In a swath of twisters a week ago, winds stronger than 200 mph ripped away the front of the Hackleburg Church of Christ building in Alabama and ravaged the foundation, walls and roof, minister Mike Lane said. Bridget Renee Barnwell Brisbois, 34, a member of the Hackleburg church, died in the storm, Lane said. Her son, Mitchell, less than a month old, was with his grandparents and survived.

Disaster relief organizations associated with Churches of Christ are preparing to respond to the powerful earthquake and tsunami in Japan that killed an estimated 1,300 people. Healing Hands International is accepting donations for Japan relief. WFR Relief Ministries of the White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, La., also is exploring how Christians can serve the people of Japan. Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City reports that eight long-term exchange students from Ibaraki Christian University had planned to return home Saturday.

WSMV channel 4 news in Nashville, Tenn., ran a brief feature on the Haiti relief work of Nashville-based Healing Hands International.
Watch the video.
I am scheduled to be in Haiti later this week to see some of Healing Hands’ work in person. I will be following up on stories we published about Haiti in 2010:
Online exclusives from January 2010:
Quake claims up to 150 from one Haitian church
Churches send doctors, medicine, food to Haiti
Ministries collecting funds for Haiti relief
February/March 2010 issue:
‘Each one of us has lost someone in Haiti’ (report from Haitian …

I received a message from Botham S. Jean, a member of the L’Anse Road Church of Christ is in Castries, St. Lucia. The Caribbean island took a direct hit from Hurricane Tomas, as we reported. Here are some excerpts from Botham’s message: Hurricane Tomas has devastated our country, particularly the more southern, undeveloped parts of the country. Our major roads, rivers, water dam and water system — in addition to our agriculture and tourism industry — have all succumbed tremendously to the wrath of this hurricane.

As we wait for new reports from Haiti, one of our readers alerted us to a related disaster on the island of St. Lucia. The island nation of about 174,000 souls is part of the Lesser Antilles, southeast of Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. About a week before Tomas skirted the coast of Haiti, the storm caused major damage to St. Lucia, a popular destination for cruise ships (and the site of the 2011 Caribbean Lectures for Churches of Christ). Tomas killed at least 14 people on the island, and Prime Minister Stephenson King estimates that it could take half a billion dollars to repair the damage, according to caribbean360.com.

Former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee spoke at a fundraiser for Abilene, Texas-based Global Samaritan Resources on Oct. 5. The Abilene Reporter-News reports: Huckabee was the keynote speaker for the annual fall dinner of Global Samaritan Resources. The group is involved in getting equipment and supplies to areas of the world in dire need of assistance. He used the biblical story of the prodigal son to illustrate one of his main points. The “fatted calf” in the story probably referred to a baby goat, he said. The jealous older brother allowed a baby goat to keep him from recognizing the blessing of his baby brother figuratively returning from the dead.

God’s Pit Crew rolled into Tennessee last week to help rebuild Shacklett Church of Christ, which was severely damaged by last month’s flooding. Twenty-eight volunteers from the nonprofit crisis response team based in Danville, Va., spent five days restoring the church on Highway 70 in the Shacklett community.

This morning NBC’s “Today” show featured a report on 15-year-old David Senatus, a boy from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who was injured in the Jan. 12 earthquake. While treating the boy for a cut, doctors discovered a heart murmur that led to the diagnosis of a serious heart condition — and eventually resulted in valve replacement surgery at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. David was one of the young Haitians sponsored by Hope for Haiti’s Children, a Texas-based organization supported by Churches of Christ. Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s chief medical editor, followed David as he was transported to Arkansas for the life-saving surgery.

Three erupting volcanoes have affected Europe, South America and Central America in recent weeks. In addition, a tropical storm has claimed lives and opened a sinkhole in Guatemala. Global Samaritan Resources is coordinating a shipment of goods to be sent to Guatemala this month. The Abilene, Texas-based ministry will send food, construction materials and medical supplies to aid victims of the storm. Guatemalan Churches of Christ and the Biblical Institute of Central America in Guatemala “have requested food and supplies to help these hurting people as nature continues to assail their country,” according to a Global Samaritan news release. “Three families were specifically mentioned who have lost their homes and all of their possessions, and countless others are at great risk of further harm or displacement.”

We’ve just posted coverage of the 2010 Nashville flood at www.christianchronicle.org. Ted Parks, our Nashville, Tenn.-based corespondent, surveys the damage and highlights churches affected in “Grand ole mess: Tennessee churches, Christian university rally after flood.”