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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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!!!!
