Haiti Relief

As most of you are aware, a massive and devastating earthquake struck Haiti on January 12^th. Recent estimates put the death toll at approximately 150,000 with over 3 million people affected.

Our Global Outreach team is very aware and concerned about the situation in Haiti and will continue to monitor and evaluate it with our partners. WBC has sent $15,000.00 to World Relief to aid in their initial disaster response. World Relief is mobilizing and equipping Haiti’s churches to be at the center of relief and recovery efforts. The WBC funds come from our Disaster Relief Fund, which is prepared from the general contributions the WBC community makes to our church. Wheaton Bible has also sent a $5,000.00 gift to Vic and Leslie Trautwein working with Kids Alive in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In addition to this we have also been blessed to have additional funds come in from Iglesia del Pueblo as well as student ministries.

We will continue to evaluate the situation in Haiti as well as our response to it and will keep you informed of the steps we are taking. At this time we would like to ask you to pray about your involvement in assisting financially in relief efforts. Wheaton Bible Church has historically supported World Relief in disaster response around the world, and we want to take this opportunity to let you know why. Here are the three main reasons we support World Relief:

1. World Relief works through local churches so that local churches are established as the pillars of support for communities. This enables local churches to “get the credit” for the work being done.

2. World Relief seeks overall transformation in the communities they serve. They utilize the gifts and skills of local churches to serve people physically, emotionally, spiritually and economically.

3. World Relief is present for the long haul in communities to ensure that work is done in a sustainable way that will continue with or without monetary or staff support.

World Relief will soon be moving from relief work, usually lasting between 1-3 months, to rehabilitation work. However, we want to let you know what your money is being used for. Currently over 10,000 people a day receive food and water that is supplied by World Relief but distributed through local churches. Because of a working relationship between World Relief and the World Food Program every $1 donated to World Relief is matched by $3 worth of food by the World Food Program. World Relief continues to transport and provide food in this crisis; however, Haitian volunteers at 6 local churches cook and serve the food to their communities.

In the future as World Relief moves from Relief to Rehabilitation efforts they will focus on the following through local church leadership:

· Water and Sanitation-Access to clean, drinkable water, not dependent on foreign sources.

· Community health- preventing Malaria, HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.

· Livelihood restoration

· Trauma Counseling

You can connect with World Relief’s website directly at www.worldrelief.org for further updates and to give. You may also follow Stephan Bauman, Sr. Vice President of World Relief, as he is in Haiti setting up World Relief's long term disaster response plans. You can simply click here (http://twitter.com/stephanjbauman) to see Stephan's frequent updates from Haiti.

Questions or suggestions regarding WBC’s response may be directed to James Misner, Pastor of Global Mobilization at jmisner@wheatonbible.org