HAITI – URGENT CRISIS APPEAL

The terrible socio-political situation in Haiti is threatening the very survival of ROCOR’s Orthodox Mission there. I’m faced with an unprecedented upswing of pleas for help.

Will you send an urgent donation to ensure the survival of the mission?

December 2021

Dear Friend,

I just got an e-mail from Haiti and I feel shattered… Because one of the people you and I care about is in terrible danger. Please let me explain.

Imagine that things have changed…

Your formerly peaceful neighborhood is overrun by armed gangs, you don’t feel safe in your own home. Your friend’s daughter was kidnapped for ransom, so you send your kids far away, hoping they’ll be safe at a cousin’s house…

But that’s not all…

There’s no electricity… the remnants of your food scraps are rotting in the fridge… the water comes out of the tap about once a week. You can’t get internet or a phone signal. You’re thirsty, hungry, terrified, and you just want it to stop.

Who will help you? The government can’t and won’t. The outside world feels far away… You feel completely abandoned.

It’s hell on earth.

Friend, I’m not describing a nightmare. This is everyday reality for Matushka Rose Legouté, the widow of Fr. Gregoire Legouté of blessed memory. I can’t imagine how they live this way…

The reason I’m writing to you is because you are one of the few people on Earth who care about Matushka Rose and other members of our mission in Haiti.

At this very moment, Matushka Rose and our brothers and sisters from the ROCOR Mission in Haiti are undergoing advanced training for the Kingdom of Heaven…

See for yourself…

She is lying on the floor of her house, trying to avoid bullets whizzing through the broken windows. Another gang fight broke out, and citizens are hiding for their lives.

Matushka Rose is terrified, she is hungry, and no one can relieve her. But her parched lips whisper prayers to our God. How long will she and other Mission members survive in a land where you must rely on violence to get your basic needs met?

Will you be the one who answers their cries for help?

Your gift today will provide food and water and the knowledge that you care.

Will you help with a gift of $15, $25, or even $50?

Matushka Rose lives in constant fear – even when she is in church. While a few people pray, others stand guard by doors and windows – watching for approaching gangs. Because, at any moment, they could be ambushed, kidnapped, raped, or killed.

Even getting to church can be a life-threatening experience. Roads are blocked by armed gangs, covered in piles of rubbish and decomposing corpses… But she endures it all – so she can be there for the other members of the Mission.

Just think: how would you feel if – God forbid – you were in this situation?

I would do anything to get out of there. But Matushka Rose doesn’t even think about leaving. She’s too involved in the life of the Mission. She feels that she can’t abandon the other members.

“My responsibilities in the Mission of our Church… give me the strength to keep going,” she wrote.

She wants to stay. She chooses to lay down her life for her people just like Christ did for us.

Can you help Matushka Rose survive? Will you give a gift of $15, $25, or even $50?

          I know that you’re worried that the money you give might be stolen. But so far – with God’s help – the Mission has been able to receive money without problems.

So, please, help if you can – because you’re their only hope.

Just like Matushka Rose, the other members of the Mission are living in fear and terrible need.

• Your gift of $25 will buy food and water for a family of 4 for one day
• $35 will feed six members of the Mission for a day
• $50 will sustain two people for a whole week
• $100 can provide about 30 meals for 10 people

Will you help with an urgent donation?

In my mind, Matushka Rose is a real hero. She’s a modern “everyday saint.”

She wants to endure the horrific sight of decomposing bodies in the streets… to hear bullet shots whizzing by her head… to be hungry…

Because she’s chosen not to abandon her fellow Mission members… to serve Christ and His Church.

Please help her survive!

Thank you so much for reading this. Please, don’t set this letter aside.

With love in Christ and prayers for your health and salvation,

Mark Selawry

FFA President

P.S. Please, take out your checkbook and write out a check for $15, $25, $50, or any other amount you can spare.