Earthquake Update from Stacey

Update: Thursday, 2:00 pm We heard from Stacey within the last hour that Jared is on his way back to Pignon with Dr. Batsch. We are thankful that they are safe, and we believe that Dr. Batsch found his family. Hopefully we will have more information for you later. Here is a snippet from an email Jared wrote yesterday about the damage:

We know that medical supplies are needed urgently. MFI said they will be flying in today (Wed.) with medical supplies and we hope to help how we can. We have offered our truck and help to transport people or supplies to and from Port.... We have reports of 4 hospitals that have collapsed as well as the Cathedral and parts of the palace. We also know several buildings we are familiar with that have collapsed. The Hotel Montana is demolished, and we got reports of hundreds dead there. Communication is very poor and there are many many people here that have no idea about [their families]. I can say that any effort to send help in the form of money and supplies is needed and appreciated. Thanks and God Bless.

Wednesday, January 13

To say that we don’t know much of anything is a gross understatement right now. Many days I have wondered why the Lord put us here and now I am even more confused. The earthquake yesterday has taught me that I know very little of the way God works and why. This country has been through so much the past two years as far as natural disasters go. In 2008 there were three hurricanes and a tropical storm that devastated the farm industry, most of which is subsistence. And now this.

Yesterday afternoon sometime around 4:00, I couldn’t even tell you for sure because I don’t pay a lot of attention to the clock, Jared was on the computer at the table and I was having a nice conversation with my parents and a missionary friend of ours. Will was hanging out with us in the living room and Natalie was busy “decorating” her room with three of her friends. We felt a slight trembling that continued to grow.

At first I thought my dad was shaking his leg on the couch, then realized I wasn’t the only one feeling the movement. We all looked at each other and someone said, “It’s an earthquake!” And like all good Midwesterners we just sat there. Just when it was becoming uncomfortable, it stopped. We had no idea where it originated or how bad things really were until this morning.

I suspected things were not very good in Port-au-Prince last night when we couldn’t get our cell phone or internet service to work. Around 10:30 I noticed Jared’s cell phone said EMERGENCY across the screen and really started to wonder. I checked to see if the internet was working this morning around 5:30 while getting ready to go to the prayer service at the hospital. Again it would not connect. When we got to the hospital, we started to learn of the magnitude of the devastation in Port.

Even now as I sit here writing I feel very small in this great world. You probably know way more than we do as we don’t have access to television news and can’t completely understand the radio reports. Our phone and internet service is still down, but we have some limited access through the hospital to send and receive information.

Jared volunteered our truck for any service that might be necessary and was recruited to drive some medical supplies and a couple of doctors to Port this morning. They left before noon and I don’t anticipate hearing anything from him anytime soon. Please pray for his safety and that he will be able to help. We will be assessing the situation and helping however we can.

Please continue to pray for the country of Haiti and especially for those who have lost family and friends in and around Port-au-Prince. Also pray that lines of communication open soon and that we personally will better understand our role in all of this.




Thursday, January 14, 2010

I tried to send this out yesterday but the satellite service at the hospital wasn’t working late afternoon due to rainy weather. As of today I haven’t heard from Jared, but am confident that he is safe and providing much needed assistance in Port. The kids are doing school this morning again with Grandma, trying to maintain some normalcy.

One of the cell phone services (not the one we have) is up and running so there are reports coming into Pignon from people in Port. It is not good. Many schools, hospitals, and businesses, not to mention government buildings, are destroyed. There are many young people from Pignon in secondary (high school) in Port, and we have heard some of them have died. So far the numbers we are hearing are over 100,000 dead and of course lots of people are still missing. We have also heard there is rioting and looting, as could be expected. I am anxious to hear from Jared and we will evaluate from there what we are going to do.

I will try to keep this updated as I am able.

God Bless,
Stacey