In the four months since Christmas Presbyterians across Ireland have donated nearly £1.4m for emergency relief and development projects around the world.
The Moderator's appeal for Haiti has now reached £788,000 while the Church's annual appeal to support programmes in developing countries has so far received donations of £600,000.
"This again shows the outstanding generosity of Presbyterians who time and again selflessly respond to requests for help," says Presbyterian Moderator Dr Stafford Carson. "It demonstrates that our faith is not just about words but also positive action and powerfully witnesses to Christ's command that we must love our neighbour as we love ourselves."
Latest reports from the Presbyterian Church's partners in relief and development, Christian Aid and Tearfund, indicate that the focus in Haiti has moved from emergency relief into long-term rebuilding and rehabilitation.
Supply of daily food rations and fresh water still continue but with the advance of the rainy season emphasis is presently on ensuring families have adequate shelter to withstand the stormy weather that this brings.
Prospery Raymond, Christian Aid's country manager in Haiti says, "The biggest challenge in the coming months is not only to address the immediate needs of the population but to prepare then for the rainy season ahead.
"Our partners are now working with the affected communities to ensure their shelter, food, water and health provisions are robust enough to help them cope with the risks associated with the Caribbean hurricane season coming up."
Tearfund has been involved with vulnerable families in the more remote rural areas away from the capital and again their immediate concern now is to ensure adequate shelter. These areas, close to the epicentre of the quake have received little outside help and have experienced widespread destruction of homes.
For both Christian Aid and Tearfund there is also a strong emphasis on helping people to begin supporting themselves again and both are engaged in micro-enterprise work in partnership with local churches. Targeted cash distributions are enabling people to earn a living through sustainable farming and trading. Families and individuals are beginning to be able to help themselves while the local economy is starting to function again.
"It will be a long time before Haiti returns to anything like normal," continued Dr Carson. "In thanking everyone for their generosity I would ask people to continue to pray for the country and its people, for the local churches and their ministry and for the staff and the ongoing programmes of all the relief agencies hard at work in this most difficult of situations."
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
PCI Home . . . Press Office . . . News Archive