GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- An award-winning author and Hollywood filmmaker will speak at the annual Gallagher Talk on Thursday night in Grand Rapids.
The free event will be in the Catholic Information Center at 360 South Division Avenue, and gets underway at 7 o'clock. It will run until 8:30 p.m.
Gerard Straub left his glamorous Hollywood life behind to film and serve the pour around the world before coming to Haiti, where he founded the Santa Chiara Children's Center in Port-au-Prince. His talk is titled, "Longing for God in Haiti."
"And so, I'm just going to be talking about what it was like to be with the poor ... making films all over the world. All through Africa and South America, and Central America," Straub told WOOD Radio.
He said he lives in a very dangerous area in Haiti, and often has to travel around wearing a bullet-proof vest. But he says that hasn't stopped him from doing Christ's commission to help the poor and feed the hungry.
"If you say you're following Christ, you need to be helping the poor," Straub said.
You can register to attend the event on the Catholic Information Center website. Click on the link in the second paragraph above to view that page.
Here is more information that was provided in a news release from the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids:
Gerard was an award-winning author and filmmaker, producing shows such as General Hospital, before leaving it all behind.
He spent two decades filming and serving the poor around the world before visiting Haiti. At first, he intended to provide a daycare for children whose mothers worked selling goods on the roadside, but before long the daycare became an orphanage as the children were dropped off but never picked up.
The orphanage, Santa Chiara, is a home of hope and healing for 60 kids. Each morning, Gerry wakes up before the kids to wait, reflect, and pray. The fruit of living in a busy orphanage and finding lonely hours of silence are the spiritual lessons that are a prophetic message for our time.
With the announcement last Friday that the U.S. will be spending $65 million on new measures to professionalize Haiti’s police, Gerry’s talk is very timely.
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