Haiti

This past Tuesday, a 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti. We felt the quake here in Santiago. Parked cars were rocking back and forth and power lines were swaying. Thankfully, there were no damages reported here and everyone is safe.

We talked with the Haitian leader, Rona Abraham. As of today, Friday, there is still no telephone communication with Haiti. Thousands of Haitians living here in the DR have not been able to contact their family members to know their situation. Rona is planning to make a trip this weekend to see his family in the north and then travel to the capital to look for other family members and some from his wife's family.





International aid has been coming into Haiti. The difficulty now seems to be how to distribute items to those in need. The unloading dock at the port of Port au Prince was destroyed in the quake, so boats coming in will have difficulty in unloading their shipment. The Port au Prince airport cannot accommodate any more planes. Some planes filled with aid have been parked in the DR and others are waiting in Puerto Rico. Just from the DR alone, 32 plane loads of water, medicines and blankets have been sent in. Even though we are here in Santiago, we cannot receive any funds personally here on the field. Please send any offerings or financial aid that you wish to contribute to WELS Synod office and they will direct the funds to the proper channels. We want to thank all the people who have written and called. Your concerns and offers to help are deeply appreciated and we will try to keep you informed as we receive new information here.



Every day the news agencies announce a different number of suspected deaths - and every day the number is higher. When Rona was here, we had the news on and as he watched some of the reports of the damage, he broke down and cried. His heart aches for his fellow countrymen. He is concerned not only by the high number of deaths. He also realizes that the great majority of them were not believers. There are many churches in Haiti, but he has not heard any of them proclaiming the truth of forgiveness in Jesus - without works. Many of them not only suffered a physical death, but also now must face an eternal death.




"When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?" (Amos 3:6). In the midst of all the pain and suffering, a Christian reacts differently than the world. As we watched the news reports, Rona said, "Look at the mercy of God. Look at how good He is. So many survived. So many still alive with time to come to faith". The Christian sees the disaster through different eyes. We see the Lord at work also in events such as these, using them to fulfill His will that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. We see His goodness and His mercy. Our merciful and powerful God is still in charge, still protecting His church, still calling people through His gospel.