Hurricane Relief: Special Sponsor Update

Many sponsors have called and/or emailed to share their concern for their sponsored children since Hurricane Matthew struck. Thank you for showing how much you care for your loved ones in Haiti. We also thank you for your patience, as we know you have anxiously waited for any bit of information. We also have been anxious to receive it and share with you.

After a week of information gathering, assessing and checking in with each community we serve, we've learned that there has been no loss of life or injury reported, at this point in time, of any of our sponsored children and school children.

We praise God for this and thank Him for His grace and mercy through the storm for these families! I can hardly imagine the horror these children and families have lived through once again.

Please know this: if at any point we receive word involving the sponsored children, I will contact you personally. Our Haitian staff, U.S. staff and the relief team have been working tirelessly to be sure those in the communities we serve are, first of all, safe and then assessing immediate needs. These, too, will be communicated as best we are able, including the status of homes, livelihoods, etc. So we ask that you continue to be patient as we receive this news over time. As soon as we know something concrete, it will be passed along to you, our faithful sponsors.

Right now, we are praying for containers of aid to arrive and be released expeditiously! 1 million nutritious meals are in transit to Haiti right now. Will you join me in prayer?

Pray also for:

Your sponsored children, their families and the rebuilding of their livelihoods
Basic needs to be met
No belly to feel hunger and clean water for all
Health, as many in the west are now suffering from cholera
The relief teams who are helping rebuild
Our staff in Haiti at our schools, clinics and churches
Donations so that we may continue to send containers of much needed supplies to Haiti and help with replacing animals, crops and homes
Above all, for HOPE, and for God to be glorified through any effort that is made to help the people of Haiti.

Thank you for joining us in these efforts and thank you for your prayers! Your love for your sponsored children is evident and it has been a blessing to hear from so many of you!

Crying out to God with you,

Audra Norman
Sponsorship Development Director

Although no lives were lost, school facilities at several locations have been damaged and need rebuilt. Please donate to the relief efforts, which will assist with the rebuilding of your child's school!

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Important news for sponsors in Haiti

Gretchen, Lifeline's Advancement Officer and Co-founder, was in Haiti during the hurricane and shares these additional important updates.

We have some good things to report about the children: so far we have heard of NO loss of life of our Haitian children or their immediate families! Please remember that no news is good news...if we hear of anything, we will contact you.

Our original plan was to distribute your gifts for the February 2016 gift deadline to the children during this trip to Haiti, but that the gift distribution is being rescheduled for the end of November. Your sponsored children will still receive the gifts and money sent for the February 2016 deadline.

Our schools resumed this past Monday, one week after the storm began. Attendance at all locations started out light but is picking up each day. One of the reasons for this is very simple: the parents have had a mess to clean up. Many lost trees, animals, gardens and roofs, clothing and livelihood.

The past two days we were able to get to our Deuxieme Plaine Christian School where we took photos of new children who entered school this year; there are lots of precious kiddies! We did the same thing for our Laregale, Leogane and Vieux Cayes schools. Of those schools, our Laregale school suffered the most damage and part of the church was destroyed; there is lots of clean up there. Classroom roofing blew off in multiple locations. Thanks to Samaritan's Purse, we received tarp materials to put a temporary roof over the classes until until permanent repairs are made.

As we went through the community we saw need everywhere. The shocking thing to me is the numbers of people still needing homes. Many of our children are living in such deplorable conditions!

I'm very thankful for Karen Kennison, Elaine, Angell, Pam Cramer and Julie Gulley who came in with me on October 1 to help prepare for the gift distribution and biography update. They rode out the storm and jumped in every single day to work long, hard, sweaty days ministering; they have been amazing, hard workers.

In closing, to put everything into perspective, this information below was compiled by the Haitian Civil Protection Department on the damage/loss in the Grand Goave area; some of these are shocking but they help you to know the scope of disaster in this small community of only about 5,000 people (in the town proper) and thousands more in surrounding areas. There is lots to pray about!

Damage Report in Grand-Goave, as of 10/9/16

7 deaths, 1 missing, 6 admitted to hospital
12 churches destroyed, 4 damaged
5 schools destroyed, 4 damaged
566 houses destroyed, 2146 damaged
798 goats killed, 16 missing
107 cows dead, 7 donkeys dead, 1 mule dead, 142 sheep dead, 4 horses dead, 12 pigs, 465 poultry
Farm fields pillaged
Streets through the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th districts of town severely damaged
National Road #2 from Thozin to Jeanty Les Bains impassable
Jeanty bridges completely covered with muck, causing severe flooding in Thozin and Jeanty
12+ electric poles down
604 people evacuated to 10 shelters; 46 are still in shelters due to their homes being destroyed
Flooding in several zones
Irrigation canals damaged
Antennas damaged: Digicel, Access Haiti, and radio stations
6 landslides reported

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Hurricane Relief: Special Sponsor Update