Former lead singer of Audio Adrenaline Mark Stuart has given a firsthand report of the damage from the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck this week in Haiti, causing casualties in the thousands in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Stuart, whose parents are missionaries in Haiti, has been visiting the country for many years and established Hands & Feet Project Children's Village along with his former bandmates in 2004. Stuart told CNN that everyone with the mission's orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti, was safe, but they slept outside the past two nights to protect the children from the potential of falling concrete due to tremors.

"I ventured out immediately after the quake, and the streets were filled with panicking people," Stuart told CNN. "The traffic was very dangerous and within a five-minute walk from our village in Cyvadier, I witnessed four collapsed houses and a hotel. Thank God most of the Haitians spend a lot of time outdoors. Most of the injuries around here came from the hospital, school and hotels."

He said the loss of life in Jacmel, on Haiti's southern coast, was "substantial." The orphanage now cares for more than 40 children, CNN reported.

"We need prayer for wisdom and strength," Stuart wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "It's very chaotic here. ... The Haitian people are numb and, sad to say, very used to death, but this has created what seems to be a hypnotic state. I've never been in a situation were you feel so helpless, fearful and small."

Essential Records' Third Day is also stepping up to speed aid to the people of Haiti, and band members are challenging fans to do the same. Third Day has made a $20,000 donation out of its Come Together Fund to World Vision's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.

In an open letter signed by the band's members and available on ThirdDay.com, Third Day encourages fans to give. "We have seen firsthand the amazing work that World Vision does around the world," the letter reads. "They are first-call responders to these kind of disasters, and will immediately maximize our dollars to care for those suffering in this difficult time."

Seeing their donation as "a challenge" to urge fans to give, the band added: "We hope that you will keep the people of Haiti in your prayers, but we also hope that you will be part of God's answer to their prayers as well."

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