Haiti just got hit with a 7.0

Prayers are needed for all affected by the earthquake in Haiti that just occured.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A powerful earthquake hit the impoverished country of Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing a hospital and other buildings and raising fears of “substantial” casualties.
A reporter for the Reuters news agency in Port-au-Prince, the capital, said he saw dozens of dead and injured people in the rubble, which blocked streets in the city. A local employee for the U.S. charity Food for the Poor said more houses were destroyed than were left standing along Delmas Road, a major thoroughfare in the city.
The earthquake had a magnitude of 7 and was centered about 10 miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was followed a short time later by powerful aftershocks of magnitudes 5.9, 5.5 and 5.1, the USGS said.

Don Blakeman, an analyst at the USGS in Golden, Colo., said such a strong quake carried the potential for widespread damage.
“I think we are going to see substantial damage and casualties,” he said.
A tsunami watch was issued for neighboring Cuba, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, where the quake was felt in the capital, Santo Domingo, more than 300 miles away. The quake was also felt at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
An Associated Press videographer saw a wrecked hospital in Petionville, a suburb near the capital, and a U.S. government official reported seeing houses that had tumbled into a ravine. U.S. officials in Haiti reported that all land telephones and cell phones were down in Port-au-Prince.
Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Raymond Joseph, said from his office in Washington that he spoke to President Rene Preval’s chief of staff, Fritz Longchamp, just after the quake hit. He said Longchamp told him that “buildings were crumbling right and left” near the national palace.

Haiti Earthquake

• World Vision: www.worldvision.org
• Samaritan’s Purse: www.samaritanspurse.org
• Compassion International: www.compassion.com or to go direct to Haiti giving page
• Salvation Army (already had a very large presence in Haiti): http://www.salvationarmy.org

As you are certainly aware, Haiti was struck by a devastating 7.1 earthquake. Yet the aftermath of the earthquake may actually prove more catastrophic than the earthquake itself. While relief agencies and rescue teams from a number of nations are arriving, and several thousand U.N. peacekeeping troops are on the ground, time is truly running out for those buried alive beneath the rubble.

Consider: in the capital city, Port-au-Prince, there are few structurally sound buildings remaining. Food supplies are rapidly diminishing, as are medical supplies. There is no electricity and no water to help this city of over two million people who are now homeless. Hospitals are unable to absorb and care for the many injured, and skilled medical personnel, though arriving daily, are still in short supply. Worse, corpses are stacking up in the streets; the stench of death is in the air bringing with it the threat of disease.

Remember also, there is no functioning government right now in Haiti. In Port-au-Prince there is little heavy equipment to help clear the roads or assist in rescue. As of Thursday, some 40 hours after the quake, most rescue is still occurring by hand.

The situation is desperate, and worsening. Please pray. Then give sacrificially. Yes, this is a nation where an estimated half the population still practices voodoo, yet there is a growing church in Haiti. Christians, even though devastated in the earthquake, are in the streets and squares, defiantly worshiping God, singing hymns and praying. We must join them in prayer. This is a time for the mercy of God to flow and for the kingdom of God to advance. It is also a time to pray that the powers of witchcraft and voodoo will be broken over that nation and a new day for the Haitian people will arise.

Finally, remember: what happened to Haiti could happen anywhere. There is no end to the various ways devastation can come to any culture. We all need mercy. America needs mercy. Your nation needs mercy. How do we receive God's compassion? Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" (Matt. 5:7). To receive mercy we must give it, and the measure we give will determine the measure we receive.

This is our opportunity to invest in our future by sowing mercy now.

Here are some places where you can give:

Francis Frangipane