Dear Saints of God,

There are two primary memory categories I have of New Orleans in the months after Hurricane Katrina.

The first category is expressed in the smell, the sights, the stillness. The smell of decay, block by block. The sight of debris piles larger than a collection of two story homes. The stillness in the air, which included the lack of the sound of birds and the ghost-town reality in former vibrant neighborhoods.

The second categorical memory was the sense (valid or not) that, as the weeks went by, people on the outside were forgetting about us and moving on with their lives.

This diocese now has the honor of hosting Madame Marie-Edith Duracin in her time of recovery from an injury sustained in the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. Mrs. Duracin is the wife of the Episcopal bishop of Haiti.

She is a clear and personal reminder to me of the long-term caring, issues and concerns that confront our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
I know we have all seen the chilling and devastating media reports about the reality on the ground in Haiti. My own New Orleans memory reminds me to stay alert to not forgetting the continuously intense needs of the Haitian people in the aftermath of the earthquake disaster.
I am thankful that so many of the people and congregations of the Diocese of Southwest Florida have contributed to Episcopal Relief and Development and other charitable organizations. I pray that we will continue in ongoing efforts.

I have stated that one of my senses of diocesan purpose in ministry is “Mercy in Mission.” This expresses the need to continue to develop and begin to use as an instrument of mission the Episcopal Charities Fund of Southwest Florida.

Mercy in Mission expresses the intentional development of, and acknowledgement of, existing congregationally based mission enterprises. The purpose of this letter though, I write with one imperative. Let us not forget! The people of Haiti will need our attention and care for years to come. I pray we will continue to have strengthened hearts of Mercy in Mission.

Faithfully Yours,

Dabney T. Smith