It seems so hard to believe that the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti was only two year ago. It seems a lifetime ago! And yet to those who lost beloved ones it must still seem that all it happened yesterday. We don’t hear much about it in the news anymore. The US is absorbed in the Election year and there are other pressing issues around the world that have grabbed the headlines, North Korea, Syria and the “Arab Spring.” But the reality is very evident that there is still much to be done in Port Au Prince and the surrounding areas to rebuild the city and many others hard hit by the earthquake. Much has been accomplished. Tons of rubble have been removed, schools are once again in progress, a new president has been elected and things are starting to look “normal," a “new normal" as nothing will ever be the same again.

The presidential palace still stands broken as a reminder that no matter how well-built and stately it might be, nothing can withstand a 7 point magnitude earthquake when it stands in its path. Yet despite this, through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in this devastated land, the Haitian people have risen again to rise from their ashes with minimal government assistance. The work has moved from disaster-relief to development. God’s call was heard by countless people in Haiti and around the world to mobilize help for the disaster. Now the efforts are focused on development. American Baptists and Cooperative Baptists have given sacrificially to the effort which continues to make Kingdom-building changes for thousands of God’s people in need. Volunteers, alongside

Haitian Christian workers helped to remove debris and rebuild a demolished school, which has become one of the finest schools in the town of Grand Goave. Construction of “earthquake-proof” houses built with the rubble from the destroyed homes has helped to provide vital sustainable shelter for those who were living in tents. “Creating something new out of the shell of the old.” Although an estimated 500,000 people are still in tents, over a million people are now in permanent shelters. It is easy to despair when it seems there is still so much work to be done, but we see signs of hope. Self-Help Groups are forming and growing to economically empower communities from the grassroots, mobile clinics reaching out to areas where there has been no medical help, a small

Haitian Baptist Convention clinic has now become a major hospital in the north respected as a rehabilitation center for spinal chord injuries from the earthquake as well as for others with disabilities, bringing hope to many families. Baptist churches in Port-au-Prince, despite being damaged themselves, through the work of the Haitian Baptist Convention, and support from Christians abroad, after providing relief to families devastated by deaths, injuries, and economic collapse, spearheaded many development programs such as focusing efforts on children and education as well as micro-enterprise programs in their communities. Many small clinics have impacted their communities by responding to cholera in a life-saving way. Ebenezer Clinic in the north reached out to those suffering in the earthquake zone and then took on the challenge head-on to the cholera epidemic. Community Health Evangelism (CHE) has been introduced into the earthquake area and is making a positive impact. Many students who lost their schools had to transfer to schools in the north and received scholarships bringing them hope for their futures. Your love and prayers and your financial support have made a very big difference in the lives of the Haitian people. Thank you so much on behalf of our Haitian brothers and sisters.

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 has been located, is approximately 100 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter.

Donations are still being accepted and can be made on the IM website.  Go to www.internationalministries.org/items/80   or write a check made payable to “One Great Hour of Sharing – Haiti Earthquake Relief” and mail to: International Ministries, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482, or make a check payable to your church and write “Haiti Earthquake Relief” in the memo section.

 Notes, SHG, mobile clinics, QMhospital, Ebenezer Clinic, Baptist Church in Port

Grand Goave Baptist (Temple Baptist church) leadership and school, CHE from

relief to development…