January 12, 2010

Dear Friends,

First of all, I apologize for taking so long to get this email to you. I tried to send it out last night, but my internet connection was down and it wouldn’t go through. I am in New Mexico with my father, mother and sister. My 94-year-old dad shattered his hip on Tuesday while he was walking his dog. I flew out here on Thursday, and Dad had a full hip replacement on Sunday. He’s doing quite well (some of you know what a strong individual my father is). I’m sure you can understand that my energies over the past few days have been completely focused on helping him.

I know that all of you are glued to your television sets watching the horrible tragedy in Haiti unfold before your eyes. Many thanks to those of you who have written and asked about me and about our many friends in Haiti. Thankfully, Ouanaminthe was spared from the immediate effects of the quake. The residual effects, however, will unfortunately catch up with them like the tsunami that was originally predicted from the quake. Most of you who read this have been to Haiti with Aslan and have some idea of how dysfunctional the country is. Unlike a catastrophe in the United States (like the recent hurricane in New Orleans), any catastrophe in Haiti affects the entire country. With the tens of millions of dollars of aid and manpower assistance (from the government, NGO’s and church groups who traveled to New Orleans to assist), the rest of the United States continued to operate normally. In Haiti, on the other hand, what has happened in Port-au-Prince will have resounding and negative effects on all of Haiti for years to come. Several months ago, Joseph called me to tell me there was no rice in all of Ouanaminthe. The oil tankers hadn’t delivered the gasoline in Port-au-Prince, so the trucks couldn’t bring the rice to Ouanaminthe. Until the gas shortage was solved, the people throughout Haiti just had to go hungry. Can you imagine what this present tragedy will mean to Ouanaminthe (in particular) and to the entirety of Haiti ~ north, south, east and west ~ for years to come?

Haiti’s Capitol Building, The White House, is gone. This stately and beautiful building in Port-au-Prince is completely and utterly destroyed! It is literally nothing but rubble. When will the government be in session again? Port-au-Prince lies in ruins, with several hundred thousand men men, women and children dead and countless others wounded or dying. How many senators, judges and government officials are among the dead? And how can relief workers reach those still alive? I have ridden in tap-taps through the streets of Port-au-Prince, and in the best of times many of them are barely passable. As of yesterday, most roads throughout the city are severely damaged or totally destroyed. It will take years to clear the rubble, much less rebuild the roads, other infrastructure, houses, and buildings that have been destroyed. Relief workers may be forced to walk for miles to get desperately needed medical supplies, food and water to the almost three million people in the greater Port-au-Prince area. Meanwhile, malaria, typhoid, dengue, hepatitis and other disease will doubtlessly claim the lives of many.

Please remember, however, that ever-present sadness and suffering will by no means be limited to Port-au-Prince. The human “aftershocks” will continue for years to come. How many tens of thousands of children have been orphaned as of yesterday? How many people will suffer with physical and emotional trauma for the rest of their lives ~ husbands, wives and children who were forced to lie for days in rubble ~ some dead, some alive? There is an earthquake of need here that will equal the physical earthquake that struck with such vicious fury yesterday. We can only fervently pray and hope against hope that Haiti will finally be recognized on the world stage for what it is ~ a nation of beautiful but ever-suffering people who are among the poorest of the poor in the world. To say that Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere is to state the obvious. Haiti has for years been one of the poorest countries on earth ~ languishing in poverty barely 500 miles from the United States. Forgive me for speaking with such passion, but it is impossible for me to do otherwise. It is time that the world wakes up to this suffering and need.

I want all of you to know that I have spoken with Joseph Israel several times today. He is as well as can be expected, realizing that many of his friends and relatives lie dead or injured in Port-au-Prince. Some of you have asked if there is anything you can do. The answer is a resounding yes! Send a donation to Aslan and earmark it Haiti Emergency Fund. If you prefer to, do it online through Pay Pal on our website, www.aslanyouth.org . If you go through Pay Pal, please be sure to look for the place where you can designate your gift (give instructions). This fund will be used to provide food, water and other needs to the many friends we have in Ouanaminthe and L’Acajou. If I have to purchase the rice in the Dominican Republic and cart it into Haiti, I will do so. I will be in Ouanaminthe for 5 weeks in February and March, and I may also be making an emergency trip there over the next week or so. And remember that you never need to worry that every penny you give to Aslan will be used exactly as you intend it to be.

And please, please pray that God will provide the money for Aslan’s Medical Clinic, Orphanage, Village School, and Missions Training Center in L’Acajou. If not now, then when? You and others are God’s hands and feet. I am willing to give my heart ~ or die trying ~ to help our precious friends in Haiti. We cannot, however, do anything without the financial resources. We have the plans to begin building our medical clinic. We have the laborers to begin building the clinic. It is very sad, but very true, that money is the our only obstacle. Please, please continue to pray; and please give.

My love to you all,

Craig

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