A missionary based in the United States is asking for prayers for Haiti to "turn back to Jesus" amid the state of emergency declared by Prime Minister Ariel Henry following the devastating 7.2 earthquake that hit the country on Saturday night.
CBN News said Love and Hope Ministries Co-Founder Gloria Rapaka urged people to pray for the people in Haiti to come to Jesus. Rapaka disclosed that the people of Haiti need more than water, food, and medicine now in the face of the devastation that happened there.
The Associated Press reported on Monday that the death toll from the earthquake is at 1,419 with 6,000 injured amidst hundreds of homes, buildings, and shops flattened. The onslaught of the earthquake is expected to worsen as Tropical Depression "Grace" enters Haiti on Monday, which is said to bring with it the threat of flash flooding and mudslides.
Rapaka, in her interview with CBN News, highlighted the people's "need for Christ" pointing to the repeated incidences of disaster and violence there as "testament" to it.
"Help us however the Lord has put in your heart. Don't forget to pray for the heart of the people to turn back to Jesus, because that's the best we can give them right now," Rapaka told CBN News.
Rapaka also pointed out that the Haitian people have become numb due to the repeated events of devastation they have experienced. She said people have wondered until when will they experience such devastation.
"Sometimes we look up and say, 'Lord, how long?'" Rapaka stated.
Rapaka migrated to the United States from Haiti when she was 19 years old due to the increase in gangs and surge in violence there. She co-founded Love And Hope Ministries with her husband, Rev. Jabez, in 2004 when she was attending the Regent University Graduate School in Virginia.
Gloria and Rev. Jabez Rapaka's goal for establishing Love and Hope Ministries was to comfort the distressed in Haiti and India, particularly pastors, the elderly, widows, and children. Meeting the spiritual needs of the distressed is their primary aim followed by providing for the physical, emotional, educational, and social needs of "the poor, needy, destitute, abandoned, neglected and the unwanted of society."
Currently, Love And Hope Ministries has a Bible school, children's home, and K-12 school projects in Haiti. The children's home is visited frequently for the "sharing of the love of Jesus." The organization also distributes clothes, school supplies, and books to poor children while holding a regular convention for 300 children in the island. This is besides their effort of ministering to pastors and their wives during the convention.
Humanitarian efforts continue in Haiti where some Christian groups were reported to have taken the initiative to help those affected by the earthquake. Among those providing aid are World Vision International, Samaritan's Purse, Adventist Development Relief Agency, and Compassion International.
Most of the said organizations have initially taken the effort to assess the extent of the earthquake's damage first to be able to provide the compensatory needs of the afflicted. World Vision used its pre-positioned supplies good for 6,000 people for its initial relief efforts in Haiti.
