Samaritan’s Purse teams are working with local churches in Haiti to distribute critically-needed relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake.

Supplies such as hygiene kits, plastic for shelters, blankets and solar flashlights were provided to at least 300 families located in and around Port-au-Prince per day.

A 6.1-magnitude aftershock rocked Haiti on lastWednesday morning, but praise God that it did interfere with the relief work, as our teams continue to focus on providing temporary shelter, non-food items such as blankets and hygiene kits and clean water.

We set up a community water filter at a university west of the town of Carrefour on the southern peninsula on Monday, where there are 20,000 displaced people. The team plans to set up an additional three community water filters in the area. We also purchased 10 tons of staple foods such as beans and rice to distribute to orphanages.

Doctors and nurses with Samaritan’s Purse and from HCJB Global, our ministry partner, continue to alleviate suffering from survivors of the quake. We have 17 medical personnel at the Baptist Haiti Mission Hospital, including Dr. Bill Frist, former Majority Leader of the United States Senate, and Dr. Dick Furman, co-founder of World Medical Mission.

Among the patients being treated was Joeanne, a 9-year-old girl who had a bed on the floor in one of the hospital corridors. Her right hand was heavily bandaged and she had lost a finger. Joanne’s mother, Agathe, was tearful as two of her four children died in the earthquake.

A chaplain from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association shared the Gospel with Joeanne and her mother, and shed tears of his own when both of them prayed to receive Christ.

On Sunday, Samaritan’s Purse workers installed a high-capacity water filtration unit at the Baptist Haiti Mission. The community filter will provide safe, clean water for patients and staff at the 100-bed hospital and the mission. The filter and the installation came just in time, as the water supply was running very low in the aftermath of the devastating quake.

“With so many people in the hospital it is critical that we have water,” said Deborah Baker, a staff member at the mission. “Samaritan’s Purse was able to bring in a large water filter. We have a large fish pond and they are going to start filtering the water out of it to be used for drinking water. Praise God for SP for sending this water filter and for sending people to set it up, and oversee it. This is going to be a huge blessing to have more clean drinking water.”

Samaritan’s Purse also is sending in a barge that will transport heavy equipment, large trucks for transporting equipment and fuel, 5,000 rolls of plastic, and other emergency items.

 “The damage is staggering in a nation where three out of four people live on less than $2 a day,” Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham said. “The people of Haiti need our help like never before. It is desperate. We pray for the people of Haiti, that God would comfort those that have lost so much.”

As many as 200,000 are thought to have been killed, 1.5million left homeless, and three million affected overall.

Security concerns and the scope of the disaster make this a challenging response.

“It’s going to take a miracle, but God is in the miracle business,” Graham said.

WAYS YOU CAN HELP

PRAY:

• That people would get the help they need as quickly as possible.
• For our team’s physical, mental, and emotional welfare as they face many challenges through the days.
• For wisdom in determining the most effective response to this disaster.

 

HEADLINES