Renew Haiti
RenewHaiti
On January 12, 2010 a 7.0 earthquake 25km west of the capital of Port-au-Prince left over 200,000 dead, an additional 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 people made homeless, most of whom still live in temporary 'camps of despair' full of shelters pulled together with sticks and tarps.
In late May 2010 a vision team, in partership with Help End Local Poverty, traveled to Haiti to see the devastation first hand (photos) and to form partnerships to see renewal in Haiti, not just for the next few years, but long term renewal. We will use this page to update you about our efforts and partnerships both stateside and in country with local Haitians to see long-term renewal in Haiti.
We return to Haiti in September 2010 to continue building our renewal work in Haiti.
Partnering with Help End Local Poverty
Help End Local Poverty is an Austin based non-profit run by our friend Chris Marlow. Our pastor, Jacob Vanhorn, serves on the Board of Advisors.
On July 12, 2010, six months after the devastating quake, we partnered with HELP in launching the We Have Not Forgotten campaign. Through this campaign we are partnering with HELP and other organizations to raise $100,000 to:
- rescue orphans by building an orphanage in Petionvillle
- restore housing in Haiti by building homes
- renew Haiti's access to clean water by repairing and building water wells
Through this campaign the members of Soma Austin generously contributed the first $20,000 in a matching donation to kick-start the funding. In the future we will be asking for more financial contributions as well as sending small teams to perform renewal work and build relationships.
The We Have Not Forgotten campaign is a global effort that invites individuals, churches, businesses and others worldwide to join together to Rescue, Restore and Renew Haiti. You can read more about the vision of the campaign here.
Partnering with Living Water International
Shortly after the earthquake Living Water International set the goal of restoring 500 broken water wells in Haiti that had been damaged in the earthquake or prior to the earthquake. Again the members of Soma Austin generously donated $10,000 to help restore water wells in Haiti. We are working with LWI to increase access to clean water in Haiti.
In February 2011 (2/26/10 - 3/5/10) we will be taking a trip to Haiti to rebuild five wells and teach health & hygiene to local communities. You can learn more about this trip and sign up to participate here.
You can also earn more about LWI's effort to restore wells in Haiti.
Partnering for Haiti's Future
We have identified several stateside non-profits, Haitian-based non-profits, seminaries and local Haitian pastors to potentially partner with in the future. We hope to continue building a strong relationship with Pastor Gaetan Alcegaire who is pastors a church and runs an orphange for 30 children in Petionville. Many of these orphans were the result of the earthquake. We also hope to work with a pastor in the hills of Kenscoff, maybe send a young man to college, develop some micro-enterprise progams, investigate ways to build wealth for Haitians and plant new churches in Haiti.
If you would like to learn more about participating in renewal in Hait, please email us.
Partnering in Prayer for Haiti
Without a movement of the Spirit of God in our own hearts and in the hearts of Haitians, our efforts will be frustrated, in vain and will lack the joy of celebrating the renewal of a generation of Haitians. We need men and women praying for spiritual, social and physical renewal in Haiti. Please join us in praying for such a movement.