American Baptist International Ministries (IM) is responding quickly to the devastation resulting from the 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti. This was its worst in two centuries. IM missionaries serving in Haiti, Dr. Stephen and Nancy James and Nzunga Mabudiga and Kihomi Ngwemi, were on assignment in the U.S. when the quake hit at 4:53 p.m. on January 12, just ten miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. As medical missionaries, the James are returning to Haiti immediately to assess the situation.
Jose Norat-Rodriguez, IM’s area director of Iberoamerica and the Caribbean in a statement to Emmanuel Pierre, General Secretary of the Baptist Convention of Haiti, said: “We are praying for you, the leaders of the Haitian Baptist Convention and your pastors so that you will be able to carry out effective and spiritual leadership at this moment of national crisis. We pray that the Word of Life given through Jesus Christ will be a consolation to those who are suffering, strength to those afflicted and hope to those who are devastated by so many lives lost.”
The International Red Cross estimates that as many as three million individuals have been affected by the earthquake and that it will require a few days to measure the scale of the disaster. The Vice President of the Haitian Baptist Convention (HBC), Pastor Gedeon, reports that there is yet no word about the 15,000 members of the six HBC congregations located in Port-au-Prince. International Ministries has allocated $25,000 from One Great Hour of Sharing funds to assist HBC and other Haitian ministry partners as an initial response to the disaster. Immediate relief funds received will be used to save lives, including providing food, shelter, water, clothing and medical supplies. After the initial relief effort, additional funds will be required for recovery and re-building efforts. Funds contributed through this effort will be administered by IM missionaries, Dr. Steve and Nancy James and our partners in the Haitian Baptist Convention.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with eight out of ten people living in extreme poverty, is about the size of Maryland, and is located on the western half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic is on the eastern half. The northern portion of Haiti, where most of IM’s mission work is located, is approximately 100 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter. The quake was felt there as well as in parts of the Dominican Republic (DR).
Madeline Flores-Lopez, an IM missionary ministering in Santo Domingo (DR), reported that some Dominicans “moved into the streets from their homes as the earth shook.” Kristy Engel, a pediatric nurse practitioner with IM who serves in La Romana, is preparing a team that will travel to Haiti to help in the recovery.
Further updates on Haiti will be forthcoming as the damage assessment continues.
Emergency donations are desperately needed and can be made on the IM website. Go to http://www.internationalministries.org/items/80 or write a check made payable to “One Great Hour of Sharing – Haiti Earthquake Relief” and give to your church, or mail to:
International Ministries
P.O. Box 851
Valley Forge, PA 19482
Jose Norat-Rodriguez, IM’s area director of Iberoamerica and the Caribbean in a statement to Emmanuel Pierre, General Secretary of the Baptist Convention of Haiti, said: “We are praying for you, the leaders of the Haitian Baptist Convention and your pastors so that you will be able to carry out effective and spiritual leadership at this moment of national crisis. We pray that the Word of Life given through Jesus Christ will be a consolation to those who are suffering, strength to those afflicted and hope to those who are devastated by so many lives lost.”
The International Red Cross estimates that as many as three million individuals have been affected by the earthquake and that it will require a few days to measure the scale of the disaster. The Vice President of the Haitian Baptist Convention (HBC), Pastor Gedeon, reports that there is yet no word about the 15,000 members of the six HBC congregations located in Port-au-Prince. International Ministries has allocated $25,000 from One Great Hour of Sharing funds to assist HBC and other Haitian ministry partners as an initial response to the disaster. Immediate relief funds received will be used to save lives, including providing food, shelter, water, clothing and medical supplies. After the initial relief effort, additional funds will be required for recovery and re-building efforts. Funds contributed through this effort will be administered by IM missionaries, Dr. Steve and Nancy James and our partners in the Haitian Baptist Convention.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with eight out of ten people living in extreme poverty, is about the size of Maryland, and is located on the western half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic is on the eastern half. The northern portion of Haiti, where most of IM’s mission work is located, is approximately 100 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter. The quake was felt there as well as in parts of the Dominican Republic (DR).
Madeline Flores-Lopez, an IM missionary ministering in Santo Domingo (DR), reported that some Dominicans “moved into the streets from their homes as the earth shook.” Kristy Engel, a pediatric nurse practitioner with IM who serves in La Romana, is preparing a team that will travel to Haiti to help in the recovery.
Further updates on Haiti will be forthcoming as the damage assessment continues.
Emergency donations are desperately needed and can be made on the IM website. Go to http://www.internationalministries.org/items/80 or write a check made payable to “One Great Hour of Sharing – Haiti Earthquake Relief” and give to your church, or mail to:
International Ministries
P.O. Box 851
Valley Forge, PA 19482