World Orphans pairs with unique Interagency team to address
orphan care in haiti

World Orphans has joined a unique volunteer team of interagency disaster response experts and orphan care ministries that have come together to address the in-country needs of the hundreds of thousands of orphans now living in Haiti. 

The Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT) is a cooperative effort of disaster response experts and U.S. based ministries that have unified to respond to the orphan crisis in Haiti. Representatives from those agencies are leaving for a two-week trip to Haiti on February 14th, with the specific mission of supporting the churches of Haiti to care for orphaned children.

“The HORT is the best our country has to offer to this catastrophe: our best trained disaster response experts paired with the top international orphan care ministries,” said Bill Gentry, Team Commander and Director of the Community Preparedness and Disaster Management Program at the University of North Carolina.

A crucial piece of the Haiti Orphan Relief Team's plan is the partnership of U.S. churches with the churches in Haiti that are being equipped to care for orphaned children.  By pairing U.S. churches with Haitian churches, they can provide ongoing resources and support beyond this deployment.  World Orphans history in church-to-church partnerships will provide valuable experience as HORT trains Haitian ministries to sustain this effort beyond the deployment period. 

“We are looking for churches that want to become part of the long-term solution to the orphan need in Haiti. We encourage U.S. churches to come alongside the church of Haiti to address this crisis,” said Paul Myhill, World Orphans President.
What Can You Do?

• Pray: Standing in the gap through prayer is something all believers can do. We have a Savior who sympathizes with the pain and suffering of the least of these. Keep the needs of the churches and the children in Haiti constantly before God.

• Advocate: Become an advocate for the Haiti Orphan Relief effort. Help us spread the word about this project through e-mail, blogs, Facebook and Twitter. E-mail your church staff and ask them to pray about partnering with a Haitian church caring for orphans.

• Fundraise: You can create an online fundraising campaign on behalf of the orphans of Haiti and get your friends and family involved.

• Give: The Haitian church-based orphan care options available to us are in addition to our ongoing projects, so we need your help. Invest in the children of Haiti by investing in the churches that will rescue and care for them. Contribute to the World Orphans response efforts at our giving page. Simply make a "Miscellaneous" gift and write "Haiti" in the memo box.  

For more information and to see reports from the trip, visit www.haitiorphanrelief.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/haitiorphanreliefteam
Twitter: @haitiorphan

NOTE: Under a special law recently passed by Congress and signed by the President, a donor who makes a contribution for the relief of Haitian earthquake victims after January 11 and before March 1, 2010 can take a tax deduction for the gift for EITHER 2009 or 2010. This only addresses the Federal contribution deduction. Donors will need to check their own states' for conformity.