Haiti: The Impact on Seventh-Day Adventists in Haiti

Hey Guys,

In this post I'm relaying what information I received from Maranatha about how the recent Haiti disaster affected the Seventh-Day Adventist community in Haiti.

- Maranatha Matters - January 22nd, 2010 -

**Maranatha Responds to Urgent Needs in Haiti

The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12 has brought untold suffering and devastation to one of the world’s poorest countries. While immediate rescue efforts continue to some extent, the focus of relief efforts has turned to supporting those displaced by the earthquake.

According to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America, the church has been hit hard in Haiti. Current estimates indicate that 115 churches have been totally destroyed and 60 more have extensive damage. Five schools were also completely destroyed.

The impact on Adventist church members has been massive. Nearly 600 members lost their lives and countless others sustained major or minor injuries. Some 15,000 Adventist families lost their homes and 27,000 Adventists have gathered in makeshift refugee centers at church properties. Before the earthquake, Haiti had more than 335,000 Adventists worshipping in 470 churches. There were 100,000 Adventists living in Port-au-Prince.

Maranatha Volunteers International has received an official request from the Seventh-day Adventist world church to deliver immediate infrastructure support to Haiti.

Maranatha and ASI [Adventist Laymen's Services & Industries] will immediately ship 185 One-Day Church structures to Haiti to be used at the refugee centers for temporary housing. At the appropriate time the buildings will be moved and used for permanent churches.

The church members in Haiti need your support. The infrastructure that took years to build was destroyed in seconds. If you would like to help provide temporary housing and future churches for Adventist Church members in Haiti, please click here.

Volunteers will likely soon be needed to help in Haiti. If you would like to be placed on an interest list for helping in Haiti, please click here.