Haiti Earthquake: Help Victims Right Now
January 18, 2010 by Kendra Todd
Filed under Big Giver, Funding the Kingdom
Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
As many as 3 million Haitians were affected by the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake. Many have lost their homes and loved ones. It is heart-wrenching to see tragedy strike those who are already struggling and impoverished.
In 2008, I traveled to Haiti on a mission trip that really impacted my life, and it holds a very special place in my heart. My eyes tear just thinking about the overwhelming fear, confusion and sense of loss the people of Haiti are feeling right now. But in the midst of this tragedy, according to The New York Times, thousands of Haitians gathered today for church, raised their arms in the air and asked God to ease their grief, to bring them His peace that surpasses all understanding. (See the entire NYT slideshow “Haitians Pray for Relief”)
There are 3 important ways we can help the victims of this earthquake:
#1. PRAY
More than anything they need our prayers: for the trapped to be rescued from beneath the rubble, for the injured to be healed, families that have been separated to be united, for food, water and medical supplies to reach those in need, for the protection of emergency relief workers from around the world descending upon Haiti to lend help, for hope to be lifted out of despair as He builds a new Haiti from the rubble.
#2. CIRCULATE THIS BLOG TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
There is a “Share” link at the bottom of this posting. Please forward the link, repost, facebook, tweet…spread the word to your friends and family.
#3. GIVE
Here are a few charities that I am personally involved with, that are providing both short-term emergency relief and long-term rebuilding support to the Haitian communities. Some are faith-based charities, others are not. Some are large and others run by only a few. All are touching lives. I pray that one of these will appeal to you. Please join me in helping those less fortunate in their greatest time of need!
CARING HOUSE PROJECT FOUNDATION
To donate: http://www.frank-mckinney.com/donate.aspx
The Caring House Project Foundation was founded in 1998 and has provided the world’s most desperately poor and homeless from around the world with the most basic of human needs – shelter. CHPF builds villages in Haiti based upon a self-sufficient existence where the poor and homeless will no longer have to rely on government or charities to improve their lives.
This week, Frank McKinney and a team of doctors, paramedics, firefighters and other team members specifically trained in search, rescue and extraction techniques in natural disaster were the first American Emergency Relief Team to arrive.
Frank & the Team's Arrival in Haiti Jan 14
A short report on their amazing efforts : The team has been able to rescue a woman named “Izabelle” who had been trapped for 72 hours under her house (took 5 hours for the team to get her out). Yesterday they saved another woman who was trapped under her house, and a man who had been buried for 90 hours.
Click Here To Donate
Or use the call center: 1-800-730-2537
Operation Blessing International (OBI) provides hunger relief, clean water, medical aid, disaster relief and more. OBI is recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of “America’s most efficient charities” and was awarded the top four-star rating by Charity Navigator, America’s leading charity evaluator.
In Haiti, OBI works in partnership with Dr. Paul Farmer and his Haitian NGO “Partners in Health” (PIH). PIH runs 10 hospitals in Haiti and treats over 1 million patients a year for free. PIH has hundreds of employees and medical staff in Haiti and OBI is now coordinating with PIH to best provide maximum strategic relief. OBI needs your donation to help bring emergency food, water and medicine to Haiti’s quake victims.
Update from the field:
Our emergency paramedic team arrived yesterday morning from Israel. We immediately equipped them with medicines and transported them into the heart of the quake zone and to the National hospital, the same hospital where we were working on the day the quake struck. Since that moment the hospital has been inundated with patients, with too few doctors to keep up with the influx of emergency cases. The halls are filled with the groans of the untreated, the screams of those undergoing treatment, and the stench of those who didn’t make it.
LIVING HOPE MINISTRIES IN HAITI
Click Here to Donate To Emergency Relief Aid
Living Hope Ministries was founded in 1994 and is located in Grande Saline, Haiti. The ministry includes a church, a primary school for pre-school through 6th grade, a trade school that offers training in six different trades, and community projects. Their mission is to train a generation of young men and women to change their families, communities, and nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Word and action.
Financial contributions are being accepted for earthquake relief and will be used for purchasing food and supplies in Haiti for bot the mission and the local community. Contributions will also be used for building repairs.
An Update from LHM:
Mary Jane and Andris (the LHM missionaries) are unharmed. LHM buildings sustained very minor damage, however the surrounding community was hit hard. Carrefour where LHM is located was only a few miles from the epicenter of the earthquake. LHM has opened up its buildings and classrooms to the community for the homeless earthquake victims to stay in and LOTS of people are now using our newly built 4 toilets, 2 showers and sinks! The latrine withstood the earthquake and now hundreds of people are using it! God is so good to prepare the way! I never would have thought our latrine would be so widely used. 
The showers, sink and toilet are providing relief and comfort to very shaken, distraught Haitians. It is amazing that God preserved LHM to be a place of refuge for the entire community and prepare LHM to take on many “guests”.
Haiti Relief Effort Donations: http://worldvision.org
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision provides impoverished children and their communities with access to clean water, nutritious food, education, health care and economic opportunities.
WV on Haiti Disaster Response:
World Vision now has more than 800 staff on the ground, as well as a dozen international disaster response experts responding throughout affected areas. Our plans are to distribute food, water, and medical supplies to meet families’ urgent needs, and airlift more provisions. Our commitment to Haiti extends beyond our immediate response to this disaster.
May we and our fellow brothers and sisters in Haiti remember that “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.” – Psalm 18:2a
GOD BLESS!
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Seeing the devastation in Haiti is heart-wrenching. Knowing that millions of people, especially children, are suffering similarly throughout the world from Africa to Afghanistan to Brazil to Southeast Asia is heart-breaking. It seems too much.
During WWII, the entire US population mobilized to fight the Nazis. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if all of us said, “We are slashing the amount of money we spend on material things – from fancy cars to gluttonous food stuffs – and instead using x% of our talent, time, and treasure to travel or contribute to education, economic development, health, and environmental efforts overseas.”
I haven’t thought of that phrase, “Live simply so that other’s might simply live,” in quite awhile but it seems especially relevant considering the needs are great and growing with the destabilization of economies and societies from the (almost) unmanageable evils of financial system manipulation, terrorism and environmental catastrophes (with more to come from global warming.)
I don’t know God’s mind, but I can’t imagine that He would be pleased with how our “improved lifestyles” during the last 30 years have been based on debt (considering that real incomes have only risen 1%). We’ve not only squandered what we have had, we’ve squandered our future resources. We’ve not only not invested in things that really matter to us – but we’ve not really invested seriously in things that matter to others.
Because He has given us freedom to act as we will – perhaps knowing His mind is less important than recognizing the stupidity of our own and becoming resolved to doing something different.
Our donations to help Haitians will alleviate pain and save lives. To help must be His will. But surely He must want us to do something more permanent – more meaningful – more Just – more Christian – than pull out our checkbooks and donate a pittance of our national wealth during the latest disaster.
Anyway, just a few of my thoughts on a day dedicated to a man who dared to dream, hope, and speak about our power to be much more than we still are.
i have several relatives who were also vicitimized by the earthquake in Haiti. thank God that they were not seriously hurt. i hope and pray that Haiti would be able to recover soon from this disaster.
some of my friends who work in haiti were also victimized by that terrible earthquake._ i was very thankful that they only suffered minor scratches.