We are home!

Our trip to Haiti has drawn to a close and we are home.  However, our hearts are torn - wanting to be home yet wanting to be back in Haiti.  This trip has truly changed our lives forever.  The openness, care and affection the Haitian workers had for us has truly touched our hearts.  Seeing first hand the damage from the earthquake and the increased need it created was overwhelming.  However, seeing God at work was amazing.  Thank you for sending us as God's representatives being God's hands, and God's feet to a place that has experienced such hurt and such need.  In the words of a Weslyan pastor there, "Please tell the people not to forget us!"  Let us not forget!

Our Last Day

Our last day was bitter sweet.  We raised one more shelter and spent the afternoon touring the village and visiting some of the workers homes.  A total of 16 shelters were raised to house approx. 100+ people.  The medical team saw 1350 patients this week as well.  Life in Haiti is hard, yet the people are so resilient!  Their situation may seem dire to us, yet their happiness and affection is hard to resist.  Our time in Haiti has been a life changing event for all of us.  We will  never be the same - and that is a good thing.  Viewing life through the eyes of people different from ourselves helps us to view ourselves in a more realistic light.  We saw God in many, many places here; in the care and affection of the volunteer workers; in the eyes of the children; in a small hand reaching up to take your hand . . . God is certainly present here in Haiti.  The workers- singing hymns, laughing and playing with us -have touched us beyond belief.  Thanks be to God for the Haitian people - and to you for sending all of us here.  We will see you all tomorrow!

Day Four

Again, sorry about the late post.  Our internect connection here has been having problems.  Day four was a very productive day.  The construction team completed 4 shelters and the medical team again saw many, many patients.  We all are getting into the routine which creates more productivity.  We had the honor to attend an engagement party for Dr. Vlad and Dr Merlin , the Haitian doctors employed by the North Carolina Baptist Men.  It was more of a pre-wedding party.  It was very special being able to be with them during this special.  We all are both sad and happy to be leaving tomorrow.  Sad because leaving the relationships we have developed will be difficult.  Happy because we will return to family and friends.   We are so very blessed to have this experience and hope we will do a good job at trying to let you know what we experienced upon our return.  Blessings to you!

Day Three

We apologize for the late post.  We had internet problems last evening.  We had a wonderful day!  Visited the orphanage in the a.m.  The children are so precious.  They loved it when we held them and would reach down and pull your arms around them loving the tight hold.  The medical team checked all the children out then we spent time sizing them and giving them clothes, flip flops and homemade dolls which they loved!  The construction team matched a record - 4 shelters in one day!!  11 shelters in all so far! You would be surprised at how many people live in each shelter.  These 11 shelters are housing 59 people - you do the math! .  We truly are meeting a pressing need here in Haiti.  Thank you for your prayers - we can truly feel them!!  We thank God for all of you.

Day Two

Day 2 was very productive.  Two shelters built before lunch.  Two more in different stages in the afternoon.  The two medical teams saw approx. 300 patients.  This experience is causing all of us here to reflect on our priorities.  The people here in Haiti are so full of personality, so happy and fun to be around.  The children are so loving.  This is a wonderful country, very beautiful; however very poor.  Everyone seems to be in the same boat financially (or lack thereof).  This makes for easier friendships and family dynamics.  Thank you to everyone who is praying for us.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we visit an orphanage tomorrow.

Day One

Exhausted!  That is what we all are this evening. The 2 medical teams saw 360 patients. And, the construction team built one complete temporary house and completed another that was partially done.  Both families receiving housing were very thankful.  At the last house dresses, clothes and flip flops were given to area children which created quite a scene.  The need is so great here it is overwhelming!  However, the people are so nice and thankful, always polite and happy.  We are being blessed by the Haitian construction workers and community members alike.  Continue to keep us in your prayers.

We're Here!

3:30 a.m. came really early this morning!  We loaded the vans with myraids of luggage and traveled to RDU.  We were excited but very cold!  We boarded the plane to Miami - no problem.  Then we landed in Miami a little late - with very little time to catch our next flight to Port-au-Prince!  No time for potty break!  But we made the connection - Thank you God!  They unlocked the door just for us to board.  Landed in Port-au-Prince and experienced immediate chaos!  We waited and waited for all our luggage thinking maybe it was not going to be there!  Finally it all appeared and we sighed a sigh of relief!  We started the journey to our transportation only to experience a swarm of "helpers" wanting our tips.  We all chimed "no - no - no."  The trip to the "Tap Tap" (truck-taxi) was bumpy and Bob and Cynthia spent time picking up luggage from the ground listening to a young boy pleading "Mam, Mam please only a dollar, please."  Heartbreaking!  Paul, Ashley, Ashley and Cynthia rode in the back of the "Tap Tap" while Bob, Darden and Lori rode behind in the van.  What a ride! The sights which reached our eyes was heart wrenching.  Everywhere rubble and chaos.  People everywhere!  Traffic everywhere!  We reached the compound and unloaded.  The girl's room actually has a little AC - thank you God - again!  We toured the residence and compound and returned to sort the 900 dresses and clothes for children that were brought.  Still have not finished that project.  Joyce and Curtis Thrift our hosts served us a wonderful lunch and we are just about to sit down to another delicious dinner.  God is very good.  We are all ready and willing to serve - Thanks to all of you for sending us.  Please keep us in your prayers.  We send our love - please send us yours!!

Farming in Haiti

Seven people from our area are going to Haiti next week to do a little Kingdom farming! We will be joining the Apostle Paul who wrote to the church in Corinth, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase!” Corinthians 3:6-7.

We ask you to pray for our team as we work among the Haitians to show and tell them the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Six of us will be doing that through helping to build temporary houses for families whose shelter for the past 10 months has been a sheet or a plastic tarp stretched over a rope. What we will build will be insignificant by our standards but it will be a miracle to the dozen or more families whose heads we help put a roof over.

One member of the EBA team will be joining a medical team from Indiana. That team will treat everything from simple infections to life-threatening illnesses and injuries. Previous medical teams have treated over 300 people a day while providing hygiene education to many more to spare them diseases like cholera.

Perhaps we will see some of the harvest. We will tell you about any people who make professions of faith during our stay. Most likely we will never see the results of the seed we sow. However, our goal is not to seek glory in the harvest. Our goal is to sow seeds that will be watered and cultivated by others until, in God’s time, the harvest will be reaped. 

We are grateful for the support of every person who has helped bring us to this point. Now we need your prayers so that together we can do the Kingdom farming that God calls every congregation to do.

How can you participate?

Perhaps you would like to be a part of the mission to Haiti but cannot go at this time.  There are several ways in which you can participate in the Haiti mission.  One way is to make a contribution to help pay the cost of sending a team member.  Each member is individually responsible for the $1000 cost of the trip, passport costs, incidental expenses while traveling, and cost of immunizations.  Many of the team members feel a deep sense of God's call to help the people of Haiti, yet are in great need of financial assistance.  Any contribution you make to help pay expenses will be used to offset the cost of the trip for those in financial need.

Another way you can participate is by covering the team in prayer.  Pray for the team's safety, wisdom in seeing the doors for effective ministry that God opens, physical and spiritual strength, and that we will be able to meet all of the needs that God intends on us meeting during the week of November 7-13.

Also, you can invite team members to share their experiences with your church family after they return.  You may call them individually or call the EBA office to request a speaker for a certain date.

Why Haiti?

Often people ask why we are willing to expend the time, effort, and money to go to Haiti.  Even before the earthquake hit, Haiti was the poorest country in the western hemisphere with an average annual income of only $370 per person and half of the population having an average income of less than $60 per year. The illiteracy rate is 75% and the unemployment rate is 80% in this country of nine million people crammed into an area about the size of Maryland.   There were 380,000 orphans before January 12, 2010 and no accurate count of how many children were left without parents when over 200,000 people died in the 30 second earthquake that destroyed much of the capitol. 

So why are we going?  Because we want to make a difference in the lives of those who are struggling to survive in that hostile envoronment with winter temperatures reaching 80 degrees and the summer temperature often topping 100 degrees.  Thousands of temporary homes have been built to provide relief from the elements, but there are thousands who are still waiting to know that there is hope for the future.  In areas where a number of homes have been built, panic is setting in as those still waiting for their own home fear that volunteers will leave before the work is completed.   The government is inefficient, corruption has plagued the country for years, and infrastructure is virtually non-existent.  But none of that absolves us from the responsibility to do all we can in the name of Christ. 

Our task is much like the familiar story of the little boy walking along the beach, picking up starfish stranded on the sand in the sun, and gently tossing them back into the water.  A man approached the boy and asked why he was wasting his time in pursuit of such a futile task.  The man pointed in both directions where thousands of starfish were hopelessly stranded and he reminded the boy that even spending his entire day tossing them back into the water would make no difference in the problem of the stranded starfish.   Without a word, the little boy bent over, picked up yet another starfish baking in the sun, tossed it into the cool waves of the ocean, and kindly said to the man, "I sure made a difference for that one!"  We want to help those we can help.  When we leave on November 13 there will be families that will have shelter for the first time in ten months. 

But there is another need that the people of Haiti have.  No matter how much help they receive, even if fresh water flows from a well in every home, every person is employed, and the government provides a safe and secure environment, they will still be in need of the same living water that Jesus offered the woman at the well in Samaria nearly 2000 years ago.  We go to introduce them to a life changing encounter with the living, risen Christ who has changed us.  Our greatest gift to the people of Haiti will be offering them the opportunity to walk with the One who will be with them even if the earth trembles beneath their feet and the world crashes down around them. 

We ask of you simply that you pray for us and with us that:

- God will use us in whatever way He intends
- we will be willing to do anything needed
- the team will be bound together like a rope of many strands
- we will evidence the love of Christ in all we do.

Haiti Mission Trip: Day 1

Haiti Mission Trip: Day 1: "Test Blog"

Hey, this is a really great opportunity to make an eternal impact in someone's life.

Preparation for the trip

A team of ten will leave RDU on November 7 to make the journey to Haiti.  Team members include: Lori Martin of Turkey Baptist Church; Ashley Hartsoe, Ashley Faircloth, Cynthia Collins, Bob Bailey of FBC Clinton; Darden Battle from Virginia; Juli Lamberth, Keith Talley, and Hilda Talley from Reidsville; and Paul Langston of the Eastern Baptist Association.  Mrs. Martin will be with the medical team, while the others will be with a construction team constructing 12X12 frame shelters with blue plastic tarp sides and tin on the roof as temporary housing.

Each team member has been responsible for raising the $1000 cost for the trip.  Thank you to FBC Clinton for their generous support of the team members from that church. 

We will be staying at a compound operated by Global Outreach and working with NC Baptist Men in conjunction with Samaritan's Purse.  The compound is about 20 minutes from the center of Port au Prince.