Helping Hands Haiti Mission

Prayer for Wisdom

2011-08-04T22:25:00.002-04:00

HAITI! It is still a country in great need of help - and still a very big weight in our hearts. Tom and Kim Woulfe are preparing as full-time staff missionaries with Helping Hands and we need your prayers during this preparation process. They are getting their home ready for the market and we trust that God will bring the right family to buy the house.

We are also seeking God's will for the most effective way to help the people of Haiti - of course they need housing, jobs, food, clean water, sanitation - but most of all, they need their hearts changed through faith in Christ. Our desire is to "teach them to fish" instead of giving them fish. In the past, we have helped with medical care, children's ministries, shelters, food, clothing and other supplies. However, our vision is still to help them to reach out and minister to their own people.

Join with us in prayer for the people of Haiti and Godly wisdom in our ministry to them.

Dr. K

2010-08-16T11:07:00.000-04:00

Dr. Richard F. Kowalske, 58, died suddenly on Saturday August 14, 2010 at Northeast Georgia Medical Center from malaria.
"Dr. K” had recently returned from Uganda, Africa where he and his wife, Brenda, were serving with Helping Hands Foreign Missions.

Dr. K was born June 6, 1952 in Wyandotte, Michigan to Harold and Maryann Kowalske. Life Chiropractic College brought him to Georgia. After graduation, he moved to Gainesville where he set up his practice
of over twenty-five years. In 2002, Dr. K and Brenda were called into full time ministry and formed Helping Hands Foreign Missions. Together with Helping Hands, they focused attention in Bolivia and Uganda where the lives of countless people have been changed by their medical and spiritual ministry.

Master of Martial Arts, Dr. K studied and taught Tang Soo Do for over thirty years. He also had a passion for building and construction, a talent he utilized in the designing and building of communities here in Georgia as well as Bolivia and Uganda. In the past twelve years his greatest desire was to reach the hearts of people for Jesus Christ.

He is survived by his wife, Brenda; his children Lisa, Jennifer, Richard, Ryan, Zachary, Russell, Lee, Freddy and Allison; his grandchildren Billy, Joshua, Benjamin, Hannah, Andrew, Ezekiel, Trey, Savannah, Norah, Hazel, Lucas and Micaela.

Funeral Services will be held at Riverbend Baptist Church, 1715 Cleveland Highway, Gainesville, GA 30501 on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to Helping Hands Foreign Missions for the Village of Eden project.

Dominik worked at the "give away" station - people received milk, clothes, toothpaste, soap, etc

2010-06-16T14:39:00.000-04:00

Sent from my HTC smartphone

Jo checking patients in clinic

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USED BY GOD

2010-06-15T21:40:00.000-04:00

Donna, Haiti team member:
“For the past few years, I have been in a verbally abusive relationship. Often I would ask God why He would allow me to be treated that way. Recently He revealed to me that I should use my experience to minister to others that are in abusive relationships. Since that time, I have been able to minister to two women who are currently in abusive family relationships. Today in Haiti I was able to minister to a third woman who was in a physically abusive relationship. This lady was in emotional pain and was using alcohol and marijuana to soothe that pain. After sharing the gospel with her and after a lengthy discussion, I was able to pray with this woman, who had claimed to be a “Christian Buddhist.” She believed and accepted Christ as her Savior.”

Thank God for people like Donna who allow themselves to be used by God.

Our friends at the mission house/orphanage where we are staying

2010-06-15T20:52:00.000-04:00

Sent from my HTC smartphone

Richard and new friends

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Donna sharing the gospel during medical clinic

2010-06-15T15:37:00.000-04:00

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Jennifer demonstrating how to take a worm pill during medical clinic

2010-06-15T13:21:00.000-04:00

Sent from my HTC smartphone

HECTIC DAY

2010-06-14T21:37:00.001-04:00

First day in clinic is always crazy, as we figure out where to set up each station – check-in; doctors; pharmacy; give-aways. Today was no exception. We held clinic in an orphanage overseen by Pastor Jean Claude, and the church that he pastors is located in the front of the orphanage building. All the structures were damaged, though not severely, during the earthquake, and only recently have they gotten assurance that the building was safe to occupy. So now they are moving some of the orphans back from the mountain village where they had been taken after the earthquake. But there is still lots of repairs and construction to do.

Today, part of the team worked outside in about 95 degree weather- but they didn't complain. Just drank gallons of water and kept working. They're digging footings to put in a new part of the church/orphanage. Part of the team worked in medical clinic; part of the team worked with about 100 children at the orphanage.

We ask for prayer for tomorrow's ministry. Today it was difficult, especially in medical clinic, as we struggled with translation. The young men and women who were working as translators have wonderful hearts and want to help, but their English is not the best and of course, we speak no French or Creole. But we know that God understands all languages. So we are praying that tomorrow, the language barrier will dissolve and we will have an easier time with translation.

We saw 70 medical patients, and had 2 salvations. So we are thankful to God for saving those souls and as Jo Phillips said today, "we will be together with them in heaven."

Thank you all for being a part of the work of rebuilding lives and giving eternal hope in Haiti. Today was so busy, we haven't had time to post photos, but tomorrow!

Drs. Richard and Brenda

SERVING AGAIN IN HAITI

2010-06-13T20:58:00.001-04:00

Hello again from Haiti – it is still as hot as ever here, maybe hotter. We get tired just sitting around…not that we have been sitting around though :) We have a team of 17 here, how awesome to see God's children from around the world – Germany and U.S. and Haiti, worshiping and serving together. Part of us (the ones from Georgia) got delayed in Miami yesterday, when our plane had mechanical problems (hey, we were just fine with getting off a plane that was having mechanical problems.) It did put us a day behind getting to Haiti, but it's all in the grand plan of God. We're here now, and have a busy week planned.

Today was church service, even though the Georgia team arrived at the end of the service,as our plane didn't land until 10:30 a.m. but still a wonderful time praising God. We spent the afternoon getting supplies ready for tomorrow – which will be medical clinic, children's ministry, and construction. We're helping add a room on to Pastor Jean Claude's church building, which also has several rooms which serve as dormitories for orphans.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO BE HERE SERVING GOD AND THE PEOPLE OF HAITI

Posted by Drs. Richard and Brenda

Team is leaving for Haiti!

2010-06-12T04:45:00.001-04:00

Sent from my HTC smartphone

2010-05-20T19:29:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone,
Sorry that we didn’t have a daily blog from Haiti – this time, we had problems with internet and we didn’t have our “resident tech” to help us out. But that didn’t stop our team, whom we affectionately dubbed “The Magnificent Seven” from doing an awesome job.

What a great blessing to see Micaela (Kayla as she has been dubbed!) – the little girl whom we met back in January during our first trip. Due to a chronic foot and leg infection that stemmed from her club foot, she required a below-knee amputation, which was performed at the temporary hospital set up in Port-au-Prince by the University of Miami hospital. She did great and we were surprised at how well the incision had healed. We saw her several times in clinic, changed her dressing, and just hung out with her.

I (Dr. Brenda) visited her “home” which made me cry. But she doesn’t seem to notice her terrible surroundings – instead, she always shines that beautiful smile. It is only by God’s grace that her leg has healed so beautifully, considering the dirty conditions in which she lives.

We had thought she might have the opportunity to have a prosthesis fitted at the hospital in Port-au-Prince, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. We are continuing to work to bring her to the states, where we hope to have her fitted with a prosthesis, and have her undergo rehabilitation. She also needs corrective surgery on her other foot, so hopefully that will also happen. Please join us in prayer for this young girl. God has a plan!

The medical team saw over 400 patients of all descriptions. We gave out diapers, shoes, clothes, food (including candy :)), powdered milk, and other items at the tent village. Thank you to all of our supporters who have given so generously to help the people of Haiti. You are making a difference! Remember we will be taking other teams to Haiti this year, the next trip is June 12-19, so let us know if you are interested in serving with us. Email for more information: aaron.reignier@helpinghandsmissions.org.

Thank you for being a part of God's work in Haiti!
Dr. Brenda

2010-04-22T07:38:00.002-04:00

Hello and thanks to all of our faithful followers:

We have a team of 9 people leaving this Sunday (have to be at the Atlanta airport at 5:30 a.m.!) for Port-au-Prince. It will be interesting to see the changes in the past few weeks-to see if there has been any clean-up and rebuilding yet. We expect the medical will be much less acute, but still lots of needs. We will be doing medical work in the tent village near the mission house. We are also planning to start doing clean-up at one of the destroyed homes of a church member-we hope to help them rebuild their home. We will also be checking on Micaela, the 14-year old girl we met in a tent village, with a badly infected foot and leg. She subsequently had her leg amputated at the hospital which had been set up at the Port-au-Prince airport by the University of Miami. She did great post-operatively and we recently had more great news – the hospital will be getting prosthetics and Micaela will be one of the recipients! We had originally planned to try and get her to the U.S. to be fitted with a prosthesis and undergo rehabilitation. Currently, as far as we know, she is still at the hospital; we will be checking on her during this trip. You can read more about her story at the following site:

http://projectmedishare.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/young-girl-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-at-project-medishares-field-hospital/

Please pray for our team:
Dr. K
Brenda
Mark S.
Steve
Lee
Freddy
Adam
Mark E.
Todd

THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF THE HAITI RECOVERY THROUGH THE POWER OF CHRIST!

Dr. K and Brenda

You thought Atlanta airport security was bad! We are outside waiting to get into the airport.

2010-03-15T09:04:00.000-04:00

Dr. K (with translator Jean O'Neal) preaching at Sunday service

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Life in the tent village

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Rudy showing his "soft" side (yes, he has one!)

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Aaron being awesome (he named this picture) - really he is giving out a "talking Bible" to a lady who received Christ.

2010-03-14T21:59:00.002-04:00

2010-03-14T21:49:00.002-04:00

March 14, 2010

Posted by Drs. Brenda and Richard

By the end of the days here, I (Brenda) am mentally, physically, and emotionally drained; at the same time, I feel a sense of peace and contentment that I have done the work God called me to do. Richard (as most of you know) just keeps going and going like the EverReady bunny! But even he has to go slower because of the heat.

We went to church this morning – hey all of you out there who get restless when your preacher goes past his 20 minute allotted time – just think of our service this morning. We arrived at 9:30 a.m. and worshipped until about 1:00 p.m. (We all were prepared with water and me with a few gummy bears hidden in my purse!)

But what a service – there were so many blessings it’s hard to describe. What was amazing to me is to see the people praise God so joyfully, they sang a song that said “God’s grace is sufficient.” And this is after many of them have suffered through the death of family and friends, the loss of their homes and most of their material possessions. They are living in tents; some do not have any shelter at all – yet they rejoice in the Lord. It reminds us of the passage in Habakkuk which says,

Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

One difficult time today was meeting with Mechou, the mother of Michaela, the little girl with the badly infected club foot who is now at the University of Miami hospital tent at the Haiti airport. The doctors had told Mechou that Michaela’s leg needed to be amputated below the knee and she really had not comprehended this information. She was told to return to the hospital this afternoon to meet with the doctors and sign a consent for surgery tomorrow. We met with Mechou and explained the situation and told her that we wanted to help in any way possible-with rehabilitation, etc. She was worried that we would make promises and then disappear. However, we assured her we would do everything we could to help Michaela. Aaron and 2 other team members then accompanied Mechou to the hospital, visited with Michaela and met with the doctors. The foot is not salvageable and if it is not amputated, the infection will spread, eventually getting into Michaela’s bloodstream, leading to death. Mechou signed the consent and Michaela is scheduled for an amputation tomorrow.

The amazing thing is that the doctor who will do the surgery is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon from Nashville, TN, one who specializes in club feet. Is that a miracle from God or what? He also offered the hope that it might be possible to do corrective surgery on Michaela’s other foot to avoid her becoming a double amputee. But right now, we simply don’t know what the future holds for her.

Please pray for her and her family; the mother is a widow and has 4 other children; like most people here, she is living outside under a tarp. We also are going to try to help her during this process. We thank all of you who made it possible for our team to be here; we know our encounter with Michaela is not an accident and that God has a plan for her. Thank you for being a part of that plan.

The rest of the team today went to the tent village and gave out everything else that we had left – diapers, milk, clothes, food, flip-flops, candy, etc. Some had a few close calls, as people crowded around trying to get anything they could. But for the most part, everything went smoothly. Again, we thank all of you – it is because of all our supporters that God has brought into our lives that we are able to help the people here in Haiti, not only physically, but spiritually as we share the hope of Christ.

We love you – God bless each of you for your wonderful hearts to serve.

We leave in the morning at 7:00 a.m. so pray for our safe journey.

Richard and Brenda and the Helping Hands team.

Todd handing out donations to the people in the tent city.

2010-03-14T16:10:00.000-04:00

Rueckflug

2010-03-14T15:57:00.003-04:00

An alle Freunde da draussen in der Zivilisation.

Wir sind immer noch in Haiti. Eigentlich sollten wir jetzt ganz relaxed im Flugzeug in Richtung New York sitzen. Aber es kommt oft anders als man denkt, besonders auf einem Missionseinsatz. Unseren Flug , den wir gebucht haben, gibt es nicht. Die Airline, die wir gebucht haben, fliegt gar nicht von Haiti (das konnten wir ja gar nicht wissen). Wir waren auch nicht die einzigen, die auf diesen Flug gebucht hatten. Das tragische an so einer Situation ist dann, dass sich keiner fuer uns verantwortlich fuehlt, solang du nicht in der Muttersprache sprichst. Nach einigen Stunden Verhandlung gasb man uns eine Adresse in der Stadt, wo die Airline ein Buero hat. Da wir heute Sonntag haben, hat das Buero heute natuerlich zu. Wir werden morgen frueh gleich da hinfahren und alles versuchen, um an 6 Tickets zu bekommen.

So betet fuer uns, dass wir hier irgendwie rauskommen. Wir freuen uns auf zu Hause, unsere Kinder und Freunde zu sehen. Also dann, wir vertrauen Gott, dass alles einen Sinn hat und er die Kontrolle ueber alles hat. Bis dann.

Willy Kornelsen

The band playing at the church service this morning in the tent city we have been working in all week.

2010-03-14T11:05:00.000-04:00

2010-03-13T21:38:00.001-05:00

Posted by Ludmilla Lieder

One week has flown by; today is our (the team members from Germany) last day in Haiti. I am very sad that I have to leave- not only the country, but most importantly, the people. We have had countless experiences with God. We saw a lot of need, misery, poverty, sadness, hopelessness and destruction. On the other hand, we also met people living by their faith in Christ - they had a hope and gladness that was more than a little contagious and this blessed the whole team. In the middle of all this chaos, disaster, and poverty, these people have made us rich with things that money cannot buy and with things that do not pass away over time.
My main job this whole week was to entertain the children, tell them about Jesus, play with them, and spend time with them. Today, during our break, we made paper airplanes with which we brought great joy into their hearts. The men continued building the shelter to the point where, when we leave, the Haitian people will be able to finish the work which we started. We had great team work- God helped us in every way and we hope that we are leaving the “footprints” of Jesus behind.
To end the day we had another one of our team meetings where everyone shared how this week impacted their lives. Everyone had a lot to say and I am sure that we are bringing home with us much more than we are leaving behind; one of these things is the joy we can find in Jesus Christ and the honor of serving our Lord and Savior.

Our little Michael in her hospital bed, awaiting surgery

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Nurse Hill caring for a wound

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For those of you that remember Stacy, the little girl we gave IV's to, here she is! All better! God is Awesome!

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Nurse Stanley assisting in filling a syringe with medicine for a baby

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Todd doing crowd control.

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Allan telling the patients how and when to take their medicine

2010-03-13T09:35:00.000-05:00

Matt digging some holes for the shelter we are building.

2010-03-13T09:10:00.001-05:00

2010-03-12T22:52:00.002-05:00

March 12, 2010
Posted by Willi Kornelsen

Tonight we joined together and worshiped with the Haitians in a wonderful church service. I actually thought that we were going to miss the service because we were so busy building a shelter in the Tent City. But as fate (or God) would have it, we were able to attend it and I am, to say the least, speechless. It was very different than anything I am used to but I found the experience quite worthwhile and would attend it again in a second. The whole church was fired up; we sang and worshiped and praised like there was no tomorrow.

Allan-one of our team members- was unexpectedly asked to come up front and sing a song - in Creole! Don’t worry - he was prepared, but I wasn’t. My plan was to film this moment and I had twelve minutes left on my cassette. No problem- I figured it was enough to last until the end of the song. As I was filming him - the race for Allen to finish the song vs. the end of my tape was drawing nearer and nearer. One would think the song was near its end and that I would not miss much; on the contrary, Allan was only halfway through the song when the tape ended. I had to dodge a crowd of dancing people, find my seat and frantically pull out my spare tape so I could film the rest of Allan’s spiel. It was an adventure all on its own. As I discovered tonight, the Haitians love to sing and thus one song can last 20 minutes, but it was worth it to hear the joy in the singing.

Today we also went to see the Presidential palace. We drove through the city where disaster and ruin were as common as fallen leaves in autumn. Everything smelled of dead bodies and litter clothed the sidewalks. We saw many houses where no attempts had yet been made at digging out decayed corpses. The same smell was present throughout the day while we were building the shelter at the Tent City- perhaps it was because of the heat and the direction of the wind.

Despite the somber reminders of what is going on around us, it was a successful day.

Above Posted by Willi Kornelsen

Note from Drs. Richard and Brenda: It WAS a successful day for the Lord. One thing we want to add is about the servants’ hearts of the Haitian people we are working with – here’s an example. Although the mission house where we are camped out has bathrooms, there has been no water for the past couple of days. We have been going outside to get buckets of water from a tank and carry the buckets up about 3 flights of stairs (which isn’t so bad – we all need the exercise :) Today Pastor Jean Claude and his team came up the stairs with a big barrel that they subsequently filled with water for us. He told us not to worry – that from now on, we wouldn’t have to carry water up the stairs – they wanted to do this for us. He explained that they want to show their gratitude to us and their love for Jesus by serving. They are simply awesome models for us to follow and it’s a joy to work with them.

Tomorrow we are going to check on Micaela, the young girl with the badly infected club foot who was admitted to the mobile University of Miami hospital set up at the airport here. Please pray for her.

Thanks and love from all of us here in Haiti and thank you for being a part of the team!

Allan leading us in a song tonight at church

2010-03-12T19:50:00.000-05:00

Harold working to build a shelter for the community

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The little Girl, Michael (me-shale)

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The UM hospital took her and it was obviously one of the worst cases they have seen in a while. Lots of cameras came out. They gave her an IV while she was screaming and we tried to comfort her as best we could. They will do xrays next to see if there is infection in the bones and to see what they are dealing with. Her mother is torn between staying at the hospial with Michael and going back to her other children. The doctors do not think they can save the leg but they will try.

Thank you for the prayers, even though the hospital was full they let her in. To God be the glory!

Please continue to pray for her.
-Aaron

They have accepted the little girl and are working on her now

2010-03-12T11:04:00.000-05:00

Please pray

2010-03-12T09:07:00.000-05:00

We are transporting a little girl who has club feet and one is split open about 6 inches and infected. If left untreated she will die, She needs corrective surgery but I don't know if she will get it. Please pray that the hospital will take her and treat her.

2010-03-11T23:13:00.002-05:00

Journey from Fontamara to Fondbra:

Today I (Matt Cox) got to experience so many different cultures here in Haiti. It was so amazing that we could travel 2 hours north and be in the village of Fondbra where there is no electricity, only occasional running water, and houses built out of thatched roof sticks stacked on each other and tied together. The journey began early in the morning around 7:00 - we did devotional and got things ready to take to the orphanage.

Early on as we stood and waited for the bus to arrive a group of our team found a piano in the house and began to use the free time to lift up the Lord in song. How amazing it was to stand back and listen to people from different nations across the world sing out to God praising His name in song. One team member stated tonight during “Stretched and Blessed,” that the singing gave him an idea of what it must have been like in Biblical times when people talked in tongues. All were giving glory to God in their own tongue - what an awesome moment!

As the bus arrived we packed all our gear and headed to the mountains. Little did we know what was in store for us as we traveled the roads of Haiti. At -one point we were on somewhat smooth, paved roads; at other times-and this is a literal meaning-we were driving upstream through a RIVER! I have been upstream in boats, kayaks, and such, but never in an open air bus- wow! As we arrived at our destination the kids and village were happy to see us, knowing we had food and medical aid-I also would like to think they were happy that we brought the Word of God to share with them.

The medical team did an awesome job today- there were a lot of moments that might have caused us to shut down camp and head home. Yet under the direction of our great leaders Dr. K and B we pushed on and did what we could to heal the people of the village. Today’s patients -as I understand- all truly needed to see a doctor. This wasn’t “scratch and bruise” day- it was gash, trench foot, and broken legs day. It hurts to see the serious needs that these people have, yet it hurts much worse having to leave while knowing that some of these people aren’t going to be seen by the doctor. May God look down on them with mercy and be the great physician- healing the people of that village.

While visiting door-to-door and sharing the gospel during medical clinic, the evangelism team encountered some committed Christians. It was quite a joy in my heart to know that they praise and give glory to the same God that my family worships. On the other hand, one lady today had not heard the name of Christ and did not know what He had done for her on the cross. As I spoke to the crowd, my interpreter and I began to feel the mighty working of the Holy Spirit, and He also began working in the heart of this lady. She began desperately praying for Jesus Christ to come into her heart as her savior. After we talked with her for a while to ensure that she understood about salvation, she prayed to have Jesus come into her heart and forgive her for her sins, lead her and guide her. We also prayed that she would begin to share about Jesus with others who need to know about his saving grace. If this story doesn’t pump you up, I don’t know what will. One big group at the same time today also prayed to have Jesus as their personal Savior; as we finished praying we all began to shout “Glory be to God who came to save all of us.” It was amazing. WOW. Here are the names of the ones who got saved today - please pray for them.
Lorinneul
Farimanline
Roricia
Doudoce
Matthieu
Versine
Mentor
Brevil
Bervllil
Bervious
Hilise
Jean
Ehvicia
Lan
Jean
Ascimeius
Cola

Finally on the way home we stopped at Domino’s to eat pizza in downtown Port au Prince. Let me describe it this way. I saw a man sitting on his (what I think was his) house just looking down in sadness wondering what had gone wrong for this (the earthquake) to happen. At another place, I saw two ladies digging through the rubble rock by rock, piece by piece, trying their best to possibly uncover loved ones.

Destruction was everywhere you looked, but this is how I want to end today’s blog. As we passed through the town and saw all the destruction, people were out on the streets everywhere. They were selling items- whether it was remote controls, sun glasses, or bananas - people are starting over.

The best thing is that we saw people in churches singing songs and glorifying the Lord despite that all that has happened.

Posted by Matt Cox

The team getting some good food at Dominoes Pizza after a hard days work

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Willi instructing the patients how and when to take their medicines

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Our crowd waiting to be seen by our doctors.

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Donna working with a patient to find some glasses that she can use.

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Our transport to the mountains! A 2 hour drive!

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2010-03-10T21:06:00.002-05:00

March 10, 2010

It’s 8:30 p.m. and I (Brenda) feel like it’s time to go to bed! It can’t be that I am getting older (at least I hope that’s not the reason.) As we did our “Stretched and Blessed” tonight, it is apparent that we are all being blessed much more than we are being stretched. The lost camera is forgotten; the heat doesn’t seem quite so smothering; and the smells blend in with life. So many things happening…

Best of all is that 39 people have said “Yes” when asked if they want to ask Christ to come into their hearts. There were 16 yesterday, including a young woman who prayed with Donna; and then 23 more today. That is what we are here for, and so all the stretches cease to be stretches.

What was sad today – a little girl who looked about 8 but was really 14 and had what appeared to be club feet. Her left foot was horribly deformed and had an awful smell coming from it; but this wasn’t the worst – when we checked it out, we found that it was split on the bottom and was practically in two parts, with a gaping, infected hole that went to the bone (how’s that for a graphic description?) Her mother came with her, but seemed almost disinterested as if she had given up hope that anything would be done, or that her daughter would be better. We are not sure yet what we can do to help-we cleaned and packed and bandaged the feet, and gave her antibiotics, and now we’ll pray and seek God’s will. It’s tough because whatever the road in front of her, it won’t be easy. She is coming back to see us later this week and we’ll decide how (or if) we can help.

The children’s ministry was just incredible – we had to change it around some today because yesterday, it was chaos, with hundreds of children crowding around Ludmilla, who’s in charge of the children’s ministry. But today, we roped off a section at the tent city, and she worked with small groups at a time – they heard Bible stories, Aaron shared the gospel using a gigantic Evangecube, and they colored and played games. All of the schools here are still closed, so the children are free to roam around all day. Our ministry brought a little joy and the love of Jesus into their lives today.

Although it takes a while to buy supplies around here, we were able to get 2 wheelbarrows, and some rakes and shovels and begin clearing a large area to put up a shelter. We also bought tin and wood. In considering how best to help the people at the tent city, Pastor Jean Claude recommended that we build a large tin-roof shelter where several families can put up their tents to protect them from the rains that are coming. Right now, the people are simply “squatters,” – that is, the land where all the tents are pitched does not belong to them, so we cannot put up any permanent buildings. But we still need to get the people out of the weather. The wooden frame and tin roof can be removed and used in other locations, so right now, it is the best solution. But first, we made a plan to clean up, dig a drainage ditch, and also build a “waste disposal” area. This will help keep the area cleaner, and as a result, the people healthier. This is a challenge, because we’re facing many years of poverty, poor hygiene, and basically lack of education about the hazards of bad sanitation. But we are up for a challenge, and we’re excited that we are here, working together with team members from all over the world – literally. Hey, we named our team “Canaman” (Canada, America, Germans) – but we all are working for God’s kingdom, all of you included so thanks for being a part of our team!

For those who are praying, we ask that you put the following names on your prayer list – these are some of the people who received Christ so far. They need discipleship so they will grow in their walk with the Lord, and become committed and passionate followers of Christ. Then they can go out and reach their own country with the gospel.
1. Jose
2. Jesus
3. Dioline
4. Frantz
5. Jema
6. Stephranie
7. Antione
8. Rienne
9. Aline
10. Wislande
11. Derolus Marie
12. Lenene
13. Stephaine
14. Casandra
15. Josiane
16. Claudette
17. Alfonse
18. Steven
19. Josue
20. Waldine
21. Fabienne
22. Wilens
23. Mousssiac
24. Ester
25. Beatha
26. Ronald
27. Angel
28. Beatrice
29. Vivienne
30. Juleline

WE HAVE A LONG DAY TOMORROW, AS WE HEAD OUT EARLY TO TAKE FOOD TO ABOUT 65 ORPHANS, WHO USED TO LIVE HERE IN FONTAMARA, BUT WERE MOVED TO A CHURCH BUILDING IN THE MOUNTAINS AFTER THEIR ORPHANAGE WAS DESTROYED. We’ll be doing a community-wide medical clinic and also checking on the children.

God bless all of you for your hearts to help the people here – for reaching out in the name of Christ to show His love to a devastated country that needs to hear that there is hope.

Richard and Brenda and the Helping Hands team.

Some of the guys clearing out a large spot in the tent city to build a shelter

2010-03-10T14:08:00.000-05:00

Dr. B and Lili filling prescriptions

2010-03-10T10:32:00.001-05:00

Dr. K examining a pregnant woman in the tent city.

2010-03-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

March 9, 2010 Haiti

2010-03-09T21:24:00.002-05:00

Today we had our first visit to one of the “Tent Cities.” It was quite the adventure, although I do have to say that the initial “culture shock” which most people experience was not one I had. On the contrary, seeing all the poverty and the mess was not a shock to me at all- even though I have never seen such things before.

The clinic was quite busy but I loved it. The people are a lot of fun to hang around with and very friendly. I used to hear it a lot-and still do-that the people are nice, but now I actually know it. I like that I can see things for myself here instead of hearing other people talk about it.

Back to the clinic, I thought it was a great success. The hardest part is to deny the things when they ask for money or food. There was one boy who kept asking me for money, he was so persistent, finally I turned around and smiled at him. He was so cute I kind of laughed and told him no; I have never seen a more mischievious smile cross a boy’s face. He sure knew what to do. It was the cutest thing and I think he knew it.

But it is not just the children that capture your attention, I must honestly say these people are very, very, very, very polite. I can’t stop being amazed at their culture. Very intriguing and I absolutely love it!

Our first day was quite funny. As we came out of the airport people swarmed around us from all sides all wanting to “help” with the luggage. One local man kept following Willi asking him if he knew the name of the people that were suppose to pick us up. Willi turned around and said “Stop it, Stop it” because we had already found our way, but the man turned around and started calling out “Stop it, Stop it” thinking it was the name of the person we were waiting for. Indeed, quite humorous.

Written by Marlene

In addition,

Hey Mike and everyone else:

These are the people who are on the trip with us - please pray for our team.

Marlene Kornelsen=Manitoba, Canada
Matthias Kornelsen=Manitoba, Canada
Willi Kornelsen= Osthofen, Germany
Lilli Kornelsen=Osthofen, Germany
Harry Lieder=Osthofen, Germany
Ludmilla Lieder=Osthofen, Germany
Rudi Penner= Osthofen, Germany
Harrold Penner= Osthofen, Germany
Stanley Hill= Georgia USA
Matthew Cox= South Carolina USA
Donna Foster= Georgia USA
Todd Ketner= Georgia USA
Allan Wong= Maryland USA
Marie Leon= Georgia USA *originally from Haiti
Aaron Reignier= Georgia USA
Dr. Richard Kowalske=Georgia USA
Dr. Brenda Kowalske=Georgia USA

Ludmilla taking care of the children during the medical clinic.

2010-03-09T15:20:00.000-05:00

Our medical clinic. We are in the tent city.

2010-03-09T15:13:00.001-05:00

Matt evangelizing during the medical clinic.

2010-03-09T15:12:00.000-05:00

The team sorting through all the medical supplies. We will do a medical clinic this afternoon in the tent city.

2010-03-09T11:20:00.000-05:00

2010-03-08T20:15:00.000-05:00

We are back in Haiti!! For me, Richard, and Aaron it was a homecoming today, to see Pastor Jean Claude, Jean O’Neal and all the other church volunteers and translators we worked with previously. Even now we can hear them singing about Jesus in lovely unison.

We were so happy to be able to fly directly into Port-au-Prince, instead of having a 12-hour bus ride from Dominican Republic; however, it was pretty crazy at the airport. With airport buildings damaged, a warehouse was set up as Customs and Baggage Claim. So it was just a mass of people trying to find luggage that was everywhere, but eventually we claimed all of our bags (a miracle for which we thanked God) and made our way out of the airport with John O’Neal’s help. We were deluged by Haitians who wanted to help us with our luggage; we were pushed and jostled as dozens crowded around wanting to push a cart or carry a bag in exchange for money. In the midst of all the confusion, one of our team members, Matt, had his camera stolen – he had it in a case on his belt loop, and suddenly it was gone. It was disheartening for him, as he came a long way to help the people of Haiti, and this was his introduction. But we all reminded him that lost people act lost and it is for this reason that we are here.

We met up with the rest of our team-6 people from Germany and 2 from Canada-who had arrived earlier in the afternoon. We are now God’s team, representing three countries, but ambassadors for God. It is 8:00 p.m. and we have all the tents set up, bags unpacked, had our time of prayer, orientation, and sharing. We’re all exhausted but looking forward to a wonderful week of sharing the love of Christ in a country that has started to awake from its stupor of devastation. Only Christ offers any hope and we are here to tell them the story of Jesus.

Oh yeah, for all the Hopewell blog followers – Todd wanted to know if I was talking about him in the blog, but I explained to him that he is just too deep for words. I did offer to quote him however, so here it is, “A picture is worth a thousand words, but reality will leave you speechless.” I’m not sure I understand how that relates to him, but maybe his friends and family will understand :)

Thank you to all our supporters for being a part of our team. We love you!

Richard and Brenda and the Helping Hands team in Haiti.

Google Maps of Helping Hands in Haiti

2010-03-03T10:51:00.004-05:00

Click here to view map

This is a map I am making of the different locations that we are working at in Haiti. There are some locations that I was not able to map. I will update it on our next trip when I get the coordinates.

On the left you can click on the different areas that we worked in and see an aerial view.

We are heading back to Haiti

2010-02-28T21:46:00.000-05:00

On March 8^th, Helping Hands is heading back to Haiti to follow up on some of the work we started last month. We have members on this team from Canada, Germany, Maryland and Georgia. We will be posting updates here from Haiti so please check the blog often and pray for our trip.

2010-02-14T17:53:00.000-05:00

It’s time to leave Haiti and it’s kind of like leaving a family. All the remaining team will be up in the morning at 5:00 a.m. and we will be on our way back to Dominican Republic. It will be at least a 10-hour journey and we’ll probably all sleep a lot! Our final day has been busy, as we had clinic here at the mission house, seeing last minute patients, following up on some wound care. Then one other trip to the tent village where most of the church people we know are living. We gave out bread, rice, beans, and oil. We visited the “home” of Junior, who is a fine young man about 20 years old. He and his family had a home nearby, but it is now gone. They are living under a tarp, with some cardboard on the ground, and some blankets. He had asked for a tent and we are leaving behind all that we have. However, Pastor Jean Claude is going to distribute the tents to the people with the most need. So we cannot promise Junior that he will get a tent. Something that seems so simple to provide but we just don’t have enough for everyone.

We hope once we are back in the U.S. we can contact some tent companies and get more tents donated. This will help relieve some of the housing issues for now, until more permanent structures can be built. We are talking with Pastor Jean Claude and others to determine the best way to help out with the housing issue. Most of the people do not own property, land is very expensive here, and thus it is difficult to know how best to provide housing, even on a temporary basis. Possibly simply building larger shelters/roofs over the tents, that will provide protection during the rainy season, which is coming in March and April. Many of the people are still afraid to stay inside block homes, even those which did not receive any damage. Most everyone we meet lost family or friends in the earthquake, and they still have fears about living inside walls that may come crumbling down around them.

As we leave this country, with plans to return in 3 weeks (during this 3 weeks we will be in Venezuela for several days doing a ministry project that we had committed to and gathering supplies during the other few days, Yes we keep a busy schedule), we want to say “thank you” to all those who have prayed for us, donated supplies, and have given money to help the people of Haiti. It is a devastated country, but a place where people still have the joy of Christ in their lives. Our prayer is that God will continue to provide the resources for us to come and work here, helping with medical care, providing food and water, and helping to build houses for the people. We will have teams coming to Haiti over the next several months and we ask that you continue to support this ministry with your prayers and finances. We are grateful to you for your support and it is our joy to work with you for the kingdom of God.

Richard and Brenda

RAIN or SHINE

2010-02-12T09:52:00.000-05:00

Today started off like every day, in which I thanked God for His Grace and Mercy that we all get to share in, along with His wonderful gift of forgiveness (which I need on a regular basis, just ask Dr. Brenda). As I was doing this it was about 4 a.m. and it started to rain. This is the first rain we have had since the earthquake, and it was so nice to listen to…. until some of the other team members, who are not normally so early to rise, started to get out of their tents in a hurry. They had no rain tops and were getting a shower in their sleep.

Doug (from McQuaey, Kentuky) was flooded out and then was a trooper about helping all the others. This was fun in a way until we realized that all the locals who had no tent were in the same “BOAT” sort of speaking. This gave us a moment to reflect on the blessings that God has truly given each one of us. We all got under some shelter and settled down into our bible reading time. The rain stopped about 6 a.m. and cleared up as the sun came up. Last night I had asked Tom (from Manchester, Maryland) to do our 7 a.m. devotional today and he did a great job.

Our work site today was a return to the Palace sidewalk. We set up and they started to line up. It was extremely hot with no breeze today but no one complained, God is in charge anyhow. We worked straight through the day with no lunch breaks as the team was excited that I had promised them a special dinner. The one and only place that I know of here that is opened, yes PIZZA, Dominos Pizza (a plug for them as it was great) – everyone was very happy! So the work went on without any complaints - only great expectations of the food that would come after the work!

Speaking of food - we were able to buy 200 cans of tuna, several hundred loafs of bread, 200 pounds of rice, 200 pounds of beans, along with sugar, cooking oil and several other items. This blessing is due to many of you – from the USA and Germany- who have given to make a difference. God bless each one of you for the smiles that you have put on the faces of many and the hunger that you have filled. Also George (from Roysten, Georgia) handed out food to the medical patients today as well.

We could talk about all the different injuries, wound care, and things we treated but today the most important was that we were able to continue to share (there were 37 salvations today) and show the love of Christ, so thank you to all of you who are reading this and praying for us, please keep on keeping on.

With Love Drs.K

The Starfish

2010-02-11T09:52:00.000-05:00

We wake up to the sounds of traffic each day as we are camped on one of the main roads. One of the team proclaims that it is like camping out on the interstate. But the sounds just become part of the background and like many things in life we tend to ignore them. This is the case I fear with many who have seen the news of Haiti’s plight but go on with their daily routines. Many have forgotten that God has called us to be there for each other. In Acts it talks about the first Church as they came together -that many would sell land to help those who were in need. No one went without and all gave with a cheerful heart. I wonder if anyone has sold any possessions so that they may help their Christian brothers and sisters who are hurting here in Haiti. Many people may think, “What can I do that will make a difference?” However, it is like the story of the little boy who walked on the beach after a storm. The storm had washed up hundreds of star fish that would soon die. A man saw the boy throwing them back into the water and asked the boy what he was doing. The boy answered, “I am saving the starfish.” The man replied, “Son, there are thousands of starfish, you can’t help them all.” But the boy said “Yes sir, I know, but I can help one and it will make a difference to this one.”

We can do the same, even helping just one fellow Christian in a time of need makes a difference to that person.

Today we set up clinic in a mountain village that made a difference to those people. Our team, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the middle of their week, now in the flow of things, helped make the clinic function in a well-oiled manner. Even Doug, from Kentucky, was swamped with wound care, but managed to handle each and every case. He had to take stitches out of one little girl, who started kicking him before he ever started. Doug said she was afraid she was getting more stitches instead of getting them taken out.

It is team members like Doug, Tom, Harvey, Zach, DuckAe, Angela, George, and Lourdes, who help make things flow, because they each give part of themselves to help the few. Today we ran out of medicines, which was a stress for Dr. B, but we came up with a plan, so that all of the people who did not receive medicines, received a ticket and they will be able to get their medicines on Friday, as we restock. It is times like these when we need to keep our faith and know that God will supply our needs.

The greatest need that we are able to meet is to continue to share the gospel, giving the people the hope of Jesus Christ. If you are reading this blog, we ask for your prayers and your support so that we may continue to serve God, and help those whom He has called us to help., whether many or only one.

-Dr. K

February 10, 2010

2010-02-10T11:16:00.000-05:00

I’m writing this blog at 6:00 a.m. – last night I was too tired. We worked in an area yesterday that they call “The Great Ravine” because it’s kind of down in a valley and is according to one man who has worked there for the past 9 years – the poorest and the worst area in Haiti. That is saying a lot considering that the whole country now seems to be practically a wasteland, at least the parts that we have seen. We had spent one day at The Great Ravine last week, doing a medical clinic, and due to the long line of people who didn’t get to see a doctor, we returned yesterday for another day of clinic. I was surprised when we arrived, because I wasn’t sure the people would remember which day we had promised to come. But a long line had already formed by the time we arrived at 8:30 a.m. As the day wore on, the crowd became more unruly as they waited in the hot sun, which felt like about 110 degrees. At one point, DuckAe, one of our team members, braved the crowds and the sun and sang to them, which did bring a measure of tranquility to the crowd, at least for a while.

Attending in a rooster fighting ring (literally, it is a ring where the doctor stations were set up) – we tried as much as possible to create some semblance of order and cleanliness. It’s not easy, given the fact that we had roosters, ducks, and chickens wandering around. After seeing the doctor, the patients walk around the outside of the circle, to reach the “evangelism” area and then finally they get their medications. We are seeing lots of people, especially children, who have stomach issues, not surprising given the awful sanitary conditions. There are also still lots of wounds from earthquake related injuries; and lots of colds and flu symptoms, since most of the people are sleeping outside in the open. Even though temperatures during the day are extremely hot, it is a little cooler at night, and babies especially can get chilled at night. We do as much as possible from a medical standpoint, but the limitations are great. And if we see a problem that requires more intense medical care, there are few options for the people. There is only one functioning local hospital that we are aware of, but there are long lines and unless an American accompanies the patient, they are unlikely to be seen and cared for.

I have to keep reminding myself why we are here. It is to tell the people about Jesus. The Great Ravine is known as an area filled with practice of witchcraft and voodoo. We hope that the people see something different in us that makes them realize that Jesus has more to offer than their pagan gods. I also must continually remind myself that I am not here to save anyone. I am here in obedience to God, I am doing what I was called to do. God will do the rest. Please continue to pray for our team and for the people of Haiti.

I read something else this morning that I want to share:
“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it.”
“Well, why don’t you ask Him?”
“Because I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.”
Anonymous

We can make a difference one at a time so don’t give up…. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Monday

2010-02-08T21:20:00.000-05:00

clinic day again at the mission house. It is calmer today, even with 150 medical patients. Our next team arrived on time - thankfully they didn't get lost this time. They bring much needed supplies and medicines - including children's vitamins, cold medications, and baby supplies, such as formula. Again, we are reminded of our supporters back home, who are making this mission possible. There have been no other after-shocks, and although there is still violence on the streets, we have been safe. Ten people today received Christ as their Savior - this is our main mission, sharing the gospel.

Dr. K. and Brenda

Sunday - The Lord's Day

2010-02-08T21:06:00.000-05:00

Today, surprisingly, was truly a day of rest! We had a blessed worship service in our next-door tent village, under a tarp. The people danced and sang, with joy on their faces. They remind us of Paul, who was content in whatever circumstances - both good and bad. Though most of the people have lost family members, their homes, and their material goods - they worship joyfully. We are working with Pastor Jean Claude, a Haitian pastor who has taken in many street children over the years. The people here love and respect him greatly and when he tells them to stay seated for us to give out food, they listen. So food distribution today goes very smoothly - we give out bread and noodles. We are thankful to all our supporters who have donated money for the people of Haiti - with your help, we are helping with food and medical care. All of you are our blessing today! Thank you from Dr. K. and Brenda and all the Helping Hands team.

Saturday

2010-02-08T21:00:00.000-05:00

Another team departed this morning at 6:00 a.m. and arrived safely back in Dominican Republic, with plans to fly back to the U.S. tomorrow. It was a busy week – with several hundred more medical patients treated, and at least 40 salvations that we are aware of. Today was a “re-group” day, as we cleaned, organized medications, and saw a few “walk-in” patients and one “house call.” Dr. K. was asked to go and check on a 100-year old lady who had fallen. She had no broken bones but was extremely malnourished and frail. We will be following up with her tomorrow and providing food and nourishment.

Our next team will arrive Monday and was expected to be 8 people, but we found out today that 2 of them can’t make it, as they are snowed in – while we are here sweating in 100 degree heat! In the midst of all of this today, we continue to realize that we are here because God has called us to help. We are blessed to be able to serve and demonstrate His love in the small things that we do. We want to wish our daughter Jenny a very happy birthday today, and we are sorry that we missed another one. But we know that she understands…..

Late this afternoon as we drove around, we are still overwhelmed at the vast devastation and destruction that surrounds us. It will take years of recovery efforts, but we were reminded by a team member last night, that the eyes of the world are now on Haiti. It may seem impossible to believe that God can bring good out of all that has happened, but we are already seeing Christian brothers and sisters from around the world who are reaching out with arms of love to the country of Haiti. As we sign off for tonight, wherever you are around the world, please pray for the people of Haiti, many of whom will go to sleep hungry, with no roof over their heads.

Dr. K and Brenda

2010-02-06T17:02:00.000-05:00

Team 3 has made it back from Haiti safely and in record time! Their flight is at 2pm tomorrow. Thank you for all your prayers.

River Rafting: A New Way

2010-02-05T20:41:00.000-05:00

Today, as all days are in Haiti, was very interesting. On January 22, Helping Hands Missions moved a group of orphans into the mountains outside the city. Today we decided to go pay them a visit and check on their welfare. I was told that the ride would be two hours, but what I wasn’t told was that this two hour ride would take us not over a river, but in a river! After about an hour ride on relatively smooth pavement (smooth by Haiti standards anyway) we turned off of the smooth stuff and onto what I think was supposed to be a road. This “road” was more suited for the donkeys and the motorcycles that we passed than the fifteen passenger van that we were riding in. As I was riding along enjoying the mountain scenery, I just happened to look down below me and I realized that we were riding right on the edge of about a 200 feet drop into a river valley. But that is not the fun part. After about another two or three miles of bumping and bumping and bumping we came to what I thought was going to be a river crossing. But to my surprise Sohn, our driver, turned up river and began driving in the river! As we drove in this river the local women washed their clothes and dishes, people bathed themselves, and little children swam to escape the heat of the day. I had never experienced that in my life! The waves from the van passing were splashing up on the clothes lying out on the rocks to dry. I hope we didn’t make too many enemies with that. After about a quarter mile of running in the river we came out the other side and bumped along some more. And finally we came to a gated complex and as we got out of the van to stretch our legs we heard the joyful shouts of the children on the other side of the fence.

Pastor Jean Claude, the owner of the mission house we are staying in and operator of the orphanage, had just arrived from the States the night before, and he went with us to the orphanage. As the gates to the orphanage opened Pastor Jean Claude was mobbed by the children who were yelling their greetings and hugging him all at the same time. It was one of the most joyful reunions I have ever seen. But the work of the day was still ahead of us.

We were short two nurses, because the Germans had left last night, and Dr. K, Brenda, and Angela had to see all of the children in the orphanage. They all filed into the church’s sanctuary and sat on the homemade wooden benches. These kids were so well -behaved. Aaron suggested that we read the kids a Bible Story while they waited. I decided to read the account of David and Goliath. They all listened intently as they waited. It was a joy to see their faces as the story unfolded. Rick found a precious baby and must have held her for two hours. I also found another infant and decided to give the mother a break and as I held her, I noticed that she had a rash all over her body. Then it was her turn to see Angela and I got some pretty interesting news. The baby had a fever and active measles! I sure hope my MMR still works! The medical team made fast work of the rest of the children and while they were doing their work, the ladies who help at the orphanage was preparing a special treat for us. FRIED CHICKEN AND HOMEMADE FRENCH FRIES! That was a great treat after a week of salami sandwiches and instant soup!

While I was there I completely fell in love with a little eleven year old girl named Belinda. Before I left she told me she loved me and melted my heart. By the way, Lennette, if you are reading this, we almost had a fifth child, but to my regret, she is still at the orphanage. So please, as you read this, say a prayer for Belinda and the rest of the children, some of whom lost their parents in the earthquake.

Pastor Mike

CBS Interview

2010-02-05T09:23:00.000-05:00

Here is the link to the interview I did for Helping Hands. Be kind to me...lol I hope I was able to do the team justice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXvNHOfyba8

Today

2010-02-05T08:01:00.000-05:00

We are headed to the orphanage in the mountains that we transported the 45 orphans to on the second day we were here. We are going to bring food, clothing, and medical care, but the most important thing we will bring is the love of Jesus Christ.

Given to Her for a Covering

2010-02-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

Today the Helping Hands team went back to the big tent city just outside the grounds of the collapsed Capitol building in Port-au-Prince. We found a suitable place on a very wide sidewalk and fashioned the most streamlined, well-placed clinic of this week. With plenty of room for a line, sign-in, evaluation and speaking with the proper medical worker, it was easier to keep everyone moving forward.

A line formed quickly and we probably could have seen more than the 100 patients we were able to minister to except that three ladies who had been cleaning up the area and were attacked and beaten. They came up initially and showed us the cuts and then they left. No one had known where they went until they returned. They said that they went to the police and had their attackers arrested prior to their return. One had a minor but painful laceration to her right ear, another had a small but profusely bleeding gash on the top of her scalp (and in the middle of her very long, wiry hair) and the last had a cut under her left eye that required several stitches. As the story unfolded, they were working cleaning the sidewalks when they were attacked by a group of punk cowards who decided that they didn’t want the area cleaned. Two of the wounds were time consuming to clean and bandage or stitch, but it seemed the people close enough to see what was happening were understanding of what was happening.

Our primary care people, Dr. K, Dr. Brenda, Angela (U.S.), Irene and Maria (both from Germany) are simply excellent. There is almost nothing that they cannot do or make a valiant attempt at getting done. Two of our team did evangelization on the sidewalk to those awaiting treatment and curious onlookers. One great blessing was that Michel, one of our interpreters, took the Evangecube and began to share the gospel himself. That is what mission trips are all about: helping the locals to become courageous in sharing the Gospel of Christ. A number of people professed faith in Christ today, perhaps as many as 40; they will be contacted by a local pastor for follow up in the days and weeks after we are gone. A big hit today also was the sidewalk entertainment of balloons, Fruit Loops to the kids, and limbo that did much to keep the small crowd from growing restless.

Today was my first time to do “wound care” which, as it sounds, is the station where cuts are washed or scrubbed, then treated with peroxide or Betadine. Sometimes Band-aids are applied and sometimes bandages with antibiotic cream. Most are minor compared to many injuries receive in the quake but all need to be clean to avoid an infection that could be deadly in this less than sterile environment.

The reason doing wound care is significant for me is that I have passed out before having blood drawn and have tended to make getting any injection an adventure of hyperventilation, heart palpitations or both. No one in my family believed for a moment that I would be able to deal with blood up close and personal. Frankly, I was none too certain myself.

I actually did take a pass on the first one: a boy of about 10 on whom a concrete block had fallen during the earthquake. He had a hole in the top of his head. Yep; a hole in the top of his head. If you’ve ever thought, “I need that like I need a hole in the head,” you are right-it isn’t needed! Dr. K handled it with cleaning and a bandage. No stitches could be given since the infection cannot be closed inside, which would have happened since the wound was so deep.

The next one was the lady who had been struck in the head during the attack. While the gash turned out to be small, it had bled through her hair, down her neck onto her shoulder, soaking her blouse bright red. Dried blood remained on her hand and nails, while her hair was soaked in spots-dried and matted in others. I had to cut much of her hair, getting close enough to her scalp to try and find the actual wound through all the mess. I felt doubly sorry for her since many Haitian women, like many American women, find some amount of identity in their hair. I wondered if she would feel shame after seeing a large shaven spot on the side of her head. Would she feel as if her glory had been turned against her?

As I got into the process, I was moved with compassion for her and her plight, so much that I never even thought about being sick, woozy or anything else. I wondered at the evil in the hearts of men than cause them to attack women who are working to restore order to a broken city, but rejoice in the Christ who loves those who are bruised, battered and beaten.

Marty

More Prayers, More Answers

2010-02-03T21:31:00.000-05:00

Who could have imagined that a cockfighting ring could turn into a medical clinic? By U.S. standards our medical clinic would have been shut down due to uncleanliness, but by Haiti standards anywhere you can corral and control the crowd is a good place. So there amid those crowing roosters, cooing pigeons, quacking ducks, and whining dogs we began our day of treating the sick and wounded. They asked me (Mike) to blog today because of my unusual experience with a young lady named Emma. Emma is a beautiful 28 year old young woman who, like all the other Haitians, experienced the trauma of the earthquake. During which a concrete block fell on her ankle and broke it. It has now been three weeks after the event and the village that Emma lives in had not been visited by any relief workers, so Emma had not been treated at all. Her ankle was badly swollen and infected, so much so that the skin had burst on both sides of the ankle and the infection was running down her foot. We knew that she needed intravenous Antibiotics in order to control the infection and that was more than we could do in the field. So I volunteered to take her to the airport hospital. There was a real chance that they would refuse our entry because of the volume of the patients, but as we drove I prayed that God would make a way for us to be seen. Plus, as I looked into the eyes of Emma I knew that I had to convince the U.S. Army guards that we needed to get her the antibiotics. We pulled up to the gate and without a hitch they allowed us on the airport grounds and showed us the direction to the medical tent. Emma was in a lot of pain and could not walk, so I carried her in expecting a long wait before she could be seen, and to my relief, they took her right into triage! Emma was crying and I consoled her and told her that everything would be okay, but she kept repeating the same thing over and over. I cannot speak Creole and could not understand. They took her to X-ray and they found out that her ankle had been broken by the block, but since then it had healed. After her X-ray she was still very upset and was repeating the same thing over and over again. I was finally able to stop an interpreter and asked him to help me understand what she was saying. All this time she had been pleading with me to not let the doctors take her foot. Immediately my heart broke and I began to cry with her. I prayed for her through the interpreter and told her that God would take care of her. Because they didn’t have any beds left in the hospital, they took us back to triage. The nurse practitioner who was helping us came over and gave us the diagnosis. Emma grabbed hold of my arm and held on tightly as the words were spoken. Her face lit up as the news was given to her…the foot would be fine with IV Antibiotics and oral antibiotics! She cried and I told her to look at me. I told her to remember this day. God had heard our prayer and protected her. After the antibiotics were administered and she was given a tetanus shot and a two week’s supply of oral antibiotics we were on her way back to Emma’s village. On our way back she asked me why I would come so far to help her. I told her that I did it because Jesus loves her and so do I. The last time I saw Emma she was using her newly acquired crutches and making her way to her home.

Meanwhile, back at the cockfighting ring we had hundreds of Haitians lining up to receive medical care. Today we saw 150 patients of every age with every kind of illness. Scabies, Measles, fungal infections, severe puncture wounds, and fractures were just a few of the things that we treated today. Shane even removed a leg cast with a pocket knife! We have heard reports of mobs and riots and were a little worried about how the Haitians would respond to our presence. To our delight, they assembled in an orderly line with minimal problems. We were not able to see everyone in the time we had but we will return to this area next week. The team worked very well together from crowd control, to medical care, to pharmacy; we all worked like a well oiled machine. There is no doubt that God sent us and protected us in the middle of this city full of malnourished children and illness, and we are grateful. As we were packing up, we realized that our ride had not returned from the hospital. We packed up our 4 – 50 pound tubs and our table and hiked the 2 miles back to our base. We were exhausted! We were rewarded though with a trip to Dominoes to celebrate Jessica’s birthday. Happy birthday Jess!!!! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. They were answered today!!!!

CBS Video

2010-02-03T20:26:00.001-05:00

The Video from the interview has not been posted yet but here is the link to the video from Haiti that was featured.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/22429977/index.html

CBS News Atlanta

2010-02-03T11:22:00.000-05:00

Today between 4:30 and 5:30pm I will be interviewed by CBS News Atlanta about the Haiti Mission trip. They will also plug The Helping Hands Blog and the Main website. I invite everyone to watch and to spread the word about the interview. This type of coverage will help drive support for our teams on the ground right now.

Things are not always as they seem. . .

2010-02-02T20:52:00.001-05:00

When we were in the streets doing a medical clinic last week, a man came up and asked one of our team members if we could come to his orphanage and treat the children. Dr. K. spoke with him and we decided to go on Tuesday of the following week; which was today. The man told us that there were about 70 children, all very sick and in need of medical attention. But, as the title says, things are not always as they seem! When we arrived to treat the 70 orphans, there were 250 mothers with babies waiting. The pastor of the church where we were working said this was the staff and we needed to see them first. Now, let me explain. The problem was not the mothers nor the babies, the problem was that we were not prepared to see all those adults. We had packed medicines and supplies for 70 orphans, not for 250 mothers with babies. This was a problem for me especially since I am the “pharmacist” and when we arrived, I was immediately concerned with our lack of preparedness. Also, there was no way to keep the large crowds of people from gathering around and being all over the place. There were people everywhere! Children everywhere! Babies everywhere! Men yelling, babies crying, children laughing and mothers desperate to be seen by the doctor. I was overwhelmed. But, God reminded me that He had brought us here and that He could give us strength and calm in the storm that was raging around us. The pharmacy team stopped and prayed for strength and the ability to share with the people the Love of Jesus Christ.
I would like to say that after that everything was wonderful, it was not. It was still stressful, but through God’s strength we were able to finish the day out well, as good witnesses of who God was and His unconditional love. I can say that we did have a small miracle in the pharmacy. We forgot to take medicine bags and dosing cups, but God allowed it to all work out and we were never without the things that we needed to dispense the medicines to the people! God provided!
Also, we were able to physically show God’s love to the people of this community and now the church can follow up with the doors that were opened through this medical clinic. The pastor told us that others have come through the community after the earthquake, but we were the first to stop and help them. I have no doubt that God ordained and planned this from the beginning.

-Jessica Matthews

Well, it wasn’t exactly loaves and fishes, but…

After leaving the clinic at the orphanage community, most of the team was taking a rest, getting some water or grabbing a bite to eat. Dr. Brenda came and explained we were going to walk just down the street to a tent village where several dozen families were living under makeshift shelters supported by ropes tied to nearby trees, by hand hewn posts with sheets and blankets for walls. We were taking lolly-pops for the kids and rice, beans and cooking oil for the families.

We headed out in teams of two and three, walking through the settlement, greeting the families and giving the food in the name of Jesus Christ. As to be expected, the kids went crazy and became instant fans of anyone with candy on a stick. They were extremely polite and well behaved. Not speaking Creole or French myself I’m not sure what they were saying all the time, but the French merci-“thank you”-was often very clear.

The highlight of that time for me was the ministry of a team of young German guys who have been here for a week. Contorting themselves into the human equivalents of carnival rides they carried kids, spun kids and generally had a ball making sure the kids had a ball. After giving away all we had carried, we went back to our house.

After returning, quite unexpectedly, Dr. K ran up the stairs and yelled, “Ok, everyone, come with me.” As it turns out, he had purchased some bread and wanted to go distribute it back at the tent village.

Now, when I say purchased some bread, I mean several large trash bags filled with loaves with other very large sacks with French bread loaves. Some of our team were a little apprehensive about how this might turn out since a food riot at a giveaway spot last week had resulted in three people being trampled. We brought the food up a back alley so as not to be unloading it on the main street. This was a very wise move.

After sneaking through the alley way, we set up shop in the middle of the tent village. One call and people we had not even seen an hour before appeared in a huge mass in the middle. While not aggressive, it was clear that there was a fear of not receiving anything so lines quickly broke down and masses formed. Two or three team members gave bread, threw bread, and attempted a semblance of order while others mingled in the group or took pictures.

While watching that and thinking about the ways that food deprivation has been used around the world to control people and how famines or floods have caused time of great need, it is easy to see how people who never know where their next mouthful of food is coming from quickly fall into hysteria; bread or rice is within arm’s reach and might not make it to them. While watching on TV, Westerners tend to think, “If they would just get into lines, they would all get some food.” That is a very simplistic view. When your child is sick, dirty or hungry and there is no promise of ever getting medicine, water or food, the survival instinct can be overwhelming.

Thankfully, Helping Hands has already set up a church meeting place in the tent village with meetings on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. It is good to know that those who also need the Bread of Life are able to have at least as easy access as the physical bread with which they were blessed today.
-Marty

Images from Haiti

2010-02-02T13:48:00.000-05:00

February 1, 2010

2010-02-02T07:51:00.000-05:00

This post is from February 1, 2010
We are having clinic today at the mission house – and people start to gather at the front gate before we are all awake. We know this because we hear the voices that become louder and louder as the morning goes on. Soon there are several hundred voices, and the crowd starts to become unruly. There is no line, just a mass of people gathered at the front gate. A policeman has brought someone for treatment and volunteers to control the crowd and we are thankful for his help.

Today brought an assortment of patients. I am surprised that some of the ones we saw at the plaza have managed to find our mission house and have come for follow-up. These are people who had wounds from the earthquake, and they are all improving. Simple medical treatment could have prevented many of the infections and complications we have seen.

Other patients really have nothing wrong with them. This is a little frustrating for those of us who want to see a medical problem we can “fix.” Everyone wants a tent. They are all sleeping outside on the ground. I saw one young girl, 18 years old, from the plaza. She had typhoid fever and pneumonia and was sleeping in a tree. Although she had improved medically, my heart is heavy when I think of her, with fevers up to 104, trying to sleep in a tree. But we do not have tents for everyone we see.

A 5-year old boy, brought in by his mother, who asks us several times, if her son is dead. He is lethargic, febrile, with a distended and tender abdomen. We send one of our team members with him to the local hospital to make sure he is seen by a surgeon. It is good news when we learn that he was evaluated and admitted immediately. This would not have happened without one of us accompanying him. Haitians stand in long lines for several hours to be evaluated at the one local public hospital that is still functioning.

A 3-year old little girl named Stacy has pneumonia or typhoid fever or malaria, or all three. She does not have a surgical problem, and thus the overflowing hospital is not an option. The mother pleads for us to treat her with whatever we have available. We fix up a “hospital bed” on a sofa; start an IV with fluids and antibiotics; and begin treatment. Team members are assigned to do “breathing treatments” which consists of her trying to blow up balloons – this makes her take deep breaths. Another team member boils water and we give hot water vapor treatments. Her lungs start to clear a little, and I am more hopeful. At the end of the day, I have to send her home, with instructions to the mom to continue her medications and we’ll see her back tomorrow.

Well, this is way too long – but the patients keep coming. We are sharing the gospel and people are receiving Christ. This is the only way to truly heal them.

Food or Riot

2010-02-01T20:13:00.000-05:00

1-31-10
Today started off with Dr.K preaching in one of the tent cities. There was a great turnout and the people were fed with God’s word, with a promise that we were going to hand out tickets to redeem at the mission house for food at 3 pm. 500 tickets were handed out and 1000 people showed up. They formed a nice line in an orderly fashion -“NOT.” No, not even close. They instead pushed, shoved and nearly tore down our doors. We managed to get through it with no injuries and a lot of prayers. It is a sad thing when people lose hope and fight over 2 pounds of beans or rice. This demonstrates the importance of the mission organizations and churches that are here and others that will be coming - it is important for people to be fed with the Word Of God. Christ is the only eternal hope. We should give food for the stomach while remembering that only with Christ will people be truly satisfied. Pray that we may continue to help physically and spiritually in Haiti – and continue to honor Christ in all we do.
Dr. K

Our title today is CHANGE

2010-02-01T20:07:00.000-05:00

1-30-10
No matter what stage of life you are currently in, CHANGE is just part of what we must deal with. Some changes are thrust upon us without our consent, such as the situation here in Hiati. I’m sure that most would have not chosen to have this earthquake happen to them. However change also brings with it new opportunities that allow us to chose a different path (maybe repentance is part of that path). If you have been following our blog you would of already read about the many lives that are being changed for Christ. Some that may not have been softened before the quake. God uses many situations in our lives to help guide us in the direction that will be most beneficial for us if we simply open up then look and listen. Today we experienced a change in our team. Some of our members returned to Santo Domingo to fly home tomorrow. We will miss them however we also know that they will be able to take our needs back to our friends and family (all brothers and sisters in Christ) and let them know and understand our needs for supplies and funds. They will still be Christian Soldiers on the front lines serving in our continuous battle against the powers of darkness and principalities.
Damon we will miss your expertise as soon as we figure out just what that was! Kasey while enough said you all understand about her. Pastor Allen, thank you for helping to keep all things in perspective even though you had to sleep in the same tent as Aaron we do apologize for that. Steve all I can say is thank you for allowing us to serve you. Adam, hang in there brother I know that one day your father will get saved. Andrew, you know that redness in your throat this morning, while I don’t want to alarm you but you may need to go to CDC in Atlanta (working without gloves hmmm). Nancy, well I know I promised not to tell anyone but you will always remember that special toy, the “Rolly Poley” no details given here but for more information email me. Butch, I know that you did wear gloves in all the wound care but they were defective. You better get someone to drive you and Andrew to the CDC, I’m concerned. Jo, well Jo I have fear that those braids that were put in your hair, well the truth is that they also used infected beads and you will have to be quarantined, so you may just as well return and work here. I roast all of you because we love you and miss you greatly. You all played an important part in this team and will always be #! Sorry I meant #1 in our lives.
This is a long blog but we miss our team. As changes take place we were able to purchase 600 pounds of rice and 600 pounds of beans along with 15 cases of cooking oil today. The team re-packaged all 1200 pounds into one pound bags. We will help conduct Church services in the morning and Dr. K. has been invited to preach. Following the services we will start to hand out coupons (we made them) for the food (rice, beans, and oil). They will bring this to the mission house, which is more secure for this, and we will redeem it then. This is a safety precaution as we have seen small riots break out for food. Two days ago 3 were killed just a few blocks from our work site, this is why we prayed for a plan that would work. Today we also added a few more tarps to our neighbor tent city, ten tarps 12’ by 20’, along with adding ropes under them and the old ones to hold them up (Butch they finally asked for help).
As I sign off for today we will embrace our change in team members and prepare to welcome the new ones on Monday. God will always be our team leader and we welcome all who can serve. Don’t be like Jonas and run if God is calling you to serve, avoid the belly time it’s no fun, but reap God rewards when you are obedient and summit to his will. Pray for us!!
Dr.K

Team 3

2010-02-01T07:03:00.000-05:00

Team 3 arrived in Santo Domingo yesterday. Everyone is fine and all of the luggage made it. We stopped at the Ole store of SD to buy food for the week and other supplies. After that we went to our hotel and ate our last good meal and had our last hot shower of the week. We left for Haiti at 3am and we are on the road now. I would like to take this time to give a special thanks to Palabra de Vida DR, Kenneth, and Juan our bus driver for going above and beyond to transport us to Haiti and make us feel welcomed.

Last night in Hispañola

2010-01-30T23:05:00.004-05:00

It's the last night on the island. Thank you so much for following the blog. I hope I was able to convey the Helping Hands mission on the ground into words. It was a pleasure reading the comments. Tomorrow I will begin following the blog like you so that I can keep abreast of the action.

Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers. They need God's healing hand and our team there now needs God's guidance.

Damon

Cuz mamma.. Mamma I'm coming home

2010-01-30T07:52:00.000-05:00

On the bus now. Our gear is loaded and we are headed to the airport to drop Angela off at the Hospital. She is such a talent. All of the medical team was incredible.

Only 12 more hours to go until SD. Then on to Miami and then home.

It has been a pleasure writing this blog. It's allowed me to clear my head at night and prepare for the next day. I truly believe it was not words poured out. Your comments were all appreciated and I hope I was able to answer any questions you had. Please continue to follow because I know I will be..........

5000 Feet

2010-01-29T23:21:00.000-05:00

I'm lying here in the dark and I'm having trouble with the blog. It's not because I don't have anything to say. Anyone who knows me or who reads the blog knows I'm not short on words.

I have too much in my head perhaps I've seen too much. Perhaps.........

Today was like yesterday. Only double!!!! Our clinic was packed all day. Helping Hands was the only mission in the plaza of 600,000. The crowds were bigger and the evangelism larger. Was this what it was like for Jesus. 1000's of spiritually hungry people thirsting for more than water. I don't know. I keep going back to Matthew.

Andy and I transported more people to the Hurricanes Hospital. They accepted them without question. Aaron transported a malaria case and a TB patient to another hospital.

At the clinic, the medical staff processed baby after baby. Eddy from Germany held and rocked more little babies to sleep than he could count. The wound care center patched up patients left and right. An 11 year old girl orphaned two weeks ago was taken in and transported to the mountain top orphanage. She is safe now.

It all went so well...... For a street clinic we did the job. We did it well.

Peering down from a high elevation whether physically or theoretically, has always been my typical approach to most scenerios. I don't know if it's a leadership trait or just an organizational skill. What I do gain is a better understanding of how the whole picture fits together.

Like the day before I rode back to the capital from the airport. Fallen buildings on each side of the van. There was no sliding door so it was wide open and I joked with the military guys about it being my gunners door. We all laughed for a second.

As I lay here tonight, I realize that is exactly what it was. I was peering out from 5000 ft looking at the city. I can clearly see the damage and dispair. The wind is whipping past my face. We are moving to fast at times to see faces but they all show sadness.

In the middle of it all was our team. The only mission in the plaza. Allowing the thirsty to drink.

In the morning I Ieave for the DR. The miracles will continue as will the blog. It's a story about the rebuilding of Haiti from our perspective on the ground.

This same storey is told in the Gospels.

In the background I hear Haitians singing. They are praising God and thanking Him as they stand among the ruins of their home. Even here there is light in the dark.

A Palace of a Different Type

2010-01-28T20:28:00.000-05:00

Dusty, dirty, and early. The bus departed for a part of the city that most of us had not seen. 600,000 starving Haitians squatted in the Plaza area of Port Au Prince. The team was entering the unexpected and a little anxiety cut through the mood as we approached. In a semi military fashion our scout van preceded the main bus to identify the best location to set up our clinic.

With the location identified immediately in front of the beautiful, now crumbled, white palace that formerly housed the non existent Haitian President, we began. Tents, tables, and tarps erected in 15 minutes and pink crosses taped to the palace walls because we forgot the red tape. Soon a line formed and we handed out our little white admin forms. Our initial assessment was that we might be mobbed by the 600,000. Armed Haitian police guarded our clinic and eased crowd control.

The Helping Hands team easily started processing patients, now that the German team was with us. We now had enough man power to process even more patients. Even with a language barrier we operated like well oiled machine.

Through out the day many of us witnessed events that changed us. If serving 225 patients was not enough then maybe hearing stories of lost familiy members would be. Many on the medical staff cried with people who didn't necessarily need a doctor. We heard from Haitians who had lost entire families and a even a teacher who lost her entire class of grade school students. Bandages and Tylenol can not begin to heal wounds this large.

Because our clinic was in the open we now began to take more seriously injured patients as well. The University of Miami was very generous and allowed us to bring these patients to them. First was a lady with a horrible infection in her broken ankle. Through the dusty streets her and I and Andy traveled with sirens blasting. Upon arriving she was admitted and I was told of her impending amputation. The second of the day was a young man who was recovered from a fallen building. He lost his entire family in the earthquake and escaped with a broken shoulder, arm , and cheek bones. On to the hospital we went..... This time upon arriving I was asked to move 5 patients to another tent because I was the only person available with scrubs on. While there my patient was bumped because another young man had been rushed there from a fallen building. He had been trapped for 15 days without food and water. A true miracle!!!

As Andy and I returned with our armed escort I pondered for a second on the crumbled white palace before me. Man had built this structure to house another man of importance. An iron fence erected around if to keep people out. Right in front Helping Hands from America and Germany had not erected a clinic but an entrance gate. This gate didn't allow people to enter into the crumbled man built palace. It offered them an entrance to eternal life inside the kingdom of God. There is peace and salvation inside. There is no hunger or suffering. There is never an earthquake. Only Love....... Today January 28 2010 over 100 people asked and accepted salvation and they were granted entry into a palace of a different type.

Beans, Bandaids, and Bullets

2010-01-27T18:30:00.001-05:00

Anyone familiar with the military knows what the above title means. Before they mobilize commanders must make sure that these items never run out and that the supply of the above said never gets cut.

Today, we quickly mobilized our unit into working order. Patients gathered at the front gate. We promptly organized them in a straight line behind the red crosses taped on the door by using a mixture of French, Spanish , English. The crowd agreed and the work day began. We processed over a hundred patients in all. Two of the victims had been trapped in the rubble for two days before being rescued, of which one of them was a young boy. It's hard to imagine the strength necessary to survive in those conditions but yet they held firm to life and waited for help. Angela did a great job caring for them. A true professional.

A different team went out and purchased rice and beans for tomorrow. The prices were rediculously high but capitalism had it's purpose. Supply and demand even works in Haiti. The food will be handed out tomorrow to the starving masses. It's not a lot but every bit helps. Because of the donations back home we get the priveledge to serve God and this community. We, as a team could never thank everyone enough.

After lunch, two of us went out to try and find medical supplies. This turned out to be greatly informative. Along the route we spotted a US Army post that was behind a green iron fence. Upon asking the private at the gate if we could get a few medical items we were invited in. Staff Sergent Acuff, who is the senior medical officer, explained to us that the University of Miami had set up a hospital at the airport and they could help us. He gave us directions and to our surprise he gave us a little of what they had. Cough syrup, an IV bag, and Mucinex were given to us with a handshake and a thank you. Again, I find myself proud of my home. Why would he thank us?

After dropping off the supplies we headed to the airport. Upon arrival we noticed the vastness of the international responce. Greek, US, Italian, French, Venezualan, Mexican, etc...etc. All of them working under the UN. Cars,buses,trucks,and planes danced among each other trying to aid Haitians.

Upon finding the hospital we were immediately thrown into a chaotic, but yet amazing, circumstance. Aaron and I quietly searched for a resupply of goods among the critically injured. They patiently answered our questions and pointed us to the pharmacy who helped us with asonr qntacid. Then on to the headquarters tent where the chief medical officer explained to us that we could bring critical patients to their hospital for a higher level of care. He then gave us directions to the World Health Organization. He said they would supply us there.

After a cold drink in the market we returned home. It was obvious that God had been in the van with us today. He knew what we needed for our small clinic and He opened the doors for us. We learned that it's not the size of the hospital that matters. What matters is that God has a plan for all of the people we have treated. We asked and he provided.

Domino's, Devastation, and We are Family(song)

2010-01-26T18:50:00.000-05:00

Four aftershocks total started the day and it also added us to the list of millions who have been part of a historical event. It was not an event that any of us chose buy none the less we're part of it. Again, we ran our free medical clinic, this time until lunch. We cut it short because team 2 was due to arrive shortly. It was a joyous occassiona for team one and our Haitian staff. We all waited along the filthy road for their black ...... I'm mean blue...... I mean red/burgundy bus as Aaron described. But finally they were here.

Team two had a similar trip as team one from Santo Domingo. Beautiful sun lit mountains and rolling hills along the way. Upon entering Jemani,Haiti the easy ride turned to "hurry up and wait". Vaccinations for the bus driver and an unexpected scenic drive through Port Au Prince added the remaining 6 hours or so. Never the less they are with us now.

Later in the aftrnoon Dr K sent a small group of us to find the only remaining Domino's pizza in Haiti. Following a different route through the city we traveled through some of the hardest hit neighborhoods. Total devastation for a few miles. Everyone displaced and living among that now familiar smell of death. Signs spray painted on semi standing walls pleading "Lots of Dead Please Help". We traveled further and I pondered about how important this pizza might be. God revealed two messages to my heart.

One: Dont forget where you are!!!! This was the knock down.
Two: It's ok to fellowship. See, fellowship boosts morale.

Our team wasn't down but God allowed us bond as team one. We studied the values of a Christian this morning.
Fellowship.... Check
Stewardship..... Check

We ate our pizza on the way back to camp. Two miles out among the total destruction. People began to sweep trash off the street and finally...... Hope emerges.

2010-01-26T05:35:00.001-05:00

Two aftershocks this morning at 5am. Everyone is ok.

We are TEAMing with excitement

2010-01-25T16:56:00.000-05:00

Thank God they are on the ground and in the hotel. We dont have much room here but we will make it work. The FBO is set up for their arrival and we desperately need them and the supplies they bring. The journey is long from Santo Domingo (156 miles= 13 hours) but we will be waiting for them with open arms. Tomorrow we morph from a 6 person crew to a 14 person team. Our numbers will even grow larger the next day when our German counterparts arrive. We love them all and pray the trip is a safe one. Sleep well tonight team mates....and take a shower too...these things are in short supply when you get on the ground.

Love,
Team One

M.A.S.H.

2010-01-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

No, we arent regular army or even a mobile surgical unit. Clearly though we have shed a little hope on the 75..76..77..78..79...... lives that we intersected today. They waited patiently in the hot sun to have anyone listen to their ills. All of the health problems needed some sort of medical attention. Most of them could have been cured by the immune system. It didnt matter though...What was important was that someone cared enough about them to listen and touch. Humans need interaction and when millions are displaced by a catastrophe humans tend to process humans like cattle. Im not intending to say that they were treated poorly by first responders but rather...First responders are trained to handle immediate care issues. Our patients were given a sort of care that superceded band aids and bandages..We gave them those things plus human love, and the Love of Jesus Christ.

The importtant thing was that a small team from Gainesville, GA mobilized 6 Americans plus 4 Haitians in about 1 hour set up a free clinic for whomever wanted to come in. It was possible because of God, donations, and will power.

I am writing this as we continue to treat PEOPLE. The sun is going down and the sound of helicopters flying over makes me start humming that familiar tune from the TV show. Just like Hawkeye and the gang, we all want to go home but the mission comes first. All we want to do is help

Team 2

2010-01-25T16:26:00.000-05:00

Team 2 has made it to Santo Domingo. We are in our hotel and cleaning up. We were able to go to the "walmart" and get food for the week. We will catch a little sleep tonight and head out at 2am for Haiti. All the luggage made it and everyone is good. Thanks for all the prayers and support!

2010-01-25T13:24:00.001-05:00

This morning we awoke and began building our medical clinic. Within an hour we had 100 plus patients lined up waiting to see the doctors. People were patient. We moved thru 45 patients before lunch

Team 2

2010-01-25T08:42:00.000-05:00

Team 2 has landed in Miami. The American flight crew was great. The pilot came over the mic and told everyone that we were going to Haiti and thanked us. The passengers started clapping. Then they gave us some donations to take with us. To God be the glory!

2010-01-24T21:02:00.001-05:00

Sorry about the typos. All of this blogging is from my iPhone.

2010-01-24T18:13:00.001-05:00

An answer in response to America's supposed occupation of Haiti.

Typically when a foreign military occupies a country They deploy troops in areas where they can control communication, transportation, and supply. As we drive through the city we have noticed American troops on the ground in these areas. We met one US soldier that was guarding the gate to a hospital so that critically injurered Haitians can be medevac'd without delay. We met other US soldiers directing traffic so that people could move about freely, and yet another US soldier
, Sgt Rendy, who was helping to guard a hotel so that rescue/recovery operations could be conducted without hinderance from looters. Our troops were respectful and helpful. Sgt Rendy assisted us in speaking with a casualty assistance officer about the whereabouts of a missing American from GA. The US military was helping to recover 41 Americans who were buried in a hotel. They had organized a method for identifying the bodies and then notifying the families. Cordial and firm but completely professional. These guys represented our nation on foreign soil with humbled dignity. I'm proud of them and the Anerican response to this catastrophy. God Bless The USA!!

2010-01-24T16:36:00.001-05:00

Please feel free to leave comments or questions for me to answer. This should be an open dialogue. We also have 5 Haitians who are working with us. They would love to answer any questions you might have

2010-01-24T15:34:00.001-05:00

Today's mission has been completed. We successfully moved 40 smiling faces and have completely set up our fixed base of operations. The next team arrives a day from now and we are ready to move full steam ahead.

Tonight I will set up our mobile network. High speed Internet and dialtone via satellite. On the LAN side I will establish our wifi network. This will allow us to communicate more effectively with our team at home as well as CBS and WSB.

Whole down here I have been shooting video for thd CBS station in Atlanta. They were gracious enough to supply a camera for the work. Hopefully the video will capture the devastation from our "street view" as well as tell the people at home about why it was important for us to come.

For me personally...... My purpose was fulfilled when all of those children moved away from this place. If God only sent us to do that then it's enough.

2010-01-24T12:40:00.001-05:00

Our team has successfully moved about 40 orphans and staff to a church in the mountains. Finally back to PAP. We are anxious to go look for the missing Americans at the Montana hotel.

2010-01-24T06:57:00.001-05:00

Bright sunshine!!!!! And rays of hope. This morning I was awoken by small calibre gunfire and people walking past my tent. There was no danger but it was a quick reminder of where we were. As the morning progressed past 3:30am the sun broke. Children everywhere. Typical for a weekend morning for most of us but these children had no parents. With the love of God and a willing orphanage staff these kids survive the days happy.

All of them have smiles and wanted to help us crazy Americans pack our gear. Their reward was fruitloops cereal. They gobbled it up like any normal kid sans cartoons. Happier still they climbed aboard the green bus that was a mix of green, orange, and dirt and took their seats towards a better life out of the city

The longest bus ride of my life

2010-01-23T18:50:00.000-05:00

I have taken long trips in the past and on more than one occassion it was on a bus. Today was different however. Not because I was traveling to a disaster area of catastrophic proportions but rather because......well......

After sitting in a traffic jam for 3 hours we finally made it to Port Au Prince. Upon entering the city you started to get a feel that something was off. Everyone was moving primarily in one direction... AWAY. The basic instinct of self preservation was in play for perhaps 1 million people. The city wasn't evacuating but fleeing and because it would be impossible for all of the citizens to flee the rest squatted. Tent cities everywhere.

As we got close to the city center it became obvious that there was devastation of biblical proportions. I could relay many knowns about collapsed buildings. Such as the smells, tastes, and sights of 200,000 dead people. I can't and won't attempt to wrap words around what we have seen so far. I will leave it at horrible. Simply put.....Horrible!!!!

I will focus on one aspect that I can report was in full effect. Love..... The Haitians are hurting. They wear it on their faces as they bathe, eat, and sleep in the streets. This hurt is being answered by God with is unending love. Evil may have killed and maimed and destroyed but God unleashed his love in the form of relieff workers from almost every continent. They have been sent here by Him to Love the Haitians and to rebuild their city.

2010-01-23T09:59:00.001-05:00

We have arrived in Jimani. It is a scene if organized chaos. Overhead is abuzz with US medivac H-60 helicopters and on the ground the international medical community has established makeshift communities. Amongst all of this is the normal day to day activities of the locals. One hour from here lay approximately 200,000 dead. The whole world has responded to the catastrophe. I'm proud to say I'm a Christian and an American

2010-01-23T06:36:00.001-05:00

We stopped at 6:30am local for fuel. This allowed everyone to awaken from a slumber. Finally the sun was up. The Dominican mountains are beautiful, especially when the sun is rising over them. There is a sense of anticipation in the air as we draw closer to jimani, Haiti. It is here where we will cross over. This same town is also being used as a field hospital for many injured Haitians.

It will likely be our first glimpse of the devastating effect of the 2010 quake.

2010-01-23T03:29:00.001-05:00

Good morning!!!! Our team is on the road again. This time headed to Haiti. It will be s long day on the road but everyone is ready. Joining our team are three translators from Haiti and costa rica. The HHFM team can now speak Spanish, English, and French.

Today's trip will help us determine how to plan the insertion and extraction of our teams in country. Currently the information is sketchy at best as to how long it will actually take to get to Port Au Prince. Some estimates are 12 hours and some are 4 hours. God is our guide and he will determine how quickly he wants us in Haiti.

2010-01-22T23:15:00.001-05:00

Good night from Santo Domingo. Tomorrow Haiti bound at 4am

2010-01-22T21:45:00.001-05:00

The team has arrived in the Dominican Republic. Our guide was prompt and has been very helpful. After leaving the airport we stopped at a the Hiper Ole and bought supplies for the next 10 days. We are a motivated and ready for the cross country trip tomorrow