2010 January Haiti Earthquake

My thoughts often go to Haiti and the 2010 January earthquake in which thousands died. With churches, schools and homes demolished, people have been living in camps and sleeping under makeshift tents surrounded by rubble and sewage. I think of these people often when I go to bed, which is clean and warm, because the conditions they are surviving under are truly unbelievable. And now, they face the scourge of cholera.

With the help of our donors, Reiser Relief can continue to save the lives of these extremely impoverished people! We live among abundance; the Haitians live in extreme poverty. They await your generous response and we pray for God’s abundant blessings upon you. With deep gratitude, we thank you for helping us to "Keep the Wheel Turning!" Together, we make a difference in touching the lives of thousands of people!

We are compelled to provide the essential services to aid in day-to-day survival. The services Reiser Relief provides include: fresh water, food centers, education, and eldercare facilities. Many outreach projects are in or near Cité Soleil; the suburb of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Reiser Relief provides assistance to Haiti focused on the basic necessities of life: Food, Water, Education, and Building Facilities.

In 2010, Reiser Relief provided aid to thousands of people suffering after the earthquake made possible by hundreds of generous donations. We continue to provide monthly education, food and clean water various area in Port-au-Prince. We support the transportation of the food we ship which is provided through Feed My Starving Children. Each the three shipping contains 500,000 highly nutritious packets of food, with each packet keeping one person alive for one day.

Reiser Relief funds a water truck that operates six days a week making four deliveries too many poor neighborhoods/tent cities/clinics in Cite Soleil and provides water free of charge, reaching numerous impoverished families where the local people carry the water home in 5 gallon buckets. The little red truck got a lot more use in 2010, for having water is critical for life, it was a life line for the many in need. Your help is needed to keep this truck on the road.

Some reconstruction was needed for Terre Promise Primary School in Cité Soleil, which was left standing and still solid, but needed various repairs to some walls and damaged plumbing and a new expansion for classrooms. Three other non-profits and Reiser Relief funded this project which is now complete.

Grace Village buildings took some damages after the earthquake but now the new concrete walls are complete and roof sheathing is installed two dormitories and a central feeding center. Plumbing including cistern and septic tanks are roughed in and capped. We are also excited for the street children and elderly and the impact that the new Feeding Center will have on their lives. Bringing food to those that often go hungry will provide us with the opportunity to share God's loving touch to those in need. As we look to building completion, we are now pressed to provide site cleanup, and a security wall around the property. The security wall must be build to protect those who come for food as well as those who live there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB3d2sQRLj8

My past visits with poor Haitians convinced me that I always need to advocate for them and remember their needs and I ask you to share with our brothers and sisters in Haiti. The Lord will bless you for your gift.

http://www.razoo.com/story/Haiti-Earthquake-Relief

A very blessed New Year to you and your loved ones. I shall include you in my daily Mass and prayers.

Father Bernard Reiser
December 2010
One Page At-A-Glance Haiti Projects

Donations can be mailed to:
Reiser Relief Inc.
c/o Father Bernard Reiser
1800 - 111th Avenue NW #320
Coon Rapids, MN 55433 USA

Donate Online to Reiser Relief Haiti Projects



Reiser Heights School in Lespinasse, Haiti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FopBZ5ioCqQ

Terre Promise Primary School in Cite Soleil, Haiti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmYeyeyiS3U

Haiti Water Delivery Truck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELOIqkwJCN8

Father Bernard Reiser Book Signing Dec 5 2010

Reiser's Ramblings Book signing by Father Reiser at
Epiphany Catholic Church - Gift Center - 1900 – 111 Avenue NW * Coon Rapids, MN 55433

Sunday December 5th - Fr. Reiser will be in the Gift Center signing his book starting at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.


Reiser's Ramblings Books will be available for purchase and Haiti crosses will be available.

Store hours Saturday 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Gift Center is having thier annual open house celebration starting on December 4 and 5. Receive 10% off your total purchase that weekend. There will be candy canes, door prizes, and a free advent calendar.


To order Reiser’s Ramblings online
http://reiserrelief.com/book.html



Reiser’s Ramblings is a collection of Fr. Bernard Reiser’s best columns written over the past three decades. Be inspired all over again as you read Father’s take on everyday topics such as family, kindness, gratitude, prayer, helping others, and staying focused on what’s important in life.


All profits from the sale of Reiser’s Ramblings go to Haitian relief efforts sponsored by Reiser Relief Inc. Help the needy and get a great keepsake of the best columns originally written for the parishioners of the Church of the Epiphany, Coon Rapids, MN

God’s Grace At Work Within Us -By Fr. Bernard Reiser

God’s Grace At Work Within Us


My family’s farm was on the edge of a small lake. The water was surrounded by woods except for our shoreline. In a north bay, closest to the farm, was an island with a cluster of trees whose roots were no doubt nourished by the water that surrounded them. This island was a favorite place of mine when I was a boy; I would go and sit in the shadow of the trees looking at water all around.


One spring the rains came in abundance and continued into the summer. Soon, the ground around the trees was covered with water until at last the trees stood immersed in the lake. Slowly but surely,the trees died, overpowered by the same water that once nourished their roots. The island eventually disappeared and the trees, lifeless,fell and soon floated away.
When I think of the lake, the lovely island and the beautiful trees,I am reminded of the spiritual life of so many. People are like the trees growing beautifully on the island and the water surrounding the island are the things of the world, namely the materialistic and secular influences of our modern society. As the number of material things and worldly interests increase, like the water, they slowly sap the individual of their spiritual life and growth.

Matters of God become less and less important as our interest in secular matters increase. When we focus on the pocketbook and material resources, which we rely upon to pay for worldly desires and various entertainments, our dependence on God is lessened.

Soon, prayer loses its value; reliance on a fat checkbook takes the place of a Providential God. The life of the spirit becomes less and less important and slowly it is drained from the person’s soul. What can be seen, touched, felt and enjoyed over powers the unseen and the realities of a future life. The glory and joy of the Kingdom, which God has promised to the faithful, are no longer taken seriously. How quickly the things of the world can wash away the storehouse of the spiritual that has been built over previous years.

We all live on the island of the spirit and we are surrounded by the worldly attractions that oftentimes seem so appealing, so delightful and so much to be sought after. But, like the water surrounding the island, they slowly gain greater hold, greater power, over the spiritual trees in our life.


I urge everyone to take inventory on how worldly things are encroaching on their spiritual life. Are we losing our grip on the great principles and teachings of Christ that we gained in our younger years? Are matters of God slowly getting watered down, rendered less and less important?

It is good to regularly take inventory of where we are in our relationship to God and the spiritual state of our soul. Is our island of the spirit growing stronger and expanding, or is the “water” of the world encroaching upon our spiritual fortifications? Youth, middle-aged or senior, it is never too early to take inventory of your spiritual life and to evaluate where you are in your journey to Heaven.


Don’t wait until your spiritual island has been washed away by the waters of a worldly existence. Jesus once said: What profit does a man show who gains the whole world and destroys himself in the process.(Mark 8:36)

These Ramblings offer considerations as you fortify yourself against the worldly influences that could otherwise engulf you.

-- Fr. Bernard Reiser -

Page 150-151 Reiser's Ramblings
http://www.reiserrelief.org/book.html

Father Bernard Reiser's NEW BOOK

Father Bernard Reiser's NEW BOOK


Pre-orders being accepted now.
$20 per book, includes shipping.

All profits from book sales will go to help the children of Haiti through Reiser’s Relief Inc.

http://reiserrelief.org/book.html

Reiser’s Ramblings is a collection of Fr. Bernard Reiser’s best columns written over the past three decades. Be inspired all over again as you read Father’s take on everyday topics such as family, kindness, gratitude, prayer, helping others, and staying focused on what’s important in life.