Dear Friends and Supporters:
As I'm sure you know from the news, Haiti has suffered a disastrous earthquake that leveled much of the capital city of Port-au-Prince and left many of the remaining buildings unsafe to occupy. The extreme destruction extends to other cities as well, including the major City of Jacmel that was also devastated.

There are many relief efforts underway. Though there is no official death toll at this time, it is estimated that over 150,000 people have died and many more are desperately in need medical attention. One estimate is that millions are now homeless.

Many of you have called or emailed me asking how you can help with earthquake relief. I believe some the most critical needs right now are for food and clean water. My recommendation at this time is that cash donations be sent to:

Trinity/Hope Inc.

2366 Cairo Bend Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Trinity Hope is a 501(c)(3) IRS recognized non-profit corporation. Their website is: www.trinityhope.org They are uniquely qualified to help in this time of crisis. They are a very well run and extremely efficient organization and have people in place, in Haiti, who can buy food at the best prices available, and others who can handle the distribution. I personally send a donation to Trinity/HOPE each month. John Hall, the Director, is a personal friend and a fine man of God.

Please mark your check: EARTHQUAKE RELIEF so they will know how you want them to use the funds. Thank you, and God bless you.

Sincerely,

Paul Klenner

President

A Snapshot of the Lutheran Church of Haiti as of April 2009

·                    192           Church congregations

·                    44,150      Church members.

·                    32,475      Average Sunday church attendance

·                    200           Lay pastors

·                    135           Elementary Schools

·                    21,850      Students

·                    540           Teachers

·                     

·                    261           Evangelists and Deacons

·                    390           Sunday school teachers

• Elderly care home – for elderly men and women who would otherwise be homeless
• Orphanage – usually about 25 boys at any given time
• T.V. and radio ministry expenses - reaching most of the country with Christian programming
• Stipends for primary school teachers where student tuition is inadequate
• School lunch program – a noon meal of rice and beans
• Purchase of water filtration units to supply clean water for each of our 135 schools
• Initial investments to start credit unions that lend to our 40,000+ church members
• Initial investments to purchase breeding stock to start goat herds
• Emergency food supplies and disaster recovery funds for when a hurricane or tropical storm devastates an area where we have churches
• Purchase and distribution of fruit and vegetable seeds, along with training on how to cultivate them

• Credit unions (initially established with donated funds)
• Goat herds (initially established with donated funds)
• A computer training school for the public that generates income from tuition. Most of the computers were donated by businesses that were upgrading to newer equipment.
  
• A sand and rock quarry on the outskirts the City of Gonaives, purchased by the church with a bank loan that is being repaid; the final payment will be in December 2009 . The quarry is now generating a significant monthly net income for the church..
  
• A concrete block manufacturing operation at the quarry (homes in Haiti are typically built using concrete blocks)
• A bakery, primarily selling bread. The previous facility was severely damaged by flooding in September 2008. A new site must be located and all equipment replaced.
• A thrift shop selling donated clothing