As have most Americans, members of Lake Travis United Methodist Church have been overwhelmed with sympathy and grief for the Haitian people.

But for some in the church the loss was personal. This was the case for member Christy Chermak, a Lake Travis High School graduate who has recently returned from a four-month mission project with Engineering Ministries International and was in Haiti in September 2009.

For Chermak it was a feeling of frustration.
“I understand the importance of sending as much financial support as I can, but more than anything, I want to be standing side by side with the friends I made during my time in Haiti,” Chermak said. “I will continue to pray for the country of Haiti every night, and I very much so look forward to the day I can return to help them rebuild.”
It was also personal for Senior Pastor Ray Kiser. Kiser lost friend and colleague the Rev. Clint Rabb who was in Haiti at the time of the quake.
Rabb was there as a part of the ongoing work of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church to assist the people of Haiti.
Trapped in the collapse of the hotel where he was staying Rabb was pulled from the rubble but later died of his injuries.
In reflecting on the tragedy Kiser mourned the loss of his friend.
“The loss of our friend and colleague Clint Rabb brought sorrow to many of us on a very personal level,” Kiser said. “When you multiply this kind of loss thousands of times, we only begin to grasp the magnitude of grief and pain in Haiti. I pray that our concerned response will extend for months and years into the future.”
In response LTUMC members have collected more than $7,500 to be used by the United Methodist Church’s Committee on Relief.
All monies collected by UMCOR go directly to relief efforts. In addition, members of the church assembled 260 health kits that contain basic supplies that are distributed to disaster victims.
Anyone wishing to donate Haiti relief to UMCOR may visit its web site at www.umcor.org.