Haiti Earthquake Details & Ways To Help

Note:  Contribution for Haiti Earthquake Relief can be made through your churches regular monthly mission remittance.  Simply make a donation to your church and indicate the gift is for One Great Hour Of Sharing (OGHS) - Haiti Earthquake Relief.  Your church mission treasurer will be able to include the contribution in the church mission giving and it will be sent within days of receipt to the relief effort.

Link To Article Added 1/14/2010

Link To Additional News On The
Internation Ministries Web Site

Downloadable Bulletin Inset

Downloadable Information Sheet

January 25, 2010: American Baptist International Ministries.  Haiti Response Summary

1. Dr. Steve James returned to north Haiti last night from Port-au-Prince where he and a medical team have been caring for earthquake victims. In addition to Steve, the team consisted of family physician volunteer Dr. Arch Woodard, Haitian nurse Cherlie Desir, Bruderhof volunteer Roy Durgin, as well as driver and mechanic, Miller Jean-Jacques. They worked at the Haiti Health Ministries Christianville Clinic, outside of Port-au-Prince, 4 to 5 miles from the epicenter. Although their homes and the clinic were destroyed, the Christianville medical staff had worked 30 hours non-stop through the night of the earthquake giving primary medical care to hundreds of injured people that appeared in the front yard. Steve's team took over care of the wounded that continued to come every day, freeing the local staff to organize, salvage and move medical supplies and equipment out of the damaged clinic and set up a makeshift clinic in a nearby undamaged school building. The wounded were treated under the trees during the first three days. An average of over 5 after-shocks per day continued to bring down buildings and to crack roads in the area. Steve James reports, "We were so inspired to see so many Haitian people including doctors and nurses sacrificially helping their brothers and sisters with so little resources available." Following primary care, there will be a second phase of healing the emotional trauma wounds which run deep and long, helping people find shelter, clothing, food, safe water and sanitation, as well as ongoing medical care.

2. Kristy Engel returned to La Romana, Dominican Republic on Friday, having brought her first primary care medical team into Port-au-Prince. Ketley and Vital Pierre, were in the group, are now back in La Romana and are returning to Haiti today.  Kristy reports "We are still finding open fractures and wounds as well as many untreated injuries related to the earthquake.  I have found most functioning hospitals unable to accept further patients due to lack of medical supplies and personnel to treat them.....There is still much needed medical response in this area." Kristy plans to move medical teams from La Romana into Haiti each week. Doctors and nurse practicioners are needed for these teams. Available volunteers would arrive in La Romana on a Sunday, travel into Haiti on Monday, work for the week and return on Saturday. Certified medical volunteers are asked to contact BIMvolunteers@abc-usa.org to register.

3. Madeline Flores and Dominican partners are continuing to provide shelter and medical care to quake victims being brought to the Contreras Hospital in Santo Domingo, DR.

4. Church World Service (CWS) is continuing to provide relief supplies in Port Au Prince from OGHS funds that International Ministries has designated for Haiti emergency relief.

5. IM is closely coordinating with the Haitian Baptist Convention and the Christian University of Northern Haiti (UCNH). IM partners in Haiti are providing medical care and relief supplies at the partially finished hospital at Quartier Morin.

6. Some international relief organizations are estimating that as many as 600,000 people may have been internally displaced due to the earthquake.

7. Approval has been given in Haiti to receive the shipment of emergency relief supplies from Matthew 25 Ministries. IM is helping to fund this shipment.

8. IM's Haiti Response Team consists of the following staff: Jose Norat, Herb and Bernice Rogers, Dave Worth, Angela Sudermann. Catherine Nold provides communication staffing. The Team coordinates with ABC World Relief Officer Lisa Rothenberger.

9. A new tax relief law allows people who contributed in 2010 to charities providing earthquake relief in Haiti to take a tax deduction for the contribution on their 2009 tax return instead of their 2010 return. This means donors can receive an immediate tax benefit, rather than having to wait until they file next year's return. Donors may deduct these contributions on either their 2009 or 2010 returns, but not both. Certain requirements apply. See: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=218645,00.html?portlet=7

10. To date IM has released a total of $65,000 One Great Hour of Sharing funds for Haiti.

HOW YOU CAN HELP NOW

1. Pray
2. Give for Haiti Relief  www.internationalministries.org
3. Assemble hygiene kits www.abwministries.org
4. Contribute medicine through IMA World Health http://imaworldhealth.org
5. Encourage certified medical volunteers to contact BIMvolunteers@abc-usa.org

January 21, 2010  A 6.1-magnitude aftershock hit Haiti at 6:03 AM today. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the epicenter was about 35 miles west-southwest of Port-au-Prince and about 6.2 miles below the surface of the earth. American Baptist missionaries working with victims of last week's quake all report being safe. Dr. Steve James is at Christianville about 25 miles from the epicenter of this morning's aftershock. Nancy James, some 100 miles north in Haut Limbe, also felt the shaking. Kristy Engel, Ketley and Vitale Pierre are in Port-au-Prince. Madeline Flores is in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

January 13, 2010:  A 7 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. with devastating results. (See http://news.bbc.co.uk/ for details.)  American Baptist missionary families serving in Haiti with International Ministries were in the United States at the time. Steve and Nancy James are returning to Haiti immediately and Nzunga Mabudiga and Kihomi Ngwemi  are on a planned U.S./Puerto Rico home assignment.   $25,000 in One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) funds will be made immediately available to the Haitian Baptist Convention, IM's partner in Haiti. The death toll in affected areas has not yet been determined.  International Ministries, along with our HBC partners are conducting an assessment of the crisis.  Please check our website regularly for updates.  Haiti, a nation of 9 million people, is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.  It is about the size of Maryland and is on the western half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic.  IM missionaries in the Dominican Republic are safe and report no damage in their areas.

Pray for Haiti and its people.
•    Pray for the proper response of the world to this tragedy.
•    Pray for believers in Haiti to shine forth the love of Christ is this time of desperate need.

Update from Church World Service.....

*For Updated Information on the situation in Haiti,  Please go to the Haiti Earthquake page.

Use the information above to make a contribution.  You can also use our ABCOPAD On-line Donation option.  When you make a contribution, select One Great Hour Of Sharing (OGHS) and in the comments section indicate "Haiti Earthquake Relief" and the name of your church.  By including the name of your church you church will receive mission credit for your gift (be sure to include the full name of the church including the city your church is located in). 

ABCOPAD On-Line Donations Link