Disaster of Apocalyptic Proportion

 About one-third of the population of Haiti lives in and around Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the area that has been most affected by the earthquake of January 12. After the initial 7.0 quake that hit around 4:53 p.m., nearly 30 seismic activities ranging from 4.0 to 5.9 on the Richter scale occurred until the early hours of January 13.

 The service network has been severely touched to the point that it is nearly non-functional: state secretaries, most of the hospitals and their personnel, electricity, communication, etc. The news network in the countries that are closest to Haiti (the United States, Canada, and France) have scrambled for news, at times calling Haitian radios in the U.S. and Canada to gather whatever bits of news they have received.

 Bibles International has great interest in Haiti. Our Director is of Haitian origin. Baptist Mid-Missions (BMM), our parent organization, has planted many churches and established various church support ministries in Haiti, and those churches and ministries maintain a vital relationship with BMM. Additionally, BI is conducting the Creole Bible translation project with its ministerial partners in Haiti. Therefore, we have used all the outlets possible in different countries and from leaders of charitable organizations operating in Haiti to gather as much information as we can, but we cannot independently confirm all the details.

 As of the morning of January 13, we have had no direct news from our friends in Haiti. We have learned, however, that the main classroom building of a major seminary in Port-au-Prince has been heavily damaged while classes were in session. That seminary has been tightly involved with BI in our translation project in Haiti. Streets where members of our affiliated churches live or work have been heavily touched as well.

 We covet your prayers. A crisis management team at the BMM office in Cleveland is monitoring the situation. They can be contacted at www.bmm.org or 440-826-3930.