FROM OUR PRIMATE

A statement from the Primate on the disaster in Haiti
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Anglican Church of Canada
January 13, 2010 - Haiti has been devastated by a terrible earthquake. Thousands are feared to have died and many more injured. The people in Haiti have suffered so much in the past 10 years. Hurricane Jeanne ripped through the island in 2004 and in 2008 tropical storms took a huge toll. Now a new disaster. Through the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund, our church has made an initial donation of $15,000 for emergency relief through Action by Churches Together (ACT).

The Anglican Church of Canada and especially the Diocese of Montreal has had a long relationship with the Anglican Church of Haiti, personalized in many respects by Canon Ogé Beauvoir, the dean of the theological seminary in Haiti. A graduate of Montreal Diocesan College, he went to Haiti in 1991 as a Volunteer in Mission. In 1996, he returned to Canada to serve as regional mission coordinator for Africa and the Middle East. He returned to Haiti, where he was born, in 2004. We are grateful to know that he and his wife Serette are safe.

Please pray for the people of Haiti as they struggle with such devastation and grief..

Please remember as well their relative in Canada and the Canadian Haitian community many of whom anxiously await news of friends, relatives and loved ones.

Please give generously to increase our support for relief efforts.

I make this appeal in the name of Christ in his compassion for all who suffer.

+Fred