Friday's Update from Haiti

A quick update from last nights accident. As I mentioned in the previous powt we had to transport the patients to other hospitals. Keri had to ride in one of the ambulances and as it turned out she had to stay at the hospital and assist with the surgery that was needed. She finally returned around 7 AM and we were all glad to see her. She was a real trouper throughout this entire process.



This was our last full day in Haiti. We took a well deserved break and spent the day at Wahoo Bay beach. It was a beautiful spot with clear water and sorounded by mountains that were a pleasure to look at. We ate lunch there and the returned to the Mission.



Everyone is well now that Dave rejoined the group after a bout with severe dehydration. It was great that we had the clinic on site as they took extra good care of him.



We ended the day with a time of sharing and reflection which was great to be a part of.



We are all looking forward to coming home and Lord willing our trip back will be uneventful.



That is all for now. God bless.

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Thursday's Update from Haiti

The team had a very long day today. I will try to give a quick summary. First we had two from the team come down with the Haitian revenge, nothing serious. Dave and Leslie are feeling much better.

The work crew was at it again. With a fresh batch of paint we were eager to get to our assignment at the cafeteria. With rolers and brushes in hand off they went. The sidewalk team made much progress in completing the sidewalk. By lunch we had completed what we hoped we could do and even a little more.

After lunch we headed off to L'Orange to visit Pastor Ande's church in the village. He has a church there and at the church we did our version of Noah's ark. The kids loved it and were able to here how God showed His love for Noah. We played games and James able shared God's greatest commandment with the kids.

The kids were great and as always the smiles in their faces were the best part of the day.

As you can hopefully see from the picture we visited a beautiful water fall in the mountains beyond L'orange. It was remarkable to see the contrast of the lush mountains vs our home base. This was truly a beautiful part of Haiti.

Just as we turned in the Mission of Hope to end our day we learned that there had just been a major accident and that about 14 people were injured and were arriving at the clinic at the same time we did. Our medical team along with many non-medical team members sprang into action. There were broken bones severed limbs and head injuries. The clinic was treating them and preparing the most serious ones to transfer to other hospitals in Haiti. This posed several problems as some of the hospitals were full and some did not have doctors even at the at hospital. And to top that off the hospitals were an hours drive away.

Keri was really in her element and provided great medical care. The rest of the team helped however we could from moving stretchers to praying for and with the patients.

We pray that these people will be alright. We did learn that 4 people died at the scene.

Thank God for the Mission of Hope and how they we're here when these people needed them.

All for now God bless.

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Wednesday's update from Haiti

The week here is moving very fast. Kari continues to take charge in the clinic. They have been very busy seeing patients. Fortunately Kari was able to go along with us on our afternoon trip. More on that shortly.



The work on cafeteria is progressing however we ran out of paint. Not to worry a fresh supply arrived this evening which will allow us to continue our painting project tomorrow. The work crew also worked on building a sidewalk which was very hot and hard work. Hopefuly we can begin pouring the concrete tomorrow.



Back to our afternoon trip. After a well deserved break for lunch we headed off to Caberet to visit the Good Samaritan Orphanage. This was a bit of an adventure as we had to wade a river to get there. Praise God nobody fell in although a pig on the nearby bank almost did.



Once we reached the orphanage we were able to love on the kids and play with them. They lived in very rough conditions. The place they lived in was covered by a large tarp to help keep the rain out.



While we were there the team performed a play about the flood and how Noah built the ark as God had told him to. Before we started the play there was a very heavy downpour which was really neat to have this occur right before the play. The kids then sang a song for us which was very moving. James shared a bible verse with them and had them repeat it back to him. Through our interpreter I believe they really understood God's greatest commandment.



We handed out bibles to all the kids. It is awesome to see these kids receive the living word of God. We pray they will read them and be transformed into His likeness.



All for now and God bless all of you.

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Tuesday's update from Haiti

We spent another very hot day in Haiti. The team made a lot of progress on painting the house. This is very hard work in the heat but the team' spirit remains very high.



After lunch we went to the village of Titanyen. We split into two groups and were able to walk through the village and pray for the people in their homes. Some were belivers and some were not. We were able to hand out bibles and some of the pamper kits for the women. The people were very friendly and given their living conditions it is hard to see how.



One of the houses we visited was built by the Samaritan's Purse. In the house was a family where two 10 day old twins were living. We were able to pray for the babies and the mother. This was a special treat for me.



While walking through the village I heard someone speaking with a southern accent. I wanted to see who it was and as it turned out it was some men from the NC Baptist Men Relief organization. One of the men had actually attended Calvary in the past and lives in Yadkin county. It was a pleasure to meet these men.



We then headed back to the Mission of Hope and a good dinner. After dinner we went to church. What a service that was. It lasted from 5 to 8 pm! We were all singing songs in Creole. Meri Saysen. Thank you Lord.



Quiet a day in Haiti. Eveyone is doing fine. Thanks for all your prayers.

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Monday Update from Haiti

What a day it was for the team today. After breakfast our team worked on painting the new cafeteria. This was a real challange for us due to fact we had to paint over concrete with less than high quality paint. All that said we did get a lot done with what we had. Our resident general contractor "rick sanders" was a big help to the team in getting us organized and getting the work done. By the way I never saw him with a paintbrush in his hand. All kidding aside it was great to see how God gifted us with the right skills.



After lunch we went to caberet where we visited the market. There were thousands of people there trying to make a living selling anything and everything. We then went to the Grace House which is something like a hospice house only it was far from a house. There we loved on the people by painting the ladies finger nails and we handed out Creole bibles. What a far cry this place is from our homes in the USA.



Last on the agenda was a trip to see one of our interpreter's garden. This was quite an adventure through the rain mud and jungle. James however was in his element. I think he is the natural replacement for the guy in the show man against the elements.



Kari our resident nurse was in her element as well telling the doctors and medical students what to do. She saw many patients today and loved on them as only she can do.



I had the opportunity to talk with one of the doctors and he told me the hardest case he saw was that of a 3 day old baby that was sick. The problem was the baby had not had anything to eat since birth. The mother was not producing milk and they had no money for food. The medical team was able to give the baby formula which probably saved the baby's life. I can't comprehend how hard it would be to not be able to feed you newborn child.



Thank God for what the Mission of Hope is doing for the people here in Haiti.



All for now and sorry for no picture today.



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July 4th in Haiti

Today was a very special day for the team. We first went to church at the Mission of Hope church. The service was moving and the whole team felt God amoung us. It is great to see people not holding back as the worship our Lord.



After church we went to one of the villages and had lunch at Jame's favorite restaurant. We then went through the village where we saw one of the homes that was being built by the Mission of Hope. We also experiened first hand how the people really live here.



We then got on our bus and headed for port au prince and saw how the earthquake had destroyed the city. We were able to pray at the presidential palace for the people there. Moving on we stoped at a church that had been destroyed. There we again prayed for the people however this time we asked the people in the street to pray with us. This was a real God moment for us as we joined hands with the people in the street and asked God to move across Haiti and heal the hurt and save the lost.



At dinner we were given a cake decorated as an American flag by the staff. We all turned to the flag and we all sang the star spangled banner. But the icing on the cake, so to speak was the cool rain God sent our way. This was welcome relief to a very hot day here.



An editorial note - the picture sent of tent city was upside down. It is difficult to make these post off of my blackberry. Also I left one of team members of the original list. So please add Rick Sanders to your prayer list.



All for now.

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We Arrived!

Good news! We all arrived at the Mission of Hope. Thank God all of our luggage arrived as well.

Thanks for all of your prayers God did provide. We are eating lunch now and working on getting our beds made, bunk beds that is.

The team is pumped and ready to get to work.

The picture hopefully it looks ok is one of the tent villages we saw on our way in. All for now.
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