Four deadly storms battered Haiti in quick succession in 2008 in one of the worst disasters in its history. More than 800 people were killed and nearly 1 million left homeless or in dire need of help. The disaster caused almost $1 billion in damage in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, where about half the population lives on less than $1 a day.
The storms struck in a period of just four weeks, causing fatal mud slides and widespread flooding. Thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged, and crops and livestock wiped out.
In Nicaragua, when the rains began on Friday, May 21, everybody thought that the rainy season had finally arrived and people welcomed the cooling effect and the end of the long, hot, dusty, dry season. It was not long, however, before it became apparent that these were not just normal rains, because it rained incessantly and major flooding struck all of western Nicaragua. The welcomed rains had turned into a national natural disaster, the worst since the earthquake of 1972 and the worst flooding ever recorded in Nicaragua.
In Haiti and Nicaragua, in Ghana and the Congo, Church of God World Missions can rush to provide emergency food rations for our brothers and sisters and their neighbors, providing a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate mercy and care. Almost always the aid is distributed by pastors and churches, enhancing the church’s witness in time of need.
During the first weeks of June—the beginning of the hurricane season—World Missions asks for offerings for Humanitarian Sunday, and the income is designated for relief and humanitarian assistance.
Humanitarian Sunday
Project Number 7700010
. . . . .
© 2009 Church of God World Missions