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Pair of Batavians in Haiti reportedly safe after 7.0 earthquake

By Howard B. Owens

A group of Western New Yorkers, including at least two Batavians, on a mission to Haiti are safe according to a report on a blog following  a massive 7.0 earthquake that struck the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

WBTA reports that Sharon Wolf and Zack Ashley, both of Batavia, are on the mission and are safe. Both are with St. Paul Lutheran Church.

This post by Sue Steege lists all mission members and says Wolf and Ashley are on their first mission to Haiti, while some mission members have made the trip as many as five times.

The mission is being led by Pastor Chuck Whited of First Trinity Lutheran Church in Tonawanda. He wrote about his arrival in Haiti on Saturday in this blog post.

According to this post, the mission was scheduled to return home on Jan. 18. That return date is now uncertain, according to WBTA.

Robin Walters

Howard, Thanks you so much for posting this! I was just wondering this morning about Sharon Wolf and the rest of the team that had gone there. She was so excited to be going on the mission trip. They surely will have quite a mission now.

Sharon has been very active with St. Paul Lutheran church here and she is a huge supporter of Care-A-Van Ministries. We will be praying for her, Zach and the rest of the team that is there.

Can you imagine, I saw pics on the internet.. we are so blessed for what we have here.

Jan 13, 2010, 9:32am Permalink
Karen Miconi

Our prayers are with all of them. They are very special people to dedicate their lives to helping others, and for spreading Christianity. They are needed more than ever now. Gods Speed..

Jan 13, 2010, 10:22am Permalink
bud prevost

This catastrophe in Haiti really shows how trivial our supposed problems are. This is one of the world's poorest nations, and it has been decimated. God help these people, please.

Jan 13, 2010, 12:45pm Permalink
Robin Walters

Just checked the blog and spoke to Evelyn at St Paul Lutheran church. Here is the latest from Trinity Lutheran Church. As stated at the end , they are at an orphanage but not the one shown on YOu tube. thank goodness!

posted by Jason Christ on January 13 at 1:26pm]

We just got word through Sue’s Twitter account that they are OK. The post was made around 12:30 PM while the staff was meeting about the situation.

Some things you should know from our meeting:

The church will be open for people to come pray from 6-9 on Thursday, January 14. Choir will be practicing during this same time, but please feel free to come in and pray.
We will have a prayer service at 6:30pm on Friday, January 15. The will be open until 10pm following the prayer service for people to stay and pray on their own.
We are meeting with families of the missionaries tonight. We will be asking them for ways we can help. If you’d like to help, check back here regularly for details on how to do so.
If you would like to contribute money towards helping Haiti, we’re happy to accept the donations. Checks can be made Payable to First Trinity Lutheran Church with “Haiti Earthquake Relief” in the memo line. We will determine how best to use the money as needs arrive.
More info as we get it.

Edit: There’s a video on YouTube showing an orphanage in Les Cayes that sustained heavy damage. While our Missionaries are in the same city, this is not the orphanage where our team is staying and working.

Jan 13, 2010, 2:53pm Permalink
Robin Walters

Latest update email from Trinity Lutheran church:

We've gotten some news from our team in Haiti. First, Sue's messages on Facebook:

1: We have no way to call. Things in Les Cayes are fine and we are safe. Very little damage here. Slept outside last night because of aftershocks, but we are fine.
2: Please pray for the people of Haiti!!!!

And from Pastor Chuck:

We are really fine. Please don't worry. We are having a great time. Just hoping we can leave on time. Les Cayes did shake a lot, but not too much damage. I preached on hope tonight. Love y'all lots. The team has good spirits. Will call or write when possible.

Great news!

Jason Christ
Director of Student Ministries

Please keep this local team in prayer
God Bless
Robin

Jan 13, 2010, 11:51pm Permalink

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