Haiti Updates

May 29, 2010
“Being my second trip here, it was really a neat thing because I could thing how things had changed incredibly. On my first trip there was what seemed like total devastation. There was not a minute of down-time. The first time I was here I spent my time between the ministry and Diquini Hospital. Although I enjoyed both places, this is where my heart was. However, I never stayed here I always stayed at the hospital. And that was probably the thing I noticed the most on my second trip. The atmosphere at the hospital, was always hectic and although there was some kind of spirituality there it was a heart feeling for me. I guess what I really felt this time, as well as what my husband felt, is that you feel like family. And although, you know, I think many people come here who are born again Christians, who have little differences in beliefs, and those are the things I choose not to major on the minor issues, it is just so obvious that everyone is so intimately in love with Jesus. And that’s contagious. As Mike and I have come out here and had prayer time every morning and evening, we’re just amazed at how the long timers are so willing to sacrifice their time their families, their savings, everything, just to give to others with so little in return. I’m amazed at you (Sabrina) that you’re heart works none stop and you’re always giving to these people. Like getting up at four in the morning so you can be at someone’s house just to check on them, and how everyone in the street knows and loves Sabrina. And the funny thing is, while I was at the hospital, it was not a comfortable feeling, but when I’m here and walking the streets with Sabrina, I feel safe. I guess just what most impresses Mike and I is that everything that’s done here, everything, is that the Haitian people see Jesus here in everything that’s done. They can’t help but see it. And it was just really special for my husband to share that together, and to see that. And it just makes me think of that saying, “you might be the only Jesus that people see,” And that’s what these people have to see when they see you guys. And that’s being a true Christian.
-Cheryl Hoffman

Man, we have so much fun here some times. Last night it was Rodney’s birthday and Patrick’s (Haitian) today. So we threw a huge surprise party for them both with face candles, balloons, Sandra made TONS of delicious food that we never get, and punch! Lillian had us all go around and say a memory about Rodney and Patrick and we prayed over them both. After every one chilled out a little a couple of us sneaked out the gate. Fwe Wo knocked on the door to ask for Rodney. He came outside completely oblivious…and got PUMMELED with water ballons!! From every side and from the roof next door. We got him soaked. When he finally went back in the gate laughing, Janell and Mark doused him with two 5-gallon buckets of water. ha ha ha,,, such fun.
We have had a busy week in our clinic. Thank the Lord for our wonderful midwives this week Emily, Brie, Brita, nurses Wendy & Cheryl, ministry Mike, and ‘pharmacist’ Janell we have seen a large crowd of every various disease or complaint you can imagine every day. Wednesday we had our first mobile clinic in a while up in a mountain 1 hr away. It was wonderful.
The guys are cutting doors and windows in houses we already built, poured the concrete roof in our second bathroom, Chad and Justin mopped the main room floor! We drove two people to the hospital this week, a man for a lip nearly bit off in a fight, and girl with severe chest pain and panic. Just another typical day in Carrefour.
Thank you all for your prayers! We could not walk without them.

May 25, 2010

Last night in our translator’s English class I had each student ask each other a question for the others to answer. After a few rounds of questions and laughter Moise spoke, “I have a question for everyone here. What can we do for Haiti Family Ministries as a reward for all they have done for us. Because for me, I have felt that I became a member of this family. I have felt that they care about me and love me. So what can we do as a reward for them?”
Each one answered. Paulin said, “For me, I have had the good feeling deep down inside when I am helping other people instead of sitting down and watching everyone walk by on the street. I want to be useful. And I have had this great satisfaction and fulfillment for the first time. I don’t think they want our money and they know we don’t have money to give. But I think we can give our acceptance and our love. We can show them our culture. We can give them something they will never forget.”
Moise spoke again, “I will foever repeat something that Katrina taught me. If you treat someone like a human, they will act like a human. If you treat them like an animal, they will act like an animal. They have taught us how to love people and really care about them, the patients.”
“Is it my turn?” I said when everyone was finished. “What I would say, what you can give in return for what we have done here in Carrefour, is take what you have learned and share it! Teach everyone around you to get up and help their neighbor clear his rubble instead of sitting all day, watch a woman’s children so she can work because she actually has a job. And teach them to love and care for each other. Teach them to treat each other like humans. Let them feel like they belong to your family as you have felt that we have accepted you into our family. Our reward is seeing your lives changed over the past 4 months, and it would be even more to see you teach everyone to do the same.”

5/23/10
“One of the biggest things that I enjoy is being able to spend time with the Lord each day. Not that I couldn’t do it before, but it’s more of a laid back setting. Being in a completely different culture, and having everything in life change, but your relationship with the Lord is exactly the same shows how big God is, He is the same no matter where you are…there was one Haitian guy we met…seeing how his heart is different than the typical mindset, it was encouraging to see his love of the Lord. And seeing that in the midst of all the people that seem to be going the wrong direction there are those few that are pursuing the Lord. It makes a spark that yea, there is this hope.” -Justin Miller
To carry the sufferings of Christ, not in the form of bruises, beatings, or persecutions. But in sorrowing over a mother who puts her malnourished child to the side, and seems to use her to get. The suffering of wanting to do so much to help someone yet unable. The sufferings that Jesus felt when he cried, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,…How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)
And yet we must not be a bondservant to the people. Jesus said when we give one of these little ones a cup of water (Matt. 10:42). I am a bondservant of Christ (Gal 1:10). I do not carry the need of the people. He does. Pray for Junie, pregnant and with a severely sick malnourished, 1 yr old daughter with a bad heart condition. I gave money and shoes to Junie to start her business, she says it’s not going well enough to buy her and Biernie food. They get wet every time it rains heavy, which is every night for the past 3 days. Biernie needs intensive long term medical care and TLC. I am trying to find a resource to send them to. But Father wants not just the physical care, but a change in Junie’s heart. To know that she is a daughter, she is loved. Even though her parents died when she was 10 and 13 and the father of her baby comes back to beat her up. Father wants to touch her heart and change her life forever.
Friday night Lloyd Smoker gave a powerful message on 2 Kings 2. After Elisha took up Elijah’s mantle he walked to the same river that Elijah had parted by striking with his mantle and cried out “Where is the God of Elijah?” !! Are we desperate? Are we crying out “GOD WHERE ARE YOU?? I NEED YOU. I can’t do this without you!” We can’t do this without the abilities that the Sprit gives that Lloyd teaches us on in our nightly study: words of wisdom, words of knowledge, prophecy, tongues, interpretation, discerning spirits, faith, miracles, and healing (1 cor 12:1-14) Yes we pray, read the Word, talk with Jesus, but our cry of “I can’t do this without you” was meant for the Holy Spirit, for Him to work alongside of us, and inside of us.
This last week we had 3 people came to our gate with bad wounds. One had cut an artery on his foot on tile, the second I walked Chad through stitching a girls leg sliced from a glass bottle in a fight with another girl, and the third his thumb was pretty much off, so we drove him to the Red Cross. Right now we just prayed over Chad’s knee after Rodney put hot soaks on and squeezed the bad infected boil and Godwin said he’s willing to cut it off… Pray for complete healing and no return of that. It’s his second one.
Godwin took 10 of the Yung Goddie’s on their first camping trip in the mountains last night. They had a blast. Godwin and Willie held church on the top of a mountain with all of them.
The area for Ricardo and Kendra’s house is now open but no building has commenced yet. This week we get more volunteers in. The midwives are helping me plan the more systematic prenatal care for our birth center. Tomorrow we start a new week!

-Sabrina Zehr, CNM Medical Director

May 19, 2010

“You should leave the tarp up, so we can take it.” The young boy said amongst 5 other kids as we took down the large clinic shade tarp ½ hr ago.
“If we leave it up you’ll take it?!” I asked.
“Yeah, if we take it you can buy another one.”
This is the mentality we live amongst.
Godwin had a first experience this weekend. He was in a tent city visiting a family and heard screaming. He went to find out what was going on and saw a girl thrashing and yelling “Let me go!” around with other Christian Haitians already there praying for the demon inside of her to come out. “You know I don’t usually believe that kind of thing,” Godwin said, “at first I was unbelieving. But I remembered that where two or three are gathered He is there. So I asked Him, ‘God come down into the middle of us, and give me the power through the Holy Spirit.’ We had been praying for 15 minutes. But after I said that not 1 minute later the demon left her.”

Ricardo, Jason & Amanda, and Shawn left. Mark was in Dominican for 4 days with Davnel. There are only 7 of us here now: Dad Smoker, Matt (19), Chadd (22), Justin (23), Mark, Rodney, and myself. It’s a small close group. We started an evening teaching the abilities of the Holy Spirit with Dad Smoker every evening at 8pm, after work, after English class, after Ministry School…before a heated game of dice 
Chad and Matt are finishing up the bathroom in the back. Rodney took over teaching Ministry School. We finished our shipment of 50 sheds. We still have a team clearing land every day who we pay providing jobs. Today was health teaching day in clinic, which means I had to talk to everyone who still wanted to be seen. Karen and Bri, our two midwives here today, had the 30 women with their children in arms sit in a circle. They asked them to say their name and what concern they had. Everyone has a cold, sore throat, cough, and fever right now. The rain is coming and weather is changing. They discussed the local remedies the women already knew taught on women’s health along with basic health topics.
Starting in 2 weeks we will have some more teams scheduled to come in!! Thank You Lord!
Yesterday Bri and I walked to Roselaure’s house to check on her pregnancy and bring her a cot so she doesn’t have to sleep on the floor anymore and get wet every time it rains. She was all smiles and thanks, as she always is. She is like the 1 leper of the 10 who came back to Jesus after being healed to say Thank you. It’s people like her who make you remember why you’re here. God is good!

What a great teaching on Acts 2 and the Holy Spirit with Ricardo tonight! First night it hasn’t rained in a while…Great day, health teaching Wednedsay, re-visiting a tent city with a ton of people I used too see every day, wow, it is SO good to see how they are all doing now!! Princess, and baby Allen, Mr. with the nerves cut in his hands who had lost all function and now he can button his shirt, shake my hand, and hold a bottle!! Ester who drank 2 liters of bleach to try to kill herself after being accused of stealing a tent who is now smiling and gorgeous, and when another girl did the same thing after a fight I saw Ester and asked her if she could go talk with her about what I had said, that she is precious, beautiful, and valuable and no matter what other people say it only matters what God thinks of you. Nothing is ever so bad that you need to take your life. Such good stories, such beautiful smiles. Such a fulfilling day.

Rodney and Lillian Smoker

May 9, 2010

It’s so impressive how one day can be drastically different from the next. It wasn’t all due to situational happenings. Yes, maybe there were a few more people asking me for things, a bit stronger anger from patients I had to turn away because we have no doctor, a few people who said they needed more money or lost the wad I had given them, a little disconnect between us at the camp…maybe it was a little hotter and the mosquitoes a little hungrier…but really when you look at it all, one day I started with an hour talking out loud with my Jesus from the top of a rubble pile while the Haitian sun peaked over the mountains and the other I had simply read His word. Abiding, The Vine, “without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Our clinic is transitioning into more of a women’s health clinic with the extra skin diseases, feverish children, hypertension, and those I simply cannot turn away. I have now pulled a matchstick, a flying bug, an end of a cotton swab, and a feather out of peoples’ ears. “DO NOT STICK ANYTHING SMALLER THAN YOUR ELBOW INTO YOUR EAR!”   It is quite fun actually.

We had two aftershocks last Monday, one in the middle of the night that made me dream about an earthquake and a 4.4 around 2pm that caused everyone in Port-au-Prince to run like madmen and shut down work and school for the rest of the day. We may snuff at they’re irrationality, but we didn’t go through the traumatizing day that they did. 35 seconds that changed lives forever. And yet some still don’t understand that their life could be taken in a moment, “Behold, NOW is the day of salvation”!  (2 Cor 6:2)

The IMEC school is up and running well. They have 2 big tents divided into a bunch of classrooms with desk benches and chalkboards. We also hold the ministry school and church in the stone yard area. The kids all have uniforms and I see them coming home every day around 1pm (they start and finish early). The kids are all very happy to be going to school again. Thank you all for you help and prayers!

Ricardo finally got land right behind the rubbled church. They started clearing the broken house Friday. It will be his home and second for the church/ministry school building.

There was a gas shortage in the entire country last week. It’s better now but Michael Labady just drove to 5 different gas stations yesterday for diesel and they were all empty. Your gas might be expensive but at least you can find it!

I am praying for wisdom in speech (in Creole) for what to say after a person gets healed. Jesus himself said, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (John 5:14) Peter preached, “why do you marvel at this…The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…through faith in His name has made this man strong.” (Acts 3:12,13,16) I know a woman who walks on her hands and her short paralyzed legs since birth. God is not too small to heal even her. The Lord knows the hearts of those who are willing and ready to receive Him.

The Ministry School is going strong. I finally got a chance to attend twice now. Boy, it sure takes a good preacher to keep listeners attentive when a radio beats next door, a dump truck horn blasts for 2 minutes, a rooster flies to the top of the tent, a lizard jumps on the wall, the generator putters and stops and the light goes out… Ricardo rises well above the challenge though. He expressively demonstrates his message and applies it directly to their request for a shed, picking up a lost pen and keeping it, or irritation when someone comes in late and squishes in the bench space next to them. Everyone enjoys watching him speak. But what we want is their heart not just their ears. Pray for their hearts to really get it.

Sorry that was long, but I’m at the Labady’s so I actually have a clear, rested mind to think. Blessings to you all! On to a new week tomorrow!

Sabrina Zehr, CNM, medical director
For Haiti Family Ministry

Adorable Sasha!!! Sadrac's ADORABLE daughter who just turned 2 yesterday

We have fun too. Chad and Don with the trimmings from the thatch for roofing

Theresa with the tent city children before our service

It’s been a week since I posted because we’ve been having problems with our internet. And now it is running SUPER slow. Great things are happening and life is more of a sustainable pace. Right now they’re making pancakes outside on the camping cookstove and starting a game of dice, Chad was fixing the new motorbike in the middle of the cement yard, and Godwin and I are on the laptops. Some of us just came back from the Ministry School. There were 38 people there. Shawn shared a testimony and Godwin did a short teaching. Ricardo taught emphatically on Mark 11. For the last hour all the students went out to the tent city where we had the last service to pray and talk with the people. Good stuff is happening. They want us to come back. A frequent response we hear is that they want to become a Christian but not now.

We only have 4 people here right now who are not long timers. It’s kinda nice having a smaller group here. But it is so wicked hot! Wow, I’m dripping sweat right now as I type. At night you can lay and have a wet spot on your sheet, unless it’s wonderfully raining and giving a refreshing breeze.

Monday night a man and a 4-year old girl walked up at the same time with huge gashes. We had two suturings going on at once under lights as it got dark. It’s rewarding to see the follow-up for these patients now. Naica’s arm looks great and hopefully she doesn’t hate me or Tracy for causing her torture. We’re beginning to see that if we want to be assured that someone gets the care they need we’d better give it ourselves. The local hospital is charging all patients, including ER now. The Port-au-Prince General hospital had a staff strike. And the Miami Hospital had an electrical fire. I’ve seen a man’s SEVERELY infected gashed finger (with stiff swelling up to his elbow) improve drastically.
Yesterday I lent money to two more people to help them start a business again selling sandals or doing nails to support their families. That’s the kind of thing that will help them be self-sufficient. Another man that I lent money to for buying and selling goat meat came back today and said he lost it. He showed me the hole in his pocket too, then asked for money for medication, bandages, and a bunch else. Thank the Lord He carry’s this load, not me.

He is GOOD!! Thank you for all your prayers!!