Over $153,463 has generously been given to the Haitian relief effort to date.
Over $90,000 has been utilized in Haiti or allocated to key partners:
* $31,600 in emergency food distributed by OH missionaries to displaced persons in a Cap Haitien shelter, hospital, feeding center, and the Benjamin orphanage.
* $4,000 toward medications and bandages in Cap Haitien.
* $55,000 allocated to key partners toward the purchase of food, medical supplies, blankets and other necessities including distribution costs.
Our collective hearts and prayers are with the Haitian people as they deal with the tremendous devastation and loss from the January earthquake.
God calls his church as the body of Christ to respond in love and action to such tragedies. He also provides paths to do that. In the case of Oak Hills, God has provided substantial financial resources as well as key relationships and connections in Haiti that allow us to put these resources to immediate use in strategic ways that maximize their impact and are a testimony to God’s love and mercy.
The Oak Hills family’s generosity has provided over $123,000 so far to the Haitian relief effort. Oak Hills had received $66,563 in Haiti Relief contributions as of Feb. 1, a figure that doesn’t include the many individual donations made by our members to multinational charities. Another $75,000 was added to this amount, made possible by an outpouring from the year-end Acts 1:8 Contribution that exceeded the goal.
Nearly two-thirds of that amount – over $83,000 – has already been utilized in Haiti or allocated to key partners for their ongoing work. Another $51,000 is being held in reserve to continue ongoing efforts and for other needs, pending further developments and new information over the next days and weeks.
Funds Distributed in Haiti
Oak Hills’ missionary partners in Cap Haitian – Moise and Altagrace Toussaint and their church – have taken the lead in ministering to thousands of internally displaces persons (IDPs) now flooding north into the Cap Haitian area. Funds are being used to provide food and medications to IDPs in a refugee center and a neighboring hospital. The church leaders and members are personally delivering food, allowing them to also minister to the spiritual needs of the IDPs, to love them and pray with them.
The Toussaints – as well as Alfred Princilma from the village of Benjamin - are also providing a daily hot meal to over 500 children from the Cap Haitian neighborhoods and the Benjamin orphanage that have felt the impact of the quake through inflation, economic disruption and increased hunger and need. For many of these children, this is the only hot meal they will get in a day.
We are also assisting three leaders of the church in relocating or repairing their homes due to the effects of the earthquake and flooding that made their homes unlivable.
Funds Allocated to Strategic Partners
In addition to working through our own missionary team in the Cap Haitian area, we are supporting the efforts of key strategic partners working diligently to respond in Haiti.
A donation to World Vision will be used to purchase medical supplies, water, rice, cook sets, and blankets to complement a massive food distribution taking place. Funds will also support the establishment of child friendly spaces in Port au Prince, Cap Haitian area, and Hinche/Central Plateau that are designed to help children cope with the displacement and disruption caused by the earthquake.
Oak Hills’ growing relationship with Children’s Hunger Fund has provided another avenue for assistance. CHF is working directly through their large Mercy Network of churches in Haiti to reach the suffering with direct food aid. Oak Hills has already provided 2,100 Food Paks from our fall campaign, which are now en route to Haiti. An additional donation to CHF will help cover freight costs and on-the-ground distribution.
Distribution is one of the primary challenges and barriers to people actually receiving much of the incoming aid. Oak Hills is assisting specifically in this area by investing in the purchase of a truck for another trusted partner, Esperanza, which is a co-partner with CHF. This vehicle will help Esperanza in the short term provision of food, water, and medical supplies to the people that need it most. In the medium to long-term, it will be an asset in the enormous rebuilding and redevelopment efforts that will be required.
These partnerships were selected based on our ongoing relationships, shared goals to serve the most vulnerable in the name of Christ, and trust that these are among the most cost-effective and reliable organizations now working in Haiti. Each organization possesses long-time experience and extensive networks among the Haitian people and its churches.
Oak Hills thanks each one of you who have given sacrificially to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti. We join you in prayer for them, for the nation of Haiti, and that God’s love will shine ever-more brightly to those that so in need of His peace.
James and Barb Massie arrived safely today, Jan 14, in Cap Hatien. What they found in the Northern part of the island was encouraging. There appears to be little structural damage other than cracked foundations on some of the buildings. Unfortunately the Cap Hatien region has received large amounts of rainfall over the past seven days and flooding is a problem. In fact James reports Moise and Altagrace Toussain, our Haitian Missionary’s, presently have 6 inches of water in their home.
Today James and Barb were able to purchase fuel for cooking and transportation as well as rice and beans for the days ahead. Both of these critical commodities are expected to run in short supply over the next few days as people in the community purchase for their own needs as well as for family members in the hard hit capital region of Port-au—Prince. A significant problem in the South is the absence of fuel to prepare the staple foods of rice and beans so the church in Cap Hatien is setting out to assist. With a large portion of the cash James carried (no checking or credit card purchases are available since the central banking infrastructure is located in the capital and now lies in ruins), they are purchasing as much prepared food as possible and will be boxing it for transport to the South. This seems to be the quickest and most efficient way to get food to the hungry with the church as the vanguard.
The primary means of communication between the Massie’s and the U.S. is presently satellite phone. James hopes to gain internet access in the days ahead and will give reports as often as possible via all communication channels.
What is OHC doing at the moment in response to this crises?
* First, we are praying for all those involved, from the injured, to the homeless, to the relief workers.
* Second, we are on the ground ministering with OHC people and funds to meet the immediate needs of our family in the North and taking aid to the South as quickly as possible.
* Third, we are gathering first hand information via the Massie’s as to the best way to meet the most pressing needs in the days ahead.
* Fourth, we have established links on our web page for those who want to contribute toward relief efforts either through OHC or other trusted partners who are at the forefront of the effort.
* Finally, we are prepared to respond as the Elder’s direct with funds already collected from our 2009 Acts 1:8 offering.
You are welcome to donate to Oak Hills Church Haiti Relief online by clicking on the link below (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex, or ACH accepted). If you wish to give your support using a check please write “Haiti Relief” on the memo line.
