Update for Wednesday, January 20

Sunday, five tense days after the earthquake in Haiti, we shouted for joy as we finally heard from two Haitian friends, Vilardeau and Erline, who were in Port-au-Prince (PAP) at the time of the quake. Both are ok physically but emotionally shaken by the horror of it all. Erline’s home collapsed. Her mother and grandmother were sitting beside a wall. Instead of falling in on them, the wall fell away from them; so they are alive.

As we listened to Erline’s story, she amazingly thanked God that she was in PAP that day. She had gone to the bus station to get a bus back to Santiago, to begin the next semester of classes at the university. The bus was full and she had made no prior reservation; so she began walking away to catch local transportation to go home. The quake hit as she walked, the earth heaving back and forth like a giant see-saw, buildings collapsing on her right and left. She walked at least two hours to get to her family, hearing wailing for the dead and cries of the injured and trapped all along the way. She kept repeating to herself assurances that her family would be okay. They all slept that night out in the street, fearful with each successive aftershock. Because she was there she was able to help her mother and grandmother find a bit of shelter in a nearby garage.

Erline made it back to Santiago and we helped her gather clothes, soap, food—anything she could grab quickly to send back to her family with a friend who was going into Haiti with a group of young doctors.

When she first arrived, Erline was not sleeping or eating well, had trouble concentrating, and often woke with a start in the night. We are keeping daily contact with her and helping her with basic needs here so she can begin classes. She will complete her degree this year, LORD willing.

That Sunday night, after we heard Erline and Vilardeau were okay, the relief was immense, but we were still tense as we headed for a Haitian church service where Bob would preach to 50-60 young Haitians, mostly university students. Some had just returned from PAP. Many of their families’ homes had been destroyed. Of the group that came that evening, no one had lost immediate family, but everyone knew somebody who had lost somone.

We were expecting a grief-filled service. What we saw and heard were a group of strong and resilient young people. Their faces showed the fatigue and strain of the past five days, but their voices were strong as they sang praises to God. As we hugged many of them after the service, I couldn’t help but think that Haiti still has a future because these are the young men and women who will help rebuild.

The needs within Haiti are immense and if you would like to give to relief efforts through CrossWorld, you can do so at www.crossworld.org. You can see updates there as well on the situation in PAP. There is a “refugee” tent camp of more than 4000 people camping out on the seminary campus where two CrossWorld families live.

We have been continually asking the Lord what our personal response should be. We do not sense that we should enter Haiti at this point in time. More of the students who study here are returning from Haiti. We have been spending time with them, helping with immediate needs. We want to be sure that they have food, shelter, and someone to listen to their stories. Many who are arriving are afraid to sleep inside their apartments. So far all of the students that we know personally have survived without serious injury. One good friend lost her mother.

Looking ahead to the future, we would like to help those students here in Santiago who have lost family and/or homes to be able to continue with their studies. The university in Haiti will not reopen this year. Buildings collapsed and many students died in PAP who were in class at the time of the quake.