One of the projects that we have been occupied with since the earthquake of January 12, 2010 is repairing damaged and destroyed churches. The final church that we have plans to repair is the Cay Jacmel church. The Cay Jacmel church is located only a stone's throw from the beach, ten miles east of Jacmel (on the southern coast of Haiti). During the quake, the front and back of the church collapsed and side walls began slumping outward. When we shared this problem with SON-BEAM International, a West Michigan charity, it immediately decided to fund the reconstruction of the church. The plans are to completely demolish the existing structure and build a new 30' x 50' building. The congregation, led by Pastor Andrenord, who lives only a few feet from the building, has been meeting in this unstable facility since the earthquake. In addition, many homes in the Cay Jacmel area were destroyed in the quake as well because the building techniques used were particularly susceptible to quake damage. Such homes were built on a wood frame supported by walls in-filled with rocks and mortar. After the quake, only the wood frames of these houses remained standing. For this reason, the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti has received a grant from CRWRC International Disaster Relief to help Cay Jacmel residents with home repairs. In a recent United Nations report, it was noted that of all the areas damaged by the earthquake, the Cay Jacmel area has seen the least reconstruction activity. With God's grace, we are hoping to change that. Please pray that we can overcome planning and logistic hurdles along with the impending rains which will begin in late April or early May.
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