A second medical team sponsored by North Carolina Baptist Men is on its way to Haiti today (Jan. 19). Following the lead of the first team last week, they will fly into the Dominican Republic and drive overland into Haiti.

The first team, consisting of a doctor, emergency medical technicians and paramedics has been working at a hospital in Haiti since last Friday.

Contributed photo Two young Haitian men display a banner pleading for help in their decimated neighborhood. Behind them is what's left of a mini-market that collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.

The second team, led by Steven Logue of Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, consists of 10 people and is carrying many needed medical supplies, according to Richard Brunson, director of N.C. Baptist Men.

Brunson and Gaylon Moss, disaster relief coordinator, are working on logistics to extract the first team on Thursday or Friday. The team, led by Jack Frazier of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Fuquay-Varina, was among the first into Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake disaster and was initially frustrated by restricted flights into the Port-au-Prince airport, before finally traveling overland through Dominican Republic into Haiti.

At this stage of disaster relief, the needs are very specialized and primarily medical. He reminded North Carolina Baptists that many volunteers with a variety of skills will be required in the future.

“We are looking at being involved in Haiti for a long time,” he said.

While many want to help, N.C. Baptist Men is accepting monetary donations only at this time.  

“Please continue to pray for the people who were affected by the earthquake and pray for the volunteers who are and will be going to help,” Brunson said.

Ironically and tragically, retired senior consultant for music ministry at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Dan Ridley, learned of a friend from his home church in Michigan who was killed lin the quake after arriving in Haiti on a mission trip just one hour earlier.

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Send a check marked “Haiti Relief” to: NC Baptist Men, PO Box 1107, Cary, NC  27512