Andy Hawthorne is currently on his way to Haiti to help with the earthquake relief effort.
(Please see updates below)
Andy is travelling with 1000kg of emergency medical supplies, destined for an emergency surgical unit set up in Port-au-Prince and a hospital on La Gonave, an island west of the capital. He is due to arrive on Wednesday with a team from Lemon Aid, and Ivy Manchester pastor Anthony Delaney.
The medical supplies, including tetanus vaccines and antibiotics, are desperately needed by the island’s inhabitants who were badly hit by last Tuesday’s earthquake and the subsequent aftershocks. Over 70,000 bodies have now been buried in Port-au-Prince and many thousands more remain unaccounted for.
‘We have been standing with the people of Haiti and La Gonave for many years now’, comments Andy. ‘Every time we take on a new staff member, we sponsor a child in Haiti on their behalf and we encourage our supporters to sponsor children. So the people of Haiti are extremely close to our heart.
‘Right now they need us more than ever, so we’re doing what we can to help.’
The Message is working with Lemon Aid, who have secured access into Haiti aboard an aid flight. From there they will travel on to La Gonave. Over the last twenty-four hours, the team has worked around the clock to source medicines, dressings, needles, vaccines, anaesthetic equipment and essential dry foodstuffs.
The relief effort will continue with the arrival of a chartered ship in the next few weeks. If sufficient funds are raised, work will also commence on rebuilding the hospital on La Gonave, which was destroyed in the earthquake.
People interested in donating to the relief effort can do so via the Lemon Aid website or via our child sponsorship partner Compassion UK.
Read a personal letter from Andy Hawthorne written ahead of his trip on Monday 19 January.
Update (Jan 20): The team arrived safely in Miami with all of their luggage and emergency supplies.
Update (Jan 21): The team has made it to Port-au-Prince. As you may have heard there was an aftershock yesterday that measured in at 6.1 on the Richter scale. Andy and the group were still traveling at the time so weren’t affected by it, but inevitably it has caused even more damage in the area. According to Andy, the situation is harrowing, but he is praising God that they can get some medicine through, which is now being packed and distributed. He has asked that today we pray for safety as they go and visit a mobile clinic in one of the worst hit areas. Please pray that God will show him and the group what to do with it all.
Update (Jan 22): Yesterday was extremely traumatic. Andy and the team visited a field hospital in the worst hit area with lots of carnage. They ended up taking two people on the back of their pick-up, one with a broken back and one paralysed. The bigger hospital had 2,000 people seriously injured, with many more outside in makeshift tents. They also visited three Compassion projects which were totally destroyed in the quake. They had the chance to pray with pastors and project leaders who have lost both families and flock.
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