Duke Chapel To Host Service On Haiti Earthquake Anniversary, Jan. 12
The service will include a recitation of The Lord’s Prayer in Creole.
Together with Duke’s Haiti Lab, Duke Chapel will host a service of remembrance Monday, Jan. 12, to mark the five-year anniversary of the massive earthquake in Haiti.
The service, which is open to the public, begins at 4:30 p.m. in the chapel and will last about 45 minutes.
“This is an opportunity for the Duke community to commemorate the lives lost in this tragedy,” said Jacques Pierre, a member of the Haiti Lab and a visiting lecturer in French and Haitian Creole and culture. “It is also an occasion to nurture the many bonds between the university and people in Haiti.”
“The chapel is just one among many parts of the university that have built relationships between the people of Duke and Haiti,” said the Rev. Meghan Benson, the chapel’s director of worship. “We are glad to recognize those bonds in this worship service and hope that others will find it a meaningful opportunity for reflection."
The service includes a recitation of The Lord’s Prayer in Creole and a moment of silence at 4:53 p.m., the time the earthquake struck. Chapel Dean Luke Powery will preach and members of the Chapel Choir will sing.
The event will be webcast live on the chapel website.
In advance of the service, a remembrance book will be in the chapel, beginning on Friday, for people to write messages of solace and condolence to the people of Haiti.
The current photo exhibit, in the chapel depicts life in and around the Blanchard Family Health Clinic in Haiti, which is run by Family Health Ministries (FHM). FHM is a nonprofit agency founded by Duke doctor David Walmer and his wife Kathy.