Igneous Quill

It has been eye-opening for me to learn over the past few days about how many international aid groups representing a wide range of perspectives and methods were already on the ground in Haiti when the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck.  There were medical personnel, engineers, social workers, missionaries and a diverse crowd of activists working throughout the country and in myriad ways for the betterment of the nation.  Some of these are now missing, some confirmed dead and many, thankfully, alive and well.  Christian religious groups from Catholic to Pentecostal and everything in between have been present in the country for years preaching good news and bringing a ministry of hope to this struggling country.  The Stone-Cambell communion of churches is one of these groups present in Haiti, so today I'd like to share some sources for news on their current work in Haiti.  Also, I'm providing links to charities associated with Christian Churches, Churches of Christ and Disciples of Christ which are at work in Haiti.

First, the news.  The following websites are offering updates and news from the field in Haiti:

• ICOC HotNews has been posting updates since shortly after the crisis was first reported.  This website is affiliated with the International Church of Christ.
• Living Water Christian Mission works primarily in Gonaives, 85 miles north of Port-au-Prince but has begun organizing relief efforts going into the capital to help church members and family there.  This ministry is particulary close to my heart has Salonique Adolphe, a young man I know who studied at Central Christian College of the Bible, is part of this work which is supported by independent Christian Churches.
• Lifeline Christian Mission, another ministry of independent Christian Churches, actually had American workers on the field when the earthquake struck.  They are struggling but making do.
• Global Ministries, the cooperative mission agency the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) shares with the United Church of Christ, is at work in Haiti and posting updates. The Disciples also had some teams on the ground when the disaster started.
• Hope for Haiti's Children, a Church of Christ outreach, is posting updates from the field.

Second, who to support?  Of course at this point ideology and theology matters far less than saving lives.  If you've given through Unicef or the Red Cross, you've done well.  If you have yet more giving to do, though, why not support a work that shares Christian convictions rooted in the Stone-Campbell tradition?  The following are some options I've found.  Yes, there are repeats from the news sources above.

• International Disaster Relief
• Healing Hands International
• Christian Relief Fund
• White’s Ferry Road Disaster Relief
• Living Water Christian Mission
• Lifeline Christian Mission
• HOPE Worldwide

Neither list above is intended to be exhaustive.  If you know of other news sources from Haiti or ministries working there which are connected to the Stone-Campbell Movement, please share the info and link in the comments on this post.

Above all, let's pray for Haiti.  

Although I've had some contact lately with folks in the International Church of Christ (ICOC) that gave me hope for the future of that fellowship, news of a partnership between an ICOC ministry school and a college affiliated with the independent Christian Churches came entirely out of the blue to me.

According to a brief article on Disciples Today, Rocky Mountain School of Ministry (Denver, CO) and Lincoln Christian University (Lincoln, IL) have formed an arrangement wherein undergraduate and graduate ministry courses will begin to be offered in 2010 through the Denver-based school.

Dare I hope this is an genuine show of unity within a fractured movement?  The instrumental and a cappella churches parted company early in the 20th century, and the instrumental camp further divided over the course of that same century into the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ.  The ICOC split from the "mainline" of a cappella churches in the 1980s and 1990s.  That schools of these two branches of the Stone-Campbell Movement are finding a way to work together productively is encouraging.