The news coming from Haiti is particularly heart-breaking. New Philadelphia will certainly make some sort of unified response. In the meantime, these are the emails that filled up my in-box this morning. There are posts from Susan Cook, Will Sibert, and Church World Service. Don’t forget to hit the “Read the rest of this entry” link to read them all.
I received this message from one of our members, Susan Cook, who has been a part of several medical missions to Haiti in recent years:
I write this email to you tonight with a broken heart. As you know the news of the Haiti Earthquake is devastating. Please asked our congregation to continue to pray for this country.
I am continuing to get reports of many of my friends who have either been injured , are dying or who have died. Throughout the day I have heard and seen images of crying babies and adults crying out for help. Hopital Sainte Croix and the Children’s Nutrition Program (I am involved with both) have been severely impacted as this is where the epicenter has taken place. Many of the churches and school buildings which I have done clinics have been destroyed also.
I am planning to return to Haiti in March to give medical attention. I’m still working out some details and would covet prayers to make this possible.
We received this from Will Sibert at the Board of World Mission:
As you probably have heard, Haiti was hit with a devastating earthquake this morning. Because of our relationship with Church World Service, we are directing our constituency to make any donations to them at this time. In case anyone contacted you about the BWM’s response, I wanted to make sure you knew how we are handling this disaster.
Please see the following article. There is a link at the bottom that directs people to the CWS website and the link for making donations! Also, the supply of response kits that congregations have prepared and shipped to CWS in the past is going to be depleted quickly, so preparing more is another way for congregations to help out.
Listening to the news this morning on NPR, the magnitude of this quake is going to have an tragic impact what is already the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. NPR was discussing attacks on the UN personnel as well as the destruction of their Headquarters.
I know you are keeping all the people of Haiti in prayer; I also encourage your prayers for all response personnel as the situation in Port au Prince sounds extremely dangerous at the moment.
Church World Service Responding to Devastating Haiti Quake
NEW YORK — January 12, 2010 — In the still-chaotic aftermath of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Port au Prince, Haiti, today, humanitarian agency Church World Service reports it is sending initial funding to its local partners in the country and is prepared to provide CWS Kits and CWS Blankets to people in need.
“We’re continuing to assess the situation,” said the agency’s Emergency Response Director Donna Derr. “CWS staff here in the U.S. and in the region are attempting to contact our long-time partners in Haiti, Service Chrétien d´Haiti, Christian Aid SKDE, and the Ecumenical Foundation for Peace and Justice.”
Derr said preliminary information they’ve received indicate that EFPJ’s House of Hope day school in Port au Prince, which CWS supports, is damaged. “Some EFPJ staff are trying to determine the well-being of the children and other staff members, but we just don’t know yet. The communications are still very difficult, very spotty.”
The European agency Christian Aid, a key partner of Church World Service, has offices in Port au Prince. CWS’s Derr said, “Christian Aid colleagues have reported that their office is damaged and they are still trying to reach unaccounted-for staff.”
With ongoing sustainable development programs across Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Derr said CWS partners in the Dominican Republic “have been contacted and accounted for. We also contacted Cuban missionaries from our partner the Cuban Council of Churches, which works with people with disabilities in Haiti. We understand that Cuban Council staff are
currently in the border city of Dajabon trying to account for a dozen of the volunteers they work with in Port Au Prince, but no reports have come in yet.”HOW TO HELP: Contributions to support Church World Service emergency response and recovery efforts may be made online at www.churchworldservice.org/donate; to Church World Service by phone (800) 297-1516; or sent to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.
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