bryan@bmeyers.net – Page 95 – Haitian Island Ministries

The following letter and thoughts, written by Kettly Mars were published in the New York Times, entitled “Haiti Without Walls.”

“Petionville, Haiti, Jan. 12, 2010, 4:53 p.m. A high-magnitude telluric wave twisted the ground under our feet. In just 35 seconds about 300,000 people lost their lives and more than one million souls in three cities became homeless. How eerie the huge cloud of dust rising in the dying day over Port-au-Prince, and spreading up to this suburb of the capital. How unreal the sound of car alarms blasting under the building debris.

I believe that in all bad things there is some good — if we take a moment to look, if we don’t miss the essential. Often I ask myself, was there any good in that earthquake? And then I remember the first minutes, the few hours, the two days right after the shock. Before foreign aid workers arrived loaded with survival kits and good will. Before greed turned misery into business opportunities.

Steve and Terry Smith are ordinary people, doing extraordinary work for God. They are the founders and backbone of Haitian Island Ministries (H.I.M.), driven daily by the overwhelming need to serve.

Steve is the Director of Missions and is dedicated full-time to the operations of this ministry. He and Terry travel throughout the United States sharing the plight of the Haitians, searching for support, supplies, and equipment.

Call it fate; call it God’s plan. In 1994 during a visit to Haiti, Steve was led from his position in the medical profession to create Haitian Island Ministries. What he and Terry began as a mission to provide basic health care to the impoverished people in Haiti has now grown to sponsoring facilities throughout the country serving as schools, churches, and medical clinics.

Steve was in Haiti during the earthquake on January 12, 2010, and witnessed the destruction first hand.

Steve and Terry are longtime members of the Wentzville Christian Church in Wentzville, MO. They truly appreciate your support, prayers, and contributions.