Interfaith prayer service held for Haiti

CEDAR RAPIDS - “Disaster comes and comes again, we dare not turn and walk away.”

The words, sung to the tune of the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” served as the theme of an interfaith prayer service for Haiti Saturday at Christ Episcopal Church, 220 40th St. NE, in Cedar Rapids.

The service was meant to “give a message to people that we can make a difference,” said the Rev. Tom Capo, pastor at Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist.

“People needed that time to be here, to have that opportunity,” Capo said after the service.

He was one of eight speakers representing different denominations and faiths to deliver messages to a crowd of about 40 worshippers while images of the people and buildings in Haiti flashed behind the altar.

During the service Capo encouraged people to remember their differences but to recognize their similarities, as well.

“Each of us is different. We have different priorities, different causes, different resources,” he said. “But each of us has come here today because we care about the people of Haiti. We will probably never all think alike but we come together today because we all love alike.”

Bill Aossey, a member of Cedar Rapids' Muslim community, reminded the crowd of how quickly disaster can strike.

“In the time it took many of us to drive here and attend this service and then leave, 100,000 people were swept away,” Aossey said.

While it's important to get together and pray during disaster, he said, it's also important to give thanks in times of happiness. It's also important, he said, to help others even if disaster hasn't struck.

In his remarks Capo, too, told worshippers that Haiti will be in need beyond today.

“Let us remember, like the flood here in Cedar Rapids in our own home, this crisis in Haiti is not just today, this week, this month or this year,” he said. “There will still be needs in Haiti for years to come. If you feel called to give next year, the need will still be great.”