Thankfully all the staff of the Bible Society are safe but are in urgent need of food. The General Secretary of the Bible Society of Chile is working with other organisations to plan a coordinated response.
7,000 houses and 40,000 hectares of cultivated fields have been destroyed and 13,000 families are homeless.
“People have lost their entire families, they have been left without food and without homes," said Freddy Quintanilla, Director of a Christian Quechua association. "The destruction of the fields is all the worse because these communities live on what they can grow."
The Peruvian Bible Society's Director of Programs, Pablo Gutierrez, visited some of the affected communities in southern Peru. "I saw people queuing for food and queuing up for clothing. The people in the affected communities and the brothers from the local churches have been showing great solidarity. But they are only now emerging from chaos to face the reality that in the space of a few hours they lost everything," he reports. "It is going to take a long time to rehabilitate them. All the aid given to them is not enough."
Through The Bread of Life project, the Bible Society can distribute breakfast and lunch to homeless children in the affected communities, as well as distributing and teaching them about Scripture.
The Bible Society was in the middle of raising funds for Haiti when the disaster in Peru occurred.
The
earthquake on 12 January 2010 has left more than 100,000 people sleeping
on the streets; many have lost relatives and friends, homes. The
lack of a reliable electricity supply means that people do not store
food so there
is a lack
of food and
safe
drinking
water.
The Haiti Bible Society staff are all safe but, like other Haitians,
they lack food and water essentials and some require medication.
Magda Victor, General Secretary of the Haiti Bible Society, Port-au-Prince,
has written to the United Bible Societies Fellowship (18 January 2010):
"Dear friends,
Thank you for your prayers and expressions
of sympathy. We are doing fairly well at the moment but I am still very
traumatised.
I have not woken up from the nightmare yet. This morning I toured the
capital; our country is totally devastated. Haiti will now have to
be completely rebuilt. As a Christian, I am praying in particular for
the
spiritual rebuilding of my country. I am asking God to give me the
strength to participate in that task. Mass evacuations are taking place,
people
are going abroad, those who cannot do so are heading to the countryside.
As for me, I must remain where I am called to work".
The United Bible Societies hope to raise €400,000 for humanitarian and spiritual aid. Funds will be used to ensure that Bible Society staff are cared for so that they are able to resume their ministry and support the humanitarian effort.
The Haiti Bible Society will work in partnership with Compassion International to provide 50,000 gallons of emergency water and with Water Missions International in Haiti to build 10 permanent, self-sustaining water treatment systems that will give 50,000 Haitians safe drinking water, wastewater management and storm water control as well as much needed specially selected Scripture portions and Bibles in order to alleviate the suffering of at least 250,000 earthquake victims.
The Dominican Republic Bible Society is organising a shipment of food and medicines to the border where the staff of the Haiti Bible Society can take delivery.
A new Bible House was opened in Port-au-Prince in 2008. In the earthquake the roof was cracked and the building will have to be assessed to ensure that the building is safe before the staff can begin to retrieve valuable Scriptures for distribution.
We know that people have already been generous in their support for the people of Haiti but if you would like to contribute to the Bible Societies Haiti Fund please contact Judy at +353 1 6773272.
Magda Victor, General Secretary, Haiti Bible Society
Port-au-Prince Cathedral (Our Lady of the Assumption)
Bible House, Port-au-Prince, opened in 2008