PAINESVILLE, Ohio — The French words scribed on the bottom of the Haitian flag ‘L'union fait la force’ mean ‘unity makes strength’ and it’s a phrase extremely appropriate for such a time as this.
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake leveled Haitian communities on Saturday and killed or injuried thousands of citizens.
“You wake up sometimes before you go to bed and while you're sleeping you feel the bed shaking,” said Bishop Gerard Mirbel, recounting his own experiences in Haiti. “I recall times when the bed was shaking and glasses from pantries were falling."
Natural disasters like Saturday’s earthquake are incidents that Mirabel hasn’t just read about, but he’s experienced it.
Mirbel and his wife Jacqueline are pastors at Miracle Revival Ministry in Painesville, but their first ministry is serving Haiti.
Haiti is recovering from an earthquake in the midst of major political unrest, just last month Haiti’s president Jovenel Moise was assassinated.
"In Haiti they pick up and they keep going,” said Jacqueline. “They don’t give up, they pray a lot because sometimes when you don’t see anything else, you have to call on God.”
Unity is what this couple is calling for as they work to help Haiti, and they’ve established a relief fund at Painesville Credit Union which will go to those affected in Haiti.
Those interested in donating can make all donations to the ‘Association to Help the Lord’s Work Haiti Relief Fund’.
The Mirbels also said Ohioans can send items directly to two of their missionary contacts that still do work in Haiti:
Love A Child
12411 Commerce Lake Dr.
Fort Myers, FL 33913
Haiti for Christ
1012 Rockhaven Ct.
Chesterfield, VA 23836
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