As I mentioned yesterday, Vera started smiling this week! Here are a few pics.


Sorry the pictures are so dark! I’ll try to take some in better light soon.

I know many people are already posting various organizations to which you can donate funds toward Haiti Disaster Relief, but I still wanted to share this with you.

This morning I received an email from a church (Iglesia Bautista Evangélica de Macorís) I worked with on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic in spring of 2008. (For those of you who aren’t great with geography… Haiti and the Dominican share the same island.)

Here is part of the email they sent:

Though the need is unprecedented in Haiti, a network of Dominican churches and missionaries are cooperating in order to execute a well-planned relief effort. While our hearts break for our neighbors, we are encouraged to see Dominicans stepping up to give, to volunteer assistance, and spearhead a Christian response.

Several church leaders have been working together since the earthquake to assess the situation and what can be done. As we want to respond with compassion we also want to be wise in how we help. Unfortunately, millions of dollars and countless man hours will be spent worldwide in trying to bring relief, only to find the effort derailed by criminal activity and poor management due to the enormity of the crisis. As much as is possible, we want to avoid this scenario.

By this weekend, we will have a strategic understanding of where our help will be the most effective. We are striving to network with a local church and missionaries who minister among these affected Haitians. We are also checking into a couple of refugee areas along the border that will allow us to personally minister to the injured. Next week a team representing several Dominican churches and missions agencies will be going to help minister to Haitians affected by the earthquake.

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