Haiti Relief Blog

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #20

2010-03-08T12:20:00.001-05:00

Brian has been back on the ground in Haiti since last Friday. Sorry for the shortage of updates, but Brian's days are long and sometimes it's just too hard physically and emotionally to put these things in an e-mail. For those of you who have been to Haiti, you know that it takes a while to process what you're seeing and experiencing. Also, remember that what Brian is relaying through these updates is only a small, small percentage of what he is seeing and what the Haitian people are going through. While American media outlets have moved onto new things, there is still a need for help in Haiti. Don't forget the people of Haiti.

Here are Brian's words from last night...

The last couple of days in Haiti have been primarily medical in nature. We provided a clinic at the church in Fond Parisien, we helped receive and unload a big shipment of medical equipment from Remote Area Medical that is for our friends at the Bon Samaritan Hospital (www.chadasha.org).

We are still waiting on our container that is stuck in customs. Praying it'll get released any day so we can begin getting all the tarps, tents, food, water, medicine, etc out of the container and into the arms of Haitians who need it.

Today, after leaving church, we were driving through a very poor area and there was a collapsed house and there stood around it at least 20 official looking people in hard hats and nice clothes, also some American military, some representatives from a couple large relief organizations, the entire area flagged off, while a big backhoe was putting debris into a shiny new dump truck. Of course all this made good free entertainment so dozens of Haitians were gathered around watching the event too. I asked who lived there and was informed an American lived there and had died in the collapse. I pulled over and watched them for a few minutes and it just got me thinking (which can be a dangerous thing, especially when I'm tired). All that fanfare and expense to get this American body out of the rubble; while thousands (yes thousands) of Haitian bodies still lie buried under tons of cement and rebar all through out the quake zone. There are no envoys of people going around to dig through rubble for those Haitian bodies. If they haven't had family come collect their corpse by now, then that probably means the entire family died, and where they lay under the buildings on Jan 12 will be their resting place; until a year or so from now when some UN bulldozer comes through and pushes the concrete (along with the decayed corpses) into the back of a dump truck. So as I'm watching this, the question that keeps coming to my mind is "where is the justice in this?" Don't get me wrong, if a family member of mine died in a foreign country I'd be doing whatever it took to get their body found and shipped home too. It's just I want to believe a Haitian life is as important as an American life and I think we would all agree to that. But when it comes to putting that into practice, it doesn't seem like the world agrees. Otherwise, would there be rotting corpses still under debris? Would there be kids with legs skinnier than my arms dying daily because they don't have anything to eat? Why is it acceptable for me to "get used to" the 9 year old little boy with no shoes and tattered rags for clothes coming out in traffic to wash my car window in hopes I'll give him a few pennies? 9 yrs old!? That is the same age as my son. Would I stand for it if a 9 yr old kid ran out in traffic in the states to beg for money? No way, none of us would. We'd pull over and ask him where his parents were and we'd take him to get help. But this happens multiple times daily while driving around Haiti and I realize sometimes I've grown cold to it. I don't know how to change this. Don't know what the solution is. I just know that justice seems to be very elusive in Haiti. Maybe it's hiding under some concrete debris somewhere...

Keep praying,

Brian

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #19

2010-02-21T23:26:00.003-05:00

A few words from Brian as he plans to come home for a little while. As we have said so many times before this will be a long journey to rebuild and to there will be many trips made by Brian, and hopefully at some point me, to Haiti. Please pray for perseverance for us as these times spent separated are really difficult for our family, especially 3 kids. Also for the people we are working with in Haiti and our Board of Directors, who will be charged with the task of making some really tough decisions in the coming days, weeks, and months. My prayer is that God will be the center of every discussion and that He will be made much of through the work we are all doing.

From Brian...

Planning on leaving tomorrow and this trip, like most, has flown by. I was supposed to leave today but the seat I had in a plane was given to someone else. Thankfully American Airlines is flying in and out of Port au Prince again (started yesterday) so I was able to get a flight out tomorrow (Monday). The flights/travel are still so undependable I'm telling anyone who is even considering coming to Haiti for a week to plan on being in country for a week, plus or minus a couple of weeks. Sounds like I'm being sarcastic, but really I'm not.

The last few days we've been primarily distributing rolls of plastic, heavy tarps, blankets, buckets, and hygiene items. Some of these items we purchased and some were given to us from Samaritan's Purse. From an accountability standpoint, it's been really nice being able to see the materials get directly into the hands that need it. The pastors of the churches have done a great job at coordinating this and keeping things running smoothly at distributions.

We've continued to go to the UN meetings to learn how we can get food aid for the communities we serve but so far those meetings have been fruitless.

I want spend a minute to tell you about a friend of mine who is so valuable to me. His name is Hippolite Fanfan (pronunced like eepoleet). Hippolite grew up in one of the orphanages we work with. He, his wife, and 4 month old little girl live in conditions that most would deem unlivable, yet he just constantly emits joy. He is a guy that has helped us for years when we bring mission teams down, but since the quake, he has been like my right arm. He is my GPS system (he knows how to get everywhere), he is my voice (because my creole is still just good enough to get me into trouble - he gets me out), and he is my muscle (he works like a mule). More importantly he is my teacher. He teaches me daily what real faith and generosity is (when I give him some food and I see him later privately giving it to some hungry children). He teaches me about worship (as he sings creole hymns all day long in the truck and as he dances at church). He teaches me what selfless prayer is (as I listen to him praying fervently not for himself, but for things like "blessings for my friends in America", "for the Haitian govt to love Jesus", and "for my brother Brian to have a good life"). Yes, that last one stings. Attached is a photo of Hippolite. I wish I could send you a sound clip of his laugh (which I'm lucky enough to get to hear many times each day) but for now a photo will have to do. Will you do me a favor and take just a few minutes right now and pray for my good friend Hippolite, his wife Nadine, and his little girl Ladine? Thanks for your prayers.

Keep praying,

Brian

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #18

2010-02-18T09:56:00.002-05:00

from Brian:

Wow, I just read my emails - and I am so excited for the village of Belloc and so excited about how sovereign God is. First, I read the information from Rachel about Crossings giving approx $2000 for the community project I'd just a couple hours before presented in an email; then minutes later another email comes through from our friends at World Wide Village committing to another $2000!

I have the pleasure of getting to drive up to Belloc tomorrow and give them the great news that the men of 30 families will be employed for 2 months! God is so awesome I just can't stand it! I'm going to purchase a bunch of sledge hammers and hacksaws (to cut the rebar) and wheelbarrows today so I can take it to them to help get things started off right (most of the hammers they had the other day had sticks for handles and their 1 wheel barrow was literally falling apart).

Bondye bon tout tan!!
(God is good all the time!!)
Keep praying,
Brian

By the way, we had only given out approximate numbers, but let me give the exact numbers in case anyone is still thinking this is coincidence, rather than God.

The exact price of the project as written on the crumbled yellow paper that the men presented to me is $29,568 Haitian dollars. At today's exchange rate that is $4,224 in US dollars. The amount of checks from the Crossings Church and World Wide Village...ready for this...was $4,253. That gives me an extra $29 to put towards hammers. God is so cool.

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #17

2010-02-17T22:04:00.002-05:00

The latest from Brian...

Monday I spent the majority of the morning at the UN Headquarters near the airport in Port au Prince. It was quite an experience. Lots of Europeans smoking cigarettes and talking with funny accents (this from the guy from Tennessee). I was amazed how big the operation is. Literally thousands of people in an army of mobile trailers and air conditioned tents. I guess it takes all that to coordinate all the efforts but I was definitely confused. We did get registered with them as a small NGO (non-governmental organization) which allows us to be considered to receive food and other support so we can in turn get it to the communities we serve. Lots of sitting in meetings, being sent from trailer to trailer, and paperwork, but hopefully it will pay off if we can help get the supplies people need. I have a follow up meeting Friday morning where we should learn more about the system they are putting in place to help get supplies to the small NGO's like us.

The rest of the day Monday was spent looking for, purchasing, and loading the trucks for the food distributions in Belloc, Coq Chante, and Camatin. God continues to reveal himself even through things as mundane as looking for beans (story too long to type now but short version is God provided a "bean miracle").

Tuesday we left at sunrise to head up to the mountains with a flatbed truck and 2 pickup trucks full of food. The pastors of the churches were so excited and appreciative. The amount we took seemed so big when you are loading a flatbed truck. But it seemed so small when you are looking at the sea of people coming to request a little bit of the food for their family. There is just never enough to help everyone we see.

I was really impressed at Belloc. There were several young men in the community starting the back-breaking work of demolishing the remnants of the collapsed church, school, and orphanage and busting the concrete into tiny pieces (with only small hand tools - no backhoes, no jack hammers, no electricity, no dump trucks) which they then moved to the road on a wheel barrow. They were turning a rocky muddy path into a decent gravel road. They came together and proposed me funding a community work program to continue doing this; to completely dismantle the rest of the school, church, and orphanage that collapsed, as well as, several other collapsed concrete buildings in the area - so they could make the road into Belloc a better road. Their proposal was to employee 30 men, working 5 days a week, for 2 months. The cost was $29,000 Haitian dollars (about $4,000 US dollars). I love that they were not asking for a handout. They just wanted an opportunity to work, help their community, better the road to their village, and support their own families. I'm praying the funds will come through so we could fund this program and employee these 30 men for 2 months. Many people over the years have heard about the 80% unemployment in Haiti and assume the Haitian people are lazy but this just isn't the case. They want to work. They want to provide for their children. But with no industry, no factories, no manufacturing, no tourism, there are just no jobs available. Hopefully, as Haiti rebuilds, that will change.

Keep praying
Brian

I received this update just a little while ago. As I read it I was amazed. Not at the tenacity of the Haitian people, I know how incredibly tough they are, I was amazed at God. Just a few hours ago I opened an envelope from a local church and found a stack of checks marked Belloc. Because of the obedience of these people, we are already halfway to reaching the $4000 to be able to funding the Belloc Community work program. How cool is God?? And a big THANK YOU to Crossings in Knoxville!!

Blessings,

Rachel, Brian's wife

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #16

2010-02-15T14:49:00.002-05:00

Saturday and Sunday were busy days...

Saturday we went to Coq Chante, Camatin, and Belloc to meet with the pastors and to decide the best way to do food distributions for those 3 communities. Each place was having church services as part of their 3 days of national fasting & prayer. We were able to check on the Coq Chante orphans which are now temporarily the Camatin orphans. Their transition into their new facility is going well. We did, however, encounter a minor bump in the road. As some of our caretakers were removing a few of the remaining items at Coq Chante to take to Camatin a few of the people living in the Coq Chante community didn't understand what was happening and thought our caretakers were stealing from the orphanage. As with most situations in Haiti a calm day can turn into chaos in a hurry. The few people quickly convinced many others that the caretakers were stealing and tempers flared and soon there was an angry mob of people hitting the 4runner with sticks and throwing rocks. Long story short... after sitting and talking (well, sometimes there was yelling) in a Haitian police station with the chief of police, the caretakers, and the angry mob, everyone realized it was just a misunderstanding and the angry mob was happy to learn that we were temporarily moving the orphanage to a safer place where the children can be well cared for. The angry mob then climbed into the back of my pickup truck and I gave them a ride home. Only in Haiti.

Sunday was Great. We went to an early church service at City of God and then a later service at Savane Pistache. The worship was energetic and it was awesome to see their faith. Having church (at both places) in a courtyard with rubble all around us was kind of surreal. The people at these churches have a faith I aspire to have one day.

Gotta run we have a busy day ahead of us with meetings at the UN Headquarters, several thing to buy at hardware store, and some more food to purchase for the food distributions we'll be doing tomorrow.

Keep praying,
Brian

Welcome to Moe's!!!

2010-02-15T10:14:00.003-05:00

Team up with Moe’s Southwest Grill to celebrate:

Hearts for Haiti Spirit Days!

Come into Moe’s Southwest Grill

9450 S Northshore Dr or 1800 Cumberland Avenue

on February 15^th (TODAY!!!) and 16^th !

Moe’s will then donate 10% of the net sales to our efforts with Haiti Serve!

Spread the Word!!!

update: Harvest Field Ministries #15

2010-02-13T09:07:00.000-05:00

Today (Friday) I was really encouraged by what I saw in the Haitian people...

I started the day with the committee of pastors who help oversee the network of 22 churches we work within. Although they lost their president, spiritual leader, and my good friend, pastor Ronnigue Gueillere, they were still upbeat and hopeful. We talked for a couple hours and they shared with me their hope of rebuilding (structures) but they also shared their desire for the church (the people) to become bigger, better, and stronger. Some of these men are displaced, they all have families with young children and food is scarce in the city, yet they had amazing attitudes and remained joyful. If I were in their shoes and someone asked what I could pray for them about I'd answer "food, shelter, clothes, etc". I want to share with you their responses, first, so you begin to grasp the spirits of these men, and second, so you can all lift them up in prayer.

Pastor Colbert: To be the best servant of God that he can be; for his children to grow up focusing, not on material things, but instead on the Kingdom of God

Pastor Serge: That he would have just a bit of Solomon's wisdom and Jesus' love so he could remain in Gods will for the rest his life.

Pastor Vicere: That the churches would be strong and that the churches could minister to the hurting people in this horrible time for Haiti.

Wow....I was so humbled as they shared these things with me. So much poverty, desperation, and need, yet not one material need was mentioned.

Another exciting thing to watch were all the churches in the city. Several key church leaders around the city called for 3 days of fasting and prayer. Every Christian church in Port au Prince we drove by was filled up and overflowing out the doors with people - praying and worshiping, and lots of it. It was awesome to see their faith in action.

The rest of the day was spent at our churches in Fond Parisien and Ti Marche. These two places need a few structural repairs but they are still standing and usable. Pastor Jouness at Fond Parisien was so pleased to see us visit. He shared with one of our team about the desire to build a shower and toilet at his church, and the cost for it all would be $500. He has been saving some of his own money for this for months but only saved enough to purchase the toilet and still needed the pipe, a small cistern to hold the water and for installation. The team member offered to pay for it and it was like Pastor Jouness had won the lottery. Lots of hugging, smiling, praying, and thanking Jesus. There is a gratefulness among the Haitian people that is hard to explain, and sweet to watch. (By the way Jouness didn't want the toilet for himself; he wanted it so Americans would have a private place to use the bathroom if they come to do clinics or visit his church and school.)

Pastor Timitus at Ti Marche was equally pleased with our visit. They have a well that a generous family in Knoxville, TN paid to install several years ago and it serves thousands of people but has been broken for nearly 4 months now. The cost to repair is $4,120 Haitian dollars (less than $600 American). Some of the people are walking miles to get unsanitary water filled with bacteria and parasites since they can't use this well. We are going to arrange to have the hand pump replaced before we leave so it can be back in service and helping the community.

Tomorrow we are heading up the mountain to visit Belloc, Camatin, and Coq Chante. Really looking forward to seeing our girls.

Keep praying,
Brian

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #14

2010-02-12T08:59:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has been to Haiti understands that things very rarely go as planned. Some days are worse than others. Makes it really hard to accomplish what God has set before you. Some thoughts from Brian at the end of his first day back in Haiti...

First day back in Haiti...

Was informed that the return flight home next week has already been postponed due to no landing slots at the airport.
Found out that the key to our flatbed truck is locked in a house that no one has a key to.
The food we planned to give away to lots of really hungry people may not be available.
The power steering in the 4Runner went out.
Pretty much a normal first day back in Haiti.
Brian

Just Pray...

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #13

2010-02-11T07:19:00.001-05:00

The last week and a half have been busy with coordinating efforts, generating support, and meeting with lots of churches & individuals who might be interested in helping our work in Haiti.

It was a joy to be able to bring Pastor Menes Valme to the US a few days ago. Pastor Menes is a special man and a trusted counselor and evangelist for our 22 churches. He hasn't been a full-time pastor for a couple years due to serious health issues. He is in the states to see a doctor for his kidneys (he has severe diabetes). Pastor Menes lost his 19 year old daughter in a school collapse. Beremy was to graduate from high school this year and wanted to go college to become a doctor. As my wife, Rachel, sat with him the other night looking at pictures of her, Menes just began to weep and shared "Beremy told me she wanted to get married some day and have a daughter so I could have a grandchild that would dance for me". Pastor Menes, like many Haitians, has a lot of grieving and recovery ahead of him.

I'm leaving this morning to return to Haiti. It's been less than 2 weeks since I was in Haiti, but it feels like much longer. I think often of our pastors, orphan caretakers, school teachers, etc., many who are sleeping in one of the refugee camps and doing anything they can just to get a little food. It's been tough to reconcile that as I lay my head down each night on a nice soft pillow in warm house protected from the weather.

A couple of the guys going with me will be focusing on making some structural and electrical modifications to the Camatin facility. We hope by this time next week that the facility will be 100% ready for all the orphans from the Coq Chante orphanage that collapsed (only about 20 minutes away from Camatin). A few of the orphans have already moved there with a portion of the caretakers. Some of the families of the orphans are still reluctant to see the children move in to another concrete structure, because of fear of another earthquake. But as time goes by, people are slowly starting to sleep indoors again and feel more comfortable inside buildings. I think this will be a slow process of overcoming this fear for many Haitians.

Part of our team will also spend time at our collapsed facilities in Port-au-Prince, in the City of God and Savane Pistache areas. We've purchased tons (literally) of food with money given from so many generous Americans and will be distributing it in the locations in the city, as well as several of the communities we work in outside the city in more rural areas.

We appreciate everyone's continued prayers and support.

Keep praying,

Brian

Reflections on Baby Isaac's Life

2010-02-10T12:08:00.001-05:00

The following is from Lance Robinson:

Many of you know that I have been in Haiti and the Dominican Republic over the last two and half weeks working with our partners involved with the Haitian earthquake relief efforts. What you may or may not know is that part of the way through this time my participation in relief efforts went from playing a small role in the food distribution and medical relief of thousands to an unexpected focused effort to save one.

While delivering food to an orphanage, we came across baby Isaac. Six-week-old Isaac was very sick and he grabbed my heart. A nurse who was a part of our team made the decision that he needed immediate medical attention. With the blessing of the orphanage director, Isaac was swiftly transported to a medical clinic and I became his custodian in helping him receive medical care. At that point, my journey became exclusively, albeit briefly intertwined with his.

Isaac passed away yesterday, February 6, 2010, after giving it a good fight and despite the best efforts of many caring people. I have been working in children-at-risk issues in many countries for years now and have had many children and their stories affect me. However, the intensity of attempting to save Isaac’s short life, within the larger framework of the untold sufferings of Haiti, has had a profound impact on me, my family; and as I am continuing to discover, many others as well.

I feel I was almost thrown into Isaac’s saga, so the lessons that follow are not about what I was able to do but what was confirmed in me as I moved through this time with Isaac. At the very least, Isaac’s s

tory is a reminder that the claims of justice and love mean very little unless they affect someone tangibly. It also reminds us that often times the best efforts at love and justice are small and focused. His life has been a beautiful illustration that whether we are fighting for the justice of thousands or fighting for the life of one, it’s worth it.

I thought I would pass on a reflection I wrote about halfway through my time with Isaac. At minimum, I hope the story of his life will move you to consider that his story, one of an orphan suffering in the third world from lack of adequate health care and basic needs, is multiplied into the millions. May Isaac move you to consider what you can do on behalf of the millions of orphaned and vulnerable children worldwide.

I would also like to ask, that if Isaac’s story moves you to act or give that you drop me a note to let me, my family and our organization know how his life has had impact.

Wednesday Morning Reflections, January 27, 2010:

As I just rubbed Isaac's back he jolted and I reflexively said, "It's okay bud, someone's here with you."

I've been trying to figure out my role with him. Dad? Maybe. Lots of unknowns still with this. Custodian through this medical crisis? Yes. I am here to make sure that he's properly cared for.

But what if the worst happens and he never pulls out of this? Then why all this? Why drive him wildly across the dusty countryside of Haiti to a disaster response medical clinic? Why have him cared for by experienced doctors who have converged here from all over the world? Why hop on a military chopper with him and rush him to the best hospital we could find in Santo Domingo? Why do blood work, hook him up to monitors, pump powerful antibiotics into him, etc?

The thought came after I touched Isaac and said that someone's here for him that in a profound sense every single human being has value; and everyone of us, just like Isaac, needs someone "there" for us whether we realize it or not.

Perhaps to give this to someone even when you are not sure what good it is or role you are playing is precisely the way God wants us to love. Perhaps I will only be here for Isaac for a short part of the journey or if his journey is short. Perhaps it’s for the long haul. Perhaps I'm supposed to be this for Isaac and perhaps he's teaching me something about love.

The frustrating part of this is the finitude of the human perspective. We don't always know our role in the story. I certainly don't understand the massive amounts if suffering and "aloneness" that has been going on all over Haiti and it angers me. It makes me question God or wonder if he's the being we think he is or even wonder if he's there at all.

At the same time I find myself praying. Praying that somehow in some way those who were trapped or continuing to suffer will at least be given a touch from God to somehow experience that they are not alone. This is my prayer but my realistic side recognizes that this may not be the case. People suffer and die alone all the time. Then I find hope calling me to believe this for them in eternity. And love calls me (and all who say they follow Jesus) to incarnate this love to those that come into my journey. Love also calls me/us to stand for justice for the vulnerable and oppressed.

I truly wish that I could resolve the mysterious tension of not understanding the sufferings of this world and the anger and cynicism that it brings with the simultaneous life-giving and joyful narratives of love, justice, hope and compassion, beauty, truth and grace. The latter spurs me to want to challenge this present order of things through trying to live out these life-giving stories with presence, hope, grace, justice and love.

I want Isaac to sense someone is there for him and at this stage of life that is perhaps all that it is for him—a "sensing". But for the value of his life, and for as long as our paths cross, I can be that for him.

I think that's what we all need. From God and from others to know or believe someone is there for us however long our lives are and whatever twist and turns they take.

This is to me the message of the incarnation: To show us a God who is loving and present amidst the often times dismal, inexplicable chaos around us. To give us a hope that someday this will all be made right. To love, value and be present with us for who we are no matter who we are—especially little Haitian orphans. Today I choose to believe someone is here for you Isaac and for me as well. Despite the "why's" I choose love.

Lance Robinson

President/Founder

Equitas Group

Haiti Serve General Presentation

2010-02-10T07:50:00.000-05:00

The general information for Haiti Serve, Inc. is now available to view online.

Introducing.... Haiti Serve

2010-02-09T10:49:00.003-05:00

Reflections from a Team Member.

2010-02-03T10:59:00.002-05:00

Here is an email that we received that describes Mindy Meyer's experience last week in Haiti/DR:

How do I describe my last week of life in Haiti and Dominican Republic...very humbling and very amazing! God revealed again and again that He is in control and in charge. The people are joyful even in trials and very challenging to my spoiled American mentality. They are grateful for little if any and offered love and even their food to this overly fed American.

I will try to briefly describe the daily events. This is really short, but I want you to know where I was and what our team did there. We partnered with ProVision Foundation, Cedar Springs, and many other haitian and knoxville churches. ProVision had a presence in Haiti & DR (Dominican Republic) prior to the quake. They are partnered with many churches and orphanages. For the most part, the acute phase of needed medical care was closing when we got there (12 days after the quake), but MUCH more will be needed in the future and is still needed.

Jan.23: Saturday at 6pm get a call from Molly Marks (friend and Pediatric NP) that she wants me to go to leave on a plane at 6am Sunday to help with Medical relief in Haiti

Sunday January 24th: Arrive at Knoxville airport at 6am, meet Terrye Guthe (Surgical Tech from Cedar Springs Church)flight leaves for ATL, arrives late, but by grace of God we make our connection for a flight from ATL to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Entire plane is almost all Medical and Relief teams, meet Dr. Will McAlexander, surgeon from Arkansas who will be working with us. Arrive in Santo Domingo around 4pm, drive two minivans to the Jimani Project (about 20-30 minutes from the Haiti/DR border, but is in the DR) at 10:45pm. At Jimani, Dr.Clint Doiron shows us the patients they have seen. In the last few days they had done hundreds of amputations. Patients are out on cots in the tent city in front of the orphanage due to fear of another quake or aftershock. Patient laying on cots outside externally fixated for orthopedic injuries. Unbelievable. Saw 3month old pulled from rubble 3 days ago who was being monitored for seizures. The number of amputations is overwhelming, and there is no physical therapy centers and at that time no walkers, crutches, etc. (they did come later). There are not such thing as prosthetics for these people (if you want to try to get PT and prosthetics contact ProVision through the blog). Go to house in Jimani to sleep. Meet Marie and Angeline, a little girl about 6 years old who had a skin graft to fix an old severe burn injury. THe skin graft enabled her to use her arm which had been fused from when she caught on fire. A group had found her at an orphanage where her grandmother had taken her due to her injuries since she could not care for her, a plastic surgery team had come to Jimani, so they took Angeline and repaired her arm. Once healed, she will be able to return to her family. She was on antibiotics and only ibuprofen for pain. (THESE PEOPLE ARE AMAZINGLY TOUGH!)

Monday, Jan 25th: Leave Jimani, head into Haiti by minivan. Stop at a number of orphanages who are helping with victims of the quake. Stop and get on Tap tap (a covered truck where people ride in the back. This is mass transit in Port au Prince (PAP)) so we can make it up to an orphanage in the mountains that ProVision works with. Word had come back that some kids were sick and needed checked out. Most of the orphans were orphans prior, but two had just arrived who were orphaned by the quake. Pull into the orphanage....the kids are pure joy! Immediately hug you and want you to hold them. Molly and I go in to check out some kidos. Molly checks Isaac, the 6 week old who we had heard was sick. He is VERY sick. Another girl, Marta, most likely has pneumonia and is obviously malnourished. Molly and Renee Moldrup leave immediately to get these two kids to Jimani for treatment. I check out Ashley, has upper resp. infection. Treated with Amoxicillin. Treated lots of kids for dehydration. Haitian kids LOVE pedialyte! It is not that these orphans are neglected. It is that the care givers are doing the best they can with what they had. Molly would return to this orphanage later in the week and check every child. Everyone healthy and Ashley is doing better on the amoxicillin. You see God's hand in this...He brought all the sick kids to our attention within minutes. Praise HIM!
Leave orphanage, head into PAP. About 20 people sleep in house in PAP, medical teams meet up for first time. Tomorrow will head into city to set up a medical clinic at Pastor Jude and his wife, Yannick's church. Take a very brief cold shower and head to bed (hot showers did not exist in PAP). Just so you know, many children are brought to orphanages because their parents cannot care for them. They bring them hoping for better for their kids. They chose this over selling them into child slavery which is a major problem in Haiti. Please understand the adoption process even in a crisis like this needs to be discerning and somewhat slow to protect these kids from being scooped up for child trafficking. Child trafficking can include slavery for work, slavery for sex, or even for organ harvesting. It is disturbing, but VERY real. Understand our American mentality of we want it fast and we want it now, is not the best or safest answer.

Tuesday, Jan 26th: Set up clinic at church, see about 200 patients at clinic. I ran the pharmacy. (Lots of drugs donated from all over. Thank the Lord for David Forsberg's google so we could find out what medicines were what since some were definitely not in English). Treated LOTS of kids and adults for worms, due to dirty water. Will McAlexander amputated a woman's toe on a church pew in the clinic. Go back to house. Eat. Head to bed for clinic tomorrow.

Wed, Jan 27th: Clinic again. Had lots of help with pharmacy from Mae & Kassey (a 16 & 18 year old, from the church who would write instructions in french so the patients would understand). Lady comes in septic from what we believed to be pneumonia (start IV and gave rocephin), decided to transport her to Jimani. Did so on a flatbed truck. She would end up airlifted out of Jimani to the Comfort where we would find out she had an empyema (pus pocket in her lung...make you VERY sick and she would have died w/o medical treatment). Over the two days at the clinic saw between 400-500 patients. Head back to house. Plans for tomorrow to do a small clinic in a baute (unbelievable rural village - mud huts with thatch roofs) and distribute food/

Thursday Jan 28th - Do medical care for baute. 3 providers (myself included) see patients around a flatbed truck. Man in my line complained of spot on his head that wouldn't heal. Have him remove his hat and Philip (my translator and Jude and Yannick's son) says whoa. Come around and a lipoma (benign tumor) the size of a tennis ball is on the back right side of his head. I call for Will who removes it for the man. We find out later. He had wanted to have it removed two years ago, but couldn't afford the 40 US dollar price. He had it removed with no local anesthetic, only morphine and antibiotics. We all saw probably a total of 200 patients in the baute. Head back to PAP house. Find out we are going home Saturday and another medical team is coming in Tuesday.

Friday, Jan 29th - Leave PAP and Drive to Santo Domingo and have first hot shower. Will leave on flight for ATL tomorrow

Saturday, Jan 30 - Drive to visit Isaac(the 6 week old from the orphanage) in the hospital in Santo Domingo (he was airlifted from Jimani). He is doing okay, but not well. High suspicion he has AIDS, electrolytes will not balance. Orphanage did know mother died of AIDS. Head to the airport. Arrive home greeted by my incredibly loving and amazing husband, our two Godchildren (the BEST!), and my very supportive and loving sister.

Words will never do this trip justice. I am beyond thankful for God calling me there and providing me the means to do it. To Him be all glory. I am EXTREMELY grateful to all of you who have been praying, encouraging, and supporting me while I was gone. I can't thank people enough for shifting plans so I could go, to my new employer agreeing I should absolutely go, and to my incredible husband who said it was a must and reminded me of my previous words about wanting to help with medical missions. So there it is, a very brief synopsis. I defintely feel a piece of me is still there. I long to care for these beautiful people and know I will return to Haiti again. I am thankful that God reminded me after Molly's first phone call of when He called the disciples He said follow me and they IMMEDIATELY left their nets and followed him. This is what He asked of me and I will tell you that obedience to Christ is better than anything. I wavered, and I hate I did, but I am thankful that a struggle became obedience. I am thankful my husband pointed me to Christ, and putting my money where my mouth is. I am blessed by God for it. For me now, to live in the ignorance of self-absorption is not an option, but will definitely be a temptation. I know from this God has refined me to be more like Him, and being more like Him means being a more compassionate and loving person, no matter where that is. Love to you all. If you are ever given the opportunity to go to Haiti, do NOT pass it down. There is no way you can go there and not be changed!

Mindy

Update from Restavek Foundation

2010-02-02T16:42:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Restavek Foundation's Response

^{A Message from Joan Conn, Executive Director of the RestavekFoundation}

_{February 2, 2010}

It seems that people are trying to return to some normalcy since the earthquake. Haitians are very resilient people, but this is testing even their resolve. They have endured more than any people should have to endure: hurricanes, famine, corruption and now one of the most destructive earthquakes in our history.

Schools are shut down across the entire country, even in areas not physically impacted by the earthquake. People are migrating all across Haiti and this is placing heavy loads on small countryside communities. It seems that every department in Haiti has experienced some disruption in their communities.

English students acting as interpreters in Haiti L-R Alex Nadine,Marcel, Emmanuela, Kedar, Whisler

Approximately one million people have been displaced from their homes. For those whose homes still stand, their fear keeps them from returning. Just last night we were in one of the worst hit communities and my husband, Ray, was asked to inspect a woman’s home. He went inside and all around the house to look for anything that would be a sign of instability, but he did not find even a crack. He did show her a hole in the floor and they both laughed when she reported that it had been there for years. He informed her that the hole was probably more dangerous than the house falling on her. She felt reassured to move back inside her home.

The container we received on Monday before the earthquake was nothing short of a miracle. This food was packaged by Crossroads Church with Kids Against Hunger last May, and we have been working to get the container to Haiti ever since. The container arrived December 7, but due to all the red tape on the Haitian side, we were unable to get the container released until January 11—in the meantime paying $30 U.S. dollars per day to keep it on the dock. As I look back, it was a true miracle that we were delayed. We had food and blankets (provided by Kara Beardsells group), shoes and clothing (provided by Silly Bean and Kate Finger’s Plato’s Closet), hygiene products and basic medical supplies collected by Mimi Clark and her small group. The food was supposed to feed the kids in our program this year; the blankets were to be distributed to our children so they would no longer sleep on the dirt and concrete floors. Little did we know that the food and blankets would sustain us during the first few days after the earthquake and provide relief to thousands of others.

We have passed out tons of food (literally), feeding over 5,000 people—including the children from our program. Daniel Rouzier with Food for the Poor (FFP) provided us with our first supply of food, but there was just not enough food being distributed to FFP to keep us supplied. Clint, my son, went to the Dominican Republic to find a good food source and returned with a truckload of beans and rice. We now have a good resource from which to purchase what we need.

One reporter asked me why we stayed in Haiti. The question took me by surprise—we never thought leaving was an option. We have friends who died as well as some of our children. We are finding more and more children every day but also realize that many may have headed to the countryside with the people they lived with prior to the quake. We have much to do.

All of our staff survived, for which we are very thankful. Roslyn Phillips, our child sponsorship coordinator, has emerged as a true leader in our efforts to find our children, even though she experienced the loss of her father during the quake. Ray and Roslyn are working with our school directors to see if we can open school again because children have nothing to do and families need to feel that life is happening. We also want to make sure the children are fed at least once a day.

This week, we are meeting with all of our school directors to see how we begin the process of restarting school. The national schools will not open for some time as many are destroyed and others will need to employ teachers to replace those that have died.

We rented a very large house that we will need to furnish to use as transitional housing for 30 children. Staff are being hired to help manage this for us. Some are coming from the U.S. and others are friends we know from Haiti. Jean Robert is helping coordinate this effort because he knows best what these children need. Our English program in Port Salut, supported by the H.E.A.R. Foundation, has provided several translators for medical doctors on the ground in Port au Prince. They all volunteered their time and felt honored to be able to contribute something to the relief effort.

Every day Jean Robert goes out to see how children in restavek are being treated. He comes upon some very sad and disturbing situations. We cannot rescue all of these children, but we report what we see to UNICEF and other organizations working on this issue. Many people are collaborating on the issue of restavek and hopefully something good will come from this terrible tragedy.

We will never be able to express our gratitude to all of you who have donated to our efforts. Your support and concern has kept us going.

Joan Conn, Executive Director of the Restavek Foundation

The Next Team has Landed!!!

2010-02-02T12:58:00.003-05:00

Here's the crew for this week's medical team:

Charlie Barnett, M.D. Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

Charlie Bozeman, M.D. Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

Jeff Robinson, M.D. Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

John Law, M.D. Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

Evonne Davison, Chadasha Foundation, Nashville, TN

Becky Warren, Chadasha Foundation, Huntsville, AL

Teresa Overholt, Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, TN

Connie Juranek, Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

Here's the rest of the team headed back to the states:

David Forsberg

Michelle Roberts

Julia Keylon

Children Singing at Children Hope and Hospice Orphanage

2010-02-01T17:11:00.002-05:00

Here the children are singing their orphanage song...

Vaccination Information

2010-02-01T14:31:00.002-05:00

Many people have asked about vaccination requirements for traveling to Haiti. There are no requirements, but here are some recommendations:

Hepatitis A -First shot gives immunity, but second is required at six months. $20/shot

Hepatitis B-First shot gives some immunity, 2^nd shot at one month, third shot at six months $40/shot

Tetanus and Pertussis-- $35

Typhoid-$45

Polio (if you have not had an adult booster) $25

MMR (if you have not had an adult booster) $50

H1N1-No charge

There is not a malaria vaccine that is 100% effective. You can take an anti-malarial prescription.

For persons travelling to Haiti, no appointments are necessary, but you must go to the main Health Department Building at 140 Dameron Avenue, 37919. Telephone number- 215-5070

Please Note: All shots take two weeks to take effect!!!

Team Transition

2010-01-31T17:13:00.002-05:00

The team mentioned in the previous post made it back in time to see the snow in Knoxville. The next team (leaving Tuesday) has now been briefed and is preparing to go down.

Updates are HERE!!!

2010-01-30T10:49:00.000-05:00

Please take some time to read through some of the updates for this past week. It has been a super busy week and most of the team that helped to establish the clinic in Port au Prince is heading back to home today.

Please pray for traveling mercies for:

Norris Hill

Melissa HIll

Steve Moldrup

Renee Moldrup

Terry Douglass

Mindy Meyer

Terry Guthe

as they brave the weather and make their way back to Knoxville today.

Our next team of doctors/nurses is gearing up and preparing to head down this upcoming Tuesday, February 2nd, to continue to provide care at the newly establish clinic for Pastor Jude's Church.

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #12

2010-01-29T02:11:00.000-05:00

Update from Brian Lloyd of Harvest Field Ministries

The last several days since I returned from Haiti have been very busy. We have been working diligently to get more help for our friends in Haiti. Here is an update on where we are on several fronts.

Our medical team is back safely – they worked extremely hard in difficult situations, spending the majority of time in Leogane, which was extremely devastated by the earthquake. They helped hundreds of people and we are so thankful for their willingness to give. We are pleased that our flatbed truck was able to be utilized as an ambulance for several days to help transport those who could not make it to the hospital. The medical team we worked with, a group of great guys from Iowa and Minnesota, (associated with worldwidevillage.org) are incredible and we hope to be able to team up with them again soon.

Our structural engineering team arrived back safely after spending several days reviewing the damage at our Camatin Facility, as well as working on rainwater collection at Coq Chante. We are excited that the damage to Camatin is primarily cosmetic, however there is one area in the back of the building where the partially collapsed cistern structure is still leaning against the building and there needs to be some remediation and shoring installed so we can start the process of removing the cistern. Once that is complete we can begin utilizing the Camatin facility to house the girls from Coq Chante, for storage and distribution of supplies, and for bringing medical and work teams in to serve in the hard hit areas. We hope this can be accomplished in the next 2 weeks so we can start putting the building to good use.

The 6 adopted children are home and adjusting well to their new homes and families. Life has been chaotic for them the last few days with the major transition and lots of press coverage, interviews, and meetings; but things are now beginning to settle down (a little) for them. I’ve seen most of them several times in the past few days and they are doing great. Their parents have done a great job getting them together and letting them talk on the phone to each other. They love the snow flurries they’ve seen for the first time, but are not a big fan of the freezing temperatures in Knoxville right now.

Future Teams are something we are looking at and we are so appreciative of the many people who have contacted us in recent days about going to serve. Our teams going down in the near future will be very specific task/gift oriented teams. Due to the safety issues, logistical challenges, and extremely chaotic working conditions, we have to be fairly selective about who will be going down on teams to serve. If you are one of the many people who have offered to serve, we say thank you for your willingness, and ask that you keep that passion for the long-term because we will need many teams going down for months & years to come. But for the immediate future we will not be able to take lots of teams down like we have in previous years. Pre-Quake Haiti and Post-Quake Haiti are two entirely different worlds. Thanks for your understanding of this, and look for more info in the future once we get to a place that we can take lots of teams down and serve effectively.

We are working diligently on the fronts of 1) fund-raising and 2) networking with the large relief organizations (Red Cross, UN World Food Program, World Vision, etc.) We have had lots of meetings, phone calls, emails, etc. and there are lots of ‘irons in the fire’ but haven’t had any significant commitments yet. Of our 7 facilities that completely collapsed, 2 of them were in the city, but the rest are in very rural areas where the relief efforts are not reaching yet. We believe partnering with larger organizations will allow us to help the people in these rural communities, but we need your prayers for God to open doors and lead us to the right people who can help us to minister to these hurting communities.

Many have been emailing us inquiring about adoptions and the humanitarian parole process to bring Haitian children to the United States. We are staying in touch with US Immigration officials, the State Department, and adoption advocates in Washington DC, and there is still much unknown, but what we do know at this point, is that it will not be an easy process. There are still hundreds of children that were in the final stages of adoptions that have not been able to come to the states yet. The state dept has said that once they complete all the adoptions that were already in the pipeline, they will then begin reviewing the humanitarian parole applications. The process has slowed down significantly in recent days due to the concern that lack of investigation could allow some children to be placed in unsuitable homes or even worse, trafficked and sold into sweat shops, child porn, organ harvesting, etc. Our prayers are that the Haitian government, US government, and the international community will find common ground to work together to expedite this paperwork so orphans and abandoned children can come to the states to strong families that will love and care for them. We will keep you posted if we find out new information on the adoption/humanitarian parole process.

For those of you who have given financially, with prayers, or offers to help we sincerely thank you.

Keep praying,

Brian

For more information about what we do you can visitwww.harvestfieldhaiti.org. You can also follow Harvest Field Ministries on Facebook and Twitter.

Bondye bon tout tan!

(God is good all the time!)

Update: Chadasha Foundation #11

2010-01-28T14:08:00.000-05:00

second update from Kris Meyer (his wife Mindy is serving with the team in Port au Prince)

Just got off the phone with Mindy again this evening. Many of the cell phone providers are allowing free calls to/from Haiti until the end of the month so comminiction has gotten easier. Today they traveled to remote villages away from the clinic. They saw mostly minor medical issues many related to dehydration. She did mention one man inparticular had a tennisball sized tumor on his head that they removed. She said the hardest thing is that numming medicines are is short supply and many people are having to suffer through thier surgery. Mindy also mentioned that the environment seems to becoming more violent as people are realizing they have lost everything.

She asked that we continue to pray for safety as they travel back to orphanges tomorrow and then head to Santa Domingo to prepare for the trip home.
I can't wait to see my wife again!
Kris

Update: Equitas Group #2 (pictures)

2010-01-27T14:36:00.009-05:00

Here is a photo update from Lance's time in Port au Prince as he was helping to serve Restavek Foundation.

Assessing needs of a program that works with 125 children who even before the earthquake were too poor to send kids to school or feed them well. We left food for 400 meals. They had no

food before then. There also 25 other kids whose parents are unknown that r living in streets and will show up in Sat for a meal.

Staff that are working this NGO are living in the tents as well.

Ray Conn and Jean R. Cadet are delivering food to immaculate conception.

Lance, Ray and Jean R. Cadet are at the immaculate conception compound.. This is Ray explaining the effects of the earthquake on the structure. So far everything looks pretty good and solid

Delivering food to Sister Martha, an 86 year old, Belgium nun who as been serving vulnerable Haitian children for over 30 years!

After strategizing for dispursement into the community for relief efforts. Jean R. Cadet spends time encouraging the staff toward continual dedication & sacrifice during this time of crisis, which the staff has already proven themselves to be doing. This staff is simultaneously trying to be who they need to be for their families, sleeping outside, and bringing relief to their communities as child advocates.

The program which we just left (tent city), this little girl is a part of that program. There is no food we just enough for 400 meals. There are 125 kids in program whose parents cannot afford to feed or send them to school.

25 other kids that are living on the streets now that know to show up on Sat for a meal.

They had no food until we got there.

-Lance

Update: Chadasha Foundation #10

2010-01-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

this is from Kris Meyer (his wife Mindy is on the team in Port au Prince this week)

Hey everyone,
I got the first phone call from Mindy tonight and she said everything is going well. I will try my best to summarize our conversation but I'm sure I won't do it justice.

The team of 25 or so are staying in a small home just outside the city and they do have one (cold) shower to share! They have some of the local haitian women that cook them breakfast and dinner each day. Typically they just snack on what they brought from home for lunch. She said the days are hot and the bugs are bad, however you don't really notice it because they stay so busy.

The first day was spent setting up the clinic and going to orphanages. Mindy said there are so many kids in need of attention both medically and nutritionally. She mention two girls had to be brought down to the clinic from treatment and how after only 2 days what a difference a little medicine and food can make! Today Mindy stayed the clinic and help with the medication distribution. She said some of the drugs are in English and others in Spanish so it was not an easy task getting everything right! Tomorrow they are planning on heading back out to different orphanages surrounding the city. She made a comment about how scared the kids still are with everything going on.

As of now Mindy is planning on coming home on Sunday. She asked that everyone continue to pray for these people who have lost everything! Pray for the medical team's strength and knowledge as they really don't know what they will see each day. She wanted to thank everyone for their prays and support so far and can't wait to share all of her amazing stories.

Kris

Update: Chadasha Foundation #9

2010-01-25T13:10:00.000-05:00

update from Phil Guthe (his wife Terrye is on the first medical team establishing our clinic in Port au Prince)

Terrye borrowed a cell phone (probably from the blue network) and called home this evening (Tuesday 1/26/2010). This was day one in Port au Prince (PAP). They set the clinic up yesterday afternoon and worked with patients today. They are being housed in an actual home; about 20 people altogether. The few women shared beds and rooms while the men slept on mattresses on the living room floor or out on the deck. It is a car caravan commute in unison to the church where the clinic is set up. I asked Terrye if she feared for her safety and she said no. Needless to point out, she commented on the structural devastation she’s witnessed although the church and the house remained in tact from the damaging earthquake and aftershocks. Even more touching to her, obviously, were the people milling about looking helpless and homeless. I don’t know if they advertised the clinic’s opening but I asked her about specifics of what she did today. I could tell she was exhausted with her day’s work (a spouse knows these things by voice) and she was guarded in her speech. “Well, we had to amputate a toe and another came in with a really serious wound that needed attention.” I thought maybe it was a slow day since they just opened their doors so I asked how many people she thought came through the doors. She said, “Oh, probably 200.” Oh my gosh! So I asked her other than the two specific cases she mentioned, what did she do? “I just loved on these people, hugged a lot and told them I loved them. The boy now missing a toe smiled the entire time I was with him.” I asked her if she had food & water, “Yes, I have the bags of beef jerky I brought.” I pressed her on this and learned she’s had meals and a feast was being prepared for supper as we spoke. She was so tired she couldn’t really understand my question regarding her sustenance. The jerky is still unopened as it has not been needed.

I couldn’t gather if she has showered but she claimed to be dirty. Terrye’s idea of roughing it is staying in a Holiday Inn instead of a Marriott so this is a real challenge for her. I asked if she used the mosquito netting. She built a tent over the bed where she and her bed buddy slept. She claimed her arms are now covered in bites but she never saw what got her. I call them no see ums. She was told upon her return to the USA to de-lice and take a round of antibiotics to ward off whatever she may have picked up while there. She has told those she’s with that she’s good to stay for as long as she’s needed, beyond a month if necessary. I asked her if she thought she was being a help or just in the way. Her answer came with a hint of emotion, “Oh yes, I’m needed. I’m doing whatever I’m asked to do. Jimani is a full bore MASH unit. While I was there en route to PAP, two huge helicopters picked up loads of patients and transported them to what I guess would be a hospital ship. I was a bit overwhelmed at the extent of surgical procedures being performed in Jimani and feel I’m in a place in PAP much better suited for me. We almost lost one little boy today but I think he’s going to be fine now.” Her comments to me are a bit understated, don’t you think?

Phil Guthe

Update: Equitas Group

2010-01-24T09:27:00.002-05:00

From Lance (currently in Port au Prince)

I've been with Ray Conn and Jean Robert since last night. We are distributing food today, Ray is assessing building structures at schools they work with to see if usable (immaculate conception is). 85 yrs old nun, sister Martha, is going strong and won't leave even though others are trying to get her to. When we came she was encouraging her monitors who go into the homes where restaveks live and try to change their situation for te better. 35 of them are homeless, not sure about meals, lost lots of friends and family but are going out to these homes and distributing food. When we pulled in with beans and rice they had just run out the day before.

Most devastating news was an orphanage that collapsed killing the girls in it. Jean Robert and I climbed the rubble and unexpectedly came upon workers removing two of the girls. They had removed five already. Horrible. Many of these girls had escaped a life of domestic servitude as a restavek.

Good news, you remember the restavek girl on the CNN piece they followed around with Jean Robert? The producer couldn't get her off her mind and is adopting her. She is staying at the house we are at along with two other girls in process of adoption.

Gotta go, maybe can tell more later.

Lance Robinson

President/Founder

Equitas Group

They've Landed

2010-01-23T15:20:00.000-05:00

Hey, just wanted to let you know that Brian, Kevin, and the kids have landed in Ft. Lauderdale and are going through immigration. They are saying they will land at TacAir at 4:45 this afternoon. I think it will be later, but that's what we're hearing.

Update: Chadasha Foundation #8

2010-01-23T11:43:00.006-05:00

Dear Family and Friends,

First of all, I deeply appreciate all the love, prayers and support
you are sending my way. I feel very honored to receive such grace.

So today from chaos, some order. We got up with roosters making noise
just before sun-up. Mike Cobb and I were in the OR by 7:30 AM and
worked together until about 6PM. We made up for yesterday’s
frustration thanks to my new hero, Dr. Ben an ortho/hand surgeon from
Boston (last names hard to come by here). Looks like Harry Connick,
Jr. so Ben Hollywood could do. He arrived yesterday, and was stymied
by the lack of an OR for him to use. Within hours he happily accepted
his new calling in life to run the OR schedule for 5 operating rooms,
11 orthpaedists, 2 plastic surgeons and an unknown number of pending
patients. Without picking up a scalpel he did more than enough to
credit him with the gold star of the day. We sent our #1 OR ortho
nurse, Danya from Omaha/Creighton , to the orphanage/hospital to line
up surgeries since she understood our capabilities. Patients have to
be moved by ambulance the 200 yards from orphanage to hospital. Lots
of bumps, dust and heat. Lots of lifting up and down, carrying
stretchers. No one complains. Ben said we did 58 surgeries (still
without Xray) with only one cranky surgeon from CA giving him a hard
time. So do we feel well accomplished? I just don’t know how to even
measure progress here.

As we worked along thru the day we heard various reports. Some are
checking in with CNN, some have family sending odd news reports asking
if we can confirm. Luke, I saw your note about US support. I hope
your “tree shaking” reaches the right person. So from “rumor” the
USS Comfort is either full or not doing anything. The U of Miami has
a field trauma unit at the airport in PAP, and may take some critical
patients from us, but the critical probably can’t handle the car/truck
ride. Clint/Dave Vanderpool/Luke are all pushing for help to get
patients moved out of here, we all wonder which agency is going to
step up to the plate.

We still saw patients today who had no significant care since their
injuries. I honestly don’t know how they are getting here. One was a
70 year old lady for whom Mike did external fixation for a femur
fracture, completely by feel, since no Xray. We are all amazed by the
strength they show. They have tolerated so much pain, and frankly we
sometimes just look at each other in the OR wondering HOW DID THIS
PERSON SURVIVE THE LAST 10 DAYS? The Haitians look after each other
quietly and with dignity in the most bare of surroundings. We had one
woman today whose right arm was cut off to get her out of the rubble.
Mike revised the amputation and has her lined up with plastic surgeons
from Gainesville for skin grafts on Sunday. She never stopped
smiling, never complained, yet I am sure she is in pain. And there
are far more just like her.

I have so many stories, I may not be able to keep them straight. Some
are just too terrible to put to writing. This is a small part of one,
with a lot omitted that goes into the too terrible category. Our
OB-GYN professor from Lincoln Memorial Medical School in TN saved a
young woman’s life early today. Dr. John Williamson has been coming
to Jimani with Clint for years. A nurse came looking for him late
last night. The patient was about 20 weeks pregnant when she was
crushed in the quake. The baby died and she appeared here out of
nowhere with high fever. I really don’t want to go into the medical
issues, but when John told her husband emergency surgery was needed
at 2AM, he agreed without question. When John said, “Do you
understand how serious this is?”, he replied “Because you are doing it
now at 2AM I know it is very serious and you are doing the right thing
because no one in my country would ever have an operation at this
time”. Clint was there for the whole surgery, and I know he will have
much more to say about it.

There was a very minor tremor here about dark, none of us felt it but
the patients and their families lying on mattresses on concrete floors
did and ran out of the orphanage into the parking lot area. I did not
see this, but 2 patients with IV’s jumped from the second floor. 3
docs went to check them out. Danya was just getting things in order
again, putting people back to bed, when we felt another, bigger jolt.
This is the first thing I have noticed so I am now in our bus typing
away for awhile. I’ll go check on my post-op patients in a little
bit.

When we occasionally stop and look beyond the Jimani Project at the
surrounding views, this is a beautiful spot. There is a large lake
with vistas to green cliffs in the distance. Hawaii is the only place
I can compare this to. But, it is much hotter than Hawaii! Must
have been 100 degrees in the sun at midday and 90 in the OR. I
consumed well over a gallon of fluid today. I can’t imagine how this
adds to the stress on our patients, we keep pushing fluids and using
antibiotics far more easily than I ever would at Twin Rivers. Thank
God we have all of that we need.

The CRNA’s (nurse anesthetists) working with me have kept my patients
magnificently pain free with little of our usual 21st century devices.
We can’t even monitor oxygen levels appropriately. Bill Ragon who
came with us from Jackson, TN “trained in” 2 new arrivals from
Knoxville today during surgeries Mike and I were doing. There we are
in a OR with screens covering open windows, doing surgery, while Bill
quietly gave his replacements (I do believe it will take 2 to replace
him) his advice given our resources. By the way, I have not heard a
patient crying in pain in the recovery area immediately post-op. The
anesthesiologists and nurses running the recovery/post-op areas are
just incredible. We keep pushing them to discharge patients so we can
bring in more. They have 6-8 patients on cots in small, hot rooms
plus patients in the hallways, the laundry room, and every alcove
available. They have never said a sour word doing the toughest of
jobs.

Speaking of jobs, I really love what I do. My Dad said he enjoyed 20%
of what he did in dentistry, and that made up for the other 80%. I
have always felt fortunate to enjoy 80% of what I do, more than making
up for the other less enjoyable 20%. And come to think of it, at this
moment, I don’t know what the 20% I thought I didn’t enjoy is anymore!

The volunteers here are just amazing. Not just the docs and nurses,
but everyone. I just met Caleb Pal from Huntsville. Luke, he is the
man (I swear he looks 13 and has never shaved) Troy Moore got to come
down to hook up the satellite link. I decided his IQ is too high for
me to count to. He put a blow up bubble on the roof with the dish
inside and is working on a second. He brought a black box smaller
than a carry on suitcase that will be a cell tower giving a mile
radius for our phones to connect to it. We can then call US through
any cell provider one would have just as if in US. He says we are a
“cell service provider”. He’s working on how to call in to Jimani
right now, next to me here in my dorm room. I am sure he hasn’t had
any time to think about why he got into this. I think 99% of
volunteers are here because they felt called by God. This is one of
our usual discussion topics over power bars and bottled water. I met
a young surgeon yesterday on his arrival. He was so arrogant the
nurses told me they wouldn’t work with him. But today he was crying
along with the rest of us, his eyes the “Jimani red”. And he started
asking for advice in the OR, which I guarantee never happened before.
And he does great work! He did a “free flap” of skin from the abdomen
to a calf wound for one of my 11 year old patients to cover a huge,
painful open wound in record time. And within minutes had figured out
how to use orthopaedic hardware to fix a 7 year old’s jaw, that was
broken in 2 places. So I guess he just didn’t know where the phone
call that got him here originated from until today. We are all being
changed by our time here, but it was incredible to see this man become
so different so fast.

Several of us rode our bus into the town of Jimani tonight. The local
hospital looks more like a bus depot to me. 40 people milling around
outside, tiny windows, little light. Would not pass for anything
medical in the US except a warehouse. We just gawked, speechless. I
have truly led a sheltered and charmed life, and assure you all of my
pals here feel exactly the same.

So we now have enough orthpaedic surgeons here that I feel comfortable
leaving. I had always planned to return 1/23, but with the
reservation that I couldn’t if I was needed. Mike Cobb came planning
to stay for 2 weeks. We both feel comfortable about going since we
have more than enough colleagues to hand off to. The humanitarian
crisis may be more apparent on CNN, but so far we all agreed the many
(over 100, 58 the last 2 days I think) patients we put external
fixators on have to stay here. Where can we send them with pins and
bars on their legs? They can’t walk on these and many have both legs
injured and can’t even use crutches, which we actually do have. And
some need further surgery.

So far we’ve had by one count 500 patients here at one time. We just
have no next place to send them, so many will stay and limit the input
of more. Clint won’t turn anyone away, he has faith that his
pleadings will hit the right ears soon.

Everyone is heading back into the buildings now, but our bus driver,
Francisco, is keeping me under protective custody on the bus for a
while longer. I don’t think I can get off!

If you look at a map of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Jimani can
be found due east of PAP, just inside the DR. I am told evacuees
can’t go south to Jacmel on the coast because the roads are impassable
and the same to the west. Most will head east? We all wonder,
another topic of usual discussion.

This is disjointed due to several interruptions to check patients in
recovery, plan a last minute surgery for someone else to do in AM, try
to convince Clint to go to bed (took 3 of us on that one), and calm a
young journalist shaken by the jolt we got. Francisco finally allowed
me off the bus and we’ll let her sleep there. I actually have a bed
tonight for the first time! With a nurse anesthetist waiting to take
over in the morning when I leave.

So tomorrow I get back on Chuck Strickland’s jet for our trip back to
Knoxville. I have hugely mixed feelings about leaving but I know this
was only Phase 1, I can’t imagine not coming back some day, especially
since Clint has learned I know how to get here.

Again, thanks for your thoughts and prayers,

Love,

Dad/Ed

Update: Haitian Adoptions

2010-01-23T11:43:00.003-05:00

Dr. Douglas,
I will remain in contact with you regarding the coordination of food and supplies distribution times. I apologize that there is a delay in getting that food to you.

Regarding the adoptions, I am in regular contact with the Department of State. At this time we have been informed that the priority is going to be given to orphans who have already been matched with U.S. families. They are looking into creating a policy to assist those children who have not been matched but have been determined by the Haitian government as adoptable.

I am keeping a list of individuals who are interested in adopting from Haiti. Once the policy has been announced, I will make sure that the individuals are notified of the procedures to adopt and assist them in doing so.

Please let me know how we may be of further assistance. I will remain in contact you regarding the food need.

Have a good day!
Rhonda

FYI this is similiar to what we've been told. There are currently approx 2000 adoptions that paperwork and dossiers had already been submitted and we were told that new adoptions or emerg humanitarian parole evacuations will not be started until all the current adoptions are completed.

The guys with jcic were amazing yesterday for us at the embassy. They are an advocate group from DC helping facilitate these adoptions. We would not be taking these 6 children home now if it weren't for their assistance.

The us embassy was a mess. Dozens of Haitian children waiting to be adopted sitting everywhere. Some babies. The whole place reeked of urine.

They had one window open to help people. State dept needs more help there if they are going to help people get their children out quicker.

Keep praying,

Brian

Yes, this is true. Thank you for the forward. Information changes often so I will keep you updated. As soon as we hear that adoptions are being processed for children not currently matched with families, we will begin work immediately to assist. The people with jcics were wonderful yesterday, I remain in touch with them as well to try and assist as quickly as possible. Thank you very much! Rhonda

Update: They're coming home!

2010-01-22T17:49:00.002-05:00

Wanted to share this photo taken this morning. The kids are coming to Knoxville to be adopted.

Thanks BE TO God!!!!

Misery beyond misery, but also joy beyond joy!

2010-01-22T17:43:00.002-05:00

Update: Chadasha Foundation #7

2010-01-22T17:41:00.001-05:00

We are headed into Haiti again today to set up a few medical clinics and
feeding programs working through the local church. Very hands on stuff
so we can also get a base of operations set up in Haiti and will be able
to take volunteers. Please pray that we would make the right contacts
and we would be safe.

Nor

Update: Cure International #2

2010-01-22T17:40:00.001-05:00

Where to begin? So many moving parts are finally starting to move together thanks to each of you, a ton of prayer and a very big, mighty God! Even as I type emails are pouring in with exciting updates… here are just a few stories from past 2 days.

- Many of you were aware of the large “aftershock” on Tuesday night. The movement was significant for all at HCH… the few patients and staff inside fled outdoors (where the majority of patients are anyway) and some semblance of chaos ensued. After a few hours, ORs and bandage stations and patients were re-positioned. Imagine constantly resetting up wards and ORs…

- Yesterday also marked the first land route supply truck CURE managed to send in from CURE DR. The arrival of another anesthesia machine, drinking water, sleeping bags and more surgical supplies was just in the nick of time… big thanks to all the CURE DR Hospital employees who pulled that off all while running a hospital with major staff shortages.

- Samuel Reyes, Spiritual Director with CURE DR, has been working hard to develop a team who will meet the pastoral needs of the Haitian people CURE is assisting at HCH (Hospital Comuntae). Samuel connected with a Haitian pastor/chaplain/Christian radio host, Seguerre Velleuve, in Santo Domingoearlier this week. They are arranging for a trip to PaP where they will convene a meeting of pastors, plan for immediate and long term spiritual and emotional needs, and assess what is the there to plan for this critical part of CURE’s ministry to the Haitian people.

- After much packing, unpacking, sorting, repacking, a large 737 full of urgently needed supplies, food and volunteers touched down at 7:30am in Port au Prince today (Thursday)AM.

Over a dozen volunteers flew in from around the USto prep the plane. Faithful members of

VillageChurchin Dallasarea organized transport, meals, and much more to make sure these brave souls were prepared to go into Haiti. After seeing whatVillageChurchand the volunteer doc/nurses did… I understand at least 1 TX restaurant comped the whole meal.

On the receiving end in Haiti, our amazing ground logistics guys Johnny, Jeff, Andrew, spent most of last night wheeling, dealing and renting vehicles. Resulted in a combination of buses and cargo trucks arriving. Pictures of the offload don’t do it justice and I have a feeling some of the volunteers road on top of boxes.

This team arrival, along with an earlier team this week, brings a HUGE boost in morale and needed supplies. We were literally out of food/water for our patients, staff and volunteers… not to mention the ongoing challenge to keep specific items.

HCH and HAH now have supplies, minus a few critical items which are in various staging areas in the US awaiting shipment, and can continue to operate, change bandages and heal suffering patients.

- some of the initial stories out of Haitifrom our docs are tragic. Last night a man with spinal cord injury was refused admittance to military/med evac hospital. Reason: they are overwhelmed with gun shot wounds, therefore he’s not critical. Sent him back to HCH. He is dying as I write.

- some of our patients are not familiar with gangrene and are afraid of life saving amputations. One woman showed up with a black arm and small baby (baby seemingly okay). After seeing the doctor and hearing that she needed an urgent amputation of her arm to save her life she refused. Staff begged her but she refused, stating that her husband would surely divorce her if she had no arm. She walked out and left.

- Our first patient, Bernandine, from Haitiended up in our facilityin DRtoday. She will be operated on tomorrow. See our blog (http://blog.helpcurenow.org) for more info… what that story doesn’t capture is that our team in DR is also 1) running its normal pediatric orthopedic services; 2) the hospital is having problems with electricity itself; and 3) we are short staffed with doctors still away/along the border.

But as with the theme here, a couple CURE friends “showed up” in the DR at the right time. Dr Shawn Standard and an American Nurse are joining Dr Ted Beemer, Medical Director, and together they are strategizing how to deal with running a hospital with a dual focus.

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #11

2010-01-22T17:06:00.001-05:00

Brian's final update before coming home to rest for a few days... Thank you God for your provision and your protection.

Wow the last few days have been really chaotic. Sorry for lack of updates. Tuesday was spent preparing for our team to arrive and procuring more clean water and food, some for the Coq Chante orphans and some of which we took to distribute in the hard hit community of Belloc. Our first team arrived Wednesday and we spent the day recieving them and our team of docs started right away treating the injured.We spent the day yesterday in Leogane working with some great docs from Iowa and Minnesota. We partnered with them and the teams provided amputations, took care of lots of broken bones, dislocated pelvis, major lacerations, etc.

The damage in Leogane is indescribable. I don't know if loss of life was as bad as PaP, but destruction is the worst of any places I've been - PaP, Carrefour, Jacmel, etc. I'd estimate 90% of the buildings are destroyed. It was devastating.

Today I'm leaving and I'm so torn. My heart is here and wants to help but in many ways I feel so inadequate to try and meet the needs. I feel as if I'm trying to put a band-aid on a severed limb. The only thing that makes me feel a peace about leaving is I have the honor and privilege of escorting 6 Haitian children to their parents who are anxiously waiting in Ft. Lauderdale. These 6 children have been in the process of being adopted. Due to the disaster the State Department has sped up the paperwork and is allowing these beautiful kids to come to loving families in Tennessee. None of these 6 angels will ever have to be hungry, they'll never have to cry because their bellies ache from emptiness, they'll never have to carry a 5 gallon bucket of water on their head for 2 miles if they want a drink of water, and they'll never have to see dead bodies that lay piled in heaps on the sidewalk for days.

Attached is a photo of these kids that have a new life afforded them. I pray as I go back to the states, that we'll find generous people who desire to continue helping, long term, the children of Haiti. We can't bring them all the states, but we can help participate in rebuilding a better Haiti, a safer Haiti, a Haiti where every child can get an education, a Haiti where children dying day of starvation and malnutrition isn't common place, a Haiti where a child can get access to a doctor when they're sick, a Haiti where God is exalted in their communities. That's the Haiti I dream for.

Keep praying
Brian

Update: Chadasha Foundation #6 (pics)

2010-01-22T01:50:00.006-05:00

Supplies for surgery and care providers.

Meeting of all care providers.

Clint who was the founder and is a heart surgeon in Knoxville Praying for lady who has a giant tumor under her tongue that completely fills her mouth. Leading surgeon for this type
Patients in a room...

ICU's with orphanage in background

caskets for children
patients in orphanage 400+ today. Tremendous amount of care required for a lot Of serious injuries.

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #10

2010-01-21T16:17:00.002-05:00

Hey guys, this one is from me, Rachel. Brian has been overwhelmed with the task at hand the last few days and has not been able to send us an e-mail update. So, I will try to summarize what I know to the best of my ability.

It has been a hard few days on the ground in Haiti. The work to procure food, water, and necessities has been difficult. Since Brian has been working by himself trying to get enough supplies to care for many, many people in these three communities, it is harder to do. Making contacts in this situation is near impossible because everybody is in need and tensions are high, even among relief workers. Pray that people there, especially among relief workers and other ministries will remember that we are all called to help and we are all apart of the same kingdom... His Kingdom. There is a job to be done and we must lock arms, regardless of faith and culture, and complete it together. Differences in culture, hunger, stress, lack of a home, lack of anything causes fuses to be short, but our God is bigger than that and we believe He will pull us through! I know I've said it before, but just keep praying!!

Some good news is that a team from our home church, Whitestone Church, arrived in Jacmel yesterday with 6 men and some supplies. There were 3 doctors, 1 EMT, a really cool former military guy (Tamara, that's your guy!!), and a pastor. The things they were able to take will take care of some immediate needs in the community. The docs say that the Coq Chante community is okay medically so today they will be trying to go closer to Leogane to see if there is a need at the hospital there. There has been very little medical help in this area as of yet so we are hoping that they will be able to get to work and do some good.

About the girls... the first thing is that Brian says they are so resilient! He said they wake up in the morning and pray, sing worship songs and then play, read, run, laugh, tease, and do hair... what a beautiful picture. They are continuing to sleep in a little house or shack that is close to the orphanage. I'll attach a picture. Remember as you see this picture that there are 17 girls, 1 helper (Madame Gaspard), and her two youngest sons. They will not go into any concrete building, and Brian says he doesn't blame them a bit after the 6.1 "aftershock" they had yesterday. Which leads me to ask, what in the world distinguishes an actual earthquake from an aftershock, good Lord 6.1.

We also have good news on the adoption front. Through a government program called Humanitarian Parole, we are going to be able to get the children who are already in the process of adoption here. Thank you God! This includes, Wousami Bates, Islande Stout, Odette Coleman, Benita Rudd, Jayla Fitzpatrick, and Valencia Zimmerman. Be praying for these kids and their families to make a smooth transition. We are also hopeful that will be able to get the rest of the girls here through the same program. We have had an overwhelming response from our Whitestone Church family to take the girls into their homes and love them, take care of them, and make sure they get what they need. Thanks Whitestone family!

As for Brian, he is doing well. He is exhausted emotionally probably more than physically. He has a strong love for the people of Haiti and seeing them in this situation tears at his heart. We are hoping that he will be able to come home in the next few days to rest, pray, refuel, pray, shower : ), and pray some more. There are lots of decisions to be made and they are larger than any one man. Pray for clarity and discernment. Pray that God continue to guard his heart and to give Brian a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Thanks to all of you who have given financially to Harvest Field Ministries or just to help Haiti in general. More than that, I would like to say thank you to everyone who has lifted Brian, our family, and mostly the Haitian people up in prayer.

If anyone would like more information on Harvest Field Ministries and the work we do in Haiti please visit www.harvestfieldhaiti.org.

Blessings,

Rachel Lloyd, Brian's wife

Update from CURE International

2010-01-21T14:24:00.002-05:00

- Samuel Reyes, Spiritual Director with CURE DR, has been working hard to develop a team who will meet the pastoral needs of the Haitian people CURE is assisting at HCH (Hospital Comuntae). Samuel connected with a Haitian pastor/chaplain/Christian radio host, Seguerre Velleuve, in Santo Domingo earlier this week. They are arranging for a trip to PaP where they will convene a meeting of pastors, plan for immediate and long term spiritual and emotional needs, and assess what is the there to plan for this critical part of CURE’s ministry to the Haitian people.

- After much packing, unpacking, sorting, repacking, a large 737 full of urgently needed supplies, food and volunteers touched down at 7:30am in Port au Prince today (Thursday)AM.

Over a dozen volunteers flew in from around the US to prep the plane. Faithful members of

Village Church in Dallas area organized transport, meals, and much more to make sure these brave souls were prepared to go into Haiti. After seeing what Village Church and the volunteer doc/nurses did… I understand at least 1 TX restaurant comped the whole meal.

HCH and HAH now have supplies, minus a few critical items which are in various staging areas in the US awaiting shipment, and can continue to operate, change bandages and heal suffering patients.

- some of the initial stories out of Haiti from our docs are tragic. Last night a man with spinal cord injury was refused admittance to military/med evac hospital. Reason: they are overwhelmed with gun shot wounds, therefore he’s not critical. Sent him back to HCH. He is dying as I write.

- Our first patient, Bernandine, from Haiti ended up in our facility in DR today. She will be operated on tomorrow. See our blog (http://blog.helpcurenow.org) for more info… what that story doesn’t capture is that our team in DR is also 1) running its normal pediatric orthopedic services; 2) the hospital is having problems with electricity itself; and 3) we are short staffed with doctors still away/along the border.

This Ain't Mississippi!

2010-01-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

As a resident of Port-au-Prince for the last year and a former liaison to non-profit and faith-based volunteer groups working post-Katrina for the White House, I wanted to pass on to my volunteer sector friends my thoughts on the beautiful, incomprable American volunteer community that I adore and despite their passion and prior experience why Haiti might still hand their asses to them if the try to venture into earthquake response. Haiti handed mine to me for 361 days prior to January 12 and that was before a 7.0 earthquake with very serious aftershocks reduced much of it to rubble. It is a wonderful country that I fell in love with with phenomenally talented, intelligent, and vivacious people, but Haitian friends concur that the general level of dysfunction is so severe that it feels like it brutalizes its inhabitants almost daily. My aim is by no means to discourage contributing to the cause, but rather to try to harness initial response energies into the most helpful relief projects possible and whenever possible taking the price of your airfare in and instead giving it to a cause unless you have a specific skillset requested by a group already operating on the ground. New reports come to me daily of more and more groups running to the rescue efforts, but I fear that we might soon be in a position of rescuing and struggling to feed more American volunteers than Haitian survivors and hope along with what I know is the right-hearted spirit of our armies of compasion that this tide can be stemmed.

Haiti is a beautiful country with vistas that even the most cosmopolitan traveler would argue are among the most spectacular in the Caribbean and thus the world. Port-au-Prince has a relatively small (for a city of its size), vibrant and motivated group of businessmen, entreprenuers, educators, and faith-based leaders. I know of almost NONE who have left the country even though they could have and I could not be more proud of the vision, intelligence, and courage they always display but even more in this moment. These Haitians who know their country intimately, have experience in operating in an extremely complex and dynamic context, and who have a long term stake in its restoration process are those we should be pinning our resources to.

And in this moment, Haiti feels a little bit like Jurassic Park. This is not a mission trip zone (while in longer term recovery efforts the whole army of compassion will be critically needed), but rather a place best suited for the skillsets of militaries and trained experts in rescue and logistics coordination. No shortage of stories have been offered so far regarding the myriad infrastructure, governmental, medical and every other kind of challenge facing the country, so I will avoid retelling those here but will say that aside from downtown many friends are reporting little to no violence. People are hungry, not "looting" in anger, but more often than not just trying to help their families survive.

Before heading towards Haiti or the Dominican Republic as a hopping off point, please ask yourself some hard questions. Do I have a resource that will allow me to communicate with Haitians? Very few Haitians speak English and Haitian creole is the most common language spoken, while many also speak French. Without the ability to speak and in already stressful situations where time is of the essence and patience for translation is minimal, language quickly becomes a very large hurdle. Do I have and am I able to bring the resources I need to survive there for weekson end? And will I be okay with feeding myself with that supply while thousands around me have nothing? Haiti's port typically only unloaded ships twice per week before the storm, so the destruction of the port has rendered the main food importing structures useless. The main food supply coming into the country are rations that are already in short supply for the many victims. Please consider consulting major volunteer coordination operations such as HandsOn Network and AidMatrix for in-kind donations. Would you have a way out? Haiti does not have road signs from Port-au-Prince pointing the way back to the Dominican Republic and transportation even before the quake was sporadic, unreliable, and potentially dangerous. You cannot drive yourself back into Texas or Georgia and since the port is down there aren't even boats. Experts on the ground now need to be directing their every energy into saving Haitians and I am so thankful for and proud of those who are.

Standing with fellow evacuees in Santo Domingo last Thursday night, I met 3 remarkable men who had begun their first mission trip to Haiti just one day before the quake. They had to leave behind the bodies of three of their fellow missionaries in the rubble of their work site. I was struck by their hearts despite what they had been through and even then their desire to return to continue serving. It is precisely that spirit of service that makes America great and we must continue to foster it while also ensuring that the means through which we want to apply our energies and compassion translate into a realistic picture of our desired ends for my beloved Ayiti, cherie.

Anne

Update: Chadasha Foundation #5

2010-01-21T06:26:00.000-05:00

Here is a first hand account of what it is like in Jimani, from one of the doctors there this week...

It is almost midnight here and seems much quieter. The volunteers
here are from everywhere. California, Texas, Nebraska, NY, Louisiana,
Tennessee, Brazil, huge group from Puerto Rico who come at night in
starched white coats (haven’t asked yet how they manage that), and of
course Missouri.

It is heart breaking to see the suffering of these Haitians. We feel
about cried out, and then another situation comes up and one can find
4 gray haired orhtopaedic surgeons with tears we can’t control. The
Haitians sing together in the night, unbelievable. They want to
comfort their hurt. I operated on a 14 weeks pregnant, 20ish woman
today and through the haze of medication she was trying to sing. Dr.
Mike Cobb (Jackson, TN) and I both were red eyed with that. He
believes she was singing a religious song of praise to God.

We usually never know how they come to be here at Jimani. We had a
young man come to us at the pre-op area with an X-ray of his
grandmother’s hip. She was in a van, if you can call it that. This is
the only X-ray I have seen here, and was obtained in a nearby town
where he told to bring her here. She has a partial pelvic
dislocation. Craig Greene, a trauma specialist from Baton Rouge put
our last external fixator on her 2 hours ago. We hope to get more
from the Domican Republic tomorrow. The Puerto Rican in charge of
their group, a pediatrician, promised to help us get more. Luke,
thanks for all your efforts on the procurement and money raising side.
I will send you a separate email with special requests.

Turns out the helicopter guys who are helping us try to get Xray
equipment are Mormons from Utah. They are flying 6 orphans to Miami
tomorrow and have the adopted parents waiting! I am very impressed by
the energy of these young men and how fast they make things happen.

It is hot here, like August in Houma. No mosquitoes, thank God. The
one real OR room is air conditioned and we’re letting the orthopaedic
team from California use it. Don’t know how that happened! The other
ortho teams are using dental and exam rooms for OR’s. These are not
air conditioned, have screens over open windows and flies at times.
Like I told Kit, we are doing battlefield aid station surgeries. At
one point today, we had 3 teams putting on external fixators at the
same time with doors open in between each room so we can consult with
each other, share drills and 2 orthopaedic residents from NY and the
one OR nurse. Can’t send the pix because internet connection won’t
support that. Luke, that may change when your satellite tech shows up
tomorrow and hooks up our dishes. We are all taking pictures, it is
the only way folks will ever believe this.

Two babies have been born here in the last 24 hours, one by emergency
C-section early today. I can’t imagine what their lives are going to
be like.

Love

Edmund C. Landry, M.D.

Update: Chadasha Foundation #4

2010-01-20T08:05:00.000-05:00

Concerning the 6.1 aftershock this morning...everyone in Jimani is ok!!

Things are busy here; but progress is being made. We have about 300 patients and 10 surgey suites in operation. Helicopters and trucks are bringing patients in routinely. Operations are going as smoothly as they can now. Physicians are not needed at our Jimani hospital; but we will be setting up clinics in Haiti today

The clinic has the following immediate needs:

1. External fixator sets - New ready to use

2. Stryker saw batteries - Recharger

3. Enders nails and mallets

4. General anaesthesia machines with with tubing (3)

5. 2 Operating Room Tables

6. Patient linens and gowns

7. Laptops with wireless (5)

8. Printers with cartridges

9. I-Stat clinical chemistry

10. Digital C-Arm Orthopedic Fluoroscopy Unit

11. We need radiologist over-read and other capability. We will have T-1 capability with a satellite system today.

We are in desparate need of portable kichens. We are contacting Samaritan's Purse, World Vision, and the International Mission Board for the kitchen and other supplies.

We will be headed to PAP to select sites to set up clinics there. We will need physicians, nurses, and supplies for that. We will let you know specifics.

For any orthopedic surgeons, we need for them to bring an anaesthesiologist, nurse, and scrub tech.

That's it for now. Thank you for any help you give.

if you can help, please contact:

jonathan [at] haiticonnenction [dot] net

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #9.2

2010-01-20T08:03:00.001-05:00

I have to say that God is beyond good! As I was getting the kids ready I felt the need to try to get Brian (again) on the phone. I prayed, God please let it go through, and viola I get them. It was right after the 6.1 aftershock. Everybody is okay.

He and some of the other guys were in the store building and had to run. He said after that he just can't imagine what they all went through.

As I get more information I will let everyone know. Thank you for the prayers.

Blessings,
Rachel

Update: Chadasha Foundation #4

2010-01-19T16:00:00.000-05:00

(Again, please be aware that some of the content is graphic.)

Update from Chadasha Foundation in Jimani:

Today, we are headed back into Haiti to take food to families that need it, and to go to an HIV orphanage. We hope to rescue some of the babies and take them back across the boarder to the Dominican Republic to our hospital in Jimani. A couple hundred people have been rotated through the hospital and we are trying to set up places for them to go back to in Haiti.

It is really hard to explain the devastation and loss these people have experienced. There are dead bodies stacked on the road, babies missing limbs, people are still being pulled from rubble. They pulled 17 from a market just yesterday. Thats seven days without food, water etc.

Things are getting better. There was electricity in spots yesterday. People are selling what little water they had and some food.

-------------

Also: 300 patients on site. 1000 including family members. Helicopters bringing in new patients continually. US military has been asked to provide structure.

Update: Support

2010-01-19T14:10:00.000-05:00

The next team has arrived in Jimani!!!

Terry Douglass just let us know that he and Drs. Neal Barry, Clint Doiron, Mike Cobb, Bill Ragon, Ed Landry, and John Williamson landed in Barahona, DR and have made the trip to Jimani. Chuck Sutherland is also with the team and has provided the plane. They are about to jump in to the 150 surgeries that await them.

Troy Moore is in the air now on his way right with a plane full of supplies for both Jimani and Harvest Field Ministries.

stay tuned for more updates...

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #9

2010-01-18T01:08:00.000-05:00

Just received this from Brian at midnight, January 18th. Again, please be aware that some of the content is graphic, but these are Brian's experiences.

Wow...Where to begin...last couple of days have been filled with heartache, death, and sadness but also scattered with pockets of joy and hope.

Yesterday (Saturday)...checked on a couple more places in pap and saw more horror. Had to drive through the political district where the White House, courts, and govt buildings are and much of this area is flattened. Filled with thousands of refugees living in tent cities (not real tents; just sheets and table cloths stretched over a couple sticks). Unbelievable how many bodies still on the street and sidewalk in this area. Piles of bodies stacked five feet high. Some of them naked where people had stolen the clothes off the corpses. Unimaginable horrors.

We were low on gas and all the stations are closed, destroyed, out of gas, or a 3-4 hr wait. We had to buy some from guys along the side of the road and it cost me almost $200 to fill up our forerunner.

Driving through Carrefour more of the same destruction. Many, many buildings collapsed. Corpses laying in the median of the road. A lot more tent cities and refugees no longer with homes.

Stopped at Merje to see our church and school there... a complete loss too. The pastor explained that they had a special service planned to start just before the quake hit, but at the last minute they had to cancel. Praise the Lord because if he had not canceled it there would have been over 125 people in the building when the quake hit.

Next stopped in downtown Leogane to check on an acquaintance working out of St Croix hospital. The hospital was still standing and appeared to have no damage. But downtown Leogane was completely leveled. The 2 or 3 blocks surrounding St Croix is rubble. Talked to some people there and they said they were expecting American medical teams soon but the entire place was empty when I was there. (Jonathan I checked on Kara with the nutritional program but they said she was in the states).

After Leogane, we began our climb up the mountain road. This is the only road to get to Belloc, Coq Chante, and Camatin where we have churches, schools, and an orphanage. We could only make it about 15 minutes before we encountered the first rock slide that covered the road, making it impossible to pass by car or truck. Me and Hippolite loaded as much bottled water as we could carry and climbed on a motorcycle taxi (yes all 3 of us on one motorcycle). The road was blocked in at least 5 places where rock slides or retaining wall collapses exist. I expect it will be months before cars can pass on this road again. Several places we had to get off and walk and let the moto driver go by himself because driving over the rock/dirt slides was so treacherous. Several of the rock slides had "Haitian toll booths" - where the path to pass was only a few feet wide, guys standing there with machetes and had a tree branch blocking the path and they don't remove it unless you pay their toll. As you can imagine the toll for the white guy is much more expensive.

We finally made it to Belloc. As we had been told, both the orphanage building (no kids were in there) and the church/school building are a complete loss. The small home between the buildings where one of the deacons of the church lives, was crushed and their 7 yr old daughter was killed. It took them 3 days with many men in the community digging through rubble to find her tiny body. They were digging the hole to bury her when I arrived. Pastor Beauillere and his family escaped unhurt.

Get ready for this...immediately after the quake Pastor Beaulliere went to the field across from the church and started preaching. People just started showing up to listen and 21 people accepted Christ!!! When I arrived yesterday he was carrying buckets of water to fill up a neighbor's cistern so they could baptize all 21 of them.

Next made our way to Coq Chante to the orphanage. What a horror to see the building in pieces. Basically the front part of the building was sheared off from the back part of the building which is still standing but major cracks everywhere and appears very unstable. You can see directly into 2 of the girls bedrooms...scattered baby dolls, school uniforms, and beds all strewn about and visible from the ground outside.

After several minutes of hugs and kisses and crying, they took me and showed me where our precious Atanie had been struck and killed. They wept as they explained to me that she had actually made it out of the building safely but in the confusion they think she went back towards the front door to look for someone or something, and that is when the entire front of the building sheared off and came down. She was immediately with Jesus.

The girls were totally out of water because the cisterns broke and all the water ran out. They'd been drinking shadack (like a grapefruit) juice for 3 days. They were sleeping on the back of our flatbed truck with the caretakers sleeping on the ground around the truck. We planned to do the same again but at about 6:00 as it was getting dark it started pouring the rain. There was an empty "house" near the orphanage (a 10' x 12' shack with wooden slats for walls and a rusty tin roof speckled with holes). I don't know whose house it is but I made an executive decision and moved the girls and one caretaker into this shack and they slept on the floor. Not great but somewhat dry. Their resiliency amazes me - they were still full of joy and sang songs and giggled and braided each others hair for several hours before they went to sleep. It's as if they thought it was just a fun slumber party. They find joy even in the most desperate situations - I have so much to learn from them.

This morning (Sunday) we got up and had church. Lots of singing hymns and praise songs, reading several psalms, and we talked about what scripture says the church is - people; not a building. This hits home when your building is in pieces 10' behind where you are standing.
After that we drove to Jacmel because we had received word a plane was coming in with some supplies for us. Driving through Jacmel is pretty bad, several big buildings down, most stores closed, some streets blocked, but in my opinion not as hard hit as pap (at least not the part of Jacmel we drove through). We were almost out of gas in the truck, but we couldn't get the truck anywhere near the station because of the approx 150 people already in line. We left Hippolite with a small gas can and a couple of 5 gallon buckets and he risked life and limb to battle the chaos of getting us enough gas for a couple days. Next we went to the airport (it's just a runway with a small building next to it). The UN had a few troops there but were not overseeing the coming and going of planes. There were a couple of guys there who have orphanages and feeding programs in Jacmel and the mayor of Jacmel had put them in charge. Was a little like herding cats, but ultimately we received our shipment marked for us which was 3 backpacks, 1 with rice and 2 filled with bottles of water.

We were ready to leave but a UN truck had us blocked so I started talking to some guy and it turned out to be Mark Stuart, the lead singer of the Christian band Audio Adrenaline. They have a orphanage in Jacmel called The Hands and Feet Project. Mark shared with me how the quake had not damaged their facility but people had still sent them several loads of supplies so he offered me some of their extra. We drove to their place a few minutes from the airport and loaded up 8 boxes of bottled water, a couple boxes of fortified rice, and several boxes of formula! God is so good and I'm so unbelievably appreciative of kingdom minded people like this.

After that we spent some more time driving through Jacmel looking for tarps so we could make tents if it rains again but no luck. Most stores are closed or sold out of everything. Bought a few vegetables at the public market and the prices were already triple the normal price. This will just get worse in coming days/weeks because everything in Jacmel has to come via trucks from pap and the (only) road in is covered by all the rock/dirt slides.

Next went to Camatin to assess damage. The building is all still standing except the back cisterns (3 stories high) have partially collapsed and are leaning against the building. The rest of the building has a few cracks in the walls but appears okay. I just don't know how to make the decision if it is safe to inhabit or not so for now we are keeping everyone out. If anyone knows a structural engineer that wants to come to Haiti and check it out for safety and give their opinion/recommendations then email swarwick@tds.net.

Spent some time talking, praying, and crying with Pastor Moises the pastor at Camatin. His brother died in the quake when his small concrete home collapsed on him. They buried him Thursday. It was about 6:00 pm when we went by so Pastor Moises was doing what he always does on Sunday evenings - he was having a church service. They were worshiping outside.

Returned back to Coq Chante and boy were the orphans happy to see the water. I think they were getting tired of only drinking grapefruit juice. I think we have enough water now to last us about about 4 days.

Sleeping arrangements are same as last night but no tarp is needed. Thank you Lord for no rain.

For tomorrow...praying phone/email signal works better so I can have good conversations with all the awesome people working so hard to get supplies and teams mobilized. Will probably go to the airport again and pray some blankets and tarps come in that no other ministries have claimed. Also want to talk with a guy who has an empty building (used to be a store to sell rice, beans, cooking oil, etc but it sits empty now) that is near the orphanage and appears to have no damage from the outside, but I haven't seen the inside.

Almost midnight and tomorrow looks to be another long day. I'll leave you with a psalm that a sweet lady in Indiana emailed me a couple days ago and I've reread it several times to get strength whenever I felt like just curling up in a fetal position and hiding.
Please keep praying,
Brian

Psalm 16

Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You." As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, and I will not be shaken.Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #8

2010-01-18T00:44:00.000-05:00

I received this e-mail from Brian this morning before church. I cannot tell you how good it was to know that we were all worshiping such and great God together even if we're hundreds of miles away.

Although the girls are doing well and everyone seems to be okay, the situation is very dangerous. There is not much food and even less water. Supplies to the area are needed desperately. I would love to go and buy cases and cases of water to send, but getting it there is near impossible. Please pray that logistics are worked out to get some supplies in. Continue to pray for that hedge of protection around Brian and all that are with him. Pray that God shower them with an abundance of peace and even more hope.

Thank you all for all the messages of support. We are feeling the love! Keep it coming!

Anyone who would like to know more about Harvest Field Ministries visit www.harvestfieldhaiti.org.

Got here about 2 hrs ago. Digicell not working. And my iPhone was out of charge but...u ready fir this? The solar panels still work at Coq Chante. So I could charge my phone!

All girls are good. Odette and her parents actually walked the whole way from City of God (in Port au Prince) to Coq Chante. Left Tuesday night and got home Wednesday afternoon. She is staying with her parents. Jayla and Christianie and Madestine are staying with their parents too, but they came by to visit and looked well. All the rest are being themselves acting silly and playing and giving each other a hard time. They are reading books and singing. Islande is sick with a headache and fever, but not too bad, she is still playing some.

I e-mailed the earlier photos Coq Chante because I just can't explain the damage. The majority of Coq Chante is still standing but it will have to come all the way down and start all over because not safe. The kitchen is okay but that's it. No one would go inside so they had nothing except what they were wearing. Me and Jean Luc went in and quickly got a few of the hospital mattresses a bunch of sheets and blankets and a couple armfuls of clothes. The store building next door seems okay and they'll go in it during day but won't sleep in it because they are scared. Even the people living in shacks are sleeping outside because they are afraid and there are STILL aftershocks, even just a few minutes ago. It feels like your on a cruise ship. I can't fathom what the real thing was like.

Agathe is holding up well. She is a strong woman. If she wasn't here I think we would have lost many more than Atanie. She said she got everyone out fast but Marie Michille, Saintemon (we know her as Ya-Ya), Merline, and Christianie were still in the kitchen standing at the doorway at the top of stairs screaming. Agathe said "the whole house was jumping up and down and knocking them down". She said she screamed "please God make it stop" and it immediately did, she got them down the stairs, then it started again for about another 20 seconds. That is the time when the front of the building collapsed. Agathe was screaming for them all to get away and she started counting and couldn't find Atanie and all the others immediately started looking and they found her right where the front door would be. Agathe saw her come down so she says she must have gotten confused or thinks she went back for something maybe. They buried her the next day... and now she is with Jesus.

If we can't get the girls out somewhere else, then first order is to get a huge tent, like a revival tent. And we need more hospital mattresses. And lots of tarps. I'm still praying the building at Camatin isn't as bad as they say. We'll see.

Wousami is good but didn't see them. His grandmother was hit by a block so they took her to a Dr. somewhere but Beualljere said they were all fine and the house looked fime no damage except maybe some damage to the slab.

We brought enough water for a day or 2 when we walked into Coq Chante. They have been drinking lots of strait shaddock juice so they are all happy about that (kind of like when you are out of milk so you let the kids drink coke). The cisterns are all empty. Tomorrow after church well go to Camatin and Jacmel and survey things there.

The road from Leogande is a nightmare. Forget coming in that way by truck for at least 3 months. Major, major rock and dirt slides. It was bad. Lots of people buried in it. The only way in will probably be Jacmel. I'll let you know tomorrow afternoon what the road is like once I've traveled it and surveyed Jacmel.

.....Okay, sorry had to take an hour break as I was typing it started pouring rain. Original plan was for the kids to sleep in the back of the truck and adults around the outside of the truck. When it started raining I tried to get them all in the building next door and they ALL looked at me like I was crazy. With what they experienced, it's understandable they don't want to sleep in a building made of concrete. I asked if the lady next door was home and they said she Port au Prince so I said "good, we'll sleep there. They're not afraid of shacks; only scared of concrete buildings, walls, and mausoleums. So now all the girls and Gaspards are sleep in that shack. They are happy and laughing. They act like it's a slumber party. Me, Lozama, Hippolite, Jean Luc, and Alfred are in the back of the truck; it is cozy and we all stink and it is raining. Agathe is in front of the truck. Edwing is sleeping at at some old ladies house nearby.

A picture of the girls and the Gaspards sleeping next door is attached at the bottom.

I'm spent so I'm going to sleep now. It's only 7:30 but I feel like it's midnight. Not much sleep last few nights. Plus, I have to wake early to prepare to preach. I asked Pastor Gaspard what time church started and he looked at me like I was crazy and said "you want to have church?" And I told him "Heck, yeah, I want to have church."

*A picture of the first church service at Coq Chante:

Later
Brian

Update: Support

2010-01-17T08:17:00.000-05:00

Just as way of communicating information about people that are traveling to and from Haiti/DR...

Norris just left at 7:20 this morning for Jimani. He has a 9:45 am flight to Santo Domingo. He has rented a large SUV there that he will drive to Jimani, and it will be used to transport patients and volunteers. Also, we have a team of physicians and others leaving here on Tuesday to go down.

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #7

2010-01-16T23:20:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. I haven't been able to speak to Brian myself today, but I am still hopeful that he will be able to make contact soon. We have had some spotty contact and this is what we do know about the things he was able to accomplish today:

Brian, Hippolite, and Lozama were able to make it in to the community of Belloc and confirm that the church, school, and orphanage facility are all completely destroyed. Pastor Buellier and his family did survive!!! Wousami Bates, adoptive son of our friends, and his family are also okay. Most of the homes in the Belloc Community were lost.
Brian and the guys then made the long trek(usually a 20 or more minute drive on a good day) to the Village of Coq Chante. They were able see the surviving 17 girls who resided in the orphanage and make sure they are okay. And, yes, they are okay, as well as, our friends, their caretakers. Confirmed was the significant damage to the church, school, and orphanage.

Here are some before and after pics of the orphanage.

We also know that Brian, Jean-Luc, Lozama, and Alfred (some of our friends that help us out in Haiti) were able to use the "big truck" we use for transporting food and for mission teams. The road to Jacmel was passable which is a major blessing. This will make it easier to get supplies to these communities that are closed off from any possible aide coming into Port au Prince.

This is all I know for now, but hopefully I will have new information soon and I will pass it along. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti and also for the protection and hearts of all those trying to provide relief.

Anyone who like to know more about Harvest Field Ministries and the work we do in Haiti can go to www.harvestfieldhaiti.org.

Blessings,

Rachel Lloyd, Brian's wife

Update: Chadasha Foundation #3

2010-01-16T21:59:00.001-05:00

update from Chris on the field...

BIG NEWS - HELP HAS COME...

in the form of 100 medical doctors from Puerto Rico!!!! Through the work of Victor, 2 huge busses showed up tonight in Jimani filled with a doctors and surgeons, followed by an 18 wheeler of medical supplies!!! Every room at Jimani has now been converted to a full OR and patients are beginning to come in more rapidly!

Chris is in the process of planning trips into Haiti (the Puerto Rican docs have orders not to cross the border) with the Jimani crew to do medical work and open up feeder clinics.

Praise the Lord!!!

-jonathan

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #6

2010-01-16T12:26:00.000-05:00

Hey Guys, it was a really long night last night, in Haiti and here. Please keep praying for that hedge of protection around my sweet husband and all of out family in Haiti. I am confident that Brian is exactly where he is supposed to be and, therefore, God will lead him and shelter him on his way. Thank you all. ~Rachel

Long night - lots of gunfire and yelling all around us where we slept in Delmas 75. Things settled down about 4 AM.

Late last night we learned that merje church and school are destroyed too. Pastor villas and his family are okay.

Petit Harpon (pronunced ti-apo) church and school are destroyed. Pastor Avandre and his family are okay.

So out of our 22 locations we work in we have visited or confirmed 7 of the 9 we've seen are destroyed. Trying to stay positive but it's obviously discouraging. I'm glad my God is a God of miracles

We learned that pastor serge, the head pastor at city of god, his home was destroyed. He is living in a makeshift refugee camp downtown at the Champ de Mars Park.

Now for some good news...we just heard a report that the road from Coq Chante to Jacmel has been repaired. IF this is true we can take our big flatbed (which was stranded at Coq Chante) to Jacmel and get supplies. Me, Hippolite, and Lozama are about to leave to make our way up. My plan is once we get there, well check on immediate condition of orphans, then take the truck to Jacmel and pray we can find someplace to purchase some water and blankets. IF we confirm this road is passable by truck and IF we confirm Jacmel airstrip is open and usable then that will be a huge blessing because we can let the relief supplies and people start rolling into Jacmel asap. I'll update as soon as we know.

Keep praying,
Brian

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #5.2

2010-01-16T08:29:00.000-05:00

From Brian (about 4am) Gunfire stopped. Were dime. Just a little sleepy. Your prayers were heard.

Update: Chadasha Foundation #2

2010-01-16T06:49:00.000-05:00

I spoke with Chris, a couple of hours ago after his first full day on the ground. His following quote sums it up - "Jonathan, this is really bad." The sites and smells are unlike anything he had seen.

Good news/Bad news:

At this point it would be good to clear up a potential misunderstanding. It was thought by some that Jimani/Chadasha was playing host to over 1800 people with potentially 5000 more on their way. We were initially scrambling to look for further expertise to help us manage the initiation of a makeshift refugee camp. It turns out that this was not the case. The hospital and orphanage were home to nearly 90 people Friday night. And while caring for this many trauma victims is no small feat, it is not what we had originally anticipated (though many more may be coming.) Our initial thoughts over hearing the new, much lower, figure of patients was a cause for great rejoice, but it was follow by the reality and gravity of the fact that many people just simply did not survive.

Chris will be in full planning mode Saturday as he thoroughly evaluates the plans to proceed. At this point, he desires to move into the harder hit areas of PaP where they are hoping to use the Chadasha Guest House as a clinic. The hope is to set it up as a feeder clinic to serve those in PaP. This will also give us the ability to take more critical patients back to the hospital in Jimani.

thank you for your continued support and prayers,

-jonathan

**special note** Chris emphasized again that right now the greatest need from back home is cash. Doctors and medical professionals will be needed soon, but for now please consider making a donation on the link above.

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #5

2010-01-16T01:13:00.000-05:00

Brian asked me to send this to anyone who is still awake. ~Rachel

It is 12:30 am on Saturday. There is random gunfire and yelling in the far distance. Please pray for safety.
Ricot has us all (about 15 of us) hunkered down tight.
Keep praying,
Brian

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #4

2010-01-15T23:12:00.001-05:00

Brian sent some new information from the girl's orphanage at Coq Chante...

A couple of items to update:
I just got off the phone with Agathe, the head caretaker for the Coq Chante girls orphanage. I told her that me and Ricot and Hippolite would be hiking in to them tomorrow (unless god gives us a helicopter) and asked what she needs and she said blankets and pants because they are all cold at night. And water because the cisterns are totally destroyed so they don't have anything to drink.
She said there is still part of the building standing but it is "only hanging in the air so we can't go in to get our clothes or blankets".
I asked Agathe if she needed anything for herself and she just said "please come and help these little girls".
Please pray for god to keep these girls warm and to quench their thirst til we can get to them.

Also Bebe, one of our workers (and Ricot's cousin) was in the same school collapse that killed Beremy Valme. Bebe survived but had serious injuries to both her legs. Ricot can't find her; he is praying someone took her to a hospital.

Keep praying,
Brian
www.harvestfieldhaiti.org

PS while I was talking to Agathe I could hear the orphans singing in the background...

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #3

2010-01-15T20:39:00.000-05:00

**Please be aware that some of the information in this update is graphic, but it's the reality in Haiti.**

OK here is update. Gotta type quick bc low battery and signal may leave again

This morning helped for a while with Jimani clinic. Then crossed border with Chris, Greg, Jemps, and Grant. They took me to Ricots house. House has some pretty severe damage. I experienced my first aftershock today. Can't believe small ones are still happening.

Struck out on choppers to Camatin/Jacmel.

Me and Ricot visited many places in city:
Nicoles store - rubble.
Church and school and elderly housing at Savane Pistache - rubble. At least 2 children were in bldg and dead but can't get to bodies yet.
Church and school and clinic and elderly housing at City of God - rubble. We think only one girl dead there but again, impossible to get to body.

Visited Pastor Ronnigues house got there as they were removing body. Dear God help me. I can't explain the horror. Me and his sons could only stand and weep together as they took the horrible corpses of Ronnigue and his wife out from the rubble. Can't explain in words how horrible it was. Trying to find solace for now in God sparing my friend from having to see his people suffer like they are.

Visited Menes. He needs his insulin. Whitestone team needs to bring all his meds next week. Rachel has the list.

Throughout City of God, Savane Pistache, Petionville, downtown airport road, everywhere decaying bodies along the road. Some have sheets over them others a piece of cardboard. Thousands more still trapped in the rubble. A Haitian looking for his dad today in a heap of rubble and I asked how he knew to dig and he answered because this is where all the flies are going. The stench in the city is unexplainable. Everyone wearing bandanas or rubbing mentholyptus under nose because of stench of death.

Good news is that the school and church at Ti Marche are okay. It has been reported, but not confirmed that school and church at Fonde Parisian are okay.

Pastor Beaullire at Belloc we THINK is ok through 4th hand info.

David our translator is okay.

Pastor Evans (Mary Flos husband) is missing and presuming the worst.

Pastor Ernst and his mom and dad are okay.

Ricot trying to get Mona and his kids out through Dom Rep tomorrow or Saturday so he can focus on relief.

Ricot and I will travel as close as we can to Coq Chante/Belloc tomorrow then walk or ride motorcycles from there so we can get to orphans at Coq Chante.

More reports are Camatin is not safe and damage worse than initially thought. Not sure where we'll take orphans when we get to them.

As relief people coming in it's just getting crazier and busier and tensions getting high. People getting hungrier and more frustrated. I just can't explain what PaP is like. Will try to send some photos and video later if I can find a functioning computer.

Keep praying,
Brian

Update: Chadasha Foundation #1

2010-01-15T14:20:00.000-05:00

Chris and Greg arrived in the Dominican Republic; I’ve gotten to talk to Chris three or four times since he got there. Helicopters were landing people with medical needs from Port-Au-Prince. Over thirty-seven doctors were operating in shifts.
Clint arranged for two important pieces of medical equipment to go on the RAM airplane to the clinic tommorrow
Luke Doiron and Troy Moore have organized a huge campaign in Huntsville, AL for the Haiti relief effort with the support of HudsonAlpha Institute and Trinity United Methodist Church.
Numerous individuals have said they are sending monies to us and to the foundation.
Aaron should have the website up and operating tomorrow, and we should be linked to paypal for donations at that time.
Mallory Ellis has volunteered to do accounting for the ministry in regards to all this relief work.
Several members of the Twenty-somethings Sunday School class at Calvary Baptist Church have volunteered to act as runners, letter writers, general gophers, etc.
A Knoxville radio station has run announcements soliciting funds for our relief effort.
RAM has made its DC-3 airplane to take hospital supplies and doctors to the Dominican Republic. The plane will make its trip tomorrow.
Victor Atallah, a Dominican Republic heart surgeon and big supporter of our work, is getting us one hundred hospital beds, a generator, and other supplies to convert the orphanage into a hospital. Victor will be at the site tomorrow, and many of the supplies began arriving already.
We were contacted today by Project HOPE. See them at www.projecthope.org. The text of their email is as follows.

Project HOPE is responding to the earthquake in Haiti and is interested in working with your facility during this effort. We have a network of medical volunteers ready to serve in areas of need and we also are able to provide humanitarian assistance (medical supplies and equipment) to facilities. Are you currently at the facility in Jimani? When do you anticipate arriving? We are sending several of our staff down to DR/Haiti in the coming days to assess how Project HOPE can best respond to the emergency. We would like to know if your facility and orphanage have a need for medical supplies and/or equipment in anticipation for those you will serve in the coming months. We would appreciate a obtaining a list from you as soon as possible. Also, please let us know the condition of the road from Sto Dgo to Jimani. You’ve indicated that the facility can hold 30 staff/volunteers easily. Is there lodging nearby for volunteers?
Vision Trust International is partnering with us to raise money for the relief effort. Visit www.visiontrust.org for more details. Text concerning us follows and can be found front and center on their website.

All of us here at VisionTrust are praying for the people of Haiti affected by the earthquake. We have a partner that works with orphans in Haiti and is operating one of the few functioning hospitals at this time. We have been told that several of the orphan homes have been severely damaged (no report yet on casualties). We also estimate that by the end of today [Jan 14], nearly 5,000 people may be waiting for medical assistance at this facility located on the border of the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, we believe that hundreds of children in this group of 5,000 will be either newly orphaned or displaced.

We have two critical needs now: 1) Funding for the high demand of hospital services; and 2) Funding to care for the hundreds of newly orphaned or displaced children.

To help now, please click DONATE. VisionTrust will make sure that the money donated will be used effectively.

Please remember to pray for the Haitian leadership, the international relief agencies and the people of Haiti. THANK YOU

GATR Technologies, a local manufacturer of inflatable satellite communications terminals, has donated communications gear to our efforts in Haiti. They are sending down a technician with our team next week to set up a wireless network capable of allowing phone, email, and internet communications in Jimani and Port-Au-Prince. This is a HUGE blessing. Many, many thanks to GATR.
We contacted Compassion Coalition, an organization linking Knoxville’s churches and ministries together, which made a plea for medical supplies to go with RAM to Haiti. The response was very positive and they received numerous supplies. Compassion sent out the following email: “Compassion Coalition tries to limit the number of emails we send out, but there is an immediate opportunity for the body of Christ to respond to the desperate situation in Haiti through a reputable and trustworthy local organization. We want you to know that you can help TODAY. RAM (Remote Area Medical) is using their transport plane to send much-needed medical supplies to Haiti. The plane is leaving TODAY, Friday, January 15th. If you would like to help make sure the plane is full of medical supplies, please purchase some things from the list at the end of this email and deliver them to RAM at 1834 Beech St Knoxville, TN 37920-2602 in south Knoxville.
Radiance Technologies has come through with satellite phones that will enable our team going to Haiti next week to have two phones with us. This will be critical as the team will be larger and more communication to manage the supply movement and treatment centers will be critical.

Thanks for your enormous efforts,
Brant Enderle

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #2

2010-01-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

It is Friday, 2 ish AM...Thursday at 4 AM (when I woke up last) seems like an awfully long time ago. Here is a recap of the events of the day.

An extremely rough start to find out at 6 am that Pastor Ronnigue Guiellere, my friend, my brother, and a man I respect like no other, is dead. His small concrete home collapsed in the quake crushing him. Pastor Ronnigue was the leader of the churches I work with. He was a man full of wisdom, grace, discernment, and compassion. Everything he said oozed Jesus - when he spoke he made me feel like a kindergarten kid sitting on the floor in front of their teacher while they were being read a good story. Ronnigue shared and lived the gospel with tremendous passion - he lived out what he preached. Ronnigue led many many people to know the Lord. I've spent much of the day weeping uncontrollably as images of pastor Ronnigue come to my mind. I love you brother...I miss you so much already.

The good news that came with the same call at 6 am was to learn that the Camatin church, school, mission house is still standing and only sustained minimal damage. Unfortunately we also learned that the mountain road leading there is completely destroyed in several places and covered with rock and dirt from retaining wall collapses, making it impossible to pass. This means impossible for the 1000's of relief workers soon heading into pap wont be able to reach this area by vehicle. This area, as well as Jacmel which was very hard hit is completely shut off because this is the only road in or out.

It was confirmed that both buildings of our Belloc church, school, and orphanage (no orphans were living there) are complete losses. We still do not know about the status of pastor Jocelyn Beaulliere, his wife, and 4 children, who all lived in an upstairs room of the church.

Mid morning brought more upsetting news that Beremy Valme, the youngest daughter of pastor Menes Valme, was confirmed dead. She was in school when the quake hit, and the entire building became rubble. Pastor Menes is heartbroken over the loss of his little girl, who made straight A's and wanted to study medicine after she graduated high school.

Mid morning did however bring us some glorious news about Odette Coleman. Odette is being adopted by my good friends Andy and Allyson Coleman. She was in PaP for an appointment for the final stages of the adoption when the quake hit. No one had been able to reach her birth father who she was with so we had no idea if she was okay...until this morning we learned they are safe and were meeting up with Ricot to stay in his home for now.

We also received joyous news that many of our workers, including Hippolite, Estimine, Mary Flo, Lozama, Jabet, and Santela are safe and uninjured. For some of you, these are just names - for others of you these are very special people you know and love so we celebrate that they were spared.

I arrived in the Dominican border town of Jimani to the Jimani Project Hospital at about 11 pm and wow...I'm not a military guy but it is what I'd assume a battle field hospital looks like. Lots of blood, cuts, broken bones, crying, and a team of almost 40 doctors, nurses, and medical professionals frantically working to care for the hurting people. Dom Republic and US military helicopters are bringing some of the worst wounded from pap to this clinic to be cared for. A recently finished orphanage next door to the hospital is being turned into the hospital annex. Daylight will bring hundreds more coming to be treated for horrible wounds.

What tomorrow might bring for me: I feel it is important to get to the Camatin area to:

1 - assess what "minor damage" to the Camatin facility really is

2 - to determine if we can safely move the Coq Chante orphans to Camatin (about a 3 hr walk between the 2 places)

3 - find out firsthand about friends at Belloc (about a 3 hr walk from Coq Chante) including pastor Beaulliere, Wousami bates, a little boy being adopted by our friends Mike and Karen Bates, and many others we know and love in Belloc

4 - determine if Camatin can be used as a hub to bring aid into from Jacmel so we can minister to these hard hit areas that are not accessible due to the damaged roads.

Since the roads are not passable, the only way I can get there is in the air. I had a couple leads on small charter planes and helicopters out of the DR but they have not worked out. But a couple hours ago I spoke with a guy who thinks he can work with the US military (who are carrying the wounded to the Jimani hospital) to allow me to hitch a ride to Camatin. If this is God's plan, please pray that the Lord works it out for me to be on one of those helicopters.

The letters are running together, my thumbs are tired (from typing) and 5 AM is only a few hours away so that's all for now.

Keep praying,

Brian

www.harvestfieldhaiti.org

Bondye bon tout tan!

God is good all the time!

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #1

2010-01-15T13:41:00.000-05:00

God is moving in a mighty way today! Here's latest . . .

- ODETTE IS SAFE: Praise God! She is with her birth mother in Port au Prince. Ricot can't get to her right away, but she is safe!!!

- HIPPOLITE IS SAFE! Hippolite, a former orphan who grew up in Pastor Nicolas' house, is the ultimate servant. He's been involved in every trip I've ever taken to Haiti.

- ESTEMINE IS SAFE! Estemine is the female version of Hippolite -- an orphan that Pastor Nicolas took in -- now the ultimate picture of beauty and grace

- EVELYN IS SAFE! Many of you know Evelyn from her time in the States.

- AGATHE'S FAMILY IS SAFE! Agathe is overseeing the girls at the orphanage, but her family was in Port au Prince -- they are all good, including her own little adoptive daughter, Garthland.

- LOZAMA IS SAFE! Lozama cooks for us on every trip.

- JABAY IS SAFE! Jabay is an incredible young man with a million dollar smile and a heart to match.

- MARY FLO IS SAFE! Mary Flo is another beautiful soul that helps serve us often.

- SANTELAH IS SAFE! Santelah is Mary Flo's mother, and she helps in the kitchen for all our trips.

- ALFRED IS SAFE! Alfred is Evelyn's husband, and he is also our driver. He is actually at Coq Chante with the girls and THE WHITE TRUCK! That's right . . . our truck is safe too!

- THE GIRLS HAVE ACCESS TO THEIR FOOD SUPPLY: The month's supply of food that we just left for the orphanage was not destroyed. The girl's are eating well and are sleeping in the back of the big truck.

- MEDIA PUBLICITY IS SPREADING: Another local newscast will report tonight (WVLT) and tomorrow morning "Good Morning America" will interview Lorie Johnson live!!!! Atanie's life is already having a huge impact in getting the story of all the girls out all across America. Pray that God would use it all for His Glory!

- SAMARITAN'S PURSE TO DO HELICOPTER DROP OF FOOD AND SUPPLIES AT COQ CHANTE AND CAMATIN: Through the efforts of two very distracted 5th grade teachers at Copper Ridge Elementary, and a very sweet lady from the Samaritan's Purse, God is making a way to do a helicopter drop of food and supplies to our friends at Coq Chante and Camitin. God continues to amaze me at how intentional HE is!!!!

WHITE STONE EMERENCY RELIEF TRIP IN THE WORKS: God is continuing to work out the details to get a team a 5-6 men from White Stone on the ground in Haiti in the coming days. Pray that God continue to knock down every barrier that stands between us and the work Hehas called us to do.

ONE VERY SAD NOTE -- PASTOR MENES DAUGHTER, BEREMY, IS DEAD: Please pray for Pastor Menes -- this was his "baby girl" and he adored her. Beremy died when her school collapsed.

More details as I get them. Keep praying. God continues to answer prayer!

Blessings,

Mark Zimmerman
White Stone Church

Haiti Relief Fund

2010-01-15T13:14:00.000-05:00

Provision Foundation in cooperation with Cedar Springs Church has established a Haiti Relief Fund which will involve funding the organizations listed below and will balance immediate relief and ongoing development funding as more assessment and strategy is solidified. Additional trusted organizations may be included in the distribution of this fund if deemed appropriate and helpful to the overall effort. Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church is handling the gifts for this and funds can be submitted at this link.

Direct affiliates of ProVision Foundation:

Chadasha Foundation/Jimani Project – Based in Knoxville, TN, the Chadasha Foundation runs the Jimani Project which is in Jimani, Dominican Republic (DR). Jimani is just across the border from Haiti on the main road that leads from the DR to Port-au-Prince. Initial reports are that there are thousands of Haitians crossing the border with many in need of medical help. The Jimani Project is already addressing needs and providing medical care. An assessment team from Knoxville has arrived in Jimani. They are presently assessing the situation and develop a strategy for coordinating. We are posting through our blog regular updates about the status of Jimani Project for those interested in involvement and funding. This is a good organization for those interested in immediate relief. For funding of this project see “Haiti Relief Fund” above.

Harvest Field Ministries (click here) – Also based here in Knoxville, TN, Harvest Field works with American individuals, churches, and groups to grow and nurture relationships with Haitian churches, schools, and orphanages and take a holistic approach in caring for children. Harvest Field presently works with 22 churches in helping them to establish schools and orphanages and work holistically in their communities. Details are still sketchy and assessment is still being done, but it is known that a significant number of church buildings, schools and orphanages they work with have been leveled. The most heart-breaking and tragic report so far is from the one orphanage that was already up and running: 17 of the 18 girls made it out during the earthquake, the youngest, a 5 year old, did not. They need our prayers. Some of you represent churches who might be interested in connecting with churches in Haiti and assisting in mid and long term development. Harvest would meet this category. Whether a church and group of friends or an individual, this is a good option for those interested in mid to long range development in helping to rebuild churches who were ministering holistically to their communities as well as developing much needed schools and orphanages related to those churches.

Additional trusted partners:

Cross International (click here) - This organization is a good immediate response vehicle for those who are desiring to give toward immediate response and relief. Cross works worldwide bringing “food, shelter and hope to the poor” and is well connected in Haiti. They have already responded to this disaster and are in process of distributing "millions of meals" among other things. They are also connecting with other organizations such as Cure International for emergency medical care as well as their already established local networks of organizations, ministries and churches.

Cure International (click here)-Cure transforms the lives of disabled children and their families in the developing world through medical and spiritual healing, serving all by establishing specialty teaching hospitals, building partnerships, and advocating for these children. The Cure Dominicana Hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is a pediatric orthopedic hospital that provides inpatient surgical and rehabilitative care to disabled children. The hospital serves more than 700 outpatients each month and maintains a very active spiritual ministry. The hospital regularly sends surgical teams into Haiti. Doctors from Cure Dominicana Hospital have gone to Port-au-Prince and are performing surgeries, amputations, etc. Next to search, rescue, and relief teams, one of the biggest needs is for surgeons and skilled medical professionals to treat the injured. This is a good organization for those desiring to give toward specialized medical relief.

Restavek Foundation (click here) This organization is dedicated to helping the hundreds of thousands of children who are caught up in child servitude in Haiti, the majority of them who live in Port-au-Prince. These children have been instantly thrown into a situation of astronomical proportions, which no child should have to endure without a loving family to support them. Unfortunately, the reality is grim for children living in restavek. Their current situation now leaves them even more vulnerable prey to those looking to take advantage of a country brought to its knees. Many other children in this region will also become vulnerable to abuse and exploitation as well. It is Restavek Foundation's immediate goal to reach out, locate and continue to support those children that are lost or in need of urgent help. This is a good organization for those interested in targeting their help toward children at risk for the days, weeks and months to come.

Hope International (click here) - HOPE has worked in Haiti for the last five years, establishing a vibrant microfinance ministry that reaches thousands of Haiti’s poorest. HOPE has established the HOPE Haiti Relief & Development Fund, through which they aim to provide both short-term relief and longer-term rebuilding and development. HOPE’s relief efforts will rush bottled water, food, personal care and hygiene items, emergency healthcare materials, and medication to those most in need. All assistance will be coordinated through Dominican border towns, in conjunction with a network of sister organizations that have worked in Port-au-Prince for over two decades. This localized presence will ensure that necessary goods will arrive quickly, without the delays of container shipments and customs processing. HOPE'S mid- and longer-range development efforts will ensure that the people of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas are not forgotten when news coverage fades. This is a good organization for those interested in immediate relief efforts but desire to be weighted toward mid and longer range development efforts as well.

World Relief (click here) is dedicated to empowering the local Church to serve the most vulnerable. World Relief seeks, facilitates, and promotes collaboration among all stakeholders, including local governments, the worldwide church, mission agencies, other NGO’s, and the business community, recognizing partnership as essential to serving the most vulnerable. World Relief staff in Haiti have been personally affected by the earthquake. The World Relief Haiti office collapsed—the second floor fell onto the first. They have accounted for 38 out of 40 of their staff. Please pray for those who haven’t yet been heard from. Pray also for a staff member who lost a child and another whose child was injured.

Beyond Borders (click here) – This organization is dedicated to assisting the poor of Haiti with community development, literacy programs, education reform, and crisis support in Haiti. Beyond Borders has worked many years in Haiti and is well established. Their role in community development will make them poised to help community leaders bring order and stability back to areas devastated by the earthquake in addition to their crisis support. This is a good organization for those looking to support long term development efforts.

With most of these organizations listed above, links are included for direct donations. For community or corporate leaders, pastors, or those desiring to give major donations, we are glad to directly connect you with someone from these organizations if desired. We are also happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you for caring about Haiti during this very difficult time. Your generosity is much appreciated. If further contact is necessary, please email us at jonathan@haiticonnection.net