Another Great Weekend In Long Beach Mississippi

This blog entry comes to us from John Van Brunt, who was in Long Beach this weekend with 3 of our youth and 4 of our adults...

Even though we are at the coast it isn't any warmer here than in Atlanta. Sub freezing temperatures didn't dampen the spirits of our intergenerational group.

We made great advances in the Allenbaugh's home, targeting the kitchen and bathroom on this trip. Between Mark, Will, Kal, Emily and Katie the tile around the tub was completed in the master bathroom. A new toilet was even installed! The youth who were on the trip have now mastered the art of tiling and wall building.

The hardwood floor was installed in the kitchen and Dailey's closet was completed. All the hard work was completed as the kids were running around, wearing out Emily and Will.

We will all be coming home VERY well fed. Lynn's cooking was AMAZING. Piping hot breakfast and dinner met the crew before and after a hard day's work.

The Allenbaughs were so humbled and grateful to hear that Good Shepherd has raised the goal amout to purchase their boat motor in the near future. As soon as the Allenbaughs' house is completed, steps will be taken to get Chris back on the water and working again!

I went and visited Mr. Francis's home that he is moving into from his FEMA trailer. The house is fully equipped with furniture that Good Shepherd helped supply. Mr. Francis is very appreciative!

The Team and the Allenbaughs bonded tonight over a wonderful shrimp dinner and football. The Allenbaughs have developed a strong relationship with members of Good Shepherd.

Belated Christmas Card - Our Mission to Mississippi

Hello from Long Beach! Our team of 6 college students and I arrived Sunday afternoon to a very cold and windy Long Beach. The outdoor showers proved to be quite exhilarating in 30 degree weather. Many laughs were shared.

Day 2
Monday morning we arrived at our residents’ home. We met the home owner, Dorothy and all the people Dorothy cares for. Miss Dorothy will tell anyone that God has blessed her beyond belief and so her ministry is to bless others with a loving place to live. With her in this house lives her older brother (age 62) who battles mental health issues; her two kids (ages 21 & 17), and 3 kids that were abandoned by their mother (ages 16, 7 & 4). There is never a dull moment in this house that is full of life!

Miss Dorothy’s house was rebuilt after the hurricane, but unfortunately the sewage lines were not cleared. Sewage backed up under the house and began rotting out the walls. Mold was literally eating the drywall. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) volunteers cleaned up the sewage, cleared out the lines, gutted the drywall, and put new drywall up. Our job was to paint the outside of the house and 3 rooms inside the house. God had bigger plans. The crew got to work and by the end of the day the 5 bedroom house was fully painted, plus the front porch scrubbed down and cleaned off so that outdoor carpet could be laid.

Miss Dorothy was ecstatic when she saw her freshly painted house!

Day 3
Today we arrived to our residents’ house to find urine puddles all over the front porch that we had scrubbed so hard. Frustration immediately came over us. Who would do such a thing? Later we found out that the older man who has mental health problems got confused because his bathroom was blocked off for painting. He didn’t know where to go so all night long he went on the porch. Van, the site manager, sat down with us and gave us a little background on the house. He reminded us that we have to have unconditional love when we work with Long Beach community. We don’t understand why they do things the way they do them or why they don’t do things that we feel they should. God has still called us to this place. We may be the only glimpse of Jesus these residents have. We cannot throw an opportunity out the door because we are frustrated with their actions. We must love as Christ loves us. I don’t know about you, but I’m sure I’ve frustrated Christ with many of my actions, but He still continues to love me unconditionally and covers me with grace. We are called to do the same with our residents.
As we were cleaning today we saw a mattress covered in mold. I asked Miss Dorothy if we could take the mattress to the dump for her. She said no, because that’s the mattress that her brother used. There was no way this mattress was usable, not to mention sanitary! We took the mattress to the dump and brought back a brand new one. Sonny, Dorothy’s brother was so excited! I’m not sure he really knew what we had done, but he was excited we were hanging out in his room with him.

The house is finished on the outside! I asked Dorothy today what she wanted for Christmas. She said, “Look at my house! I’ve been telling all my neighbors to look at my Christmas present! The good Lord has blessed me this Christmas!”

Christmas is just around the corner and we noticed that the family’s Christmas tree was bare. So, today we went out and bought ornaments and garland and helped the kids decorate their Christmas tree. The little boys danced around the tree, they were so excited.
This evening we decorated stockings for everyone in the family! We can’t wait to stuff them!

Day 4
When you come to Long Beach you never know how God is going to use you. We laugh at ourselves when we try to plan out the day because God always steers us in a different direction…

Last night we decided as a crew to use our money to buy Christmas presents for the family. So, today we poked and prodded a little bit to see what everyone wanted for Christmas.
Today we knew we only had a little bit to do on the house, so we quickly got our job done and began cleaning up. While we were cleaning up Miss Dorothy said, “Every day you all have had something up your sleeve; some amazing blessing. Well, today I have something up my sleeve. I’ve ordered you all pizza for lunch and you can’t say no because it’s on its way!”
The hour we sat and ate pizza with this family could have been the most important hour on this trip. Miss. Dorothy shared her heart with us. She told us what she had been through with her brother and his disabilities, her daughter who had recently lost a baby to SIDS, and the 3 kids who call her “Momma”, but aren’t really her kids. Ms. Dorothy also has a brain tumor, but she said nothing will stop her because she has a mission to accomplish. Sonny taught us how to dance and sang Temptations songs for us. The little boys chased us all over the yard.
This house should be called Dorothy’s Mission House. She will take in anyone. Everyone who comes to stay with her must sign a contract that states they will follow the moral and ethical values of the house, attend church on Sunday and participate in the family bible study on Saturdays. She is reaching out to young and old residents of Long Beach. I wish you could all meet her!

Today we were also able to deliver a couch to Miss. Dorothy that the Good Shepherd team brought down last weekend. Tears streamed down Dorothy’s face as we brought the couch in the living room. All she could get out was, “Oh the good Lord is blessing me, the good Lord is blessing us!”

We got done early today, came back to the church, cleaned up and headed shopping. We bought tons of presents for the family. Things they were in need of and fun things. The crew spent the evening wrapping gifts and decorating stockings. We are all so thrilled to deliver the gifts tomorrow!!!!

Day 5
We had a few places to touch up with paint this morning. The house looks beautiful! We are proud of our work. After everything was cleaned up we brought all the presents into the house. Ms. Dorothy shot us a look of shock. “What have you gone and done now?”

The kids decided to wait and put the presents under the tree so they had presents to open on Christmas. We made Ms. Dorothy open her present early. The family lost all their pictures in the storm. The walls in the house are bare. We had taken a family picture of the Parkers, blown it up and put it in a nice frame. Ms. Dorothy also talked about how her dream is to get a digital camera so she can take pictures of her kids. Our group bought her a camera! When she opened it tears streamed down her face. She asked us if we were trying to kill her because of all the shock we had caused her over the week.

After the gift giving our group was getting ready to leave to go to New Orleans for the afternoon when Van, our site manager, asked the family to go with us. They agreed, but Ms. Dorothy said she couldn’t go because she had signed up to work at the food pantry. Our group and the Parker family, including Sonny, piled in the bus and headed down the road. We weren’t sure taking Sonny was a good idea. He uses a walker with wheels and we were going to be doing a lot of walking.

On the way to New Orleans, Sonny began to get confused and said he need to find a phone to call the general and let him know what’s going on in Vietnam. We had seen him go through episodes like this before so we just listened to him.

Once in New Orleans we were walking around the French Market and looking at all the art for sale. Van was in charge of Sonny and each college student took responsibility for a child. All of a sudden we turned around and Sonny was gone. Van took off to look for him; surely he couldn’t get far on a walker. Van came back after a few minutes and said he had searched the whole market and couldn’t find Sonny. We split into groups and began walking up and down the streets looking for Sonny. After an hour we still hadn’t found him. I called the police, but they said they couldn’t do anything until he had been missing 24 hours. Finally we called Ms. Dorothy. She was mad! Not at us, but at Sonny. She said, “Mmm Sonny gone actin ugly on you! He know what he do. He do this every once in a while, but I didn’t think he do this for you. You don’t worry about him, if he wants to find you he will. Don’t worry about coming home without him.”

WHAT?!? Come home without him? You mean we just lost a man in New Orleans and we are going to head back to Long Beach without this man! Our group didn’t know how to react. We were in shock!

By the time we were ready to go we still hadn’t found Sonny. So, we did what Ms. Dorothy told us to do and we came home without Sonny.

We’re still in shock and have been praying all night!

Day 6
We got a call this morning that Sonny has been found. He had gone to a hospital to get medicine. Praise the Lord he is safe!

We had a great trip back to Lilburn today. It is always sad to leave long beach, but indoor showers will be much appreciated!

There’s still more stories to be written about Long Beach, MS. Is God leading you to be part of them?

Update on Kenya Trip - Not now, but later :(

Kenya is in turmoil in dealing with post-election issues. The state of that nation is unsafe for travel. We've had to delay our trip. I will be going, but not just yet. Sadly, my son was planning to go with me, but he will be unable to go later because of his deployment to England. We'll keep you posted.

Next Stop - Kenya

Our mission to Haiti has ended! I talked with Joe earlier this evening. He was on the train headed home from the airport, sounding very tired - but pleased about the mission trip to Haiti.

Our mission in Long Beach, Mississippi continues. Katie is there with several college age students working in Katrina Relief.

And now we are working on our next mission - Project Kenya.

I attended our first planning meeting today, which was held at the corporate offices of Chick Fil A. The staff of Chick Fil A are helping organize a trip involving 3 or 4 different churches. I'm the only one going from Good Shepherd in January, but if all goes well, Joe will lead a group from our church to go there this summer.

I will have several tasks.

First, I will evaluate the mission programs there to be sure this is something for Good Shepherd to support.

Second, I will evaluate the safety issues (my wife loves that :) )

Third, I get to preach in places of worship while I'm there.

Finally, I will be taking telescopes and books to a school in rural Kenya. These items have been donated by Christian Astronomers in America, Europe and Africa. I will instruct the teachers how to use the telescopes and their computer systems, and will leave the equipment as a gift to the school. We all have gifts - and it doesn't have to be preaching, medical skills or construction abilities. Have you ever thought about how you might share your areas of interest or expertise with people in the mission fields?

A special word of thanks goes to Artie in Florida, for providing one of his old telescopes.

It was so exciting to learn more about all the things we will be doing while in Kenya. When they told us we would be sleeping on dirt floors in mud huts, I thought, "It just doesn't get any better than this!"

I have to say one other word about Chick Fil A. They are a great organization. They are so supportive of charitable work. The serve great food. They are doing a wonderful work bringing us together on this mission trip. AND I learned today that their founder and CEO, Mr. Cathy, has a collection of antique cars he keeps on display in the lobby of the corporate offices.

Including a Batmobile.

Anyone who has his own Batmobile is a pretty cool guy in my book.

I'm told it goes as fast as 30 miles per hour!

More from Joe and the Gang in Haiti

Hello Good Shepherd!

We are ending a great day here in Cap Haitian!

When I first arrived here in Haiti I was shocked to see so many t-shirts with English words and logos on them. I know that the US imports a ton of stuff, and that churches donate a lot, but I think that the real reason there are so many t-shirts with logos from the US is because Ron Moore can't stop giving them out!

If you didn't know already, Ron Moore, a man with a heart the size of Texas would give you the shirt off his back. Here he has brought about 100 shirts and he can't stop giving them away!
Clothes, like everything else, are in short supply down here, but Ron is certainly doing his part to change that!

Today, we were able to visit a fantastic organization here in Cap Haitian called Starthrowers. Jane has been in contact with them for a long time, and along with others has contributed to their ministry of helping many children pay for school. This year is the first year that they are sponsoring four college students, 2 studying to become doctors and 2 to become specialists in agrarian science. I think it is an absolutely fantastic organization!

The woman who runs the office here is a Canadian who spends 9 months out of the year in the house that serves as an office for Starthrowers. Besides sponsoring these students, the organization also employs several people in the community through maintaining the office which serves as a meeting area, an after school facility, a place to house visitors, and a community center.

As a community center Starthowers supplies vitamins, promotes good hygiene, helps get people the medical service they need (a very costly service in this far-from-fair economic system), and distributes items from people like us to the people in the community who need it most.
Aside from shirts, today we gave Starthrowers a bunch of protein bars (thanks to Susan for those donations!), a ton of those beanie babies that Jane stole from her grandchildren (just kidding, I think she bought them!), and some match box cars that Santa Ron brought!
I tell you what, I am amazed by two things:one, the perseverance of the Haitian people who refuse to give up in a world that has made life so hard on them, and two, the depth of generosity shown by Ron, Jane, and all of you who have made this trip so meaningful.

I think it means a whole lot to care. In doing so we become more human, in looking beyond ourselves we realize that we can be made whole if instead of caring only about our own needs we consider the needs of others. We miss you all!

Joe Evans, Ron Moore and Jane Carney

Joe's Email From Haiti

Hello Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church!

Jane, Ron, and I (Rev. Joe Evans, Associate Pastor) are writing you live from Haiti. It being my first trip here, I am amazed! My eyes are open to the world in a way that they never have been before. During this trip I have been trying to think of ways to get more people involved in coming here.

This country is so different from everything that we are used to.

It has been a lot for me to get used to. In preparing for this trip Jane was thinking about a man who had to be wheeled to her Haitian clinic in a wheel barrow by his son.

To help this man Jane had a wheel chair sent to our church, but getting it to our church was only the first phase of our mission. To get this wheel chair to replace the man's wheel barrow I had to pretend to have a twisted ankle to get the wheel chair on the air plane, through US customs, and then through Haitian customs. It was complicated, but at least I was able to avoid carrying all my luggage!

Once we got to Haiti we had to board a much smaller place, about 20 passenger's, to fly from Port au Prince to Cap Haitian (our destination). This place trip was a little rough - at one point of serious turbulence, Jane looked in my to see me praying reverently. She later asked me if I was praying that we make it to our destination safely. I responded, "Jane, I was just praying that I wouldn't throw up."

This trip really has been special. This country is in such extreme poverty. Jane has been distributing medicine to some 200 patients already. Many suffering from very preventable diseases such as diarrhea, intestinal worms, or scabies. It is a complete tragedy that God's children should suffer in such ways. We even saw a woman today suffering from elephantitis of the foot. This world has to change.

Ron and I have been trying to make ourselves useful, though its hard to compare anything we do to the lives that Jane is saving. We have been working hard though, moving blocks, mixing cement; today Ron was able to feed many people through buying rice and beans and helping prepare them at the site that may someday be a new orphanage.

I am learning a lot - I guess we all are, but I have so many more questions. I hope that we will all be empowered to do something more to help this horrible situation here in Haiti.

We miss you all very much. We are so strengthened by your thoughts and prayers - and I promise, the money you have given for the good of these people is making a difference! A full belly is something to be glad about, even if it is empty again the next day.

We are thinking of you, taking plenty of pictures, and looking forward to seeing you soon.
Joe Evans

Associate Pastor
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church

Tuesday's Report from our December Mission to Haiti

Lori Moore heard from her husband Ron last night (Tuesday), and we have good news to share. Our three-person mission team has arrived safe and sound in Haiti.

They had a rough trip from Port au Prince to Cap Haitien. It has been raining in Haiti the last 3 months. They flew through a thunderstorm to get to Cap Haitien. Ron said it was the roughest plane ride he's ever had, and we get the impression that the trip enhanced their prayer life.

So -- how did they get the wheelchair onto the plane? Their small amount of luggage and the enormous amount of medicines took up all of the alloted baggage limits.

It was Joe to the rescue. He rode the wheelchair onto the plane and throughout the airports.





We are told that Joe not only rode the wheelchair, he milked it for all it was worth. Airport staff pushed him everywhere he went. He did not have to walk at all. Before they left on Monday, Joe was showing off in the wheelchair by doing wheelies.

Our team did a mobile medical clinic on Tuesday. Joe and Jane worked at the clinic, while Ron divided his time between the clinic and runs to the Cap Hatien airport to continue to pick up bags they could not get onto the plane on Monday.

Mission to Haiti - December 2007

The ladies in this photograph are part of our Haiti Mission Team. They did not go to Haiti, but they gathered together to pack prescription drugs and to mark the containers. These drugs - 200 pounds of them - are headed to Haiti with Jane Carney, Joe Evans, and Ron Moore. The trio left Atlanta on Monday, December 10th, and will be returning on Tuesday, December 18th.

The team will also be taking a wheelchair, donated specifically for this mission.

When we send teams to Haiti, we usually go to either Leogane in the southern area, working through the Holy Cross Hospital, or to Cap Haitian in the north, where we work through an orphanage. This team will be going to Cap Haitian.

Hopefully, we will receive on or two emails from the team.

December 2007 Mission to Mississippi

Howdy, from Long Beach, MS.

Last night our crew of 4 arrived safely to this desolate community. With us this trip we have John VanBrunt (veteran), Tom Middlebrooks (veteran), Mark Beeney (rookie) and me, Katie Gomola.

As usual we began the day with no clue where God was going to lead us. Sometimes I feel when we try to plan out our day God just laughs at us...

We did know we were going to the Allenbaugh’s, which is the family our church has been working with over the past 4 months.

When we arrived at the Allenbaugh’s they came out and greeted us with hugs and smiles. Good Shepherd is not just a group that comes down to do free labor. We bring this family so much hope because they see the remnants of Katrina coming to an end. The guys spent the morning cleaning up the back porch and framing in a wall while I helped Mrs. Allenbaugh pack up stuff to take to the Salvation Army.

Have you ever had such a huge mess in front of you that you would avoid it or learn to work around it because it was so overwhelming? There’s such a mess that you don’t even know where to start? Well, that’s the case for the Allenbaugh’s. They’ve been repairing their home while living there; shifting belongings from one room to another. The mess is overwhelming to them. Realizing this, we knew that one of our major tasks was to help them get organized, so they could feel like they had some order. The guys spent the afternoon pulling everything out of the garage, throwing things out and reorganizing. Mr. Allenbaugh needs a workbench area to do carpentry work until he gets back to captaining his ship. The guys cleared out this area and set up an area for Mr. Allenbaugh to work. I spent the afternoon folding and hanging clothes. There are no dressers in the house, so clothes are piled everywhere. As the piles of clothes disappeared the house began to have order.

To some is may sound crazy that we came all the way down here to clean someone’s house, but I am certain that God has called us to this place. Helping organize the Allenbaugh house brought a sense of accomplishment to the family. They can see their lives slowly coming back together.

Tonight we went out for a farewell dinner for a guy named Adam. Adam is an 18 year old, recent high school graduate. He delayed going to college to spend a semester volunteering here in Long Beach. He has been a major help to the site manager here, and has worked closely with our group over the past couple months. It is sad to see this amazing young man go, but we are confident that God has awesome things in store for Adam.

God’s presence illuminates Long Beach. One cannot work a day down here and not see God at work in this community. God is faithful and his love endures forever! Long Beach is such an amazing, vivid picture of that of that promise!

We are excited about what the Lord has in store for us tomorrow!

Katie Gomola

PS. The Allenbaugh’s will be at church on Dec. 30th and they cannot wait to meet all of you!!!!

Two belated blogs from Haiti

Sometimes keeping a blog on the mission field is a unique challenge. Barb Kell, Priscilla Stockwell, and Jane Carney have been in Haiti. They sent two emails, but neither made it through cyberspace. Barb resent them when she returned to the US, so we are now able to share these two brief messages...


Dear friends at Good Shepehrd,

We are here and hard at work. First clinic was today. We saw about 160 people.

We have had a couple of tiny babies at the hospital, one that weighs 2 pounds, and another that may be about the same.

Another mom is a seventeen year old whose family kicked her out and she showed up at the hospital, delivered and had grand mal seizure !

The doc was a bit busy delivering other moms so Priscilla and I rushed over there and dove in! She is much improved today and we have fed her, helped her nurse the beautiful baby girl, fed her and gave a little money to the "angel" who was with her taking the best care of her she could.

It has rained in the afternoon and you can see the devastation caused by flooding and recent storms.

Tomorrow we are off for another day of scabies, fevers and untreated high blood pressure ..... and we can't wait to get back out there !
Barb


Message two...

Apologies for sparse communication. I have honestly tried daily to get on the internet, but no electricity and no connection have prevailed. It is our last day and we are all busy doing all kinds of things.

Priscilla is downstairs treating kids and burns , so I must quickly go to her aid. This afternoon we will do our lectures at the nursing school. This drug room is a shambles and must be put into order!

But oh... the stories we will have to tell upon our return !

Keep us in your prayers for safe travel and we will share more of our adventures when we get home.

Barb

Day Two of our September Mission Trip

We spent the early morning cleaning the Long Beach Presbyterian Church. Later on we headed to the Allenbaughs and were greeted with open arms and smiles. The guys got to work on the bathroom. They had to finish the drywall and install the bathtub. The women painted a bedroom and tried to keep the 1 yr old and 4 yr old from tracking the paint all over the house. By lunch time we were all covered in paint!

After lunch the guys still had some work to do, so the women were able to hang out with Mrs. Allenbaugh and the kids. Mrs. Allenbaugh took us on a tour of the town. She showed us where they lived during the storm, the window they had to swim out of, and the path they swam until they reached dry land (equaling about a quarter of a mile). We also drove through a brand new neighborhood and later Mrs. Allenbaugh showed us the pictures of what the homes looked like after the storms. One home had not been touched since the storm. A whole side of the house had been torn off and the residents clothes were still hanging in the closet.

The Long Beach area is still in need of a lot of help. Some need supplies, some need labor, but all need love and hope. Everyone has something they can offer to the area. Maybe it's cooking for a group of volunteers, cleaning the church, construction, loving on love starved kids, or just listening to the story of a Katrina victim. Service comes in many sizes and forms in Gulf Coast.

The next trip is Oct. 4th - 7th. Are you being called to Long Beach?

Report from the September Mississippi Mission

Our goal is to have one mission trip every month from now through December. This report comes to us today from Katie, our Director of Student Ministries, who is currently in Missisippi.

We arrived here in Long Beach, Mississippi, last night at midnight and quickly got in bed.

This morning we were told we needed to do drywall and paint, so we planned accordingly with tools and supplies, loaded up and headed out. We were completely unaware of how God was going to rock us in the first 5 minutes of meeting our residents. We get to the house and meet our residents, a young couple with a 4 yr. old and a 1 yr old. They had bought a gutted house and were almost done remodeling it, but needed some help to get it finished.

You see, the Allenbaugh family had lost EVERYTHING in the hurricane.

They sat us down and showed us pictures as the water rose in their home. They were chased to the 2nd floor of their home, but could not find shelter their because the roof had been damaged. All their clothes, furniture, pictures, everything was floating out to sea.

Once the storm died down they had to swim, with their at the time 2 yr old on their back, until they found land. Once they found land they were picked up by a 4-wheeler and taken to shelter. For nine days they had nothing but the clothes on their backs -- not even shoes. Eventually they got help from a family member up north and were able to find a refuge.

When the Allenbaughs came back to the Long Beach area they had nothing. Things worked out so they were able to purchase the home in which they now live. Their home is livable, but lacks furniture and a kitchen.

John VanBrunt and Mike Thurmond from our church worked with Mr. Allenbaugh ripping out old tile that was moldy from the storm in a bathroom. They also put up drywall and tore out the tub. We were able to buy them a new bathtub today.

Mr. Allenbaugh is a skilled carpenter and fishing boat captain, but work has been hard to find. He has done most of his house by himself. The problem is that like most of the residents in this area, he has Katrina depression. It has taken so long for this place to get cleaned up that people have lost their motivation and hope. All it took was a team to come in and get him motivated and excited about his house and he was hard at work.

Someone donated a dishwasher to the Allenbaughs -- but it didn't work. The family was also given a stove that only had one working burner. Today we went out and bought them a new dishwasher and stove. Tears streamed down the young couples face as they watched the appliances come off the truck.

The Allenbaughs had applied for a grant that was to cover all the appliances, windows and doors in the house. They received a call that they had won the grant. A half hour later they got another call that there was a mistake and the organization giving the grant had called the wrong people! Once again, hope had been washed out from under them.

The Allenbaughs continue to give God the glory. They said they don't understand why things like this happen, but they know God is in control! I fought tears as the family told us their stories, shared their pictures and let us love on them. The residents of Long Beach don't just need our construction skills. They also need us to reflect the love and hope that comes through Jesus Christ. We are a shining light and hope in the midst of chaos. It is such an honor to be the Lord's vessel to the people of Long Beach.

Mission To Long Beach, Mississippi - August, 2007

Katie Gomola, our Youth Director, is in Long Beach, Mississippi, working with a mission team from Good Shepherd. We received this report today!


Greetings from Long Beach! We arrived last night after a wonderful trip. This week we will be working with a group from New Jersey, 25 of us total.

It has been amazing to see God at work in this area. You cannot deny his presence! We were greeted by the new cite manager, Van, and briefed on the residents we would be working with. The house should be condemned, but the family has no where else to go. There are 5 of them living in this 2 bedroom house. They did not have their roof repaired from Katrina until last month. That means that they have gone almost 3 years with a leaky roof. Therefore, the insides of this house are a mess...

We began our day by picking up all the old shingles and debris that were in front of the house. FEMA will no longer pick up destruction trash. We filled a huge trailer and had to take it back to the church to empty it in the dumpster. Old shingles and insulation are heavy! We were covered in grime.


The front steps/deck to the house, where not safe, so Mark Marietta drew up plans and we headed to the lumber yard to get the wood. Mark, Rebecca Thurmond, Nick Stapley, and Doug King worked on a tearing out the rotting deck and building a new sturdy deck, while Michelle Marietta, Ashley Pfeiffer and I tiled a bedroom. We were so proud of ourselves.
Van told us that he had started to put another group at this house, but last minute he didn't have a good feeling about it and decided not to assign them to our house.. When we arrived last night, he said he knew God was calling our group to this house. There is so much work to be done, but more than that, there are 3 kids that are starved for love. Today, the kids were sick, but we are excited to meet these kids and love them like Jesus!

Here are some pictures of our day.

#1 - Mark giving direction

#2- Ashely beating out the rugs

#3 - Rebecca beating the rug

#4 - Michelle putting in the last tile

#5 - Me almost killin myself

News From Brazil

John Van Brunt, a long-time member of the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, is currently in Brazil on an interesting mission trip. He has set up a blog so we can enjoy news from his mission trip -- go to http://globalbaseballjvb.blogspot.com John thanks you for all your support and prayers

From Priscilla in Haiti

Priscilla Stockwell is in Haiti on a mission. We won't be receiving many posts to our blogs on this trip, but at least we have this one!

My Good Shepherd Family:

We have had great difficulty with access to the Internet. Three of my mails sent home were not received so I am assuming that you have not heard from me as well. We have done 5 medical clinics to date without a day off (no day planned to be off). The weather is crucial (heat index
up to 110 degrees). Transportation has been good without failure.

Many children this trip with malaria. My last child (age 3) yesterday had a fever of 105.3. We all worked very quickly to bring the fever down while administrating anti- malaria medicine and re-hydration fluids.

On Wednesday we went to a new site at the request of one of the pastors. A very rural area, most of the people are farmers. It was at this site that we found many with signs and symptoms of AIDS. One mother presented was with her 3 year old child. She had been informed by a
previous health provider that she had AIDS. She asked us who would care for her child when she eventually dies. I am hoping that her pastor will assist with finding a family for the child. I am getting discouraged with the quality of life for our Haitian families (I am very tired now as well so my perception may be affected by lack of sleep). Why must life be so hard for these mothers and their children? I do know that God has placed me in Haiti for a reason. I must not doubt that now even though I am discouraged. We will continue. We hope to be home as planned.

Thank you all for your prayers. Prayer is a powerful gift given by God.

We can use it very minute of the day.

Thursday and Friday Report from Mississippi

Is That A Halo On Pat's Head?

Thursday
Today was only a half day. We left early in the morning so we could get more time in. Our mission today was to get the ceilings finished. Because we are remodeling a trailer, we are running into many querks.





The wall frames are no completely square and the door frames are exceptionally small. Before we put up drywall we have to pull out staples that were used to put up the original drywall. I found us all exceptionally weary today.


We worked until 1pm and then headed home to shower and get dolled up for a trip to New Orleans. Some people from the Chicago group joined us and off we went. We walked all over the city, checking out the many sights. It was a beautiful evening! We heard great music, ate good food and had many laughs.

We all are ready for tons of sleep...

Friday
This morning we were the first group up and out the door. We had so much we wanted to get done before we leave in the morning. Depression has set in with many of the Long Beach residents. It is hard to see an end in sight with all the repairs that need done. Our resident especially is lacking stability. She is anxious and ready for her trailer to be done. Many times she has stopped by while were working to just sit inside her house and think. She lights a cigerette and sobs as she tells us stories of what she has been through. I could not imgane losing everything I have.

Jan our resident has also struggled with getting her home rebuilt because her home was primarily damaged by a tornado that went through the trailer park during the hurricane. Because it was a tornado and not a hurricane, FEMA is not willing to help rebuild her home. They have provided her with a FEMA trailer. The trailer park which was once a family friendly neighborhood has now become a community of savengers, scrounging around for work and money. Many times we had people come up to us and ask us if we were hiring. Many businesses were destoyed and have left people jobless.

We finished the cathedral ceiling with sore shoulders and smiles. It was so nice to have finally finished the ceiling. From there we were able to get back to work on the walls.

We got a call this morning from the ship captain we met at the beginning of the week. He said he wanted to take us out on an excursion at 1:30. We were definitely not going to miss an oppertunity to go out on a huge fishing boat. The captain's wife even baked blackberry cobbler for Bryan's birthday. We headed out towards Cat Island. The captain explained that Cat Island runs paralell to the coast and nine miles out from land. He said the island protected the coast from what was orginally a 35 foot tidal wave. The wave killed all the trees along the island. The captain said he fears another hurricane because their protection is gone. The next island we went to was Ship's Island. On Ship Island is an old fort build during the war of 1812. It's called fort Massachests. Our captain new the island police and they unlocked the door of the fort so we could look around. It was amazing! The cannons were huge, the brick walls were beautiful! We were all in awe!

The captain got us back to the dock at 5:00 and we rushed back to our work site. We worked until dark. Most of the work we did tonight was to board up all the windows to prevent the neighborhood kids from throwing rocks through them. We now have a the trailer completey sided and 3/4 drywalled. All of this work has been done by members of Good Shepherd between the Spring Break Trip and this week. My prayer is that our church will have many other hands working on this house.

Whose up for the next trip?!?

More News From Mississippi

This blog was compiled by Kate, Bryan and Katie.

Day 3- Tuesday

As the sun beat down on our previously pale skin, we wrapped a trailer. In order to do said wrapping, large sheets of home wrap were nailed to the side of the house. The most exciting part of this experience was when Bryan, Pat, and Jean tried to nail the home wrap into a window. Luckily they noticed what they were doing before any glass was shattered. Meanwhile, the Kate and Katie duo was busy at the other end of the home installing vinyl siding.

Occasionally the nails hit a very dense part of the wood and nails torpedoed across the yard. Some might say that more nails flew than were nailed in, but who was counting? Simultaneously there was a competition for whose thumb could turn the prettiest shade of purple. Jean won. Katie was the only participant who did not smash her thumb.

While taking a break from siding, Bryan and Jean took Bubba (the sledgehammer) to the kitchen cabinets and "the kitchen sink" and proceeded to throw them out the front door. By the end of the day the kitchen was sink-free and the siding was complete.

Day 4- Wednesday

Upon arrival the siding was glistening in the sun that had left us various shades of red the day before. The duo was back together but this time they swept up the debris from all of the sheetrock work of previous days only to create more mess later (when the sheetrock work recommenced). During a brief pause in their sheetrock endeavors they began the demolition of the second bathroom. Bubba made another appearance as well as the crowbar as they tried to make a dent in the task. The duo got a little out of control with their emotions and couldn't stop laughing. Perhaps it had to do with an oxygen deficiency caused by the masks they were wearing, but if not it was a good excuse.

Bryan and Pat tried to remain serious while they played with staple guns, dealt with massive amounts of insulation, and tried to avoid making contact with the fiberglass shards. Meanwhile, back at the ranch (or back at the church) Jean was occupied with preparations for the weekly Wednesday night service. When she arrived at the house she attempted to replace some rotten wood around a window. The window won and some glass was broken.

Dinner was once again delicious and was followed by the worship service. Kate and Bryan were recruited to be the choir along with a man from Spartanburg, SC and the organist from the same church. Katie led the prayers of the people. Jean delivered a sermon on confidence that is part of a sermon series she had been talking about all week. It's now getting late and Pat has bumped up our departure time for the morning. We were determined to make Pat a night owl this week (We got her to stay up until 10:00 last night!), but she has done well with making us morning people!

Photos of our Mission Team

We have some great shots of our current Mission Team.

Jean (Katie's Mom), Kate and Bryan.

Kate, Bryan and Katie.

Pat Measures Twice And Saws Once

Kate Works Intently On The Doorway

Our mission team will continue to work in Long Beach, Miss., through the end of the week. Keep them in your prayers as they continue to work together.

Sunday and Monday in Mississippi - May 6 & 7

Day 1
Kate Benton, Pat Bishop and I had a wonderful trip down to Long Beach, MS. We met Bryan Dilks (Kate Benton's boyfriend) who drove up from Houston and my mom, Jean Gomola, a Presbyterian pastor who flew down from Pittsburgh. We arrived at the Long Beach Presbyterian Church and were greeted by the 20 other people who we will share the church with for the week. One group is from Illinois and another group from South Carolina. We just found out that our crew will continue hanging drywall and vinyl siding on the home that our Spring Break crew started. Apparently there haven't been many people here to work since then. That's why Good Shepherd should come once a month! haha! We're exhausted and heading to bed.

Day 2
Pat was up at 4:50 am! She said she was an early bird, but there should be a new title for that hour! It took us a little while to get out the door as we gathered our supplies. We arrived to the home to find that all the windows had been broken out and someone had thrown stones at the new siding... it was all cracked. I found it more frustrating then the rest of the crew because I had watched the Spring Break crew put the siding up and smash many fingers in the process. We also found that someone had been sleeping in this home with no windows, electricity or plumbing.

Pat immediately got us working. Even with all her experience in Habitat for Humanity, she was stumped. She has built a house from scratch, but not tried to repair a gutted trailer. Once she figured out what needed to be done, she handed out tasks and we were off. The master bedroom and kitchen were finished in no time. There has been some difficulty working around all the broken glass and the residents belongings that are still in the trailer.

The resident, Jan, stopped by while we were working. She walked in and sat down, tears were streaming out from under her sunglasses. She said, "I can't wait to be back in my home. It's so peaceful in here." Jan's current home is a tiny FEMA trailer behind her home.

Our afternoon was spent removing the vinyl siding from the side of the trailer because the trailer had not been sealed properly.

We got back to the church this evening and took nice hot outdoor showers. Everyone wanted to go for a walk, so we walked to the shore and out onto a boat dock. The beach is still desolate with a few piles of debris here and there. Jean began talking to a man who was sitting on his fishing boat. She asked if he could take us out on his boat and he said he charged $650 for a 4 hour trip! We laughed and said no thank you. He asked us to come tour his boat (2 bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen... CRAZY!) which led to an hour conversation about their experience during Katrina. We were captivated, but hit with a sense of anxiety in realizing what this community has been through. As we were leaving the captain asked for our name and phone number. He said he might have to take the boat out for a maintenance trip and he would love for us to ride along. We are hoping he calls!

Mississippi - April 5th

More From Our Mississippi Mission
This week there are 45 people on three teams at the Long Beach Presbyterian Church. It is not a very big building, much smaller than Good Shepherd. Our guys are sleeping in the choir room. Bunk beds are located in every corner of the building. The place bears a strange resemblance to Clifton, the homeless ministry Good Shepherd helps to support in Atlanta.

Tuesday was our turn to cook and clean for the visiting works crews. This meant we were responsible for preparing the meals means breakfast, lunch and dinner for 45 hungry people. We eat breakfast and lunch together. For breakfast we decided to have pancakes, fruit and hard boiled eggs. For lunch we provided the ingredients for sack lunches. The day starts early, so wake-up time for the morning cooks was 5:30 AM! Lauren, Josh and Chris volunteered to act as cooks under the supervision of Mike and Jane. Bill Johnson has our early riser was in charge of the coffee. By 7:30 we had gone through four and a half boxes of pancake mix, a pineapple, three dozen eggs and other assorted fruit. Our new chiefs performed admirably and keep the platter full until all were served.

Once breakfast was complete the rest of the crew jumped into action cleaning the kitchen, sleeping areas and the showers. The it was off to the work site and a second day on the roof.

We needed clear weather to get the ridge vent on the house and complete the roof. The rain clouds which threatened this morning passed quickly and the day turned out to be quit nice. The roofing crew was able to return to the roof one last time, and complete the job. Those on the roof and the support team on the ground took a few minutes to celebrate. I am sure that larger roofs have been completed but I doubt that any will be more meaningful.

Mission To Long Beach, Mississippi - April 4th

Several of our church members have taken our new bus on its first long church trip -- they are working together in Mississippi in some of the areas still ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. We've had several calls from Katie Gomola and other workers, and it sounds like they are accomplishing a lot of important work and enjoying lots of fun and laughter as well.

This morning we received this report from Mike Thurmond, who describes the work they are doing.

This is Wednesday morning in Long Beach, Mississippi, the third day of our mission trip. It is hard to believe that a year and eight months after Katrina there is still so much to be done. On the one hand much has been cleaned up -- but it is not the debris but the absence that testifies to the power of the storm. Has we drive along the beach on US 90 there are very few people on the beach. The twelve miles or so we cover each morning has only one or two isolated locations with the expected beach activities.

On the inland side of the road we see only evidence of what once was. Slabs, the front stairs of a house, a swimming pool, and the signs that mark a restaurant, hotel or other business that once was. There is something eerie about seeing a McDonald’s or Waffle House sign towering above the road, but on the ground there is no sign of the building we associate with the sign. This is not to say that nothing has been done.

Scattered along are route are homes, hotels, casinos and other businesses that show no signs of the fury they have survived. We have to wonder what has enabled one home owner or business to rebuild while others are still on hold. It also raises the question of what would we do if faced with the same magnitude of destruction? Your home, your neighbors, businesses, your church, everything gone -- it is a question we are glad we don't have to face.

We have spent the first two days putting a roof on a small house, no more than 900 square feet. Roofing was not on our top ten list of jobs, but God empowers the called. True to his word we found the skills required to meet the need. Because all of us could not fit on the roof itself, we where able to complete several other tasks at the same time.

There is much more to be said. Our team has bounded well and we are having a wonderful time. At the moment I am under a tent watching the rain clouds approach. So I need to close at try to sent this before the rain come and the day begins.

Wednesday Report

We're gearing up for our return tomorrow and most of us are quite ready!

It's been a good experience, but it is always nice to return home.

Today we did not have clinic-all the drugs that will keep have been packed up and stored at the orphanage for next trip. Several of the group spent the day at the orphanage playing games and doing fun activities with the children. Others relaxed around the hotel and began getting packed up for home. We also enjoyed watching the hotel staff put up icicle lights in preparation for Christmas. Packing up for home isn't nearly as extensive as packing to come and we'll all have lost a lot of weight! ha ha ha! Even though clinics are over, our medical staff gave the hotel staff an opportunity to get medical attention and at the end of today one of the workers from the new site needed cleaning up from a nasty cut received during a disagreement. So the work continues!

This morning, Jane, Jan, Ann, Ron and I met with Dana and Pritchard Adams. He's a pastor here with a school and Bible Institute. He and Dana have been missionaries here for 24 years-all three of their children were born here. He and Dana were recently kidnapped after church services one evening. Fortunately it turned out well, although it cost around $5000 to get him released. He is with Rehoboth Ministries and has worked to build a school for children up to sixth grade (hopes to increase through High School eventually) and also does education for adults who never had an opportunity when young. He's helping many find the Lord and make a faith commitment and is working to develop future Christian leaders. He's quite clear that the situation in Haiti has and is deteriorating. He had quite a good insight into the political problems and how things will not improve as long as western nations try to 'fix' Haiti through their efforts that are guided by western culture. We had an enjoyable three hours with him and may explore futher future connections. He certainly welcomes our prayers -as do all the missionaries here.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers-we look forward to sharing our experience in person very soon!

Catching Up With Leslee...

Sorry to be behind-but that's the vagaries of life in a third world country!

Anyway, Sunday was down time for the group. Most of us attended worship at the Baptist Church that the children from the orphanage attend. As it was all in Creole, we didn't understand most of it, but the Spirit was clearly present. The Pastor was thrilled to have us visit and welcomed us in English and then had us introduce ourselves. We said our name (Je m'appel....) and how many trips we had made to Haiti. As some of the group showed up late, those of us who introduced ourselves were pretty much all first timers. They were very pleased. The pastor requested prayer for his church as they are trying to rebuild the building. (There's so much building that seems to be going on, but it never seems to progress past a certain point.....). One of our group, Pastor Mike (he and his wife Arlene are from North Carolina where he pastors a 200 member church gave the prayer before the sermon and then led the benediction at the end.

After church we rode back to the orphanage for a brief visit before returning to the hotel. The children were pleased to see us and sang several songs. It was deeply touching to have four of the boys sing "Silent Night" in English. There has been very little reminder that we are so close to Christmas here. Some homes and businesses have some Christmas lights and decorations, but for the most part it is not obvious. The orphanage does have a nice Christmas Tree and we will be celebrating Christmas with the children on Wednesday of this week.

After returning to the hotel, some of the group ventured on to Labadie to go to the beach. Labadie is one area that still attracts cruise ships and tourists as the beach is beautiful. We were scheduled to do a clinic there on Tuesday (today) but the demand for drugs and medicine has been so great at the other clinics, we had to cancel. It was nice to have the respite and we have a better understanding of why God set aside a day for rest.

On Monday we headed out to the new orphanage site for a clinic. The day was beautiful --cooler, nice breeze and somewhat cloudy, keeping the sun hidden. It was the nicest set up as we were outdoors in the shade. As usual many people were waiting for us when we arrived. It seemed we saw a lot more children who were critically sick on Monday. At least two needed rehydration and they and their mothers waited patiently as we gave liquids and shots to help. Both were thankfully doing better by the time they left.

One young mother, 18 years old, brought her 6 week old son to the clinic. The mother had an awful case of scabies and the baby had scabies, a fungus infection and secondary staph infection. Both received lindane and shots to help. Sharon (from the orphanage) was with us and gave further instructions to the mother to come to the orphanage so she could further help both. The mother lives with her aunt, since her own mother died two years ago. The aunt doesn't want this teenager around and thus abuses her. Both she and her infant are not doing well as a result. The father of the baby is around, but does not help. She seems to really want to care for her infant, so Sharon is reaching out. Pastor Mike came over and prayed with her for a bit and that seemed to help also.

On the way home it was again time to observe the local life in action. Driving in Haiti seems only to require a working horn. There are no traffic signals, few street signs and no real police enforcement of any traffic laws. Cars are mostly American cast-offs that have all seen much better days. Tap-taps (taxis) are usually small pick up trucks with roofs that squeeze too many people in the back and then race through traffic. Complicating this are the old American school buses, some of which have been brightly painting, that roar around, packed to bursting, sometimes with people hanging on the roof racks. We waited a bit for a large truck to unload about 20 or so people. At least three women got off carrying live chicken, hanging by their feet. One woman got off and put a box on the ground and I realized it had a live chicken that just sat while she got the rest of her belongings. Total chaos seems to be the rush hour experience. Walkers, bikers, motorscooters weaving around cars, large trucks, buses, tap-taps, small taxis and more all in the street. Pedestrians truly take their lives in their hands. Horns aren't rude here they way they might be in the states, but announce cars coming to intersections, tell pedestrians a car is coming and to move over, scooters honk so cars know they are there etc. I would not want to drive here-it's too nuts! It's interesting too to see the number of religious signs painted everywhere. Tap-taps invariably have something painting on their tops - Psaumes 36, Jehovah Jireh, Merci, Jesus; Dieu qui Donne, etc. On the surface there seems to be a real belief in God, but the underlying superstitious nature of the people leaves us wondering......

Today (Tuesday) we are off and will be beginning to prepare for our return. "A Demen" ........til tomorrow..... Your prayers are much appreciated!

News from Jan from Colorado -- a member of our current team

I am Jan from Boulder, Colorado, and a First Grade friend of Jane Carney's. I'm on my third trip to Haiti.

Today I took a break from treating children and adults with scabies (after a while I start to itch and think that I have scabies too) and went with Ron to both the orphanage and the new orphanage site to play with the kids. It is an adventure in itself traveling through the city with Ron since he talks to everyone on the streets (in English) even though almost no one understands him. Somehow it works though.

We were walking up a side street to the orphanage. Most of the properties have walls around them with solid metal gates that slide open for a vehicle to go through. One of these gates was open and Ron saw a man inside and started talking to him. The man just happened to speak English and was originally from Haiti but had spent the past 20 years as a policeman for the NYPD in Brookyln and had returned to Haiti to retire.

Since my husband is from Brookyln, I threw around some neighborhood names; he glowed as his Brazillian batteries which somehow relate to his generator which gives him 24 hour electricity.

Eventually we left after Ron gave him his business card and told him to email him.

At the orphanage Ron organized (I use that term loosely) the kids into two lines. We demonstrated the relay of passing a soccer ball over our heads to the following person. Kids are kids and it didn't take them long to realize that if they bypassed some of their team members in the middle of the line, the ball would reach the end quicker. The other team lost but cheered enthusiastically as if they had won. We switched to playing basketball thinking we would have an advantage because of our heights. We lost badly.

It was hot so we moved inside to play the piano, a rhythm clapping hands game and the game where you put your hands underneath someone else's and try to swat the other persons' hands before they pull them away. Ron was happy because he finally won this game, but only because initially he pretended that he didn't know how to play it. We finished with singing Christmas carols. The kids were also better at this because they could sing one in English.

We left and walked through the streets looking for a tap tap or a truck to take us to the new orphanage site. Ron still talked to everyone we passed, but switched to speaking Spanish which no one understood either, until he met a man from Cuba who wanted Ron to take him back with him to the States.

After an hour and a half and a variety of vechicles we arrived at the site. Ron immediately began coaching soccer. I found a cement bench in the roofless dining pavilion and laid there, trying to pick up any possible breeze by not moving. I was jarred from my reverie by a voice saying, "I'm very, very disappointed with all of your performances". I looked up to see Lawrence of Arabia marching across the field followed by a group of Haitian workers. Actually it was Bill Kell with a wet towel tied on his head.

Our group (about 12) packed into the cab and the back of a very small pick up truck and left to return to the hotel at dusk, which is never the plan. By the time we got into the city it was dark and the streets were jammed with tap taps, trucks, double decker buses, motor cycles, bicycles, men pushing wheel barrows and women balancing baskets on their heads. The electricity in Cap Haitien has been out for a week and many vehicles do not have head lights although it does not stop the two way traffic from passing each other and driving on which ever side of the street that has the fewest pot holes. The only light was provided the fires burning garbage in the streets or the occassional head lights. It was very errie. Our driver, Santage, was superb, and we made it back safely.

I also want to be sure to thank here Tara High School and Centenniel Middle School in Colorado for giving us 13,000 children's vitamins that we have been handing out at the clinics. God is so good!

Leslee's News About Saturday...

I'm a day behind, but we got back so late last night that I decided to wait until Sunday afternoon to send Saturday news. Sunday news will come a bit later today.

On Saturday we drove to Barone for the clinic there. It is a two hour plus ride over really bad roads into the mountains. This gave me an opportunity to observe daily life in Haiti, at least as we drove by in our truck. It is fascinating to watch people going about their business. Women usually have a basket or pot or something that they carry on their head. This is efficient, yet does cause neck and back pain from the heavy (up to 60 pounds) loads. One woman had a basket that was about 3 feet wide that was full of live chickens. The chickens (or poulet) were all sitting calmly in a circle around the perimeter of the basket, with one or two sitting in the middle. I'd have to guess about a dozen were there. The chickens were sitting calmly looking around. As we drove into the mountains we saw a little boy walking with his backpack on his head.

As we drove, children especially, would wave and call-they wanted us to give them stuff, but we just waved back. Many older people smiled and waved also.

The road was very rough, some spots were very good, but once we got close to Barone it was full of potholes and puddles. There was at least one time we had to cross the river and had to hope it wasn't too deep.

When we pulled up to the clinic, many people were waiting for us. As we walked in with the supplies, the people were clapping. It was a humbling experience to know they had probably waited since before daybreak, knowing there was a chance they wouldn't be able to be seen.

Our session opened with a hymn and prayer and we were off. We had Dr. Jerome (a Haitian doctor), Sharon (director of Hope Haven) and a public health nurse with us this day so we were able to see more patients. I worked with Jane in the pharmacy, basically joined at the hip with her all day. Jane commented that now I could moonlight as a pharmacist. My response was appreciative, but I think the DEA might have something to say about that!

Sharon brought Cailiax from the orphanage with her to visit his grandmother. He wasn't terribly happy with that and Eli (one of our nurse practitioners) was happy to hold and comfort him. He pretty much attached himself to her for the rest of the trip home and overnight at the hotel. He was good as gold, sitting with Sharon earlier in the day as she saw patients.

We also saw Watson's two brothers. Watson is a child at the orphanage and many of our mission team members have met and worked with Watson on previous trips. He has been at the orphanage since August of this year as he'd been starving in Baronne. His two brothers were living with an aunt, but remained there as they were not in as desperate a situation. The brothers look wonderful, Jane reports. Twilla had given their aunt some money to help and they look clean and much healthier that before. The staff who had been there in August was thrilled to see the transformation.

Because Barone is so far, we had to close early - 3:30 or so - to make the two hour trip back before dark. The pharmacy was crazy busy at the end-the stack of slips didn't ever seem to get smaller. But somehow all the prescriptions were filled, although we had begun to run low of many drugs. We substituted as able and did the best we could. The road back seemed even worse. There hasn't been much rain and the dust was terrible. We all returned with a fine coating of dust and our hair especially was stiff and not very attractive after that ride. The shower felt really good and dinner especially delicious!

Friday's Report From Leslee

Today started earlier for both groups.

The group working at the orphanage left by 7:00 a.m. The group working the clinic left shortly after 8. Our journey to the clinic was up at the top of a mountain outside Cap Haitian. For those of us who don't like driving on a road that is right next to a sheer drop, it was a stressful drive, fortunately short.

This clinic was in a new place -- across the street from the old place. The church gave us room to work and have a place for people to wait for treatment.

Many, many cases of scabies-the youngest patient was also the most infested. She might have been two months old. Hopefully her young mother will take the steps to keep her free from the parasite in the future. We also treated several very old women for scabies. One who was paraplegic was so grateful she kept saying thank you over and over. The hardest part is closing down the clinic in the late afternoon, knowing there are so many folks outside who just couldn't be seen today.

Today Ron Moore walked 3/4 of the way to the Eternal Hope Orphanage to play soccer with the kids. The interpreter misunderstood when Ron asked how far to the orphanage, he said 20-30 minutes.

After walking for 1 hour through the city Ron again "asked how far?"

He said 1 hour.

We finally took a "tap tap," which is one of the local transportation sources.

Finally arriving at the orphanage to meet the children and play soccer for the day. was a great experience. The kids were great and enjoyed the balls, shirts and shorts that were given to them. The girls were very shy and stayed back watching the boys play. They were very skilled for young players without formal training.

After leaving the orphanage for the day Ron set out to return to the hotel. There were no tap taps or taxis available. Walking seemed to be the only available mode of transportation on this day. Praying for a ride seemed like a good idea. One block later one of the orphanage trucks turned the corner and stopped to pick up Ron and the interpreter. That was not the end of the day for this weary traveler.

Ben was taking the truck up the mountain to the clinic where all the doctors and nurses were working for the day. It was straight up a mountain on a dirt, gravel road with steep cliffs. The clinic was held in a church in a small mountain community. The nurses and helpers are very brave to travel to these remote areas and take care of so many needy people.

We did make it back safely from all our venues today, tired, hungry, yet knowing we helped those who crossed our paths today.

Your prayers are much needed for all the people of Haiti!

Learning to Speak Creole.

From Leslee...

Our first day came early, after a welcome sleep following a long day of travel. Much of the group headed to their first clinic, with 7 or so heading to the new orphanage to continue construction. At the new orphanage site, those looking for work were waiting for us and were glad to see Kenny, who's hard work is helping this great new facility get built. Ron brought some of his soccer equipment and eventually was able to engage some of the local children and youth in a game. Funny how they check for injuries-when one of the boys fell down, as he sat there, one of the other youth came over and gently kicked his feet. Between them they seemed to decide he was okay and he jumped up and got back to playing. Bill helped this whole process by clearing overgrown grass and weeds from the playing area-that work will continue as the grass only gets cut back every three months!

At the clinic, many people lined up to get seen. Over 100 folks were seen and one little boy with a serious heart problem came back to the hotel for further help and monitoring. Some of the women were responsible for treating scabies, which probably led to this young boy's heart problem. Their concern was all the children came to them after receiving an injection, so the children's response to them was negative-crying as if they were going to receive another shot!

Tomorrow, they will ask that the kids seem THEM first and then get their shot!

Ann and Jan also spent some time learning Creole. As the heat increased and the line seemed endless, some of the people waiting got into verbal arguments. Ann and Jan started asking some of the children to teach them the Creole for body parts -arms, hands, legs, etc. Apparently that was a distraction for the fractious adults who all got into the 'game' of teaching Ann and Jan the creole words for the parts they pointed to.

The day was long, but much good work was accomplished. Our late suitcases showed up, much to Jane's pleasure, as now she can continue to prepare and organize for tomorrow's clinic. Thank you for your prayers!

Leslee Writes the First News From the December 2006 Mission

From Leslee Kirkconnell...

Greetings!

We made it to Cap Haitian safely about an hour or so ago. The hotel is kind enough to let me use their office machine for sending posts, so I'll try to do so once a day.

Our group of 15 is pretty tired, after getting up around 2 a.m., checking in at Atlanta (although 6 of the group travelled from Raleigh/Durham), flying to Miami, walking the length of the airport to get to our flight to Port au Prince, and then just waiting. Smooth flight, no problems with customs, but it amazes me that anything gets done with the total chaos in Port au Prince!

Leaving the airport and traveling to the regional airport for the flight to Cap Haitian was an adventure in itself. The smaller airport was crowded, very hot and very loud. Somehow Kenneth got our tickets and our luggage arranged. We pretty much filled the regional plane to Cap Haitian and several of our crew, Ron Moore and Bill Kell, included, were busy back seat flying. No wonder the pilots wear headphones! Jane Carney, Jan and Ann were all here to greet us. They arrived yesterday and are already busy counting and sorting medicines and laying plans for the week.

Jane related a funny story about doing errands with someone from the orphanage. She waited so long in a truck for the other person to return that a chicken climbed in and laid an egg!

The country is both beautiful and desolate. From the air one can see the beauty of the rather rugged terrain, but also the environmental problems from deforestation. The poverty is extreme. Some who have been here before, but not for several years, have noted a decline in living standards. Our work in the clinic and the orphanage enables us to be God's agents for hope! We appreciate everyone's prayers for our group, our work and those we will see in the clinic and orphanage.