The first Sunday after Haiti’s apocalyptic earthquake found most of the city’s small Haitian community seeking solace in churches, enveloped by a brotherhood of commiserating Angelenos who have pulled out all the stops to do everything they can to help them.

Local Haitians’ feelings about the tremor that destroyed their homeland last week are palpable. The phrase, “I feel your pain,” is trite, but true, when you understand that the Haitian you’re talking to may be the only surviving member of what was a large, close, extended family — an understanding that causes the Haitian, himself, to double over in gut-wrenching grief as he tries to explain his situation.

Such explanations and expressions of despair had houses of worship reeling Sunday as the city’s prayerful people sought succor in the face of such overwhelming tragedy. For example, last Sunday and the next one, Jan. 24, have been designated Haiti relief Sundays by Bishop T. Larry Kirkland, presiding prelate of the AME church’s 5th Episcopal District, during which all money received by all the AME churches in the 15 westernmost states last and next Sunday will be sent to Haiti. “We collected more than $1 million from a similar program we conducted for Katrina victims, so for this initial collection for Haiti, we’re looking to do at least that and probably more,” Kirkland said.

In addition to raising money for earthquake relief, Kirkland has called for a continuous round of special prayers for the people of Haiti, to which First AME Church, for example, responded with a special service Sunday. “We are all brothers and sisters in this international crisis and must do our part,” the Rev. John J. Hunter, senior pastor, said at FAME’s special service, which was attended by community leaders, thousands of congregants and local residents, including Haitians who were standing in the need of prayer.

Among them was Evans LaMour, a Haitian entrepreneur who has lived in the Los Angeles area for 10 years. LaMour has a brother in New York, and as of Tuesday, he’s the only relative he knows he has. All of LaMour’s other relatives on both his mother’s and father’s side were in Haiti when the earthquake hit. “We don’t know about anybody yet,” LaMour said.

Michelene Roberson, the director of a dance troupe who has resided in Los Angeles for 30 years, said her mother’s house collapsed in the quake, killing two of her cousins. She said she has a brother, a sister, some nephews and other cousins who are still missing.

Eugel Nicoleau Jr., a U.S. resident for 41 years, knows that three of his relatives perished in the earthquake, that another’s leg had to be amputated to facilitate his rescue and that a cousin was found alive Monday. As for the fate of the rest of his large family, Nicoleau said he does not know.

Even in their near-catatonic state, these Haitians are impressed by and appreciative of the help they’re getting from the community and the United States. “It’s uplifting to know so many people care about Haiti,” LaMour said.

LaMour, who owns a “roots and culture” store in Pasadena, is a strong believer in the bloodline connection between Haitians and African-Americans, which he says we American blacks don’t know about because our schools don’t teach our history.

“We are all Nubian people — descended from the place where civilization started — and in order for us to come together, we have to know who we are as a people,” LaMour said.

Roberson, director of the Sete Etwals (that’s “seven stars” in Creole) Dance Troupe, has devoted her artistry to keeping the culture of her country alive. “I am most appreciative of the help black Americans are giving us,” Roberson said. “It seems that every black person I know or have ever known has come to me offering help for me and my people,” said Roberson, who resides in South Los Angeles. She said Vie Water, a nonprofit organization, has arranged a fundraiser with her Saturday at Gallery 825 in West Hollywood from 7 to 10 p.m. to provide clean drinking water for the people in Haiti. Roberson said Mothers for Africa put on a similar event last Saturday, which drew the participation of entertainers from throughout the region. “It is very heartening to see black artists coming together for our cause,” Roberson said.

Nicoleau, whose father was a Haitian diplomat during the Duvalier (père et fils) regime, also lives in South L.A., and maintains that “regardless of where we are from, we are all Black,” and is, therefore, greatly impressed by and appreciative of the stance taken by President Obama, the Black church and Black people everywhere. “It shows that God is working,” Nicoleau said. With respect to the awful things commentator Rush Limbaugh and televangelist Pat Robertson said about the disaster in Haiti, Nicoleau remarked: “God will have to deal with that; so God bless them anyway.”