Haiti Updates

26 January, 2012

2012-01-26T03:36:00.000-08:00

Life is never dull in Haiti. We love January because of the constant winds and cooler temperatures. When it is 75 early in the morning and the wind is blowing...it is "jacket time" time in Haiti. Jeff Haight, from Indianapolis, joined us for a week. He is so flexible and willing to do whatever. Samaritan's Purse has moved their operation to the lower part of our property and across the bay. We now have our conference center back and of course we had lots of repairs and painting to get ready for groups to come back in. We've spent most of this month getting ready and on Jan 23rd the second John Maxwell Leadership Conference was launched. Tom Christopher headed this up this conference. Side note*** This same conference with Tom was in session when the earthquake struck in Jan 2010. It was the last conference we had here at GO property and what a blessing that it is the first one we've hosted since the quake. What a great group and the three days were so anointed by God.
The rest of Tom's team....his wife, two of his sisters and a friend Bill , have been going to the Cite of Reparatries each day. They are doing training for teachers and each afternoon they are holding a VBS for the children.
David is loading a container in Nashville on Saturday. He's been busy rounding up supplies to send to Haiti. I will be flying out on Sat. We will be teaching for a week at MOT in Tupelo before flying back to Haiti on the 14th of Feb.

January 12, 2012

2012-01-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

Today marks the second anniversary of the 2010 Earthquake. The president declared it a holiday so our Haitian staff is off and businesses and schools are closed. Just talked with a missionary that decided to go to the Mass grave site...about 3 miles south of our compound...and be a part of the program the government was having there today. He said former Pres. Clinton was in attendance. I asked if there were lots of people and he said a "fair amount" but not overwhelming. He said that he was standing in the sun and it was just too hot to stay for the entire program. Can't imagine...HOT? It was 99 degrees here at 3 pm. Many many churches took this as a day of prayer for the country.
Last Sunday David preached at TiTanyen. It was such a Holy Spirit filled service. Even before the message the worship leader called people to repentance and renewal. As David gave his invitation there were 3 people that accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Again the altar was full ...people praying and weeping before the Lord. The service lasted four hours but not sure anyone noticed the time. What a sweet time of being in His presence.
Yesterday we received a phone call from our daughter saying that her mother-in-law had passed away suddenly. Please be in prayer for Mike and the entire Hamilton family. David flew to the US late yesterday afternoon to be with the family during these difficult days.

January 5, 2012

2012-01-05T05:23:00.000-08:00

A NEW YEAR !!! Praise the Lord.
We ended up being able to give out over 900 Christmas bags with children in our area. God seem to multiply the items we had to share. Such a joy to see the delight in the eyes of the children.
It has been an interesting time for us on the compound during the holiday season. We have been challenged again on the property ....this is the 7th time. Always have proved it is ours. Only in Haiti could this happen. We know it is an attack of satan however situations like this are very good for our prayer life. We have confidence and trust in the Lord and we have been at peace the entire time. Only He can give us this kind of peace.
Samaritan's Purse has moved most of their operation to another part of the island that had the most damage during the earthquake. They are keeping a presence on our compound....on about 4 acres in the front of the property. They haven't completed all their move yet but most of it. Now we can get back to our ministry of training Haitian pastors, teachers, youth groups, etc. It's been two years since we've had a place to bring in our conferences. Our first conference will be a John Maxwell Leadership Conf. that will begin on Jan 23rd. This will be headed up by Tom Christopher from Danville, KY.
We are gearing up for a very busy team season. We are thrilled people continue to want to come and serve the Haitian people.

Dec 26,2011

2011-12-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

We know everyone has had a very busy holiday season. The same here. On Dec 9th the Runk's arrrived on compound to spend a couple of months here. We love having them and of course the children are a delight.Dec 10th Ronnie Blackwell from Danville, KY brought a team of 8 men to be with us for a week. WOW !! we worked them hard. The first day we sorted and sacked over 500 Christmas bags. Thanks to the team...they were able to bring down 8 duffel bags of toys from our home church Walnut Memorial Baptist Church in Owensboro. These toys plus all the extra toys that were brought down during the year made up the gifts for the school children. The next few days the men worked on building forms to make a concrete pour on the expanded grease pit where we work on vehicles. On Thursday we did the pour....around 19 yards of cement all mixed on the ground. Friday was a day of blessings. We gave out the Christmas gifts to our Kindergarten, Morning School and the Afternoon School The smiles and the laughter on the face of the children was worth it all. Sorry each of you couldn't be here to share in the give away. As the team shared in their debriefing....Friday was worth the entire trip. Another ministry shared over 300 boxes of gifts so we were able to give to other schools and orphanages.Wednesday we gave to another Kindergarten of 40 children plus 106 kids up the mountain at Blanquet school. There we were also able to give out dresses made by many ladies in churches in the US.
Thank you so much for helping make this time of the year special for so many.
Christmas Eve: What a special time. It is the night when we invite all our staff...American and Haitian that live on the compound to come and share in our home. We started with a time of prayer then we read the Christmas story found in Luke 2 ...in both Creole and English. It was time for the food and fellowship around the table. As we finished the food the kids were anxious to see what was under the tree. Mme Girard, Cecile, Saul, his wife and three children opened their gifts. One gift was a song book so that started our time of singing. Everyone participated. We had quartets, solos, etc. Lots of laughter and fun. As we ended in prayer we knew we had just experienced Christmas.
Christmas Day. The Heady's and Runk's shared a lovely Christmas breakfast at the Erickson's home. We opened gifts and then it was time for David to go to Shekina to preach. At 2pm we had dinner at our home. We invited the only 3 Americans with Samaritan's Purse left on the compound for the holidays. All 11 of us had a great time of food and fellowship....way too much food!!!

Dec 7, 2011

2011-12-07T05:25:00.001-08:00

WHEW! Great days of travel but wonderful to be back in Haiti. We returned about a week ago. Catching up is always a challenge. We had a blessed time in our 3 Mission Conferences...Lee University, Christ Church and Global Outreach. Our travel to visit 6 missionary units in Ecuador was also a blessing. It is exciting to see how the Lord is using each one of them to accomplish His ministry in each of their areas. As we visited each one I'm saying..."I would love to be here". Ecuador is such a beautiful country. They have lush country sides and lots of vegetation. However...my heart was at peace when we returned to Haiti knowing this is the place the Lord has called us and His call has never been more clear. As we age...David will be 72 the 20th of this month...we know there are things in the future that will change but our hearts for Haiti are still strong. Working in a physical way may not be able to continue long term but working in the spiritual will always be a possibility. God called...and that call has not been revoked.
We have a BUSY year 2012 ahead as our team schedule is FULL. This is so exciting knowing that God is still calling out people to work in His Kingdom.
Please pray for laborers to help. We need an office manager, a teacher to help oversee the schools, at least 2 couples to come and work along side the staff we have now.

Oct.19,2011

2011-10-19T05:24:00.000-07:00

David's trip to Africa has been good. Long and tiring but very timely. He and Pete will return to the US Thursday night. They will arrive in Memphis and hopefully David will be back in KY on Friday. We will be leaving on Sunday for TN to do two different Mission conferenes that will go from Oct 24th- Oct 30th then on to MS and Ecuador. It is rare that David and I travel without the other but this trip has given me time in KY to spend time with family and get some much needed things done here such as preparing us to be on the road and in the air traveling for the next full month. We covet your prayers....you know we aren't getting any younger!!!
Please pray for our staff in Haiti. They are doing a wonderful job but the load is heavy. They just finished a team of 10 and all went well. They showed the Jesus film in a new area in TiTanyen and 40 people accepted Jesus as their personal savior. PTL! They have another team coming in about 10 days. I know they will need this time to catch up on all their administrative things too. They continue to work on the construction of the new church in TiTanyen and they have started another home for a family still living in a tent.

Oct.7th, 2011

2011-10-07T05:03:00.000-07:00

David is flying to South Africa today. He and Pete Gibson ...from our home office...will be visiting several of our missionaries in Zambia and South Africa. Please pray for them as they make this journey. We know it will be an encouragement for those they are going to see. I will be staying in KY while David is traveling.
The last two months I have been filling in for the nurses in the Burn Clinic...first Sheryl...while they took a much needed time out and then for Linda as she and Glen took some time to visit family and take care of some business. Burns are such a terrible injury. It is so difficult to watch the suffering of these patients but so rewarding to see their burns heal. We have many patients for 3,4, 5 months and more. You really get attached to them. We have a 94 year old lady that was burned on both her legs from her knees down. Her family has been so faithful to bring her every day. Some days it took four of us to minister to her needs. What a strong lady...both in the physical and in the spiritual. Many days we sang to calm her as we dressed her legs.
Sept 21st-26th.Sally Betro and Teresa from Atlanta, GA came to do a teacher's conference. What a blessing to have people pour their lives into our teachers and give them teaching tips and of course encouragement.
It is always hectic trying to leave Haiti for a few weeks....trying to get everything caught up so the load won't be so heavy on those we leave. David and I will be in the US for several weeks. When he returns from South Africa we have couple of days to do his laundry and head out again.
Oct 24- 25th we will be in a Missions Conf. in Cleveland, TN at Lee University
Oct 26-30 we will be at Christ Church Mission conference in Nashville, TN. Return to KY to repack and go to Tupelo on Nov 2nd for a Mission conference and GO Board meeting. We should be back in KY on Nov 6th and then we both fly to Ecuador Nov. 10-21st. We have several missionary units to visit during these days. REST?????

Sept 21, 2011

2011-09-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

The Brenize's arrived on the 8th. Eileen always comes with "goodies" in hand. This time it was peaches, apples and she always brings David her homemade fruit cake. They were a blessing to all. Dave did so many maintenance jobs...hard to name them all but the steps to my container are much safer now because he remade them. Eileen had meetings everyday with some of her Flannelgraph program leaders. She sent in 8 new complete set of the Flannelgraph and now it isn't enough because more programs are starting up. PTL!
Sept 10th a team from our home area arrived. What a blessing. Dr Michael Braden...eye doctor in Owensboro...his wife Trish, son Jarrett and daughter Ellen along with Tommy Heifner.. Matt and Leesa Pendley. They set up an eye clinic in our Burn Clinic. They had told me they wanted to give complete eye exams not just check to see if they needed reading glasses. The old people from our feeding program were the first patients. What a challenge....so many people here cannot read. We had to use charts with symbols but even then one of the old ladies told me she could see the shape but she had no idea what to call it. Michael was so good as he patiently took so much time with each one. Each patient that needed glasses were allowed to select a frame and then the team took the frames back to Owensboro, KY where they will make each prescription for each person. We will bring them back to Haiti after our time out in the US.
The greatest blessing was to see the patients faces when they received a new Bible. They had their choice of a French or Creole. Some said "why give a Bible to the ones who can't read?" They will take this Bible home and someone in their family will read it to them>>>> The team thought they would give away 60 Bibles....they gave 123 away. PTL!!!

Sept. 7, 2011

2011-09-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone has been working toward school opening on Sept 5th...now the government changed the dates until Oct 3rd. Sure makes for a late date getting out next summer.
The wedding dresses were a "hit". Eight couples were married at TiTanyen church last Saturday. It is such a blessing to see these couples get their lives on the right track. So many have just lived together so long and now that they are saved they see the need to marry. The church helps them as much as they are able but you can see what a blessing the wedding dresses are for each bride.
The Brumley's returned on Friday. Great to have them back. The Erickson's left on Sat. and will be out for over 3 weeks. Pray for them as they travel to 3 states to see their kids and grandchildren. Clinic continues to be very busy. We never lack for patients. I filled in for Sheryl while she was out and now am filling in for Linda while she is away. August is the month I give out school funds for sponsored children. The families of sponsored school children are so grateful to receive these funds. We want to thank each one of you who supports a child in school. Every year we think prices can't go higher and every year they do...especially their books.
Dave and Eileen Brenize will arrive tomorrow for a week. It is always good to have them back here. They ministered with us for 6 years on the GO compound. Eileen continues to direct a ministry called Hope for Tomorrow...there are around 30 Haitian teams in our area and the mountains that do flannelgraph programs weekly for the children in their village. What a ministry.

Wednesday August 31, 2011

2011-08-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

Despite all the troubling weather in and around the Caribbean we were blessed to only receive a little wind and about 3/4" of rain out of Irene. We know that the tents and temporary shelters would have had a difficult time standing in hurricane force winds and rain.
The Gateway team left on Saturday. What a great team. Really flexible. Linda Sullivan collected and sent down a large number of wedding dresses along with mother's of the bride or matron of honor dresses so we needed to find a place for all of them. (we loan these out to ladies in the community). Linda Erickson and I cleaned out the back of one of our containers and had one of our guys build racks to hang all the dresses on. What a blessing to have them in good plastic zip bags. We have them hanging in order of sizes, etc. So much easier to work with when the ladies come. We also have a section in the container where they can try the dresses on. The team ladies were so helpful in organizing all these.
We continue to work on the new TiTanyen church. What a huge undertaking. To date this will be the largest church we've been involved in constructing. We are praying that we have a lot of partners come along side us to carry the financial load of the construction. The church congregation is doing its part. Each week they have a "contest" between the men and women on giving to the construction of the church. YEAH!! for the women. They have out given the men 5 weeks to 1. It is a joy to see them giving with a cheerful heart.

August 23,2011

2011-08-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been "catch up" time for us. Getting lots of things done that have to be set aside when we have teams.

We've been so blessed to have Mary King staying here on the compound while her husband Curt is well drilling. They've worked in Haiti for years and she is a nurse and speaks Creole. She has been so gracious to work in the clinic while Sheryl Brumley and family take a much needed time out....speaking of Sheryl...she had surgery to remove a complex cyst off her thyroid. The surgery required removing the right lobe of her thyroid. PTL! all the tests came back normal and they will return to Haiti on schedule the first of Sept.

Last Thursday Linda Erickson, Mary King and I had the pleasure of doing crafts for the 150 youth attending the Youth Conference at TiTanyen Church. Thanks to the last teams here on the compound we had white T-shirts and sun visors for them to paint and decorate. They made "salvation bracelets" and we had enough other new T-shirts to give everyone a new shirt to take home. The biggest hit of the day was Mary teaching the youth to make balloon animals.

I started giving out school funds to the sponsored children thinking school was starting Sept 4th. What a disappointment to all when the Minister of Education decided that schools won't open until Oct 3rd. They opened in Oct last year. We understood this was due to the earthquake. God knows?

Gateway Church in TX sent a team of 8 here last Saturday. They have been very flexible to do whatever. The kitchen in the Afternoon school needed major work. They've scraped, washed and painted the walls. The guys picked up the stoves with 5 large burners and brought them to the GO compound to be degreased, scraped, cleaned and painted. They also installed 3 new burners. The ladies have painted all the brown trim on the Kindergarten...lots of block windows so it's been very time consuming.

August 9, 2011

2011-08-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

We've been extremely busy since our last update but it's been a great time of ministry. The Fellowship team painted the clinic addition the first couple of days and ministered with a young peoples program in TiTanyen...overseen by the Brumley's. These are some of the children in the village who don't attend church. They come to the program each Saturday for a Bible story, games and food. On Saturday the team went up the mountain to another children's program and ministered there for a few hours. The kids were thrilled as the American played games, etc.
While part of our staff was working with the Fellowship team David was at the airport picking up a team from Westport Rd Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. This team consisted of the pastor, his wife and two teenage children, the church's administrator and her husband and 3 teenagers.
These teams, along with 5 people here working with well drilling and David Jr. his wife Betsy, Ben Scott and a 19 year old young man from Louisville made for a GREAT week of ministry. Accomplished a lot too. David Jr and Betsy took one team and I took the other team. Both of our schools were painted inside and out. The Fellowship team was able to spend a day ministering and blessing another orphanage in TiTanyen. My Kindergarten director had asked me the week before if we had someone who could paint some more cartoon characters on the outside of the school. I told her we didn't have anyone that I knew of who could do this. Well..........God always has a plan. Alyssa, the pastor's daughter, said.."Oh, I can do that." She sketched out characters on the wall and the rest of the team helped paint them all. They are so cute. The Louisville team also did a VBS for an orphanage about 4 miles up the road from us. They had a great time. One young man from the orphanage plays the trumpet. As we arrived and got out of the van he started playing the Star Spangled Banner. The team was shocked and so was I. Then they played their Haitian national anthem. It was a joy for all.
Ben and David Jr also helped us with some much needed maintenance............electrical, etc. They shared with everyone that they were not electricians but sons of electricians so they wouldn't guarantee their work.
What a week....16 teenagers and not one complaint or whining out of any of them. God is good !! Great groups !!

July 28, 2011

2011-07-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

Picked up a team of 12 yesterday. They are from Fellowship Church in Brentwood, TN. Two adults with 10 9th and 10th graders. They will be working with a children's program in TiTanyen for a couple of days and then with another children's program in the mountains on Saturday. Lots of painting for them to do too. The Burn Clinic addition is finished and ready for a coat of paint.
David Jr, Betsy, Ben Scott and Mitch (a friend of David Jr's) will arrive tomorrow. On Saturday a team of 9 will arrive from Westport Rd Baptist Church, Louisville, KY . We have 5 others here drilling wells too. Never dull.....lots of people. I've run out of beds to sleep people until after Aug 6th. PRAY for our strength as we attempt to mix all these groups and accomplish what the Lord wants done in the next 10 days.

July 27 ,2011

2011-07-28T05:57:00.000-07:00

Great Week. July 18th a team from Christ Life Church in Tempe, AZ arrived led by Pastor Phil Goldsberry. He was accompanied by his son-in-law Brendon, son Phillip and wonderful support group for a total of 11. We were blessed to have 4 days of VBS....two days in the mountains at Blanquet Church and 2 days at Shekina Church. I was so impressed by the organization of this team...everything they did they did with excellence....from the Bible story teaching to the crafts and then the games. Everything pointed the children to Jesus. Each one of them showed the love of Jesus to these 300 children. I think there were around 45 young people that prayed to receive Christ and many others prayed for a stronger walk with Him. This team also worked toward painting the outside of Shekina church. This is a very large church and they only had a couple of afternoons to paint. Trisha..one of the team members worked in the kitchen a couple of afternoons showing our Haitian staff some new recipes. They loved it.

July 15, 2011

2011-07-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

Monday July 11th Brian Tyndall...COO for our GO Home office arrived with his 17 year old son Caleb. It was their first time in Haiti. Great to be able to show them the ministry here. Our only regret was they arrived to late to see the Gran Moun Feeding program Monday morning and all our schools closed on July 8th. Sorry they missed the kids...especially the Kindergarten children. We were able to show them a lot of the ministry and they were able to spend time with each of our couples and their families plus Pastor Kelly. On Thursday they flew to Jacmel to visit with the Whittaker's before flying back to PAP on Friday morning. We had enough time for David to bring them back to the compound for lunch with all our staff and then back to PAP to fly back to the US.
Thursday morning we received a call that our container was on the road to the compound. WOW!!! We loaded the container on June 4th in Nashville. The container left Nashville on the 7th of June . July 7th it arrived in Haiti and believe it or not....it cleared customs and was on the GO property at 10:30 am this Thursday morning. (normally it is at least 4 to 6 weeks clearing customs). EVERYONE was enlisted to unload this container. We worked 5 hrs on Thursday and about 7 hrs today to complete the task. Needless to say it was a HOT HOT job. What made it more difficult was we had some huge shelving for our warehouse on the container plus 600 sheets of 15ft metal roofing for the new TiTanyen Church. Lots of clothes, shoes, blankets, folding chairs, ice maker, copier, welder generator, etc filled out the container. Lots of things to bless a lot of people. We want to thank everyone who contributed the items and especially those who came to Nashville to help load. Praise the Lord !!!!

July 13, 2011

2011-07-13T05:16:00.000-07:00

July 2nd a great team arrived. ...Mark Green, his wife Linda, daughters Taylor, Danielle and Jessica with son Travis and his wife Shalane. Also on the team were 5 very mature, well mannered high school seniors....Ethan, Jordon, Ashton, Kelly and Ally. What a wonderful time we had with this group. We were blessed to hear how God touched each one of them as they opened their hearts to hear from the Lord. We had the team going in several different directions. Some worked each morning at the clinic, some painted the schools...(Thanks guys for resurrecting the cartoon characters on the wall of the Kindergarten.) Some of these painting were peeling and they were able to refurbish them. Several of the guys went on the well repair team. All the houses we built have now been painted inside and out. PTL!. So many happy families....grateful to have a safe and secure place to live. We were blessed to see how this team bonded with the Haitian people.

2011-07-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

June 30, 2011

2011-06-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

Great week with the New Work Fellowship Church team. Several new people on the team and lots of " return " people. Always a joy to see familiar faces. Some of the team went on well pump repair, some worked in the clinic treating patients, others work on getting the electrical put in the new addition of the clinic. After clinic the ladies cleaned off all the shelves and medicines bottles in the pharmacy part of the clinic.....lots of cement dust with all the construction going on. Painting the addition to the clinic and the inside of one of the houses we built in TiTanyen rounded out their week. Saturday night was so special as they showed the Jesus in one of the tent areas and 43 people accepted Christ. WOW! God is good.
Years ago when we first came to TiTanyen I taught conversational English at the seminary. I had a young man named Samuel in my class. During Samuel's last year of seminary he almost died with tuberculous . He had a very tough type to treat and spent two months in the hospital and 4 months recuperating at home. God raised him up to pastor two churches in the Cap Haitian area...about 6 hours northeast of TiTanyen. God has blessed his ministry as he has stayed faithful to him. Our hearts were saddened when Samuel's wife called Thursday and said Samuel had passed away. He leaves a wife and two children and congregations that will miss him. Pray!

Tuesday June 21, 2011

2011-06-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

The team from CO was small but accomplished LOTS. Many people think you have to have a lot of people to make a difference but the small teams do a great job too. David preached Sunday at a church in Bon Reop called Light and Peace. He has preached there many times but not since the earthquake. WOW...what a change. They have done a lot of work on their building and their congregation has doubled. PTL! It was good to see all of the "Gran Moun" at the feeding program on Monday morning. They are really enjoying our new staff member Glen Erickson. He greets and hugs them all as he hands out the food. So many old people here do not receive this kind of attention and it is so appreciated.
Today David and I left for town about 8:15am....we went to the bank, had a tire repaired on the truck and then went by the hardware store to pick up some needed items. It is a distance of about 28 miles round trip. It took us 4 hrs and 45 mins. to accomplish these simple tasks. Nothing simple here.
David and crew will head to the airport at 2:30pm to pick up a team from New Work Fellowship Church in Hopkinsville, KY. There are 8 men and 3 women on the team. Most have been here before and are a great group of people. Pray for them as they work and minister....it is HOT here.

June 16, 2011

2011-06-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

With the container loaded on Sat. June 4th we spent the night with the Scott's....went to Christ Church Sunday morning and then headed for Tupelo. Our GO duplexes were full with new missionaries so we spent the entire week at the home of David and Shay Hall while we were teaching at MOT. (Missionary Orientation Training) We saved on gas too as their home is only about 3 miles from the GO office. (Wonderful hospitality) Each year...the first full week of Feb, June and Oct...we, along with our GO Home Office staff, train new missionaries going to the field. David and I do a lot of practical teaching as to what to expect when they arrive at their new location. This was a great group. We had five couples and one single going to 3 countries. We stand in awe of how God continues to call out people in the country's economic downturn. Our God is not broke...AMEN! During the week David was also in many Leadership Team meetings. They were taking advantage of having David face to face and not on conference calling. We returned to KY late Friday night (10th) and spent Saturday trying to pack our suitcases for the trip back.
Many of you know I (Judy) broke a bone in the side of my hand. I went back to the doctor on Monday in hopes he would tell me I could do away with the cast but that didn't happen. He x- rayed it and said it was healing but I had to wear it another 3 full weeks. (do you know how hard it is to function without your right hand?) The Lord continues to teach me patience.
We finished our packing and flew out of Nashville on Wednesday morning. It was great to return but the weather here is about the same as in the US....HOT!!!
We have a team from CO here right now and many more teams on their way this summer. Pray for strength for our entire staff.

Tuesday June 7.2011

2011-06-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

When I say people came to help.....they came from central Indiana, Louisville and Hopkinsville, KY, Tupelo. MS, Smyrna and Franklin, TN...many of them drove 3 1/2 to 4 hrs just to come and help. It was so hot up inside the container that we were thankful we had enough people to trade out teams and let them "cool off" every so often. Dave King and his son Josh....representatives for CAM...the organization we ship through....we so patient as it took much longer to load this container. We shipped 600 sheets of metal roofing plus about 40 pieces of large shelving that will be used in our warehouses in Haiti. We had 4 stations set up where teams of people were sorting and sacking clothes, shoes, etc.
What a joy to have so many be such a part of this. Our only regret is that we didn't put out a sheet of paper for everyone to sign....so many we didn't know....so that we could thank them personally by email or card. A huge' thank you' to all of them plus those from Danville who made a couple of trips to bring clothing they had collected. We are asking the Lord to richly bless you and your efforts.

Monday June 6, 2010

2011-06-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

Friday...David was able to gather up all the items in Owensboro and put them on a 17 ft U Haul truck. We left around noon for Nashville. I followed in our van...loaded to continue on to Tupelo for a week of MOT. After unloading at the Scott's warehouse David and Tommy went to Franklin, TN. A man had offered to give us backpacks, blankets and canvas chairs for the container we were loading on Sat. They returned with a pickup loaded way above the cab.
Saturday morning...8 am.. it was time to load the 40 ft container. We knew we had a huge number of items to load. Thinking maybe we didn't have enough help we put out an SOS on Friday night. PTL! many responded. We are not really sure how many exactly showed up.....50 or 52...and I can tell you we needed every one of them. Some came for 2 hours, some for 4 and some stayed the entire 8 hrs it took to load. We had three stations set up sorting clothes while some of the men loaded 600 sheets of 15ft metal roofing.
OOPS...need to go teach a class. More later

June 2,2010 Urgent help needed

2011-06-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

If you aren't busy on Sat June 4th...8 am... come and help us load a container that is shipping to Haiti from Madison, TN. The address of the warehouse is Anchor Electric. ..633 Old Hickory Blvd E. Madison, TN 37115. If you are interested call us at 502-396 1392. Need lots of strong backs as we have 600 sheets of 15ft metal roofing along with shelving, clothing and misc items. Also lots of sorting of clothes. We have rented a truck for Friday to take to Madison what items we are picking up in Owensboro. Many supplies have been shipped and delivered directly to the Scott's warehouse. As we say in KY...."come on down".

May 27, 2010

2011-05-28T06:19:00.001-07:00

OOPS!.. The doctor informed me that it wasn't the lower bone in the little finger that it was the bone down the right side of my hand that was cracked. I asked if I could shorten the cast to about half and he said "no" it is that long for a reason. Well....I tried. It is amazing how limited you are with a cast on your right hand when you are right handed.!!!!

May 26, 2010

2011-05-26T05:16:00.000-07:00

Long time...no write! We have been in the US since the end of April. We were able to attend the GO Board meeting in Tupelo, MS as well as David had several Leadership team meetings. We were blessed this past week to be able to take a real "vacation". A dear couple from GA made their condo in FL available to us. We rested, read, walked the beach, fished one day and basically did nothing. First time in years we've done this when we had no agenda. We returned to KY on Tuesday afternoon. We were unloading the vehicle and Judy was taking items upstairs to put away. She had her hands full and stumbled on the stairs...fell against the wall and hit her hand on the baseboard. She heard something crack. However those of you who know Judy ...decided she wouldn't go to the ER. About three hours later she called a doctor friend of ours and we went to his house for him to check out her hand. He said it wasn't broke but may be cracked. He suggested she come by his office the next day for an x-ray. She did and YES the outside of her little finger was cracked. She is in a cast covering 3 fingers and up half way up her arm.
Now we are back to reality. We are loading a container on June the 4th out of Nashville. Lots of items to get rounded up. After we finish the loading of the container we will be in Tupelo for a full week to train new missionaries. We will then return to Haiti.
Pray for all our staff in Haiti as they continue with all the ministries there.

21 April, 2011 Thursday

2011-04-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

A FIRST....David has been preaching all this week at Second Baptist Church PAP. He and Pastor Kelly do this week long conference each year the week before Easter. This is always broad casted on radio and internet. They normally leave for town around 3:30pm. Yesterday....for the first time in 28 years...David had to cancel going a service due to problems in the country. David and Kelly couldn't get out of their driveways. David had made two trips into the airport yesterday morning and returned with no problems. Sheryl and Chris went to the bank and on their return realized about a block before turning into our driveway that the road was blocked. They were able to go off the road and down by our water fountain following the fence into our road. After this NOTHING passed north or south for 6 hours. The people of TiTanyen had blocked the main road north and south manifesting (demonstrating) to encourage the Cement plant to give them electricity. For about a year TiTanyen has had current for about 4 hrs a night. Since Jan. they haven't had any. This was their way of expressing their displeasure with the government. About 4 pm the "swat team" of the Haitian police showed up and started tear gasing the crowds. All afternoon there was lots of shooting. PTL! no one was injured. Lots of people were affected by the tear gas. Many were struggling with breathing and lots of sore throats and coughing.
TODAY....all is clear. Don't know what the outcome of all this manifesting will be. Please pray for all involved.

April 20, 2011 Wednesday

2011-04-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today our two interns left. Ashley Johnson from IL had been here 5 weeks. She was a blessing but she is so excited to be going back home. On July 2nd she will be marrying an intern that was here in January....Jon Kling. Cody Guidry from Resurrection Church in Picayune, MS came for a two week internship. What a blessing he was to us and the Haitian people. He had such a willing spirit and would anything you asked him to do. Young people are such a vital part of our lives and ministry. April 7th a team of 13 came to work on the addition to the Burn Clinic. They were from Cornerstone Church in CA. They were working with an organization called ...Lazarian World Homes...that has a new construction system with Styrofoam block. They reinforce it with lots of rerod and pour the cylinders full of cement. They were able to get all the walls up and our guys will pour the roof. It is a blessing to meet so many new people that have a heart for Haiti and missions around the world.
Sam Massey, Ronald Houston, Chris and Kay Burgess came to "guest house" with us while working on their own project however as their project wrapped up they had time to completely wire our new warehouse. I told them David had saved that job just for them.

April 20, 2011 Wednesday

2011-04-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

Busy month and lots of people. Fellowship team arrived and what a blessing they were. All of our houses had been painted on the outside but people were so excited to move inthey moved before we had a chance to paint the inside. The team helped the families move their furniture and set out to paint. They truly enjoyed trying to teach some of the kids to paint also. This team left on April 6th and the Richardson family arrived the same day. Andy,and Pat Richardson with their adult married children came to minister here for a week. What fun to see an entire family worked together. Andy, Robbie, Beth and Alissa worked putting roofs on three new permanent houses. Pat had purchased fabric to make new curtains and bedspreads for one of our team rooms plus Apt. #2. Linda Erickson, our newest missionary on the field, helped Pat sew every day after she finished clinic. Andy and Robbie has to rework all the curtain rods. PVC works great. So many people think they have no talents that can be used on the mission. ANY talent you have can be a blessing to the ministry.

Tuesday March 29, 2011

2011-03-29T13:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was amazing. I received so many "Happy Birthday's" through emails and Facebook. Thanks to all who took the time to send a message. We started 3 new permanent houses this past week. What a blessing to 3 more families. Teams have been painting the houses as they are completed. We have a team from Fellowship Church in Nashville, TN tomorrow. No news on who Haiti's new president will be. Hopefully we will find out in the next week or so.
Pray that peace and calm will continue to reign in the country. Fuel prices went up about $1.25 per gallon at the pumps...that's in US money. Tap tap drivers called for a strike on Monday but mostly it is just a slow down and nothing violent. Our boss mason had a hard time finding a ride from PAP to the compound today.

Friday March 25, 2011

2011-03-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

So much to share...Friday the 18th the former president...Jean Bertrand Aristide.. returned to Haiti. Everyone had said and all of us believed that if and when he returned the country would turn upside down. Praise the Lord that didn't happen. The country stayed very calm which surprised everyone. The run off elections for president of Haiti was held on Sunday the 20th. Again everyone expected problems but the country was calm. Pray it stays that way. We don't know when we will have results of that election.

Friday March 25, 2011

2011-03-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday March 15th Glen and Linda Erickson arrived in country. They are our new full time staff. They spent last March, April and May here on the field. In June they went through Global's MOT and spent the next few months raising their support, packing and shipping their furniture to Haiti. Satan put lots of stumbling blocks in their way but they never wavered. They were scheduled to arrive in Haiti on Feb 15th but Glen had to have a total knee replacement on January 26th. Well....this didn't discourage them or slow them down Can you imagine being in Haiti so soon after this type of surgery? Glen is a mechanic and maintenance man. Linda has been a nurse for 30 years. Much needed talents on the mission field. Please pray for them as they adjust to a new culture and work at learning the language.

Friday March 25, 2011

2011-03-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

What a great week! Last Friday March 18th a team of 9 from our home church.. Walnut Memorial Baptist Owensboro, KY and two ladies from Russellville, KY .. arrived in Haiti lead by Becky Ivy. Her daughter, Casey Dean, joined the group in Miami. The team came to work with the Sponsorship program. They did something really neat...they brought in new tennis shoes ...not only for the sponsored kids...but every kid in our schools. Can you imagine fitting around 300 kids with new shoes. This was a blessing BUT....that's not all....they also purchased and brought new shoes for all the old people in our "gran moun" feeding program....all 62 of them. Can you imagine not only buying over 500 pairs of shoes but organizing them and then packing them to come to Haiti?"They came with a servant spirit as the washed the feet of the "gran moun" and prayed for them before fitting them with shoes. David said one of the older ladies came by him and showed him her new shoes with tears in her eyes...then she lifted up her old sandals that were worn out and had been stapled together. We all agreed that it was probably the first pair of new shoes she had ever had in her life. God is good!

Monday March 14, 2011

2011-03-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

Last week was a good week. David tried to pump out the well in the village of Dumonte and had all kinds of problems. The hole had caved in 10ft. The generator they took with them didn't want to start. Had to work on it before going further. Then there was so much mud to pump out that the electric clean out pump was clodded. Okay ....fixed all these problems and returned a second time for clean out. PTL! They pumped for several hours until it finally was clean enough to install the hand pump. Our guys said they filled at least 500 buckets while doing the clean out. They said they think the people in this village were happier and more excited than anywhere they have installed a well. David preached at TiTanyen this week. WOW...do we need more sitting space. Good problem to have. W ebroke ground on the new church... just trying to get all the paperwork cleared before starting construction.
This morning we also started 3 more new permanent homes on the church property in TiTanyen. We praise the Lord that people continue to have a vision for giving homes to those in need.

Sat March 5, 2011

2011-03-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

David is out with Healing Hands ministry (they have a rotary rig) today trying to finish up a well they started yesterday about noon. It is in a very poor area about 25 miles north of us. When David visited this area last week he said he had never seen a village that poor that close to the main highway. Such a need. Water isn't the only need they have. We are going to try to gather up some clothes to give out there too. We had a lot of clothes come in on the last container but we have given most of them out to many churches to distribute. David had tears in his eyes as he shared about a 14 yr old boy who had been hanging around the rig yesterday afternoon. He said he didn't asked for anything but you could tell he was hungry. David had a sandwich in the cooler and gave it to the young man. He said it was so sad. He didn't know how to eat a sandwich. He had to show him. Pray that the Lord will show us how to encourage and help this village.

Sat. March 5, 2011

2011-03-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well drilling continues to a MAJOR part of the ministry. The need for potable water in the tent cities is overwhelming. One well can accommodate 500 people each day. When you see the masses in the tent cities you can imagine how many wells will be needed. Last weekend there was a land "giveaway" on the opposite side of road across from TiTanyen. Some organization constructed at least 100 plywood houses in two days. They had a 100 or more people working feverishly. TiTanyen has doubled in the last couple of years. More wells are needed there. We drilled in two more in the last couple of weeks.....pumps are on and functioning. We never lack for places to drill. We drilled a well on the side where the new housing is and hit gray mud. What a disappointment. Just need to keep trying. We get many requests each day for wells. Haiti needs many more well drillers. PLEASE PRAY.

Thursday Feb 24, 2011

2011-02-24T04:06:00.000-08:00

The five kids are doing great. The team painted the inside of one our new homes that we built. The people were so excited to move in that they couldn't wait on the paint. This particular family where they painted had a 13 month old little girl and two school age boys. Of course our team was the "show" of the day in the village. They enjoyed making new friends and hearing everyone practicing their English

Saturday Feb 18,2011

2011-02-19T17:45:00.000-08:00

What a good week. Lots accomplished and it is just fun to see how the Lord works as He opens doors of ministry. Always chances to share of God's provision for His people.
A team of 11 arrived today from GA. What a blessing! There are two families with a total of 5 children (ages 14 to "almost" 9) and two ladies. One family we have known for a long time...Jim and Lora Hardin. They are as excited to be here as we are to have them. Jim came many years ago with our son before either of them were married. The supplies they brought overwhelmed us but the stories of how the Lord provided it all was a faith builder to them too.
Should be an exciting week.

Wednesday Feb 16, 2011

2011-02-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

We were in the US for MOT (Missionary Orientation Training) Feb 7-11th. Great group of new missionaries coming on board. There were 17 in the class....8 couples and one single young woman. This group will open up two new countries for Global. All these were young couples in their mid thirties. The Nicky and Kristie Runk..... who were here with us for 3 months went through MOT and now are ready to start their funding raising. Pray for them that the Lord will provide quickly. We are anxious for them to get on the field. Another couple from our home church in KY ...Michael and Katherine Grant.. who have been in the Philippines for 7 years decided to come with GO. They went through MOT last week. It is so exciting to see how in this economic downturn God is still calling people out to serve Him in countries around the world.
We brought in LOTS of parts for repairs.
We received a call as we were driving out of Owensboro on Monday. Chris said one of our men was turning into our driveway and a truck loaded with market ladies and their goods decided to pass him on the left as he was turning. The other truck broke in two pieces and four ladies were hurt. Two were treated and released from a local clinic. The other two went to Doctors without Boarders clinic near town...one had a broken leg and the other maybe a back injury. The chauffeur fled before anyone could get his name, etc. The judge said this made him at fault for the wreck. The next day he came back for his phone and Chris saw him at the truck. He called a policeman we know and he came to the scene. He called the judge and made an appointment for the man to come to his court today. We'll see what the outcome is???? David thinks a door, fender, tire, wheel and mirror will go a long way toward repairing the Dodge 1 ton. PTL! None of our 4 guys were hurt.
David and crew repaired the 100 KW generator and put it online this afternoon. This is a huge PTL!!!!

Feb 7, 2011

2011-02-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

OOPS!!!!! How did I get this far behind? We've had people the last two weeks
Hallelujah the container that we loaded in Nashville in Nov. arrived on Friday before the WEAG team left on Saturday. YEAH!! we had plenty of hands to help us unload. Another answer to David's prayers...enough hands to unload and the generator arriving before the team arrived to install it.
Had a great team from Richmond,VA area. The guys were from four different churches. What a great team spirit they had. They were actually "guest housing" with us and working at a Haitian church in PAP however when they finished their work there they were so gracious to be hands for us. They painted the inside of one of our Haitian staff houses, painted one side of the galleria of the VQ and installed new commodes in the VQ and our house. Thanks Chris Burgess and team ...you guys sure lifted a load off of us.
On the same day the team arrived four others came from TN and IN. Tommy Scott and Gary Richardson and Paul and Joyce Scott came to help David install the new generators. LOTS of work to rewire the entire generator house. They had to take the two 40 KW generators outside and hook them up temporary to keep the compound going while they replaced them with 100 KW's. The 60KW's had to run also. Not easy to gut all the wiring and replace it and keep everything running. They needed lots of wisdom, discernment, long hours and hard work to accomplish this feat. David took the team of 11 to the airport at 6 am on Wed morning...returned to the compound to do more generator work and then Chris took the team of four and us to the airport to fly out. David and I are in MS doing MOT this week. Arrived last night. We have 17 new missionary candidates to train this week. PTL!!! God is still calling people out for His service.

Monday Jan 24, 2011

2011-01-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

It was a great week. The WEAG team was exactly what we needed. There were guys on the team that worked on plumbing the new fuel tanks and the fuel tanker we have for storing extra fuel on property. The others worked on laying block for the new building that contains the two 3,000 tanks. ...YES...even the women laid block. The building they were working on is near the main gate to our property. The security people at the gate were shocked to see ladies laying block. Later in the week they told Chris that "this was very good". Interesting how different cultures view working situations.
Samaritan's purse changed out their country coordinator this week. Judd Johnson and his wife Peg will be here overseeing the ministry. They arrived from Ecuador. We enjoyed sharing a night of food and fellowship with them, John Freyler from SP's main office and Betsy Hall...deputy country coordinator. We will be praying for Matt Ellington and his family as they take on other responsibilities at the home office of SP.
Saturday night we had 3 men overnight and then 10 for Sunday night from Global Compassion. This group is working in the northwest and trying to work two teams for two weeks. They will come back again for Wed. and Thursday night. We have another guest house team of 11 men arriving from VA on Wed along with 5 people for GO. Four of these guys are coming to help David switch out our 60KW generators for 100KW generators. They are having to rewire the entire generator house. Pray for all involved as this will take lots of coordination in trying to keep all buildings functioning as they make the change over. Joyce Scott is coming with her husband Paul and she will help cook for all these hungry men.

Monday Jan 17, 2010

2011-01-17T06:39:00.000-08:00

We continue to hear great reports from the prayer and fasting services that took place on Jan. 12th. So many people with their hearts turned toward the Lord. In two churches we are associated with... TiTanyen and Second Baptist in town they had 91 people accept Jesus as their personal savior. PTL!!!!
Saturday a team from WEAG in Richmond, VA arrived....the plane was over 2 hrs late so it was around 7:45pm before they arrived at the compound. Sunday morning we left the compound at 6am and David preached in town at Jim Cartright's church. After that we took the team to brunch and then on a tour of the earthquake damage and the tent cities. Long day..arrived back home at 3:00pm Bible study with the team and our staff at 5:00pm. At 6:00 a team of 15 arrived from MO to guest house with us for 2 days. They minister in the north of Haiti. They are out buying supplies for their two week trip. We will guest house them on their way back in also.
We fixed supper for 44 last night. (all our families and the two teams)
When we returned to the house we had a message on the computer that Jean Claude Duvalier ...former president...ousted in 1986...had returned to the country. Should be an interesting week.

Thursday Jan 13, 2011

2011-01-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a day of prayer and fasting for most churches in Haiti. The government declared a holiday so that all could be off to mark the one year anniversary of the earthquake. The churches were packed and overflowing. TiTanyen church was full and the reports were that at least 650 were standing out in the yard. God has certainly turned the hearts of the Haitian people toward Him. The Billy Graham chaplains headed up a service here on our compound. People gathered at 4:30pm to sing praises to the Lord and then Kevin Bruns shared his testimony of where he was when the earthquake shook Haiti and how the earthquake has effected him this year. It was a time to remember for so many people.

Jan. 04,2011

2011-01-06T06:04:00.000-08:00

Back in the swing of things here on the compound. We arrived Tuesday at 12:30 pm and a team from Guatemala arrived at 2:30pm I came on home and David stayed to get the team out of the airport. Chris and Kevin brought the team back to the compound while David waited till 3:45 for the nephew of Nicky Runk to arrive. As if that wasn't long enough he had to wait for the 4:30 flight to see if our missing piece of luggage might be on this later flight. It was the last piece on the last cart to arrive but PTL! it arrived.
This is a team of 22 from Guatemala. For those of you who know us know we don't do teams over 12 but the missionary that brought them had already purchased their tickets so.....here they are. They are a great group. We have 2 doctors working with medical, 8 painting and and 10 constructing temporary shelters. Language is a little bit of a barrier but most speak a little English and one speaks French. Their spirits for the Lord are what has touched our hearts. Here is a group of young adults who have raised $1,200 per person to make this trip. In Guatemala $1,200 is an average salary for a school teacher. Also this group makes up 10 % of their church congregation. What a sacrifice! Their vision is to start sending missionaries out of Guatemala to other countries. This is a first step.

Jan 3, 2011

2011-01-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

Has it only been 10 days since Mom went on to be with the Lord? The days have been packed. On Friday we met with the funeral home director and completed the arrangements. After sharing Christmas with our family we had Mom's viewing on Sunday afternoon and the funeral on Monday. What a celebration!!! My nephew Rick Simpson shared some of his memories about Mom ( she would have been so pleased) and then David did her service. He said in all the funerals he has done this one was the toughest. What an anointing the Lord had on David and His Word. Our church was so gracious ...along with the Pairs and Spares Sunday School class to furnish a meal after the service. This allowed the family some special time to share with each other. Next we needed to prepare Mom's condo for selling. I wanted to help my brother get this done before I went back to Haiti so that all this wouldn't fall on him. What a blessing to have our kids and grand kids to come and help go through, box, sort and move all her things. Everyone worked in such sweet harmony. It was fun to reminisce as each trinket brought up memories. Also found a couple of poems she had written about me and my brother. By 5pm Sunday the condo was staged and ready for the realtor to show, family had taken rememberances they wanted and the garage was loaded with items for giveaway. Late this afternoon we will drive to Nashville, spend the night with Tommy and Becky Scott and head for the airport Tuesday morning at 4am. We will arrive in PAP at 12:15pm and have a team from Guatemala arriving at 2:30pm. Pray for strength.

Dec 24,2010

2010-12-24T04:10:00.000-08:00

Another suddenly in our lives. Thursday morning at 2:30 am Judy's brother called to tell us that their mother had a heart attack and wasn't expected to live through the day. We immediately started putting things in order, packing and calling the airlines to find out how quick we could make it to KY. We said our goodbyes to all our staff and headed toward the PAP airport around 7am. We flew to Fort Lauderdale....PTL! there were 3 seats left on the plane. As we cleared customs and immigration there we received another phone call that she had experienced another heart attack. We switched airlines....Ft Lauderdale to Tampa, Tampa to Nashville. As we landed in Tampa we received word that she had taken her final flight to be with her Heavenly Father...Sad that we didn't get to see her one more time but rejoiciing that she was no longer in pain.
Our week before had been calm as the political factions decided to wait until after Christmas to do their manifesting. The mission team from New Work Fellowship in Hopkinsville, Ky voted to come on down any way knowing that they might spend Christmas in Haiti. Great group. They worked pouring well pump bases, repairing and installing pumps, cleaning out containers on the property, ministering in the Burn Clinic and packing over 500 back packs and sacks for Christmas. What fun to see the faces of the children as they received these backpacks filled with hygiene items, toys and candy.
David Jr. and Betsy arrived on Dec 15th. We had meetings with Samaritan's Purse leadership to map out the direction for both ministries in the coming year. It was great to have them there for a few days not knowing that only 4 days after they left we would be returning to KY.
Please pray for our entire family....the ones we left behind in Haiti and the ones here as we say our last goodbyes to my Mom.

Tuesday Dec 14, 2010

2010-12-14T03:30:00.000-08:00

The airport has been closed since last Wednesday. Prayerfully it will open today. Eileen Brenize has been here with us for a week and flies out today....God willing. She continues to oversee a program called "Hope for Tomorrow" that she and Dave started when they lived in Haiti. It is a wonderful outreach with Flannelgraph.
Much of the country was shutdown Wed, Thurs. and Fri of last week. People began to move out and get supplies on Saturday. Some of our staff went to the grocery and stood in line to check out for and hour and fifteen minutes. By days end the shelves were empty....just like announcing a snowstorm in the US.
Saturday Franklin Graham, his daughter, Sarah Palin and family and Greta VanSusteran and husband all arrived on the GO compound. They immediately took vehicles and headed north to see the cholera clinic and pass out Christmas boxes at an orphanage. On Sunday morning they arrived back on compound for breakfast and a service with all the ex-pats on the property. Had at least a 100 or more in the service.
Monday we were told that more manifestations would occur in town but the Lord sent RAIN...it is rare to have rain in Dec. Praise the Lord traffic was able to move again and David and I were able to go into the bank. It is amazing how we take for granted things like shopping until it isn't possible.
Today American Airlines is flying again. David and Eileen are on their way to the airport. Going in a couple of hours early. We know there is a tremendous backlog of people who want to get out but people who are ticketed for today get first chance.
I know it is COLD where most of you live but this morning it was 73 degrees on our galleria. BURR...that is cold for here especially with the dampness from the rains yesterday. Everyone has on long sleeves this morning.

Thursday Dec 9, 2010

2010-12-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

Monday the team gave out food to the "old people" before going over to paint the last permanent home in the village. David and I took Mark to the airport before going to pick up supplies for the next couple of weeks. Tuesday the team was able to get to airport to fly back to WI and David spent the next several hours looking for parts needed to hook up a new fuel tanker that we purchased a couple of weeks ago. We have to have more fuel storage on the property and a tanker seemed the easiest way to do this. The results for the presidential elections were announced Tuesday evening late. Most of the people were not happy with the results so since Tuesday evening very few vehicles have moved in the country. Lots of manifestations, burning tires, burning vehilces and road blocks in the most of the country. We are fine where we are and can move about 5 or 6 miles north and south if needed but NO public transportation is moving. Five of our staff can't get to work as they live in closer to town. The president announced last night that there had been an error in the count but don't know what that will mean to the people or the difference it will make. This is the second day of total shutdown for the country. Pray that rational minds will prevail and soon people can get back to work, the stores can open, the banks can open, schools can open and the airport can function again. No one is moving in or out of the country. PTL! our team was able to leave on Tuesday. We hear that over 700 people are stuck in Miami because AA can't fly in here.

Sunday Dec. 5, 2010

2010-12-05T17:26:00.000-08:00

Tuesday our team arrived from Wisconsin. The plane was 1 1/2 hrs late so it was a pitch black dark when they arrived at the compound. Wednesday and a half of a day on Thursday they bagged over 400 "family" bags of clothes to give out. God willing we will give most of these out on Monday afternoon in Grand Chemin. Thursday afternoon and Friday they painted two of the permanent houses inside and out that we have built in TiTanyen. Saturday was their day out and they visited an orphanage about 50 miles up the road. On Thursday a gentleman from Tampa arrived to spend a few days here so he has joined their team. One man on the team and his 17 year old son have done a lot of mechanic work. Always a blessing.
Today David preached at Shekina Church... had 4 people saved. Tonight he preached at Second Baptist in town and 10 people accepted Jesus as their personal savior. PTL! This is why we are here. ...to share the Gospel.

Nov. 30, 2010

2010-11-30T10:27:00.000-08:00

Elections went as expected. Lots of confusion, lots of fraud reported. Many unable to get to the polling stations. Ballots found out in the alleys and streets. The government report that all went well. 12 of the 19 candidates called to the elections to be nullified. Very little traffic on the roads yesterday and no schools were in session. This is Haiti.
Today David went into town to purchase much needed supplies and he said traffic was off at least 50%. This is good when you are having to drive. We have a team of 14 arriving today. They will be painting, sorting and sacking clothes for give away, etc. Friendships left and gave us a lot more clothes to give away.
Our son...David Jr....turned 46 today. Happy Birthday !!!!

Nov. 27, 2010

2010-11-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

I'm sure many of you know of the cholera outbreak here in Haiti. Samaritan's Purse...located on our property...along with many other organizations have been battling this outbreak for over a month. Lots of medical teams are arriving in the country but the main problem is getting the meds they need out to the areas where the worse outbreaks are. Customs and the government are holding thousands of cases of the needed IV's. One distributor said they couldn't sell to organizations working in the province because they needed to keep the IV's in reserve in case there is a major flare up in PAP. Our nurses have been doing education in the schools, churches, etc. Some of our staff have been involved in helping other clinics keep their doors open around the clock. As of this weekend many of the clinics are seeing fewer new cases. As you can imagine there will always be an ebb and flow consistent with the living conditions here.
Always busy getting caught up after being gone for a few weeks. The schools are functioning well. This year with the help of Blessings in a Backpack and an NBA basketball star's foundation we have added lots of new items to our school feeding program. The teachers and students are thrilled. We started the new menus this week. The morning and afternoon schools are having meat four days each week and one day a boiled egg along with the rice/beans, corn/ spaghetti, etc. The Kindergarten has added eggs, hot dogs, chocolate milk and fresh juice to their usual snack time of bread, peanut butter, milk, juice and cookies.
Thanksgiving Day all our American staff gathered at our house for a lovely dinner. Everyone brought in goodies and we have a wonderful day of food, fellowship and sharing of the Word.
David and crew have spent hours and hours trying to get caught up with the breakdowns of vehicles. We've ordered parts from everywhere and had them shipped to teams coming in.
The Runk's with their two children have joined us for 90 days....he has mechanical and maintenance skills and they are being put to good use. They are seeking the Lord's will as to whether this is where He would have them serve full time. Please pray for them.
We have national elections tomorrow for Deputy Senate and President. Please pray for calm to reign. Travel will be limited tomorrow for the entire country.

Tuesday Nov 16, 2010

2010-11-16T04:29:00.000-08:00

Another busy week getting items purchased and packed to come back to Haiti. We arrived back here last Saturday. We left KY Thursday morning early and headed to Nashville to prepare to load a 40 ft container on Friday. PTL! we had 42 people show up to help us sort, sack and load. Teams of people came from Bells Run Church , Walnut Memorial Church, Bellvue Church in Owensboro, KY, Paul Scott team from Orleans, IN, people from Louisville and Nashville. It looked impossible to sort all the clothes in Tommy Scott's warehouse but this crew "got it done." The container arrived about 2 hrs late so many of the team members who drove so far sacrificed their time and returned home very late. THANKS TO ALL WHO GAVE ITEMS FOR THIS CONTAINER AND THANKS TO ALL WHO CAME AND LOADED THE CONTAINER.
We arrived back to a country that is being ravaged by cholera. So many new cases and many dying for lack of knowledge on how to treat and reduce the spread of the disease. Our plane coming back to Haiti had at least 95% medical people coming to serve. Pray for the release of a plane load of IV's that is being held in customs ???? Why????. These are needed in the treatment of the cholera cases. Our nursing staff is doing education in the schools and churches here in our area and helping others man their clinics. It is 24 hr round the clock at all clinics and hospitals. PRAY PRAY PRAY

November 7, 2010

2010-11-07T17:13:00.000-08:00

On the road for two weeks. No time for blog updates. THANK YOU for your prayers for Haiti during the hurricane. Our area was not hit hard and the devastation to the entire country was much less than expected. PRAYER WORKS!!! We need you to continue the prayers. We've heard from our staff in Haiti that there are more cases of cholera and that it is spreading closer to our compound. Several cases are being treated at the Haitian clinic next door to us and Susan... one of our nurses helped them through the night last night. All the missions in our area are meeting and working together to help educate the population and deal with this epedimic.
We had a team arrive in Haiti on Saturday from CO. Sheryl said it was a challenge to get to the airport. Lots of flooding on the roads. Praise the Lord they arrived back at the compound safely.
We were blessed to be in a 5 day Missions conference at Christ Church in Nashville. (Oct 27-31) This is an annual conference and it was great to see so many friends. It was exciting for us to see what a multi-culture church this has become.
Glen and Linda Erickson drove a rental truck from CO with their furniture and items to put on the container shipping out of Nashville. We will be loading the container this coming Friday. People are coming from KY and IN to help.
Global had their annual Missions conference and Fall Board meeting Nov. 4-6. We had 46 missionaries there for the conference. This is the most we've ever had at one time. What a joy to visit with them and hear how the Lord is working in countries around the world.

Saturday Oct 9, 2010

2010-10-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

Another busy week. Trying to get the drs. appts. over with...demotology, dentist, drs. Then it was off to buying items needed to ship to Haiti on the next container. We purchased tractor tires, large truck tires, washer, lawn mower, weed eaters, parts, etc. On Thursday we rented a 26 ft U-Haul and went to Louisville to pick up items that had been left from the last load. On Friday David, Larry Heady and Tony Isbill gathered up all the other materials...Jerry Cotton had 75 padded folding chairs his church had given and also some window a/c units....and they headed for Nashville. They unloaded at Tommy Scott's warehouse and returned to Owensboro.
On Nov12th we will be loading a 40ft container for Haiti. David and I will stay in Nashville that night and fly back to Haiti on the morning of the 13th.
I'm sure everyone has heard about the cholera outbreak in Haiti. As of today they are saying 203 have died and over 2,000 stricken. Three or four have died near our compound but had been infected visiting the area north of TiTanyen. Our ministry and Samaritan's Purse are being very pro-active in fighting the disease. SP has shut down all their other work in order to put all their energies toward the cure and prevention of the spread of the cholera. No one is coming on to the compound without going directly to the Conference Center showers and washing in a disinfecting solution. We feel that everyone there is safe for now. We did have a team of 5 from TN there this week. SP had talked with the Embassy and there was talk of shutting down the airport. We didn't want this team to get stranded so ...with an opportunity from SP who had a plane in PAP the team flew from PAP to Cap Haitian (north capital of Haiti)
and from there would be flying on a DC3 Missionary Flights International plane to West Palm Beach, FL. PLEASE PRAY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE OF HAITI AND ESPECIALLY FOR OUR STAFF ON THE FIELD.

Oct 16, 2010

2010-10-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a good week. Trying to get caught up on some dentist and doctors appts. Also met with some Samaritan's Purse leadership to work out arrangements for their future stay on the GO compound. Had a good visit from Bethany Johnson this week. (ministered with us in Haiti for 4 months in 2008) She just returned from 2 years in the Philippines with her Associates degree as a Midwife. She is now pursuing a RN degree. Many have asked about my Mom. She is doing very well but would love to be able to go back to her own home. She can only walk with a person on either side of her so right now going home is not an option. She will have her 93rd birthday on Oct 24th. God is good!!

Sunday 27, 2010

2010-10-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity to worship at our home church today. Always good to share with family and friends. Tonight David and I were at First Baptist Church Lewisport. They were so warm and receptive as we shared in video, testimonies and the Word. (Of course being Baptist...they had a spread of food after the service.)

Saturday Oct 9, 2010

2010-10-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

God is so good. The service for Paul on Tuesday was truly a celebration of his life. Each and every person that was a part of the service shared how Paul had impacted their life and the lives of those around him. With estimates of 1,000 attending the service around 500 were policemen, firemen and sheriff departments . They lined the hall ways of the church as the family entered and left. As we drove to the gravesite every street was blocked off for the 20 miles with police, etc standing outside their cars saluting as the hearse passed. They did the same at the graveside along with bagpipes and a 21 gun salute. So many people came up to the family later telling story after story of how Paul had reached out in their time of need and ministered to them. We continue to get cards, letters, phone calls and emails from people we don't even know telling us stories of Paul. David's part in the service...he shared family memories and then shared the Gospel. His sharing has opened doors for the family to boldly share Jesus with so many.
David and I left immediately after the service and drove to Tupelo,MS. Missionary Orientation Training for five new couples started on Monday and we were able to teach all our sessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We returned to KY on Friday night. Thank you for all your prayers.

Sunday Oct 3, 2010

2010-10-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since I last wrote. Last Monday was a busy day as we were preparing to leave and come to the US on Tuesday. We were scheduled to be in MS for David to preach in a church in Tupelo this Sunday and then start Mission Orientation Training on Monday Oct 4th.
All our plans changed on Thursday morning at 10 am when we received a phone call from our son saying our grandson had been in an accident. About 30 mins. later after arriving at the hospital David Jr called and said Paul didn't make it. Paul was riding his bike and was struck by a car and killed. Paul was an 8 year veteran on the Louisville Metro Police Dept and had been training to join the bike patrol. He leaves a wife Ann and two daughters. We immediately packed and headed to Louisville to be with all the family. Visitation will be from noon until 7pm Monday at Pearson Ratterman Funeral Home and the funeral will be 10am Tuesday at Southeast Christian Church. We have truly experienced what a brotherhood the Faternal Order of police is. There has been such an outpouring of support for the family from them as well as friends of the family. We covet your prayers as David ministers in this service.

Sunday Sept 26, 2010

2010-09-26T18:45:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning Brumley's had a team from one of their supporting churches in CO arrive in Haiti. This is an all male team and they've come to do construction on temporary shelters as well painting some of our permanent houses. David, Chris and Sheryl took the team over the mountain to give out lots of packages of macaroni...thanks Ragu..and also really nice ball caps that had been donated after the earthquake. What a fun time to also share scripture pamphlets.
This morning David preached at Shekina. What a sweet time of worship. The men's and women's choirs were both awesome. Six people prayed to receive Christ as their personal Savior.

Sunday Sept. 26, 2010

2010-09-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

Another interesting week. Lots of meetings. Wednesday we met with leadership of Samaritan's Purse to discuss the future. On Thursday we visited with with Bill Neush, his father and wife Herman and Janet Neush and Janet's son Scott...all from Texas. It was a joy to show them the houses that they had been a part of building in the village of TiTanyen. We found out Thursday afternoon that we needed to make a meeting with Convention Baptiste' d Haiti in Cap Haitian. We took an in country flight there on Friday morning. Had a very productive meeting with CBH and we flew out at 3 pm coming back to Port-au-Prince. About 10 minutes before landing in PAP the pilot notified the passengers that there was bad weather in PAP and we were returning to Cap Haitian. After we landed the flight crew told us it would be 11:45 am Saturday morning. We had met a French business man on the plane so we suggested maybe we could rent a car and drive down together. ( this is a 6 hr drive...first 3 hours over very rough roads and by now it is 5pm) . After about 30 minutes of dealing with a rental car agency they decided that they would only let us rent if we used a chauffeur and the chauffeur couldn't leave until Sat. morning at 6 am. We could however pay a $1,600 deposit and they would let us take a car. We said "thanks but no thanks". There are two main commuter flights in Haiti...Tortug Air and Salsa...Tortug being the largest. We flew on Salsa. As we return to the airlines counter to find out some hotel phone numbers they told us that a Tortug flight had just arrived from Nassau and the pilot had agreed to take us on to PAP because the bad weather had cleared out. We said "when". The lady said "NOW". We gladly paid another one way ticket to arrive back in PAP at 5:30 pm. When we landed we found a lot of damage from the 60 mph winds and rain which produced a lot of flooding. We arrived back at the compound at 6:45pm after driving around a lot of downed trees, power lines and billboards.
Most of the town was blacked out and many areas of the tents cities were heavily damaged. The last we heard 5 people lost their lives. We thank God for His protection. We never take this for granted.

Tuesday Sept 21, 2010

2010-09-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

Mechanic work, mechanic work, mechanic work. It is never ending. Too many old vehicles on roads that are too rough. David and Chris spent half of the day in town trying to find solid core doors and other supplies in order to finish the permanent homes we are constructing in the village. We have completed 17 and prayerfully we will continue to receive funds to do even more. Not only are they a blessing for those receiving them but for the men constructing them. PTL!! for jobs.
We started last week repairing all the school buildings to get ready for school to open Oct. 4th. This week we are cleaning and painting them. Our school directors have the material purchased and the uniforms made. This is the week they will purchase school books. Not as easy to find this year as so many places that printed and sold books went down in the earthquake. Still so much recovery needed.

Monday Sept 20, 2010

2010-09-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

What a great week. Last Monday started with a 6 member team from NY. This group had put together 240 - 5 gallon buckets full of food (rice, beans, flour, sugar,oil, spaghetti, peanut butter, etc. ) and trucked them to Nashville,TN. last June. We put them on a container we were shipping in and the group came to give them out. What a blessing to so many families. I know the team thought it was worth all the effort they put into this project when they saw the faces of the recipients. The team also sorted and bagged around 100 family bags of clothing for us to give out. These bags of clothes will go to the mountain area where the need is great. So much of the relief effort is consentrated in the tent cities.
This team left on Thursday morning and two of our granddaughters with two of their friends arrived Thursday afternoon. This was a blessing as it was Christy's third trip down this year and Mary K's first. The ladies with them were with an organization called Blessings in a backpack. They were here to encourage an NBA player and his foundation to get involved with Haiti. It was fun to see the faces of everyone as they greeted these "big" men.

Sunday Sept. 12, 2010

2010-09-12T19:14:00.000-07:00

David and crew took the new truck out that has a small crane on the back. It is perfect for installing new pumps and repairing old pumps. Sure saves on a lot of lifting and back pain. We completed another new water well in one of the tent cities...this was number #12 . It takes a crew many days a month just to keep up with pump repairs.
David preached at the TiTanyen Youth Conference Friday night. There were 5 decisions for Christ. He preached again this morning. What a wonderful spirit filled service. The worship was awesome and the preaching anointed.
Bible Study with the staff at 5pm tonight. Great to have the Brumley's back from their well deserved few weeks break.
Looks like we have a lot of "weather" headed our way. Pray that the rains won't be so heavy that they will create mudslides in this already devastated land.

Sept 8, 2010

2010-09-08T05:05:00.000-07:00

David is off to the airport with the medical team. What a blessing they were as they ministered to over 400 patients each day in two clinics. This team was very flexible as we were short on American staff...Sheryl was on furlough and I was out with malaria. I'm feeling fine now. Praise the Lord for a good immune system. I've bounced back in a hurry.
Lots of mechanic work was also accomplished. We came close to not giving Dell...the mechanic...his passport back. Pray as David and our crew try to finish repairing all the breakdowns. Chris is bringing in some needed parts on Friday.

Friday 3, 2010

2010-09-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

I'm doing better tonight. It's been a tough week but only low grade fever tonight. The medical team is doing fine. They have joined with NC Baptists who are here on our compound and are doing two medical clinics each day. They have seen lots of patients and their only complaint is that it is real hot. Yesterday was 106.7 here at the house. This is the first time in 28 years that I haven't been able to work with a team. A little humbling. Please pray for complete healing. The medical team also brought a mechanic with them so he is definitely an answer to prayer. He told David that he hadn't done mechanic work for 25 years. David told him that was fine because most of the vehicles we have that need work are about that old.!!! He has already fixed some things that other mechanics had given up on. God always knows what we need.

Wednesday Sept. 1.2010

2010-09-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

Strangest thing....I don't remember getting a mosquito bite since I returned to Haiti?????

Wednesday Sept. 1.2010

2010-09-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

The team from MS finished up their time on Friday. Took them on their day out. We always like for the teams to help out the economy buying souvenirs. The World Race team flew out on Saturday. WOW! a weekend without having to fix 3 meals a day.
Monday is always a little crazy. We have so many in the Burn Clinic right now and it is also the day for the "elderly people" feeding program. Not having any groups in made us a little short handed.
Linda, a couple from Friendships and I went to town on Tuesday to finally get a haircut and also to buy groceries. Of course it is an all day job. David called about 1:00pm and asked if we could help him unload a bunch of boxes coming out of customs for Agape. We stopped for lunch about 2pm. By the time I arrived home I was worn out....too much so for just a day out. Around 5 pm I had developed fever, chills, headache, aching muscles and diarrhea. I'm referred to in Haiti as "Iron Woman" because I am rarely sick but last night was different. I really thought I had Dengue Fever but this afternoon when the NC Baptist medical team arrived back on the property they tested me for Malaria. It is positive. NOT A GOOD TIME TO BE SICK David is picking up a 14 member medical team at the airport right now. Pray that all goes well with them. I'm starting on medicine tonight.

Tuesday Aug 24,2010

2010-08-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

The team is painting the new permanent homes. Great to have so many hands. Some of the guys from MS decided to put the roof on one of the new homes. The others are painting them inside and out. The mayor of TiTanyen was here to visit me today and he was sharing how great it was for so many families to be able to move into the beautiful homes. We just purchased 12 more loads of material...sand/gravel..for the new homes. The driver just called to say he is delivering more right now and needs me to sign the receipt. Pray all of you have a good day in the Lord.

Monday Aug 23, 2010

2010-08-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Friday and Saturday were clean up days for all the destruction that happened with the high winds on Thursday evening. It was great to see GO staff, World Race team and Samaritan's Purse staff all come together to help Friend Ships pick up, move and store all tents and items that were under the "circus tent" that blew away. They were able to salvage the big tent. They took it apart, folded it and stored it on pallets until the boat arrives to take it back to the US for repair.
Saturday afternoon a team of 10 arrived from the Tupelo/Ponotoc, MS area. What a great group. They represent 4 churches. The pastor of Woodland Baptist preached in David's place at TiTanyen on Sunday. He was so funny. He told them he had never had the opportunity to speak to such a large congregation....over 1,000. Sunday afternoon we took them for a tour of PAP to show them area where the earthquake hit the hardest. Later Sunday afternoon we went to a village about 6 miles north of our compound. They gave out some soccer balls, did balloon animals and gave out sacks of candy. What a great area to do this....small and didn't get mobbed. As we were leaving the lady we went to see invited us into her home and insisted we stay for something to drink. I told her we had to be back for Bible Study but she told me she had already prepared something. When we all crowded into her home she served us cokes and packages of crackers. The team was humbled. Isn't God good??

Thursday Aug 19, 2010

2010-08-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

Adventures of the Saints !!! That is the comment I heard tonight as we surveyed the damage from a storm that went through here around 7pm. The winds seemed like hurricane force. The large yellow and white tent that Friend Ships was using as their base blew away taking with it smaller tents that were set up inside, cots, food, all their cooking facilities, etc. The couple living here had just gone into a small trailer as the rain started. PTL! they were not inside the tent. The tent wrapped around some trucks of Samaritan's Purse that were parked in the field. Lots of damage. We have trees down all over the property. We've had lots of rain in the last two weeks and the ground was soft. The trees uprooted and then the wind broke off a lot of huge limbs. It really looks like a tornado hit the compound. None of our buildings sustained any damage and no one on the compound was hurt. Praise the Lord!!! A power line out in front of the property broke across the road so the entrance to the compound was blocked for a while. We have our work cut out for us for the next few days. We are blessed to have 9 World Racers still here...in fact we gained 2 more today. They will join us in the clean up.

Wednesday Aug. 18, 2010

2010-08-19T03:51:00.000-07:00

David drove in the driveway with the new ...new to us.. utility truck with a crane on the back at 4 pm this afternoon. He had been at customs and assurance since 10 am. Nothing is ever simple or easy. Our broker had been working on papers for over a week and a half. Now we will wait on the plaques before we can start using it. This is the last of the three vehicles we shipped in. Glad to have them all here. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of blessing the mission with these much needed vehicles.
Meetings everyday. Trying to get school staff settled for the fall. We will be hiring a couple of new teachers and putting a new director in for the Morning and Afternoon Schools. We also met with Samaritan's Purse leadership to go over long term plans for their ministry in Haiti. They will be moving offices, etc to the lower part of the GO property. This will enable GO to open the Conference Center again early next year. NC Baptist Rescue 24 will also be staying here through August of 2011. It is great to see all the organizations working together.
I'm working in the Burn Clinic each day helping Susan while Sheryl is out for a few weeks. We've had several new burns this past week. We've had two toddlers come with burned hands. No one watching them close and they stuck their hands in hot pots of water. One 11 year old was carrying a pot of hot water and spilled it down the front of her. Pray that the parents will bringing these children for treatment everyday.

Monday Aug 16, 2010

2010-08-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

The 40ft container that arrived on Friday is empty and the items are stored in our own containers. We had 9,000 more pounds of Ragu pasta in the container so today we gave some to the participants in the Elderly feeding program. They will receive a package each week along with their other food items for many weeks. They love it. We will be sharing some of this along with clothes, shoes, etc with orphanages, communities, etc.
David preached Sunday at Jim Cartright's church. There was a sweet spirit and a special anointing on the service. Eleven people prayed to receive Christ. PTL!
So many things broke down...tractors, generators, well rigs, trucks, lawnmowers, 4 wheelers....the list is never ending but David and crew continue to "peck away" at fixing each. We continue to pray for the Lord to send a mechanic.

August 15, 2010

2010-08-15T13:27:00.001-07:00

Construction of New Permanent Homes

Retaining Walls & Franklin Graham

These videos are courtesy of Colby Gardner, a current resident of the Global Outreach Visitors Quarters. He is with the World Race. They are traveling to 11 countries in 11 months to live the life of the people and serve them with the Gospel, whatever that may look like. If you would like to see more of his videos, please visit his blog at colbygardner.theworldrace.org

Judy

Friday 13, 2010

2010-08-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

Great week! The 7 young people from the World Race team have truly been a blessing to us. Guess we will let them stay their entire time in Haiti...Aug 28th!!!! They have been willing to do whatever....digging ditches, mixing concrete, working in the clinic, doing office work, sacking pills for clinic...the list goes on and on. Wednesday Danny Wilkerson, his son Devin and 5 other team members came and are staying with us while they are working at their mission compound about 7 miles. What a blessing to have former missionaries who are dear friends too come and be a part of our lives for a few days.
Another 40 ft container arrived today. What a blessing. We started unloading it this afternoon. Will finish tomorrow because the company will come and pick up the container on Monday. Don't have much time to unload this one.
Today David paid the customs on the third vehicle coming out of customs. Hopefully the truck will come out on Monday....God willing.
PTL! the van we shipped into Haiti that came out of customs two weeks ago ...came out with the front right fender pushed in. The passenger door wouldn't open. David and Danny just repaired it tonight so we can use this van on Sunday for the first time. HEY...everyone....we now have a van with air condition that works.

Tuesday August 10,2010

2010-08-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

David and Pete had a good visit with a lot of missionaries in Central America. Their last stop was Costa Rica. They had a great visit with the Turner's and Faulk's. They returned to the US on Sat. Went from Memphis back to Tupelo and on Monday had a Leadership team meeting. The Gibson's drove David back to Memphis Monday afternoon late. He was supposed to fly out of there and arrive in Haiti at 4 pm today. Franklin Graham was flying into Haiti today and wanted to meet with us to discuss the future of Samaritan's Purse staying on the GO compound. David needed to arrive in Haiti this morning to be at this meeting so he changed his flight and flew into Miami last night arriving at midnight and caught the early morning flight into Haiti. PTL! for flexibility.
Franklin met and shared encouraging words with our staff and all the other ministries located on the GO property. After this we spent the next 1 1/2 riding around the property discussing the possibilities of relocating the SP ministry to the west end of the property in order for GO to be able to return to its Conference Center ministry (pastors, youth groups, etc.)
I am certainly glad to have my husband back home after his three weeks of travel.

Thursday Aug. 5,2010

2010-08-05T04:33:00.000-07:00

David and Pete are flying out of Honduras today and into Costa Rica. They have had a great time with all the missionaries.
You never know what a day will bring. Wednesday morning I received a call from Joshua...who is the grandson of one of GO's former Board members. Joshua is a part of a group called World Race. They will be in 11 countries in 11 months. They were in the Dominican Republic for July and headed to Haiti for August. Where they were supposed to stay and minister fell through. Joshua called home, got our phone numbers to call me and ask if we had a place for them. PTL! we did and we were able to accommodate all 7 of them in their team. I think there are 6 or 7 teams like them in Haiti right now. Four ladies and three young men. AH!!!!!!! lots of hands to work. After sleeping on the floor, etc for the last month and doing their own cooking they were sure happy to have beds, good showers and a good meal. So appreciative. (one young man leaned over and whispered in my ear after supper...."this is the first time I've been full in a month.") I'm excited to see how the Lord is going to use these young people here in the coming days.

Monday Aug 2, 2010

2010-08-02T18:49:00.000-07:00

Friday the school graduates had a celebration with a big meal and gifts for each. The Kindergarten children received dolls and cars and the older graduates received Bibles. Had a hard time finding 40 Bibles. The place where we normally purchase Bibles has been out for some time. One of our teachers went downtown from vendor to vendor finding what we needed. We didn't have our normal 3 hours graduation program. After losing so much school time the teachers decided not to waste any time on preparing the kids for a graduation program and spend that time finishing their studies.
Our broker for the two vehicles we shipped in called and said he had the rest of the paper work and the license plates so I was able to go pick them up. PTL! for a van with A/C. I know the teams will be pleased. The new dump truck will be a big help too.
David is in Honduras this week. He and Pete traveling from one area to another. Several of the missionaries were able to come into one location and have a meeting and fellowship time with each other. Later in the week they will travel to Costa Rica.

Friday July 30,2010

2010-07-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a great week. Lots accomplished. The volunteer quarters ice maker/laundry house is finished. The ice maker and washer moved in and functioning. What a joy to bless two of the ministries on the compound with ice. We forget what simple things we take for granted. Friendships ministry ...the ministry living in a large tent here on the compound...hasn't had any ice since they've been here. They were thrilled when the cooler of ice appeared at their tent.
Our schools finished up this week. The teachers are going to be in a teacher's conference all next week. It is amazing that schools were able to finally finish their classes this year. Schools won't start in Sept but will resume in Oct. Please pray we are able to find all the books and materials that we will need to start school.
David and Pete left Belize today. Had to fly through El Salvador on their way to Honduras. They had a 7 hour lay over in San Salvador but were blessed by such a nice airport. David was excited to have free internet. He was able to make lots of calls on SKYPE. Technology is amazing!!!!!

July 27, 2010

2010-07-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

FLEXIBLE!!!!!!!!!!! That is what the Westport team was. They did mobile clinics, painted some of our permanent homes, built temporary shelters and many days did all three. Thanks to all.
Thursday David flew to the US. He and Pete Gibson from our GO Home office are in Central America for the next couple of weeks. Lots of visiting with our missionaries in all these countries. ..Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, etc.
Monday's are never dull. We were about 4 people short to do all the things that needed to be done this day.
We started two more permanent homes. Praise the Lord for those who gave toward these buildings. The families are thrilled to have a safe and secure place to live.
Our broker called and said the two vehicles we shipped about 6 weeks ago had arrived at the port and we needed to move them (Monday) from the shipper's lot. I took Chris and Saul in to be the drivers and to go to Assurance (Gov. Insurance) to verify motor #'s, etc. They arrived at the port at 9am and arrived home at 4pm. Nothing ever goes quick here. We had the insurance papers to drive the vehicles back to the compound...now we wait for the license plates. Who knows when we will get them?

Friday July 23. 2010

2010-07-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

Global Outreach Haiti is in URGENT need of a maintenance/mechanic person . This could be a couple or a single man. They need to be able to diagnosis and repair vehicles and do light building maintenance. We will provide housing. For more information ...call the GO office 662-842-4615 or call David Heady at 859-400-0010 (this number is a stateside number that rings in Haiti.)

Thursday July 22, 2010

2010-07-22T18:29:00.001-07:00

The team from Westport Rd. Baptist Church arrived on Saturday morning. Casey Dean left Sunday morning. She was, as always, a blessing to our lives. We have lots of new pictures of children who need to be sponsored. Any takers??
We all enjoyed the wonderful anointed Sunday service at TiTanyen. Kernyne, Pastor Kelly's 20 year old daughter lead worship and it was worship. Mme Pastor Kelly lead the prayer time it was a time of thanksgiving. Who even realized that the service was 3 1/2 hrs long? The spirit of the Lord was definitely in that place!!
The men have been constructing temporary shelters and the ladies have been doing mobile clinics and as well as construction. Fifteen new shelters were constructed in 4 days. We still have a 1/2 of a day to go. The ladies were truly touched by the orphanage where the clinic was held yesterday. The construction and the clinics have been done as we partnered with NC Baptist Rescue 24 ministry that is here on our property. It is a blessing to see so many work together to accomplish His purpose.

July 17, 2010

2010-07-17T05:01:00.000-07:00

The team finished wiring the school yesterday. David left with them at 6:30am so they could tour downtown Port-au-Prince before heading to the airport. Nothing like taking one team to the airport and picking up another. The team of 12 from Westport Rd. Baptist Church arrives this morning at 8am. They will be painting some of the new permanent houses, constructing temporary shelters, working in mobile medical clinics, ministering in the Burn Clinic and repairing the satellite system so we can receive wireless at the Volunteer Quarters. So much to do and we appreciate all the hands that come to help.

July 15, 2010

2010-07-15T05:09:00.000-07:00

Sent Ron Johnson's team back to the States this morning. What a great job they did in constructing the new metal shop. Really wanted to hide their passports and keep them longer. Sam Massey's team is working on putting electricity and lights in a new school in town. They will leave Saturday at noon. We have a team from Louisville arriving Saturday morning to work on construction, etc.
Casey and I took the Bruns girls, Josh and Ashley Johnson to work on Sponsorship at the Kindergarten yesterday. The compound is buzzing with activity. Lots of temporary shelters being assembled here to be set up in villages.

July 13, 2010

2010-07-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

Long time since my last post. Lots going on. Update on David:
June 28th....did 3 different tests on David at the hospital
July 2.........tried to do barium swallow x-rays...had to reschedule for July 6th.
July 8th ... more tests on veins to stomach.
July 9th .. 4pm .results on tests say diverticulitis, diverticulosis and infection in the duodenum.
Doctor prescribed 10 days of two types of antibiotics.
July 9th 6pm.....had our tickets changed to leave for Haiti.
July 11th....Arrived in Haiti PTL!!!!!!!!! Casey Dean ...Becky Ivy's daughter met up with us in
Miami and will be with us for a week working on sponsorship

New 40ft x 60ft Metal shop building....erected in 6 days. Ron Johnson, 2 of his children and a friend came to erect this building. Ben Yantis, a GO Board member, flew in to help. We had a team of 10 men from Thaxton, MS arrive a couple of days later. All these skilled hands made the work go quickly. They not only erected the metal building but poured the concrete floor in it too. GREAT WORK GUYS.

Sunday 27, 2010

2010-06-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

We met with a couple of organizations in Louisville on Thursday that are interested in Haiti. Please pray for God's direction as they seek Him for their involvement.
Today is the second day of David's preparation for the upper GI and colon scope tomorrow. Please pray for the Lord's hand to direct the surgeon as he does the procedures.
PRAISE THE LORD! Last Thursday the 20 ft container that was loaded and shipped out of Louisville arrived in Haiti. Thanks for all who were involved in making this possible.

June 22, 2010

2010-06-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

PRAISE THE LORD! David was released from the hospital Saturday afternoon. On his release the doctors told him that he would be having another CT scan in about a week and a scope in about 3 to 4 weeks. On Monday David was able to see his surgeon. He changed his mind and has scheduled David for a scope on Monday. This is good news. We are anxious to find out for sure what is going on. The sooner we can find out and get the treatment the sooner we can return to Haiti.

June 19, 2010

2010-06-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

It has been a long week. David is still in the hospital. Doctors (4) still are not 100% as to his problem. They still say there some type of blockage but cannot confirm without a scope. They want him to heal for several more weeks before trying a scope....concerned they may perforate something. The second diagnosis is leaning toward diverticulis. The doctors say normally this can be treated outpatient but his case it too severe. He thought he was coming home Thursday then Friday and now hopefully this afternoon. They wanted to keep him on IV antibiotics. Please continue to pray.

June 18, 2010

2010-06-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Great teams.... June the 4th a team from Greeley, CO came to minister with our staff in Haiti. They had the privilege of constructing temporary housing, working at the Burn Clinic and doing multiple tasks around the compound. Not only did the Greeley team come but 4 days later a team from Hopkinsville, KY arrived. This team put together some sacks of goodies and distributed them in the mountains. The VQ was full. Our great staff worked tirelessly in helping these teams accomplish their ministries.

June 17, 2010

2010-06-17T05:35:00.001-07:00

Take no thought for tomorrow...... Sunday night David had a rough night with pain and bloating in his stomach. On Monday he was able to get an appointment at 3pm and when the doctor examined him he ordered a CT scan of the stomach area immediately. It was around 9 pm when we had the results of the scan. The doctors said there was a partial blockage of the small intestine and wanted him to check into the hospital. His internist was sure they would be doing surgery. David begged of of checking in that late and asked to come back to the hospital on Tuesday morning. Reluctantly they let him come home.
He checked into the hospital on Tuesday. Several doctors examined him and decided to drop an NG tube down his nose into his stomach to give him some relief. For three days he has had only ice chips. After several consultations the doctors have decided that the blockage could be an infection. Wednesday morning late they put in an IV and started him on antibiotics. If these work he may be able to come home today or Friday. The doctors want him to stay on clear liquids this weekend and come back to see them on Monday.
He was supposed to do a wedding in Illinois on Saturday and we had to cancel. So sorry Noah and Johnson family. We are so disappointed we won't be able to be a part of this joyous celebration. We have our tickets to fly back to Haiti on Tuesday but that won't take place. Please pray for David's healing

June 12, 2010

2010-06-17T05:28:00.001-07:00

We loaded a U Haul trailer in Tupelo with an organ and many other items for Haiti as we finished up MOT on Friday. David had a couple of meetings at the office so it was about 5:30pm when we left. We arrived in Nashville at Tommy and Becky Scott's home around 10 pm. We were up early and headed for the warehouse. PTL!!! LOTS of people showed up to help us sort, box and load the 40 ft container. Paul Scott came with 5 from the Indianapolis area, David Hall came with 5 from Tupelo and David Jr had gathered up 12 from the Louisville and Nashville area. It was a very hot day but we completed the loading by 1:30pm. As the Haitian proverb says...".a lot of hands make the load not heavy."

June 9, 2010

2010-06-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

MOT is going very well. Seven great couples going to seven different countries. The staff in Haiti welcomed a team of 12 from Greeley, CO on Friday. I talked with Sheryl Brumley today and she said they are doing great...they had constructed 14 temporary homes and a community center in the area of Tapio in the mountains. Last night another team of 12 arrived from Hopkinsville, KY. They painted the clinic along with some other projects on the compound.
We are still trying to locate enough help to load the 40ft container in Nashville this Saturday. Let us know if you can help.

June 6, 2010`

2010-06-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

David and I drove to Tupelo on Saturday. We shared in two churches today...Ecru and Thaxton Methodist. These churches are joining together to bring a team to Haiti in July. Tomorrow we start our MOT.. GO's Missionary Orientation Training...here in Tupelo for this entire week. We will have 14 new missionary candidates (7 couples) going to seven different countries in the world.
*NEED HELP LOADING A 40 ft CONTAINER IN NASHVILLE ON SATURDAY JUNE 12TH.
IF YOU CAN HELP CALL Judy at 502-396-1392 or David, Jr...502-558-7765

June 6, 2010

2010-06-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

Many have asked about my mom. We have had to move her to a new facility in a more secure place for her. She seems to be very satisfied. The nice thing about where she is now is that Becky Ivy's ( our GO Sponsorship Director) mother and mother-in-law are in the same place and when I can't be there Becky checks on her every day and emails me about how she is doing. God is good.

June 4, 2010

2010-06-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

OOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry Travis...I goofed on the last name....it is Adkinson.
Opportunities.......... Our 53ft container arrived in Haiti with the new building. We need some skilled workers to help put it up. The dates are June 30 to July 15th. If you can work any of these days into your schedule and have some construction abilities please notify us at dhjheady@gmail.com

June 3, 2010

2010-06-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 22 the team started painting the new permanant housing on the church property. The people were so excited. Lots of kids and of course everyone wanting to help. Sunday David preached at TiTanyen. Since church starts early...now 7am...they have resumed having Sunday School 6am to 7am...and we finish by 10:30 we decided to tour PAP with the team before eating lunch. It was good to see that some of the rubble had been cleaned up in the last few weeks. The filming crew took lots of pictures and video. Our entire staff and the team enjoyed Bible study Sunday night along with sandwiches and popcorn.
Monday was a busy day. The team had devotion and prayer time with all our Haitian male staff to start the day off. Then the team and film crew helped pass out food to the elderly and visited the Burn Clinic. We were able to spend about an hour at the Kindergarten and play with the kids during their recreation time. Time for lunch and then to the Afternoon School. Another day for painting houses too. Visited the Morning School. Everyone is glad to be back in school.
I took the film crew to visit some of the homes of our Haitian staff. We are repairing and in some cases completely rebuilding their homes damaged by the earthquake. We were able to hear some testimonies of how blessed they were that people from the US cared enough to send funds to rebuild for them. One of the ladies has worked for us for 13 years as a teacher's aid in the Kindergarten. We had to completely rebuild her home. She just couldn't stop smiling and as we started to leave she asked us to pray and dedicate her new home to the Lord. PTL!
The team painted four homes and had the privilege of dedicating one of them in memory of one of the team members business partner who passed away about two months ago.
JOY!!!!! The Lord has allowed us to experience so many things on the mission field but we had a first with this team from Louisville. One of the team members...Travis Green...had brought a beautiful diamond ring to Haiti with him. He had decided to propose to his girlfriend ...who was also on the team...in Haiti. Just to make it special David asked the pilot of Samaritan's Purse helicopter if he could possibly take them up and allow Travis to propose in flight. The pilot said he had a run to make so when he was ready to go he would take them up for a quick outing. David Jr told them they had been selected for the flight because they were "servants of the day". Travis's Mom, Dad and brother were all on the team so it was a real surprise for everyone as the helicopter landed and they announced their engagement. God is so good!!!!!!!!!!
Wed. back to the US. So hard for me to leave. It was so good to be home for a few days.

May 28, 2010

2010-05-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

No, I did not fall off the side of a cliff. It seems I have had my plate full for the last month. I will try to give you bullet points to bring you up to date on what has been going on in the lives of the Heady's and the ministry in Haiti.
1.GO Board meeting...April 23,24 went very well. David and David, Jr were able to attend
2. David and I had the privilege of speaking to the Hancock Co Assn of Baptist Women...actually
there were several men present. Appreciate the opportunity to share our ministry
3. May 2nd...our children had an open house at church for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. It
was great to see everyone. The decorations were awesome. People came from TN, KY, IN, ILL and as far as FL. We received many cards and calls later of those who had intended on coming but were hindered by the storms and the major flooding in KY and TN. Thanks for all those who shared in this very special time for us. David and I left on Monday for a trip to Hawaii. We were able to see most of the islands. Very lovely.
4. David had some chest tightness during the week. We decided that we would have him checked out when we arrived back on the mainland.
5. Arrived back in KY on Tues. Wed we called his cardiologist in Nashville and they asked us to come straight down and check into the ER. After testing him they decided to keep him overnight and do a heart cath on Thursday.
6. The heart cath was done around noon Thursday. Right before going in for the cath we received a phone call that David's youngest brother Jimmy had been found dead at home. What a shock!
7. We returned to Owensboro by 7pm Thursday. Friday morning we met with the family and made funeral arrangements.
8. Saturday the 15th we had visitation and the funeral at 2pm. Please pray for all the family.
9. May 20th we were packed, traveled to Louisville to meet with a team of 11 headed up by David Jr and our granddaughter Christy Maser. Our plane was to fly at 2pm but was cancelled. Our plane had been hit by lightning and had to be recertified. We spent the night in Louisville and flew out on Friday. This time instead of the planned overnight stay in Miami the airlines rerouted us to fly Louisville to Dallas, Dallas to Miami and Miami to PAP all in the same day. That was great but 26 pieces of luggage didn't make it. PTL! they showed up the next day.
10. In Miami we met up with a team of four from City on a Hill. What a great team they are. This film production company came to Haiti to film our ministry as well as another ministry called Edge Outreach. We will be anxious to share with all of you when the DVD's are complete.
MORE LATER......

April 25, 2010

2010-04-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night I received a phone call that my Mom was on her way to the Emergency Room. She fell out of her wheelchair and hit her head. They did a CT scan. Everything was okay except the huge "tennis ball" size knot on her head. Thursday morning she had a kingsize blackeye.
Thursday David drove to Louisville to look at a dump truck that we need in Haiti. He and David Jr. then headed for Tupelo to attend the Global Outreach Spring Board meeting. I didn't go with them. Felt I was needed here more to help with Mom.
Tragedy struck the GO Haiti ministry on Friday around noon. While delivering materials into TiTanyen for the permanent housing a nine year old boy trying to hang on to the dump truck for a ride....along with many others who like to do this...fell under the wheels of the truck. He was rushed to the University of Miami field hospital located at the airport. After two surgeries he was pronouced dead at 4:15pm. Needless our staff was crushed over this sudden death. Police reports were filed and found no one at fault. The funeral of the young boy was Saturday afternoon. Please pray for the family of the deceased and our entire Am staff as they cope with this tragedy.

April 21, 2010

2010-04-21T03:21:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord for the team from Danville, KY headed up by Ronnie Blackwell. David said it was one of the best teams we've ever had on the field. Twelve men...prepared and ready to work. They had such a sweet fellowship with each other and everyone on the field. Thanks guys!!!!!

April 20, 2010

2010-04-21T03:09:00.000-07:00

Friday night I enjoyed having all the Kendall clan for an overnight visit. So much to catch up. The kids have grown so much even in a few short months. It was great to share with them and see how the Lord is working in their lives. They will be overseeing a camp in AL. They are well qualified for the task set before them.
Saturday afternoon I paid a quick visit to the Diamond Lake Jubilee Gospel concert. Part of the ticket proceeds are going to Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. Thank you...Lampkin's for your vision and your hard work in putting on this concert. I had to leave early to pick up David in Nashville. What a blessing to be together again. He flew in to be at the GO Spring Board Meeting this weekend. Also we will be celebrating our 5oth wedding anniversary the first week of May. We appreciate all the staff filling in the gaps in Haiti. We know they are in overload.
Many have asked about my Mom. She is not doing well. Gone downhill fast. Hasn't known me for the last two days. I appreciate all your prayers.

April 13, 2010

2010-04-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

David went in town to order fuel on Friday and was told that there wasn't any in country. The bureau said the fuel shipment had not arrived in country. With all the extra ministries on the compound you can imagine the fuel consumption is way up. The guy called David on Monday and promised he would dig into his reserves and send him half of his order by Wed. Pray this happens.
Ronnie Blackwell and a team of 12 men arrived in Haiti on Saturday.....NO luggage arrived. Remember always pack an extra set of clothes in your carry on. David preached on Sunday and then took all the men back to the airport. Praise the Lord all 24 pieces of luggage had arrived. While they were out they also had a tour of downtown PAP to give them an idea of the devastation from the earthquake. This week they are working to repair Schekina church. Our schools are functioning. Several in TiTanyen have not been able to open.
People and organizations continue to come for advice, needs etc. David said he was in meetings most of the day yesterday. Today he is changing out an electrical service on the property. So many more electrical needs and this one service wouldn't carry the load.
My Mom had a tough weekend and found out it was the pain medicine they were giving her. All went well on Monday and she was doing great. This morning it was a real disappointment to find that her speech was slurred and she was seeing double. She had a scheduled appointment with Dr. Milem...her surgeon. When he examined her he decided to call her internist. They agreed that she had suffered a TIA. Pray that these problems with speech and eyes will correct themselves.

April 7, 2010

2010-04-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

Monday Sheryl Brumley had a meeting with all our teachers and parents to discuss opening school. Lots of questions about the safety of the buildings, what about graduation since they've missed almost 3 months of school...what the kids could wear, etc. Only 2 children lost their uniforms in the earthquake so that is a blessing. We have one school director and one teacher who have taken jobs with Samaritan's Purse so we've had to scramble to fill these positions. Sheryl has done a wonderful job covering for me (Judy) in dealing with all these problems. School started on Tuesday and about 50% of the students showed up. This is normal as it usually takes about a week to get all the students back into the classroom after any kind of vacation or time off. I'm sure that by next week the classrooms will be full again. Oh, do we need some kind of normalcy in the lives of the Haitian people.!
The Brun's family left today for a 6 weeks furlough. They will be missed but are getting a much needed break from all that they have been through in the past 3 months.
David is still searching for trucks for the well drilling program and a gently used late model 15 passenger van. If you have any info that would be helpful on locating these types of vehicles let us know.