Haiti

Massive Earthquake Hits Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti--Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday, January 13, after a powerful earthquake flattened the president's palace, the cathedral, hospitals, schools, the main prison and whole neighborhoods. Officials feared thousands--perhaps more than 100,000--may have perished but there was no firm count.

President Rene Preval said he believes thousands were killed in Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake, and the scope of the destruction prompted other officials to give even higher estimates. Leading Sen. Youri Latortue told The Associated Press that 500,000 could be dead, although he acknowledged that nobody really knows. "Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed," Preval told the Miami Herald. "There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them."

 Aftershocks continued to rattle the capital of 2 million people as women covered in dust clawed out of debris, wailing. Stunned people wandered the streets holding hands. Thousands gathered in public squares to sing hymns, as detailed of the extent of the suffering and devastation trickled out to the outside world.

Helping the Haiti Relief Effort

Updated!

The reason mercy and compassion exist in humans is that those qualities exist in the Creator who made men and women in his likeness.  This is illustrated in one of the earliest descriptions of God in Exodus 34:6, when God passes before Moses and proclaims his name, which is another way of saying that he proclaims his essence, character and being:

The disaster in Haiti has created an agonizing human toll of misery, death and destruction.  Our compassion has been rightly stirred, and we ought to give full expression to our God-given mercy impulse.  Let us not restrain our lament, our prayer and our resources.

One way we can love and serve others in Jesus' name is to help in relief efforts locally and globally. Mission to the World (MTW) is a means for PCA churches like Wildwood to participate in the relief effort with our donations and involvement. The top priority right now is financial support. We’ve compiled a list of organizations you can choose from. 

Continue to check the website for continued updates on how you as an individual and Wildwood as a church will be participating in Gospel outreach and relief to the country of Haiti.