Plan to help build Orphanage, deliver Aid
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
ONE FEATHER STAFF
Haiti residents search for loved ones in the rubble following a devastating earthquake. (Photos courtesy of Pastor David Woods)
“Total devastation,” said David Woods, Pastor of New Beginnings Independent Baptist Church in Cherokee, of the conditions he observed on a recent mission trip to earthquake-devastated Haiti. “Anywhere in a thirty mile radius of Port Au Prince is devastated.”
Woods, along with five other members of his Church, will make another two-week mission trip to Haiti beginning April 13. Their goal is to bring aid to the Bonrepor community, located about 15 miles from Port-au-Prince, and to begin working on an orphanage there.
Elizabeth Edwards, EBCI tribal member and Church member, will be going on the trip. “This is just a humanitarian project. As a people who have gone through hardships, it’s just close to our hearts.”
Pastor David Woods, of New Beginnings Independent Baptist Church in Cherokee, hands out supplies on a recent mission trip to Haiti.
Woods and Edwards will be joined by Lee Edwards, Sam Crowe, Bill Ferguson, and Dr. Brian Smith.
On his last trip, Woods helped construct a children’s hospital and helped deliver over 2,200 pounds of medical supplies and medicine. Working with Frontlines Global Missions of Newport, Tenn., he said it is his goal to be able to construct an orphanage in Haiti that is totally funded by his Church and the Cherokee people’s generosity.
Medical supplies are a must said Woods who related that tuberculosis and malaria are widespread in the country. “It doesn’t take long for a simple cut to turn into an amputation.”
The finished tent hospital for children constructed by Woods and others on his last mission trip.
He said the Haiti people need help with supplies and food. “They are not lazy people. They’ll work all day long without asking for a thing. They’re cleaning up their own city.”
Woods said the conditions are “One thousand times worse than Katrina and the rainy season is coming.”
Elizabeth Edwards added that they will also be bringing tents for temporary shelter for residents. “A tent down there is a home. They’re living in anything they can find.”
She related that the number of orphans in the country skyrocketed from 350,000 to over 1 million following the earthquake. “We can’t save Haiti, but we can save one orphanage at a time.”
The church is asking for donations of tents, tarps, blankets, medical supplies (gauze, tape, aspirin, antibiotic cream, band-aids, etc.), as well as financial donations. They will hand deliver all of the supplies to the community of Bonrepor. Supplies and donations can be dropped off at New Beginnings Independent Baptist Church, next to Bradley’s Grocery in the Wolfetown Community, Monday – Saturday 9am – 12pm. Info: 736-5917
