The below is taken from a text message from Deacon Gerry Keenan, who is on the ground in Sassier, Haiti this week as part of the Hurricane Matthew relief effort.  The pictures below tell the story.
Looking off the balcony of the parish house, it was as if I had awakened in a dystopian parallel universe. The geography and people were the same, but the buildings and vegetation lay in utter ruin. So, too, must the lives of my friends of more than 15 years in Sassier.  Will they be despondent? Will there every be hope again. Is it all too overwhelming?

Then I notice a shard of stone on which is written: “Life Restarts  Restart Life” written by Sassier’s pastor, Pere Tony Leolein, on a scrap of stone scavenged from the wreckage of the Parish Church.  He told me “We have been thru the Darkness, but Light  drives the Darkness away. Then Life can begin anew. Our lives will be restored.”

Sassier Needs Your Help!
Already more than $26,000 has been raised through our website in just the past week.  100% of this money raised will go toward the hurricane relief effort.  There much that has already been done, but so much more work remains. If you have not already, please consider donating to this cause.  Simply click the button below to donate online today

 

These pictures tell the story. These were taken on October 12, 2016 from Sassier.
From Pere Tony – pastor of St Jean Baptiste. Two sides. This side says “Hurricane Matthew 3-4 October 16”
Side 2 “Life Restarts Restart Life”
3-4 October 16
All that remains of St. Jean Baptiste Parish Church in Sassier.
The Haitian landscape after the storm