Monday, January 18, 2010

From ServLife International ... "Our Strategy for Relief and Response to Haiti Earthquake"

ServLife International is a movement defined by values of God’s kingdom, not programs built around human efforts and activities. The reign and rule of God should be made apparent to every person on the planet, despite their religion, race or socioeconomic status. We believe that issues of justice are inseparable from the good news that Jesus Christ came to proclaim. ServLife exists to take the gospel of Christ and the hope of a better, more just, world to the lives of people we touch. This happens through individual contributions of time, creativity, resources and dreams.

"Our Strategy for Relief and Response to Haiti Earthquake"

On Tuesday, January 12, an earthquake measuring a 7.0 magnitude struck Haiti near its capital city of Port-au-Prince. The damage to this country is extensive and the number of injured or dead is estimated to be in the thousands, perhaps the hundreds of thousands. ServLife International is part of an on the ground network that is bringing emergency supplies to survivors of this catastrophe.

Our strategy is working through and with local Christians and churches. In keeping with our commitment to collaboration and partnership, ServLife always determines what other organizations - whether churches or mission agencies - have capacity to receive donations and implement aid. In Haiti, we have secured an extensive network of relationships/contacts with 12 groups (missions, churches and other organizations).

ServLife is committed to a holistic approach in helping heal the world. With this in mind, our efforts are designed to meet the emotional, physical, mental and spiritual needs of those impacted. In Haiti, our implementation of this commitment will look like:

1. Encouraging ServLife's constituency to donate or fundraise among their groups for Haiti Our capacity of impact is determined by the funds we can help distribute to local, indigenous groups who may lack international contacts or access to government or large-scale aid. Rather than recruiting and dispatching specialized personnel, ServLife most often works through funds offered via the organization's supporters. We believe disaster response should be strategic and streamlined; aid in the form of extraneous, though well-intended, human resources, can severely strain local initiatives and impede productivity.

2. Assessing and researching ServLife will partner with at least five, and no more than ten groups, churches and Christian organizations to help provide monetary and personnel support for rebuilding efforts. Following an information-gathering trip (possibly multiple), phone conversations and other correspondence, we'll begin working with teams who share our commitment to Christ and proven abilities in post-disaster rebuilding. Shared worldviews and integrity is imperative as community rebuilding is a ten to twenty year-long process that offers critical new foundations for a society. It's our aim that these Christ-centered initiatives will promote lasting hope and healing for future generations.

3. Prioritizing our response initiatives and seeking partnerships in the following areas:
a. Groups working with children and teams offering post-traumatic counseling for children who have lost a family member.
b. Groups supporting immediate living needs - Working with local churches that are often neglected by larger aid groups, ServLife determines how to provide resources for community distribution. For example, practical post-earthquake items might include large numbers of hygienic supplies, basic kitchen utensils, medical equipment and first aid supplies and other essential materials that may have lost during the earthquake. Again, our capacity to deliver is contingent upon donor support.
c. Local church assistance in building/reconstruction efforts and distribution of supplies, Bibles, etc.
d. Micro-financing - As funds allow, we establish a ServLife Hope Fund that provides micro-financing opportunities to the local community. This is implemented at least six months post-disaster as initial remediation response is complex and time-consuming.

PLEASE NOTE: ServLife may support teams with specific expertise in providing relief services. These possible teams include:
Trauma counseling
Medical personnel
Clean-up and reconstruction builders (as opportunities present)

ServLife Financial Goal: $100,000.00
Meeting this goal of $100,000.00 enables ServLife to generously respond to the devastation in Haiti. We ask that you pray and ask God how you can help.
ServLife will follow the same pattern in Haiti as it has undertaken for sixteen years; we will work with and through the grass-roots efforts of indigenous Christians.

Please join us in praying for the children and families devastated by the earthquake in Haiti. And please send a generous gift to help them today.

We have immediate opportunity to get medical Packs.
Cost: $500 each. They are of $13,000 value of medical equipment and medicines. We have a goal of providing 25 packs to our medical contacts on the ground in Haiti.

You can
give online or mail your donations to the ServLife office at:
ServLife International
PO Box 20596
Indianapolis, IN 46220 USA
(Please mark "Haiti" on your donation)

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