Since the massive earthquake hit Haiti in January, there has been an outpouring of relief efforts. But Florida Baptist Witness reports that there has also been an unusual number of conversions _ in the tens of thousands.

The newspaper reports that more than 40,000 Haitians have made professions of Christian faith since the earthquake.

Dennis Wilbanks, an associate in partnership missions with the Florida Baptist Convention, described a scene in Port-au-Prince in mid-February when the Haitian government called for three days of prayer and fasting.

“People were in the streets, literally begging God for forgiveness and mercy,” he said.

The total of 40,127 professions of faiths is based on written reports from churches and pastors to the Confraternite Missionaire Baptiste d’Haiti, which is a partnership of almost 900 Haitian Baptist churches funded by the Florida convention.