Giving Helpful Aid during the Haitian Crisis

Most of us have had our minds and hearts on Haiti ever since the quake.  We have loved ones there.  God has loved ones there- about 10,000,000.   Those of us who are not on ground zero may feel helpless seeing the horrific images.  While our instant response is to help, we have to know HOW to help in a way that is effective, not just to appease our consciences.

It is important to note that Haiti is the most corrupt country in the western hemisphere and ranks 177 out of 179 for transparency according to the Heritage Foundation.  There will be billions of dollars in aid given and well-meaning individuals will do more damage than good by donating blindly to organizations that they do not know and trust. While I believe that large scale humanitarian organizations are generally trustworthy, it has been challenging historically (911 and the tsunami in 2004) to distribute millions of dollars ethically. This is why helping the small scale workers (especially those who love Jesus and go in His name) is important.

What we CAN do: 

1.  Give to organizations/people you know personally, that you can trust.  Find out if your church supports missionaries serving in Haiti and how to best channel your support. Sending money to missionaries and relief organizations on site will help trustworthy folks buy and distribute food, water, medicine, construction materials and fuel.

2.  Pray.  Only God knows the needs of each of the over three million people affected.  Please pray for the victims, the relief efforts, and missionaries, for protection, safety, discernment, and wisdom. We are earnestly praying for our friend and colleague, Isaac Adrien, director of Children of Promise in Haiti.  He has not been heard from since the quake.  **UPDATE-  Isaac has been located and is uninjured!  

There is such large scale devastation and suffering, only with God’s help will this country be able to rebuild amidst the tragedy.

What not to do (this comes from people in Haiti):

1.  Send a team down to help that does not speak the native language (Creole) is not helpful at this time (maybe in a few weeks, but not now). 

2.  Send a container that will take 2 weeks to arrive, will either get vandalized at the port or will require huge bribes from officials.  This is not an effective way to give right now.

If you don't any connections with trustworthy people on the scene, we work with transparent Christians who live in the middle of the disaster and will channel the money with integrity:

Ed Locket and Candy Reiger are our colleagues with Missionary Ventures serving in Haiti.  They are there to help those most in trouble.

You can donate securely here:

John and Jodie Ackerman serve serve in medical and children's ministries with the Church of God in Port-au-Prince.  


You can find out more what they need most here: 

Luke Renner is our college (and radio colleague of Norberto) friend now serving in Haiti. He is actively working as a correspondent with MSNBC, CNN and ABC to help communicate the extent of the damage with the world. Follow him here on twitter.

You can channel support for his ministry here:

Children of Promise is the child sponsorship program that I work with.  They have 26 children in Haiti, some of whose parents were killed.  Their immediate needs are blankets, medicine and construction materials.



You can donate to the emergency fund here: 

It's important that we give generously, yet equally important that we give wisely.  May God's healing touch and His people rebuild and renew Haitian hope.

What trustworthy people/organizations in Haiti are you supporting?