Date: February 19th 2010

Pastor Etienne just returned from the Northwest last night and told us the countryside is overloaded and overwhelmed with the thousands of people that have left PAP. All the villages were begging him to please bring them some food so they can feed these people. The first container of food has arrived at customs in the Dominican Republic. They are extremely back-logged and overloaded with shipments, but we are praying that this container will be released by early next week. We have permission from the donor of the funds to ship this container with 270,000 meals to the villages in the Northwest and distribute the food there.

We have a second container of food from Feed My Starving Children en route which should arrive in about a week. We have permission from FMSC to use this food to feed the people who are hungry in the areas we deem necessary. We are in contact with someone who is raising the money for a third container of food that is similar to the food we received from FMSC. It is expected that it will be packed and shipped within the next month. We have a fourth container at Palm Beach Baptist Church that is being filled with items such tents, tarps, a water filter system with buckets, and other items the people need. That will be ready to ship in about 30 days. We have a fifth container of food that we are hoping to pack in Hollywood, Florida with the assistance of FMSC. There is a group that is trying to raise the funds for this project. We thank you for your donations so we can ship and deliver these containers. As the funds come in to cover the costs of shipping, we will move th
ese containers out to go to Haiti.

Because of the danger in our efforts to distribute the food, we have found the best method is to take it to the churches where the Pastors can distribute it in a more orderly manner. Pastor Etienne knows the churches and the Pastors very well in PAP. He has found this to be a very effective way to put the food into the hands of the people. We are also starting to send food to the Northwest as we are seeing the suffering of our people in our villages now due to the overwhelming migration of people from PAP. One example is the school in Anse Rouge. We purchased land a few months ago to build a new school because the current one is in such bad condition and totally over-crowded. During this past week, their attendance has increased by 103 children coming in from PAP.

The rains have started now in Haiti. This presents another serious situation to the people. They have been living out in the open, because their houses are unsafe, where they have used sticks and sheets to make some type of shelter for themselves. We received a report from an American Missionary yesterday. Part of her email stated:

“As the heavy rain and wind storm woke me up last night, all I could think about were the people in the outskirts of the city who, having lost everything, were now facing soaking rains. I could only imagine the condition of those ‘tents’ this morning. It is hard to see so much destruction and loss of life and limbs. While visiting the field hospital at the airport in PAP the first night, I saw a tiny little baby girl who couldn’t weigh more than 5 pounds, lying on a cot with both legs broken and in casts. I am told that when a mom is told that her injured child is ready for discharge that the mom panics as she doesn’t know where she is going to take her child. They have lost everything and have been living at the hospital since the earthquake.”

The need is so overwhelming and we know it will take much work, time and patience to do what we can do through the grace of God. We will not give up on these people. There is Victory in Jesus. We keep pressing on.

Thank you for helping us help the people of Haiti.

Fred