BHM Board President, Ron Pierre, just returned from a visit to Haiti where he spent time in the rural communities, assessing long-term needs. He returned more convinced than ever that Haiti's future lies in Christian education for even the poorest of the poor. This is his story:

I write this immediately after my return from a week at Baptist Haiti Mission in the mountains surrounding Port-au-Prince. My heart and mind have been impacted forcefully by all that I heard and saw there as part of a team of volunteers. With varied fields of expertise, we made our way into the remote mountain villages where BHM has worked with local leaders to establish schools and churches.

You have seen pictures and video of the devastation and have an idea of the vast need among the millions of "in country" refugees in the Port-au-Prince area, but no one - not even relief workers - has been able to reach such remote areas as we saw last week. Far too many of the villages can only be reached by hours of hiking, past the point where even the sturdiest of four wheel drive vehicles are able to go.

In these isolated communities, far from the camera's eye, we saw countless families whose stone homes were collapsed by the earthquake, who had to resort to leaning structures, using sticks and salvaged roofing as shelter. In these mountains, though the struggle to survive is harder than ever, the families and churches are coming together to support one another. They share the meager harvests from mountainside gardens and reach out to those who are in even greater need.

Seeing the children is especially heart-wrenching for me. As a parent and grandparent, I picture my own precious little ones cast into the same circumstances, and I cannot help but yearn to reach out to help them!

For over 60 years, BHM has built up a way to do just that, to reach out to the most vulnerable children in a way that will outlast the current surge of relief efforts into this beleaguered country: Christian-based education. We believe this is a prerequisite not only for life, but also for the attainment of jobs and, ultimately, the achievement of an ordered society.

Many pastors and church leaders like you have asked us, "How can we as a church best help these little ones in a lasting, effective manner?" The answer is simple: Sponsor children! Your sponsorships will provide some of Haiti's poorest children not only a quality education, but also medical care, access to food, clean water and shelter, as the Lord makes such provision possible.

Learn more about our Child Sponsorship program and how you can make a lasting difference to One Child, One Village, One Nation.

More than 65,000 children attend a BHM-sponsored school in Haiti, and they consistently outperform the national average on state exams! Not only do children in our sponsorship program learn to read and write - they receive a quality education, giving them a future of hope and possibility.

I cannot forget the faces I saw, the immensity of the devastation, or the seeming hopelessness of meeting even the most basic physical needs in Haiti. Because of that, I am more convinced than ever before that Haiti's one hope is the strong foundation of Christian education for its children.

"And do not neglect doing good and sharing,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased."
(Hebrews 13:16)

I'm asking you today to take loving action, as He did, to help "the least of these." Become ambassadors of His love, sharing the good news of the Gospel through a nurturing Christian education.

I believe that if you saw what I saw this past week, if you held the children's hands, if you heard their cries for help, then you would be the one pleading on their behalf, just as I am pleading today. Thank you for your prayerful and compassionate response to Christ's call to care for the least of these.