Twenty-Two Churches and Four Schools to Rebuild: Haiti’s Adventists After the 2021 Earthquake

• Twenty-two Adventist churches needed rebuilding after the August 2021 earthquake
• Four Adventist schools had to be rebuilt from the ground up
• About 3,000 church members suffered property damage
• Relief reached 1,000 of the neediest members

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Haiti was preparing to rebuild after the August 2021 earthquake, Inter-American Division News reported in September 2021.

Sixteen church members died and 117 were injured. About 3,000 members suffered damage to their property. Twenty-two churches needed to be rebuilt, and four Adventist schools had to be reconstructed from the ground up.

The church helped 1,000 of its neediest members with food, clothing, money and basic supplies, supported 50 pastoral families and church employees, and helped 500 families prepare their children for school. Leaders said they were coordinating plans to begin reconstruction in the coming weeks.

“The project of rebuilding is very big, but we will continue to move ahead as long as funds are available,” said Pastor Pierre Caporal, president of the church in Haiti. “We are not alone for we have brothers and sisters all around the world church praying and sending their financial support.”

Rebuilding 22 churches and four schools at once is a major construction programme, and it depends on outside funding arriving steadily. Leaders must decide which buildings come first, and whether to rebuild to stronger standards that cost more but last longer.

Jamaica also experiences earthquakes, and church buildings can serve as shelters after disasters. Congregations planning new buildings or major repairs should ask engineers about earthquake and hurricane resistance at the design stage, when it costs least to include. Diaspora supporters who fund church projects can reasonably ask for those standards to be met.

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