15462: (Hermantin) -Miami Herald-The Faithful Among Us (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, May. 03, 2003

The Faithful Among Us

Personal: Renel Nol, a Haitian-born businessman now living in North Miami
Beach, knows of the desperate need for an ambulance for a missionary
hospital called Beraca in his hometown, Point of Palms, Haiti. When visiting
his family, he has seen the sick trudging to the hospital -- or even being
carried. The hospital cares for them regardless if they have the money, Nol
says. The problem: Not everyone can make it there.

''People die 100 yards from the hospital -- they have been carried on the
back of a person or in a cart,'' Nol says.

Now, Nol, 50, an elder and Outreach Committee member of the Miami Shores
Presbyterian Church, 602 NE 96th St., Miami Shores, is starting a
fundraising campaign to pay for an ambulance. It began Sunday with a Creole
lunch fundraiser at the church.

Helping the poor in Haiti -- and the rest of the Caribbean, South and
Central America -- is part of his Christian mission to ''ask what humanity
needs'' and go after it, he says.

• Religious affiliation: Born into an Episcopalian family, Nol says he was
raised as a Roman Catholic, became a Baptist as an adult and now is a
Presbyterian. ''I'm not a believer in denominations,'' he says, but rather
the Christian message.

• Charitable activities: Goes on at least one mission trip a year to help
the poor and is a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

• Message: When he was robbed of his wallet -- and all his personal
identification -- just before a mission trip to Guatemala in 1999, he vowed,
''I am not going to let the devil determine what is going to happen in my
life.'' He was able to get an emergency passport -- and he went anyway. ``In
all my life I have never been more excited. There was fire under my skin.
That was a mission trip I never forgot.''

-- DONNA GEHRKE WHITE

Is there a dedicated member of your congregation who is also active in the
community or the business world? Send your recommendations to Faithful Among
Us, Feature Dept., The Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami FL 33132 or e-mail
kfoster@herald.com and include the candidate's daytime phone



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