03 Jun Looking Ahead to Helping Haiti

During May I traveled to Haiti to assess the current situation with the help of our Haitian leader, Rev. Oliam Richard. Joining me were Paul Plato (Canadian UB Missions Director), Ed Sider (Director of CH Global), and a number of others.

At present, 1.3 million Haitians have been displaced by the destruction following the earthquake. The majority live in tent cities. It seems that a sea of blue Samaritan’s Purse tarps and tents cover any vacant lot or field in the greater Port Au Prince area. Lack of food, dignity, and hope are a constant problem. Children are not attending school and the jobs the parents worked at before the quake no longer exist.

Yet we found that our UB churches are bursting at the seams. Across the country there are reports of people coming to faith in Christ.

With the addition of a recent offering of $7,900 from Hong Kong Conference, our total for Haiti Relief has reached $170,000. Over half has already been distributed to Samaritan’s Purse and CH Global for immediate relief needs. With the remaining $70,000 we’ll complete construction on our Delmas Church in order to open a new school for up to 200 children.

Later in October, we’d like to send a number of work teams to rebuild two UB churches in Cite Soliel, the poorest area of Port Au Prince, where two UB churches were destroyed by the earthquake. Here again, we’d like to not only restore these places of worship, but open schools for needy children in this community.

We’re grateful for our partnership with fellow UB churches around the world and for organizations like CH Global that share our passion to bless the nation of Haiti.