On Monday morning April 6 at 3:30am, an earthquake struck L’Aquila Italy with deadly force.  Measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, this earthquake left nearly 300 dead and 28,000 homeless. Convoy of Hope immediately dispatched an assesment team from our Europe office in Blegium to determine how we could send immediate help.  You can help!

This team has returned from L’Aguila, where they were able to visit the city center of what can better be described as a ghost town, along with some of the surrounding villages of which some have been totally destroyed.

They were able to meet with the local pastor of the church in L’Aquilla along with several leaders of the national church in Italy.  The church building has been totally destroyed, and several of the members of the church are injured and lost their homes. One child, of a Romanian family, who are members of the church, tragically lost his life.

Because of the church’s speedy reaction to the disaster they were able to set up tents and start giving relief aid to people Monday night before the government forces arrived. Since then they had to coordinate all their efforts with the government which is controlling the displaced persons camps tightly.  Because of the good work the church is doing they were allowed to stay and be a great help and witness in a time of great despair. L’Aquila is know as a hard place for the church and they have been able, through the relief aid they are giving, to share the love of God with many people.

Over the coming days and weeks the help will be focused on the people in the camps and they are working hard to relocate people to other places. You can help!

Our plan is to begin assistance with providing temporary housing for the victims, plus establish a temporary church building to continue services. We will continue working closely with our Europe office and the national church to see how we can assist them in their efforts to help the victims of this disaster.  You can help by making a secure online donation today.