Where
Hope and Poverty Make Strange Bedfellows
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READING, England — The UBS is responding to an appeal for help from the Council of Evangelical Churches of Venezuela (CIEV) by preparing more than two million Scriptures for distribution among the victims of last year’s terrible flood disaster.
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“Following the disastrous flooding and massive mud-slides which destroyed whole urban areas across the country, we are conscious of the urgency in supplying help in the form of God’s Word,” said Dr Antonio Lara, UBS South America Regional Secretary.
The Scriptures will include 20,000 Bibles for families, 5,000 New Testaments for young people and a further 5,000 for hospital distribution. Some 25,000 Portions – Heroes of the Faith series – and New Reader Portions will be distributed to children. The other Scriptures will be Selections, some entitled God Loves You.
The UBS is appealing for funds to support this emergency program. “Please help us to reach many of these poor, disorientated victims, as well as those who have been indirectly affected by the disaster, with the Bible’s message of hope,” Dr Lara said.
Reporting on the crisis for the UBS, photographer Véronique Hoegger writes:
“I am exceptionally moved by the stories the flood victims tell me with tears in their eyes: stories of their miraculous escapes, stories of their losses – family and friends, neighbours, homes and possessions. For most of these poor people all that is gone. They show incredible courage and need a new hope for a better life ahead. There is also a great demand for the Bible, here in the camps where they have neither running water nor electricity.
“Last December’s torrential rains devastated Venezuela through floods and mud-slides that buried whole sections of towns, destroyed shanty-towns and any insubstantial buildings. Power lines and telephone links were broken, rivers and fresh water reserves polluted and land transport links such as roads and bridges were badly affected, creating chaos throughout a large part of the country. In January it was estimated that at least 150,000 people had been made homeless and that upwards of 50,000 had died.
Officials have called it “the worst disaster in Venezuelan history, and one of the worst in the whole of Latin America”. The damage caused could take up to 10 years to clear up and repair at a cost of billions of dollars.
Ivan Cisneros, a Venezuelan student attending Grand Valley State University in Michigan, USA, stated: “It will take years to rebuild my country. So many people need to find new homes, and it is too dangerous now to rebuild on the same sites. Many of the homeless are poor people who have no jobs. My people really need a lot of help.”
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In some of the mud-covered areas it was impossible to remove the bodies of the dead before the mud had set solid. Towns like Carmen de Uria, Tigrillos and Anare have seen whole sections obliterated and there is no accurate assessment of the death toll.
The following story of a family’s dramatic escape from the floods is provided by Assist Communications:
Life as they know it no longer exists for Gustavo de Cerey, his wife Juana Rosa and their six children. Last December the close-knit family was living a quiet life in the jungles of Colombia near the border with Venezuela. Today they are homeless in a refugee shelter in Maracay, Venezuela. Homeless they may be but not hopeless, thanks to a strong grounding in the Christian faith and a determination to follow God’s teaching in the Bible.
The de Cereys were happy in Colombia – an evangelist had led Gustavo and his family to become Christians only a few months before. Gustavo was having a hard time providing an adequate living for his five daughters and son aged from one year old to 12 years.
That is why Gustavo sold his home and most of his possessions, after seeking God’s guidance in the Bible and through prayer, and moved to his mother’s village, Catia la Mar in Vargas State, Venezuela. There he found a new home for his family and began work as a bricklayer.
One month later, on December 15, 1999, torrential rain struck Venezuela, especially the area where Gustavo and his family had just taken up residence. During early evening, Gustavo heard the rain pouring down on his home but he went to sleep, thinking everything would be all right in the morning.
Suddenly, in the middle of the night his wife shook him and he was quickly awake. She told him she had just had a dream – she called it a vision from God – that their house would be destroyed in minutes.
Juana Rosa and her 5-year-old son Antonio went to the window. They saw gushes of water coming down from the mountain. They heard the roar. They ran back to Gustavo in shock. Gustavo could hardly believe his eyes. A river of fury was at his doorstep. Mud, boulders, cars, houses – and the bodies of people caught up in the cataclysmic cascade – were being swept away within feet of his house.
At first Gustavo was paralysed with fear. Then he realised that he had to act quickly. He did not concern himself about his own safety, but his family – he had to save his family! To do that he had to find safe ground.
Gustavo gathered up his wife and children and they said a quick prayer. Then, with two of his smaller children under one arm and two more on the other, and with Juana Rosa grasping her precious baby, Johana Peres, closely to her, Gustavo directed them out of the house and towards higher ground.
It was not easy – in fact, it was like a nightmare. They slipped in the mud and had to avoid the raging torrents in the dark as much by sound as by what they could see. They could hear the screams of their neighbours, many of whom had been surprised by the massive landslide and were being swept to their deaths. They could do nothing to help, merely try to survive.
They found higher ground. Gustavo called their escape a miracle from God, in whom the family had put their trust only a few months before. Then they spent the next 24 hours living in the wasteland – no home, no possessions, no food, no water, and no apparent help!
They had tried to return to their home but there was nothing to salvage. Their home and all their possessions were buried deep in mud.
Wet, tired and hungry, the family huddled together and cried tears of despair. Finally, a helicopter provided by the Venezuelan military rescued them. They were eventually taken to a refugee centre several hours’ drive from their home.
There they learned the scope of the calamity, that the floods were Venezuela’s worst disaster and one of the worst in Latin American history. Government officials estimated 200,000 homeless and tens of thousands dead.
Gustavo realised that he could not return to Catia la Mar. Officials told him that his family would have to relocate to another area in Venezuela where landslides are not a threat. The fact that they are not Venezuelan citizens clouds their future.
The family’s life is now ‘on hold’. Gustavo wants to work but he cannot start applying for a job until he finds a permanent home. His son Antonio still has nightmares about that rain which brought terror. The family of eight is crowded into a one-room apartment. Some of them are sick. Two of the children are anxious about starting a new school in a new community.
International Aid representatives and several of their partners from the CIEV visited the family while on an assessment trip to the stricken areas. The de Cereys were given relief items such as hygiene kits containing items like towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and clothes.
Gustavo appreciated the relief items. Tears came to the eyes of Juana Rosa while nursing her baby. She repeated the words of her husband that it was a miracle her family is alive. “It is God’s doing,” she sobbed. Gustavo added that it was like being born again.
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The group gathered in prayer: a prayer of thanks; a prayer for the family’s future; a prayer for the nation’s future. As the aid and church representatives took their leave of the de Cereys, Gustavo said, “Tell your people to pray for us!”
How many more stories of survival are there like the de Cereys’? There is a real opportunity to help families like this by providing Bibles and New Testaments so that they can continue to learn about God and grow in faith. The UBS and the CIEV want to make sure this opportunity is not missed. (WR 351/31 - 6.00)
Where
Hope and Poverty 
PORT-AU-PRINCE,
Haiti — “It was the great expression of
hope and joy in the midst of all that squalor and misery that moved us most,”
recounts Jon Jeffery, UBS Research Consultant.
Mr Jeffery was visiting Haiti in March to take part in the Publishing and Research Workshop being conducted there. He was speaking about a concert put on for the guests by pupils from All Saints’ Anglican School.
He describes Haiti as a nation of contrasts: the lush green lawns of the downtown Presidential Palace in stark contrast to the filth of the streets. The beggars and the run-down buildings are even more miserable when set next to the beauty and neatness of the palace and its grounds.
“There is also a sense of menace, nothing you can put your finger on, but drawn from the many armed security guards, from being locked in the vehicle while the driver haggles with a vendor for a souvenir,” said Mr Jeffery.
Bible House is almost impossible to spot, half-hidden behind the street stalls selling every conceivable consumer article. Like all the other buildings, it seems dingy and dilapidated outside, and inside, the Scriptures on view have been locked inside glass-fronted cabinets.
“It is not easy for Bible House to operate in this area of the capital,” said Marco Herrera, the UBS Secretary for the Caribbean Region. “Only recently, someone was shot dead not far from Bible House.”
Thanks to the UBS initiative ‘Opportunity 21’, there is to be a new Bible House built in an area of the capital where people can come and go more freely without fearing for their safety.
“Much of the culture of violence comes from ignorance and poverty and the Bible Society in Haiti and the UBS are aiming to do something about this,” said Mr Herrera. “The ability to read frees a person from being trapped in a cycle of poverty. When you can read you can get a better job, argue your rights, help others. People who are educated do not need to resort to violence to solve their problems.”
Many
Haitians are too poor to send their children to school, which is why many of
the children grow up with very little education, unable to read and write.
“Haiti is the poorest country in the hemisphere. Also, 70 per cent of its dense population is under 20 years of age,” according to the UBS Millennium Project Book. “The people lack clean water, medical supplies and facilities, and education. The most crippling scourge is illiteracy: it shuts the door to a decent living, regular food, and hope for the future.”
In the project ‘Hope and Freedom for the Children’, the Haitian Bible Society, headed up by Magda Victor, aims to encourage young people to read. Not only will it provide 450,000 New Reader Portions but there will be audio cassettes developed in partnership between UBS, Alfalit – the literacy NGO (non-government agency) – and Hosanna – an American-based organisation that develops dramatised versions of the New Testament for use in the ‘Faith Comes By Hearing’ program.
“Schools are now being visited and signed up for the project and this is welcomed with enthusiasm,” said Mr Herrera. “The materials are being developed in Miami and staff are being trained there too. The project aims to interview children and provide detailed reports over the six years the project is scheduled to run.”
Half a million New Testaments will be given to pupils who develop their reading skills to a high enough level. There are also 35,000 Bibles for those who do well in the course. In this way, the Society is hoping to reach a large proportion of the 1.6 million elementary school pupils.
“There is such talent in Haiti,” said Mr Jeffery. “Art and sculpture are highly developed even though this is street art. The people make use of what talents they have even if they have no money.
One has the feeling that with a bit of paint on the old colonial houses, a bit of effort in cleaning up the roads, it would not be too difficult to restore beauty into this society.”
At All Saints’ Anglican School, the workshop participants were treated to a concert given by the pupils. Mr Jeffery noted how immaculately the pupils were turned out in their brilliant white shirts.
“The two choirs sang in French and Creole. The children were so talented and seemed to represent everything that Haiti could be. I was surprised to find myself listening to a full symphony orchestra, which played mainly classical or Haitian folk music very well.
“At the end of the concert the choirs started singing a soft and haunting melody which gradually rose to a crescendo. People were joining in the chorus and the atmosphere was heavy with emotion. It was a patriotic song of freedom, a traditional song in Creole, the Haitians’ own language. At the end the audience rose to its feet as one, clapping and cheering the singers.
“We left the hall thinking how great things were – or could be – and then outside once more, back to the reality of the poverty and squalor. What a contrast these young singers made. It was fitting that such hope was to be seen in their young faces. That is why the UBS wants to help uplift these young souls, guiding them by the Bible’s morality into a real knowledge of God, while learning to read,” Mr Jeffery added. (WR 351/32 - 6.00) [PHOTOS]
Cuban
Cardinal thanks UBS for ScripturesHAVANA, Cuba — A grateful Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, Archbishop of Havana, spent nearly two hours hosting representatives of UBS in the 18th-century palace that is the headquarters of Havana’s Roman Catholics.
While he thanked the UBS for all that the Fellowship has done for Cuba, before the meeting over tea and coffee ended, he received a pledge from the American Bible Society for a special gift for the children of the island.
Meeting with the Cardinal were UBS Executive Committee Chairman Eugene Habecker; UBS General Secretary the Rev Fergus Macdonald; Jose Lopez, Chairman of the Cuba Bible Commission; Pedro Arana Quiroz, Chairman of the Americas Regional Committee; UBS Regional Secretaries Antonio Lara of South America and Guillermo Luna of Central America; UBS Program Consultant Antonio Mendoza Luna; and Larry Jerden, UBS Head of Communications Services.
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Lining the walls of the meeting room were paintings of the 14 bishops of Havana, dating to 1763. The first six, explained the Cardinal, were from Spain. Despite the secularisation of much of Cuban life, Cardinal Ortega explained that half of the country is still Catholic, and eight per cent are Protestant. The remainder are secular, atheist, or followers of Santeria, an African/Cuban religion.
The first item of business for the Cardinal was to express his deep gratitude for the Scriptures sent to the island by UBS.
“I have been very aware of the many Bibles that came into Cuba last year,” he said with a smile. “I know that in the last few years there has been a substantial increase in the number of Scriptures brought in, and I was especially pleased by the 100,000 Study Bibles with the UBS imprint that came for the Pope’s visit.”
The Cardinal said he was especially moved when he learned of 30,000 Bibles that had come through UBS as a result of gifts from Catholic school children in Peru. “It was truly moving to see that these churches, families, and children were willing to sacrifice to help us have Bibles,” he said. “We will always be grateful to them.”
In Cuba, the Cardinal explained, the Catholic Church is using the Bible as a major outreach tool. “After the visit of the Pope, we visited every home in the diocese and gave them Gospels,” he explained. “Last Christmas we gave away 350,000 Gospels of John to the many who came to church at Christmas. It was a gift from the priest, and was very successful, because many people come to church then who do not otherwise come.
“We know that when we place a Bible in a home, it may be placed on a shelf. But at some point, a family member will come and open it.” The result of the influx of Bibles, he told the group, was a growing interest in the Scriptures.
“The desire and interest is growing, especially for the Study Bible,” he noted. “People are continually coming to church and requesting Scriptures.”
The Cuban people are not just interested in receiving Bibles - they are using them, as well. “One of the visible results of having the UBS Bibles is that we have seen homes open up for prayer and Bible study groups,” he said.
“There are many Bible studies in neighbourhoods where there is no church. In Havana today there are at least 50 house Bible studies attended by lay people. A priest sometimes goes and visits.
“These are called mission groups. The deacon in charge of Bible outreach for our diocese comes and keeps tabs on their growth. We never asked for formal permission to hold these Bible studies. Now they are accepted.”
But the need for UBS Scriptures continues, the Cardinal told the UBS representatives – especially for youth and children.
“Children’s Bibles are especially valuable,” he explained, “because these are read by adults as well. In Cuba, it is estimated that each Children’s Bible is read by six people! We could also use posters and other material about the life of Christ. And films and videos are very appreciated.”
When he explained that he could place videos in childcare centres, Dr Habecker said the American Bible Society would like to help.
“We will make available to you – as a gift – Bible videos for ages three to five,” the ABS President declared. “And this spring we will have completed seven of 14 videos with puppets.”
“There are child care centres in my neighbourhood, each with about 30 children,” the Cardinal responded. “They allow one hour each afternoon for videos. So this will be hugely appreciated!”
Older youth also need the Scriptures, he added, describing the current Cuban youth as generous, wanting to serve others, but “fragile” and with no deep roots or faith to sustain them. But they do want to stay in Cuba and build its society.
“In the past there has been a sense of futility and depression among the young,” he said. “But last year, in an Easter Parade of 4,000 youth, they expressed a desire to carry national emblems. I asked them why, and they said, ‘Because we want to express our desire to stay in our country.’ “There is a lot of generosity among the young people but they need the Scriptures.”
Asking for continued prayer for the people of Cuba, the Cardinal concluded by saying, “I deeply appreciate what the UBS has done, and I think we are working together in the right way. I look forward to our continuing work together.” (WR 351/33 - 6.00) [PHOTOS]