The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) has had a presence in Haiti since the late 1920s. Church leaders and lay people are well acquainted with the Haitian people’s challenges to an improved quality of life.

Port-au-Prince residents walk past a damaged cemetery. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/CARE)

Church of God in Christ Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr. (right) and Dr. Robert Michael Franklin, president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, discuss the pressing need to help the people of Haiti during a news conference at historic Mason Temple. Franklin was the featured speaker for a COGIC program held Tuesday evening. (Photo by Latrivia Nelson/The Carter Malone Group)

Now – in the aftermath of an earthquake that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands – COGIC is moving to meet the desperate need for the church to do more than ever before.

“We have an investment in the people of that country and at this time of crisis, it is imperative that we do whatever is within our power to assist them,” Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr. of Los Angeles said in Memphis on Monday night.

Blake and church leaders were in Memphis for the 2010 Leadership Conference, with thousands expected to attend classes and training from around the country. On Jan. 13, the day after the earthquake hit, Blake assembled an initial team of church leaders and charged them with creating an action plan to assist the earthquake victims.

The team consisted of disaster relief specialists, physicians and other organizers. During that meeting and subsequent meetings, a plan evolved and was set in motion after the approval of Blake, COGIC’s General Board and in conjunction with COGIC Charities.

“Our team will be on the ground January 26th, led by Pastor James Pulling,” Blake said from historic Mason Temple. “He will lead our assessment effort and help us determine the need.”

The plan includes sending medical staff, volunteers, chaplains and supplies to assist with relief efforts on the ground. Before the devastation, COGIC had over 150 churches, 40 schools and 2 orphanages in Haiti.

Bishop Blake has been in contact with the White House to offer his and the Churches assistance in Haiti. As a member of the White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, he wanted to make sure the White House advisors knew that he and the Church leadership were available to assist.

Blake has experience working with other countries on disaster relief efforts in Africa and Haiti, through COGIC Charities and his personal foundation, Save Africa’s Children.

For more information on COGIC’s Haiti Disaster Relief efforts or to volunteer or make a contribution, visit www.cogic.com.