Many of you have been inquiring about the impact of Hurricane Melissa on your Sister Church and community. Up through Wednesday, it has been raining so hard that the roads have been impassable. We now have several teams out assessing the damage and needs.
While Hurricane Melissa passed to the south of and around the southern peninsula of Haiti, it didn’t spare Haiti. The rain and wind bands resulted in over 8 days of heavy rain, significant storm surge, and high winds. This resulted in the tragic loss of many lives. We are also getting reports of the devastation of crops and livestock, the wiping away of infrastructure (including cell towers, roads, bridges, etc.), the destruction of many homes, businesses, as well as some non-RMI churches, and schools. There are reports of massive flooding of all the rivers. Villages and towns are underwater.
Landslides and debris of all kinds block the mountain roads, often taking the roadway with them. Many roads in the coastal areas have been washed away by the tidal surge or flooding rivers. All of this makes our Haitian brothers and sisters’ desperate situations even more hopeless.
We are receiving pictures and videos of the devastation from many sources. Click here to view some of the devastation. More photos will be added as they become available.
Pastors have shared that they opened the doors of their churches and schools to families whose homes were destroyed by the wind or had been forced out of their homes by flooding or the tidal surge. Most of our sister churches were affected by the hurricane in some way, particularly those located near the coast.
I know that with the end of the year approaching, you will receive numerous appeals, including those from RMI. However, this was one we did not anticipate having to send this year. Unfortunately, the need is urgent, and we wanted to inform you of how you can help.
Due to these conditions, there will be an ACUTE and URGENT food need. Their crops are gone, their supplies and homes are damaged or gone. With many roads being washed away, people will have no way to obtain food. Food will be the most urgent need our churches and their communities will have for the next several months.
You can help your hurting brothers and sisters by sponsoring a Family Food Kit for $225. It includes:
* 1 55lb bag of rice, 1 gallon of cooking oil, and 1 13 lb bag of red beans.
This food kit is sufficient to feed a family for about a month, helping them get through these tough times. (This will be bought locally as it is very difficult and expensive to get a container of food into Haiti at this time.)
For those who lost part of or all of their roof, a Roof Repair Kit for $500 consists of:
* 35 sheets of tin and 15 pounds of tin sheet nails
If you would like to donate to the hurricane fund, please click HERE. Under “Purpose”, choose “Haiti Hurricane Fund”, “Hurricane Family Food Kit”, or “Hurricane Roof Repair Kit”. If you would like to designate your gift to a specific church partnership, please include the name of that church in the “Donation Note” box. We will work with your Sister Church to ensure that these reach those who need them most in their churches and communities.
Make a difference in the lives of these devastated families. Provide one or more Family Food kits and/or a Roof Repair kit today.
