September 18, 2008
September 17, 2008
Well, were back with another update. We just spent sometime 'deyo', that is outside of the city, in the country side. We stayed for 15 days in a little village called Belladere which is about 3-4 hours from Port-au-Prince, close to the D.R. boarder. We stayed with a Haitian family while we were there - well, they were actually an extended family, as there were a few families who lived right there on the same property. The purpose of the trip was to continue to do language and cultural training. It was an amazing experience, as country-side life is different than city living. We learned a lot about this Haitian culture, and learned a great deal from them. We spent time studying the language, helping out with basic daily chores and work, visiting peoples' homes, learning how to cook Haitian style, just hanging out and talking to people, visiting the markets for shopping, helping at a stand at the market, singing, making visits to the hospital, etc. We are very thankful to the family that took us in, who we got to know very well. They have taught us a lot, especially of their devotion to Christ. We were very encouraged by that!
While we were in Belladere, Haiti got hit hard by a few tropical storms. We had rain and storms so often there, a because there is no room to sit inside a Haitian house we put up a small tarp and we all sat under it as we talked or played cards, etc. We didn't get hit near as bad as some other places in Haiti, as we were higher up, and farther from the coast. But we were updated frequently by different people of the tragedies that were happening all over Haiti. The road to bring us home was rendered impassable because of the storms, but thankfully it was fixed by the time we had to travel home. A lot of lives have been lost, and many peoples homes destroyed, as well as their crops and gardens, livestock, vehicles, and household belongings.
Today we visited Cabaret, a town up the coast a little ways, where the PCA has two churches. The one church is on their main compound, which houses their school, dormitories, the pastors house and an orphanige. The storms had completely destroyed all the walls around the compound, as there was water 8-9 feet high in the whole thing. The Pastor and his family lost most of their belongings in the house, including his entire library, laptop, and church records. They lost 4 vehicles, and whatever was on the first floor of all buildings. Thankfully, the pastor and his family, and the children who were in the orphanige were spared. The other pastor in the town lost everything in his house. Many people died in this town. As we drove through today, we saw many houses that were washed away -ones close to the river. We saw houses covered halfway with mud, and all the crops destroyed. We saw a bunch of tents set up in a field, a relief project, giving temporary housing to people who had lost their homes.
We went to Cabaret today with all our teachers and workers, to deliver food(rice, beans, cornmeal, oil), water, cleaning supplies and clothing to the church here. We spent a good part of the day helping them clean out their church building which had about a foot of mud covering the whole floor. That was a tough and dirty job, but we did have fun doing it. We also helped clean all the chairs and pews, and school benches which were covered with mud, grass, sticks. We are thankful that we could help out, even just a little, especially sharing with these people the donations of clothing and supplies people have given us.
Our hearts and prayers go out to all the people who have lost loved ones, or who have lost their home, and possessions, and means to work and bring food home for their families. A lot of people are going through tough times right now. We, as an organization, desire to help out in this relief work the best that we can, and pray that God would give us the wisdom to know how best to help out, and give us the resources that we need for what door He opens up to us.
The date for the school to be opened has been postponed to Oct.6. The government has pushed back the date for schools to open because of the disasters and because of the shortage of money most families are experiencing. This gives us more time to prepare, plan, and work through the school curriculum, and all the other work that goes along with it. It works out that we will be starting about the same time as last year.
Well, thats all for now. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow, D.V., as the internet is working incredibly slow. I will leave by sharing with yous some of our prayer requests.
Prayer Requests:
~for the Haitians who have lost so much and who are suffering
~for safety for the Haitians, as we are getting a lot of rain still
~Safety for us.
~That we can make all the preparations we need to do before school opens.
~The medical clinic would continue to be blessed, and that the people who really need it would be able to make it out.
~that Adoration would reach peoples needs, and through it all magnify the Name of the LORD and bring Him glory.
Randy
While we were in Belladere, Haiti got hit hard by a few tropical storms. We had rain and storms so often there, a because there is no room to sit inside a Haitian house we put up a small tarp and we all sat under it as we talked or played cards, etc. We didn't get hit near as bad as some other places in Haiti, as we were higher up, and farther from the coast. But we were updated frequently by different people of the tragedies that were happening all over Haiti. The road to bring us home was rendered impassable because of the storms, but thankfully it was fixed by the time we had to travel home. A lot of lives have been lost, and many peoples homes destroyed, as well as their crops and gardens, livestock, vehicles, and household belongings.
Today we visited Cabaret, a town up the coast a little ways, where the PCA has two churches. The one church is on their main compound, which houses their school, dormitories, the pastors house and an orphanige. The storms had completely destroyed all the walls around the compound, as there was water 8-9 feet high in the whole thing. The Pastor and his family lost most of their belongings in the house, including his entire library, laptop, and church records. They lost 4 vehicles, and whatever was on the first floor of all buildings. Thankfully, the pastor and his family, and the children who were in the orphanige were spared. The other pastor in the town lost everything in his house. Many people died in this town. As we drove through today, we saw many houses that were washed away -ones close to the river. We saw houses covered halfway with mud, and all the crops destroyed. We saw a bunch of tents set up in a field, a relief project, giving temporary housing to people who had lost their homes.
We went to Cabaret today with all our teachers and workers, to deliver food(rice, beans, cornmeal, oil), water, cleaning supplies and clothing to the church here. We spent a good part of the day helping them clean out their church building which had about a foot of mud covering the whole floor. That was a tough and dirty job, but we did have fun doing it. We also helped clean all the chairs and pews, and school benches which were covered with mud, grass, sticks. We are thankful that we could help out, even just a little, especially sharing with these people the donations of clothing and supplies people have given us.
Our hearts and prayers go out to all the people who have lost loved ones, or who have lost their home, and possessions, and means to work and bring food home for their families. A lot of people are going through tough times right now. We, as an organization, desire to help out in this relief work the best that we can, and pray that God would give us the wisdom to know how best to help out, and give us the resources that we need for what door He opens up to us.
The date for the school to be opened has been postponed to Oct.6. The government has pushed back the date for schools to open because of the disasters and because of the shortage of money most families are experiencing. This gives us more time to prepare, plan, and work through the school curriculum, and all the other work that goes along with it. It works out that we will be starting about the same time as last year.
Well, thats all for now. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow, D.V., as the internet is working incredibly slow. I will leave by sharing with yous some of our prayer requests.
Prayer Requests:
~for the Haitians who have lost so much and who are suffering
~for safety for the Haitians, as we are getting a lot of rain still
~Safety for us.
~That we can make all the preparations we need to do before school opens.
~The medical clinic would continue to be blessed, and that the people who really need it would be able to make it out.
~that Adoration would reach peoples needs, and through it all magnify the Name of the LORD and bring Him glory.
Randy
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