Haiti

Isaiah 25:4 – “But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat.”

It’s with aching hearts that we write to you today. The devastation and destruction that took place in Haiti while we were there isn’t easy to describe.  With an already weak economy, unstable government, Haiti was hit with tropical storms and hurricanes one after another.  Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike sped through Haiti leaving it with six hundred dead as of today, fifteen thousand homes destroyed, and two hundred thousand in need of assistance, and destroying eight bridges altogether making it almost impossible to get to the places that need help.  

Most of Haiti has been affected by the storms in some way, but the areas that were hit that are dear to our heart are Gonaives, Fond Verrette and Oriani where Guimps holds Bible seminars and conferences. The people in these areas are friends and we are hurting with them as most of them lost everything- clothes, homes, crops and the list goes on and on.

There is a church in Gonaives that our church in Carrefour is close to. The night Hannah passed through Gonaives, Guimps and Sophonie were kept up all night by phone calls from brothers and sisters in the church crying for help and wanting a word of encouragement assuring them that God will take care of them.  Water covered their homes and many had to retreat to roofs of two story buildings for safety.  There they stayed for 2 days without water to drink or food to eat. Thank God He did take care of them and they are all safe today.

Patrice Derrouche, a missionary from France and founder of the church in Gonaives, came to Haiti a few days after the hurricane. Guimps and three strong men from our church went with Patrice to Gonaives to take food and other supplies to our friends who lost everything. That was quite a trip. Under normal conditions it takes us 5 hours to go to Gonaives, but this trip took twelve hours. At one point they couldn’t get a truck because of the washed-out bridge, so they walked for eight miles. They bought a wheelbarrow to haul the sacks of rice and supplies. To get into the city they walked through smelly, mucky water up to their waists.

Pray for Guimps as he visits these areas seeing all the needs and finding out how we can help. The flood water is still high in Gonaives which makes it difficult for any clean up there as of now.  Rodney is getting a team together to go and be a blessing in whatever way he can. Guimps just returned from Fond Verrette and Orianie to see how we can help there. When we get his email, we will forward it to you.