Haiti (MNN) — When Monday dawned,
Haiti breathed a sigh of relief knowing that God intervened in the path of a storm.
The beleaguered nation was braced
for a direct hit from Tomas, which prompted a chaotic evacuation out of the
tent cities in Port-au-Prince.
Disaster scenarios were being
run should the hurricane bear down on the quake remains in the city.
Ministries urged people to pray
for the impossible: that God would either move the storm or lessen its
intensity. Eva
DeHart with For Haiti with Love says, "Anyone watching the Weather Channel watched the answer to prayer,
because Tomas was scheduled to cut straight across Haiti, and instead of that,
squeezed himself right up between Cuba and Haiti."
While the storm didn't devastate, DeHart says, "They did get a lot of wind and rain. There were a lot of mudslides
in the South." About 10,000 people left
their homes voluntarily to escape flood waters.
The flooding is complicating
things for those struggling to keep up with the cholera outbreak. Cholera has claimed the lives of nearly 450
people and forced the hospitalization of about 7,000. With the mud slowing the rebuilding process
even more, there was a question about whether or not the populace in Port-au-Prince would move northward again in search of food.
DeHart doesn't think that will
happen. However, if it did, it could have devastating consequences. "So far, the North has been spared from the
cholera. There are just no sanitation controls at all. So, if they start coming
up and start spreading it, then the whole country is in trouble."
On the whole, the ministry
escaped the worst of the cholera epidemic, and of the storm. However, the flooding presents its own face
of trouble. "Right now we're focusing on
food. They have had so much rain that
none of the markets are open. They have
no place to negotiate for getting food."
For Haiti with Love has seen a higher
volume of people coming through their feeding program since Friday. Their team has a highly-respected
reputation connected with the church. What happened this weekend was a living example of Christ's love.
Hundreds of people, unable to buy
food, made their way to the food lines of For Haiti With Love on Sunday after
church.
Word passed from mouth to mouth
that the kids of For Haiti's orphanage cooked the food and were serving the
community in need. "When you have God's
love being handed out to their fellow man by children who have lost everything
in the last tragedy, it is a powerful witness," DeHart says. Their
example was a testament to the new hope they found in Christ through the help
of For Haiti with Love.
Supplies were depleted with the
heavier-than-usual numbers. And DeHart says
they are STILL trying to get shipments of food off the docks. Because of a growing desperation to get the
supplies through customs, the ministry may have to pay exorbitant fees that
border on graft.
The food
will be put to good use as For Haiti acts in Christ's name in a desperate
situation. DeHart asks, "Pray that the beans in
the other container are still good. This has gone on so long that there's every
possibility we've got 43,000 pounds of rotten beans."
You can help. There are more
prayer needs and ways you can get involved here.
