Reflections of Haiti - Part Two

“I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.” Psalm 140:12
Our team visited Haiti with the purpose of distributing the four 40’ containers of Kid’s Against Hunger food that had finally arrived. Each container held roughly 300,000 Kid’s Against Hunger meals along with other supplies such as clothing, diapers, and medical items. My personal objective was to assess the ministries we partner with and to see what Urbancrest will be doing in future ministry there. It sounds simple enough, but it doesn't take being there very long before the reality hits that Haiti is totally broken.

For too long, Haiti has been used by corrupt politicians, other governments, and even so-called "Christian ministries" to pad their pockets. My mailbox is full of “Help Haiti!” donation envelopes. But, unless you are giving to a long-established ministry, or better yet a church, you have no idea how your money will be spent. The whole system in Haiti seems to be run on bribes or “tips.” Americans who travel to Haiti often seem to understand the system and adjust to the demands for “more.” But for me, after three trips, it just got old. What I did determine was that we can’t “fix” Haiti.

The earthquake only multiplied the misery and poverty that has been present in Haiti for decades. Though thousands of homes have been built, there are still over 1.3 million people living in tents that have no way of helping themselves. Unemployment is at 85%. It is estimated that there could be as many as 500,000 orphans there. No one is sure of the numbers due to the earthquake, but there are as many starving and helpless adults as there are children. Many of the children are orphaned from AIDS, the earthquake, and other devastation. Many will have one or both parents living who are either unable or unwilling to care for them. Therefore, the children are the ones that we will put our focus on in Haiti. My reflections of Haiti are mirrored in a few of the places we visited and the heroes that work there.

Haiti Children's Home
Tracy Snyder sent word asking if we could check on the Haiti Children’s Home (HCH) in Mirebalais. We traveled the gravel road there late in the afternoon. It was about a two hour journey from Port au Prince. We were told they were nearly out of food and several of the children had cholera. It was nearly dark when we arrived there, but with the help of our Haitian friends we were able to find this place tucked back on the banks of the river that is now carrying cholera to all of Haiti. The house had been damaged in the earthquake and a Dominican Republic team came in and built a make-shift orphanage out of plywood. I am not sure how it withstood hurricane Tomas, but it was there and full of children.

HCH is a ministry founded by Patricia & Melinda Smith to care for malnourished, premature, and abandoned children in Haiti. Many of these children are special needs children and it was told to me that because of their condition they will sometimes be left along the roadway. At the time of our visit, both of the Smiths were in the U.S. This mother/daughter team had returned to the U.S. so that the pregnant daughter could have her child, but the cholera outbreak was not allowing her to return at this time. Shay Hellmann and another young lady who had arrived in June were directing the ministry and the 30 Haitian workers who care for the children. This was a huge job, and it looked to me like “mission impossible.” But, they were handling it with God’s care and control.

This little fellow pictured is a picture of Haiti to me. You can see him in the walker, so little. Although he looks about six months old, we were told that he is four years old. Being underdeveloped and malnourished must have been an anomaly to the voodoo priest. They decided to worship their God of hate and fear by “passing him over the fire.” I am not sure what that phrase means exactly, but it left him burned and traumatized, and left me very angry. Yet, the heroes at the Haiti Children’s Home love and care for these children, fighting cholera and finding food wherever they can. We left them over 2,000 meals and about 5,000 doses of doxycycline. They are there today still working and caring for those children just because Jesus does. Please pray for them.

Ebenezer Church and Orphanage
Some Urbancrest members who went on the medical mission trip were at Ebenezer church last April. We discovered their church made of straw matting when we were there last February, and at that time they were caring for 23 children. The house they were staying in had only one-side roofed. The pastor, his wife, and their three children lived in the house with all the children sleeping on the floor. We had worked hard to find food for them (remembers ours didn’t arrive until early November). Although every team that went in after us took them food and medicine and we prayed for them a lot, we could not do anything else for them. Resources and food just did not get released. But, God was not counting on us. He had a totally different plan for Ebenezer.

You will see from the pictures that when we arrived almost everything we had dreamed of and prayed for, God had already accomplished there. The sponsor organization, Feed My Sheep, and Tom Sparks and his good church in Jacksonville, Florida had built a brand new church/school. The house has been expanded to house a boy’s dormitory, and a new girl's dormitory is now being built. The children (there are now 45) looked healthy and happy in their new environment. God is always working and caring for His little ones. Continue to pray for Pastor Renauld and his dear wife as they work to provide everyday for these little children.

New Mission Link (Dr. Bernard)

Last August, our team of twenty stayed at the Bethel Guest House. This is also the Haitian headquarters for Brent Gambrell Ministries and is where Urbancrest's mission intern Matt Prichard served last summer. It is the best that Haiti has to offer children. Dr. Bernard is a gracious man and loves the Lord. The Crèche houses 90 children from infants to age six that are all able to be adopted. New Mission Link facilitates the adoptions to the U.S. Over the years, they average about 50 adoptions per year. They also have orphanages for older children. Dr Bernard’s ministry is a credit to the Lord and His love for the children. The Bethel Guest House is a wonderful ministry that is a blessing to see and visit. It was great to get Larry connected with Dr. Bernard.

We visited several other orphanages and ministries during out time in Haiti. Although the conditions at each place vary, there is one thing that is true for all of them: We can’t feed and clothe all those in great need. We can’t fix the government or the culture. But, we can pack food and medical supplies and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to those we touch. The Lord Jesus can fix it and will--in His time, Haiti will glorify God.

Reflections of Haiti - Part One

The most recent team from Urbancrest that headed to Haiti was in response to the arrival of the containers of food that had finally been released by the customs officials of Haiti. Urbancrest partnered with Larry Bergeron of A Child’s Hope International to pack Kid’s Against Hunger food that was shipped to Haiti in response to the January 2010 earthquake. Our first shipment left Cincinnati on February 1st and went through Jacksonville, Fl. to Haiti.

Though we were assured that the shipment of nearly 300,000 Kids Against Hunger meals, baby formula, canvas, and many other critical supplies would arrive in Haiti within a few weeks, that one shipment was not released for a long eight and a half months. Though every effort was made at great expense by Mission Harvest and Urbancrest, the government system in Haiti and other events caused this unfortunate situation. In the interim, Larry shipped 4 more containers and three of those had arrived. With these shipments now in country and available, it was time to go distribute this great amount of food and supplies. My personal reason for making the trip was to help in the distribution as well as to also assess the situation and ministries that we support or otherwise partner with. In addition to the food and other supplies, we were able to carry in over 30,000 doses of the antibiotic doxycycline which is greatly needed to fight the cholera epidemic that has now come to Haiti. Much of that was donated by the Warren County Health Department.

This was my third trip to Haiti since the earthquake. The rest of the team included Larry Bergeron of A Child’s Hope International, and Mick & Wanda Lovely who are the directors of Urbancrest Disaster Relief. This was the sixth trip with Urbancrest members involved. We have had 2 of our interns, Matt Prichard and Sarah Bickers, serve in Haiti for 6 to 12 weeks. Urbancrest has had a strong presence in Haiti, with nearly 30 people making the journey to serve the Lord in Haiti over the last 10 months.

Larry arranged for us to lodge at the guest house at Mission Lifeline in Arcahaie, Haiti. Their US headquarters is in Clay City, Kentucky. We were hosted by Donald & Pat Curtis. Pat is a great cook and they both went out of their way to see to our every need.

The Mission Lifeline compound is huge. In addition to two guest houses, there is a church, school, medical clinic, and a very large kitchen where a crew of cooks prepare 3,500 meals every day to feed children who would otherwise go hungry. Mission Lifeline also has several storage facilities that are used to house the food and other supplies. In addition to the meals prepared and distributed to orphanages in the area, they also load dry rice or Kids Against Hunger meals onto mules and distribute the food to orphanages in the mountains. The pictures below are of the Mission Lifeline compound and one of mules bringing food to these orphanages.

Much of our time at Mission Lifeline was spent loading the vehicles of various mission organizations as they came to pick up the food that Larry had allocated to them. Despite the lie that was propagated on Facebook, I really did do manual labor every day! We actually moved a full container load by hand into dump trucks, box trucks, tap taps, and whatever else was brought to haul the food to the ministry locations.

It is my intention to write several more blog posts about Haiti. In the meantime, please continue to keep the Haitian people in your prayers. We have returned home to the United States, but they are still there. This has been a traumatic year for them, as reflected in this Haitian artist's rendering of the earthquake.

 

Haiti Mission Team Update

We just got back an hour or so ago from Port au Prince. We went to Ebenezer this morning to talk with the pastor there and Richard at Feed My Sheep. We were able to take them more food and find out more about their work and who is helping them. They have a new church and are still seeing buildings go up.

This afternoon we took some supplies to Dr. Bernard's orphanage and I was able to introduce Larry to him. As we were leaving town, I got a text from Diane that told us there were riots going on in downtown Port au Prince. We were able to steer clear of the area and make it back safely. We came pretty close to them, and at one point were following a UN vehicle with soldiers in full riot gear (see picture below). After we got back to the guest house, we learned that at least 2 people were killed. Haiti is becoming unsafe.

We will leave for the airport in the morning at 6:30am and fly out at 9:55am if all goes well. Please pray that we are able to make it to the airport on time, and that there are no delays due to closed roads. We should fly into Cincinnati via Ft. Lauderdale at about 6:30pm.