Month: January 2010

Haitian heartbreak and hope: One story (video)

I posted this on my Christian Post blog a couple of days ago. I now have some video of the hospital referred to in the letter below. I have also learned we may have some Haitian orphans coming to our local community. The NT book of James 1:27 teaches:

Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Let’s do it. Here is the video.

A friend sent me an email from a priest in Haiti who is struggling to respond to the tragic earthquake. 

Hello Friends

After driving by night to Kennedy Airport January 12, and flying to Dominican Republic January 13, Conan and I arrived to Haiti this morning in the helicopter of the President of the Dominican Republic.

Our first tasks were the medical evacuation of one of our American volunteers, the medical evacuation of one of our Cuban doctors, the evacuation of the body if one of our American  visitors. 

The search still continues in the rubble for another missing American volunteer. 

We also had 18 funerals today.

One for John who works at our St Luke program. We miss John very much. He often stopped to at my door to tell me the milestone of his developing baby, which delighted him no end. John ran our computerized language lab. Another was for Johanne’s mother. Joanne is one of the directors of the St Luke program. All the others were of unknown people who were sadly rotting by the wayside.

Other sadnesses,

The death of Immacula, our only physician assistant, who worked at our huge outpatient side of our hospital.  The death of ALL but one of Joseph Ferdinands brothers and sisters, the death of the husband of Jacqueline Gautier as he was visiting a school which fell and all the students (all died), the death of our ex-pequeno Wilfrid Altisme who was in his 5th year of seminary for priesthood. Other stories of deaths of people who are dear to us keep coming in.

We spent the rest of the time managing the countless people with serious and severe wounds, coming to our hospital. We are doing our best for them, under trees and in the parking lot with ever diminishing supplies. We will work throughout the night and beyond. No stores are open, no banks are open. Diesel is running out. Will be out in two days if we don’t find a solution, which will mean no power at all. The hospital is without water since there is some broken line between the well and the water tower.

Structural damages to the hospital seem superficial at first glance, but about half the outer perimeter walls have fallen. The old hospital in Petionville is in ruins, And teams of workers, led by Ferel, and been digging for Molly non stop around the clock.

WE HAVE NO INTERNET. OUR PHONES DO NOT WORK. IF A CALL DOES GET THROUGH WE CAN’T HEAR OR BE HEARD. Robin has internet access through a satellite. I asked her to send this message for me, and to ready my emails and answer them as best she can for now.

Please continue to pray for us. We pray for you too.

Fr Rick Frechette

First things first. This dear man works with Friends of the Orphans in Haiti. You can help him directly by going to their website (friendsoftheorphans.com) and making a donation. He is an MD who runs the hospital there and has given away all of his supplies. In a tragic circumstance, one can turn away from hope or toward it. In the midst of so much heartbreak, Father Rick is choosing hope and we should choose to help. Now would be a good time.

For other helping opportunities, click here.

Brown wins; Dems look to nuclear option as means to get health care passed

Whether you support health care reform or not, wouldn’t the election of Republican Scott Brown in MA seem like a signal to slow things down?

Apparently Senate Democrats don’t think so. Senator Dick Durbin wants to get the bill signed before Brown can get into town and laid out a couple of ways to do it.

I suspect GOP strategists are torn. They don’t like the health care options but if the Dems ram something through, prospects for the midterm election should improve to an even more optimistic level.

National Prayer Breakfast spokesman: Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill sponsor will not attend the NPB

Yesterday, I disclosed that Hon. David Bahati, author of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, would not be attending the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC on February 4. I then posted an update and statement from Ambassador Richard Swett, spokesperson for the National Prayer Breakfast. I am providing both here in this post.

Here is my post from yesterday:

Author of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Uganda MP David Bahati, will not be attending the National Prayer Breakfast according to sources with the Fellowship Foundation. On Sunday, Uganda’s Monitor reported that Bahati planned to attend and to speak at the event. However, according to Bob Hunter and others with the Fellowship Foundation, Bahati was invited months ago [prior to introducing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill] to come to Washington DC only as a volunteer and not to attend the NPB event. According to these sources, Bahati declined the invitation prior to introducing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. According to Mr. Hunter, the Monitor article and Bahati’s statements came as a complete surprise to the NPB officials here. However, in the event the article was accurate, the NPB officials and Congressional leaders were taking action to assure that Bahati did not come to any of the meetings.

I want to make clear that according to the Fellowship the invitation to come to Washington, DC as a volunteer was made prior to the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in October, 2009.

Then today, I received this statement from National Prayer Breakfast spokesperson, Ambassador Richard Swett. Richard Swett was Ambassador to Denmark from 1998-2001. Prior to that post, he represented the 2nd district of New Hampshire from 1991-1995 as a Democrat. 

Ambassador Richard Swett, a longtime associate of the Fellowship Foundation since his days in Congress in the early ‘90s, confirmed the accuracy of Mr. Hunter’s report to Warren Throckmorton. He went on to state, “The National Prayer Breakfast is an organization that builds bridges of understanding between all peoples, religions and beliefs and has never advocated the sentiments expressed in Mr. Bahati’s legislation.”

For more information, contact Bob Hunter at [email protected].

Ugandan Muslim cleric threatens to hunt down gays

Buried in a feature article in Uganda’s Daily Monitor about Martin Ssempa’s plans to hold a march against homosexuality is a statement about a Muslim cleric named Multah Bukenya. Reporter Rodney Muhumuza wrote:

Multah Bukenya, a Tabliq cleric, has also renewed his threat to form squads that would hunt gays.

Tabliq is an explession of Islam which focuses on inviting others to join their faith, a kind of mission emphasis. In some places, notably Uganda, it has been linked to more radical political activities. According to prior reports, this particular cleric has in the past made clear his radical intent to rid Uganda of gays. While one should always use caution in reading these reports, this current article in the Daily Monitor provides some new confirmation of inflamatory statements attributed to Bukenya in the past.

In 2007, Bukenya was quoted in on the AllAfrica website (the full article is here reprinted from the Daily Monitor) as preparing for open season on gays:

Kampala — MUSLIM Tabliq youth plan to form what they call an ‘Anti-Gay Squad’ to fight homosexuality in the country. Sheikh Multah Bukenya, a senior cleric in the Muslim Tabliq Sect said the vice is widely spreading among the young generation.

“We are ready to act swiftly and form this squad that will wipe out all abnormal practices like homosexuality in our society,” he said last Friday during prayers at Noor Mosque in Kampala.

In addition to the long arm of the law, the “religious” coalition in Uganda, headed by Martin Ssempa, is advocating mob mentality. I wonder if the “Anti-Gay Squads” will be in force during Ssempa’s march next month.

Observers outside of Uganda have correctly pointed to the anti-gay conference in Kampala back in March as being fuel on the fire of anti-gay sentiment there. Rounding out the picture is the festering hatred toward gays generated by Islam in Uganda as well. 

As I see it, Christian pastors who join with this cleric in a coalition are akin to pro-life people who advocate violence against abortion clinics.  Mainstream pro-lifers are horrified by those who use or advocate such violence. Many Christians are reacting in a similar fashion to these statements and coalitions in Uganda, sadly, in this case, led by a Christian minister – Martin Ssempa – who is supported by many in the United States.

David Bahati will not attend the National Prayer Breakfast

Author of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Uganda MP David Bahati, will not be attending the National Prayer Breakfast according to sources with the Fellowship Foundation. On Sunday, Uganda’s Monitor reported that Bahati planned to attend and to speak at the event. However, according to Bob Hunter and others with the Fellowship Foundation, Bahati was invited months ago to come to Washington DC only as a volunteer and not to attend the NPB event. According to these sources, Bahati declined the invitation prior to introducing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. According to Mr. Hunter, the Monitor article and Bahati’s statements came as a complete surprise to the NPB officials here. However, in the event the article was accurate, the NPB officials and Congressional leaders were taking action to assure that Bahati did not come to any of the meetings.

I have asked David Bahati for comment regarding these reports but he has not returned the email request.

UPDATE: Jan. 19, 2010

I just received this statement from spokesperson for the National Prayer Breakfast, Ambassador Richard Swett. Richard Swett was Ambassador to Denmark from 1998-2001. Prior to that post, he represented the 2nd district of New Hampshire from 1991-1995 as a Democrat. 

Ambassador Richard Swett, a longtime associate of the Fellowship Foundation since his days in Congress in the early ‘90s, confirmed the accuracy of Mr. Hunter’s report to Warren Throckmorton. He went on to state, “The National Prayer Breakfast is an organization that builds bridges of understanding between all peoples, religions and beliefs and has never advocated the sentiments expressed in Mr. Bahati’s legislation.”

I appreciate this statement from Ambassador Swett. I think it makes quite clear the current position of the Fellowship regarding the Bahati bill.