiti in recovery in the near future.
Today we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who asked what can I give? He was a man of faith who listened to God, and in the end, he gave his life. Along the way he marched, argued, dreamed, inspired, and persuaded countless others to ask that question: what can I give?
To help us celebrate the ministry of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are blessed by Father Wright’s presence. I would suggest that Father Wright is also a man who has asked what can I give?
And he is here today in the flesh because this is a parish that has asked what can we give?
We partnered with our brothers and sisters in Thailand following the tsunami and we have partnered with our brothers and sisters in New Orleans following Katrina.
As we honor the ministry of Martin Luther King, Jr., and as we gather in the name of God this first Sunday after the devastation in Haiti, we would be remiss not to ask that question so central to our lives as Christians today.
What can we give?
On Wednesday, the Rector, Churchwardens and Vestry approved the allocation of $100,000 to provide relief in Haiti as a first step.
Today I invite you to join with the Vestry of Trinity Church in the spirit of Gospel giving, with immediate opportunities to give.
Today we will have two offerings. The loose donations of our first offering will fund Father Wright's ongoing church and community building efforts in New Orleans. Our second offering will be for Trinity's Haiti mission. There are envelopes in the pews.
Like Katrina and the tsunami, we will be making a long-term commitment to this important work of recovery in Haiti.
Faithfully,
Jim
Comments
I see there is always requests for money donations. Since all is destroyed over there they have no use for money they need supplies, food, clothing, etc. How about donating clothes to the children in Haiti or Blankets and other materials? How can Trinity collect and ship clothing and food supplies, to Haiti? I feel the money will only go to the cause and not to the individual people themselves. They were a poor country to begin with and their urgent needs for right now is materials and food.
Sherily on January 19, 2010
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