The capital city of Port au Prince, Haiti is in ruins following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake last Tuesday, which killed more than 55,000 people. Over 3 million people were greatly affected and are becoming desperate for food, clean water and basic medical help.

Our missionaries, the Smiths and Courters, are safe and have been working with Convoy of Hope personnel in the aftermath of the quake. Convoy’s director for Haiti was in Port au Prince when the quake hit. Because their warehouse was fully stocked, the team was able to begin responding immediately. At the time of this writing, more than 300,000 meals have been distributed. By the time you receive this, the number will be much higher. More than 1 million pounds (25 containers) of food have been shipped to Port au Prince from the COH warehouse in Springfield, MO.

Area Director Dale Coad quickly brought a team in three vehicles with a shipment of food and medical supplies into Port au Prince from neighboring Dominican Republic. The first medical relief team from Healthcare Ministries is scheduled to leave today. Because of serious security concerns, AGWM and Convoy of Hope will not be deploying volunteer teams until we can ensure their safety.

There are 273 Assembly of God churches, six Latin America Child Care schools and over 66,000 AG church members in Haiti. During the initial assessment, some churches and schools were found damaged and some pastors and members were killed or injured. We will be rebuilding some churches, but it will at least be several months before that can begin. 

We will not know the full extent of the tragedy for some time because communications lines are down, gas is in short supply and road travel is very difficult with the debris of collapsed buildings.

Please pray for the safety of our relief workers and missionaries. 

Thank you for standing with the people of Haiti by participating in this united act of compassion.