Prayer requested for Haiti on six month anniversary.

Today prayers also are requested for the people of Haiti on the six month anniversary of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

The Brethren response--and Brethren support of ecumenical work by groups like Church World Service--has been swift and effective in comparison with the wider international response, but is community based and works with several specific churches and schools and only certain populations.

On the broader scale in Haiti, the "New York Times" reports that "Six months after an earthquake, only 28,000 of 1.5 million displaced Haitians have new homes, and Port-au-Prince remains a tableau of life in the ruins."

The Brethren work in Haiti is carried out cooperatively by Brethren Disaster Ministries, Eglise des Freres Haitiens, and the church's Global Mission Partnerships. "The Church of the Brethren would appreciate prayer as we begin to plan with the Haitian Brethren for a long-term rebuilding effort," said Jay Wittmeyer, executive director of Global Mission Partnerships.

Prayer is requested for decisions being made about locations and types of permanent housing to be built, and the purchase of land. The Haitian Brethren are working hard toward registration as an official church in Haiti, and Wittmeyer added that the Haitian church also is preparing for its annual theological conference in August "and ask for prayer for that time."

Source: 7/12/2010 Newsline Special