A Cry for Help from Haiti - Part Two

For the background on this situation, please check out the first installment of A Cry for Help from Haiti

Father Gasner writes a follow up to my brother-in-law below:

Thank you so much for your concern in looking for a way to help us in this catastrophic situation. Everyday it’s death, horror, mourning and lamentation everywhere in Port-au-Prince. What you saw, what you heard on the news is nothing compared to what we are really experiencing: loss of beloved people, loss of courage, loss of control, loss of houses, properties and belongings acquired after unending years of work and suffering… How many others will dye in the aftermaths?

I was in Port-au-Prince when it happened. From my desk I saw the annex of our house (the provincial administration office) collapse after being shaken violently. And seconds after, we were homeless like almost all the people living in Port-au-Prince. Yes, our main residence resisted the earthquake, but it is seriously damaged and it seems there are still many more to come. Thus, the great majority choose to sleep under the open sky, as it is advised. May God have mercy on us!

For some of us, the members of our families are OK, others count some dead or injured. And our congregation in Haiti registered the loss of a scholastic killed under the rubble of what was the Center of Theology for Religious. Many young men and women of other congregations were killed, many old members too.. Many churches, schools, and public buildings collapsed, as you know well.

As I wrote to others, this is an occasion to look at life with new eyes and to better appreciate God’s gifts to us. This is an occasion of a stronger solidarity between us. And to hear from our friends and confreres from all over the world, to know there are willing to support us in this situation is already a tremendous relief!

While we pray to God for those who passed away, thanking Him for the life he gave to them, we also realize that our mission has become wider. More people than ever now depend on us for food, clothing, medicine, and even water. We cannot only concentrate on our own problem, even if they are many. We have to share the little we had been able to save with our most deprived brothers and sisters. And as the day go by, we expect to be solicited by more and more people.

So if you can obtain us some support from the Pontifical Missions, it will help us keep for some time again the social and humanitarian dimension of our work as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

May God bless you!

Gasner.

We can't imagine the devistation, suffering, and death.

Like before, I'm asking you to give if you haven't already. Here's a link to the Oblates. It takes about a minute of your time, and your money can't go to a better cause.

I've said it before, but as Fr. Gasner tells us, the suffering is immeasurable. Please give, and pray.