“If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” Isaiah 58:10

History: Mission to North America (PCA) Senior Staff members have a long history of ministry in Haiti. This work includes church planting, disaster response, economic development, establishing orphanages and Christian schools, and numerous mercy ministries.

On Jan 12, 2010 the most significant disaster to strike the western hemisphere occurred near Port-au-Prince at Leogane, Haiti. Numerous aftershocks continue to occur. Three million people were directly affected by the quake, and the Haitian government reports more than 225,000 have been identified as dead, 300,000 injured and more than 1,000,000 now homeless. The death toll is expected to rise. It is also reported that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial building collapsed or are severely damaged.

Because the earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince, the nation’s largest city, a vast movement of Haitians is occurring to outlying provincial cities. This large movement of people has caused many of the outlying cities to more than double in population.

Mirebalais: PCA Pastor and MNA Senior Staff member Brian Kelso, and PCA Haitian Church Planter Marcel Baptiste are working in Mirebalais Central Haiti to coordinate relief efforts. They have formed a strong partnership with the Mayor of Mirebalais in many relief efforts in a community that has grown from 120,000 to 300,000 almost overnight. Currently the greatest need is food, shelter and medical care for the displaced families. The Mayor has asked Pastors Kelso and Baptiste to supply 5,000 tents for the homeless on land the city has donated.

Your participation is requested: MNA Disaster Response is assisting MNA Staff Member Brian Kelso to meet this critical need and is appealing for your involvement. There are a number of ways you can join in the efforts.

1. Donate family sized (5-7 people) tents. Tents can be purchased locally at department stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Sam’s Club, etc, in the $56-120 price range. Most Haitian families are large so please do not consider smaller tents, only tents for 5-7 people.

2. Set up a collection system. Ask your church, presbytery, club, employer, community to join in our efforts. Advertise on the local radio stations, newspapers, direct mail, and email. Ask your church to place a notice in the bulletin and from the pulpit. Consider purchasing a banner to identify the collection point and to notify the community of the need and your participation. Let others know where they can drop the tents off. Set a time frame for the collection over the course of a few weeks.

3. Ask your mission committee, youth ministry, women’s ministry to take on this project.

4. Perhaps your best way of helping meet this need is to make a direct financial contribution. The funds will be used to purchase tents in south Florida and transported to Haiti from there. To give specifically to this need, go to www.pca-mna.org and then to the Contribute button, add Mirebalais Tent Response in the comment line. Or mail your check to MNA designated for Mirebalais Tent Response. 100% of your donation will go toward tent purchases.

5. Currently MNA Disaster Response is mobilizing volunteers to Mirebalais to assist in food distribution. If you are being led to join in these efforts please form a team and register on the MNA website at www.pca-mna.org. We anticipate mobilizing volunteers to clear and prepare the donated property and place the tents in the transitional village in Mirebalais.

Collection and delivery: We have arraigned for shipment to Haiti from Florida. For large quantities consider renting a U-Haul or similar truck and driving them to our facility near Miami. For smaller quantities, please ship your tent(s) to south Florida at this address: Miami International Freight Solutions, LLC, 6301 East 10 Avenue, Hialeah, FL 33013.

The Urgency: The Haitian rainy season is upon us and 1,000,000 folks are without the basic necessities of life, living in some cases minute by minute. The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1. Please know that Haiti is in the direct path of most every tropical cyclone and takes a direct hit nearly every year. Providing tents is not a permanent solution, but it is one way to ease the immediate suffering as we seek an affordable, quick alternative to people sleeping literally in the streets. By providing these tents we are meeting an immediate need to provide shelter from the scorching sun, certain coming rain and provide a place to consolidate personal items. We are also strengthening our relationship with the local government in a community that is desperate for the life-giving gospel of Christ.

A Personal Note: This is a special project for Mirebalais. For information on our overall response in Haiti navigate to the MNA homepage at pca-mna.org. Would you please prayerfully consider this request to help provide one of the most basic necessities of life in a land rocked by continual disasters? Please contact us and let us know of your intended participation and at what level so that we can plan accordingly. To join in the effort or to learn more, please contact Sherry Lanier at [email protected] or 678-294-3012.

May the Lord’s grace and favor shine on Haiti.
Sincerely in Christ,
MNA ShortTerm Missions & Disaster Response Director
Mission to North America/Presbyterian Church in America