The devastation in Haiti, although extremely heartbreaking, can seem distant…until you read a blog post from a friend who is experiencing it all.

The following is written by my friend, Jeremy, on his blog from the day of the earthquake. He moved there last year to serve the needs of Haiti with Lespwa Worldwide.

The Day the Earth Shook

We are painting the outside of the orphanage and putting on a medical clinic. We have a team from Savannah here and they have 2 doctors on the team. So after painting today, we took the orphans on a walk with some of the younger people from the team. After showing the orphans the green bridge, we begin to walk back. We passed the cemetery on the right and walked another 20 yards. Then a low, all tree ruffling shake.

Thoughts in my head, with concern growing expedientially, frantically looking for a cause:

“Is that a truck?”

“Is it a semi?”

“Is there a stampede coming?”

After about several seconds the initial continuous shake grew to a full on violent rumble. I was barely able to stand. It was shaking so hard my vision was blurry. It literally felt as though God was shaking the earth in his hand. I look over to Jean Lubeans, a 5 year orphan, standing in front on a concrete wall 20 feet away falling over like wave break. I yell out and try to gather myself to run. He steps out and barely escapes the crashing wall. I run over and take his hand and any others I can find. We drop down huddled in the middle of the road. I look around at everyone else, faces painted with shock. Then, like a ripple effect, it slowly fades out. From start to finish, about 45 seconds to a minute of shaking.

We get up. No one is hurt. Distant screams and shouts.

There is a spirit of panic in the air. We need to get back to the compound. As everyone grabs a kid and speed walks the half-mile back, I assess the surrounding damage. Almost every single house has at least one wall down. People are screaming and crying. I get back to the compound and help one of the doctors stitch up a woman’s forehead.

We have experienced about 40 aftershocks since the initial shake. Even as I am writing this the house shakes.

From everything I have heard, Port-Au-Prince got rocked. It’s dark there now, powers out. Estimates like half the buildings are down in some places. Won’t know for sure til the morning light shines.

Please be praying. I know of one hospital that has completely collapsed. Houses destroyed. People are trapped in rumble. This country is always on the edge of complete chaos. Pray for our safety. Get your friends to pray too.

God’s might and power were on display today.

It forced me down on my knees with fear and trembling.

Pray for Haiti. Pray for us.

Follow along for more about how to pray here.