Caring for the Haitian people

We never run out of people to help in some way. Things just seem to be a little more concentrated if you will. This lady has come with her baby who is malnourished, has turned one but can't walk yet. She is pregnant so she decided she should stop breast feeding her. She is so light. Her name is Faubien. We tried to help them out with some nourishing things for her to eat like cornflour, spaghetti, milk and a few other things.

We continue to share the food with as many people as possible. This week we were able to share with 380 families. There were 150 of those families who are direct refugee families who moved to Carries after the earthquake because they have nothing left in Port-au-Prince. We have many people to take care of at Carries including our school children and their families. Many of their parents do not have any income now because they used to go sell whatever they could find in PAP. Others here in the village worked at one of the beach/hotels. They have fired and laid off many of their workers because after all of the devastation. No one is coming to spend the weekends at the hotel now. More and more people are beginning to feel the pangs of hunger.

The rains are coming and they can't be avoided.......just stop a moment and look at this housing. Think about what you would be thinking if you were living in this condition with your spouse, your children. What would be going through your mind??? Pray for the Haitian people to find they help they so desparately need. Pray for us. We are still sleeping out under tarps because the people are afraid to go in. Last night it rained at Carries. Our tarps were sagging and drooping with rain water. It was a very damp and uncomfortable evening. We are trying to figure out some temporary housing that will be dry and safe for everyone.

In the mean time this is the story through out PAP

and the surrounding areas. Make-shift tents are everywhere. Rubble and debris still block the streets in many areas. People walk through it, over it, around it and even under it to try to carry on business as usual. People are still pilfering through the rubble. There is still a chance some will die while pilfering through the shifting debris.
If you dare, say a prayer, that Haiti might find the help she needs. Maybe that help will come from you. Dee

We Miss you MOM and DAD!

Love Ashley, Kelsey and Josiah

All in a day's work...

You never know what will be all in a day's work in Haiti. Prayer meeting starts at 4:30am and from there on out, anything can be expected. Shaina is gathering rocks with the neighborhood kids as we slowly clear the land, rock by rock as we prepare to move up hill towards the mountain at Carries. People gather in the most organized fashion that we could orchestrate for food distribution. Each person recieved a card as you see here. We had their name on a list and we checked their name and punched their card and handed it back to them for the next time.

Never know what might come up after prayer meeting. It was a little time consuming and even a little disconcerting as I had to clean goat feces off of this man's burn wound before I could properly clean and bandage it. He got burnt while burning the brush that we are clearing up the hill. I of course asked him why goat feces was the medicine of choice? He said that's just what they told me to do. Do you want to die, I asked? It was infected as you can imagine. He came twice a day for me to clean and dress it and after a week it is looking amazing and has great color.

We spent three days on a road trip to the Dominican Republic to try to get our hands on some food that had been promised to us for distribution. It was a loooooooooooong trip. In Haiti, the first rule you need to learn is EVERYTHING TAKES LONGER THAN IT TAKES! If you can keep this in perspective, you will survive. Well our experience crossing the Dominican Border seemed to stick to the same principles. I am sure you will get the idea of how we spent the majority of two days from looking at the pictures....that's right, waiting.

In spite of the pace, we are surrounded by people and children on a 24/7 basis. There are plenty of people to show the love of Christ through word and deed. We have been able to share the little food we have now with the many who are waiting for it. The distribution is an art in itself as we have learned from the harsh school of experience in the past. It has paid off. We have been able to share things with the people and keep them from fighting or just spoiling the whole operation. We thank you for your prayers. We thank you for the funds that you have sent to make it possible for us to share with so many. Continue to lift us in prayer as we strive to meet the challenge of meeting the needs of those around us that they might come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

Serving Him,

Dee

A few photos I took at the beach property today. This is a least fifty miles from the epicenter where we are located at Carries. The section you are looking through to the ocean is where a 15 x 8 foot section of our wall crumbled and fell to the other side.

These are the enormous cracks left in the wharf which they will continue to drive cars onto to load on the boat to travel to the island of La Gonave. The beach was once full of sharp rocks but now is filled with the finest sand that even I can walk on. Our worry now, as you can see from this picture is the fear of all, next to another earthquake. Rain is on the horizon. It threatens to fall every day. When this rainy season begins it will be yet another disaster. People are still living in makeshift housing in the streets. We are still sleeping in our yard with a load of people who are too scared to return to their homes that have been fractured and cracked by the earthquake. Pray that tents and temporary housing can somehow be erected before the disastrous rains of the rainy season begin. We are beginning some with 2x4's and tin to start with. It is the quickest thing possible.

Pray that the rains would hold off. Pray for tents to arrive and be distributed by someone to the many in need in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas, including Carries.

Ashley, Kelsey and Shaina sat on the other side of this wall every day to have school. We praise God for his shelter, safety, protection and watch care over them each day and especially that day. You can see the crack in the blocks or the distinct separation of them from top to bottom.

There are so many things to be thankful for and so many things to continue praying about. Thankful for our safety and the preservation of our lives. Pray for continued safety. Pray for many to come to know the Lord as their Savior. Pray for them as they come, one by one, asking to be baptized into Christ and to make a new life with Him. Pray for us as we teach, as we lead, as we love, as we share and as we live an example of Christ's love before them. Pray for revival in the country of Haiti. God bless you as you continue to faithfully serve Him. Dee