Check out this video that was shot while Matt and I were in Haiti – was edited by Jarod Wanner (a video and justice intern at Antioch) and that we’ll be showing next week in Chicago as World Relief NEXT helps host a Haiti Conference for 50+ churches from around North America.
I love collaboration!!
Haiti 5: Village On A Hillside from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.
World Relief’s offices in Port-au-Prince. The old offices were destroyed in the earthquake.
Pushing a broken down taxi out of the way on a main road. 95% of the roads we drove on were dirt or rubble. I saw more broken axels and drivetrains than you could imagine.
If you think the palace is bad, you should see the rest of the state buildings down the street.
This tent city was erected almost entirely using World Relief tarps. World Relief also provided a freestanding water source and wheelbarrows. Still, I’ve never seen as much hopelessness in my life. Without jobs and opportunity, little dignity remains.
A pastor who’s church was destroyed (see how the top story fell on the chairs below).
A 107 year old woman with over a 100 grandkids who was trapped under rubble for a day and vows to help rebuild her neighborhood.
A group of kids Matt was making guerilla noises at.
Noah, a church planter from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Below is a picture of a tent city just before sunset in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
The degree of displacement and trauma from the earthquake five months ago is visible everywhere. Less obvious, is the complexity involved in relief and development in Haiti:
- The hospitals in danger of having to close because of all the free medical assistance which has come to Haiti – How do the Haitian hospitals compete?
- The mothers selling clothes on the side of the streets who are affected by large scale handouts of clothing. How do they make a living?
- The men who lose income from shoveling and discarding rubble because of the endless stream of church volunteers eager to help out. How do they find work?
The long term recovery and health of Haiti is a topic more convoluted and complicated than I’ve ever tried to wrap my brain around.
We’re here at the World Relief offices in Haiti with 8 other pastors, the CEO and his wife and several technical experts from World Relief Baltimore. Our task is to learn, engage the conversation and, ultimately, help craft a collaborative vision for how North American Churches can partner with Haitian Churches in the long term rebuilding of Haiti.
I don’t think we’re going to be much help. The World Relief staff here is amazing – I just want them to tell me how I can help them, and I’m in.
If you’ve ever wondered about the kind of work World Relief does, what Food Security and Distribution is all about and the challenges to helping vulnerable people in unstable conditions, then make sure to watch this video of Joseph Mutumba the World Relief NEXT team shot while in Sudan.
Educational to say the least!
Food Security from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.
Kip just sent this picture over of the Give Your Life Away t-shirts.
Jason Gabbert designed the shirt and Rise Up, a local non-profit that sells apparel to help kids in poverty worldwide, printed them up for us.
We’re going to sell them this Sunday at Antioch as part of the Give Your Life Away sermon series and then they’ll be for sale at the Kilns Bookstore and on the World Relief NEXT website.
All proceeds from the shirts benefit World Relief NEXT.
Coolest church t-shirt I ever saw!!
(If you’d like to see about a bulk discount e-mail Ann Mara at ann (at) worldreliefnext.org)
Below is a short video that Matt Smith, Ben Edwards and Beth Fischer produced while they were in South Sudan about the upcoming elections in Sudan.
Sudan is the largest country in Africa and has their first elections in over two decades coming up on April 11th. The churches in Sudan work tirelessly for peace as peace and security is essential to almost everything else in their society and ministry in their churches.
The tagline, Salam Sudan, simply means “peace” in Sudan. World Relief is asking churches in America to partner in prayer with churches in Sudan for peace in Sudan.
Make sure to check back to worldrelief.org/sudan over the next several days for more videos and information on the elections in Sudan.
Salam Sudan from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.
I have some gifted friends over in Sudan right now. Ben with photography. Beth with video. Matt with writing. All of them with hearts for people…
You simply must follow along on the World Relief NEXT blog and see those gifts at work…
Here’s the final video for Haiti|5 - a long term engagement campaign that World Relief NEXT is developing in conjunction with World Relief and will be presenting to North American churches in May.
There are some amazing ways for churches to be involved directly with Haiti being developed that will be coming as a part of Haiti|5.
Stay tuned for updates to the World Relief NEXT web page to incorporate Haiti|5 as well as updates on the home page, blog and store!!
Haiti|5 Final Video from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.
World Relief NEXT is sending a team of three to Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo over the next three weeks.
Sudan will be having arguably their first free elections in the history of the country on April 11th. The event is certain to create a lot of need and difficulty for the Sudanese church. The team will be trying to tell the story of the church in Sudan with the hopes of building partnerships with the American Church.
In Congo, the team will be pursuing interviews as part of both a book project titled “In Their Own Voices” and a Gender Advocacy Campaign through World Relief NEXT.
You can see the trip itinerary by clicking on the handy interactive Google map below!!
Some helpful links for following along:
View congo/sudan trip in a larger map
Check out the poster for the March 19th Haiti Benefit Concert that Justin and a bunch of local artists are putting on.
If you live in Bend, save the date and plan to be at the Tower Theatre for the concert – all proceeds go to World Relief NEXT to benefit World Relief programs in Haiti.
(Also, make sure to check out Russ and Cheryl at Studio Absolute – all the stuff they create is amazing!!)
The Justice Posters arrived on Friday.
150 Limited Edition prints that are 24″ by 36″ (poster size, which means “Super HUGE”).
The prints are selling for $75 for one or $125 for two. All proceeds go toward The Justice Conference scheduled for February 11 + 12 of 2011.
You can order them online at www.worldreliefnext.org/store
Make sure to get yours now!!
Below is a draft mockup of a project we’re working on through World Relief NEXT.
It is a campaign around the stages of Disaster Response that will include a DVD, Web updates, print pieces and more. The intention is to help people understand what is involved in disaster response, how long it can take and how they can continue to be involved.
Many people are beginning to wonder where all the money for Haiti went, what happens next and what they can do to stay involved. The Haiti(5) Campaign should be a powerful resource for churches, organizations and individuals to continue to pray for and stay engaged with the people of Haiti.
Hoping to roll this one out toward the end of February!!
(Thanks also to Studio Absolute for the artwork below…)
Here’s a short video of Matt Smith the day or so before he left for Haiti.
(He’ll be sharing a report of his trip next Sunday at Antioch.)
Haiti from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.
Matt Smith, Antioch’s College and Justice Pastor, is in the Bahamas and will be flying to Haiti tomorrow with World Relief.
Matt has signed World Relief NEXT up with a Twitter account and will be posting regular updates. If you’re on Twitter make sure to follow Matt – http://twitter.com/worldreliefnext
This is a little early to be letting the cat out of the bag, but I’m pretty excited about it.
We’ve been slowly working on a conference for February of 2011 that will be a bigger version of the conferences we’ve done in the past.
It will be called The Justice Conference and will be co-sponsored by Kilns College and World Relief NEXT.
Today we received confirmation from our second main speaker – Adam Hochschild. Dr. Hochschild is the author of King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa and Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free and Empires’s Slaves.
In addition to Dr. Hochschild, we have received confirmation from authors Mike & Danae Yankoski. Mike took a break from college to live on the streets with America’s homeless and wrote the book Under the Overpass to share what he learned. Mike & Danae jointly released Zealous Love: A Practical Guide to Social Justice this past month.
There are several more invites still open – so you’ll have to wait to see what the full list of speakers looks like. We’re only 1/3rd of the way there!!
Mark your calendars now and plan to pre-register at the upcoming Apologetics Conference in February for a special discount price.
We’ve been working straight through for the last 24 hours at World Relief NEXT to help support World Relief with their Disaster Response in Haiti.
Here’s a flyer we made for churches to put in bulletins for people who want to help.
I really appreciate the quote from Sammy Mah in the second paragraph…
Here’s another presentation from our time in Chicago last week.
Jenny Hwang works for World Relief in Baltimore as an advocacy specialist.
She’s a pretty impressive person with the heart to match!!
Congo Advocacy from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.
Here’s a video of the short presentation that Joe Johns gave last week at our meetings in Chicago.
Joe is a new friend who is the Missions Pastor at Fellowship Missionary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He and his church are engaged in some pretty amazing ministry in Congo and have a lot to teach.
Well worth the 20 minutes!
Joe Johns on Peace & Reconciliation in Eastern Congo from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.
The WR NEXT team is getting ready to send out an e-newsletter this Friday.
Should be tons of cool stuff in it regarding the Congo Benefit Project CD’s and the recent Congo Benefit Concert!!
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