Haiti Missions Team Updates
– Update 8.5 —
Friday, February 26, 2010
Please pray throughout the day for our team. Transportation issues have significantly cut into the time they hoped to have at Laogaonge, which they were greatly looking forward to. It is possible they have not yet left Cambry at this writing, which would be a 5 hour delay and counting.
Pray for their safety in travel and ministry, their spirits so that they would not become discouraged at the delays, and a timely arrival at the airport.
– Update 8 —
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Hmm. Remember the “day of changed plans” on Wednesday? And that there was plan for Thursday? Well, scrap that plan, too!
Instead of a lighter day providing some rest by using a “split shift” approach in the community at Cambry, the team was roused with the news “we’re going to Cavillion today”. To their great credit as a game and servant-hearted bunch, the news was met with a willing spirit, and the team was once again split into three for long but different days.
One part did indeed stay and do clinic work at Cambry seeing the community, many of whom were refugees from Port au Prince.
A second part went to the other location, Cavillion, another ESMI site where they saw 83 orphans, using their triage system that had been perfected at Cambry during the early part of the week. The team saw 83 kids, many of whom were relocated from Port au Prince.
A third group stayed back to make practical provision for tomorrow – restocking and repacking bags of supplies that they anticipate needing, and making enough peanut butter sandwiches for 25 for lunch and dinner for tomorrow. Their meal on the road will be rounded out by some applesauce, their shared store of snacks brought from home, and lots of bottled water.
Midway through the day, a group of 4 representing the 4 Chicago area churches that contributed to a well in Dortue were taken there in the most nimble 4 wheel drive vehicle available. Dortue’s location makes the trip not for the fainthearted – it is at the top of a mountain. It’s very location was the reason the well was so strategic – villagers walked for hours to get clean water before the well was dug. Upon their arrival, the representatives were greeted with great joy and gratitude by the people who attest that their lives have been radically changed by the availability of clean water in their village. Kids sang and the well was officially dedicated. It was a stark reminder of how things we consider simple “givens” in life – like a reliable water source – can make an immense difference. It will transform the village in many ways for the better.
Some other praises:
1) Everyone is doing much better today healthwise.
2) It was agreed that today was everyone’s favorite day – folks were serving in their “sweet spot” and feeling in a groove. There is no flagging of enthusiasm for the tasks with this bunch!
3) The supplies are holding out beautifully. Praise God for the generosity of those who provided funds for purchase, donated items, and for His guidance in selecting the appropriate things.
Some prayer requests:
1) Friday will be a day for service in a brand new setting as well as long hours of travel. The plan (dare we say it?) is to leave Cambry early in the same coach bus that took them from the to Cambry on Saturday/Sunday. They’ll leave early in the morning with all of their belongings and supplies for the day with Dou Dou as guide. A trip to Laogaonge should take about 4 hours. After working there several hours, they will be on their way to the Dominican Republic and the airport at Santo Domingo. The goal is to arrive there about 4:00 a.m. Saturday; their flight departs at 8:00 a.m. Please pray for all of the elements of the day – from their ability to minister to the needs of those they’ll see in Laogaonge to the logistics of the trip to safety on the road – and a timely arrival in Santo Domingo and a safe flight home.
2) Pray for the team’s “re-entry”. They are exhilarated in many ways, but surely exhausted. They are mostly healthy, but some will need a few days to fully recover. They have seen and experienced one of the greatest tragedies in modern times. They have been of immense help to many, but seen the vast amount of need they could not meet. Please ask God to minister to their spirits over the next days, weeks, and months as they process the joys and frustrations of ministry in Haiti.
3) Pray for those who remain in Haiti to continue to faithfully serve where God has placed them for this time in their country’s history. Pray for encouragement, stamina, a reliance on God, and the partnership of Christians around the world to continue to sustain them.
4) Pray for our partners at ESMI – Dony and Sharon, Louis and Martine, Philemon, Dou Dou, Franklin, and the countless others who support the work of ESMI in Haiti and the US.
It will be difficult to get information tomorrow, so this will be the last planned update. If you would like to see if more is known of their day and their progress towards home, feel free to email me. I will fill you in as possible. For the team, I thank you for your faithful prayer support over this week.
– Update 7 —
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Today, Wednesday, was a very good day. An unpredictable one, even by Haiti standards, but very good.
A plan for the day was made and changed no less than 9 times. Here are a few highlights…
1) The medical team saw community folks at Cambry because they just showed up knowing medical people were there, mostly people they couldn’t see the day before who came back.
2) The transportation plans had to be changed because the bus that could carry them all at once had brake trouble (fortunately, this was figured out BEFORE they went anywhere J)
3) One half of the team got to their morning medical destination about 12:30
4) The other half of the team left the place they planned to stay all day in the early afternoon
If changes in plans bother you, this would not have been a good place for you today! But the team of 25 handled it without missing a beat. They are embracing the “flexibility” requirement of ministry in Haiti with open arms.
Some highlights:
1) The Cambry Hospital medical team assisted a seasoned and well run team of Mexican surgeons in various kinds of surgery all morning. They really helped things along and the two groups enjoyed working together.
2) 90 more kids at the Cayes orphanage got treated for scabies. They’re all done!
3) A team went to another place, “The Big House”, not too far away. The kids at that orphanage seemed to have never had underwear before and the young girls had the best time lifting up their new dresses to show off their new underwear – the squeals of delight and smiles were like a gift to the team! They looked adorable in the beautiful dresses hand made by our wonderful volunteers from various churches. Even the boys got into it by showing off their underwear – and didn’t seem to mind a bit when they ran out of boys’ underwear and they got girls’ instead! The delight was fun to see.
Some items for prayer:
1) Some on the team are struggling with health issues – typical “bug”-like symptoms that are slowing them down and tiring them, and the heat is difficult for some. All have started taking the “back up” antibiotics they travelled with as a precaution, as well as some pro-biotics that one of the pediatricians brought for them to help with troubled stomachs. As all have been working really hard, they will work a half shift Thursday in Cambry, taking the other half of the day to rest and recoup their strength for a full press on their last day, Friday. Pray that a lighter day of ministry will restore them, and that the electricity will work during the day to provide a cool place to rest.
2) In Cambry on Thursday, they will turn their combined attention to the community and those who are refugees from Port au Prince. Pray that their skills and supplies would match the needs, as has happened all week long.
3) Please begin praying now for their day on Friday. As things stand now, they will leave at 5:00 a.m. Friday for Laogaonge, arriving at 8:00 to set up a mobile clinic. They’ll work there for 12 hours, and then from there leave for the long trek back to the Dominican Republic and the airport. Their flight leaves Saturday morning at 8:00. While traveling at night has its challenges given the road conditions in some places, the traffic congestion around Port au Prince and the border during the day make this a good plan. Pray for the long work day and for safety during travel – and that they arrive in good order for their flight.
Thanks once again for your prayers on behalf of the team.
– Update 6 —
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
It was a very, very productive day for our team in Haiti. The teams re-formed to better address the needs in three different clinical settings and the teaching team met all day with 40 – 45 men and women, spending the whole afternoon in a Q&A session. Everyone loved it!
The medical teams went three ways – back to the Cayes Hospital, where a variety of needs were met including setting broken bones and seeing many, many sick infants; the orphanage, where the sickest were seen by one of our pediatricians (at least 50 today) and 200 more were treated for scabies and lice and given new clothes; and the community setting at Cambry, where both adults and children were seen with lots of malnutrition and minor surgery needs.
Several praises:
1) The nebulizer that was purchased and packed at the very last minute saved an infant’s life today; one of the pediatricians was sure the infant would not have survived for more than a day or two without that simple piece of equipment being there today.
2) The team is working seamlessly together even though they were in a new configuration today. They are convinced that the teams were put together the way God wanted it all along – even though some “signed on” rather late in the trip planning! Bonds are being formed that only enhance their ability to minister.
3) Broken bones were set today – bones that had been broken for a long time, likely since the earthquake. Refugees from PAP since the earthquake have new needs as well as untreated ailments that they were afflicted with prior to the earthquake, including the malnourished kids.
4) So far, the supplies are holding out beautifully. As of today, about 400 kids have new clothes and most have new shoes. Tomorrow, the last 100-150 kids at the orphanage will be seen, and the team will not come home with one extra stitch of clothing. There is enough scabies wash to take care of all of them.
5) Organization was much smoother today as the team could anticipate the situations better and adjusted accordingly.
6) Pastors who are disheartened, tired, worried for their families and their flocks, and overwhelmed by the immensity of the task before them were encouraged by the teaching team. Questions abounded – on practical ministry, theology, translation issues, the second coming – to keep our team on their toes. A special challenge – keeping answers short and simple for the translator! Good practice for our guys J It is food for the soul of these pastors, who will be looked upon to lead their often times disheartened people through many long months of recovery.
7) There was an aftershock near PAP today – 4.7 in intensity – but nothing was felt where the team is. Some injuries were reported in PAP as people had moved back into buildings that were not as safe as they had hoped. But nothing major has been reported.
Some things for prayer:
1) A few of the team members have had some illness of varying kinds – some fevers, some digestive. But they have the best medical help on the island right there with them, and the proper medicines to help them feel better. Still, pray that return to full health would be swift so they can continue their important work at full speed. Pray for protection for the others from similar symptoms. Also pray for adequate rest under these demanding circumstances.
2) The electricity continues on a rolling cycle; water flow in the guest house is also off when the electricity is off. Since cool air to sleep in and water to shower in is a godsend to our workers, pray for the provision of these simple yet much appreciated things.
3) Pray that tomorrow would see more great teamwork so their ability to minister is multiplied; ask that God would put each of them in exactly the right place to meet the needs of the moment.
4) Pray for the massive needs of the children of Haiti. Yesterday, a boy of 10 was brought in to the hospital after someone found him lying on the street. He’d been injured in some kind of motorcycle accident and had no one to care for him. His injuries were not life threatening, and he was taken care of and sent on his way to…nowhere. Someone mentioned that there was an orphanage close by; he went back to the streets and today showed up at the hospital with 5 other friends – all about 10 years old, all recent orphans living on the street – with their belongings neatly rolled up, as cleaned up as they could make themselves, hoping to all get to live at the orphanage. Even though it has swollen in size from just about 120 to over 400, Louis will see what can be done for these boys tomorrow. Unfortunately, ALL of the orphanages in Haiti have similar numbers now.
The team so appreciates the outpouring of support through prayer. They are grateful!
– Update 5 —
Monday, February 22, 2010
Whew. Today the team saw first hand how hard it is to be prepared for a situation like this. The big topic last night at the team meeting was “it will be overwhelming and chaotic”. And it was!
The day started with a little guy of 5 wandering into the guest house area from the hills with a deep and recent gash on his chin pouring blood. His face and shirt were soaked by the time someone saw him. He was alone. Typically, this kind of wound would be allowed to bleed out, and if it doesn’t get infected, he’s just left with a nasty scar. But since he wandered in to the guest house with multiple medical folks in residence, it took just a few minutes for them to get him settled on to a flat surface and get some stitches in. The little guy twitched his legs a few times, but never moved his head. You have to be tough to grow up in Haiti, and this precious little one exhibited that spirit today.
The medical team split in two so they could meet with the Cayes Hospital director to get set up to work there part of the time in order to help the community at large; this was arranged just yesterday. But that person never came today. So, without orientation or perhaps even official approval, they pitched in with the help of a Mexican doctor who sort of “knew the ropes”. By the end of the day, they had seen many people and literally saved two lives – people who would have died had they not received care today. In one case, two of our team members left the hospital to go to a “pharmacy” to buy a few needed supplies that neither the team nor the hospital had (right now in Cayes and probably most of Haiti, you are expected to bring your own medical equipment to the hospital for your procedures, but this patient had no one to buy for him and he was too sick/too poor to do it himself. For $20 of equipment and some care, his life was saved today.
The second part of the team stayed at the orphanage with a well laid out plan that had worked very well in previous trips. But not under these circumstances! The newly orphaned from PAP were anxious and could not wait patiently as the resident orphans had done in the past. Crowd control became as big an issue as providing care. However, at the end of the day, 200 kids had been seen (triage, washing station, new clothes, doctor check, meds given, and notes made) The team worked with a lot of tenacity in a tough, tough situation. Tomorrow – more crowd control by Philemon, who is an imposing presence as well as a Creole speaker!
And the teaching team? Forty men from as far away as PAP came for today’s seminar on “how Haiti will be rebuilt”. At the end of the day, one man shared his story through an interpreter. He had been in PAP; a pastor who lost his house and his church, and had to dig two of his children out of the rubble of the earthquake to save them. Now his whole family is living on the street in utter despair, ready to give up, and yet something told him to go to Cayes. He borrowed money and showed up on a bus yesterday morning, but not really knowing why or where to go. He was a stranger there. After talking to some people he was told “you need to go see Pastor Louis”. After meeting Louis he said “the Holy Spirit told me to come”; Louis told him “you must be here for the seminar” and gave him a bed to sleep in last night. Today, after being with the other pastors and the teaching team, his testimony through the interpreter was “ you’ve saved my ministry and my life”.
With all of the difficulties, there is a real sense that the team is witnessing the church as it must have been in the first century. No safety nets, no frills, just the gospel and its power, meeting needs as you find them with what you have available and a reliance on God to see you through.
One very cheerful scene – when the teaching team returned to the guest house, there were the kids in their new clothes and new crocs. Smiles all around!
Tomorrow – three teams. A smaller Cayes hospital team, a larger orphan team, and a small Cayes community team. All will have an interpreter; the orphans and community team will also have someone who speaks Creole doing crowd control.
Please pray for composure under difficult circumstances and that all will rely on God to see them through as they quickly see that their own resources are inadequate to the task. But praise God, His aren’t!
– Update 4 —
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Most of the team spent the afternoon sorting supplies after catching up on some sleep. A few organized some games with the orphans.
There is a great team spirit and a lot of excitement to finally be starting their work. The tasks of organizing the supplies was attacked with great relish – a good thing, with 49 bags to unpack and sort!
It wasn’t until they unloaded the bus last night that they realized a bag was missing, but fortunately it was quickly located at the Santo Domingo airport, and American Airlines will fly it into Port au Prince before the week is over, where an ESMI staffer (the beloved and always present Dou Dou) will make a trip to pick it up.
A team meeting before a worship service at 6:00 set the plans for the next day. Typically there is one every evening after a 12 hour ministry day to re-group, catch up, and make plans for the next day. Which can often change by the next morning! Each day starts with a devotional.
The guest house at Cambry is comfortable. There are six people to a sleeping room with a bathroom for each room. Water is running and electricity is on its typical rolling blackout schedule for Haiti, which means it’s on sometimes and off sometimes. The sleeping rooms are air conditioned.
Monday the team will be split into three: one medical team will go to the hospital at Cambry for the day, taking needed supplies with them. Several other medical folks and the admin people will stay at the orphanage and begin the task of caring for the large group of kids there. The third, the teaching team, will start three days of classes at Good Shepherd, the church in Cambry. Pastors and seminary students will come from as far away as Gonaives (far to the north; Cambry is far to the south) for this learning opportunity. Each team will have an interpreter.
Please pray for the team as they will undoubtedly feel overwhelmed with the size of the task as they start tomorrow. As that God give them focus and calm and an awareness of his presence with them.
For those of you who like maps and/or visual aids, click on this link – it will show you where all of the ESMI sponsored church plants/orphanages/schools are located.
http://www.esmihome.org/Location-Churches-Orphanages.html
– Update 3 —
Sunday, February 21, 2010
After 13 long hours in the bus, the team arrived safely at the guesthouse in Cambry, their base of operations for the week. The trip, though long, was smooth except for a slight hold up at the Haitian border – the troops guarding it had closed the gate and only some persuasive speech by Dony St. Germain, Dou Dou (an ESMI staffer), and the driver got them through.
Their trip took them through Port au Prince, where they saw some of the devastation first hand, including the tent cities that have sprung up and the flattened presidential palace.
Except for Ted, who is preaching, the team will be allowed to sleep in the morning, attending church in the evening only. During the day they will acclimate themselves and meet some of the orphans, whose number at Cambry alone has increased by 400 since the earthquake.
Their ministry will begin in full on Monday.
– Update 2 —
Saturday, February 20, 2010
The team has landed in the Dominican Republic, sailed through customs and is now loaded up into one large and comfortable van for the 4 hour trip to the Haiti border, then several more hours to Les Cayes, probably in a different bus.
In the Miami airport, 25 adults with the same T shirt on (a team T shirt is often donated by a supporter as a souvenir, but it also helps Ted in the airport when team members join us from other parts of the country that he does not recognize on sight) caused some attention. After answering several questions from other travelers, some were moved to donate to the team on the spot for relief in Haiti.
Please continue to pray for safe travel and for stamina on this very long day. By the time they arrive in Cambry, it could easily be 16 total hours of travel for the day. And there’s a 6:00 am worship service in the morning!
– Update 1 —
Saturday, February 20, 2010
The team has met in Ft. Lauderdale and had a final team meeting. Praise God for an uneventful first leg of travel! Tomorrow (Saturday) will be a long day. After arriving in the Dominican Republic about noon CST, there will be approximately another 10 hours by bus to get to Cambry, near Les Cayes, their base of operations for the week.
Please pray for these things as they start their week of ministry:
1) For the health and safety of the team
2) For the ability to serve well as a team of 25 under difficult circumstances and long days in the midst of the ongoing critical situation in Haiti
3) That the supplies would get through customs without difficulty and arrive intact; that the supplies carefully considered, bought, gathered, and packed would be exactly what the team needs to meet the medical needs of those they will see
4) For those who will preach on Sunday and teach Monday and Tuesday; that their words would bring encouragement, comfort, and reminders of God’s love for those who have suffered so terribly over the last month
