Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – CLICK HERE to help the victims now.

9:45 AM PST – February 4, 2010

In the weeks since the earthquake in Haiti, much has been written and said about the suffering that people there continue to endure. Stories of hunger, disease, pain and desperation pour out of the media daily. With looting and violence rising even toward those trying to help, there seems to be no hope in sight. But we do have hope and hope is what we desire to share.
 
For two years, Children’s Hunger Fund has worked with an organization in Haiti and the Dominican Republic called Esperanza International. Esperanza is Spanish for “hope,” and in the face of such devastation, they are doing all they can to bring true hope to their neighbors by supporting the work of the local church. Through Esperanza, CHF is supplying these churches in Haiti with training, supplies, and other aid – providing for not just the physical needs of these devastated communities, but more importantly, the spiritual needs.

Sadly, out of the 500-plus churches Esperanza works with in Haiti, nearly 150 of the pastors were killed in the quake. This is an enormous loss. These men all worked to provide physical, emotional, and spiritual assistance to the poor communities they served. Surviving pastors have called in, devastated and disheartened. One said, “Half of my flock is gone. The church building is gone. I do not have the strength to carry on.” These pastors need hope. They need to know that they are not alone in their efforts to rebuild, not just their own lives, but also the lives of the people who rely on them.
 
Today, a small team from CHF’s headquarters left for Haiti. They are going to accomplish some necessary tasks (logistics, reporting, review, etc.), but their primary objective is to encourage those who are doing the day-to-day work of bringing hope to the afflicted. Kempiz Hernandez, the team leader, encouraged the team saying, “Our job on this trip is to come alongside these pastors, hear their stories, and suffer with them a while so that we can help restore their hope. We get to leave and come home, but this is their life. They cannot leave. Therefore, we must revitalize their hope, encourage them, and mobilize them to bring hope to their communities through compassion ministry.”
 
Please pray with us for the local churches and their pastors in Haiti. All the food and aid we have sent to Haiti so far will do some good, but without the faithful and tireless workers –pastors and volunteers who have given their lives to bring hope to the poor – it will only be food and aid. Nothing more.
 
Thank you for your support. We thank God for all that you have done to help us bring needed goods into Haiti. Much has come in, and much more is needed. Please help us by forwarding this update to your congregation, and fellow workers in ministry, to share what God is doing in Haiti. We will continue to use your gifts with integrity as we serve the needs of children across America and around the world.
 
Please check back often to hear how the relief effort moves forward.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.

4:30 PM PST – January 28, 2010
The devastation left by the earthquake in Haiti may have fallen off of the front pages, but its impact is far from over. Even today, more than two weeks since the 7.0 quake hit, rescuers are still pulling survivors from the rubble, though hope for more miracles like these is perilously slim. CNN reports that nearly 200,000 are injured. 1.5 million are homeless and living in slums or makeshift homes, and 300,000 children under 2 need nutritional support.

Children’s Hunger Fund is working through a local organization called Esperanza International to supply Haitian and Dominican churches with all they need to help these precious children and their families. The churches (forming the newest of CHF’s Mercy Networks) are working vigorously to save and preserve lives every day. It is a fast-paced and often dangerous task, but they do it with joy because of the hope they continue to provide.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.

In an email sent to us by Pastor Castillo, a Dominican church leader who has mobilized his church to alleviate the suffering of their Haitian neighbors, we hear some of what he and others are experiencing as they respond.

“Everyone agreed that I should stay and help that hospital with my truck serving as a makeshift ambulance, delivering food and consoling those affected by the earthquake. At that medical center they were taking care of patients with minor traumas, and those who needed major surgery or amputation were taken to other hospitals in Port-au-Prince.

“The big problem now is adequate treatment of the physical and emotional traumas as well as the hunger and thirst of many people who have sought refuge in the outskirts of town; people with infected wounds, many of whom have contracted tetanus and are dying.”

Another pastor, Pastor Guzman, who has converted his church into a field hospital writes:

“The people find themselves living on the streets in open areas. Sheets and tarps cover them from the hot sun in the day and from the cold in the night. The stench, both from human waste as well as the deteriorated dead bodies under the rubble, is overwhelming and unbearable. Hunger and thirst are ever before these people and affects both children and adults alike.”

This horrible reality is happening right now. Urgent response is necessary still. However, along with the Mercy Network in Haiti and Dominica, we are intent on providing help long after the rescue crews have gone home. The long-term relief we provide will be vital to the recovery of the children, the families, and the fragile country of Haiti.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to help the victims now.

To that end, our recovery strategy continues to revolve around the value found in relationships. By supplying local churches with food, shelter, medicine, hygiene products, shoes, and clothing they are able to provide help and build relationships with the victims. Through this they are able to help families deal with their momentous loss and pain. Emotional and spiritual recovery won’t happen overnight. Life transformation takes place only through compassionate relationships built over time.

Esperanza has established an office and warehouse in Port-au-Prince which will serve as a command center and the hub of the Haitian Mercy Network through which Children’s Hunger Fund will channel Food Paks and other resources to local churches.

Pastor Guzman went on in his email to ask for your prayers. He writes; “Pray that the Lord will grant us wisdom in all of this work and that He will continue to multiply the bread and fish, so to speak, in the midst of a sea of needs.”

We continue to thank God for those who have chosen to donate toward Haiti relief through Children’s Hunger Fund. The response and now the recovery in Haiti has been difficult, but the generous support of friends like you has made it easier to make a tremendous difference to the children and families we serve.

Please check back often to hear how the relief effort moves forward.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.

Update on Haiti

2:25 PM PST – January 20, 2010

It has been a week since a historically destructive earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti. At this hour, rescue and recovery operations from various governments and relief organizations are in full swing. The eyes of the world are on Haiti, and Children’s Hunger Fund (CHF) joins with you in prayer for the surviving victims and all those who are responding in this desperate time.

This update will describe the uniquely prepared position CHF was in at the time of the earthquake, the current state of CHF’s relief operations within Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and the long-term strategy to serve Haitian children and families from this day forward.

CHF’s Unique Position for Response

At the time of the quake, God had uniquely positioned Children’s Hunger Fund with a readiness to respond directly to the need. Over the past 2 years, CHF has built strategic relationships with local leadership, primarily with Esperanza International, a reputable NGO (non-governmental organization) that has been working in the DR for fifteen years and in Haiti for five. CHF and Esperanza have been preparing the launch of a new “Mercy Network” based out of Santo Domingo, the capital city of Haiti’s neighbor, the Dominican Republic (DR). This network, a grouping of 18 indigenous, local churches in poor communities, would be trained and equipped to serve the needs of poor families in Haiti and the DR.

On Wednesday, January 6th, less than one week before the quake, the first sea-container full of Food Paks® and other aid from the U.S. arrived in Santo Domingo. This supplied the leadership and readied them for CHF’s intensive training program, the final step in launching a CHF Mercy Network. CHF’s training team arrived the next day, Thursday, and trained Pastors and volunteers for three days. Before leaving DR that following Sunday, CHF’s team and the pastors in the newly formed Mercy Network held a round table planning session focusing on disaster response and preparedness in the event that a natural disaster should ever strike the island. The earthquake struck Tuesday afternoon.

By God’s grace CHF was in the right place, with aid products, training, and strategies, at the right time, just days before the earthquake struck. We were equipped to respond immediately and launch long-term poverty relief strategies.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – CLICK HERE to help the victims now.

CHF’s Emergency Response Strategy

The response from supporters has been enormous and humbling. Old friends and new have contacted CHF wishing us well and offering whatever support they can. Because of that increased support, we are confidently mobilizing our largest and most complete relief effort since our inception. Currently CHF is working strategically with Esperanza and our new Mercy Network to build a fresh infrastructure in Haiti that will provide ongoing relief and recovery for children and families there.

Here is what is happening right now:

• Food Paks arrived a week before the quake and have been released for disaster relief efforts.

• Two sea-containers full of Food Paks, emergency rice casserole rations, and bottled water are en route to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. There is an older, lesser-used seaport there that we will be able to direct shipments through with relative ease. Most other NGO’s will ship directly to Haiti, running the risk of LONG delays and exposure to corruption at the ports.

• An office and warehouse are being set up in Port-au-Prince from which all aid will be distributed to the local churches for delivery to the affected families. Main operations will be dispatched out of Santo Domingo until the permanent office is established later this week.

• Through Esperanza’s broad network of pastors and churches, CHF will expand the breadth of impact to more and more hurting families. Distribution will NOT be like those seen on the news with angry crowds grabbing for aid off the backs of trucks. Food aid will target families that each church will have identified as having specific needs. Aid to those families will be tailored to their family size and needs to open ongoing relationships and care into the future.

• CHF’s initial goal was to provide 10 sea containers of relief aid. Because of the tremendous response from companies and churches donating food and other products, we estimate an ability to provide more than 50 sea containers over the coming weeks.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – CLICK HERE to help the victims now.

CHF’s Long-Term Strategy in Haiti

The work of Children’s Hunger Fund thrives on quality relationships. Because of this, great care is taken to build relationships with leaders in impoverished regions. This is often time-consuming but worthwhile as the relationships we build and commit to serving are trustworthy and effective. In Haiti, we are confident that Esperanza International, and the churches we now serve together are capable and ready to react with strength and compassion to the needs of Haitian families.

Although the current needs of so many are urgent, full recovery from the earthquake will take many years. CHF’s strategy for relieving suffering in the region is long-term and broad-based. We are less focused on being a first responder, although that is much of what we are doing today, but more so focused on assist churches in building long-term relationships in the impacted communities.

CHF exists to alleviate the suffering of children by equipping local churches with the things they need to communicate the Gospel through relational and compassionate ministry. In Haiti, we work through a broad and growing base of evangelical churches. This “Mercy Network” will use CHF’s relational method of home food delivery to engage the poor, build friendships, and provide help for a family’s deeper needs.

CHF will also provide food and other support for orphanages and schools in the region. In addition, as products are donated, we will supply the Mercy Network with other needed items which could include hygiene products, medical aid, community development projects like farming seed or clean water, and transportation for food delivery.

Please help us with a gift of $24 or more. Donate HERE.

Please check back often to hear how the relief effort continues to move forward.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.

Continue reading previous updates below.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – CLICK HERE to help the victims now.

Update on Haiti

10:06 PM PST – January 16, 2010

One of our pressing and more personal concerns since the earthquake in Haiti has been the whereabouts of our Mercy Network Coordinator’s brother. Jean Pierre is the man coordinating the mobilization of the Mercy Network churches in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Since the earthquake, he has been tirelessly traveling back and forth between Santo Domingo, DR and Port-au-Prince to organize relief efforts with the churches we now supply.

Jean Pierre’s brother was in Port-au-Prince and had not been heard from since before the quake. In the earthquake Jean Pierre’s brother had been buried under rubble for five hours. With thanks to God, we can report that he found his brother and has brought him home safely. At this point he is well and recovering from his injuries.

Please help us with a gift of $24 or more. Donate HERE.

Please check back often to hear how the relief effort continues to move forward.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.

Continue reading previous updates below.

To keep our supporters informed of the latest in Haiti, we want to share this message and our first pictures (Some of the pictures are considered graphic) from the teams on the ground. We just received this from one of the Mercy Network Pastors in Haiti, Pastor Miguel Castillo. He and a small team just returned to Dominican Republic from Port Au Prince where they connected with other churches to help mobilize the relief response.

May the grace and mercy of God be with you,

On Thursday morning we were able to enter Port Au Prince, Haiti, and we found a city full of dead people lying in the streets and survivors in shelters without anyone to help. Until today the only assistance they were receiving was from the Dominican government. Aide is going to start coming in tomorrow, but until now there is only death, desolation and fear because the earth hasn’t ceased to tremble. 

Nobody has escaped this tragedy. We received news from a group of pastors with whom we have fellowship, that seventy of their number were either dead or disappeared. We were able to confirm this news by visiting some of their churches, totally destroyed and full of dead brothers and sisters still trapped beneath the rubble. Last night there was another aftershock. We were all gripped with panic, and there were cries of desperation throughout the entire city. The news transmitted by most of the international networks has not even conveyed 20 percent of the real situation in Haiti. There is no functioning government, no institutions, no hospitals; but yes, one big chaos. Many of the brothers and sisters who have survived are finding shelter in churches in nearby towns.

 

We can’t give you all the details of this tragedy, maybe one of the greatest in all of human history; but next week we will return to Haiti to bring everything we can to help alleviate this situation. We will also be working with our brothers and sisters who moved to other towns.

Brethren, please pray for us because we are trying to obtain canned food, bottled water, antibiotics, canvas for temporary shelters, beds, milk for children and adults, gauze and any other thing that could be useful in this tragic situation.

In the love of Christ, your servant,

Miguel Angel Castillo

Pastor, Iglesia Fundamento Bíblico

Because of Pastors and leaders like Pastor Castillo, we have confidence that the money, food, water, and other aid that we are supplying to the Mercy Network in Haiti will be used with urgency and integrity to alleviate the suffering of many.

Please help us with a gift of $24 or more. Donate HERE.

Please check back often to hear how the relief effort continues to move forward.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.

Continue reading previous updates below.

Update on Haiti

5:50 PM PST – January 15, 2010

The earthquake victims in Haiti continue to suffer as we speak. Rescuers are racing against time to save the lives of those buried and lost in the rubble. You may have heard reports of looting, robbing and violence over food and water in the most impacted areas of Port-au-Prince. Time is of the essence as the lack of water and nutrition is already leading to dehydration and malnutrition among the desperately poor populace. This is especially disturbing as aid continues to be blocked by broken infrastructure. The world wants to help, but there seems to be few ways in.

Children’s Hunger Fund’s ministry partners have been working hard to connect with those churches inside the disaster area. There is hope that soon they will be able to begin the flow of food, water and other aid into those areas and set up long-term feeding centers that will offer help and hope to the survivors.

Here in the States, we are reacting quickly. Many corporations and churches have joined with us to supply emergency aid to the suffering in Haiti. Truckloads of product are being offered for our sea container shipments. Radio and TV stations are donating airtime to get the word out. Church congregations are taking offerings, and people are using social networking to help build a groundswell of support for the effort.

If you would like to join in the relief effort for Haitian children and families right now, here are a few ways you can get involved.

Pray – First of all we ask that you would pray for the children and families suffering now. And also pray for the churches that are there, on the ground responding during this difficult time.

Make a $24 Donation – Your simple gift of $24 will provide food and other aid to a family. Donate Now HERE.

Connect CHF with resources – CHF needs connections with corporations that can give large quantities of useful products like Ready-to-eat meals, water, blankets, tarps, hygiene items, first aid, and cooking implements. Almost anything that people could use would be helpful. Call us at 800.708.7589.

 

Please check back often to hear how the relief effort moves forward.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.

People have been calling us all day to find out how to help. Here are three easy ways to help CHF supply aid to the victims through churches in Haiti and the DR.

First, you can give a financial gift. A simple gift of $24, will provide food and other aid to a needy family in Haiti. You can donate HERE on our secure site. Please note “HAITI EARTHQUAKE” in the comments section.

Second, help us get the word out on how others can help. We’ve made this PDF FLYER (http://bit.ly/6QTS2T) that you can tweet, add to your facebook status, or email to your friends. Some have chosen to print it and put it in the breakroom at work, or pass it out at a youth group activity. Give your friends an opportunity to help, and they will.

Third, connect us with resources. If you know someone who has access to products that could help, please have them contact us. We can receive truckloads of products and will send them directly to where it is needed. We are looking for many different products including, but not limited to, canned food, ready-to-eat meals, water, blankets, tarps, hygiene items, first aid, and cooking implements. Have them call our Resource Department at 818.899.5122.

Another way to help right now is to pray. Please pray with us for the children and families suffering in Haiti at this time. Pray that in the chaos, they would find comfort and that God would provide for their needs even now.

Please check back often to hear how the relief effort moves forward.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.

At this hour, the children and families of Port-au-Prince, Haiti are in misery. Late yesterday, a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the city flattening homes, hospitals, and government buildings. Haiti is the poorest and most underdeveloped nation in the entire western hemisphere, so this tragedy is being experienced by the poorest of the poor. The devastation is everywhere. Dust fills the sky. The dead are piled next to broken buildings as the survivors search for their loved ones. In a time like this, we are all called to action for the sake of those who are suffering.

Our ministry partner in the DR, Esperanza International, is moving forward to serve those affected. Kempiz Hernandez, our Mercy Network Director over Latin America said, “I am thankful that we have a trustworthy partner, who has wonderful relationships with many pastors and churches in Haiti to help in this disaster.”

We ask for your help today so that we will be able to provide the needed aid in a timely way. A simple gift of $24 will provide Food Paks and other aid for a family in need. You can donate HERE in our secure donation form. Please note: “Haiti Earthquake” in the comments section.

We are also calling on corporations to help with the emergency response by providing product donations and monetary contributions. Please contact us directly at 800.708.7589 and ask for our Resource Department.

Another way to help right now is to pray. Please pray with us for the children and families suffering in Haiti at this time. Pray that in the chaos, they would find comfort and that God would provide for their needs even now.

Please check back often to hear how the relief effort moves forward.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.

Less than an hour ago, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti with an epicenter about 10 miles Southwest of Port-au-Prince. Reports are few at this time but it appears to have done major damage, causing many injuries and deaths. A tsunami watch has been issued to promote evacuation from areas that may be further affected. Haiti is considered the poorest nation in the entire western hemisphere. In disasters such as this, the poor and exposed are often the most effected.

At this time Children’s Hunger Fund is seeking opportunities to respond and provide help to the victims through local churches and ministries. You can help by donating HERE in our secure donation form. Please note: “Haiti Earthquake” in the comments section.

We are also calling on corporations to help with the emergency response by providing product donations and monetary contributions. Please contact us directly at 800.708.7589 and ask for our Resource Department.

Another way to help right now is to pray. Please pray with us for the children and families suffering in Haiti at this time. Pray that in the chaos, they would find comfort and that God would provide for their needs even now.

Please check back often to hear how the relief effort moves forward.

Help The Haiti Earthquake Victims – Click HERE to donate now.