Keep up to date with what's happening in Haiti since the 7.0 earthquake hit on January 12, 2010. Read some amazing stories, view on-the-ground, unbiased reports and learn how you can help.
I just finished communicating with a veteran missionary in Haiti and gained some pretty important, time-saving insights about shipping merchandise into Haiti. This stuff is just too good to keep to myself so here goes....
The paperwork for shipping into Haiti containers of merchandise is enormous. Shipping containers require SGS inspection prior to shipping from the United States to ensure that the goods are as stated and the costs are as represented on the forms.
If this step has been omitted, the customs office will not be able to process the goods until this requirement has been met. Please understand customs officials in Haiti are attempting to follow current internationally accepted shipping standards in order to prevent customs fraud and help control the smuggling of drugs.
Many times the news media tends to sensationalize reports of customs delays, failing to report the full story. Makes you wonder if, for instance, why a reporter fails to ask if any of the health centers which treat cholera are out of meds. Well, here's the rest of the story from someone on the ground in Haiti - someone who has lived there day and day out for decades.
The answer to the above question would have been a resounding "No!" Why? Because one organization alone had 50,000 kits on hand and the U.N. another 60,000 with excellent distribution. The sad part is the report made it sound like customs was unfairly keeping needed meds from the people. The fact was, the centers of distribution for these meds were already too overwhelmed with their existing supplies to be able to process the supplies sitting in customs if they were released.
If containers were shipped in through Agape Flights or Missionary Flights International, they would likely clear customs rather quickly. However, if the merchandise is in a container on the wharf, it takes much longer because of the backlog.
Those who have been in Haiti a long time understand the workings of the system and don't get in a sweat about the time frame it takes to process things, because they understand that the system is slow and far from perfect. It does work in due time though if you stick with it, stay calm, and file the needed paperwork requested in a timely manner. Here in the U.S., we tend to expect things done immediately and get really frustrated if it can't be done because "can't" isn't in our vocabulary when there's an emergency.
Here's a great alternate tip: If you have containers to ship, you could contact your local US Army or U.N. people and have them brought in through them somehow. A friend in Canada ships medical supplies from Canada through the Canadian Armed Forces whenever they have a plane coming to move troops. They do not go through customs and there are no fees to pay. The person on the receiving end just has to pick it up from the base.
Get this book to learn effective, practical ways to bring healing to Haiti from someone who grew up on the mission field in Haiti:
Astounding, isn't it? Well, that's what Associated Press writer Jonathan Katz reported in an article published by him on Monday, October 18, 2010. And this is why our missionary friend has chosen to continue living in a shed on his property, doing his best to fix repairs on his earthquake-damaged home himself, trying to avoid the phenomenal costs of current Haitian housing. Read the full article here.
How about it? Was the Haiti earthquake of January 12, 2010, God's punishment?
Jesus Himself made it clear that human tragedy and suffering are not always a sign from heaven that God is punishing people. He taught that it is wrong for us to play God and pass judgment in these situations.
Remember the story of Job? That's exactly what his friends did. They accused Job of being a sinner, telling him his afflictions were sure proof of his spiritual lack, that he must have sinned somewhere along the way. Having that mindset, we will have a hard time explaining the tragedy and suffering that struck the prophets and apostles, and even Jesus Himself.
When you study the passage of Scripture found in Luke 13:1-9, you will discover that Jesus not only taught the people it was wrong to pass judgment, but He also taught them where that kind of thinking would lead them. The only logical conclusion of their argument showed that if God does indeed punish sinners in this way, then they themselves had better repent because, after all, none of us is sinless for all have sinned.
So, according to Jesus, if they had their heads screwed on right, they should be thinking, "What right do I have to live?" and not "Why did these people die?" But, you see, it's far easier to talk about other people's deaths than it is to face our own sin and possible death.
The next time you hear of a calamity or disaster that has taken many lives, turn inward for a time of self-examination and ask yourself, "Why wasn't that me? Am I just taking up space on this planet or am I the person God wants me to be? Am I living out my true purpose in life?"
Yesterday, I talked about two articles written by a youth pastor who had visited Haiti a second time, giving his impression of Voodooism in Haiti and comparing it to America. Today, I am posting a message from a veteran missionary, responding to the youth pastor's articles.
Dear Barbara,
Greetings from Haiti. Thank you for sharing these two blogs with me. I found them to be rather interesting reading. I always like to get the post-visit perspectives of people who visit and hear the stories that they have to tell.
Sadly, often many of these stories are impressions which have been made in the minds of very impressionable young people who do not understand the language and often get told very colorful stories by those who help them while they are here, for one reason or another.
Some of the details given have some basis in truth. A lot of the others seem to be sensationalizations of things which he was obviously told and made to sound much more commonly practiced than they actually are.
To say that the quake was a direct result of a group of pastors praying that Haiti would be released from a 200-year-old pact with the devil is, at best, wishful thinking - just like some have gotten on TV in the US and condemned Haiti, saying the quake was judgment from God.
I think that the blog is giving Satan much more credit than he deserves and that he not only loves getting credit but would do all he can to hold people in deeper bondage because of it if it were even remotely true. And if they were praying for God to break a pact of 200 years, would He destroy the very nation which had repented and was giving themselves back to Him through the prayers of these very pastors?
The glorification of the voodoo rituals (while may have some details of truth to them) can, in some instances, be seen in American church settings. I recall seeing a student who slithered under the pews at a youth camp back in the '70s. I sure don't go around saying that it's a regular occurrence to see such manifestations. I have also seen some mighty outpourings of the Holy Spirit and yet would not say that is the regular order of the day either. The truth is, it happens...on occasion...but not at every service - just like in Haiti with the voodoo services.
It is the truth that many are bound in darkness, both here in Haiti and in America. Many souls are lost and going to Hell and need to be saved. But to take and make such wide, sweeping statements, based on a couple of visits by someone who is not fluent in the language and knows next to nothing of the workings of Haitian culture - No way!!!!
I have been here since 1979, and we have done serious battle with the enemy over the years. And while I have seen our enemy manifest himself in various means during this time, I think that it is a totally unjust and irresponsible thing to make such wide statements concerning the nation of Haiti.
In North America, you throw salt over shoulders, knock on wood, avoid stepping on cracks or breaking mirrors, and are cautious around black cats and also leery of Friday the 13th, but it does not mean that the entire population of the United States of America, or Canada, or even half of Europe is deeply steeped in the practice of witchcraft and black magic; yet virtually everyone knows about these things. Well, guess what? It's the same with many of the things concerning voodoo in the Haitian culture. It is not nearly as widely believed or practiced here as the article would have you to believe.
I know several who have come out of voodoo, and I know several people who are still involved in it very deeply. I also know thousands who name the glorious name of Christ as their Lord and Savior, and I stand here to testify that it's been a lot longer than the past 6 months since the quake that Christ has been lifted up and glorified in this nation. It's been a lot longer than 6 months that churches have been filled with people seeking God. Yes, since the quake, there was higher attendance for a while, but it's gone back to pre-quake levels, I believe.
Yes, we have people meeting in fields, on piles of rubble and in the streets - but, of course, when your church collapsed, you sort of have very little other choice. I mean, I live in a shed (behind my earthquake damaged home), but that doesn't mean I've taken up yard work for a living.
Please note that I appreciate the author of the blog's willingness to come to Haiti and help. I just wish that he was a little less zealous in his wide statements and had taken time to get his facts straight.
Now tell me, who would you tend to believe? The youth pastor who made a couple of visits to Haiti and doesn’t speak the language or the missionary who has lived there among the people of Haiti 30 years and speaks their language fluently?
Today, I came across two well-written articles someone had posted on their blog - one discussing Haiti's pact with the devil and the other relating story after story about Voodooism in Haiti, showing how it exposes spiritual deception in America. These compelling articles are well worth your time!
Haitians continue with their daily lives which are seeming to take on a bit more of a routine of sorts. They have come to accept the fact that their lives may never be quite the same again and that stress is a real issue which must be kept at bay even more so in these days than ever before.
There are thousands of people from the international community who are coordinating food and medical distributions on a massive scale. Missionaries are doing a lot of little things behind the scenes which help make their people’s lives a bit more bearable in the face of the enormous crisis which seems to never end.
People are still digging out from under the rubble. In some areas there are groups of people who are being paid to dig and other areas where they are not. It seems that almost everywhere though that the shock of this event has finally passed and people are realizing that unless they dig themselves out it may never be done and so slowly people are trying to get it done.
One thing that I have to stress is that everyone in Haiti is a victim. Whether they lost everything or not, they suffered the trauma of the quake. Everyone knows the taste of blood in the back of their throats, what absolute fear of being crushed is like but particularly those who were inside of large concrete structures which bounced around with them inside the buildings and who couldn’t walk, run, or even crawl to an exit because the ground was groaning and roaring, and rolling all around them.
The Haitian people all seem to do things much slower than before. Tempers flare in some, while others have gotten very quiet. Some wander the streets after having “checked out” from life. At the end of the day a person wonders what he did and why. It’s often hard for them to remember what they did at all or the names of who they did it with.
Fortunately for most, it seems that the “down” days don’t last quite as long and things are starting to pick up a little. They no longer ask about people whom they haven’t seen for the past 5 months; if it is meant for them to see them again, they will discover them anew, and if not, it’s best left alone. They have all grieved beyond words and most can cry at the drop of a name or the telling of a fond memory of one no longer with them.
People are working through it slowly. Some travel to the Dominican Republic to buy hard-to-find supplies to bring back.
Please continue praying for Haiti and the Haitian people as they all work through this together. Tremors continue and people are still traumatized but they are moving forward.
One missionary reports that a further tremor opened new cracks in the mission home, including the cistern, which contained 3000 gallons of water they had just purchased – now all gone.
Haitians are grateful beyond words for the help sent by international communities and help provided by missionaries.
If you have not seen it yet, I urge you to view the great video produced by the Mennonite Central Committee, regarding Haiti's future. Watch Disaster to Decentralization now!
Corruption continues in Haiti. With the rains have come further tarp distributions, which seem to be going well. Public food distributions, however, are not. A veteran missionary couple we know hears of poor planning, confusion and some pretty rough scenes. Some of their people have said that, in their areas, it's organized with food cards but that often cards are sold, not free as told.
I read on the CBS News website that enough aid has been raised to give each displaced family a check for $37,000. The question is, what is being done with all that aid money? Why haven't these 1.5 million Haitians received what they need to help get them back on their feet? Four months after the earthquake, 1.5 million remain homeless.
Interesting! I just learned from a missionary in Haiti that it costs a lot more to get some rice in that was donated than it does to go to the street market and just buy it outright. Rice and beans are readily available at the street markets where they can buy it cheaper locally and avoid shipping costs, plus customs fees and hassles associated with getting aid into the country. Purchasing directly from the street market not only speeds rice and bean delivery, but also helps support local Haitians and rebuild the economy.
Here's another tip: If you know of people who are collecting things to send to Haiti, like rice and canned beans, try to steer them to other items, such as the tents, sheets, baby formulas, etc. Tents are not easy to find and are selling for $120 a piece - so much for aid to Haiti. Although tents are best, a 10 x 10 waterproof tarp is better than nothing to try and keep people dry during the rainy season.
There is little or no medical help in Haiti now for the basic needs of ill people. Please do whatever you can to continue to support getting medical aid into Haiti. It is sorely needed.
The above photo is typical of the air immediately following the quake. On-scene witness: "It was as if an air raid had happened and everything was destroyed. The sounds were of screaming and wailing masses of people. I don't think a soul was silent after this event."
Like most photos of the devastation after the earthquake, you look at it and try to understand what it was. Large buildings and most major landmarks were destroyed, so it is not easy to navigate some areas of downtown without wondering if you are lost. When flying into the capitol, there are no more obvious landmarks that always dotted the skyline and made you know this was Port-au-Prince. Now the scene is unreal and nothing is familiar any more.
Many churches and cathedrals were destroyed, but the people flock to the streets in front of their churches and worship. There are local neighborhood services going on every day of the week somewhere. They are praying for their country to change for the better and for the masses to repent of their sins.
Spiritual and emotional needs are very high with the constant see-saw of good and bad news - discovering a friend still alive, learning another perished in the disaster. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti and earnestly pray for and support the missionaries and aid workers who labor on and on.
There are hundreds upon hundreds of people quietly going about their business, serving Haitian people by putting the Haitian person first. They don’t have an agenda or anything to gain. These are the true heroes in Haiti. Pray that they find supernatural strength to keep going, in spite of the monumental work that lies in front of them, and continue to joyfully allow the unselfish love of Jesus to shine through them, spreading infectious cheer and courage to the people of Haiti. Will you join in prayer?
It's hard to imagine that more than one million people were left homeless by the January 12 earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas in Haiti. With the rainy season at the door, thousands more Haitians are at risk from flooding and mudslides commonly caused by torrential rains.
Relocation efforts have officially begun this weekend and, over the next 10 or 12 days, they hope to move 7,500 quake survivors to an area about 45 minutes away from Port-au-Prince. In the meantime, on short notice, relief organizations are scrambling to put water and sanitation units in place as these thousands of Haitians begin arriving at the new location.
Although aftershocks from the Haiti earthquake of January 12 have diminished, they continue to cause damage to cracked and weakened structures.
A missionary friend just wrote two days ago, telling us the front porch on their mission station collapsed after another tremor - one more reminder why they still can't sleep in their earthquake-damaged home. During the main quake, part of the back of their home collapsed, narrowly missing the missionary's wife.
The people of Haiti still ride an emotional roller coaster. They continue to receive news of friends and family who did not escape and perished during the quake, bringing them renewed grief. Then, sometimes within the same day, someone shows up alive who has been missing, hurtling their emotions upward in a spurt of joy. No time later, those emotions come crashing down in despair as they learn of yet another person who did not escape.
This regular roller coaster of emotions has taken a great toll on the people of Haiti, often leaving them feeling completely exhausted.
Here is why we cannot give up. This is where this little girl lives.
Haiti right now. At the time the above picture was taken of this mother and daughter, they had not seen any aid. Yet it had been over two months since the earthquake.
Haitians continue to deal with the emotional strain, joys, and grief left in the wake of the quake of January 12.
A missionary sent me a text message today, telling me he had a visit from a good friend. How happy he was to know his friend was still alive after the quake!
After talking with him, he learned his friend had been rescued from the main floor of a 5-story building that collapsed on him. The good news quickly followed on the heels of bad news, as the missionary learned that the same building collapse had killed some of their mutual friends.
The miraculous part of the story was that the friend talking to him happened to fall into a space between two checkouts when the building fell. It could be he was referring to the collapse of the Palmera Market in Port-au-Prince.
"With the nightly rains, life has become very miserable for so many who are living in very makeshift shelters. Everyone stays cold and wet, and it's difficult to get things to dry. Doing laundry is almost out of the question.
"Last night's rains were heavy and have not stopped yet this morning. Mudslides are now a major concern in many areas where some of the mountains had already opened up and slid during the quakes." These words were sent to me this morning by a close missionary friend in Haiti, via text messaging.
A news report was released today about a Haitian woman who, like hundreds of thousands across post-earthquake Haiti, has been unable to obtain even a basic tent or tarpaulin from relief agencies. As the rainy season approaches, this mother sleeps on an uncovered mattress with her newborn child in the backyard of her quake-damaged home. Read more.
Meanwhile, corruption continues, depriving Haitians of urgently needed medical care. Yesterday, the Miami Herald reported that corrupt customs officials were asking $65,000 to release a 36-foot mobile medical unit and ambulance from a northern port. You can read the full news article here.
Our totally spent, Haitian missionary friend laments, "We had hoped we'd be further along after two and a half months."
The rains have begun in Haiti and countless people are still without shelter. Many are living in tents which are not waterproof, being soaked to the skin. I have read reports where it has been difficult to sleep in tent cities because of the continual cries coming from mothers and children throughout the night.
Nighttime temperatures dip down into the 60s this time of year. Combine that with rain and wind and you get a chilling combination.
Hundreds of bodies have been left, decomposing under the rubble of earthquake devastation. As the rains come pouring down, they are mixing with decomposing bodies, carrying life-threatening illness into the streets and surrounding tent cities.
I was pleased to discover a wonderful ministry that is providing lasting, mini water and wastewater treatment systems. The name of this ministry is Water Missions International and they are known for their outstanding work wherever disaster hits. Right now, Samaritan's Purse is working with Water Missions, helping them get these systems set up throughout Haiti.
One of their mini water treatment systems provides safe drinking water to 3,000 people. Already they have installed enough mini water treatment systems to serve the needs of 300,000 people in Haiti but so much more is needed.
Churches and individuals have responded to Haiti's water needs by raising funds to purchase and ship Water Missions International water treatment units that can be set up and running within two hours of delivery.
They call him “The Miracle Man.” Jacob is a Haitian man born with polio who miraculously survived the earthquake. His story of faith and survival is nothing short of incredible.
In a news report captured Thursday, CNN's Soledad O'Brien tries to find out why Haitian customs in Port-au-Prince is stalling relief supplies into the country.
Evidently, CNN’s pressure on customs is helping because at 3:15 p.m. Friday afternoon, I received a Twitter message from the orphage mentioned in this newscast, stating that their 2100 pounds of cargo had finally been released from customs...with no charge! However, we have not heard if the relief supplies were released yet to the medical doctor, missionary and other workers who were televised by CNN.
Please pray that all these relief supplies will be released without charge so they can be quickly delivered and distributed to people in need.
Gary Tuchman of CNN reported yesterday that three American women were falsely accused of forging signatures on Haitian adoption papers. However, it was not until after a harrowing experience and lengthy detention that their names were finally cleared.
On Saturday, as the women went to return home, they were told their military flight out had been cancelled and they would need to make private arrangements for a flight home. Just outside the Haiti International Airport with the six boys, an angry mob approached them and started asking why they were taking babies from the country.
"Don't steal our children. Don't kidnap our children, you missionaries!" the angry group of men and women yelled.
Soon police arrived on the scene and took the women into custody. For nearly nine hours, the three American women were drilled with questions while their documents and the signatures on their documents went through careful inspection. The documents the women carried had been signed by both the Prime Minister of Haiti and the U.S. Embassy.
For some reason, the police told the women they felt the signatures on their paperwork were not genuine, so, at that point, they seized the children, ordering them to be kept in an orphanage in Haiti. The only explanation the women were given was that they needed to get their paperwork in order.
A U.S. Embassy official stepped in to help the women, but it was a grueling 72 hours before the women received the okay to take the six children to their adoptive homes in the U.S. Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there.
When the women were finally cleared and went to pick up the children from the orphanage, they became alarmed because the children were not there. They had been removed from the orphanage. Finally, U.S. Embassy personnel found the children in another orphanage and were able to pick them up and return them to the women.
Have you been hearing and reading all those stories about the terrible looting going on in Haiti? Well, a 30-year veteran missionary in Haiti told us the story of a thief who tried to rob someone about a week ago. The ones who happened to be standing around at the time and witnessed the robbery became infuriated and immediately began chasing after the robber, in hot pursuit.
I mean, to them, that was the last straw! Enough was enough! They decided to take the law into their own hands and teach this man a lesson. Soon the few chasing after the man became a mob in pursuit of one thief. In the end, unfortunate for the man, the angered group of Haitians beat him mercilessly until he died.
Now the word on the street is to quit robbing people or you will pay for it with your life. With little police protection on the streets and in the camps, the Haitians have sent out a loud message. They have had enough and won't stand for it anymore.
This same missionary told us that the quantity of escaped inmates who were really major criminals is very small. He said, "The news media has really overblown that." He went on to say that, in many cases, poor people get thrown into prison - many unjustly - and they simply cannot afford to hire a lawyer to get them out, so they just sit there without hope of ever seeing the outside world again.
Watch out for news media stories. Often, the reports you watch online or on the television or read in newspapers and magazines leave out some important details that don't give you a clear picture of the true situation.
A woman prepares mud cakes at the zone of Cite-Soleil in Port-au-Prince Feb. 3, 2010. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Made with a little salt, margarine and dried yellow mud from the country’s central plateau, then baked in the sun, these "mud cakes" - or "gato te" in Creole – are a major income earner in Cite Soleil. The neighbourhood is Haiti’s poorest slum, home to 300,000 people and notorious for gang violence, which the United Nations blames for delaying food distributions after the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated the capital.
Okay. So only the poorest of the poor eat this kind of thing in Haiti. But this is totally unacceptable at a time when pallets of food continue to be stacked up on the tarmac at the Port-au-Prince Airport. Everyone is asking why is this happening, but I hear no one answering, providing a solution for speedy distribution of food aid.
This is why I thank God for hundreds of on-the-ground missionaries and humanitarian workers who have been there all along before the earthquake, quietly working behind the scenes, and who are now - in many cases, in spite of their own losses due to the earthquake - taking food and other aid directly to many overlooked groups of people.
I believe it would do far more good for the press to focus their attention on missionaries - the ones who know Port-au-Prince and the communities scattered all over the outlying areas. These are the persons experienced in bringing aid to their people when hurricanes have hit time and again in the past.
They know how to reach local doctors and nurses. They know how to find security personnel when they need them. They are the ones who speak the local language and can quickly build relief teams. Ask any Haitian and they will tell you the missionaries are the ones they have come to respect and trust.
My solution is to put your financial support behind these people. Put missionaries in charge of the distribution of aid arriving at ports and airports. Give these missionaries full access to the pallets of aid sitting on the tarmac, and you will see needs being swiftly met.
You may ask, "But how do we find these missionaries?"
Agape Flights alone has 130 missionary families on the ground in Haiti, already working hard to meet the needs. They have their own field directors, who happen to be seasoned missionaries, working on the ground in Haiti, overseeing the distribution of aid to the missionary families who work with them. That's just one missions organization and there are scores of others with missionaries working inside Haiti.
Put an end to this corruption we are hearing about. These missionaries are the people of character, the ones you can trust. These people are there in Haiti, not for themselves but for the people. Channel your finances through these folks and you will see Haitians finding long-term help.
To help you understand the problem aid workers are having, trying to find those with the greatest need, I will let you read the words of a journalist from the United Kingdom.
Ascertaining who had received aid was tricky: people who had received a little help were naturally reluctant to say so. At a small isolated camp in the district of Canape Vert, beside a steep, rutted road, a man tried to answer the question, only to be shouted down by other members of the camp. Roughly translated, the shouters were saying: “Don't say that, for God sake, or we’ll never get anything.”
He raised his hands. He was a market trader. He had lost his home and everything in it, including three of his six children. “Some of us, but not all of us, were given food coupons,” he said. “I can only speak for myself. I don’t want to lie. I’m a Christian.”
I want to share this Disaster Relief Resource I just discovered. It's a map of Port-au-Prince shelter camps and the main food and water distribution sites. This map was created on February 13, 2010. Click on the map to zoom in for a closer look.
I added minutes to some friends' phones in Haiti so I am now receiving promotional offers from their phone service. Help us spread the word about this special offer I just received.
For one day only, February 19, 2010, you can add minutes to your family and friends' Voilà and Comcel cell phones in Haiti. Minutes added online to Voilà and Comcel phones will be doubled at www.familyinthe509.com. For one day only, February 19, you will get double the amount of Haitian Gourdes applied to your family and friends' phones.
This applies to online purchases only. The online promotion runs all day February 19 and ends at 11:59pm EST.
To make the offer even sweeter, every time someone makes a purchase, that number will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a free motorcycle. Online purchases can be made in increments of $15 or $25 and the amount of your purchase will be doubled to $30 or $50 all day Friday, February 19, 2010.
Did you wonder about the 3 days of prayer and fasting in Haiti? Well, here's an account I captured from a missionary's blog:
We did not have school today, February 12, because today has been declared the first of three National Days of Prayer. Haitians are fasting for 30 hours - from 6 am this morning to 12 noon on Saturday. And believe me, they are out in force in church. This morning we went to a hospital to serve, and they had just a handful of patients - anyone who can be is in church. We woke right at 6 am because the church outside our window (just across the street, over the school's perimeter wall) started with prayer and singing at top volume. They were still worshiping at 12:45 when we had returned from the hospital. We heard them on the drive to the hospital, and we heard them while at the hospital - different congregations, blanketing Haiti in hymns.
An aid worker wrote, "Yesterday [Feb. 12] was a day of mourning and fasting that is supposed to last the whole weekend. In the downtown plaza by the National Palace the streets were filled with hundreds and thousands of people singing and praising God! Dancing with their hands lifted up and singing "Hallelujah" as their chant, singing a song about God's greatness and how He washed away their sins. It was a sight to behold.
"The tents and sea of humanity that are now forced to live in utter suffering were rejoicing with hallelujahs on their lips. Even now as I write this journal entry, I hear the singing of the people singing at a church down the street from where I am staying in the mountains above Port-au-Prince. I am undone by this; the people and their love for God. People sleeping on the street using scraps of debris for walls and a sheet for a roof multiplied by thousands, side by side; all having lost loved ones, personal belongings, their livelihood, everything, yet they stand and sing praises.
How can we not be moved to action? What are we going to do? How am I going to respond to this? How will we respond to what is happening here?
Follow the link below to watch and hear the sounds of Haitians singing and praising God everywhere they could find a place to gather. If you look closely, you will see some people bowed down completely, with their faces to the floor, in deep worship to God.
While talking on the phone with veteran missionary, Randall Stahls, he told us a Haitian, who was trapped in rubble 27 days, told his rescuers, "Someone in a white coat kept bringing me water."
The news media keeps trying to discount this man's story, saying he was hallucinating, on too many pills, but this man is sticking to his story, insisting that a man in a white coat kept bringing him water. Doctors admit the man could not have possibly survived without water.
Watch a video to hear Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN tell this man's story and see exclusive CNN video of this man.
At a time when orphan babies are dying and the children of Haiti are in the single greatest need in the history of this nation, UNICEF has worked to shut down all international adoptions.
Now in this important field report from Port-Au-Prince, Doug Phillips examines the present battle to rescue Haiti's children in the context of UNICEF's anti-adoption efforts vs. the work of the Christian community to encourage the Haitian government to cut through the red tape and open the door for legitimate, qualified American adoptions.
Everyone can do something to help. Volunteer your time and skills, give of your resources and help by sharing this web site with others. Thanks to Ushahidi, people around the world can help.
How You Can Help -In person: as a trained volunteer, mapper or translator. Online: as an on-call translator or mapper, or fill in maps. On the ground: by telling others how to report needs, reporting urgent needs, putting us in touch with community leaders helping with aid and relief.
My husband and I live just outside Cleveland, Ohio, on beautiful Lake Erie. We have linked troubled youth and adults with life-changing programs since 1983.
I just finished communicating with a veteran missionary in Haiti and gained some pretty important, time-saving insights about shipping merchandise into Haiti. This stuff is just too good to keep to myself so here goes....
