Local mission team returns home safely from Haiti after Hurricane Matthew.
It has been a week, seven grueling days, since the first reports arrived of the rivers flooding through the streets, pictures of snapped trees and topless cement homes, and images of displaced people wading through 3 to 4 feet of brown muddied water.
The roar of Hurricane Matthew left its devastating mark on a country that is no stranger to catastrophes. But the report which interested most people here in Habersham, especially members of The Torch congregation in Demorest, came via a man named Sadrak, Wednesday night at 6:04 p.m., “Pastor Mike and the team are safe.”
This is where we belong
Pastor Mike Franklin, Senior Pastor of The Torch, along with Pastor Mike Thomas, Missions Pastor, Daniel Usher, Videographer, and Charles Parker, owner of RiverSand, Inc., arrived in Haiti on Friday, September 30th, just days before the devastating storm hit. They agreed evacuating the area was not an option for them. The decision to stay was made even before the storm grew to the mammoth creature it became in the Atlantic. “This is where we belong – with our people in Haiti,” assured Pastor Mike Franklin several days before the storm was scheduled to hit. “We are committed to stay and help.”
48 hours after the worst storm to strike Haiti since 1964 struck, the death toll had risen significantly, and The Torch Team of 4 was isolated and cut off from the world, caring for close to a 1,000 people with the only source of information coming in and out of The Torch Campus being delivered by text from a messenger on foot.
“Nothing in my lifetime could ever compare to what I witnessed in Haiti.” ~ Pastor Mike Franklin
Riding out the storm
The campus is in the mountainous region between Les Cayes and Pestal, a once beautiful piece of property surrounded by mountains and trees, now pummeled into timber. “What used to be impossible to see is now visible for miles,” Pastor Mike added. “Villages are several feet under water. 95% of all homes are gone. Crops destroyed, livestock dead, and people, the most valuable of all possessions, in complete and total desperation.”
No stranger to hurricanes, Pastor Franklin grew-up in Mississippi. He had experienced the destructive forces several times in his life; but, in his own words, “Nothing in my lifetime could ever compare to what I witnessed in Haiti.”
RELATED: Devastation, injuries after the storm
In January of 2016, The Torch purchased a piece of property in Deyemone, Haiti, with a school, medical clinic, church, and orphanage. They started the school year with over 500 students attending free of charge through sponsorships from the community and throughout the state. In Haiti, students are required to pay for their education. The Torch Medical Clinic has provided care for as many as 840 people in a week and has grown a large congregation to include 5 churches (4 of which are now destroyed).
As winds of 150mph ravaged through the property, the thoughts of our team were of the Haitian people, their humble nature, the way they walked to church on Sunday, endured one catastrophe after another, and persistently carved a way through it all.
Within minutes of removing the children, the orphanage was leveled. By the Hand of God, the team was able to save them. The church sustained minimal damage (a quarter of the roof lost). Hypothermia as well as physical injuries challenged the people. Miraculously, The Torch Campus lost only one life with surrounding areas losing hundreds of lives.
As the days have passed, food and water are scare and the threat of cholera lingers silently above the campus like a fog that won’t go away.
“In Haiti, most people live in a state of constant survival,” stated Daniel Usher. “I kept thinking of my family at home and the abundance in which we live. There is nothing in our lives which can equate the devastation in theirs.”
The aftermath
The beautiful part about the Haitian people is their sense of community. There is no limit to the extent of willingness to help one another. Even in the face of all the misery, the people of Haiti keep getting up, keep moving forward, and keep finding a way.
Food for the Poor Kevin Mayne expressed his concern for the Haitian people, “This is more serious than the earthquake because the economy – banana production, coffee farms, crops, livestock, and fields – have been destroyed. The lives taken could continue to grow due to famine and disease.” Food for the Poor is a strong mobile force in Haiti and has been in the country through many disasters.
Charles Parker stressed concern for the young boy he and his wife sponsor through The Torch. He had the opportunity to meet John before the storm hit but afterwards, the water prevented him from being able to check on the child’s family. “My heart is broken for the families there. Just the struggle to return after such ruin is beyond anything I can comprehend; and yet, I witnessed the resilience of the children and their parents not to give in.”
“After the earthquake in 2010, I remember thinking there was no way the people could ever survive the enormity of the tragedy, somehow they did. My mind wonders about this Hurricane and the ability for the people to ever return to some normalcy,” remarked Pastor Mike Thomas. “What I do know is what was meant to harm, God will turn for good. With the proper resources and the determined mind-set of the Haitian people, I believe we can rebuild and be stronger than ever before.”
How you can help
Challenges face the community of Deyemone, and The Torch is committed to providing the necessary resources needed for the people God has placed in their care; but, they need your help. 100% of all money donated goes to the benefit relief efforts. Please consider making a onetime donation or sponsoring a child monthly. You can visit their website www.thetorchhaiti.com or www.thetorch.net. Updates are posted of the progress and needs of the people as well as pictures.
Hurricane Matthew Aftermath
Deyemone, Haiti
October 2016
Editor’s note: Nora Almazan is the Faith Editor for Now Habersham. She also serves as Executive Assistant at The Torch.
