LaCroix Haiti New Testament Mission Needs and Blessings"

Click the images
for a larger picture.

	Haiti was hit hard with two hurricanes in September, 2008. Because the infrastructure of the island country is so poor to begin with, the devastation caused by the back-to-back storms will be hard to recover from. The flooding from Hanna hadn't subsided when Ike came ashore bringing heavy rain and sea surges large enough to wipe out everything in its path.
Particularly hard-hit were residents of the town of Gonaives. Gonaives is the port town about 10 miles from the LaCroix New Testament Mission. Many of the mission's teachers live in Gonaives. Even two weeks after the hurricanes, some of the teachers had not been heard from. Since then, they have all been accounted for, but many lost their possessions and their homes were damaged from the flood waters.
	The villages of Perisse and Joannise both have churches and schools affiliated with the LaCroix mission. Perisse sits along a river bed. Most times the river bed is empty, but the hurricanes filled it with a wall of water that lifted the wood, straw and thatched homes and washed them away. Joannise is located in a low land area filled with rice fields and farms. There are mountains all around. The reports state that most homes weren't visible above the flood waters.
Following the hurricane, the top priority for the mission was to feed the people of LaCroix and provide emergency shelter for them. Slowly but surely residents are cleaning up and making plans for rebuilding. School has begun again and the teachers are staying at LaCroix until reliable transportation can be arranged. School buses that were purchased in Pittsburgh, PA, were refurbished and filled with school supplies, food and clothing.