Peg Mauer took some effort to wade through all the posts to create a journal.
I was threatening to do that, but others correctly judged that as empty and told me to stop.
I'm grateful Peg did this to make a coherent mission record.
http://home.comcast.net/~clan.wilcox/shares/2010-02_03-hilltop-herald.pdf
Where is our help going?
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Update from Haiti 27FEB10
This is an update of yesterday the 26th, just getting to Anse a Galets and getting situated .
I was kinda late getting up at the guest house - six thirty or so. Everyone else was awake and making breakfast. We had fresh mango slices and coffee, a smattering of breakfast cereal and toast. For those with money, you can still buy food here on the mainland. Mango is for poor folks - ten cents a piece in some places. I'm kind of a non-eater in the morning but mango is hard to pass up.
Joel led a short devotional and praise session after the dishes were put away. "Unfailing Love". We praise you God of earth and sky, how beautiful, beautiful Your unfailing love, unfailing love... That is something that is incredible about the people who have lived through this horrible ordeal and lost everything - including family. The stories told in church worship services by ALL of those who have suffered loss ends with the same thing. They all see and know that although they wouldn't want anyone else to go through their pain and sorrow they would not trade it for anything in the world. Because of it they are so convinced of the Lord's love and care for them in the midst of it all. They have been drawn near to Him, they need Him.
I had been going over and over Deuteronomy 8:2-3 for a couple of days. Stuck. Moses' admonition of Israel - they need the Lord God. He led them in the wilderness so they would be tested, so they would know what was in their hearts, so they would hunger and eat bread only He alone could have provided, so they would know that man doesn't live by bread alone but by the very truthfulness and faithfulness of God in His words to us. He alone provides what we need.
Aha. Maybe I can move on to Deuteronomy 8:4 now. The Contrere started up as we finished prayers together. By the time we got into traffic around 8 AM, the UN camp near the airport was disgorging a steady stream of white vehicles into the dirt road mix. This time the diesel fumes were pretty acrid and it covered up the other smells. Teams of blue t-shirted men raked and shoveled garbage and dead leaves into piles by the side of the road - part of the UN small works for cash program. Shovel ready it is, but it makes a big difference in appearances down here.
The MAF guys at the airport didn't know what to do with us - Matt, Justine and me. We were supposed to all fit into one plane, but somehow the list had grown with some Docs going to Jeremie as well. Plus their luggage and 12 sets of crutches. Our pilot Mike was about to send us back home but decided to just make two trips instead. Caleb is right about this place. You have to have a plan A, B, and C every single day here or you'll just pop a breaker all the time.
We taxied out and watched two army dudes huff and puff their way through a remedial PT run around the pallets of goods by the taxiway. A blue and white 747 sat blocking the main ramp, holding short of the runway so we could take off - Mike was quick on getting the plane out of there. From the air Port au Prince looks like post-Katrina New Orleans. Blue tarps in clumps and blisters on a brown and rust background. It was so nice to get cool air blowing around for a change.
We turned overhead the mission compound and hospital on the descent to land. I wondered if the runway would be clear of people. Mike said that the week prior he had almost hid a guy on a motorcycle there - missed him by 3 feet. The runway is not just rough, but has some rises in it that Mike skillfully absorbed instead of bouncing airborne from. No motorcyles, just a cow and two kids on the side.
I'm glad Caleb was there to greet us - there's just something about dropping in one people you don't know very well. He's probably jealous that he didn't get to fly anywhere in Haiti. Boats and trucks, that's all he gets. Once clear of customs... I mean once we threw our bags in the truck - we and headed out for the hospital and dorm.
There were still lots of people walking in the dirt road here, but it was definitely cleaner streets. The town watering stations collected kids with white buckets and plastic jugs. More chickens, more goats, more dogs. Less pigs. Maybe one or two smiles. Only once did I see anyone eating anything. Their faces said they know we're here for something to do with food or medicine. Hopefully food. In the town the roads get more trash but no big collections of rotten stuff or open wet sewers.
Caleb and I spent most of the day in deep conversation about the people, the needs and plans for distribution, the purposes for me in this place, prayer together on all of it and emails with Chris about all those very things. Eventually introductions were made to Diane and Helen with the Hospital, Christian the French RN who is a veteran of work in Benin and Nigeria, and Butch who brought us and some board members from the WISH team to see the orphanage. Lots of introductions were made, including the introduction of plain M&M's to the kids through the Madmoiselle.
The stillness of the mugginess was noticeable. We all commented on it at dinner. The birds were singing, but it was like rain had to be only moments away. But it never came. The town nightclubs (rooms with loud music) kept it up until about 10 or so. I worked on emails after Caleb hit the rack. We could spend hours and hours talking about all kinds of things the Lord's doing. I finally got set up for bed in the red LED lights of my headlamp. The old night watchman would hit the switch on his maglite for fun randomly and the bright flash off the ceiling tiles kept me from drifting off. I decided not to count how many times because deep down I like the idea of a night watchman.
PT
I was kinda late getting up at the guest house - six thirty or so. Everyone else was awake and making breakfast. We had fresh mango slices and coffee, a smattering of breakfast cereal and toast. For those with money, you can still buy food here on the mainland. Mango is for poor folks - ten cents a piece in some places. I'm kind of a non-eater in the morning but mango is hard to pass up.
Joel led a short devotional and praise session after the dishes were put away. "Unfailing Love". We praise you God of earth and sky, how beautiful, beautiful Your unfailing love, unfailing love... That is something that is incredible about the people who have lived through this horrible ordeal and lost everything - including family. The stories told in church worship services by ALL of those who have suffered loss ends with the same thing. They all see and know that although they wouldn't want anyone else to go through their pain and sorrow they would not trade it for anything in the world. Because of it they are so convinced of the Lord's love and care for them in the midst of it all. They have been drawn near to Him, they need Him.
I had been going over and over Deuteronomy 8:2-3 for a couple of days. Stuck. Moses' admonition of Israel - they need the Lord God. He led them in the wilderness so they would be tested, so they would know what was in their hearts, so they would hunger and eat bread only He alone could have provided, so they would know that man doesn't live by bread alone but by the very truthfulness and faithfulness of God in His words to us. He alone provides what we need.
Aha. Maybe I can move on to Deuteronomy 8:4 now. The Contrere started up as we finished prayers together. By the time we got into traffic around 8 AM, the UN camp near the airport was disgorging a steady stream of white vehicles into the dirt road mix. This time the diesel fumes were pretty acrid and it covered up the other smells. Teams of blue t-shirted men raked and shoveled garbage and dead leaves into piles by the side of the road - part of the UN small works for cash program. Shovel ready it is, but it makes a big difference in appearances down here.
The MAF guys at the airport didn't know what to do with us - Matt, Justine and me. We were supposed to all fit into one plane, but somehow the list had grown with some Docs going to Jeremie as well. Plus their luggage and 12 sets of crutches. Our pilot Mike was about to send us back home but decided to just make two trips instead. Caleb is right about this place. You have to have a plan A, B, and C every single day here or you'll just pop a breaker all the time.
We taxied out and watched two army dudes huff and puff their way through a remedial PT run around the pallets of goods by the taxiway. A blue and white 747 sat blocking the main ramp, holding short of the runway so we could take off - Mike was quick on getting the plane out of there. From the air Port au Prince looks like post-Katrina New Orleans. Blue tarps in clumps and blisters on a brown and rust background. It was so nice to get cool air blowing around for a change.
We turned overhead the mission compound and hospital on the descent to land. I wondered if the runway would be clear of people. Mike said that the week prior he had almost hid a guy on a motorcycle there - missed him by 3 feet. The runway is not just rough, but has some rises in it that Mike skillfully absorbed instead of bouncing airborne from. No motorcyles, just a cow and two kids on the side.
I'm glad Caleb was there to greet us - there's just something about dropping in one people you don't know very well. He's probably jealous that he didn't get to fly anywhere in Haiti. Boats and trucks, that's all he gets. Once clear of customs... I mean once we threw our bags in the truck - we and headed out for the hospital and dorm.
There were still lots of people walking in the dirt road here, but it was definitely cleaner streets. The town watering stations collected kids with white buckets and plastic jugs. More chickens, more goats, more dogs. Less pigs. Maybe one or two smiles. Only once did I see anyone eating anything. Their faces said they know we're here for something to do with food or medicine. Hopefully food. In the town the roads get more trash but no big collections of rotten stuff or open wet sewers.
Caleb and I spent most of the day in deep conversation about the people, the needs and plans for distribution, the purposes for me in this place, prayer together on all of it and emails with Chris about all those very things. Eventually introductions were made to Diane and Helen with the Hospital, Christian the French RN who is a veteran of work in Benin and Nigeria, and Butch who brought us and some board members from the WISH team to see the orphanage. Lots of introductions were made, including the introduction of plain M&M's to the kids through the Madmoiselle.
The stillness of the mugginess was noticeable. We all commented on it at dinner. The birds were singing, but it was like rain had to be only moments away. But it never came. The town nightclubs (rooms with loud music) kept it up until about 10 or so. I worked on emails after Caleb hit the rack. We could spend hours and hours talking about all kinds of things the Lord's doing. I finally got set up for bed in the red LED lights of my headlamp. The old night watchman would hit the switch on his maglite for fun randomly and the bright flash off the ceiling tiles kept me from drifting off. I decided not to count how many times because deep down I like the idea of a night watchman.
PT
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Reflections from a doctor
This is a reflection from one of the doctors who came in to do relief work. His perspective is fresh and interesting.
Call Me Stupid But…
http://gpcaribeatlantic.com/
Call Me Stupid But…
http://gpcaribeatlantic.com/
Update from Haiti 26FEB10
Folks,
Please pardon my delay in getting this out - the last few days have been full. At the risk of telling making a long story longer, I'll catch you up by detailing some of what happened yesterday.
At 7AM I departed Ft. Pierce, FL by DC-3 flown by Missionary Flights International. Clearly stamped on a plate behind the copilot was the Douglas Aircraft date of acceptance by the U.S. Navy - May 13, 1944 - less than a month before the allied invasion of France in WW II. It was a flying piece of history - how totally cool to think on the mettle of those men who sat in those same seats.
We flew into Cap Haitien first, a city of about 200,000, where most of the passengers departed for their various ministry areas. The ramp was crowded, a solitary pair of US Army soldiers hung around their vehicle in the distance with M-16's hanging loose. A newer twin engined turboprop with bent propellers sat in the grass by the ramp. We few remaining passengers got our passports stamped in about ten minutes walked back out to the plane to finish the last 30 minute portion of the ride to Port Au Prince.
It was bumpy. After the pilots got airborne they skimmed the scrubby green mountains, dropping the left wing to allow us to see up close the mountaintop citadel of Christophe Colombe, one of the two native Haitian generals who ruled following their 1804 independence from France. One of the other passengers, already queasy, couldn't hold it in any longer. Like I said, it was a bumpy ride. Truthfully we were all happy to move to another means of transportation. So much for appreciation of aviation and Haitian history .
Haiti does have a smell that is unique, and not necessarily all bad or bad all the time. It seems to me to be combinations of a campfire that's been doused with water, broken concrete, burnt garbage, fresh vegetation and fruit, diesel fumes, salt air, and occasionally open sewer. Each aroma rises above the others depending on where you are, but usually it's all mingled and adhered to you with the humid, sticky heat.
Pastor Dan was waiting for his flight back to the states and grabbed me right out of the arrival doors. Even in the last minutes of departing for a few weeks of family time after this surge of immense work, Dan was already thinking about and asking questions on how we can meet the future needs of the churches he oversees all over Haiti. Phoenix, the designated driver, with Joel who is an intern from New Brunswick, were quick to bring me to the 'Contrere', the caged work truck that brought me and the gear to the guest house of Pastor Dan and his assistant Carl Gilles. Traffic in PaP is crazy. No, insane. Lets just leave it at that. The scenery is just like Josh described it earlier. Only for me it is like a movie set with the worlds biggest cast of extras, and it just keeps on coming. You almost can't believe it's real.
Deep in the city but behind walls and a rolling gate (just like everyone else in Haiti who has a home of modest middle class standards) we were welcomed to some canned soup and fresh baked bread. Not what you would expect. But shortly after making aquaintance with Matt and Justine, veterans with Joel of the earthquake and it's aftermath, Carl asked if I wanted to see the clinic at Petit Goave - it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Phoenix and I headed out around 2 PM to make the two and a half hour run to Petit Goave. It was an opportunity to see the hardest hit parts of Haiti and ask questions of a Hatian who understood the history behind all the situations.
Traffic was so bad in the city that at several points Phoenix folded the mirrors back to edge through a gaps in stopped traffic. Some images to think on: tents made of sheets and wood poles in the traffic median, diesel fumes and horns, goats and cows staked or just loose on the side of the road, scrawny dogs sniffing through piles of garbage and big dark gray pigs rooting in open sewers, banana and mango trees, the endless trail of broken concrete and rubble piles and half crumpled buildings. Carl and I worked around our mutual language barrier and discussed things I saw for the first time. The radio was playing old Eagles, Chicago, and other 80's tunes. People, almost all carefully dressed, a few just sitting and watching traffic, were everywhere next to or in the road. Small motorcycles and dirtbikes with two or three people zipped around packed lorries and dump trucks with bald tires as they all made random lane changes. Every ten miles or so we saw another UN compound or contingent.
By the time we got to Petit Goave, it was almost dark and the rain began to fall. They were already stacking stuff up for the clinic's closure. We hurriedly dropped off gear, answered questions from the American staff, packed medical supplies and luggage, and took off with our passenger Dr. Kari for home again. The torrent started immediately and made the faultline cracks and edges in the asphalted portions of the road almost impossible to see. The wipers kept up until we climbed the hills and passed the few rockslide areas - then one of them flew off the wiper arm. We stopped and I fiddled with it in the pouring warm rain. Fortunately the traffic was really light at that point, and it all came together in the headlights of the passing cars. At least the driver's wiper blade worked.
We got back at 8 PM, just in time to unload, grab some leftovers, check and answer emails and set up the mattress and mosquito net next to one of the exit doors as the generator was shut down and the lights were dimmed. No tremors have been felt for a few days, but it's still considered unsafe to sleep upstairs in the city, even in houses that appear safe and intact like this one. I was wiped out but couldn't sleep, so I prayed. We had to get to the airport the next day for a flight to La Gonave. And that's where I'm writing from.
Tomorrow night, I'll have pictures to send.
PT
Please pardon my delay in getting this out - the last few days have been full. At the risk of telling making a long story longer, I'll catch you up by detailing some of what happened yesterday.
At 7AM I departed Ft. Pierce, FL by DC-3 flown by Missionary Flights International. Clearly stamped on a plate behind the copilot was the Douglas Aircraft date of acceptance by the U.S. Navy - May 13, 1944 - less than a month before the allied invasion of France in WW II. It was a flying piece of history - how totally cool to think on the mettle of those men who sat in those same seats.
We flew into Cap Haitien first, a city of about 200,000, where most of the passengers departed for their various ministry areas. The ramp was crowded, a solitary pair of US Army soldiers hung around their vehicle in the distance with M-16's hanging loose. A newer twin engined turboprop with bent propellers sat in the grass by the ramp. We few remaining passengers got our passports stamped in about ten minutes walked back out to the plane to finish the last 30 minute portion of the ride to Port Au Prince.
It was bumpy. After the pilots got airborne they skimmed the scrubby green mountains, dropping the left wing to allow us to see up close the mountaintop citadel of Christophe Colombe, one of the two native Haitian generals who ruled following their 1804 independence from France. One of the other passengers, already queasy, couldn't hold it in any longer. Like I said, it was a bumpy ride. Truthfully we were all happy to move to another means of transportation. So much for appreciation of aviation and Haitian history .
Haiti does have a smell that is unique, and not necessarily all bad or bad all the time. It seems to me to be combinations of a campfire that's been doused with water, broken concrete, burnt garbage, fresh vegetation and fruit, diesel fumes, salt air, and occasionally open sewer. Each aroma rises above the others depending on where you are, but usually it's all mingled and adhered to you with the humid, sticky heat.
Pastor Dan was waiting for his flight back to the states and grabbed me right out of the arrival doors. Even in the last minutes of departing for a few weeks of family time after this surge of immense work, Dan was already thinking about and asking questions on how we can meet the future needs of the churches he oversees all over Haiti. Phoenix, the designated driver, with Joel who is an intern from New Brunswick, were quick to bring me to the 'Contrere', the caged work truck that brought me and the gear to the guest house of Pastor Dan and his assistant Carl Gilles. Traffic in PaP is crazy. No, insane. Lets just leave it at that. The scenery is just like Josh described it earlier. Only for me it is like a movie set with the worlds biggest cast of extras, and it just keeps on coming. You almost can't believe it's real.
Deep in the city but behind walls and a rolling gate (just like everyone else in Haiti who has a home of modest middle class standards) we were welcomed to some canned soup and fresh baked bread. Not what you would expect. But shortly after making aquaintance with Matt and Justine, veterans with Joel of the earthquake and it's aftermath, Carl asked if I wanted to see the clinic at Petit Goave - it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Phoenix and I headed out around 2 PM to make the two and a half hour run to Petit Goave. It was an opportunity to see the hardest hit parts of Haiti and ask questions of a Hatian who understood the history behind all the situations.
Traffic was so bad in the city that at several points Phoenix folded the mirrors back to edge through a gaps in stopped traffic. Some images to think on: tents made of sheets and wood poles in the traffic median, diesel fumes and horns, goats and cows staked or just loose on the side of the road, scrawny dogs sniffing through piles of garbage and big dark gray pigs rooting in open sewers, banana and mango trees, the endless trail of broken concrete and rubble piles and half crumpled buildings. Carl and I worked around our mutual language barrier and discussed things I saw for the first time. The radio was playing old Eagles, Chicago, and other 80's tunes. People, almost all carefully dressed, a few just sitting and watching traffic, were everywhere next to or in the road. Small motorcycles and dirtbikes with two or three people zipped around packed lorries and dump trucks with bald tires as they all made random lane changes. Every ten miles or so we saw another UN compound or contingent.
By the time we got to Petit Goave, it was almost dark and the rain began to fall. They were already stacking stuff up for the clinic's closure. We hurriedly dropped off gear, answered questions from the American staff, packed medical supplies and luggage, and took off with our passenger Dr. Kari for home again. The torrent started immediately and made the faultline cracks and edges in the asphalted portions of the road almost impossible to see. The wipers kept up until we climbed the hills and passed the few rockslide areas - then one of them flew off the wiper arm. We stopped and I fiddled with it in the pouring warm rain. Fortunately the traffic was really light at that point, and it all came together in the headlights of the passing cars. At least the driver's wiper blade worked.
We got back at 8 PM, just in time to unload, grab some leftovers, check and answer emails and set up the mattress and mosquito net next to one of the exit doors as the generator was shut down and the lights were dimmed. No tremors have been felt for a few days, but it's still considered unsafe to sleep upstairs in the city, even in houses that appear safe and intact like this one. I was wiped out but couldn't sleep, so I prayed. We had to get to the airport the next day for a flight to La Gonave. And that's where I'm writing from.
Tomorrow night, I'll have pictures to send.
PT
Friday, February 26, 2010
La Gonave food container order
We ordered the 5 containers this morning, 230,750 pounds of food. We have previously shipped about 130,000 pounds. Does this even seem possible? Those are big numbers to me.
I was reflecting on how easy it is to spend $90,000 in 30 seconds of making an email order. Then I was thinking about how easy it is for God -- who owns the cattle on thousands of hills -- to open His hand in mercy to the hungry people of La Gonave. God's mercy was done through the willing participation of those who love Him and their neighbor.
I was reflecting on how easy it is to spend $90,000 in 30 seconds of making an email order. Then I was thinking about how easy it is for God -- who owns the cattle on thousands of hills -- to open His hand in mercy to the hungry people of La Gonave. God's mercy was done through the willing participation of those who love Him and their neighbor.
La Gonave Re-supply Update 2/25/10
My brother Pete Thompson landed in PAP today and will be heading to La Gonave soon. He had a brief meeting with Dan Irvine who is traveling back to the states for a few weeks.
Pete was willing to do a difficult job in FL on his way down. We had a significant problem with non-delivery of fuel by a shipper and Pete was able to meet them personally and negotiate a credit to be applied to future shipments. I think this would have been difficult for me to conduct by telephone. God has opened every door and solved every problem, I am grateful for His help here in sending the right man there at the perfect time.
Josh is back home after several week's duty on base; I think you'll agree that we'll miss his updates and his service. Calvary Chapel where Josh is from has been a blessing and partner in this mission; they have supported this mission and the people of La Gonave in prayer, in labor, and financially.
YWAM Montana, my daughter Veronica's team, has been successful in raising funding for food and supplies; they have sent a substantial sum to district and will also be sending two missionaries for a three week duty in Anse. It is necessary to rotate a couple men every few weeks so they can help Butch with food distribution. Butch is carrying a heavy load, and the food we send requires fit and led young men with strong management skills. There remains some danger to staff, and as you may know Dan has requested a temporary hold on mission teams until matters become more calm.
It has been a privilege for me to see how the Bride of Christ is being revealed in love and service.
Do you recall when DS James took a big and necessary step to purchase one container? We had to learn the shipping business. Then Calvary Chapel Spokane stepped out in Faith and funded another container plus fuel for base? Then miraculously funding appeared for a third container (in St. Marc now)?
How about this: we are ordering food and shipping for five -- repeat FIVE -- containers for packing next week. This will include about 1000 tarps for people in petit Goave. How Great is our God!
Folks, we now need more funding: purchasing 5 containers of food and tarps has drained us to nothing. The need is urgent. Caleb and Josh have reported it and Dan has indicated that we need to feed about 10% of the population on a steady basis. Food inflation approaches 200% in the market place, leaving many unable to buy food.
Many of you, my friends and family, have given so selflessly; God bless you for your prayers and Christ-like giving. For those who have not yet given (and particularly for Christians), I would ask that you consider that love is a verb; it must be expressed in action. People understand that you love them if you do something to show them that.
Because of the love that many Christians -true Christians - have shown we will be sending 5 containers to La Gonave. That is precisely 230,750 pounds of food plus shelter for 1000 families! How is that for God at work blessing our brothers in Haiti?
Pete was willing to do a difficult job in FL on his way down. We had a significant problem with non-delivery of fuel by a shipper and Pete was able to meet them personally and negotiate a credit to be applied to future shipments. I think this would have been difficult for me to conduct by telephone. God has opened every door and solved every problem, I am grateful for His help here in sending the right man there at the perfect time.
Josh is back home after several week's duty on base; I think you'll agree that we'll miss his updates and his service. Calvary Chapel where Josh is from has been a blessing and partner in this mission; they have supported this mission and the people of La Gonave in prayer, in labor, and financially.
YWAM Montana, my daughter Veronica's team, has been successful in raising funding for food and supplies; they have sent a substantial sum to district and will also be sending two missionaries for a three week duty in Anse. It is necessary to rotate a couple men every few weeks so they can help Butch with food distribution. Butch is carrying a heavy load, and the food we send requires fit and led young men with strong management skills. There remains some danger to staff, and as you may know Dan has requested a temporary hold on mission teams until matters become more calm.
It has been a privilege for me to see how the Bride of Christ is being revealed in love and service.
Do you recall when DS James took a big and necessary step to purchase one container? We had to learn the shipping business. Then Calvary Chapel Spokane stepped out in Faith and funded another container plus fuel for base? Then miraculously funding appeared for a third container (in St. Marc now)?
How about this: we are ordering food and shipping for five -- repeat FIVE -- containers for packing next week. This will include about 1000 tarps for people in petit Goave. How Great is our God!
Folks, we now need more funding: purchasing 5 containers of food and tarps has drained us to nothing. The need is urgent. Caleb and Josh have reported it and Dan has indicated that we need to feed about 10% of the population on a steady basis. Food inflation approaches 200% in the market place, leaving many unable to buy food.
Many of you, my friends and family, have given so selflessly; God bless you for your prayers and Christ-like giving. For those who have not yet given (and particularly for Christians), I would ask that you consider that love is a verb; it must be expressed in action. People understand that you love them if you do something to show them that.
Because of the love that many Christians -true Christians - have shown we will be sending 5 containers to La Gonave. That is precisely 230,750 pounds of food plus shelter for 1000 families! How is that for God at work blessing our brothers in Haiti?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Update from La Gonave 24Feb10
Folks, updates have been scarce lately. It's not lack of news but rather a difficult schedule here, sorry. We are underway with another shipment of food conex's, tarps, equipment, and medicine. There is considerable information from La Gonave, I will attempt to post it tomorrow.
Cam Engert from District wrote a good wrap-up of where we have been and where we are now. Take a look in the right sidebar for a link there, but give Mike Wilcox a few minutes to get it up. Click on that and take a deep breath, you will see God's hand on this mission all the way. Keep praying.
In the meantime, here are some links to videos Andy and Caleb made recently, Andy carried back some CD disks with photos and video. The boys traveled around Anse-a-Galets speaking with citizens to determine the severity of need and how we could best fill it. The videos were recorded on a small camera, they are shaky and grainy but honest. The volume control is poor owing to the quality of the equipment, so please turn up the volume on your computer.
Update from Caleb 24Feb10
Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
Psalm 29:1-2
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
Psalm 29:1-2
For the last week I (Caleb) have been following the distribution process and we've about distributed the first two containers. There are still a couple truck loads to go out tomorrow but having seen the first 90% go out so well, I'm content to tell you that we did it. The food we've all been talking about for a month is in houses and bellies across La Gonave. I know this, I was there.
Pastor Dan's distribution plan has been simple and good. We split the food in half between the District Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church on La Gonave, Pastor Keno, and an economist named Jean Paul Donn. A man whom Pastor Dan trusts and respects. The intention was, of course, that the Church would take care of ALL churches, and that Mr. Paul Donn would create a plan to reach the secular population in greatest need. He did this by using small existing civic organizations, pretend the Rotary Club of Anse Galets for example.
There was some overlap, it is true, but mostly that in some of the smaller villages, the local church was the best/only organization to give through. I am not concerned at all about this small overlap, <5% probably, because the need in those areas is so much greater than the supply. That is, unfortunately, just as we expected. Ninety thousand pounds of food is a meaningful amount, to be sure, but we need to keep at it. There are more hungry people - grateful, hopeful, but still hungry. This should not discourage us it should spur us on. God's gift through us put a lot of food in a lot of kids bellies and if you saw any one of them, you'd be very glad to know you had a hand in it. We can and should do more, but we have already, by God's hand alone, done a lot toward giving hope to the church and easing the agony of the hungriest. Also, our larger, silent gift to the people of La Gonave will hopefully be to lower their food prices back to where they can afford at least some food on their own. Prices right now are 150-200% of pre-quake prices and that means people who were barely making it aren't. Our flood of free food should put the price down a bit, how much remains to be seen. On a personal note, it's been quite an adventure tracking this distribution around the island. Going for a truck ride here is like going for a bull ride back home. Here you know it's the road because it doesn't have trees standing in it. Rocks, river beds, small cliffs, they can stay. The country is more remote than it might seem on the map, too - real National Geographic stuff a lot of the time. Today I actually rode the famous "Jesus boat" (a very rickety sail boat with two outboards) half way around the island to the South hitting a bunch of isolated fishing villages with woven coconut mat houses. Unfortunately we stayed in the boat and a select village boat would come meet us so I never got to go in the villages. Of course, maybe this was fortunate because sometimes there were a lot of people on the beach waiting for our supply. All told, a pretty cool experience for a very cool reason. I'll end by repeating what I started with. God provided the funding, led and directed the effort. We put this 90,000 lbs into the hands of some people who really, really needed it. Let's not stop there.
HS. Caleb Thompson
Monday, February 22, 2010
Update from Josh 22FEB10
Chris's comments: Josh wrote this after he delivered the sermon at a local Wesleyan church. Josh is addressing the spiritual state of the church. A significant part of his mission was to make an assessment of this area, and to find a means to bring the gospel to La Gonave. Sounds like what they need most are tents and rebuilding.
Pete's comments: This is a church fully alive. We may be ready to help, but how we can actually help appears to be changing with time. Our best opportunity to serve Jesus' church there is to come alongside and ask them what they need to feed their sheep and serve their communities, like Josh is doing. Right now it's shelter.
Pete's comments: This is a church fully alive. We may be ready to help, but how we can actually help appears to be changing with time. Our best opportunity to serve Jesus' church there is to come alongside and ask them what they need to feed their sheep and serve their communities, like Josh is doing. Right now it's shelter.
Going to the church service today only solidified my feelings. Again, it's hard for me to accept because so much of my motivation for coming down here was to bring the gospel to a people I assumed were largely unreached. This is not an unreached area. These people are physically poor, but spiritually rich. As Caleb wrote in his update, we had to admit today that perhaps we should be learning some things from the church in Haiti, not the other way around. What can we teach them?
Church growth and outreach? - they were so full there weren't enough seats for the all the people.
Attracting new people? - there were tons of first time visitors that they made a point to welcome.
Worship? - they sang louder than I've ever heard in an American church. They spent the better part of an hour total in worship this morning. They seemed to be worshiping with their whole heart, many lifting their hands and closing their eyes, kneeling, etc. Even the band, using crude instruments did a great job.
Prayer? - they spent a good part of their 3 hour service praying. Discipleship? most of the congregation got to the church at 6:00am to start an hour of Sunday school before worship started, then they had each class of adults stand up and recite the memory verse of the day. Leadership development? I've never seen so many lay-leaders in a church. Each part of the service was led by different capable people. Each of them giving respect and submission to the other leaders. Bibles? Most of them had one with them, and were comfortable and competent finding scriptures as I taught.
Programs? They have a youth group run by volunteers, child care, a K-12 school, even mentioned cooking classes for the young people during the announcements.
Fellowship? Didn't seem to be lacking
Giving? In their poverty they were tithing this morning.
Community Involvement? They are running the distribution of food for the entire island.
Working together with other churches? Pastor Keno met with church leaders from all over the island (All Haitians) to do the food distribution, including Catholics, Episcopal, Wesleyan, Baptist, and Nazarene churches.
Church Planting? They have planted other churches on the island including the one we drove an hour and a half up the mountain road in a 4 wheel drive vehicle to get to. The pastor rides a motorcycle 3 times a week to do services.
More churches? There was another evangelical church 1/2 block from Pastor Keno's also completely full and worshiping the Lord. There are church buildings scattered all over the place. You can hear worship services going on in different places all throughout the week at different times.
Having a Christ-like attitude? There were two guys who shared in the church today who were in Port-au-Prince during the earthquake. One was trapped under the concrete for a day and a half. He had to move a dead body next to him out of his way to comfortably lay down and sleep. His wife was in the room as well and was killed. The entire time he said he was praising God and thanking him not only for sparing him, but for taking him through that trial and experience which he was glad for. He knew that God still had a plan for his life, that's why God spared him. He just praised the Lord and thanked Him for taking Him through that experience.
And I've only been observing the church for a few days on a few occasions.
I asked Pastor Keno the other day how the American church could help the church in Haiti. I mentioned Bibles, or short term teams to do ministry. He smiled at me, then took me to the dirt field the school kids meet in with no shelter from the sun. He said, Bibles are good, and we can always use more Bibles, but we can no longer use our main school building to do classes so we have to do them outside until we can repair our buildings. If you could send some kind of large tent for us to do classes in, that would really help.
Am I saying there's no ministry to do here? No way. I'm just saying that if we're looking for an unreached people group to bring the gospel to, Haiti is not the place. The church is healthy, vibrant, and growing daily. I think the best way to see a ministry partnership with Haiti is to see it like Gospel For Asia which of course isn't as exciting for us Americans. In India, it isn't practical to send white guys to do the ministry for so many reasons. So we've realized it is so much more effective to send money to support indigenous missionaries and pastors. Is this the best answer for Haiti? I think it might be. Maybe Pete will come up with a different conclusion after spending some time down here. These are just my thoughts and observations.
In some ways, I was selfishly a bit sad that there wasn't some great spiritual need for me to come down and save the day by putting together ministry teams to bring the gospel to these people, but why would we be sad? I am so blessed and encouraged and relieved that so many people know Jesus down here and there is such a strong moving of God in this place.
Just because God didn't/doesn't need us to do the work shouldn't make us sad. We should rejoice that He has been and is still doing the work Himself. Of course we are blessed to be able to show our love and support in a tangible way like Jesus told us to do.
I don't doubt for a second that we did the right thing. These people needed food. We had the ability to provide it, and there's still a need for us to coordinate the food, medical supplies, shelter, and other things. We are perfectly playing the role that God prepared for us to do. I was also honored to have a chance to speak to the church this morning and to make it clear to them that we brought the food because we love Jesus and we want and are praying for them to know and love Jesus too. Maybe that is the first time some of the visitors have heard the gospel, but I overall didn't feel as much like a teacher today as I did a student.
Blessings,
-Josh Nerren
Sunday, February 21, 2010
This is following church on Sunday. Josh was honored by being asked to deliver the sermon through an interpreter.
I'm just back from the Wesleyan Church service in Anse and there are a few important things I'd like to report. First, these people love the Lord. To be honest, I think in some significant ways we could learn from them, not the other way around.
I should pass on their collective thanks to all of the people in the U.S. who are praying for them and who have helped to send this food. I stood up in front and did my best to tell them through an interpreter that many, many people in the Church in America are very concerned for the Church in Haiti and are praying for them. Josh actually gave the sermon and expressed this far better, along with the fact that our heart is for sending food as God's love is poured out through us but even more that Christ's love be known through His death and resurrection. Josh is a pretty good speaker, by the way.
At the end of the service the District Superintendent for La Gonave, who is in charge of the church side of distribution, which is one half of the food, told everyone that there would be a distribution following service. He also told the people that there must be no discrimination and that the people must conduct themselves wisely. I was very impressed at how kind and orderly this distribution was. Every time food is given out I'm blessed but it's bittersweet. They need more than we have given them. I asked several people about the food and their needs, like I usually do, and they told me what they had received was enough for just a couple days. They are grateful but hope we'll send more.
For the last several days Josh and I have been trying to inject ourselves into the distribution process to try to help debug it for Pastor Dan and Butch, but also to hopefully learn more about the needs here. In brief, what we have learned about the needs of broader Anse Galets is that they are the same as the Church above. We've only been in the mountains once but so far the story is similar, people are glad for what they are receiving but need more than we have. The one difference in the mountains is that the economy really is subsistence - they eat what they grow. This means that those poor folks can't just get more food when they have extra refugees staying with them. We'll try to get out there and learn some more though, so take these as our first thoughts.
In the times in between we're keeping up on the logistics of the next shipment, mostly by staying in touch with our friends at Ywam St Marc. God has helped us build a lot of relationships down here. It may or may not be self evident but the mission field really is a web of relationships - God's servants all with their own jobs to do lending to each other according to need.
I'll say in closing that we could never do what we're doing if it weren't for the many people God has given to help us along the way. It's awesome how God always sends the people to fit the need just at the right time. This is all a team effort, we just never get to see the whole roster.
Update from Josh 21Feb10
Good news. The major food distribution began today. We started off by joining the local pastor in charge of distribution to the churches for a meeting of 24 area pastors from the island. Pastor Keno (the guy in charge) talked to the other pastors about the logistics of the distribution and we had an opportunity to speak to the pastors and encourage them that many people in the U.S. helped to send the food and are praying for the churches and the people on the island and in other parts of Haiti. The pastors came from all sorts of backgrounds and denominations and were very thankful for the help they were receiving. They ended the meeting with a hymn.
After the meeting, the pastor divided the rice and beans he had been given amongst the 24 pastors and they all took their portions back to their churches to do distribution amongst their congregation. Once the pastors left, Pastor Keno invited members of the community from the streets who had been gathering to see the food to come into the church and receive one scoop of rice per person. People scrambled to find something to put the rice in – an old garbage bag or plastic bag in the piles of trash in the street, a purse or backpack, some couldn’t find anything and opted to use their shirt to transport the rice home.
The people were anxious and there was a small amount of pushing and yelling, but for the most part they were patient and waited their turn, often letting the small children go in front of them. Hundreds of pounds of rice were carefully divided up amongst the people who came. Watching these people get so excited about a few cups of rice has a way of making those who have plenty appreciate so much more what God has blessed us with.
Thanks to all who have given and have prayed for the food distribution. Praise God that He has seen it through to this point and that the people are coming to the churches to be fed and that God has given the churches the privilege of being the conduit of these blessings to the people. May God show the people of Haiti that He is their ultimate provider. More distribution will be happening tomorrow, and the next day, and so on for as long as God provides. Please continue to pray.
New pictures of the people and of the distribution are posted on FaceBook and video of the distribution will be available on YouTube shortly:http://www.youtube.com/user/HandsAndFeetForHaiti
After the meeting, the pastor divided the rice and beans he had been given amongst the 24 pastors and they all took their portions back to their churches to do distribution amongst their congregation. Once the pastors left, Pastor Keno invited members of the community from the streets who had been gathering to see the food to come into the church and receive one scoop of rice per person. People scrambled to find something to put the rice in – an old garbage bag or plastic bag in the piles of trash in the street, a purse or backpack, some couldn’t find anything and opted to use their shirt to transport the rice home.
The people were anxious and there was a small amount of pushing and yelling, but for the most part they were patient and waited their turn, often letting the small children go in front of them. Hundreds of pounds of rice were carefully divided up amongst the people who came. Watching these people get so excited about a few cups of rice has a way of making those who have plenty appreciate so much more what God has blessed us with.
Thanks to all who have given and have prayed for the food distribution. Praise God that He has seen it through to this point and that the people are coming to the churches to be fed and that God has given the churches the privilege of being the conduit of these blessings to the people. May God show the people of Haiti that He is their ultimate provider. More distribution will be happening tomorrow, and the next day, and so on for as long as God provides. Please continue to pray.
New pictures of the people and of the distribution are posted on FaceBook and video of the distribution will be available on YouTube shortly:http://www.youtube.com/user/HandsAndFeetForHaiti
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Videos of the mission by Josh - must see
A number of videos from Haiti sent by Josh. I just discovered them, and they are excellent and you won't want to miss seeing these.
If you scroll down you will find more in the left hand sidebar.
http://www.youtube.com/
If you scroll down you will find more in the left hand sidebar.
http://www.youtube.com/
Photos of food distribution
Be sure to check out facebook because some new photos are just 'in'; Josh has done a terrific job of creating a photographic record of this mission.
Remember - you don't have to have a 'facebook' account (I don't!) to go to the facebook link on the "Hands and Feet For Haiti" blog. Just click on the first link under "Links for Involved Parties" on the right.
Here a a couple pictures of today's food distribution: people are bringing anything they can find to carry the rice home; some examples are: plastic shopping bags with holes they've repaired, old buckets and a purse!
Below you will see a woman using a baby blanket and an elderly woman using an old bag she found outside on the ground.
Josh labeled the photo of the group (below) as " Crowd trying to be patient" and the men loading a wheel barrow as "Pastors loading a wheelbarrow to take rice to their church to distribute to their congregation."
Praise the Lord the food is finally getting out!
Food Distribution Begins
This is posted on the GP website along with a video. Excerpt below:
Today is the first day of distribution for the 80 thousand pounds of food that arrived in St.Marc last week. The logistics of moving the food through the country to various distribution points have not been easy, but today all the planning has finally started to pay off.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Hi Folks.
For those that don't know, I'm departing Tuesday the 23rd for FL then on to Haiti for a month. If there's any container work to do, I'll take care of it while I'm there. I plan on catching Josh on his return to FL and bringing him to the airport (Maybe buy him a meal with something other than rice for a side dish).
Funding wise, we are poised to send another couple of containers of food and/or shelters. The third container arrived in St. Marc yesterday and sailed through the paperwork process (pun intended). Still has to be inspected, still need prayer that we don't get "taxed" in some way by the government officials. Youth With a Mission (YWAM) in Montana is about 30% to their goal of 2 containers of food and has two young fellers ready to travel to La Gonave.
Chris and I both are praying about a lasting rotation of folks for service on the island and in Petit Goave. It appears that it would be a small footprint of largely non-medical types who can do hard work and think on their feet (maybe sleep on their feet?). These people will need to commit to three weeks to allow for adequate travel, adjustment, and turnover time. We're still praying into this - lots of unknowns - and Dan and his team need to agree with it.
Medical staff can be brought in as a group or could possibly join up with a team that's there already - a separate deal altogether. Petit Goave is hard pressed for help. If you're interested in medical support, you can go to Dan's Blog and click on the schedule and also reference the medical supplies lists. Another resource is the medicalmissions.org website where interested people can sign up for service in the medical field all over Haiti. Transport is a problem at times, but the Lord paves the way as usual and we are here to facilitate things.
But here's the best part. Below is the latest on the Caribe Atlantic site (Pastor Dan Irvine's blog http://gpcaribeatlantic.com/). NOTE THE LAST SENTENCE. This is way cool. Can't wait to find out exactly how we can help the church down there.
God bless you guys.
For those that don't know, I'm departing Tuesday the 23rd for FL then on to Haiti for a month. If there's any container work to do, I'll take care of it while I'm there. I plan on catching Josh on his return to FL and bringing him to the airport (Maybe buy him a meal with something other than rice for a side dish).
Funding wise, we are poised to send another couple of containers of food and/or shelters. The third container arrived in St. Marc yesterday and sailed through the paperwork process (pun intended). Still has to be inspected, still need prayer that we don't get "taxed" in some way by the government officials. Youth With a Mission (YWAM) in Montana is about 30% to their goal of 2 containers of food and has two young fellers ready to travel to La Gonave.
Chris and I both are praying about a lasting rotation of folks for service on the island and in Petit Goave. It appears that it would be a small footprint of largely non-medical types who can do hard work and think on their feet (maybe sleep on their feet?). These people will need to commit to three weeks to allow for adequate travel, adjustment, and turnover time. We're still praying into this - lots of unknowns - and Dan and his team need to agree with it.
Medical staff can be brought in as a group or could possibly join up with a team that's there already - a separate deal altogether. Petit Goave is hard pressed for help. If you're interested in medical support, you can go to Dan's Blog and click on the schedule and also reference the medical supplies lists. Another resource is the medicalmissions.org website where interested people can sign up for service in the medical field all over Haiti. Transport is a problem at times, but the Lord paves the way as usual and we are here to facilitate things.
But here's the best part. Below is the latest on the Caribe Atlantic site (Pastor Dan Irvine's blog http://gpcaribeatlantic.com/). NOTE THE LAST SENTENCE. This is way cool. Can't wait to find out exactly how we can help the church down there.
God bless you guys.
"The first Sunday after the earthquake, I walked into church, expecting to take my usual seat about halfway to the front of the sanctuary. Instead, I found that the only seats left were a few toward the very back. As the service continued, more people crowded in. By the time the pastor came up to preach there was standing room only. This was a far cry from the week before when about a third of the benches were empty.
There was a different feel amongst the congregation as well. The casual talking of teenagers mid-service was silenced and the occasional Amens and mmm huhs of agreement louder and more frequent. Grown men bent forward as the pastor preached and middle-aged women wiped tears away during the special music.
The prayer which started with the repetition of the phrase “Ou se Bondye. Ou se Bondye. Ou se Bondye,” (You are God. You are God. You are God.), continued long past the usual ten minutes. And the service ended with a string of testimonials. People who had been trapped under rubble or had lost family members came to the front and told stories of their new decision to turn back to God.
This testimonial time has become a normal part of the service since the earthquake as each week more people give their lives to Christ. I heard one story about a little boy who had been in a school building when the earthquake hit. A falling rock hit him in the back and pushed him outside. The school collapsed behind him, killing all of his classmates. He knows it was God who kept him safe.
And the stories and the people keep coming. Four weeks after the quake, and churches are still full. Just last week during the nationwide prayer time, I could not find a seat in the church. The pastors there, at the Wesleyan Church in town, had moved all the benches outside to make more space for church attendees to sit on the floor, and still they ran out of space. They even arranged the benches outside to create three sections of seating for those who came too late to get in the doors.
They may continue to need extra seating in the coming weeks as more people come to Christ. Since the earthquake, they have seen 120 converts at the Wesleyan church alone. Churches all over town are seeing a similar trend. In the week since the prayer time, we’ve seen evidence of this trend ourselves in the number of people who have come asking for bibles."
Update 02/18/2010
First food delivered on the island today - rough weather doesn't bode well for the future...
Another crazy day in Haiti. One thing we have learned since being here is that no day goes as planned.
This morning I woke up early and left La Gonave on the “Breezy Sea” (the Wesleyan lobster boat) headed for Kwalili (the Wesleyan wharf on the mainland near St. Marc). While I was heading across the rough morning seas, some of the guys at YWAM were working hard transferring a load of food from our CONEX container to the truck that would take it to the wharf. Thank you YWAM!
At the same time, Caleb was stuffed atop a few mattresses and a load of medical supplies in the back of another truck coming from Petit Guave where he stayed last night to Kwalili (about a 5 hour drive). We docked the boat, and since the truck from YWAM was not there we went to town to buy meals for the Haitian workers.
When we got back to the dock, the food truck showed up and the Haitian W.I.S.H workers went to starting transferring the food to the boats (there was also a Haitian hired sailboat there). Just when we got started with the food transfer it started to downpour. The workers kicked it in to high gear to get the food to the boat as fast as possible so we could cover it before the beans, rice, pasta, and oats got soaked with rain. We quickly covered the loads and then waited for Caleb.
When he arrived, the truck was also carrying two other missionaries to go to La Gonave. We headed back toward La Gonave with the thought we would return to Kwalili later for the truckload of medical supplies and to pick up a team of surgeons coming to the island to work at the hospital. The storm that brought the rain also made some serious waves (like 10’ rollers). There were quite a few times between waves when the water on both sides was higher than the boat. It made our voyage slower and quite a bit more interesting (most of us were having fun, comparing it to an amusement ride).
A few of the Haitians who were used to the boat even got sick. Butch made the call that he would not return to Kwalili today, especially not without a load (the weight helps stabilize the boat). The two boatloads of food we brought today went to a pastor on the island that is in charge of distributing the food we give him to the various churches on the island.
There will be another food distribution arm responsible for getting food to other areas of the island where the churches will not reach. I’m excited to report that while we coming over on the Breezy Sea and then taking care of some business at the base, the food distribution began with 9 churches received food today. 5 Wesleyan churches and 4 other evangelical churches. Here’s a list of the food distributed today:
2,680 pounds of rice
650 pounds of beans
275 pounds of rolled oats
57 boxes of macaroni
This is just the small tip of the iceberg, but it’s a start. Tomorrow the pastor in charge of the church distribution (Pastor Keno) will be meeting with pastors from 24 churches on the island to talk about logistics and distribution and then he will be distributing food to each of them who have means to take the food back to their churches. Caleb and I hope to join him in the distribution, but we may have to go back to Kwalili to help with another load.
We spent some time with Pastor Keno today and he told us the church is growing on the island. In one church, 120 people have received Christ since the earthquake. Another church used to have 300 people in attendance and has grown to 500 since the quake. God can truly use anything for good. He told us to let the American people who helped to send this food that he and the people on the island were “truly thankful from our head…” (while motioning to his heart) “…for all the help you are giving to us, and we pray that God will bless everyone who has helped us”
One more thought: I was told that it’s very uncommon for it to rain in Haiti in February. At first I was very thankful for the rain this morning since it made the day much cooler and the cloud cover blocked the sun that scorched my skin yesterday, but as we made our way back to La Gonave I remembered the thousands of “tents” I’ve seen down here made of sheets. I think it’s safe to assume the people living in those homes were not thankful for the rain today. Now their normally dusty dirt floors would be mucky mud and with the mud comes mosquitoes, disease, cold wet nights, and other problems. The suffering of these people has not stopped; the circumstances and challenges have just changed. Please continue to pray for them.
-Josh Nerren
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Food delivered!! Prayer answered, all are safe!
I am happy to report that I am finally writing from the island of La Gonave. This morning we loaded about 15,000 pounds of food from our container at the YWAM base in St. Marc onto a big truck, rode the truck to the Wesleyan dock about 30 minutes away, loaded the food onto two boats, crossed the ocean (about a 1.5 hour ride) between the mainland and the island, unloaded the food onto a trailer pulled by a John Deere tractor, and drove it to the Wesleyan guest house in Anse A Galets where it was unloaded into the guest house for temporary storage.
Tomorrow we will attempt to make the trip twice. In the mean time the Wesleyan mission director has hired an economist and they are working out the details of the distribution plan which will begin shortly. Caleb and I had to split up for the night. He stayed on the mainland to accompany the truck back to the YWAM base to load it with some of the supplies in the container which are more needed in Port-au-Prince and Petit Guave. He will stay the night in Port-au-Prince and be at the docks to meet the boat in the morning. Other than a pretty good sunburn on my normally white skin, everything went great today.
Caleb and I were so happy to see that the Wesleyan missionary who hired our truck this morning also hired two more Haitians to help. We lost about 5 pounds each sweating in the container, but it was nice to have 3 other guys helping. Then when we got to the docks we were met by about 20 Haitians who work for W.I.S.H and came on the boat with Butch. As you can imagine, our work load was made light and the loading and unloading went extremely fast. Praise God!
There are a lot of hungry people on the island who are having a hard time buying food. We are very excited to see all this hard work and planning coming to fruition. I will send more updates and post more pictures as things progress.
Blessings
-Josh Nerren
Tomorrow we will attempt to make the trip twice. In the mean time the Wesleyan mission director has hired an economist and they are working out the details of the distribution plan which will begin shortly. Caleb and I had to split up for the night. He stayed on the mainland to accompany the truck back to the YWAM base to load it with some of the supplies in the container which are more needed in Port-au-Prince and Petit Guave. He will stay the night in Port-au-Prince and be at the docks to meet the boat in the morning. Other than a pretty good sunburn on my normally white skin, everything went great today.
Caleb and I were so happy to see that the Wesleyan missionary who hired our truck this morning also hired two more Haitians to help. We lost about 5 pounds each sweating in the container, but it was nice to have 3 other guys helping. Then when we got to the docks we were met by about 20 Haitians who work for W.I.S.H and came on the boat with Butch. As you can imagine, our work load was made light and the loading and unloading went extremely fast. Praise God!
There are a lot of hungry people on the island who are having a hard time buying food. We are very excited to see all this hard work and planning coming to fruition. I will send more updates and post more pictures as things progress.
Blessings
-Josh Nerren
Climate on the Saline Feb 17, 2010
This is posted on the GP website along with a narrated slideshow. Excerpt below:
As part of their trip to help distribute aid, Caleb and Andy visited the saline. They took a translator, going door to door to get a feel for the struggles of its inhabitant’s daily lives. What they found was an increasing strain on the emotional health and on the resources of an already impoverished and hungry people. The people that live in the saline represent the poorest of the poor. Most of which have seen days since their last good meal.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Haiti - Update 02/16/2010 PM
We'll be taking the first load of food to the island Wednesday morning. By the time the inspection was done this morning, the wind had gotten pretty strong on the ocean so the missionary was nervous about trying to rush over, load, and rush back on the rough seas before dark. Also, the driver who will be taking our container to the dock for loading had already taken another job for the day.
The good news is, everything is thus far lined up for first thing in the morning so we might even be able to take two loads over tomorrow. Caleb and I got to try our hand at slinging rice bags in the scorching heat inside a metal shipping container today. We needed to collect six pallets to put on the floor of the boat in case we take on any water. It wouldn't be good to soak the bottom layer of rice bags in salt water on the way over. The only pallets available here were underneath pallet loads of 50 pound rice bags, so we moved six pallet loads full to get the wooden pallets out. It didn't take too long, but I was exhausted. Good practice I suppose.
The YWAM base has been overwhelmed with teams coming in from around the world. People from Canada, Australia, The UK, Singapore, Finland, Brazil, Belgium, The U.S., and others. Met some UN agents this morning from the U.S., Africa, and Columbia. We might have a harder time finding a place to sleep tonight since the dorm is full and we were never supposed to stay here, but we're told there's an empty tent somewhere.
Please continue to pray for God's will in His timing.
Thanks -Josh Nerren
The good news is, everything is thus far lined up for first thing in the morning so we might even be able to take two loads over tomorrow. Caleb and I got to try our hand at slinging rice bags in the scorching heat inside a metal shipping container today. We needed to collect six pallets to put on the floor of the boat in case we take on any water. It wouldn't be good to soak the bottom layer of rice bags in salt water on the way over. The only pallets available here were underneath pallet loads of 50 pound rice bags, so we moved six pallet loads full to get the wooden pallets out. It didn't take too long, but I was exhausted. Good practice I suppose.
The YWAM base has been overwhelmed with teams coming in from around the world. People from Canada, Australia, The UK, Singapore, Finland, Brazil, Belgium, The U.S., and others. Met some UN agents this morning from the U.S., Africa, and Columbia. We might have a harder time finding a place to sleep tonight since the dorm is full and we were never supposed to stay here, but we're told there's an empty tent somewhere.
Please continue to pray for God's will in His timing.
Thanks -Josh Nerren
God is never early, and He's never late
We have been waiting with grave concern, and in constant prayer, for the food to be released.
Here is Josh:
Here is Josh:
So this morning we got up early. Caleb and I spent some time discussing the obstacles we have faced especially in the waiting for the containers to be cleared. We both agree that it seems God even used the time of waiting to accomplish many things. We would not have gotten the chance to spend so much time examining the bigger picture needs down here, nor met all the contacts we have that might prove to be long-term partners.
Many people have also made comments to me about the impact the photos and videos we've been sending back have made in their lives. We would not have had the chance to do any of that if our containers had been cleared last week. So we recognized God's sovereignty and control of all that is happening. We then spent some time in prayer.
The inspector was supposed to come to the YWAM base to inspect the containers which are here but hadn't been released yet. The guy was supposed to come at 9am. At about 10am, we had had enough. About 6 of us went down to the customs office to stand in front of the guy all day if we had to. As many of you know the containers have been waiting to be cleared for nearly a week.
We arrived at the customs office to find it closed. No one was there. I prayed again, standing at the locked door that if anything was hindering this process God would remove the obstacles. Just then, the YWAM guy got a call on his phone. It was the inspector. He said he would meet us at the base in 10 minutes. We hurried back, and what do you know, after numerous no-shows he finally came.
We fed him some breakfast. It took him about 2 minutes per container to quickly look inside and say OK. Both CONEX #1 and #2 have been cleared! Praise God! The customs officer told Caleb we can start taking stuff out of either box any time, and he cleared the fuel as well.
God is never early, and He's never late.
We have a call into the guys on the island and hope they will send the boat today so we can get a load over there before dark. That said, we'll be following the Lord's lead even if it means going slower than we want to.
Thanks to all who have been praying. That's one more hurdle that we've finally gotten over. There are likely many more that we'll have to jump over. We know and are so blessed that so many people are praying for this mission.
Blessings -Josh Nerren (Tuesday February 16th, 11:00am in St. Marc, Haiti)
Read below an excerpt from some of the news coverage this mission is getting. This one from the Adirondack Daily Enterprise:
http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/511327.html?nav=5008
After a mammoth earthquake laid waste to Haiti last month, many people donated money to the relief efforts to help the people there.Full story available here:
Some, however, were not satisfied to leave it at that.
Long Lakers Caleb Thompson and Andy Pratt were two such do-gooders. After the earthquake, Thompson and Pratt decided to head to Haiti to help.
...
But Caleb Thompson remains humble about the work he and his friend are doing.
"We are not trained missionaries, we are regular people who live a normal life in upstate NY," Thomspon wrote. "We were when we started and will be when we're done. God opened some big doors for us and our friends, and the most I can say for us is that we walked through them."
http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/511327.html?nav=5008
La Gonave Haiti update 15FEB10
Well, I wish I had been able to pass any news in the past few days but the situation just didn't change. We're on the verge of movement. This weekend contained the culmination of 3 significant delays:
- waiting on governement release authority for the first two containers - minus duty fees, thank you Lord
- allowing time for Josh, Caleb, Andy and Pastor Dan Irvine to develop the overarching plan for food distribution and needs assessments
- the Haitian gov't official 3 day period of fasting and praying that ended today
It was clearly time for us to sit tight, pray and wait on God. He's got it all covered.
Now the logistics wheels are starting to move again. The first 2 food containers are not yet inspected and released by the government agent yet, but Josh is waiting patiently and we are hopeful that they should be released tomorrow. The third container and 2,000 gal of diesel should be there in a day or two - Chris will provide the confirmation tomorrow.
Looks like the next push is for shelter - most likely in the form of tarps and tents. Long term housing is important, but it's obvious that we can't put a dent into the need without getting significant numbers of shelters distributed promptly. Chris is working hard on that. We have 2 new significant donations of late and more donors jumping onboard - Praise God. The next container, or two, or three will ready to be bundled very soon. I think YWAM Montana may have folks ready to go with them, but we won't know for a day or two.
Caleb will be in Haiti until about March 9th, Josh will have to return around the 24th of this month. Andy has begun his return trip to NY via Missionary Flights International. Between bouts of honey-do lists and work, Chris is still coordinating overall logistics from the armored enclave of Long Lake NY.
Be sure to check the video and blog updates on the Hands and Feet blog, Facebook, YouTube, and the Wesleyan Caribe Atlantic site - all cross linked across multiple domains thanks to the work of the unsung techno heroes helping us get the word out.
If you think of it, please include a couple of new friends to your email distribution of Hands and Feet. Thank you for continuing to pray for us and what God is doing in the people of Haiti.
PT
- waiting on governement release authority for the first two containers - minus duty fees, thank you Lord
- allowing time for Josh, Caleb, Andy and Pastor Dan Irvine to develop the overarching plan for food distribution and needs assessments
- the Haitian gov't official 3 day period of fasting and praying that ended today
It was clearly time for us to sit tight, pray and wait on God. He's got it all covered.
Now the logistics wheels are starting to move again. The first 2 food containers are not yet inspected and released by the government agent yet, but Josh is waiting patiently and we are hopeful that they should be released tomorrow. The third container and 2,000 gal of diesel should be there in a day or two - Chris will provide the confirmation tomorrow.
Looks like the next push is for shelter - most likely in the form of tarps and tents. Long term housing is important, but it's obvious that we can't put a dent into the need without getting significant numbers of shelters distributed promptly. Chris is working hard on that. We have 2 new significant donations of late and more donors jumping onboard - Praise God. The next container, or two, or three will ready to be bundled very soon. I think YWAM Montana may have folks ready to go with them, but we won't know for a day or two.
Caleb will be in Haiti until about March 9th, Josh will have to return around the 24th of this month. Andy has begun his return trip to NY via Missionary Flights International. Between bouts of honey-do lists and work, Chris is still coordinating overall logistics from the armored enclave of Long Lake NY.
Be sure to check the video and blog updates on the Hands and Feet blog, Facebook, YouTube, and the Wesleyan Caribe Atlantic site - all cross linked across multiple domains thanks to the work of the unsung techno heroes helping us get the word out.
If you think of it, please include a couple of new friends to your email distribution of Hands and Feet. Thank you for continuing to pray for us and what God is doing in the people of Haiti.
PT
Monday, February 15, 2010
Churches link arms for supply shipment
I hope all of you go to the mission's website occasionally (link below). That is news from the front lines, sometimes joyous and sometimes brutally real.
There is a long chain of people supporting the people of Haiti -- all servants and acting in different capacities -- and you who read, support, and pray are part of it.
Thank you so much for all you do. Thank God for his outpouring of mercy to the people of Haiti.
If you scroll down the page a bit you'll see that Dan has posted Caleb's article.
http://gpcaribeatlantic.com/
There is a long chain of people supporting the people of Haiti -- all servants and acting in different capacities -- and you who read, support, and pray are part of it.
Thank you so much for all you do. Thank God for his outpouring of mercy to the people of Haiti.
If you scroll down the page a bit you'll see that Dan has posted Caleb's article.
http://gpcaribeatlantic.com/
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Weekend wrap up
To everyone following the progress of the re-supply effort, I want to provide you with the following:
1. Caleb's 2/11/10 report of their tour of Anse a Galet.
2. Certain poignant photos and videos that can be found on the Hands and Feet for Haiti Facebook page. There are many photographs you might care to see:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hands-Feet-For-Haiti/269636253137?v=info#!/pages/Hands-Feet-For-Haiti/269636253137?v=photos
Memorable photo from Josh Nerren as he, Caleb, and Andy view the destruction and living conditions on the road from PAP to Petit Goave. THESE PICTURES HIT AT GUT LEVEL. Josh says these signs litter the highway. "please stop here we need some help"
1. Caleb's 2/11/10 report of their tour of Anse a Galet.
On February 11th, Caleb and Andy spent a day touring parts of La Gonave, taking video interviews and observing conditions in Anse a Galets ("Anse") and its suburbs. Their purpose was to get an accurate feel for people’s need. The videos will be hand-carried back to Long Lake by Andy.
Caleb wrote: "We got a morning tour of the "Saline" which is the poorest section of Anse. We were escorted by a "W.I.S.H." worker who spoke pretty good English. He took us to a dozen households where we video-interviewed the residents. The story was pretty consistent. All had not eaten today, most for the last couple days. I hesitate to use the word starvation but people are without a doubt hungry. (A few of the children manifest physical symptoms like swollen bellies.) All say that life is much harder since the quake. Work is scarcer. Food is more expensive. Maybe 30% of households there had guests from the mainland. All claim that they cannot afford any treatment at the hospital. Almost every one said they would not sleep indoors again until it was safe, but they couldn’t articulate how that point would be determined. Fishermen refuse to fish for fear of a tsunami. I think people are genuinely emotionally upset, not just the trauma of the quake but also how little they have to feed their families with now. Hopefully the videos will do this justice but I certainly sensed it in person. Loss compounded by need.
In the afternoon we were given a similar tour of the suburbs of Anse by the economist Dan has hired to write a distribution plan. We stopped in each of a bunch of districts to interview residents. With not a lot of variation people said similar to above. It varied by the wealth of the district, I think: people are pretty consistently hungry but not yet starving. A few said they had a little work, the majority said they had none and so no way to buy food.
Every household we saw had between 5-15 mouths to feed and at only one did we see any food anywhere. These people let us into their tiny homes (largely empty since they are living outside) which are devoid of places to hide anything, and no food was visible anywhere. They could be exaggerating about when their last meal was, but it’s very clear they have no food reserves and no money to buy food daily. All I saw for food (other than the one meal) in over 3 hours of visiting families was a kid peeling an orange and another eating a small bag of popcorn. One woman with 11 kids in her house had a small pot on a fire, which could have just been water. All anyone talked about was food and medical care, and at least two adult women came to tears talking about the needs of their children.
Please pray that God guides us again tomorrow and that he shows us what we need to see, hear, and report."
2. Certain poignant photos and videos that can be found on the Hands and Feet for Haiti Facebook page. There are many photographs you might care to see:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hands-Feet-For-Haiti/269636253137?v=info#!/pages/Hands-Feet-For-Haiti/269636253137?v=photos
Memorable photo from Josh Nerren as he, Caleb, and Andy view the destruction and living conditions on the road from PAP to Petit Goave. THESE PICTURES HIT AT GUT LEVEL. Josh says these signs litter the highway. "please stop here we need some help"
Update from Josh 14Feb10
Since the churches in Haiti have declared 3 days of fasting and prayer we're kind of stuck. Nothing is open, and we can't get our food out yet. Spent some more time driving in Port-au-Prince yesterday and did some small scale food distribution to a Wesleyan church taking them some excess food that we had at the guest house. They were grateful for what we gave. We got to the church right as they were wrapping up their service. The building they were meeting in consisted of a few block pillars with a small covered area finished.
I've posted lots of new photos and videos of the destruction on Facebook and YouTube. After a while one pile of rubble starts to look like every other one. We were asking ourselves yesterday how the people must feel about walking by all of the destroyed buildings. How they seemed not to even care about the buildings as they walked on by. We reasoned they must just get used to it. I suppose they have to in some ways. People are even seen sitting under the eves or doorways of buildings that are half holding on - ready to come down at any moment. I think they must just get used to it.
I realized I was even getting used to it at some level. I started out taking a picture of every pile and after a while found myself not lifting the camera thinking, "nah, there's nothing new about that pile, just looks like the last one, no one's going to want to see a picture of that one", and then immediately remembering that these aren't piles of concrete. They were people's homes, and in many cases the final resting place of hundreds of thousands of human beings - image-bearers of God.
This morning we'll attend church here in Port-au-Prince. Tomorrow Caleb and I should be getting to La Gonave and working on a food distribution plan. Andy has been at it for over three weeks and is making plans to head home today or tomorrow if he can get a flight out. Please continue to pray for us, and for the people of Haiti.
I've posted lots of new photos and videos of the destruction on Facebook and YouTube. After a while one pile of rubble starts to look like every other one. We were asking ourselves yesterday how the people must feel about walking by all of the destroyed buildings. How they seemed not to even care about the buildings as they walked on by. We reasoned they must just get used to it. I suppose they have to in some ways. People are even seen sitting under the eves or doorways of buildings that are half holding on - ready to come down at any moment. I think they must just get used to it.
I realized I was even getting used to it at some level. I started out taking a picture of every pile and after a while found myself not lifting the camera thinking, "nah, there's nothing new about that pile, just looks like the last one, no one's going to want to see a picture of that one", and then immediately remembering that these aren't piles of concrete. They were people's homes, and in many cases the final resting place of hundreds of thousands of human beings - image-bearers of God.
This morning we'll attend church here in Port-au-Prince. Tomorrow Caleb and I should be getting to La Gonave and working on a food distribution plan. Andy has been at it for over three weeks and is making plans to head home today or tomorrow if he can get a flight out. Please continue to pray for us, and for the people of Haiti.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Update from Josh 2-13-2010
Hey guys,
Just wanted to take a minute to give you an update. Got into Port-Au-Prince yesterday via airplane. Spent some time with the area director for the Wesleyan churches Dan Irvine and his wife Joy yesterday. Also met and talked with a young missionary couple from further north in Haiti - Chris and Kathleen who are staying in PAP to help run the guest house.
Spent the night outside under a mosquito net last night. The mission house is a great house that withstood the first earthquake with no visible damage, but there have been 40 aftershocks and some seismologists have been predicting another large earthquake somewhere near the last one, so most people are not sleeping inside houses with concrete roofs.
This morning we drove back to the Port-Au-Prince airport to pick up Caleb and Andy who flew in a small airplane from La Gonave this morning. Dan wanted us to get a bigger picture of the need here, not just on the island. Today he wanted us to accompany two doctors who also just flew in to work in the Wesleyan mission hospital in Petit Goave which they have set up since the quake.
The 2 hour ride there was intense. We drove through the epicenter of the quake and got to see the small towns and villages along the road that were hardest hit. I was so focused on getting pictures and videos that I barely let the stuff sink in for the first hour. After a while my heart caught up with mind and shut off the cameras and just stared at the hundreds of houses I saw destroyed and the thousands of people walking around and going about their life (not much of one by our standards).
Then we finally arrived at the hospital which was more like a campground with doctors. It was pretty slow today I was told. There was still a line of people waiting to be seen by a doctor. When we got out we were met by a fire-fighter crew from Portland, OR. They went to work unloading our truck which was not only carrying us in the back but also a pallet load of bottled water for the hospital. I went back into film mode and starting shooting video of patients and doctors.
Time doesn't exist down here. You don't look at your watch. 2 hours went by in about 5 minutes. Not a lot of major medical stuff going on today, but there was a 9 year old boy with wounds on his chest and back. Apparently some older boy was beating him. He was bleeding through his shirt. I never did see the wounds. The boy was a trooper but was nervous about my camera so I left him alone.
An elderly woman in her late 60's had a wound on her hand. At first glance it just looked like a good patch of skin that was damaged and had been treated and cleaned pretty well, but then I noticed she couldn't bend her wrist. When the doctor tried she cringed and then the doctor turned her hand over and pushed on her palm. It wasn't soft like a palm should be but was rock hard like she had major bone damage and swelling inside. The doctor figured she had multiple breaks due to a crushing wound in her wrist. Turns out she was trapped under her house for half an hour while her son dug her out and freed her wrist from the rubble.
There were various other patients, but I noticed a newborn baby and wanted to get some video. The baby was very cute. I asked the woman holding the baby if it would be okay and she motioned that the mother was inside the makeshift house and we should ask her. The mom was on the cot inside. She was 14, and had just given birth a few hours earlier. The doctors give new mothers a few hours to rest, and then send them on their way so they can have the bed for the next person. At first I didn't think she wanted me to videotape the baby but then another sick patient translated for me. I had been asking what the baby's name was, and a young boy who must have been the mother's brother was trying to tell me something. The translator said the boy was telling me that the baby does not have a name and that I should give him a name. Okay, so that was the moment I just about lost it. I said I did not know any good Creole names and I left after taking some footage of the beautiful newborn without a name who would grow up with a worse than poor 14 year old mom (if she even kept him).
The mood changed on the ride home. Caleb and Andy and I had been talking a lot on the way there, but now I sat in the cab to get some better video and I looked back periodically. They too seemed to be staring off as if even focusing on what we saw was just too much to take for very long. On the positive side, the evangelical churches in Haiti declared a national day of prayer and fasting today. There was a "church" meeting about every 10 blocks in city and many along the rural road. Most of the buildings consisted of four brick walls with tarps or sheets for a roof and there were so many people at each church that they were crowded outside around the entrance. They were singing and shouting so loud we could hear them over the sound of traffic and they had no microphones. Dan says that one positive thing about the quake is that the churches are swelling. Many people are turning to God for comfort and hope.
We're back at the house now. Took a cold shower (that's the only kind you get here) to wash off the mix of sweat, sunscreen, bug spray, dust, and whatever else I picked up today, and am about to eat a nice dinner prepared by Joy. A far cry from the food of the people I saw in one of the tent cities today who were rummaging through the foulest smelling bags of rotted vegetables and fruits I had ever smelled. You know the smell that hits you when you go to the dump? That was lunch for them today. Piles of rotting lettuce.
What does a person do with all this? I knew the need was great here, I just had no idea of the hopelessness of it. It's been a month and other than the roads being somewhat cleared of debris, I didn't see a single piece of equipment in 4 hours of driving actually cleaning up after the damage. Who's going to tear all those houses down? Who's going to rebuild them? Even the house we're staying in was worth 250,000 before the quake. Now they cannot sell it to anyone. No one will buy a house made of concrete. Even those with money have lost everything and what will sustain them in a year? 5 years? It's too much to think about.
Thank you all so much for praying for me. God is taking good care of us, and I know He's brought us here for a reason. I hope He uses us to bless others, but perhaps He had another reason - something to show us to teach us something. Please continue to pray for wisdom and strength. I'm getting a taste of the reason so many aid workers can't stick around long. I think seeing this day in and day out does things to your mind. I'll post pictures later. Internet here is too slow to post video.
Blessings -Josh Nerren
Just wanted to take a minute to give you an update. Got into Port-Au-Prince yesterday via airplane. Spent some time with the area director for the Wesleyan churches Dan Irvine and his wife Joy yesterday. Also met and talked with a young missionary couple from further north in Haiti - Chris and Kathleen who are staying in PAP to help run the guest house.
Spent the night outside under a mosquito net last night. The mission house is a great house that withstood the first earthquake with no visible damage, but there have been 40 aftershocks and some seismologists have been predicting another large earthquake somewhere near the last one, so most people are not sleeping inside houses with concrete roofs.
This morning we drove back to the Port-Au-Prince airport to pick up Caleb and Andy who flew in a small airplane from La Gonave this morning. Dan wanted us to get a bigger picture of the need here, not just on the island. Today he wanted us to accompany two doctors who also just flew in to work in the Wesleyan mission hospital in Petit Goave which they have set up since the quake.
The 2 hour ride there was intense. We drove through the epicenter of the quake and got to see the small towns and villages along the road that were hardest hit. I was so focused on getting pictures and videos that I barely let the stuff sink in for the first hour. After a while my heart caught up with mind and shut off the cameras and just stared at the hundreds of houses I saw destroyed and the thousands of people walking around and going about their life (not much of one by our standards).
Then we finally arrived at the hospital which was more like a campground with doctors. It was pretty slow today I was told. There was still a line of people waiting to be seen by a doctor. When we got out we were met by a fire-fighter crew from Portland, OR. They went to work unloading our truck which was not only carrying us in the back but also a pallet load of bottled water for the hospital. I went back into film mode and starting shooting video of patients and doctors.
Time doesn't exist down here. You don't look at your watch. 2 hours went by in about 5 minutes. Not a lot of major medical stuff going on today, but there was a 9 year old boy with wounds on his chest and back. Apparently some older boy was beating him. He was bleeding through his shirt. I never did see the wounds. The boy was a trooper but was nervous about my camera so I left him alone.
An elderly woman in her late 60's had a wound on her hand. At first glance it just looked like a good patch of skin that was damaged and had been treated and cleaned pretty well, but then I noticed she couldn't bend her wrist. When the doctor tried she cringed and then the doctor turned her hand over and pushed on her palm. It wasn't soft like a palm should be but was rock hard like she had major bone damage and swelling inside. The doctor figured she had multiple breaks due to a crushing wound in her wrist. Turns out she was trapped under her house for half an hour while her son dug her out and freed her wrist from the rubble.
There were various other patients, but I noticed a newborn baby and wanted to get some video. The baby was very cute. I asked the woman holding the baby if it would be okay and she motioned that the mother was inside the makeshift house and we should ask her. The mom was on the cot inside. She was 14, and had just given birth a few hours earlier. The doctors give new mothers a few hours to rest, and then send them on their way so they can have the bed for the next person. At first I didn't think she wanted me to videotape the baby but then another sick patient translated for me. I had been asking what the baby's name was, and a young boy who must have been the mother's brother was trying to tell me something. The translator said the boy was telling me that the baby does not have a name and that I should give him a name. Okay, so that was the moment I just about lost it. I said I did not know any good Creole names and I left after taking some footage of the beautiful newborn without a name who would grow up with a worse than poor 14 year old mom (if she even kept him).
The mood changed on the ride home. Caleb and Andy and I had been talking a lot on the way there, but now I sat in the cab to get some better video and I looked back periodically. They too seemed to be staring off as if even focusing on what we saw was just too much to take for very long. On the positive side, the evangelical churches in Haiti declared a national day of prayer and fasting today. There was a "church" meeting about every 10 blocks in city and many along the rural road. Most of the buildings consisted of four brick walls with tarps or sheets for a roof and there were so many people at each church that they were crowded outside around the entrance. They were singing and shouting so loud we could hear them over the sound of traffic and they had no microphones. Dan says that one positive thing about the quake is that the churches are swelling. Many people are turning to God for comfort and hope.
We're back at the house now. Took a cold shower (that's the only kind you get here) to wash off the mix of sweat, sunscreen, bug spray, dust, and whatever else I picked up today, and am about to eat a nice dinner prepared by Joy. A far cry from the food of the people I saw in one of the tent cities today who were rummaging through the foulest smelling bags of rotted vegetables and fruits I had ever smelled. You know the smell that hits you when you go to the dump? That was lunch for them today. Piles of rotting lettuce.
What does a person do with all this? I knew the need was great here, I just had no idea of the hopelessness of it. It's been a month and other than the roads being somewhat cleared of debris, I didn't see a single piece of equipment in 4 hours of driving actually cleaning up after the damage. Who's going to tear all those houses down? Who's going to rebuild them? Even the house we're staying in was worth 250,000 before the quake. Now they cannot sell it to anyone. No one will buy a house made of concrete. Even those with money have lost everything and what will sustain them in a year? 5 years? It's too much to think about.
Thank you all so much for praying for me. God is taking good care of us, and I know He's brought us here for a reason. I hope He uses us to bless others, but perhaps He had another reason - something to show us to teach us something. Please continue to pray for wisdom and strength. I'm getting a taste of the reason so many aid workers can't stick around long. I think seeing this day in and day out does things to your mind. I'll post pictures later. Internet here is too slow to post video.
Blessings -Josh Nerren
Update La Gonave resupply 13Feb10
I am waiting for news from the guys and will organize new information for posting tomorrow.
I thought you might care to see our strong partner in this effort, YWAM. Our own Veronica Thompson is leading this team effort. Isn't it interesting to see how God assembles people for His work...
As our district funding slows, God has brought others in to keep the food flowing. There is much need in La Gonave and it must be relieved, it will be relieved. Please keep praying, you have seen the miracles right along.
YWAM has been of significant assistance to us resolving container paperwork problems in St. Marc, they are a tremendous help and if you don't know about them and their mission you should do some reading on it and support them in prayer and financially. Poke around their website...
http://www.ywammontana.org/
I thought you might care to see our strong partner in this effort, YWAM. Our own Veronica Thompson is leading this team effort. Isn't it interesting to see how God assembles people for His work...
As our district funding slows, God has brought others in to keep the food flowing. There is much need in La Gonave and it must be relieved, it will be relieved. Please keep praying, you have seen the miracles right along.
YWAM has been of significant assistance to us resolving container paperwork problems in St. Marc, they are a tremendous help and if you don't know about them and their mission you should do some reading on it and support them in prayer and financially. Poke around their website...
http://www.ywammontana.org/
Thursday, February 11, 2010
La Gonave mission update 2/11/10
Good news. Josh Nerren has successfully landed in Port au Prince, and was actually picked up by our folks in the zoo that is the airport. It was a little tricky since our people have never met Josh, me either by the way, so nobody knew what he looked like. There was no phone contact, only emails to arrange a place to meet. I had to finally go earn some money today after a few weeks of duty here -- just when I got my wife used to eating sawdust she almost died on me (sorry, old timer joke) -- so I could not be around to help, but everybody got a meeting figured out by email.
Josh is safe with Dan, Joy, and our guys in PAP. He, Caleb, and Andy will have the opportunity to hear Dan's plans for food distribution and rebuilding. I understand this will be interesting and look forward to hearing it by email. It will certainly affect for the positive the timing and substance of future deliveries.
Caleb and Andy have been conducting interviews and traveling to assess the need. We here need a concrete sense of need, and the timing of our shipments to best address it. They are also working with the hospital to learn what is needed there.
The guys made some videos you might like to see. The orphanage and school in Anse-a-Galets, and the ship in St. Marc. The first video of the ship at the port of Saint Marc is ever so dramatically narrated by our Andy Pratt. The young lady seen translating in the second two videos is Justine Iskat.
Josh is safe with Dan, Joy, and our guys in PAP. He, Caleb, and Andy will have the opportunity to hear Dan's plans for food distribution and rebuilding. I understand this will be interesting and look forward to hearing it by email. It will certainly affect for the positive the timing and substance of future deliveries.
Caleb and Andy have been conducting interviews and traveling to assess the need. We here need a concrete sense of need, and the timing of our shipments to best address it. They are also working with the hospital to learn what is needed there.
The guys made some videos you might like to see. The orphanage and school in Anse-a-Galets, and the ship in St. Marc. The first video of the ship at the port of Saint Marc is ever so dramatically narrated by our Andy Pratt. The young lady seen translating in the second two videos is Justine Iskat.
Message from Dan Irvine 11Feb10
As many of you know the large container ship sent by the New England Wesleyan District arrived in Haiti this past weekend. Once it arrived, we began the paperwork process needed to release the boat. While people in St. Marc work out these details, two of the masterminds behind the boat project Caleb Thompson and Andy Pratt have been in La Gonave preparing for distribution.
These two guys, as you might imagine, have been anything but lazy. They spent the whole day connecting with a local school, the Wesleyan Hospital, an orphanage, and several community leaders. They managed to have a meeting with Jean Paul Donn, an economic consultant for the Wesleyan mission and the author of the distribution plan for Anses-a-Galets and Point a Raquettes. Immediately following this, they caught up with the second mayor in town, Dahame Laguerre, to ask about the needs of this community.
Over the next few days, while waiting for the green light to unload the boat, Caleb and Andy will continue to collect information about the town. In their down times, which will be few and far between, they will also be helping out with projects and daily operations of the Wesleyan Mission.
We are very thankful to have these two enthusiastic guys around, and grateful for those of you who took part of getting them and 80,000lbs of food and fuel to our town.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Word from our guys 2/10/10
They are in Anse and are being trained to run the lobster boat, so apparently they will become the long supply line back to Anse-a-Galets. Butch has significant work load on other matters.. The boat will use about 12 gallons of fuel to make the 3 hour or so round trip (not including loading and unloading the boat). I am guessing they will never want to carry a rice sack again after this mission.
No word on the paperwork for the containers, but I spoke with YWAM last night and they said they were on it but to keep praying. They said "it's only over when the containers are going down the road".
Josh Nerren will fly tomorrow via MFI to Port au Prince to be picked up by anyone available. The ship carrying conex #3 is delayed again, and now Josh will need to be paying for room and board. The conex is safe behind fence and guards until it is loaded on the ship, and the guys say the ships crew is professional and trustworthy. Our guys will meet the container in St. Marc to secure it. We don't see any significant security concerns. Josh is anxious to go into service in Anse, so having him idling for another week makes little sense to us. Please pray that all goes well with flight arrangements and for safe travel, and that he can effectively share the gospel with the La Gonavians.
Here is an email from the guys.
We would like to thank everyone back in the U.S. for their amazing support, both spiritually and financially. Every time the mission encounters a wall, prayer and God's grace knock it down. Every time we wonder if there will be enough money for X or Y, we find out that more is coming in. Caleb and I have never worried about having the backing to accomplish the mission, and we have thousands of hands and hearts back home to thank for that.Our three day ocean voyage went well, with us making some good connections with other relief workers on the boat, and learning a lot from our discussions with them. Additionally, we made friends with the ships officers and crew, who asked us to contact them personally by email if we needed a ride back to Florida. We had a much needed period of forced-relaxation and were able to spend time preparing ourselves mentally and spiritually for our mission in Haiti.There is a great deal of uncertainty as to when the containers will be released, duty-free, from the customs yard. Terry Snow from YWAM St. Marc has gone out of his way to help us in this process, he is well versed in dealing with Haitian port officials and through his selfless assistance will likely save us from paying a $4500 customs fee per container. It is likely that the process to effect this will take three days, but we are praying that they are available sooner. The people of La Gonave are in desperate need, and need our prayer to break through the red-tape imposed by their government.Caleb and I are comfortably set up at the Wesleyan base in Anse Galets and are not in personal need of anything. While the security situation here is not perfect, there is no cause for immediate concern for our well being, and the base will survive until the food arrives, whether it comes tomorrow or next week. Until the food is released, we will both make ourselves available to the mission here in whatever capacity we can be most useful. As soon as the food is released, we will direct our full efforts to transporting and distributing it. Please continue to pray that God guides us in every action.God Bless,Andy and Caleb
Updated Situation for Haiti and La Gonave 10FEB10
Folks,
As with any major disaster, the initial shock and attention it produces wanes quickly. And just like in every disaster in the third world, the initial outpouring of aid and support begins to fade as well. The mainstream media have begun to accurately highlight the gaps and seams of the authorities' efforts to meet the need. And we all to some degree are becoming jaded by the whole thing - even those who are staunch supporters of UN efforts. But the suffering is real, and it continues and will not relent without compassion that brings a lasting conviction to act.
Please continue to pray for the people in Haiti. Conditions as desperate as before, particularly for the people on La Gonave. They receive little attention due to the island's isolation from food warehouses and relatively small population. We will continue to make pleas for substantial food distribution to the WFP and other organizations, but expect little response - the crisis on the mainland garners their attention and focus.
We are seeing a decrease in funding for food containers but a sustained need into the next couple of months. If you haven't donated to this effort, please give it your consideration. Pass this on to your pastor or elders, let your neighbors and coworkers know, and encourage them to visit the Hands and Feet for Haiti Blog and Facebook site.
The Lord has given us a 100% accountable and effective way to provide food and medical aid to these people, and it is tax deductible even on your 2009 tax return.
Below I've provided a quick synopsis of conditions in Haiti today.
In Anse a Galets on the Island of La Gonave:
• Marines conducted a second, lengthy assessment on the 8th
• No news regarding food distribution or medical aid by UN or US Military
• Gaps in medical staff chronic, hampered by airlift limitations into Haiti
• No shelter exists for the ~30K refugees on the island, refugees arrive by hundreds daily
• Water continues to flow through municipal system, generators functioning
• In Anse a Galets alone there are approximately 60,000 people without food
• MAF providing some food and medical supplies (1K lbs 4x week - <8% of daily need)
• Bahamas Methodist Habitat has delivered 1.4K lbs medical supplies since 25 Jan
• Our shipment of 88K lbs food to be released by St. Marc customs tomorrow, 11 Feb
• Second shipment of 45K lbs food to depart Palm Beach ~12 Feb, arrive ~ 15 Feb
• Airlift of Medical supplies through Bahamas Habitat planned 2x week (800 lbs)
From the UN (OCHA) daily report:
• 1.1M fed with 2 week supply of rice in PAP area last two weeks "surge"
• Over 880K have recieved 5 day supply of rice since 12 Jan
• Water distribution to 300 centers, up to 5 ltr per day, only on mainland
• Food distribution to small population centers ineffective due to hoarding, misrepresentation
• Displaced population is migrating further, some to agricultural areas on mainland
• 22K shelters and 32K tarps have been distributed so far on the mainland
• US forces have medically treated over 4,300 Haitians since 12 Jan, most of them acute cases
• Major Outbreaks of tetanus, hemmoragic fever have not occurred as yet
Here is a link to the UN daily report (it's long and detailed):
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
La Gonave resupply prayers answered in St. Marc 9Feb10 1502EST
Van Gogh could not have painted a worse picture than what we faced this morning. Despite every effort to resolve problems we were owners of fuel that would not be released, and we owned food containers destined for the customs yard owing to improper consignment. Haitian customs people would issue a ruling, and I was certain it would not be in our favor. Their tariffs are known to be severe.
The port agent, in whose hand lay the power to help or hinder us, chose the latter course and was not physically available to speak with.
At 1 PM Caleb called and said it was all resolved. The agent had a change of heart, and the ship's captain was similarly moved, to release the fuel drums to our friend Terry Snow at YWAM who is well known in the area. The containers will still go to the customs yard, but Terry has assured us that he will have the paperwork completed in a few days and they will be released to us. This will be customs free.
For those of you who prayed with me for better communication (Peg M.!), we now have crystal clear and inexpensive conversations by cell phone! Yes, they seem to be working for the moment. The boys have access to email every night, so as my dad always said, "now we're cooking with gas".
I know that thousands of you prayed, even during the night, that our supplies can get to La Gonave. Prayer answered, and God did that by changing men's hearts. The paperwork was never repaired, the agent simply decided to forego that.
I am concerned, of course, by the delay in getting goods to the island. Still, we have seen every step of this journey that God's timing is precise and that He is in control. I know the supplies will get there when they are ordained to arrive, and that there are other purposes that may not concern us.
I urge you to continue in prayer for the next step, which is getting the food across the bay and to the people. Please pray that the Haitian people are calm, and that we are able to deliver the food safely to numerous pastors for distribution. Please pray also that the Haitians understand that a loving God came to their aid, and that they come to accept the salvation freely offered them through Jesus Christ. Please pray for our next container, still delayed in Florida, and that Josh can get the shipper to properly enter the consignment information. Also that Josh can get on a plane to Haiti rather than wait a week in Florida. There is work from him at base.
The port agent, in whose hand lay the power to help or hinder us, chose the latter course and was not physically available to speak with.
At 1 PM Caleb called and said it was all resolved. The agent had a change of heart, and the ship's captain was similarly moved, to release the fuel drums to our friend Terry Snow at YWAM who is well known in the area. The containers will still go to the customs yard, but Terry has assured us that he will have the paperwork completed in a few days and they will be released to us. This will be customs free.
For those of you who prayed with me for better communication (Peg M.!), we now have crystal clear and inexpensive conversations by cell phone! Yes, they seem to be working for the moment. The boys have access to email every night, so as my dad always said, "now we're cooking with gas".
I know that thousands of you prayed, even during the night, that our supplies can get to La Gonave. Prayer answered, and God did that by changing men's hearts. The paperwork was never repaired, the agent simply decided to forego that.
I am concerned, of course, by the delay in getting goods to the island. Still, we have seen every step of this journey that God's timing is precise and that He is in control. I know the supplies will get there when they are ordained to arrive, and that there are other purposes that may not concern us.
I urge you to continue in prayer for the next step, which is getting the food across the bay and to the people. Please pray that the Haitian people are calm, and that we are able to deliver the food safely to numerous pastors for distribution. Please pray also that the Haitians understand that a loving God came to their aid, and that they come to accept the salvation freely offered them through Jesus Christ. Please pray for our next container, still delayed in Florida, and that Josh can get the shipper to properly enter the consignment information. Also that Josh can get on a plane to Haiti rather than wait a week in Florida. There is work from him at base.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Finding Caleb and Andy in St. Marc 8Feb10 at 2155EST
Folks, it has been a difficult day but I am confident that God will be victorious. I received text messages from Caleb all morning and answered them. At one point just before noon, I had contact with Matt who told me they were in St. Marc and wanted Caleb to walk over to meet them at the Immigration building. I sent that to Caleb but did not hear a single text for many hours. I assumed they had met, were busy at work, and all was well. Wrong! I received a text in the afternoon from Caleb that wondered why he had no communication from me since last night (about 10 missed text messages from me)!. That's what I'm talking about!
Note to all who travel: satellite phones are far from reliable and expensive to boot. Another note: cell phones are working well, at least in St. Marc.
Caleb was able to borrow a cell phone from someone -- free minutes courtesy of AT&T for this month in Haiti -- and we spoke at length about all the matters at hand. Much focus on how to expedite paperwork on the shipment Josh is accompanying tomorrow or the next day so that we anticipate and avoid future problems.
The matters at hand with both fuel and food involve detailed paperwork and customs: they must display the contents of the containers, who the shipment is consigned to, and what is listed on the BIll of Lading and the ship's manifest. All these matters amount to a combination of accounting and legal right/obligation. We will be short on details until tomorrow when the real work begins. But an example of our problem is that the ship master says that our fuel is not manifested to belong to us; we have the proof of payment, but the entire manifest document must be rewritten to reflect this proof. The shipper claims we are good to go, but the ship manifest says otherwise. It's not our responsibility, but it is our problem. Essentially it is the shipper's responsibility, but we are involved.
Joyce Irvine has been kindly monitoring email with the base, and in light of the difficult schedules for staff -- and no phones -- it has been a blessing to have someone watch our back. If you have the time, you may read through the communication below that sums up some of the activity and uncertainty of the day. Many of us have been praying for good communication and God has always caused that when it was most needed. By the way, Matt has done great! I hope I can meet him someday; he has been the lifeline to this mission though I bet he does not know that yet.
The base is short-staffed and busy with work both physical and spiritual. You who have been there and follow this know that. Anyone fit and possessing necessary skills might prayerfully consider going to assist; from reports it is now only for dedicated, skilled and committed people.
Please keep the specific matter of getting our supplies released expeditiously in prayer. Please don't decide we're probably fine; we are not necessarily so at all. Cam wrote a good letter today and I would particularly encourage you to read the last paragraph. God has not done the miraculous works today to let this fail tomorrow. Romans 8:31.
Chris
PS. From Matt's email (below): did you catch that? (pun intended) -- Caleb and Andy may be running the lobster boat to ferry goods! I find that interesting because in my youth my dad had a lobster boat and Caleb grew up hearing stories about it.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Matthew Tegen
Hi,
Im not sure when the last chance that you got to talk to Caleb was but I just wanted to let you know that he was able to get a haitian phone and we have been in contact with him off and on all afternoon and evening. Right now it looks like the plan is just to off load everything including the fuel barrels. Then they can sit in the yard as long as they need to while we work out the last of the paper work over the next several days. We are going to pick up Caleb and Andy tommorrow morning at 9am at the entrance to the warf and bring them back to the island with us. I think the plan is to get them a custom to running the boat because having someone to operate our boat on a daily basis is the biggest need right now. Especially with all the food that will need to be ferried across. Things are looking good with all the paper work. We did end up in Terry Snows office today and it looks like it will be about half a week before all the papers are finished. But we have a wear house and a guy in St.Marc so once everything is released it will be easly for us to store and move stuff around. Thanks again so much for all your help and making this thing really happen.
MattOn Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 4:56 PM, CT wrote:Thank you, Joy. I spoke with Caleb and he and Andy are ready.
Caleb has borrowed a fuel transfer pump from a construction firm on board. It will be plenty adequate to move fuel to a truck.
The fuel barrels were about the first on the boat, so many containers need to be moved before it is accessible to your truck. Your folks need to know that regarding timing and plans.
BTW, Caleb has spoken personally with Terry Snow who is willing to help us and seems to have political capital at higher governmental levels. I mention that as a possible reource should we have problems with customs or paperwork.
Chris Thompson
PS caleb's satphone texting is working again, but it appears unreliable.
On Feb 8, 2010, at 3:34 PM, Dan irvine wrote:
HiMatthew is down the road several miles from St Marc. He won’t have e-mail until later this afternoon. The SAT phone is w/ Dan at the moment. I will have him call Caleb when he returns.
The plan is to pick Caleb & Andy up in front of the immigration building by 9 tomorrow morning.
Joy
On February 08, 2010 at 2:31 PM, CT wrote:
Matt -
Don't know if you get this in time to be useful.
I texted the guys that you were there at immigration. Turns out the sat phone has received NO texts since last night.
I called Caleb @ 2:15 PM, told him you were there. He is borrowing a cellphone to contact you... if that works.
I guess they are at the dock but may be sending out a scout to find you.
I suggest you call caleb satphone if you need contact. TXT no good at the moment.
Advise me also what your plans are. Ship not to be unloaded till tomorrow.
The boys have a transfer pump for fuel to your truck. Drums stay on board.
Chris Thompson
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