Thursday, January 14, 2010

How to Help in Haiti

There are a number of large agencies that are sending or have sent teams to Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. Most are probably taking huge amounts of relief supplies: tents, food, water, blankets, medicine and other essentials.

One missionary blogging in Haiti writes:

If you don't speak Creole/Kreyol and don't have the ability to work with injured people - you should NOT come. We cannot feed you and we don't have a place to house you.
Makes sense.

My brother-in-law Steve Hersey and my sister Ruth have lived in Haiti through coups, Marine invasions, hurricanes, and the daily crisis that is life for the 80% of Haitians that live in poverty. When many left the country, they have stayed behind to serve. I don't doubt they are even now doing everything they can to serve those in terrible need around them. They speak Kreyol, they know their community, and they are strategically placed to do real good, if in a small way.

If you would like to help them help others right now, you can give to their account at Free Methodist World Missions. If you don't wish to indicate a home church in the sign-in process, just select a location and select the "UNKNOWN" option. When you get to the donation page, select #4. VISA from the list on the left and then scroll down on the right to "VISA Hersey, Steve." [Update: Even better, give to the Quisqueya Christian School relief program by going to the Quisqueya website and clicking on donate at the bottom.]

The site is a bit clumsy but it will work if you stick with it.

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