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Saturday, 23 January 2010 05:55 |
One knows it is coming, one knows that long days will eventually catch up with the mind and body, and that the destruction will all begin to look the same. Today was that day. And today God continued to sustain us. The morning began with two significant tremors that had folks zipping out the door. Smaller aftershocks continued throughout the day. We have set this evening to be a strategic rest night, meaning we’ll go to bed before midnight, unlike previous evenings.
We returned to Gressier to do an assessment of needs and potential partners. While there, we looked at a house that may be a location for teams and our team hosts who will provide continuity for the ministry. There we found many crushed homes, the survivors living outside in whatever they could scrounge. Clean water has become a real issue. The few community wells are not being used by the people because of the proximity to places where the dead still lie underneath the rubble. But we also found a group providing clinic care. They located at the town clinic building which is in good shape, but noone will go inside due to the frequent aftershocks.
To this point we hadn’t found that strategic place, work and partner that we felt God would provide. But He wasn’t done with us today. We found ourselves at a place named Christianville where all but one of the buildings are seriously damaged. This group has been feeding 2,500 people each day and were running out of food. They have wonderful ministries established and seem to be folks who want to partner in ministry. We were able to take them to our Army friends and get two pallets of MREs and water for them to use to feed people in the community. God opened the floodgates and used the relationships he provided us over the past two days to be able to ensure that 2,500 are now being fed. On the same trip we were also able to obtain 330 gallons of diesel fuel (a commodity that is in extremely short supply) here in Haiti. Each day there is new evidence that God is directing our steps. Mark and I are thrilled that now we can move ahead with a strategic approach to using holistic ministries to multiply healthy churches here in Haiti.
This won’t be a long update, not because the day wasn’t full, nor because the tragedy is lessening. The clinic in PaP is still seeing hundreds of people, the hospital in Milot near Cap Haitian is still overflowing, and the need for workers still grows.
Continue to pray for the people of Haiti, the opportunity for the Christian community to show the love of Christ, and for ongoing connections that will make the efforts even more effective.Read more: |
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Friday, 22 January 2010 13:20 |
Opened Doors
We began our day with prayer, “God, open doors and give us favor in the eyes of the people we need to meet.” Our first stop was the UN medical supply warehouse where now we are greeted with smiles by the workers who are trying so hard to get supplies out to where they are needed. We seek to minister to the people we see serving, asking how they’re doing, praying with them. One pharmacist who was pulling our items is named Michele. His face shows how tired he is, working without breaks with no end in sight. He told that all he sees is people coming and asking for supplies, and it gets frustrating for him. But I was able to share with him about the hundreds of patients that were treated yesterday because he stayed late to help us on Tuesday. Photos provided a visual so that the whole group there could see a purpose and be encouraged. This was the first of many times today that God gave us favor in the eyes of the people we needed to contact.
As I was inside the warehouse compound, Mark saw a group of Army soldiers setting up camp and creating a helicopter landing zone outside the walls. By the time I had the truck loaded with our supplies, we had made new friends who then escorted us into the secure airport compound right to their battalion colonel. We were greeted with great friendliness and willingness to help. After hearing about the needs for medical supplies in Cap Haitian, the colonel offered to help us get them there…by military helicopter. He then gave us a captain to help us get into UN headquarters and make the connections needed to make it all happen. Short story, it got temporarily mired in red tape, but we made it up pretty far in the chain and we’re praying we can get it soon. The hospital in the Milot area of Cap Haitian is now going to set up a field hospital on the property of our church partners there, so the need is critical. The hospital is overflowing and we need to get supplies there. It is hard to express our incredulity at the contrast between all the resources and people at the airport base (which has now turned into literally, a small city) and the desperate need wherever we go in the PaP area. But God made these connections for us, and we were able to obtain many more contacts that may help us get resources to the people who need them. Before we left, the colonel ordered our van filled with water and MREs so it could get out and start making a difference.
Next stop was Cassier and Leogone, two towns that were at the epicenter of the first earthquake (there have been two more since then over 6.0 magnitude). If PaP is desperate(and it is), then these towns are desolate. No one knows they are there, and the destruction is incredible. We saw several four story schools that were pancaked to a height of eight feet. Although I’ve said it before, decay overwhelms all other smells. We met up with Pastor Miliel who told us his story here at the house compound last evening. The school of 400 kids is gone, though he doesn’t know how many may have been there. All the homes, including his own, are crushed. As we stood on top of his church that is mostly rubble, he couldn’t take it all in; the destruction, all that his congregation has worked for, with no idea what tomorrow will bring. Forget next year, next month or even next week. The thought of tomorrow brings people to a standstill. Over one hundred people are sleeping on the church lawn (actually dirt). The only water source is a well that provides two inches of water in a bucket for each dip. We unloaded the MREs and water and placed them in the only part of the church still standing and is still secure. Pastor Miliel and his leaders now have a means to minister to the community. It was such fun to watch as our local guide and driver demonstrated how to heat an MRE with the included heat packs. People had never seen anything like that before and they laughed to see steam coming from a plastic pack with no heat source.
Darkness approached, but we had another God appointment. Driving through Cassier, we found the mayor who controls the police and government land. We learned that there has been no medical care for the injured and that there are many open wounds and broken bones . We will return in the morning to assess current needs. We intend to bring plastic sheeting from Samaritan’s Purse to protect the thousands sleeping outside. We will also look at a house that we may be able to rent as a base of operations for these two towns that have great needs. Pray that we continue to find favor with contacts and impact lives for the Kingdom.Read more: |
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Thursday, 21 January 2010 06:10 |
The day began with a bang…actually a shake, which we learned later was a 6.1 magnitude earthquake. The psychological impact on this people cannot be overestimated. Streets are crammed with households that will wait a long time before entering a structure again. We are living in a house that withstood the first earthquake with little to no damage. Yet even with that assurance, many in the house and compound (70 of us?) went running when the ground shook this morning. Amazingly and gloriously, voices began singing praise songs soon after the early morning quake. We heard many stories today of people who are turning to Christ in the midst of this. To quote my friend Mark Lewis, Director of EFCA TouchGlobal Crisis Response, "a mission field opens in the wake of every crisis."
The supplies God provided in His perfect time were like a glass of cold water offered in the desert. Patients lined up long before we arrived and waited patiently as we organized a pharmacy and medical supply area. These supplies were sorely needed today as patients continued to arrive with devastating wounds that have gone too long without care. The clinical picture for many is not good and we saw tragedy that would never happen in a normal setting. Yet even in the midst of this, God is here and we know that He loves each of these people.
Walking along the streets gives an up-close picture of what daily life has become for the displaced. People have become very creative in making places to sleep, do laundry, and cook meals. Crushed houses, buildings and cars are everywhere. Some still stand, but each night when an aftershock hits people jump and run. No one will enter a house or building that was damaged. We regularly walk by one school where sixty children still lie crushed beneath the rubble. The pungent smell of decay and open sewage permeates this poor area.
God went before us as we met our partners from Cap Haitian who came with stories of surgeries postponed due to no anesthesia, fluids or gloves. We were able to return to the UN warehouse and were greeted with big smiles from people who helped us late yesterday. God must have blinded their eyes because we aren’t exactly neat and clean or professionally attired. Yet they went out of their way to provide basic supplies for our team and promised to have the remainder Thursday morning. We continued to rely on God to open doors and we were able to drive right into the guarded airport compound where numerous relief and government organizations are based. We visited a number of them and are using those contacts to build a network of partners who can help with specific needs we cannot. Samaritan’s Purse was one such organization, and they were excited about working with us to set up a water treatment plant here in the Carrefour area of Port-au-Prince.
This morning we return to the UN warehouse for more clinical supplies to keep the clinic stocked and operational. We ask for prayer as we seek for God-ordained opportunities to meet and partner with other organizations in this stricken community.
It is hard to express what is necessary for this relief effort. So much is needed, and we are asking our Lord for willing workers, both lay and church leaders and for the Spirit to speak to the hearts of His people and use them mightily. The harvest is ripe, people are open to the Gospel. Workers for the harvest will find their work is fulfilling and fruitful.Read more: |
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