THE QUAKE DAY TEAM

Though much of my attention has been directed to the medical ministry at Pierre Payen this past week we also have a work team up at Borel. The team arrived on the day of the quake so this will always be a memorable mission trip for them. This team came down with the intention to put the tree tiered roof on the Gazebo here at the Borel compound. Though it has a complicated roof truss they did a really great job and it looks great. Other projects they have tackled is replacing the old kitchen drain system that continually plugged up with roots with an enclosed 4 inch pvc pipe. We are installing a second small generator just for the guest and mission houses. This required doing some new wiring and another transfer switch. The old butcher house is being remolded and enlarged as the new team work shop and also will house the smaller generator. Several of the houses needed screen repair and some replacement. Future teams will continue with putting trusses on the shop and putting on the metal roofing ,we also have two mission houses that need attention and are scheduled to be remolded as time and teams permit. The Pierre Payen compound which has seen little use the last 7 years is seeing lots of use with our medical teams and we also need to address some maintenance issues there yet this year. Even though we have had some teams postpone their intended arrival dates till later , we hope to get our schedules readjusted soon and get them here to help out with not only these projects but those we will be doing out in the communities where we have churches and schools.

LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR

What a hectic week but one that certainly shows the generosity and willingness of humanity as God envisioned. Last Saturday our first medical quake assistance team landed in port with 5 doctors and a pallet load of medical supplies. Their way into the country was provide through the donation of the use of a privately owned corporate jet out of Ft. Worth , Texas. The logistical planning and recruiting of these medical teams originated through my wonderful friends Drs. Ric and Wendy Bonnell who live outside Ft. Worth , Texas. Once we got the OK to pass through the 82nd airborne security at the Airport and drive out on the tamarack to load we hit the road for the 60 mile ride to Pierre Payen and the Project Help medical facilities. The doctors wasted no time in getting started and after making an assessment of the patients needs set to work on treating them. That night the police also dropped off 2 people involved in a car accident ,one was dead on arrival the other was treated and saved . As the week has progressed and the word has gotten out we have seen a steady increase of patients. Yesterday morning an eleven year old girl an other accident victim after being stabilized was airlifted to Miami by private jet to treat her crushed pelvis. I received word she is doing much better and should recover. This Saturday 3 member of Medical Team 1 will fly out on on the plane that brings in Medical Team 2 . Dr. Ric and Reanne a trauma nurse will stay behind to work with the new team. Team 2 is an orthopedic team which is in great demand as you might imagine and I'm sure we will see another busy week. As of now we several more medical teams in the works maybe as far as into Feb. 13th. I feel the need will be just as great when all he media attention goes away and thousands of new amputees and those recovering from surgeries try to adapt and get adjusted to their quake injuries. Anyway for all of you who have written me and lifted us up in prayer , thank you. In God's love , steve

THEN THERE WAS YESTERDAY

I'm still shaking my head and wondering why this would happen. Just when it seemed things were turning around for Haiti and the future was seeming to look up for this country I love , then there was yesterday!! What was God thinking ? Doesn't He remember we are still getting over all the damage from the summer of 2008 when we were hit with 3 monstrous hurricanes that pounded the mountains of Haiti unleashing devastating floods that killed hundreds? Wasn't there enough homeless orphans , enough parents with children swept away in the muddy waters, enough homeless families and enough hungry people? Then there was yesterday, what was God thinking !! What about that nice highway that is being built to link Port au Prince with Cap Haitein and all those nice buildings going up in and around the port city? Then there was yesterday, what was God thinking!! Doesn't he know that these people want something better than always being knocked down and having to start again the next day? Subsistence living has been a way of life here for generations finding food, water, health, a place to stay is the way each day goes one after the other never changing always the same. Yet the spirit was changing, then there was yesterday!! People were looking for a better tomorrow, what was God thinking?

Yesterday was the worst disaster I have seen in my ten years here in Haiti. An earthquake at over 7.3 Richter scale hitting a populated area of over 3 million right at the busiest time of the day, the evening rush hour. Even though my arriving team and I were put right in the middle of it at just a few minutes till 5:00pm it was not till this afternoon after finally getting out of port that we can see on the news what happened. Yesterday started like any other day that I go to pick up a team except I had 2 teams arriving 3 hours apart. I picked up my first 2 guys at about 2:00pm from their New York arriving flight. We drove over to the Deli Mart and I bought some of the groceries we would need for their 2 week stay. I then took them over to the guesthouse just west of the airport where we would all be staying for the night before heading up the coast on our 3 hour trip to our Project Help guesthouse at Borel. After dropping them off I headed back to the airport to get the other team arriving at 4:15. I arrived at the airport at about 16 minutes after 4 pm and much to my surprise they were coming out of the airport . This 30 minutes early arrival was good I thought at the moment, we would not be late for supper at 5:00. Usually flights arriving at 4:15 don't clear customs and claim baggage for at least 45 minutes after arrival. If not for God looking out for our safety we would have been at the airport when the quake hit. Instead we were standing on the balcony of the New life Children's Home looking over the hills above Port au Prince. Then the building slowly started shaking but being right beside the airport I didn't think much of it, then the whole upper balcony started undulating like waves on the Caribbean ocean. All of us in the building ran for the stairs and yelling to the others to get to the ground to safety. The orphanage staff were frantically getting handicapped orphans out of their beds and rooms. After we were all out and accounted for we looked across the city sky line where only minutes before you could see all the homes scattered in the hills above port. Slowly a great cloud of dust started rising across the sky line from up out of the city below till all was blocked from view. Then the after shocks started often at 10 minutes intervals that lasted till 2:00 am. As we surveyed our little 5 acre part of Port au prince we considered ourselves lucky , no one hurt no major buildings down. Yes many of the walls around the compound had fallen down as did part of the roof of the Chapel there were some leaking waterlines and busted things thrown off walls and out of cabinets but minor in comparison to what we were hearing on the radio. Major structures and landmarks knocked flat and thousands dead were the first reports coming in. With the continued tremors we decided we would all sleep outdoors on the ground, so mattresses were brought out, it was a very long night. The next morning we got a first glimpse of the outside as we drove around looking to find somewhere to buy fuel for the truck, at least 3 bodies were spotted still laying where they had died from being hit by fallen concrete or drug out from under fallen buildings. It took us almost a hour to get fuel as the lines were long at the few stations open. Now 24 hours later as I sit in front of my computer I know that even those reports we heard were short in preparing me for what I read and see on the Internet. The death toll may be 100,000 or even much higher. The city may soon run out of many items such as food, fuel, water and medicines. Hundreds of thousands maybe a million are homeless. People are frantically trying to find relatives to see if they are alright.

It is not for me to guess why this happened to a country that has been so far down for so long that they feel hopeless in ever thinking life will change It's not for me to know what God was thinking yesterday. It is for me me to know what I myself will do about this horrific disaster. Yes I can pray and as many were were praying for me yesterday I to will pray for those who been affected by this but I can do more. E-mails are pouring in and for hours I couldn't keep ahead in responding, money is also being send in and we are making decisions on how best we can apply it to the needs. We maybe can put together some medical teams to help those immediately as they are rescued and those who may need long term treatment. We have a fine medical facility at Pierre Payen and my reports are that many hospitals are not able to open in port or have been damaged, we may need to get the injured there. Tomorrow I plan on going back to see what is possible , no we can't do everything that is needed but we can do something and will do something. I do know that was what God was thinking when He created me and I'm sure that was what he was thinking when he created you as well. The reponses of help and prayers I have been reading show that we do care for the downtrodden, the sick, the maimed, the orphaned and the poor. I know you have probably seen more pictures of this than I have but I will post some later. God bless , In God's love, steve
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EXCITING THINGS ARE HAPPENING

As I said in my previous post we expect many great things to be happening at Project Help-Haiti this year. One thing is for sure we are seeing an upsurge in teams scheduling trips to Haiti. I just looked at the most recent team schedule and through June 19th we have fifteen confirmed teams coming to work or visit PH-H. If we should continue this trend through the last 5 1/2 months of 2010 it will be not only a busy but a record year. This though isn't the important thing (setting a record) but a barometer of mission interest that is an indicator of healthy U.S. churches.

Though I have only been in my new position two months I have had an opportunity to get some thoughts on some of our long standing ministry efforts (medical, evangelical and educational) at PH-H. Along with those ministries I have some ideas from my own ten years of experience with GAP Ministry's work in Haiti about what missions need to be doing to be affective. I have been talking with Don Dennison the Director of Cross Cultural Ministries the parent organization of PH-H about some of these possible ministry ideas.

One of the things we have agreed to do is bring our two compounds and guesthouses into better shape not only for our own teams but to make them available to other organizations working in Haiti. One of the things that has always bothered me is the duplication of ministry work and the often unneeded spending of funds on buying or leasing property and setting up guesthouses, vehicles, generators and work tools. Project Help has been in Haiti almost 43 years and has these facilities and resources that we can make available for others at a reasonable rate. These funds can be a way for us to keep Haitians employed, help us with repairs, operational costs, new purchases and keep our facilities filled with mission teams.

I'm also a firm advocate of missions working together and partnering with other organizations on similar ministries. I hope to be promoting and announcing some of these arrangements this year. I have been studying and looking at ways for my own GAP Ministry to help to improve quality of life issues facing Haitians. In late 2008 we started the "Feet Across the Mountains" ministry, which has been doing some successful work with several mountain villages in Haiti. The focus of this ministry is that of "a hand up not a hand out". In other words helping them to help themselves. This can of course involve work teams doing construction projects that can benefit a mountain community. Such as constructing cisterns, wells, dams & irrigation systems, clinics, schools and churches. Conducting community health outreach training in mountain villages as well as bringing in mobile medical, eye and dental teams on a regular basis. Introducing new agricultural techniques and crops that are low tech, environmentally friendly, high yielding and economically viable to producers. Teaching and introducing better animal husbandry and livestock breeds. Promoting, teaching and distributing small micro financing loans and possibly creating business as missions (BAMs). This is a promising idea where a business or series of businesses are set up (financed) by a non national (out of country) person or organization. They employ nationals, produce or manufacture enough of something to pay expenses, repay start up costs and profits help to generate income funding for mission outreaches. The Borel facility already has a metal fabricating shop and block making business that could eventually attain these goals.
One of the the goals that PH-H has always had is that of having a Technical School. This year it is my hope we can get these going at both of the locations we have designated as potential sites Borel and the new Frecyneau school/church complex in St. Marc. No matter what we do with any of these ministries we will be making more and better disciples. I have a saying hanging in my house in Haiti it says," Evangelize everyday if necessary use words". In God's love, steve

THE EYES OF THE LORD

Thus began my Bible verse this morning from Deut.11:12 "the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year." Perhaps on no other day of the year do so many of us look back and reflect on those things that happened in our lives. Yes we can remember the good and bad things that happened but not one of us can get back a single second to change the events of 2009.

Though the "it" in this verse was in reference to God's eyes being on the promised land of the Israelites "it" could also just as well refer to other things. Each of us could easily substitute such things as our priorities and goals, our relationships and love of others or how about successful or wasted opportunities. Then there is the work and ministries of the Church (that is all of us) not just pastors and missionaries. Reaching out to young and old, the lost and unchurched, the poor, the sick, homeless and orphaned. Just as God's eyes were upon the land they are also upon us.

This past month I had a man come to Haiti looking for ways he might get involved supporting ministry efforts there. As we sat and talked he shared his life story with me ( one of financial success), his love and passion to serve his Lord, the blessings given to him to share with others. He told me of his fear that at the end of his life he would face God and have to account for what was entrusted to him (gifts, talents and resources) he wanted to make the most of those opportunities God gave to him. Shouldn't that be a priority of all of us?

I received an e-mail this week on the passing of Pastor Jim Wallace missionary and founder of Project Help-Haiti in 1967. Though I never had the chance to meet him and his wife I do know some of their story and their pioneering missionary work in Haiti still holds me in amazement. Sometime on Tuesday Jim went to be with his Lord and gave his final accounting on what God entrusted to him. I don't pretend to know how that may have went but by all accounts Jim and Leona Wallace got the mission work of Project Help-Haiti off to a great beginning. Almost forty three years later we now have 30 churches with 6500 members, twenty schools, a discipleship training center, a clinic, a hospital, 2 guesthouses, a metal fabricating shop and block making enterprise. God entrusted the Wallace's with a vision for making a difference in Haiti through making disciples for Christ, the eyes of the Lord were upon (them) "it".

Likewise I also know that God's eyes are upon what He has entrusted to me. On November 1st 2009 I took over as the managing director of Project Help-Haiti the organization they pioneered forty plus years ago. As the year draws to a close I look ahead knowing full well that God just as he did for the Israelites has given (entrusted) me a "promised land". That through my faith and willingness to follow Him that 2010 holds a future of many blessings and opportunities. Deut.11:11 "but the land you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rains of heaven, a land for which God your Lord cares ; the eyes of the Lord are always on it. " In God's love may everyone have a blessed New Year, steve

INTERNATIONAL PASTOR'S CONFERENCE

In early November Shirley and I got to be a part of Cross Cultural Ministries first International Pastor's Conference held in Haiti. This first ever event was held at Project Help's Borel Discipleship Training Center which allowed us to host twenty two pastors, doctors and missionaries from seven countries. This event had been a long time in the planning and the hard efforts of so many showed in the successful outcome of the five day event. It was personally gratifying to my wife and I to get to meet some of the many missionaries representing Cross Cultural Ministries our denomination's international mission outreaches. Many of these people had only been names and faces on prayer cards till that evening when they arrived at our compound in Borel, Haiti. As the five days progressed a bond of brotherhood and sisterhood grew among us as we shared the efforts of our labors for the Lord with each other. Though not all the countries that CCM works in was represented we did have the countries of India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti and the U.S attending. The next conference is tentatively planned to be hosted in Bangladesh in three years.

BACK HOME

Just a week ago this evening I returned home after six weeks of working in Haiti. I had set several goals for my trip: * Meet with Project Help leadership and staff * Visit some of our 30 churches and pastors * Prepare for upcoming teams * Assess progress of on going projects

* Prioritize maintenance needs and future projects. It was also my hope to get some sort of direction as to where God might be leading as I take over the responsibilities of leading Project Help-Haiti into the next decade. I have been working in Haiti ten years now and much has changed in those ten years. Project Help has been working in Haiti since 1967 much more has changed in those four decades. One thing that hasn't changed is why we are there "to make disciples" . When I started GAP ministry we came up with a slogan on our brochures "People Reaching People" and that is one thing that will always remain in any successes we may attain in building God's kingdom. It depends on people coming to help and be a part of the work, it depends on people praying and lifting us up, it depends on people giving us the resources to sustain the ministries. I had hoped I could share with you through my blogs all that was going on while I was in Haiti but because of computer problems I could barely do e-mails. So in the days ahead I will try and share what happened the last six weeks . In God's love , steve