By Erin Roach
Kentucky Baptist Convention

Louisville—Teams of volunteers are needed in Haiti as disaster relief transitions to a rebuilding phase, according to Coy Webb, disaster relief associate for the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

“The North American Mission Board, Southern Baptist disaster relief and the Florida Baptist Convention have set a goal of trying to rebuild 5,000 homes in Haiti,” Webb said. “With that kind of goal, there’s an unlimited number of teams that we would need to make that happen.”

Thus far, 18 groups from the KBC have traveled to Haiti. Webb was there in May serving on an incident command team.

“It is still a physically demanding part of the world to go to. We have fairly good living conditions. We have been staying in a combination of places, in some mission houses and hotels,” he said. “For that part of the world, the accommodations are good. The food is adequate.

“The biggest problem that we’re seeing with volunteers that is so physically demanding is the heat and humidity,” he continued. “The heat is extreme there, particularly this time of year, though it should be cooling a bit as the fall goes on.”

Haitians are recovering, Webb said, but many people continue to live in tent cities, and as the government urges people to spread out from the capital of Port-au-Prince into the surrounding communities, the burden on the families who take in survivors is growing.

“For a short while, that’s OK, but it is very draining in resources for those families who don’t have a whole lot to start with,” Webb explained.

As the work in Haiti transitions, volunteer teams from Kentucky will be coordinated by the KBC’s partnership missions department instead of the disaster relief office, Webb noted. Several people already have contacted the KBC to express interest in the rebuilding effort.

An ideal size for a team would be about 10 people, Webb said, and one team probably could complete two permanent homes in one week. When teams arrive, a concrete foundation already will be laid upon which the 246-square-foot house can be built. The structures are designed in such a way that they can be expanded by the homeowner later.

“Because of the limited resources of Haiti, it probably would be difficult for teams to be much larger than 12 just because of logistics of transportation, translators, lodging, that type of thing,” he explained. “A team of six to 12 can accomplish quite a bit of good things for the kingdom in a week.”

In addition to supporting Kentucky Baptist disaster relief through gifts to the Cooperative Program, individual Kentucky Baptists are making direct connections with the Haitian people.

While he was in Haiti, Webb befriended a young Haitian man who served as a translator for the group. Now 20-year-old Pierre Obed is scheduled to start classes this month at University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg.

“The University of the Cumberlands was very gracious and gave him a scholarship, and then the Kentucky Baptist Convention, through one of our sources, was also able to get him connected with a fairly gracious scholarship,” Webb said.

A group of 15 Baptist Collegiate Ministry leaders and students recently spent 10 days in Haiti installing water purification systems, conducting vision clinics and providing hygiene education.

Mark Reeves, a junior at Western Kentucky University, was on the team. He came back with a message from some Haitians who want to counter the negative image of their country that sometimes is portrayed in the United States.

“Haiti is not a scary place,” he said. “God is the same in Haiti as He is here. He has the same love for the people there, and He is just as much the protector there. So, I don’t think there needs to be any fear of Haiti,” Reeves said. “You want to be careful, but that’s true anywhere.”

To find out more about helping rebuild homes in Haiti, contact the KBC’s partnership missions department at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or (502) 489-3529, or toll free in Kentucky at (866) 489-3529.

Since the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, the 18 teams of Kentucky Baptist disaster relief workers have provided medical care, clean-up assistance, water purification and food. Kentucky volunteers have shared the gospel more than 2,300 times and know of 168 people who have made professions of faith in Christ. Webb reported that Baptist leaders in Haiti have estimated that 140 churches have been planted in the country and that 140,000 people have accepted Christ as their Savior since the quake.

Western Recorder issue date: August 17, 2010.