Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

By Brian Thomas, Communications Officer of The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia

Anglicans in quake-ravaged Canterbury have given $120,000 for the relief effort in Haiti. This gift – an expression of “thanks and praise” – was announced by Bishop Victoria Matthews midway through the Diocesan Synod at Riccarton Park yesterday (October 30)

Calling the Diocesan response “magnificent,” Bishop Victoria said it also proved that recovery from the Canterbury earthquake was not impossible. 

The Bishop’s Haiti appeal – with a target of $100,000 – was launched just over a month ago, when every Anglican in Canterbury was urged to give “out of the abundance of their love for God and neighbour.”

“We give thanks that no one lost their life in the massive (Canterbury) earthquake," Bishop Victoria said at the time. "We are thankful for the response of emergency teams, civic response and Civil Defence.

"Simply reach deep into your pocket and heart and give. It will bring joy beyond all telling.”

Yesterday she confessed to Synod that she wondered whether she was “stark raving mad” for setting such an ambitious goal. But one month on, the joy of vindication was evident: “I congratulate and thank you,” she beamed at Synod members.

The Haiti quake in January killed up to 250,000 people. To date, only two percent of the rubble has been cleared away and many thousands of people are still huddled in makeshift camps.

Yesterday’s Synod heard first-hand about the squalor there from Greg Jackson, media officer for Christian World Service, who has spent time in the devastated capital of Port-au-Prince.

Synod also devoted much of its session to a review of the Canterbury earthquake, focussing not just on damaged churches but also on ways of extending support and counselling to victims across the region.

The Haiti fund will be dispersed through several major aid agencies.

ENDS