Haiti Earthquake Update: $10,000 Emergency Relief Match Available

Written by Mark J. Wheeler, MBA, OC Vice President of Advancement

As I prayed with my family this morning for our brothers and sisters in Haiti, tears rolled down my face as the reality of events in the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere sank in. Those who have survived in Haiti are now being called upon to give in ways I cannot imagine, and yet they have so little. Unknown to me was that an Overseas Council (OC) Board member was prompted this morning to give a dollar-for-dollar match up to $10,000 to be used immediately as an Emergency Earthquake Relief Fund for our partner school in Haiti, the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Port-au-Prince (STEP). Every dollar you give will be matched dollar for dollar and will go directly to STEP for their most urgent needs.

Update as of January 13, 2010 from STEP President Dr. Jean Dorlus (pictured with family):
“The damage done is beyond description; it is just horrific. No one can be sure yet to the exact number of victims, but the estimate from some of the international organizations working in the country is in the hundreds of thousands of people dead.

As for the seminary campus, many students, staff, faculty and I were in the main academic building when major parts of it collapsed. Miraculously, a lot of us were able to get out; those who were trapped in the building were rescued except for two that are not accounted for. The damage done to the building is beyond repair. We have a lot of dead and injured people very close by in the neighborhood around the campus area. As I went home last night to check on my family [who is safe], the loss was so great in the areas that I stopped counting bodies.
 
We, as well as most Haitians, are sleeping outside because of the severe aftershocks that continue and the cracks done to some of the homes….The Internet connection is not working properly, and the phone lines are down….Please pray for us, as we find out what to do and how to go forward.”

What is needed right now is for the entire OC family to get emergency relief funds to STEP for immediate use. Future funding needs will be determined and will be part of a multi-phase aid initiative through OC for STEP, but right now, OC is seeking to meet the most urgent and immediate of needs with your help and through the generous match of an OC Board member.

Please do not wait but give now to the $10,000 Emergency Earthquake Relief Fund match. With all of us participating, we can provide significant relief immediately. You can do so by clicking here. Please note: The “STEP - Haiti Earthquake Relief” option will already be selected for you on the donation page. If you have already given to the STEP - Haiti Earthquake Relief through www.overseas.org, your funds will count toward this match.

Thank you for your generosity to our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”  Romans 12:12-13