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A major earthquake measuring 7 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Haiti Tuesday evening at 5:53 EST. The initial quake lasted about a minute, followed by strong 5.9 and 5.5 aftershocks. The epicenter of Haiti’s earthquake was six miles west of Carrefour, just outside the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

On January 14 the Caribbean Region reported that five members of the Tabarre Church of the Nazarene in Haiti were killed in the earthquake. The status of the Bel-Aire Church of the Nazarene and its members is still unknown.

Meanwhile, the Bible college in Petion-ville is "relatively intact." Water, food and diesel are being rationed and are quickly diminishing.

The Church of the Nazarene in Haiti was holding district assemblies for its 11 districts this week. General Superintendent J.K. Warrick flew into Haiti Tuesday afternoon for those assemblies, and was later evacuated to the United States, along with Field Strategy Coordinator Bill Dawson, his wife, Martha, and Nazarene volunteer Rachel Reed.

"There are many injured all over the city. Major buildings, three and four stories, are down. … Neighbors who work for the UN report many injured, people carrying wounded through the streets," Dawson said. “We have no news yet of our Nazarene families off campus. The earthquake was centered in the mid portion of the Central District. Dr. Lucien Jean Baptiste is the DS (district superintendent) and is on the road for an assembly in the South Central portion of Haiti. We do not know his whereabouts or information on him and the driver yet."

The population in the capital area is about 2 million people, living in dense urban communities, and they continue to experience significant aftershocks. Catastrophic casualties and damage are expected, as Haiti’s weak infrastructure is not prepared for this kind of disaster.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with our Haitian family of more than 118,000 Nazarenes who have suffered such loss today,” said John Smee, director of the Caribbean Region, one of six administrative regions where the Church of the Nazarene oversees local churches, including those in Haiti. 

Please be in prayer for the Haitian people and the Nazarene churches in Haiti. Pray for those injured in the debris.

Take action
To donate toward the disaster response through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM), which is coordinating Nazarene relief efforts, click here or visit www.ncm.org.Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) is partnering with the Haiti Project to ship urgently needed supplies to the earthquake crisis in Haiti. The custom store, at Amazon.com, only includes the specific items requested by NCM and the relief effort on the ground in Haiti.

To visit the NCM store, click here.

To see these specific requests, please view the document at the Caribbean Church of the Nazarene Web site.

In order for the items to reach Miami as soon as possible, we ask that you ship your order directly to:

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries
"Church of the Nazarene - Haiti Earthquake Relief."
Obed Santiesteban
310 E. 5th St. Hialeah, FL 33010

Persons and churches wishing to make a donation for Haiti Earthquake Relief online can do so through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries at www.ncm.org.

Checks can be marked "Caribbean Disaster Response ACM1204" and mailed to Global Treasury Services, PO Box 843116 Kansas City, MO 64184. In Canada, checks should be made payable and sent to the Church of the Nazarene Canada, 20 Regan Road, Unit 9, Brampton, Ontario L7A 1C3.