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UMCOR head, mission exec die in quake Linda Bloom, Jan 22, 2010
UMNS FILE PHOTO BY CASSANDRA HELLER
The Rev. Sam Dixon, head of UMCOR, had been trapped for some 55 hours in earthquake debris, and died before being rescued.
By Linda Bloom United Methodist News Service
United Methodists are grieving the loss of two mission agency executives who died of injuries after being trapped in the rubble of a collapsed hotel following the Jan. 12 Haiti earthquake.
The Rev. Sam Dixon, head of the denomination’s humanitarian relief agency, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), and the Rev. Clint Rabb, head of Mission Volunteers both died after being trapped in debris for more than 50 hours.
Dixon died before rescuers could free him, contrary to earlier reports from church leaders that he was pulled out of the wreckage alive. Rabb was rescued from the rubble and taken to a Florida hospital in critical condition, but died of his injuries on Jan. 17.
A third, Jim Gulley, a consultant for General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), survived the rescue with cuts and bruises, and has returned to his home in Frisco, Colo.
As UMCOR’s leader, Dixon had traveled the world assisting those in need: Indonesians whose homes were washed away by the tsunami, Africans whose crops had withered under unrelenting drought and Americans needing shelter after tornadoes destroyed their neighborhoods.
So it came as a shock Jan. 16 when, after four days when hopes dimmed and were raised again with reports of his survival, church workers learned that Dixon died.
“He lived his life following the commandments of Jesus to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and love the least of these—all over the world,” said United Methodist Bishop Janice Riggle Huie of Houston, UMCOR’s president.
Dixon was attending meetings in Port-au-Prince with Rabb and Mr. Gulley. He was one of six staff from two different relief agencies who were at the Hotel Montana when it collapsed. Four people in that group were rescued from the rubble of the hotel late on Jan. 14.
The men had been trapped together in the debris of the Hotel Montana. The MSNBC television network had shown a brief video clip of French rescue workers attempting to free Rabb, who had been trapped under a concrete slab.
“Our grief is overwhelming, in part because just hours ago we were grateful for his rescue,” said West Ohio Bishop Bruce Ough, president of the GBGM.
Rabb, 60, had been airlifted to Florida with unspecified injuries. His wife, the Rev. Suzanne Field Rabb, and other family members were able to join him at a hospital there before he died, said Jennifer Payne, Rabb’s daughter-in-law. The Rabbs have eight children and three grandchildren.
“We’re all deeply saddened to lose Clint,” Ms. Payne said. “We all love him dearly and admire everything he’s done in life. Please continue to pray, as he was doing, for everyone who was in Haiti.”
‘Tireless servant’
“Sam Dixon was a tireless servant of the church of Jesus Christ on behalf of all of us,” said Bishop Joel N. Martinez, interim top executive of the General Board of Global Ministries, UMCOR’s parent agency. “His death is an incalculable loss to Global Ministries, UMCOR and our worldwide ministry of relief to God’s most vulnerable children.”
A native of North Carolina, where he served for 24 years as a pastor, Dixon had worked at the GBGM since 1998. He became UMCOR’s top executive in 2007, where he oversaw programs of emergency relief, long-term disaster recovery, economic development, health services and peace building.
The Rev. Tom Hazelwood, who worked closely with Dixon at the relief agency, thought of him more as a brother than a boss. “He treated me like a colleague and always valued anything I had to say. He did that for everybody.
“He understood better than anyone I know the value of relationships. Sam had lots of relationships on all levels. That’s what made him so good at what he did. He was able to bridge gaps.”
Longtime colleagues in ecumenical relief work said Dixon was an effective advocate for the poor and disenfranchised who went about his work with a sense of joy.
“Sam, throughout all the years that I’ve known him, was completely devoted to the work of the church and really labored tirelessly, especially on behalf of the poor and afflicted,” said the Rev. John McCullough, a United Methodist pastor who leads Church World Service. “He will truly, truly be missed.”
The Rev. Ray Buchanan, who runs Stop Hunger Now, is a longtime friend and clergy member of the Virginia Conference.
“Sam was a man whose heart was as big as he was,” Mr. Buchanan said. “He was always open to new projects and to reaching out. He had a sense of ‘mission vision’ that went beyond the norm.”
In addition to his wife, Cindy, and children, Dixon is survived by two grandchildren, his mother and three sisters. Mover of mission
Rabb, a clergy member of the Southwest Texas Conference, spent nearly 20 years as a pastor and chaplain in Texas before joining the GBGM in 1996. He focused on special initiatives in the evangelization and church growth unit before moving to Mission Volunteers in July 2006.
He had been scheduled to receive an award for distinguished service to the church in early February from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, of which he was a graduate.
“Clint Rabb was a tough and fearless advocate for the least and most vulnerable of God’s children,” said Bishop Martínez. “He traveled the world encouraging volunteer ministry in his service on behalf of Christ and the church. He gave his life for others, and we celebrate his faithful witness.”
Together, Rabb and Dixon had helped expand the denomination’s mission work to new countries, says the Rev. John Nuessle, a board executive. “Clint and Sam both saw the big picture, and they were good at getting the job done,” he said.
Rabb is credited with formalizing the concept of congregation-to-congregation support, known as the “In Mission Together” program, as a way of nurturing United Methodism in other countries. Although the idea of such congregational support started in Russia, Ms. Nuessle said “it was Clint who took that and made it a reality in every part of the world.”
For his friends and co-workers, “he was just a nice guy to be around,” said Mr. Nuessle.
“He and Sam were two sides of the triangle for mission,” said Debbie Vest, coordinator of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission for the South Central Jurisdiction. “We have lost two outstanding individuals. I can readily understand the grief of the Haitians and the sadness of the people you see on the street because those are our faces as well.”
Mr. Gulley has extensive experience in sustainable agricultural work. As a missionary, he served from 1972 to 1979 in Nigeria and, starting in 2005, for 15 months in Cambodia, working on agriculture projects. He also worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 10 years and led a sustainable agriculture project at the GBGM.
UMNS FILE PHOTO BY CASSANDRA HELLER
‘Tireless servant’ 
