Haiti Hit by Massive Earthquake

A massive earthquake, registering 7.0 in magnitude rocked the Caribbean country of Haiti on Tuesday. The Associate Press reported this morning the quake, the strongest in 200 years, has resulted in near complete devastation, affecting perhaps 3 million people. Many international agencies are coordinating to help.

Stateside, Haitian immigrants living in the United States are praying and hoping for the best at this time.

As of this morning, the Presbyterian Church has not issued a news release on PCUSA's role in helping. Presbyterian Mission Connections has a site featuring Mark Hare, a missionary sent to Haiti in 2004 to help with MPP, a 30 year old farmer's cooperative to help reinforce their agricultural work. Mark has many photos and stories about his work in his blog. I've taken the liberty of posting one of those photos here (see above).

Many organizations will be providing relief to Haiti at this time. MSNBC has a list of many groups that are active in the nation and will gladly accept donations. Among them are the American Red Cross which will be providing $200,000 immediate support to the Haitian relief effort, to help with food, water, temporary shelter and emotional support.

You can follow the Presbyterian News Service to see what the response from PCUSA will be in the near future.