BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — The earthquake that killed at least 1,300 people in Haiti on Saturday has had an unforeseen emotional effect on a Connecticut parish and its Rev. Dukens Boliere.
Boliere is the pastor of Shekinah Free Methodist Worship Center in Bridgeport. He also oversees a sister parish with the same name in Corail, Haiti, which was destroyed by the 7.2-magnitude quake over the weekend, the New Haven Register reported.
Boliere said one member of the parish was killed and the church caretaker is in critical condition after his house, located next to the church, collapsed on him.
“The church is completely destroyed,” Boliere said. “We will be in the rebuilding mode after we assess the situation.”
Corail is in a remote, mountainous area in the country’s southern peninsula— making it difficult to contact the church even in the best of times, the newspaper said.
The Bridgeport parish will hold a meeting Sunday, “gather some money and send some survival kits,” Boliere said.
“It’s going to be an endeavor but we are determined that we are going to help them as much as we can,” he said. “It’s going to be very difficult. We are going to need logistical help from Haiti to get it to them.”