Stories of Hope: Merline
Merline was busy preparing breakfast in her home in Marceline, near Camp-Perrin, when the ground shook violently from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake 20 miles away.
“I was inside, making soup. I asked one of my children to go into another room to fetch something for me, then the earthquake happened.”
Merline says she didn’t have time to escape before a wall fell on her, cutting her head open as she lost consciousness. The people who pulled her from the rubble thought she was dead but one of her children realized she was still alive.
“I didn’t know if I would survive because they laid me with the bodies. But I thank God, He rescued me.”
The rescue team took Merline and two of her children who were also injured to local hospital Saint Anne of Camp-Perrin where her head injury was stitched up, but limited medical equipment is a huge challenge for the Haitian medical system. Merline would need to go to a bigger hospital in Les Cayes for a CAT scan but has no means to travel there. Suffering dizzy spells and frequent headaches, and concerned for her children, Merline has no option but to wait for help. One of her children also suffered a head injury; her daughter Parola, an injured leg.
6-year-old Parola’s leg was burned when a pot of soup fell on her in the earthquake.
“My daughter was in the house,” she says of 6-year-old Parola, her leg bandaged. “It seems the pot of soup fell on her.“
Merline says of her neighborhood, “Every home was destroyed, everyone is in the streets. There’s not one home still standing there.”
She thanked God because He rescued her from among the dead and thanked 4VEH for giving her the opportunity to share her testimony with others.
But that’s not the end of Merline’s story.
4VEH Broadcast Sparks Offers of Help, More Help Arrives
After 4VEH reporter Jimmy’s interview with Merline was aired on 4VEH local and national stations and social media platforms, Merline’s story gained attention from locals and Haitians further afield, with people asking how they could help her.
A few days later, Merline told Jimmy that US troops assisting with emergency relief efforts transported her and her injured children to the Samaritan’s Purse emergency field hospital for more care. Praise God!
Merline is just one of many thousands of earthquake survivors in desperate need. Your prayers and generosity are reaching people like Merline with urgent help and Gospel hope.
As well as broadcasting, 4VEH is providing food & hygiene kits, tarps for shelter, solar radios to families in need as well as mobilizing local medical staff & supplies. Through on-air campaigns, we’re mobilizing Haitians – listeners, viewers and their families, churches, and local organizations – to respond in prayer and generosity to help brothers and sisters in southern Haiti. This help is only possible through the prayers and donations of friends like you.
Thank you for your generosity. EARTHQUAKE FUND
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- Emergency funds meant our team could purchase rice, spaghetti and other food items locally to help people in need.
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- Just days after the earthquake, families receive Food Kits to feed a family of four for a week.
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- Rice, spaghetti, beans are among food items given to families after the earthquake. Along with the food, an encouraging message from Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd.
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- With supplies funded by 4VEH donors, a local medical team of 5 doctors and 11 nurses treated 290 patients, including 45 children, at a mobile clinic.
Radio-TV 4VEH is The Evangelistic Voice of Haiti, serving God and the Haitian people since 1950.