The Baptist World Alliance asked the worldwide Baptist family Oct. 10 to donate money for relief efforts in Haiti, the hardest hit area when Hurricane Matthew swept across the Caribbean and along the southeast U.S. coast between Sept. 28 and Oct. 9.
More than 1.5 million Haitians were affected by the storm which made landfall as a Category 4 storm Oct. 4, with 350,000 needing immediate assistance. The unofficial death toll is above 1,000, and on Oct. 10 doctors warned of a possible outbreak of cholera.
Hurricane Matthew hits Haiti Oct. 5. (Photo/NASA)
The BWA asked Baptists to donate online, send checks by mail or make wire transfers by bank to help raise money for immediate urgent needs. Everton Jackson, BWA regional secretary for the Caribbean, traveled to Haiti to do further assessment on the needs of the country.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship issued a funding appeal Oct. 6 for relief efforts in Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas. Point person for the work is Jenny Jenkins, commissioned as CBF field personnel in 2010 serving in Grand Goâve, Haiti.
American Baptist News Service reported Oct. 7 than initial grants totaling $25,000 were on their way to American Baptist International Ministries partners in Haiti, Cuba and the Caribbean through One Great Hour of Sharing, a multi-denominational relief effort administered by the World Relief Committee of the Board of General Ministries of American Baptist Churches USA.
Texas Baptist Disaster Recovery requested donations for missionaries Ernie and Sharon Rice, members of First Baptist Church in Stockdale, Texas, serving as full-time missionaries in Haiti with Texas Baptists and an organization called Child Hope International.