On Tuesday, January 12, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake occured 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince. Our JBA Orphanage is located in Cabaret approximately 30 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince, along the coast. Our facilities survived the quake. Our children are fine. Only a part of our perimeter wall collapsed. 

 

Right now our main need is monetary donations. We have a system in place to get funds down quickly to meet the immediate needs.

 

 1)  Pray for the safety and care of the people of Haiti. We must make sure our children and staff have the necessary supplies, but we are also concerned for our Haitian neighbors who did not fare as well. We are opening our facility as a emergency shelter for displaced Haitians and a staging area for emergency teams.
 
2) Give to a special disaster relief offering to be taken up this Sunday, January 17 in all our churches. These funds will be used exclusively to meet the physical needs of those directly affected by the earthquake. Please make checks payable to Jacksonville Baptist Association and make sure to note that it is for "Haiti Disaster Relief." People may also give online at www.jbahaiti.org.  
 
3) Go on a mission trip when it is appropriate. Once the "Search and Rescue" and "Assessment" phases are complete, we will need mission teams able to do clearing of debris, feeding/sheltering and construction.
 
For ongoing updates, visit our Haiti blog at www.jbahaiti.org/blog.