One Year Anniversary

Just one week from today will mark the one year anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake which struck Haiti leaving death and destruction at levels difficult for the mind to comprehend in the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Over the past year, the people of Haiti have also experienced downpours and winds from several tropical storms along with an outbreak of Cholera which has killed nearly 3,500 people to date. In addition, the results of their Presidential election are still uncertain and the runoff election previously scheduled for January 16 has now been postponed.

One organization which was actively working in Haiti prior to the earthquake and has been there throughout the past year is Samaritan's Purse under the leadership of Billy Graham's son, Franklin Graham. When I arrived in Haiti less than 3 weeks after the earthquake, Samaritan's Purse tarps being used to provide shelter could be seen everywhere. They have since built hundreds of temporary houses, provided food for tens of thousands of people, taught basic hygiene classes, provided water filtration systems, and are now running several medical clinics treating thousands of Cholera patients.

This coming Sunday, January 9, Franklin Graham will be in Haiti and will be proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the National Soccer Stadium in Port-au-Prince. The stadium will hold 15,000 people but thousands of people live close enough to the stadium to hear the message clearly. Michael W. Smith along with several other Christian singers will also be taking part in the program.

Beginning at 12:30 central time on Sunday, people around the world will be able to take part in this incredible event via the internet. The website is: WWW. Samaritanspurse.org/Haitilive. I encourage you to be involved by watching this event and praying for the people of Haiti to open their hearts to the call of the Holy Spirit on their lives. Please pray for Franklin Graham, Michael W. Smith and the hundreds of Samaritan's Purse volunteers and employees as they make preparations for this life changing event.

Sincerely,
John Rodgers