Morning After

By now, I'm sure you have heard that a 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti around 3 yesterday afternoon. It was centered about ten miles west of Port au Prince. It has been literally devestating to the immediate areas around Port Au Prince. Port Au Prince is home to 2-3 million people even though it was mean to hold about 250, 000 people. It is congested and normally crawling with people, like a busy ant hill might be. Families there live in either unreinforced metal sheds or unreinforced concrete block homes. There are no building codes enforced in Haiti. There are no emergency services (ie ambulances, EMT's) in Haiti. The hospital services that do exist are rudimentary at best and there is no way the hundreds of injuried would even begin to fit inside the hospitals that do exist. As far as search and rescue goes, this is not a sophisticated country; they have not sent out their urbal search and rescue teams complete with dogs and diggers because they have none. They do have heavy equipment but it is construction equipment so I don't know if they will be able to use it all. Last night was a long dark night for so many in Haiti as I'm sure there were hundreds of people trapped who spent the night trapped, thousands of people scared to death and unwilling to reenter their homes, and thousands of others waiting for news of loved ones. I myself woke up twice in the night to find my mind going back to Haiti.

Praise God the people we know in Haiti seem to be okay. Conleigh's orphanage is about 50 miles from the epicenter. They of course felt it but the children and staff are okay. The building appears undamaged but they would like to get it evaluated. I don't know if they slept inside last night or not. Kenson's orphanage is in Port Au Prince, on Delmas street which is a street that sustained a lot of damage. The orphanage itself was damaged but to what extent, we do not know. A nanny or cook was injured when a wall fell on her but that seems to be the only major injury. I am guessing they slept outside last night but cannot confirm that. The many ministries we love and support all seem to be okay as well. I would encourage you to read the Livesay's blog out of Port Au Prince. It provides a very clear idea of the devestation. http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/ According to them the Caribbean Market, a 3-4 story grocery story has collapsed while it was open for business. The Presidential Palace has collapsed as well as several other government buildings. An orpanage called St. Joseph's Home for Boys has collapsed. And the first three examples are probably some of the better constructed buildings in Haiti. Also, in Port Au Prince there are literally hundreds of orphanages which is terrifying to me as those establishments will have large numbers of children in their care that may or may not have been hurt and probably have no shelter. Even if their building survived, it is probably unsafe to enter.

I would ask you to rally to Haiti and her people. I know you're not Haitian and I know you have no vested interest in Haiti. But these people are people, God's people. There is no way this country was prepared for simply emergencies and this earthquake is beyond devestating. Food, which was already in short supply before the earthquake, will be a priceless commodity. The cost to purchase staples like rice and beans will skyrocket. Clean drinking water will be hard to come by as well. Many places, like Kenson's orphanage, have it delivered in huge water trucks but those trucks will probably be unable to get to the orphanage for a while. Fuel costs will go up as well. I honestly would not be surprised to find out that thousands have died and that tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands will have no homes as their homes collapsed or were left uninhabitable. The greatest pressing needs are prayer and money. I would ask you to commit a time today to pray for the people of Haiti. There are so many needs making a specific prayer list seems unnecessary. My personal challenge to you is that you fast your lunch and pray instead. Use the Internet and search for info related to the earthquake and then pray as you read that information.

I also challenge you to put your money where your mouth is. Gathering supplies here is a wonderful thought but in all honesty, those supplies we gather now, will not reach Haiti for months and months. The best way to help is to provide money to trusted ministries who can use that money to purchase the supplies that are specific to the needs they have. Many places, even though they are not designed to be, will become centers for aid distribution. I would suggestions donations through the following ministries:

Heartline Ministries http://heartlineministries.org/financials.aspx
For His Glory Adoption Outreach http://www.forhisgloryoutreach.org/earthquake_relief
Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/

Lastly, on a totally selfish note, there are many adoptive families whom this tragedy affects. There may be adoptive families who have hurt or dead children. There are currently adoptive families who are unsure of exactly what is going on at their orphanage. There are many adoptive families who have no idea and may never know the whereabouts of the birth families of their children. And sadly, adoptions in Haiti will probably come to a complete standstill for many months as the government will probably be unable to process them. I pray that is not true as many orphanages are already full and the earthquake will result in more families being unable to care for their children. When children go home to forever families, it opens a bed at an orphanage for a child who needs it. For people involved in long waiting processes, this is a frustrating moment as they know it will cause their adoption to take even longer. And obviously, there are much more pressing needs than an adoption moving along right now. But if you can imagine waiting for your child for 2 or more years and then not being able to get the last little big of paperwork done so they can come home, you can see how frustrating that might be.

Again, I encourage you to do SOMETHING. This is a disaster on a grand scale, something modernized countries would fear. In a third world country, the effects will be staggering.