Dallas is nearly 1,800 miles from Haiti, but the country and its people are close to the hearts of many North Texans.
"One of the interesting things about the Haitian culture is that they have incredible courage and resilience," said the Rev. Bryan Carter, pastor at Concord Church of Dallas. "Every time I've left the country, I've left inspired with the way they live their life with such faith, boldness and courage."
A few months ago, a team of 20 Concord Church members flew to Port-Au-Prince for a medical mission. The Rev. Mark Porter led volunteers through the poverty stricken country for a week, helping Haitians access food and clean water.
"We were there. We were on the ground, we were with the people, we were able to see it for our own eyes and experience it," said Porter. "I was able to see some progress, but there's still a lot of need and lot of infrastructure that needs to be developed."
In 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake killed more than 200,000 people and destroyed 250,00 homes.
Since then, Concord Church volunteers have been several trips back to Haiti and rebuilt a church.
"My heart was heavy for those families and mothers. For me, when I think about this hurricane, it's just not a storm. I think about faces of individuals that our church has been able to impact through ministry," said Carter.
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Carter said he's been in close touch with friends and the faith community in Haiti. If damage is significant and help is needed, Carter said his church is ready to jump in.
"We would deploy a team with whatever the larger rescue efforts are. Whether it's the Red Cross or another national effort, we'd definitely support those efforts as we've done in the past," said Carter. "We have a long standing relationship with Haiti. Whether it's sending supplies, whether it's volunteering, whatever we need to do, we want to help."
