I recently returned from Haiti. This country needs our prayers! The debris from the earthquake in January remains everywhere. Thousands of buildings are simply a pile of rubble! Thousands more are tilted sideways, cracked from top to bottom and will need to come down.
Karl and Ann Olsson (missionaries in Haiti) told us that if the proper equipment were in place it would take crews working 2 years around the clock to remove the concrete piles. The amount of debris would fill the Louisiana Superdome 5 times!!
No one individual, government, church or ngo is going to make a dent in the recovery of Haiti. Remember we are not talking about normal circumstances. The reality is that this country had enormous challenges prior to the earthquake. Consider:
- Gross national income per capita is US$520, about half the total for Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Americas. (World Bank)
- In rural areas, poverty and extreme poverty rates are estimated to be 84% and 69% respectively. (Institut Haïtien de Statistique et D’Informatique et al., 2001)
- Half of children under 5 are malnourished. (UNDP Human Development Report 2004)
- Less than 20% of schools have electricity; 39% have potable water; 15% have a library. (HICF Report 2004)
Combining these gloomy statistics with the devastation of the January earthquake seems insurmountable. But, I can still see a vibrant and prosperous Haiti one day! Why? Because I believe the focus of the people of that great land is turning a corner. They are realizing that outside aid is only one piece of their countries future. Dependence upon the one and true living God is where their hope rests!
Thousands of Haitians have been driven to their knees in genuine, authentic, passionate pursuit of the Lord. Let’s join them and watch the Lord heal their land!
“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2Chron 7:14
Greg Kelley
Executive Director
