Update from Hurricane Ravaged Haiti

Hey, we finally have internet! It hasn't worked in more than a week, but today we finally got the technicians out to install a new satellite dish. Yippee- I was really feeling cut off. It's been a crazy time in Haiti. 4 storms in 3 weeks have devastated the country. Hundreds of people are dead, thousands homeless with all possessions washed away and no idea where the next meal is coming from.  

We are aiding in several ways. 

• Several of our employees lost homes in the recent flood in Cabaret and are staying at the mission temporarily. 
  
• We went with Craig Culbreth of the Fl Bapt Convention to visit a Haitian Baptist pastor who runs an orphanage out of his home. His home is filled with mud from the Cabaret flood.  He is housing his 19 children in his church up the hill. FBC is providing some food for them and we are helping with clothes, dishes, vitamins, toiletries, etc. 
• We will be housing a fellow missionary couple and the children from the orphanage they are working with as soon as we are able to get them out of Gonaives where they live. Gonaives has been especially hard hit and is currently cut off due to the bridge collapsing. We hope to be able to get to them in the next couple of days in a co-ordinated effort with several other missionaries. They have had little food or clean drinking water in over a week. Gonaive has been flooded repeatedly over the last week or so leaving its survivors to cling to their rooftops hoping for rescue. 

We need your help! Please continue to pray for the rescue and relief efforts. It was quite comforting to look out on the bay on Wed. and see 2 US battleships sitting in the harbor and then yesterday morning to see and hear the US helicopters flying overhead 2 by 2. In Haiti, there is no govt assistance and it is difficult to find help for those who need it most. 

We are not yet sure exactly how many children we will be caring for or how long they will need housing, but we expect them to arrive sometime over the next 2 or 3 days. Some of them will be sick from the ordeal they have been through. We know we will need extra staff to care for the children. We will also need food and supplies. If you can help by sending in a one-time donation, sponsoring a child, or getting your church involved we would so much appreciate it. We will also need donations of children's summer clothing, peanut butter, large diapers & wipes, toiletries(not travel size)i.e. shampoo, bar soap, & deodorant. Please do not send food other than peanut butter. It is necessary for us to purchase food in Haiti. Money to purchase any of these items as well as food & other expenses is very much appreciated.