ORANGE - Parishioners at the First Presbyterian Church of Orange are relieved that one of their missionaries, Sharyn Babe, is in a Florida hospital to continue her recuperation from the Jan. 12 Haitian earthquake.
"Some of us have sent cards and letters to Sharyn Babe," said church music director Anthony Mark LaMort. "The presbytery is overseeing her hospitalization and she's going to be fine now that she's stateside."
According to the Feb. 7 church bulletin update, Babe suffered back and leg injuries from the earthquake. She is one of hundreds of people who have been transported to Florida for more extensive treatment and recuperation. LaMort added that Sharyn's husband, Rodney Babe, is still carrying out missionary work in Haiti.
The Babes are two of five missionaries that the Orange Presbyterian Church is supporting. For example, Ken and Judy Hollingsworth are working as translators in Cameroon while Rev. Sook Hee Bae is ministering in South Korea.
"The Presbytery of Newark finds people who want to be missionaries," said LaMort. "The presbytery then goes out among its churches for support."
The Bloomfield-headquartered Presbytery of Newark currently has 39 churches in Essex County plus three in Kearny and North Arlington. There are 31 of the Presbyterian Church of the USA congregations among 10 of Local Talk News' area of coverage, and 10 in Newark alone.
The original Presbyterian Church was founded shortly after Robert Treat and his settlers arrived from Milford, Conn. in 1666. Newark was a theocracy, run through "Old First" church, for its first 80-some years.
What became the First Presbyterian Church in Orange, as one of "Old First" of Newark's first spinoff congregations, was founded in 1719.
The Orange congregation may be counting their blessings on the timing of Sharyn Babe's airlift to Florida. Some 500 victims were flown to Miami area hospitals before the flights dwindled to a handful since Jan. 27.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist had all medical and military flights between Miami and Port-au-Prince suspended after 526 people -mostly U.S. nationals - were airlifted to that state's hospitals. The Crist administration was concerned about over-saturating the emergency wards while the state was holding the NFL Pro and Super Bowls plus Daytona Speedweeks. Flights resumed once Crist was reassured that the state will be reimbursed some $7 million in treatment costs.
But the flights remain few and far between while Haitian officials and aid workers double-check identities of the ailing. Verifying that people are U.S. or Haitian nationals or are orphans has been difficult since most records have been destroyed.
Security has been heightened since Haitian officials charged 10 members of an Idaho church group with human trafficking at the Dominican Republic border. The group said they were taking the 33 orphaned children to their missionary school across the border. Haitian officials said that two of the children told them they were not orphans.
Meanwhile, the need for medical care in and out of Haiti remains great. Native and visiting doctors and nurses have to perform surgeries and other medical care in tent cities since most hospitals have been damaged or leveled.
Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital chief trauma surgeon Dr. Mark McKenney said they have been seeing fewer internal injuries and more frequent broken and crushed bones and limbs.
"Whether we can save or have to amputate the limbs, these patients will need rehabilitation," he said. "The rehab can take months and can cost $50,000 per person."
Get well cards and messages may reach Sharyn Babe by way of the Presbytery of Tropical Florida, 440 E. Sample Rd., Suite 208; Pompano Beach, FL 33064.
The Newark Presbytery and its PC (USA) churches are still collecting Haitian earthquake relief donations. Checks and money orders are being made out to Presbyterian Disaster Relief - Haitian Earthquake Relief, c/o 192 Broad St., Bloomfield, NJ 07003-2606.
Donations may also be given through the First Presbyterian Church in Orange, 420 Main St., 07050.
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