Posts Tagged ‘Haiti’

Praise God for Bagging Day 2010!

Please enjoy the bagging day montage video above. We also encourage you to read the note (below) from the Bagging Day Team, and be sure to keep your eyes open for Bagging Day 2011 next year!

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A little over a month ago, we asked you to respond to the need of the Haitian people left homeless in the aftermath of the earthquake by purchasing or donating tents.  Their need was dire and immediate as the hurricane season begins in May.

We are excited to be able to say that to date, the entire Apex network has raised and spent approximately $8703 on tents.  The Elders of Region 3 have matched a total of (more…)

On April 24th & 25th we will be getting together for our 2nd annual bagging day to package meals for Haitian children.  We will have the pleasure of actually making and packing over 145,000 meals that will be sent to Lifeline Ministries to be distributed among the people living in the tent cities and the school children. You can get involved by contributing some of the funds needed to ship the meals or by signing up to help package the food.

If you would like to make a contribution, please include “Region 2 Haiti” in the memo line of your check made out to Apex. If you would like to commit to work at our packaging event (more…)

In late March, a house church from Region 2 took time to travel to Grand Goave, Haiti to work with Lifeline ministries. Below is just a little glimpse into the time they were able to spend serving the Haitian people.

Even 8 weeks after the earthquake the country remained in a state of devastation. We saw that the village we were working in was less than 10 miles from the epicenter of the quake. We drove right through Leogane which was the closest city to the epicenter and was quite obvious in that over half of the buildings had been flattened and all buildings that had more than one story had been reduced to one.  We drove past the high school in Leogane where over 5000 students were crushed to death and their bodies burried in a mass grave that was completely unmarked and you would never have known what lay under the soil there. All of the Haitians had moved out of their homes and were living in tents. Even those who still had sturdy homes that were not damaged lived in constant fear and refused to sleep in their homes.  Cities of tents had been erected in every flat open space across the country. On the flight in we could see the seas of blue tarps that had become the new homes for millions of terrified Haitians.

In our work there we had a medical team staffing a clinic which saw hundreds of patients each day, a construction team which was helping rebuild Lifeline’s school and church in Leogane which was flattened except for a single wall which miraculously the team that we sent last year actually built (praise God!), and a team of women that helped to distribute food, clothing, and shoes to the people.  We were constantly working, but were thrilled to see that Christ was proclaimed with each activity that we did. We saw that hundreds if not thousands had turned to Christ in recent weeks following the quake. We also had the great joy of visiting Rivaldo, a Haitian child we have sponsored to feed and go to school through Lifeline over the last year. Our team last year was heartbroken at the hut that Rivaldo was living in and hoped to build him a house some day.  We went to visit him and were left in shock that the home was completely destroyed. That was when it really hit home on a personal level the effect that the earthquake has had on people. Rivaldo and his family had little to nothing before, but now even the home they lived in has been reduced to a pile of rocks. He along with his brother and mother were now living in a 8′x8′ tent constructed from two tarps from Samaritan’s Purse. The only joy we found in the moment was that Rivaldo (more…)

Over the past couple of months there has been a lot going on, both inside and outside the Miami Valley, in an effort to aid the recovery process in Haiti. In one day, people lost homes, loved ones and the familiarity they had become accustomed to in just living their lives. The Haitian people are very dear to the hearts of several people here at Apex. This coming weekend, ten people from a Region 2 house church will travel to Haiti to serve at the Lifeline clinic in Grand Goave.

To further help the people of Grand Goave, this same house church is working with Kids Against Hunger to sponsor a Bagging Project at Apex on April 24th & 25th. The purpose of the Bagging Project is to provide Lifeline with 72,000-144,000 meals that will be distributed in and around Grand Goave. The team from Apex is responsible for providing the cost of the materials ($18,000 for 144,000 meals) as well as man power. During the days of the project, a mixture of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins, and minerals will be measured, weighed, bagged, and sealed for shipment to Haiti. Lifeline will then distribute these meals to the Grand Goave clinic as well as other local clinics and children’s homes.

Many volunteers are needed to make this project a success. If you are interested in helping, email your contact information to feedhaitiproject@gmail.com.

For more information on Kids Against Hunger and the Bagging Project, visit http://www.kidsagainsthunger.org/.

It’s hard to believe it’s been more than a month since the January 12^th earthquake rocked Haiti. I remember we first heard about it in the context of humanitarian organizations sending over aid. Satisfied that needs were being met, my husband and I donated once toward the cause and then for the next three weeks, rarely thought about Haiti at all.

We thought we had done all we could do.

But then, I started reading the Twitter account of Shaun King, a minister in Atlanta, who has been tweeting to bring to light the injustices and horrible conditions the Haitians have been facing. He wrote that many families, some with infants, are sleeping on the ground at night with only sheets over their heads for protection.

A doctor who is currently in Haiti tweeted, “people are refusing the leave the hospital because they don’t have tents. They are afraid to face the rain.” Last week, after the first “light rain” of the season, Haitians were living in inches of mud already – and there are still 5 months of storms approaching.

They are afraid for good reason. The hills of Haiti mean landslides when the rain comes. Without proper shelter, people on the ground can easily be washed away – or drown in the mud. More rain also means standing water, which leads to waterborne disease and parasites. The misery and discomfort the people are now facing is only going to get worse, and they are asking for the one thing they know will help. Tents.

To answer the call, King established aHomeInHaiti, which aims to provide tents to the 200,000 families who still need them. Visitors to the site can donate money or buy tents directly online that will be shipped to Haiti.

In just a few days, it will begin to rain regularly in Haiti. Could you imagine living outside, permanently, in the rain, with nothing but cloth sheets held up by sticks to protect you? Currently, this is set to be the very harsh reality for over 700,000 Haitian men, women, and children who still have nothing to protect them from the elements.

Region 3 is partnering with aHomeInHaiti and collecting tents from Apexers over the next three weeks. We are challenging each house church to purchase and send at least one tent each from aHomeInHaiti to provide a Haitian family with a home.

Folks may also buy tents locally or donate used waterproof tents.

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Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Pray for the Haitians – the struggles there go far beyond the coming rains. Pray for protection for the women and children, strength and compassion for those who are there helping, peace among survivors, and renewed faith and hope!
2. Visit aHomeInHaiti.org and donate money (used to buy tents) and/or tents with your House Church.

3. Tweet, blog, talk, facebook, text and make a lot of noise about the needs of the Haitians, and the chance we have to meet those needs. Bring up the drive at your house church meeting and let your friends and family know what’s going on.

4. Drop off a clean, used or new  waterproof tent to Apex during the next three weeks.

5. E-mail erinnefullam@gmail.com if you have any questions or want to be more involved.

Just over a week ago, John and Debbie, a couple who lead an Apex house church, took off on the last leg of their flight to Haiti. Once there, they began working with a medical team of three other ladies to help support a clinic in Cite Soleil for several days. While John and Debbie are in Haiti, they are updating their blog when they can to share with those of us who are still state-side little snippets of what’s happening with the people they have gone to love on.  I am encouraged and challenged by these two, and many others, who have left the comforts of their home and country to go use their time and talents to help a hurting people. Here are a couple pictures and highlights of what they have experienced so far:

Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. Every day we arrive to long lines of patients waiting in front of our clinic in Cite Soleil. The conditions here are getting worse and we are seeing many malnorished and very ill people. Many who survived the earthquake lost their homes and jobs… many schools and businesses are closed, some permanently. Those who lost jobs cannot afford food for their families. There is much suffering and the approaching rainy season will only make things worse.

We were able to go to a church service at the location where the clinic will be held.  The service was held outside because the people are afraid to go inside after the earthquake.  “It’s not the same country, you are not the same people, but even if you have trouble you can still have the peace of Christ.”  Were the words of the pastor.  The message was on John 14:27 and the words of Jesus.. “I am leaving you with a gift- peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives.  So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

What are we willing to give to share the love of Christ? And what is it that we are reflecting to the people God has placed in our lives? Stress? Fear? Or is it a peace that can only point to the assurance found in the arms of a Savior?

Thirty years ago, Bob DeVoe  ventured to Haiti to help oversee the construction of a clinic for the people there. During the last three weeks of the building project Bob’s wife, Gretchen, was able to join him.  During their time in Haiti, the couple completely fell in love with the Haitian children,  people, and the country itself. Their passion for Haiti was the beginnings of the Lifeline ministry, which strives to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the world’s impoverished and hurting people, through serving and exemplifying Christ, in hopes that one day those who are lost in the darkness of this world, may know and rejoice in the glorious light of Christ.

Lifeline has been pressing on to help the people of Haiti in any way they can. Below is an update from Gretchen on their relief efforts:

Today was another glorious day in the service of the King here in Haiti…we had 5 more containers of relief food come today (20 foot containers). The food is being distributed by Jason Rew and Frantzy Desir who are now overseeing the distribution since J.D. Hite and Nick Lamatrice left.  Jason said we are now feeding over 9,000 families in the Grand Goave area, through our distribution process and most of what they are receiving right now is through the U.S. military and other relief organizations such as PAM (a world food relief organization).

Yesterday we received a phone call from a staff sergeant based in Carre Four, not far from the Lovelink Children’s Home. They have 250 pallets of donated food through the relief agencies and he called Bob because he heard we are skilled at distribution of food effectively and efficiently.  Made us feel like our hard work has paid off!  But we give our Lord all the credit for guiding us in the organization process.   Anyway, they want to use our Children’s Home for food storage and our school across the alley from it for distributing to the families of the community there. So it is our plan now to have the 2000 students come class by class and get a portion for their families.  This will saturate a good part of the immediate community, including some of our church people. And hopefully we’ll be able to keep it flowing as long as the Lord and generous organizations provide!

The Lord can make such beautiful things from ashes. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti and that they might find their hope in someone who is greater than themselves, and greater than those who came to help. There is nothing God cannot use to glorify His name. And that is something truly beautiful.

After Haiti was hit by the earthquake on January 12th, cities were destroyed and lives were left in ruins. Several individuals and organizations have responded to the devastation by sending funds, supplies and workers to aid in the recovery efforts. The International Mission Board or IMB, whose vision it is to see a multitude of people from every language, tribe, and nation knowing and worshiping Christ, is one of those organizations which have stepped up to reach out to the hurting people of Haiti.

On their website, Tristan Taylor shares the story of Hubert Duchatelier, who has lived near Port-au-Prince  in Vallee de Bourdon for the past thirteen years. Hubert, his five children, and his wife were able to survive the earthquake. Others, including his brother, were not so fortunate. Hubert has had to start over in many regards.

Before the earthquake, he led Bible studies in his home, gave devotionals for his neighbors twice a day and shared the JESUS film along with International Mission Board missionaries Mark and Peggy Rutledge… Hubert will have to make a new start — and find a bigger home — in Saint-Marc. But he has every intention of continuing his ministry. He plans to speak out about his faith and share devotions with his neighbors in his new community. “You’re supposed to minister where you are. I plan to do the same thing in Saint-Marc,” Hubert says. “After this earthquake, if God saved your life, He saved it to continue His work.”

Haitians are interested in God’s Word right now, Hubert says. They believe God spared their lives, and they will listen carefully to people who talk about Him. Hubert asks for people to pray that his family will stay close to God. “Tell the people in America to be praying, because I am going to start a new work for God where my family is now,” he says. “And for me to touch people’s hearts when they hear my teaching. “And pray for me,” Hubert adds. “For God to give me strength to continue His work in good and bad times.”

In the face of struggle and loss, Hubert’s hope has remained rooted in Christ and His strength. On his own, Hubert could not begin to rebuild from the rubble that has been left in the wake of the disastrous events less than a month ago. But the Lord is faithful, and it’s His power that shines through in our weakness.  If Hubert and the other survivors in Haiti come to mind this week, please remember to pray for them, as they are very much in need of our Savior to rebuild what they cannot.