Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has established an account to speed cash aid following Saturday’s temblor
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, was rocked by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake Saturday. Both Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Presbyterian World Mission have been in contact with their Haitian partners to offer any assistance they can. (Photo by Heather Suggitt via Unsplash)
LOUISVILLE — Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Presbyterian World Mission have been in contact with their partners in Haiti following Saturday morning’s 7.2-magnitude earthquake and the aftershocks that have followed.
Reuters reported Sunday that the quake struck southwestern Haiti about 90 miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, near the town of Petit Trou de Nippes. Saturday’s earthquake was even more severe than the 7-magnitude earthquake in 2010 that killed tens of thousands of people.
Saturday’s earthquake, which struck around 8:30 a.m. local time, hit farther from the capital than the 2010 quake. As of Sunday night the quake had taken nearly 1,300 lives and injured about 3,000 others, according to news reports.
The devastation could soon worsen, the Associated Press reported, with the coming of Tropical Storm Grace, which was predicted to reach Haiti late Monday or early Tuesday, bringing the potential for torrential rain, flooding and landslides.
Port-au-Prince is a city of about 2.8 million people. According to the World Bank, nearly 60% of Haitians live on $2 per day or less. About 25% of the population lives in extreme poverty.
Cindy Corell, a PC(USA) mission co-worker in Haiti, wrote this prayer following Saturday’s earthquake:
Lord God! Your children in Haiti are so frightened!
Their walls shook this morning. The ground beneath their feet cannot be trusted!
Goudougoudou, they call it! It’s the sound they heard on January 12, 2010, when catastrophe came quaking and shaking.
Lord God, their bodies and souls tremble again as a large earthquake broke their houses, crushingly destroying lives and livelihoods.
But their faith in You is not broken, Lord God.
We ask again that You hold them tight,
Bring healing to their bodies,
Bring structure to the disorder,
Bring help for the wounded,
Bring light to this darkness once again enveloping them.
And Lord God, help us to bring aid first by listening to their concerns,
Biding by their needs as they share them.
Lord God, your children in Haiti are so frightened.
Please let us shelter them in spirit while we walk with them.
We ask all this in the name of your precious Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
To make a donation to PDA to speed aid to Haiti, click here to contribute to Disaster Relief-Haiti, OG100000.
To give by phone, call 800-872-3283. To send a check, please designate where you want your gift to go on the memo line and mail to:
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700
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