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CMBH finds open doors to Haiti?s forgotten - Florida Baptist Witness
An open door to the Deaf in Port-au-Prince has given Florida Baptist relief workers a vision to seek out clusters of forgotten people left stranded by the Jan. 12 earthquake.
In finding ways to minister to the Deaf, leaders of the Florida Baptist Convention’s Confraternité Missionaire Baptiste d’Haiti “opened their eyes to a community of people that their eyes were blinded to,” said Dennis Wilbanks, associate director of the Partnership Missions Department. “We are now thinking about the other clusters of forgotten people.”
Approximately 1,000 Deaf in the Port-au-Prince area have had little food and no medical attention since the earthquake shook the capital city region.
Their schools, a source of networking and education, were all destroyed by the quake—giving the hearing-impaired Haitians no place to meet to communicate with others in the Deaf community.
“While there have been food distributions in their communities, they often learn of it too late due to their disability,” said Wilbanks.
Distribution ended by the time the Deaf could respond.
Wilbanks learned of these problems in a meeting with Marlene Jean Pierre, a representative of the Deaf community in Haiti. He promised her a food distribution exclusively for the Deaf. “Together we developed a plan,” he said.
Time for the Deaf community was set aside at the Florida Baptist Mission House April 28 - May 1 for food distribution and medical services. On Sunday, May 2, there was worship for the Deaf community there.
Prior to the distribution, leaders of the Deaf community came to the mission house and put together bags of food including beans, rice, oil, and canned salmon.
The clinic was packed, Wilbanks reported, with the doctor seeing 40-50 patients daily. Each visit took quite some time as English was translated to Creole, then signed, and was translated back to Creole and then English.
On the days the food distribution and medical clinics were conducted, Wilbanks said, the Deaf would arrive at the mission house at 6:30 a.m. and wait until it opened at 9 a.m. to be helped.
“You could see the joy on their faces as they waited to be seen,” he said.
Food distributions also were conducted for the Deaf in Jacmel and Petit-Goave.
Wilbanks believes the experience will open doors of ministry for Florida Baptist churches with strong Deaf ministries to start Deaf churches. He is looking towards the future and working with churches in Florida to help build a school in Haiti for the hearing impaired for education, networking and vocational trade skills, he said.
“God has been doing so many miracles that I’ve witnessed in this ministry to the Deaf,” Wilbanks said. “I’ve been completely humbled to be on this journey and to witness something like this come together. These people don’t receive any help and God is allowing us to help them.
“It fills my heart with joy to see how God is meeting physical and spiritual needs,” Wilbanks added. “I’m blown away with the awesomeness and compassion for people that God has.”
An open door to the Deaf in Port-au-Prince has given Florida Baptist relief workers a vision to seek out clusters of forgotten people left stranded by the Jan. 12 earthquake.
In finding ways to minister to the Deaf, leaders of the Florida Baptist Convention’s Confraternité Missionaire Baptiste d’Haiti “opened their eyes to a community of people that their eyes were blinded to,” said Dennis Wilbanks, associate director of the Partnership Missions Department. “We are now thinking about the other clusters of forgotten people.”
Approximately 1,000 Deaf in the Port-au-Prince area have had little food and no medical attention since the earthquake shook the capital city region.
Their schools, a source of networking and education, were all destroyed by the quake—giving the hearing-impaired Haitians no place to meet to communicate with others in the Deaf community.
“While there have been food distributions in their communities, they often learn of it too late due to their disability,” said Wilbanks.
Distribution ended by the time the Deaf could respond.
Wilbanks learned of these problems in a meeting with Marlene Jean Pierre, a representative of the Deaf community in Haiti. He promised her a food distribution exclusively for the Deaf. “Together we developed a plan,” he said.
Time for the Deaf community was set aside at the Florida Baptist Mission House April 28 - May 1 for food distribution and medical services. On Sunday, May 2, there was worship for the Deaf community there.
Prior to the distribution, leaders of the Deaf community came to the mission house and put together bags of food including beans, rice, oil, and canned salmon.
The clinic was packed, Wilbanks reported, with the doctor seeing 40-50 patients daily. Each visit took quite some time as English was translated to Creole, then signed, and was translated back to Creole and then English.
On the days the food distribution and medical clinics were conducted, Wilbanks said, the Deaf would arrive at the mission house at 6:30 a.m. and wait until it opened at 9 a.m. to be helped.
“You could see the joy on their faces as they waited to be seen,” he said.
Food distributions also were conducted for the Deaf in Jacmel and Petit-Goave.
Wilbanks believes the experience will open doors of ministry for Florida Baptist churches with strong Deaf ministries to start Deaf churches. He is looking towards the future and working with churches in Florida to help build a school in Haiti for the hearing impaired for education, networking and vocational trade skills, he said.
“God has been doing so many miracles that I’ve witnessed in this ministry to the Deaf,” Wilbanks said. “I’ve been completely humbled to be on this journey and to witness something like this come together. These people don’t receive any help and God is allowing us to help them.
“It fills my heart with joy to see how God is meeting physical and spiritual needs,” Wilbanks added. “I’m blown away with the awesomeness and compassion for people that God has.”