HURRICANE RELIEF UPDATE. The students have collected over 2,000 pounds of clothes, food, and supplies for the victims of Hurricane Jeanne. They organized collection points at several local Nazarene churches as well as on the main campus. The school's cafeteria was almost overrun as donations started coming in. The items were repackaged and on their way to L'estère, a town on the outskirts of Gonaives. From there local Churches of the Nazarene will distribute the donations.

In addition to the dry goods and clothes, cash donations came in as well with over 35,000 gourdes (approximately US $1,000) given. This is an amazing response, given the current economic situation in Haiti. Our students are having a hard time making their tuition payments, but they have dug deeply into their own pockets in addition to soliciting donations from others.

Luxonne Fils-Aimé, a senior and one of the leaders of the student collection effort, said: "At first we thought we would just collect from among ourselves, but then we quickly became involved in the neighborhood. Everyone has been coming by to drop off items, believers and non-believers."

Reports of Nazarene pastors and congregations have been slowly tricking in. Joseph Sony, a Nazarene pastor and Bible College graduate lost virtually everything in the flood. He and his family escaped through a window and crawled on top of an adjacent building. From there they watched as their home, possessions, and most of their neighborhood washed away. In the aftermath he discovered that 15 people from his church had died, including nine students at the church run elementary school. The current students prepared a large box of supplies and several boxes of clothes for him to take back to his family in Gonaives.

Thank you for your continued prayers.