Those of you who read my last blog know that the needs at the Haitian Christian Mission are tremendous right now. Pastor Prophete says the supplies from AIM are running out and people are overflowing at the center.
The good news is that AIM is able to respond to these specific needs. Today a delivery was made of 2,000 lbs of food, 16 tents, sleeping pads, tarps, etc. And there is a medical team from the Atlanta area who will be working there for 1 week beginning on Saturday. So God continues to supply for his people.
One of our biggest roles in the DR/Haiti was to continually supply pastor Prophete's ministry with necessities. That meant that we took the weight limit of supplies from the U.S. with us, and then we did a lot of shopping every day while we were there. We had a morning supply drop with him and then a 10pm supply drop. We met at the border and unloaded our vehicle into his, prayed with him, and sent him off as we made new lists and raced to gather more supplies.
It was truly an honor to be messengers of goodness. Thank you again for all of the contributions that you made in order to supply those who are suffering. Please continue to pray for strength, encouragement, and faith for all of the Haitian pastors and leaders who are whole-heartedly serving their people.
Jimani Market where we shopped
more Jimani market shopping
Jimani corner store shopping
Jimani clothes shopping
Just inside the Haitian border where people could shop
Corey & Mitch packing up top
Early on in a shopping trip
Fully loaded!
2 of us rode on the hood of the car after we bought all of those blankets!
Here are some of the items that we got to deliver into needy hands:
Haiti Supply List
54-burner stoves
for pastors
5propane gas
tanks(47-gallon tanks, 114-gallon tank) for pastors
6filled 510-gallon propane tanks for the church
hose
and valves for each stove
clothes-100
items for women, 100 for men, 100 items for children, 50 baby items, men's and
women's underwear, 75 socks, shoes for pastors
18 bedsheets
47
bedspreads each with a pillow for pastors
25
cooking pots and pans for pastors
2
giant cooking pots for pastors
35
cooking spoons, utensils
Laundry
soap
Bleach
Bath soap
60
toothbrushes
60
toothpastes
25
sanitary pads
2
Giant bags toilet paper
antibiotics
120
lbs spaghetti
Spaghetti/tomato
sauce
30
dozen eggs
50
lbs Soup noodles
7
giant jars soup bullion mix
25
lbs Potatoes
25
lbs Onions
25
lbs Garlic
20
gallons cooking oil
Beans
galore
Rice
galore
Diapers
galore
Wipes
galore
2000
Styrofoam cups and lids
500 Styrofoam "to- go" containers
1500
Plastic forks and spoons
Hundreds of waters
Meals
for Haitian people living on the street in Jimani
Gas
for pastor's 2 vehicles x 3
21
giant cans baby formula
Baby
wipes
66
baby bottles
21
boxes rice cereal
12
giant bottles hand sanitizer
10
giant bottles hydrogen peroxide
2
boxes surgical masks
12
boxes latex gloves
12
giant bottles Tylenol & ibuprofen
10
each of Children's benadryl, cold medicine, cough medicine
Team picture at our first supply drop for Haitian Christian Mission
Corey Jacobs, Sam Borg, Pastor Prophete
Miguel Shaul, Dr. Patrick, Mitch Lathem, Marcia Borg, Wilmer, Joseph, Alphonse
Here is an update from Pastor Prophete. He is the pastor who coordinated all of our efforts for getting food and supplies into Haiti. The (his) ministry that we visited is just 20 miles outside of Port-Au-Prince in the Haitian town of Fonds- Parisien. There he runs a medical clinic with inpatient hospital beds, a birthing center, a school where the kids live on site, a woodworking shop, and a church. You can read more at
http://www.hcmsupport.org/quake.html.
As God would have it, we purchased and delivered supplies for this ministry just ahead of the massive influx of wounded survivors form Port-Au-Prince, who are now there for treatment and life giving, life sustaining help.
Pastor Prophete Executive director HCM, AIM missionary Miguel Shaul, Dr. Patrick HCM staff
News on the Haiti Earthquake
January 30, 2010 Update from Etienne Prophete
Present Needs after the Quake
The massive exodus of the Port-au-Princedwellers that escape from the quake fate has caused a tremendous burden on the mission. Most people in Haiti
are afraid to sleep under the concrete roof. They have seen the human
loss and tragedy caused by the quake when roofs caved in on them. They
sustain a constant fear of sleeping under a concrete roof.
Because of that the survivors in Port-au-Prince are either sleeping under the stars or leaving the city wandering for a safe haven. Many
ladies have been raped by the savage who have no fear of God or whose
only way of life is to hurt people regardless of circumstances. Families leave town in large numbers to find a safe place to stay.
Many of them came to us for lodging, food and treatment. An organization called ‘Adventures in Missions' has given us chunks of food and water.World Vision has also eased our burden in giving us 40 mattresses. But we are far from getting there due to the increasing number of people.
We are hosting those we never heard of before, people
who have come from the Port-au-Prince churches, neighboring people to
the mission facilities of Port-au-Prince, those who are acquainted with
friends and those who have heard of this campus and need help with food
and medicine. Fortunately the KAH (Food against Hunger) has a remaining portion that adds to the feeding solution of the problem. Thanks to God for donors.
The small health care unit is full beyond capacity with patients and outpatients.Those
who are dismissed have no home to go to. They were sleeping under the
stars with a broken leg or arm or wound. We need to provide them with a
temporary place to stay. The only way out is to set up tents because
schoolrooms are full with people. But this poses a big question: where
can we find the tents?
Besides, those people have no food to eat or water to drink. The provisions made by Adventures in Missions are running down. We need to replenish the stock. So at this time, our pressing needs are:
- foods of all kinds mainly rice, beans, cooking oil, spaghetti,
- water,
- medicine like pain pills,
- vitamins,
- cough suppressant,
- antibiotics,
- antacid,
- blood pressure medicine,
- diabetic medicine and what have you.
We seriously need tents because we do not have rooms to lodge the people for recovery.
We need to make life a bit easy for the victims. Monetary gifts to buy food are welcome.
The stores are timidly opening their doors, but the debris are still
everywhere hindering traffic and displaying the somber memory of a very
dark moment in theHaitian history.
Hope
will be restored, we are sure as friends to stand by us. We are
overwhelmed but our faith is made stronger. As a matter of fact, we are more than conquerors because we realize that life is nothing without God.
We thank all those who support us and are thinking about supporting the mission in this time of despair and great loss. God will certainly bless you!
With the KINGDOM in mind, the best is yet to come.
Etienne Prophete
HCM Executive Director
This is outside of the HCM clinic where patients wait to be seen in Fonds-Parisien, Haiti
This was just before the Port-Au-Prince survivors arrived
Doctors Update from Pastor Prophete
The first team of medical doctors and personnel left and another has arrived. Both hospitals are full and ey treated about 1000 in two days!
The
greatest need immediately is money to buy supplies, medicine, and
food. In addition to treating all of the patients, we have to provide
food and water for them as well as all the workers and staff!
Please keep Haitian Christian Mission in your prayers and send whatever amount that you can to help!
Thank you all so much for you help!
About to make our first supply drop. The 2 cars on the left are HCM's. We filled them up!
Spirits were high on all sides as we connected with Pastor Prophete for the first time. What an amazing God who went before his people to prepare a place for help and healing. May His provision continue in abundance and may it produce faith unshakable.
The needs in Haiti remain enormous. Yet I find that one person reaching out to help one person begins a life chain of hope that makes a world of difference. A small team can produce mighty fruit. A seemingly small act can open the door for massive healing, relief, and progress.
Thank you for reaching out to offer life through your gifts and prayers for Haiti through my trip there. And please know that your individual contribution has made a big impact.
As the Haiti crisis begins to move to the back burner in the news
headlines, I fear that people will forget the magnitude of need and the
amount of suffering that remains. At AIM we plan to stay involved for the long haul. I hope that you will continue to consider your response to the ongoing need- some will pray, some will give, and some will go. Please join us and please spread the word of the opportunity to stay involved through AIM.
God wasted no time on our first day in the DR/Haitian border town of Jimani. He led us to the place where a remarkable Haitian pastor named Etienne Prophete was getting gas. Our local AIM missionary Miguel had met pastor Prophete once before, but had been out of contact with him for at least a week. He recognized the pastor as we were driving by and introduced and connected us with him in this first conversation. This began our journey into Haiti and defined our steps for the following days.
As you listen to him speak please pray for he and his wife Betty, his church family, and the community that he ministers in. Pray for the hospital and birthing center that he oversees where the injured from Port-au-Prince are being bused to, as well as the 56 Haitian churches and 54 schools that he serves around Haiti.
Thanks to the Lord we made it home safe and sound last night. I pour out a heart full of thanks to all of you who covered our lives and ministry by your prayers. We have so much to share so keep checking back!
I want to testify to
the goodness of God in providing for His people. What a humble position
for our team to be in- carrying the monetary support of our own friends and
family and churches to such a desparate place.
We brought all of our "loaves and fishes" to the Lord just like they
did when Jesus said, "Bring them to Me." We all know how
He then multiplied them to feed his people. We have experienced this very
same power. Every night when we came home and counted our funds we always
had the same amount of money left for the next day. We bought hundreds of
dollars worth of food and supplies, large cooking pots, blankets, clothes and
shoes. On the way back at night we all dipped in our pockets only to find
as many bills as we started with. Over and over we bought food and supplies and
drove them to the Haitian border for pastor Prophete, Then we made a new
list for the morning supply run and shopped some more and guess what? At
the end of the day we still had more than enough money in our wallets. We began
to just laugh and laugh every time we counted the money. We couldn't
believe our eyes at all that was continually left over. Even tonight as I write
we have recounted our funds and laughed at God's goodness and are able to
provide an abundace for the Haitians who are now flocking to another border
near us in San Juan. What an amazing God who is faithful in His provision and
who will not leave or forsake His people. He has truly multiplied not only the money but
also our time, our efforts, our compassion, and our love.
I got a call from Marcia. The past few days they have been visiting and supplying Pastor Prophete and his wife Betty, along with a Dr. Patrick. Prophete has been a pastor in Haiti since 1974. Beyond the church his ministry has a school and small hospital including a birthing center.
This morning they met 7 pastors who have nothing- don't even have shoes. The team took in a giant truck-load of supplies for the churches and communities these pastors serve.
This afternoon and evening they are in San Juan to encourage the AIM missionaries who live there, Miguel and Kristen Shaul.
Monday they head back to Santo Domingo to head home.
I am sure Marcia will post some pictures once she gets settled back home over the next few days.
Thanks to all who prayed and gave – the response has been overwhelming and the aid brought to Haiti has been significant in the lives of those the team has touched!
I am heartbroken for
the Haitians. We have talked and prayed with many. Last night spent time in the
hospital. Most people have something amputated. It is a pitiful sight.
Difficult to share with them because they mostly speak Creol and french. Every
age group, both genders, just fil the place up with casts and stumps, dressings
and pain. They look lost and devastated. They are homeless and still don´t know
where their family members are. There are many children here on the street with
one small bag of their life´s belongings and an aunt or neighbor or friend or
brother or sister, etc. When you ask about their family they immediately say,
¨My father died,¨or ¨My mother died,¨ and on and on. Their stories are
horrific of grabbing the children and running for the door when they felt the
¨shake.¨ Some made it and some didn´t. This morning we see the same family that
we met with last night, sitting on the corner.
We have been giving out diapers and wipes and pedialyte to the moms with babies
on the street. We can buy those things here. We have been giving Michael´s
stuffed animals to the little ones. They accept them quickly and draw them in
to their chest and hold them in a hug. It is a small and beautiful
comfort. We have also been buying mels and handing them out on the
street. These are refugees for a time. Most all of them are looking to escape
Haiti and want money for a ride into Santo Domingo, which is not possible.
One girl we helped last nioght was crying out in pain and holding her
stomach. She was just sitting on the sidewaalk outside of the hospital
along with her sister and some family. It seemed to get worse as we talked and
became unbearable for her. She had told us that her father had died in the
quake and that she hadn´t eaten or drank all day. We ended up carrying her into
the hospital and staying with her for a bit. She became scared in there and
refused the pain shot. She went back to the sidewalk because she did not want
to miss the ride to Santo Domingo that she thought she was getting.
Anyway we gave her some pedialyte and she was still hurting. We believe
the stress was too uch to bear for her last night. So much grief and
loss.
That is one short story of millions of course. We have seen alot of AID and the
atmosphere is in many ways a wonderful thing. The compassion of people of of
many countries is all in this place. People stop to help and to talk and
share stories, info. Taiwan had a great group with medicine. Lots of
helicopters and military everywhere. Red Cross, World Vision, Compassion,
USAID, UN, NYPD and NYFire Fighters were at the gas station with us this
morning. I talked with them. They were driving into Haiti this morning.
1:30pm Eastern Time January 21st:
Marcia and Sam and crew are in Jimani (border town DR/Haiti). All are safe and healthy.
This morning they arrived in Jimani not knowing what to expect. Last
week our DR staff member Miguel Shaul has made contact with a pastor in
Port-au-Prince who needed medical supplies and food. Since then we've
been unable to contact him due to communication lines being down. They
prayed. The team met up with Miguel in Jimani and were praying and
discussing options when Miguel jumped from the car saying, "There is
the pastor!"
The pastor was at a gas station, dropping off a wounded person, and
headed back to Haiti. Marcia and Sam and team were able to immediately
hand over ALL the supplies they had gathered in Gainesville - $2200
worth – and put it in the back of the pastor's truck. The plan is
tomorrow the pastor will return and the team will meet him with a load
of food stuffs they can buy on the DR side.
They say the hospital is full, but the streets are "normal." There are
lots of aid workers there. They have been talking with two young
mothers with young children who were from Port-au-Prince, had fled
after the earthquake and were just sitting exhausted on the sidewalk.
They seemed traumatized – every time a car went by they felt as if
another earthquake was coming.
Depending on how things go they may go into a small town near another
border that has gone from its normal population of 3000 to more than
20,000 – people are leaving Port-au-Prince in drives going wherever
they can for help.
Please keep praying as they follow the Lord's leading.
Just off the phone with Sam and Marcia.They made it fine but had some problems with
the rental van.But, being the DR and Sam
they were able to find other transport to rent.Because of this they were delayed but they are on their way to Jimani
now.
Marcia said almost the whole plane was filled with Red Cross
and World Vision and other aid workers!
Thanks for all the support of the little group – they are
small but mighty and so very thankful for the support of family, friends, and
community.
.jpg)
