Newsletter

[alou...@aol.com]

Newsletter June 2010

Dear Partner(s) and Beloved in Christ:

Thank you very much for your prayers and financial support that keep us on the field to work among the Haitians since 1971.  Thank you for your prayers and support that sustain us after the troubling earthquake that struck Haiti in general and us in particular.

The consequences of the earthquake are alarming: More than 300,000 people died, 250,000 ones were injured, and over one million are not under a safe shelter.  Their houses collapsed or were damaged so badly that they could not go back to them or they were afraid to return to them.  Most of them are living by the roadsides or in the public parks or places, or in the courtyards of their homes or those of their friends and neighbors.

The condition of living of those people is calamitous.  They are living under tents and most of them are not adequate.  A big family is forced to live with many children, relatives, and neighbors under a small tent. It is difficult to live like that during the rainy season which started in April. Some people spend the night in the floodwater with children which makes life very hard on them. The tents are not the answer to the problem because they don’t withstand the rain very well. But they are still needed, for those that were being used since January are mostly damaged. This is why we need more tents to give to the poor people, though they need better shelters like houses.

The earthquake changed the social structure as to unite different classes together: the rich class that did not mingle with the poor are now meeting with them at the same places whether in the street or a courtyard. They share the same space, sit on the same bench, sing the same songs together, and participate in the same conversations.

The drama brought some positive results: many unsaved people turned from their wicked ways to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. All the Independent Christian Alliance churches have been growing numerically because the people realize that Jesus was the answer to their need. He was the one who saved them from the catastrophe. One of them, a witch doctor, testified to me and said: at the time of the drama he was so fearful and distressed, he did not think that his spirits were powerful enough to save him. He called upon Jesus to save him in these words: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, save me!” Then he felt relieved from his distress.

Now Haiti has many needs: we always present Haiti as the poorest country in the Northern Hemisphere. The unemployment rate before the earthquake was over 80% so that there were a lot of malnutrition, sicknesses, deaths due to lack of medicine, and doctors to take care of the sick ones. But now things are getting worse after the quake. When they were living under these bad conditions, most of them had shelter. But now most of the houses have collapsed and this situation adds to the misery of the people who do not know what to do to solve their problems.

In light of these problems I want to make the Macedonian call to all Christian friends and partners in Christ: Come and Help Us! As said before, food is very scarce for people who are not working. They have problems to feed their children; to pay tuition to send them to school; to pay for medicine when they are sick; to build a better shelter so that families may have a place to live in security, without psychological stress and anxiety. It is in this view that I would call upon Christian professionals to come to Haiti to help the people:

1)      We need doctors, dentists, and nurses who can take one week or so off from work to come to establish mobile clinics for the poor people in the cities and in all areas where those people have no access to medical help. They have to walk up to fifteen to twenty miles one way to go to a clinic where they do not have good medicine and good doctors. In some places a nurse is used as a licensed doctor because she does most of the work that the latter would do: she consults, prescribes medicine, and delivers babies. This illustrates show much we need beloved medical professionals to go to Haiti to help the needy people.

 

2)      We need builders to come to help us build schools and church buildings. The earthquake made most of the people homeless. Some people may be able to rebuild their homes, but most of them will be unable to do so. This is why we would like to build low cost housing for the people who cannot afford to rent the ordinary apartments. I would encourage Christian builders who feel led to come and help us with this endeavor. I hope you will be able to assist us in paying for the building materials.

Anyone who will come to help us will be able to stay without paying for lodging. If you feel led to come to Haiti, you may contact me by email at  alou...@aol.com or at the following postal address:

ICA c/o Lynx Air/PAP

P.O. Box 407139

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33340

May the Lord bless you and give you the desire to be involved in His ministry by coming to Haiti to help these poor people.

Lovingly yours in His Service,

 

Rev. André J. Louis