Haiti’s beauty lies in the faces of her children, who seem to smile so easily despite the very difficult living conditions there

Tuesday morning finally arrived, and I rolled out of bed excited about the day ahead. This was the last full day of my five-day trip to Haiti to check on the progress of our relief efforts there. Today our ministry friend, Pastor Preval, and I were looking forward to delivering food to several groups of needy believers in Port-au-Prince, including a stop at Mt. Zion Orphanage. (Click here to read a report in our March newsletter about Mt. Zion.)

I wish you could have been with me that entire day to enjoy the many expressions of thanks I received on behalf of you who have given—smiling faces, warm handshakes, sweaty hugs (it’s always hot there this time of year), and even a kiss! Well, I hope I can at least bring you along through words and pictures.

Our first stop was at a bulk-food warehouse to purchase $1,000 worth of rice, beans, and cooking oil. This warehouse wasn’t Costco or Sam’s Club, however, and the shotgun-carrying guard confirmed that. Port-au-Prince has made some significant progress since my last visit there a week after the January 12th earthquake, but it remains a dangerous and desperate place. After loading our beat-up old Land Rover to its capacity, and covering everything with a tarp to avoid attracting unwanted attention, we were on our way.

"Premium" American rice, beans, and cooking oil is stacked, left, and then loaded into our Land Rover

We planned that our first food delivery would be to a small camp where a few dozen people from one church were taking refuge. Preval informed me on the way, however, that their location was too dangerous for us to take the food to directly. He feared that we would be mobbed by other people in the area. Naively, I did not realize that all this food made us a target. In much of Port-au-Prince, people are everywhere and never seem to sleep, desperately trying to make enough money to survive another day—and secrets are hard to keep. Instead of going to the camp, therefore, we made a low-profile delivery at the house of the pastor who serves the people there, leaving about six large sacks of food that he would deliver to them in smaller portions.

Next, our Land Rover groaned and rattled its way to Preval’s own church, up eroded rocky "roads" that wound through the tightly packed houses, shacks, abandoned vehicles, and other various discarded materials that seem to fill every nook and cranny. When we finally arrived, I saw about eight tents erected in a small church yard surrounded by walls. Also in this yard were four or five outdoor classrooms filled with children in school uniforms. Several tarps stretched across the area to shield them from sun and rain. After unloading some of our valuable cargo and taking many photos (I can’t resist when I see precious children whom Jesus loves!), we moved on to Mt. Zion Orphanage, just a few minutes away.

Unloading food at the camp near the church

School was in session when we arrived; the food we delivered was for the people who lived in the tents in the background of the left photo

A curious neighborhood boy and a shy school-girl

I enjoyed seeing the children of Mt. Zion Orphanage again, and they seemed to enjoy seeing me! Many children were just returning from school when we arrived, and one little girl greeted us with a kiss on the cheek. They quickly gathered around, and many hammed it up for my camera.

The orphanage compound, small as it is, looked much more organized and back to normal than when I visited in January. They’ve moved back into their home during the day, but continue to sleep in one large tent at night, still fearing the aftershocks that occasionally return to remind them of that awful day in January. We unloaded some more of our life-giving cargo, and also left some clothes, toys, and a little candy that I brought.

Mt. Zion gets some food, left; director Widelson standing, with sleeping tent behind him

Some of the beautiful girls that live at Mt. Zion Orphanage

By now our load was getting lighter, and our joy at being able to serve our needy brothers and sisters was growing. We drove southwest, towards the outskirts of the city, then made one more arduous climb in our Land Rover up a yet steeper and more deeply rutted path/street (Land Rover’s reputation for building vehicles that go anywhere is well-deserved). We passed one of the larger tent cities on the way.

When our path came to an end, we found ourselves at a very small church in the midst of various small, dilapidated cement-block houses of the type that characterize Haiti. I was told that there was an eighty-year-old pastor who served a congregation there numbering fifty-five or sixty people. His name was Pastor Clermonier, and we met his son, Daniel, and his family, as well as his brother-in-law Cressant and his oldest son, Jeff. We also brought them a tent.

Almost the entire right wall of Pastor Clermonier’s church had collapsed, but thankfully two columns prevented the roof from caving in. The small home that Clermonier, his wife, and his son’s family lived in didn’t fare so well (half of it collapsed), but no one was seriously injured. Preval told me of his heart for Clermonier’s ministry, and of his desire to rebuild his home for him.

Pastor Clarmoniet’s church (with missing wall at left), and with Pastor Preval

Pastor Clarmoniet’s son Daniel, his wife Tina, and daughters Sephora (2) and Salina (7) stand in what remains of their home

Little Sephora as cute as she can be with her hairdo-in-progress!

With only a couple bags of food remaining, we headed back towards Preval’s home. On the way, a woman from his congregation met us on the street. We gave her the remaining food for her family, completing our mission for the day. It was so awesome to be able to deliver the much-needed food—God’s love for them provided through spiritual family members like you! My heart was full of joy.

Although the need is so great, it is wonderful to be able to serve Jesus through these people who are still so much in need. And by purchasing the food locally, we are also helping the economy to recover. As the economy gets back on its feet and more Haitians are able to find jobs again, we’ll be able to help other hurting brothers and sisters in another part of the world. Thanks so much again to our friends who have given in the past few months to help disaster relief victims in Haiti and elsewhere. If you would like to contribute to the Disaster Relief Fund, please click here.

Because of Jesus,

Jeff Trotter
Director, Disaster Relief Fund

A quake survivor who lost ten members of her family gestures in prayer while holding onto her nephew in Gyegu, Yushu County, following the April 14th earthquake. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

Dear Friends,

I’m sure you’ve heard about the 6.9 earthquake that struck a remote area of Qinghai Province, northwest China, last week. The damage centered on the Tibetan town of Yushu, home to 85,000 people. More than 80% of the buildings there have collapsed. The death toll is over 2,000, with many people still missing. Thousands of people are without shelter.

I’m glad that I Was Hungry is connected with those in China who rushed to the Yushu region to offer emergency supplies and a Christian witness. Within hours of the earthquake, a team travelled to the disaster zone to help. Most of the team members were involved with the earthquake relief efforts in Sichuan Province in 2008, in which we were also involved. The combination of their loving help and bold witness for Jesus Christ saw thousands of people in Sichuan come to faith in Jesus.

At left: Rescuers carry a 13-year-old Tibetan girl, who had been buried in the ruins of a collapsed hotel for more than 50 hours. (REUTERS/Donald Chan) At right: Rescuers search for survivors in the rubble. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Night-time temperatures in Yushu are below freezing, and so the Chinese team initially provided blankets and warm coats to afflicted people. Now they have put together five-hundred emergency aid kits to help the worst-affected families. Those kits include a solar panel and battery lighting system and USB charger, a USB-heated blanket, ten pounds of rice, a liter of cooking oil, a first-aid kit and a cooking pan.

Each kit costs $100 for the items and delivery into the hands of the most needy families in Yushu. I Was Hungry has paid for emergency kits for thirty families so far. We’d like to help more families.

If you would like to help us with relief efforts in Tibet by contributing to our Disaster Relief Fund, you can give securely by credit card through our website by clicking here, or by calling our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.

If you are familiar with our policy, you know that 100% of all gifts to the Disaster Relief Fund are sent overseas to provide relief for disaster victims in the name of Christ. All administrative costs are paid by the general fund of Heaven’s Family. (We are, of course, continuing our earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, as Jeff Trotter, director of our Disaster Relief Fund, is there right now.)

I also ask that you pass this on to your compassionate friends along with your recommendation of Heaven’s Family, as that might also be a means to meet urgent needs and answer prayers in Tibet.

Sincerely in Christ,

David

David Servant
Director, Heaven’s Family

Natasha, alive and thankful

Dear Friends,

I’m happy to report that your gifts to the Disaster Relief Fund are still at work in Haiti. Heaven’s Family continues to provide food, safe water, shelter, and other critical needs to the Arcahaie resettlement camp. Heaven’s Family staff members visited that camp just two weeks ago, and they heard a number of encouraging stories of survival that I’d like to pass on to you.

Natasha (pictured above) was studying in her third-floor apartment when the earthquake struck in the late afternoon of January 12. Two walls of her apartment collapsed inward on both sides, pinning her by her shoulders between them, while the floor below her collapsed, leaving her suspended. Many people saw her from the street but no one was able or willing to help her. She ultimately fainted from the severe pain, but she awoke at dusk to receive help from a man who was able to push one of the walls just enough to free her from her tortuous predicament. Natasha still does not know how he moved such a heavy wall, but gives the Lord glory for her deliverance.

She thought her shoulders were broken, but God protected her and now all signs of her injury are gone. Five others were in her apartment at the time, and four of them died.

Nataha’s pastor brought her to the Arcahaie resettlement camp. Although she cannot return to her school, she is thankful to be alive. Heaven’s Family is now meeting her daily needs.

Irmanise is expecting her child any day

Irmanise was almost seven months pregnant and sitting in her church when the quake struck. She heard a loud noise just before something struck her, knocking her unconscious. When she regained consciousness, she was alone—lying face down, bleeding, and trapped under concrete blocks.

Two fellow church members were able to uncover and rescue her, and they carried her to a stadium where the rest of the church members and many others were gathering. Once there, she found her husband who was separated from her in the confusion after the earthquake.

Three days later, Irmanise was taken to a hospital north of Port-au-Prince to treat her wounds…and to receive an ultrasound exam. Praise God that her unborn child was alive and well. Irmanise is expecting any day now, and thankful that she has a safe place to live with her husband and their new baby.

Suzette and her son Tedmaens

The last story I want to share with you is about Suzette, who teaches Kindergarten. She had just exited a bus after work and was crossing a street as the earthquake struck. When she arrived home she saw that the apartment building where she and her family lived had collapsed. She asked some neighbors where her family was and was told they were in church. So she ran to the church and found her husband, who told her that her two children were at home being watched by a relative. Suzette feared the worst.

She and her husband ran back and searched what was left of their apartment until 3:00 AM. They found their four-year-old son, Tedmaens, alive, after digging him out with their hands and some crude tools. He had injuries to his head and hand. Their three-year-old daughter Somara, however, didn’t survive, along with seven other people in the apartment building.

We cannot undo what has happened, but we thank God that we can be there for our brothers and sisters in their time of need. Thanks for caring and giving them hope in a time of individual and national grief. We’re also working to help our spiritual family make a way out of the rubble and into a brighter future. We’ll continue to keep you posted.

Because of Him,

Jeff Trotter

P.S. Over 60 additional tents were just delivered to the camp yesterday.

Learn how the Disaster Relief Fund helps believers affected by earthquakes, floods, cyclones, tsunamis, and other natural disasters.

Ana Maria Herrara with three of her four children: Paulina, Maria and Nicolas. Chile’s earthquake toppled the fifteen-story apartment building where they were living in the city of Concepción. Their apartment was on the twelfth floor. They escaped unharmed.

The better part of our Saturday consisted of driving further south in Chile, a nation with a ribbon-like shape that is 2,700 miles long and averages about 100 miles in width. Our destination was the city of Valdivia, where James and Pablo know some pastors. We arrived in the afternoon to gratefully learn that our hotel had warm water, something we did without during our two-day stay at Concepción. (Incidentally, I learned that the earthquake moved the entire city of Concepción ten feet to the west.)

We enjoyed a lovely dinner that evening with the pastors of our host church, Grace and Peace Fellowship. Enrique Rofas and Maritza Balas have planted sixteen churches in Chile over the last nine years and they are big fans of The Disciple-Making Minister (my kind of people). We joined their congregation of 1,300 on Sunday morning. James Jones preached the primary sermon, and I must say that his anointing increased exponentially with a suit and tie—judging from the applause, amens and standing ovations garnered during his message. It was probably the best sermon I never heard (as it was in Spanish).

Preacher James Jones

Earlier in the service, a single mother shared an amazing testimony relative to the earthquake and tsunami. I’m saving her story for our May magazine, so I can’t share the details here. But her children were swept out to sea by the tsunami, and then swept back inland, to be found eight days later, alive. Heaven’s Family is now helping to rebuild their damaged house.

After church, I had the blessing of meeting the Herrara family, pictured above, whose fifteen-story apartment building toppled and snapped in half during the early morning hours of the February 27 earthquake. (I had taken photos of their building just a few day earlier, of which one is below.) The Herraras lived on the twelfth floor. They were awakened by the violent shaking and started praying and crying out to God. Although most of their furniture slid across the floor and crashed into the walls as the building fell over, none of the Herraras were touched or hurt. As the building lay on its side, they crawled out a window and started helping others.

The fifteen-story apartment building where the Herrara family was living. As the building was newly completed, only nineteen of the apartments were occupied. About twenty tenants died.

Sunday evening we attended an earthquake benefit concert organized by Grace and Peace Church. The highlight for me was some traditional flamenco dancers who were one of several groups who volunteered their talents to raise funds for earthquake survivors. Below is a photo I snapped that reflects the intensity of the dancers.

Tomorrow we start our long journey back north to Santiago, a ten-hour drive. Then on Tuesday I start my longer journey back to the U.S., a twenty-four hour trip. I’m ready for home.

All together we’ve assisted about thirty Christian families or individuals who lost just about everything because of Chile’s earthquake, sharing close to $10,000, so it has been a fruitful week of service. Thanks for joining me via our blog. — David

Dear Friends,

We awoke this morning to learn that one of our team members, Pablo Juliberto, had been tapped by Chile’s new president to serve as a governor of one of Chile’s forty provinces. Pablo had previously served as the Minister of Finance for that same province. He’s a bright young man who also sits on the board of Chile’s third-largest university. So we’ve had a fun time today joking about how people from whom Pablo asks driving directions don’t know they’re talking to a distinguished governor!

Pastor Pedro, whom we met last evening, and his wife, took us around Concepcion and a nearby town named Dichato all day today visiting believers who have suffered great losses because of the tsunami that followed the earthquake. We were told that the tsunami was not a giant wave, but that the ocean simply lifted 30 to 50 feet and surged inland, then rushed back, pulling everything with it back into the ocean. That happened three times within the space of about fifteen minutes. Huge boats were planted far inland, and homes were washed out to sea. The wake of destruction left behind is hard to describe, and the photos below can only provide a tiny glimpse.

In any case, about twenty-five Christian families who lost everything are sending up thanks because Heaven’s Family came to their aid today. Although we are not able to restore all they lost, we were able to help each family with some immediate needs by means of gifts of $200 to $300 each, which is a larger sum in the minds of most Chileans than it is to most North Americans. Below are photos of a few who benefitted. Some of the recipients cried, and they expressed their amazement that we came all the way from the U.S. to help them.

Chile is in a much better position than Haiti to help its citizens, and recovery efforts are well underway on public projects. It remains to be seen what might be done for individuals whose homes are heaps of rubble or have been literally washed away down to the foundations, leaving nothing. — David

Governor Pablo jumped out of our pickup truck to take some boxed milk and water to this woman who was living in a tent with her two small children, as her apartment is unsafe now after the earthquake

Single mother Veronica del Carmen Lara amidst the mud and debris of her children’s bedroom. The water surged into her home to a depth of about three feet.

Veronica del Carmen Lara and her married daughter Karen Andrea Perieda Lara

A boat that was deposited by the tsunami in Concepcion

Susana Oviedo Aedo in front of what remains of her home

We could hardly believe how far inland this boat was deposited by the tsunami

A typical view of what it looks like in Dichato

Another typical view in Dichato

James Jones speaks with pastor Juan Wall in Dichato who has twenty-three families in his church who lost everything. He told us how his church was warned shortly before the earthquake and tsunami that something terrible was going to happen and that they should pray. Not one life was lost among his congregation.

One of the few houses still somewhat intact near the shoreline in Dichato, probably due to a very hefty foundation and fortified walls

What is left of the beach-front road in Dichato

Although it is not so easy to tell from this photo, on top of the orange building is a house that was lifted up and deposited by the tsunami

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Chile, where I arrived on Wednesday after twenty hours of travel. Although there is very little jet lag here (just two hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time), I am experiencing a little Seasonal Lag, as the southern hemisphere is coming to the end of the summer. The tomatoes are ripe and the leaves are beginning to change in some places.

James Jones and I flew into Chile’s capital, Santiago, because the airport that is closer to the earthquake’s epicenter (at Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city) is shut down due to earthquake damage. Santiago is largely intact, but there are pockets of earthquake damage. We spent Thursday evening with a old pastor friend of James’ and learned that five families/people in his church could not return to their rented apartments because of structural damage. James personally met with each family/person prior to my arrival into Santiago, and we were blessed to partner with their church to help them get started in new apartments. Rents have naturally increased in Santiago due to supply and demand.

We spent much of the day on Friday driving to Concepcion (on a highway that was damaged in many places).

Our team includes two other members, Chilean Pablo Jiliberto, who took it upon himself to print 1,500 copies of the Spanish translation of The Disciple-Making Minister and personally distribute them to Christian leaders all over Chile, and Miqueas Vientos, a Spanish-speaking pastor from New Jersey. As we drove towards Concepcion, we stopped at a big grocery store in order to fill the back of our pickup truck with necessities such as bottled water and Clorox for the saints in the earthquake areas. It was in that grocery store that I experienced my first and second aftershocks, one of which we later learned was 7.2 on the Richter scale. It was an erie sensation to which I’ve since grown quite accustom (having now experienced many). Bottles were falling off of shelves and store lights were swinging. People hurried for the exits (including us).

Upon our arrival in Concepcion, we drove to a city park to meet with a church congregation whose building was made unusable by the tsunami that followed the earthquake. They were having church outside, and were praising God in a big circle when we arrived. As stray dogs weaved in and out of the group, James shared a thirty-minute sermon that I could not understand, but that was obviously a great encouragement to everyone. Tomorrow we’ll be visiting some of those among them who lost just about everything, and who are now living with other church members or relatives.

James Jones, park preacher

So far I love Chile. When you greet someone, you shake hands, then you hug and put your cheeks together and make a kissing sound, then shake hands again. Lots of love flowing at the Grace and Peace Church here in Concepcion!

Below are a couple of photos of our team members and some of the earthquake damage in Concepcion. Thanks for your prayers. — David

This apartment building just fell over on its side

Pastor Pedro Martinez Hernandez

Pastor Pedro’s wife, Anna Maria Fagundez Cluzet

Pablo Zuniga Jiliberto

Miqueas Vientos

James Jones (what a boring name!)

Here are some new photos of the work that Heaven’s Family is doing to help earthquake victims in Haiti. Our focus is on the Arcahaie Resettlement Camp, just north of Port-au-Prince. The selection of photos here are all from the camp. Our hope and prayer is that, as you look at these photos, God will flood your heart with a love and concern for our needy Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ.

If you would like to see the photos fullscreen, press the icon in the upper left hand corner.

To contribute securely by credit card from anywhere in the world, click here, or call our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.

To contribute by check in the U.S. or from any country other than the U.K., please write "Disaster Relief" in the memo line and mail it to Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 12854, Pittsburgh, PA, 15241, USA.

To contribute by cheque in the U.K., please make your cheque out to Heaven’s Family and write "Disaster Relief" on the back. You can mail your donation to: Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 3736, Ascot, Berkshire, SL57WR.

One of the children of Mt. Zion Orphanage, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Dear Friends,

I’ve just returned from an exhausting trip to Haiti, via the Dominican Republic, which was the only way we (and multitudes of others) could gain access. HF staff member Jeff Trotter and I witnessed devastation in Port-au-Prince that I can only describe as apocalyptic. As we drove through Haiti’s capital, we were reminded of how fragile life is, and how near eternity can be. 200,000 Haitians rose from their beds on the morning of January 12 never imagining that they had less than twelve hours remaining on this earth.

The needs in Port-au-Prince are staggering. It will require years of effort by agencies and governments around the world to bring Port-au-Prince back up to the depressing place it was before the earthquake. I believe, however, that we have found our places of service. Let me briefly describe what we experienced.

The first stop on our long journey from Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic, to Port-au-Prince was a field hospital on the border, housed at the Good Samaritan Medical Mission compound. Heaven’s Family Latin America Director James Jones is responsible for that field hospital, assigned to his task by the Dominican Republic’s Health Department.

James, a former army medic, has coordinated the convergence of medical personnel and ministries who are treating the injured flown in each day by helicopter. We met many fine doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel who are volunteering their time and skills. Hundreds of injured people are being served. Along with many other fine organizations such as World Vision, Heaven’s Family is providing medical supplies, water filters, and tons of bottled water. Also with our help, three paramedics from Pittsburgh arrived Saturday who will be serving at that field hospital all this week.

L to R: James Jones speaking with a medical staff member at the field hospital, and caring for the injured there.

After a taxing, bottle-necked border crossing into Haiti, we drove to the outskirts of Port-au-Prince to rendezvous with Pastor Preval Meritil, my Haitian friend of thirty years, who oversees hundreds of churches across Haiti. It was so good to see him alive and well.

L to R: Preval Meritil, and congestion at the bottlenecked border crossing

Preval led us to some church property about an hour outside the city where he is resettling about 1,500 Port-au-Prince Christians who lost their homes. When we arrived, children were playing with one another, women were cooking rice and beans in large pots over wood fires, and men were constructing two simple sleeping shelters, one for the men, and the other for women. That camp will be their home into the indefinite future. Many more will likely be joining them.

I entrusted Preval with several thousand dollars I had brought with me to provide for their most immediate food needs. Food is available for those who can afford the increased prices. I was so glad we had made the effort to be there, and that we were able to do something for members of our spiritual family. We also gave them enough Sawyer water filters to purify water for everyone.

Images from the resettlement camp where HF will be serving in the months ahead. Most everyone is living under tarps and sheets, or out in the open.

The Haitian government has announced that 400,000 Port-au-Prince survivors will need to be relocated to resettlement camps around the city. Providing basic services for those multitudes will be a massive and daunting task, and I’m afraid that for many, things will become worse before they get better.

Heaven’s Family will be focusing on caring for those 1,500 brothers and sisters whom we have just begun to help. They need foam mattresses, as they are currently sleeping on the cold, hard ground, as well as blankets, food, shelter, water, toilet facilities, and security from gangs who will be preying on those who have food. (4,000 Port-au-Prince prison inmates escaped after the earthquake.) The logistics to provide for all these needs are being worked out by James Jones and Preval Meritil—all made possible because of your compassion.

From the resettlement camp we journeyed to the other side of Port-au-Prince to visit our orphanage, passing the ruins of many homes, businesses and large government buildings along the way. The stench of decaying bodies still buried under rubble permeated the air. We witnessed a line of people that stretched for at least a mile that terminated at a large iron gate. There was obviously hope of food behind that gate, but it was closed as we passed.

A few of the many scenes of earthquake damage that we witnessed

The concrete house that is used to house the children of Mt. Zion Orphanage was undamaged, with the exception of a block wall that fell on the edge of their small piece of property. None of the children had been injured, but a number of them asked us, through our interpreter, if we would take them with us. They said they were afraid of another earthquake. (Everyone in Port-au-Prince is sleeping out in the open.) I did my best to reassure them that God would protect them.

Safe and sound: The children of Mt. Zion Orphanage in Port-au-Prince, with a few neighbor kids also.

The director, Pastor Widelson Marcellus, and his wife, are also caring for some neighbors. Along with the orphanage children, none had eaten since breakfast that morning, and they were out of money. We arrived late in the afternoon, so I was glad to be able to provide the food they lacked. We gave them a Sawyer water filter, and James treated a few injured people who were there. We will continue to be a lifeline for Mt. Zion orphanage through James and Preval in the months ahead. We are considering relocating all the children to our other orphanage that is five hours outside of Port-au-Prince in a more rural setting.

There is so much more that I want to tell you about our time in Haiti. Please look for an article about earthquake relief in our March magazine that will include a web link to a slideshow that will better tell our story.

Again, thank you to everyone who has helped and continues to help. The media frenzy will soon subside, but we are going to continue serving in Haiti for months and years ahead.

In Christ,
David

David Servant
Director, Heaven’s Family

To contribute securely by credit card from anywhere in the world, click here, or call our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.

To contribute by check in the U.S. or from any country other than the U.K., please write "Disaster Relief" in the memo line and mail it to Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 12854, Pittsburgh, PA, 15241, USA.

To contribute by cheque in the U.K., please make your cheque out to Heaven’s Family and write "Disaster Relief" on the back. You can mail your donation to: Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 3736, Ascot, Berkshire, SL57WR.

A child who was orphaned by the earthquake, after his broken arm was set at a temporary hospital assisted by HF

Dear Friends,

I’m glad that I have some encouraging news to report from Haiti.

He is Alive! Yesterday morning I learned that a dear Haitian friend of thirty years, pastor Preval Meritil, is alive. He is not only alive, he is well. He has been using his old Land Rover to transport believers from Port-au-Prince, where relief efforts are bottlenecked at the airport, to his church compound up in the mountains, several hours away. Residents of Port-au-Prince are streaming from the city to escape scarcity of food and water, the stench of death, continued aftershocks, and the escalating violence.

Safe Water for 10,000: HF International Director Chuck King successfully delivered 100 Sawyer Water filters to our primary representative in the bordering nation of the Dominican Republic ($4,000 worth). Those filters can provide enough safe drinking water for 10,000 people each day. Initially, they are being distributed to several field hospitals where the need is so great.

Food and Meds Delivered: Area representative James Jones traveled overland into Haiti to deliver some of those water filters, as well as food, bottled water and medical supplies provided by Heaven’s Family. He has shipped similar supplies by air. He has also helped set up a MASH unit on Haiti’s border that is treating the injured who are flown in by helicopter. He is bringing in thirty medical interns and ten surgeons from the Dominican Republic.

Our Orphanages: Until I spoke with pastor Preval, the only news we had about our two orphanages in Haiti was an unconfirmed report that eight orphans were found alive in Port-au-Prince. We anxiously waited for more news, but feared the worst. Praise God, however, pastor Preval reported that all the orphans are alive and uninjured, as well as the orphanage directors! He said their greatest need right now is for food. I’ll let you know more details as further news comes in. Please keep praying for them.

Heading to Haiti: I’m currently in London on ministry business, but will arrive home this evening. I’ll be leaving for Haiti early tomorrow morning along with HF staff member Jeff Trotter. We’re hoping to reach our orphanage in Port-au-Prince (although that may be too dangerous at this time), as well as assess where we should focus next. Thanks so very much for your help once again. Your compassion is making a difference.

In Christ,

David

David Servant
Director, Heaven’s Family

To contribute securely by credit card from anywhere in the world, click here, or call our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.

To contribute by check in the U.S. or from any country other than the U.K., please write "Disaster Relief" in the memo line and mail it to Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 12854, Pittsburgh, PA, 15241, USA.

To contribute by cheque in the U.K., please make your cheque out to Heaven’s Family and write “Disaster Relief” on the back. You can mail your donation to: Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 3736, Ascot, Berkshire, SL57WR.

Dear Friends,

Massive amounts of aid are now beginning to pour into Haiti. The immediate needs are, of course, for the rescue of trapped survivors, water, food, and medical help for the injured. Right now everything is a mass of confusion in Port-au-Prince.

We have not received any word from either our primary contact in Haiti (with whom I spoke by phone just a few days before the earthquake), or from either of our two orphanage directors. Like tens of thousands of other Americans and Canadians who have loved ones in Haiti, we wait with hope. The cell phone of our primary contact sounds as if it is ringing when I call him, but there is no answer. I am facing up to the possibility that Preval Meritil, a dear friend of thirty years and a true Haitian saint, is in heaven.

Our area representative, James Jones of the Dominican Republic, found the Dominican/Haiti border tightly closed in both directions at two locations that he tried. Thankfully, because James is a former army medic, he has been assigned by the Dominican Civil Defense and Secretary of Health to a MASH team, and he will be on the ground in Port-au-Prince on Saturday. His job will be triage, primary rescue, stabilization of the injured, and transfers. James is taking $5,000 worth of bottled water, food, and medical supplies from Heaven’s Family, thanks to all of you.

HF International Director Chuck King is flying to the Dominican Republic tomorrow to personally entrust James Jones with 100 Sawyer Water Filters. James will take them with him to Port-au-Prince where they are so greatly needed right now.

There were massive needs in Haiti before the earthquake, and there will be massive needs for months and years to come there. We intend to do all that the Lord enables us to do to meet immediate and long-term needs.

Our website experienced some technical difficulties yesterday for a while, so if you tried to make a contribution for Haiti Disaster Relief but were not able, please try again today. Everything is working now. And thanks to everyone for your compassion.

In Christ,

David

David Servant
Director, Heaven’s Family

To contribute securely by credit card from anywhere in the world, click here, or call our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.