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Mission Direct in Haiti
We have had 2 brief updates from Laurence, in Haiti. Here's what he has said about the situation in Haiti.
We have seen some amazing moves of God over the last few days!
1. Pastors in 2 Regions, representing over 40 churches have come together to adopt a food for work program that helps local communities provide for their families using funds donated by friends. One of the projects is a river dam that will enable up to 4000 farmers to benefit from the increased irrigation to their fields. A by-product of this project is that there will be less of a chance for major flooding...which effects 20,000 people down river.
2. We will be providing seed to local pastor/farmers who are ready to plant in the next few days. These funds enable them to skip having to buy their seed on credit. They are usually charged 30% interest on those loans!!! They are thrilled at this new co-op in which they only pay back half the money they are given, and at 0% interest.
3. Electricity has been out for 4 days now here in Dessalines Haiti. As a result the town sort of goes to sleep around 7pm! It's quiet except for the voodoo drums that play nearly every night. Voodoo ceremonies are constant...nearly a daily occurrence . They are usually performed in an effort to drive away demons. Recently one of the main voodoo priests here died unexpectedly. It has left a gap that we pray will be the first in a dawning of the gospel for those who are caught in the destructive web of voodoo.
4. There is a little girl I mentioned in a report recently. Her leg was chopped off by angry neighbors because the girl's relative had killed a person. Now she walks with crutches. One on our team brought her new crutches and it was kind of sad/happy that she smiled so big at such a gift.
5. We distributed tracts to the pastors of Dessalines, where we are focusing. They were so happy to get them, and they are enthusiastic not only for evangelism, but to see people gain a true and vibrant relationship with Jesus. My pastor friend here did a teaching in a neighbouring region on the bride of Christ...looking at the picture from Song of Songs. The pastors are so so thankful and joyful about the teaching, and are already spreading the message of joy and commitment in Christ to their congregations.
That's all for now... Goodnight from Haiti!!
Subject: Haiti Report 1
Greetings!
Just arrived Port-au-Prince in time to see the massive clean up that is taking place. The airport is functioning again, and landing there was organized, with no luggage lost and no problems.
Just finished meeting with the orphanage directors at the Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage. Their compound and activities match the DNA of Mission Direct teams. So we are planning an October outreach, with the possibility of more teams in February and March. So far three churches say they want to bring in a team during Sept/October.
Voodoo presence here is strong, with maybe half the people here actively participating. One interesting story is that there are little piles of ash at the intersections of some of the main streets. This is because burnt offerings are made at these "spirit crossings." Recently some missionaries gathered around one of these spots in the road. They prayed and poured out oil and took authority that that spot would be used by God, not Satan. As the group walked away, the translator overheard two local women --spiritists, commenting on what had just been done. He heard them say, "They have ruined it. Satan cannot enter me here now in this place." They recognized what the missionaries had done. In fact, my friend told me they take much more seriously our authority in prayer than we do when we are praying!!!
Wow! Anyway, we will be checking on the food for work program soon, and in the mean time I am heading to a pastor's conference this afternoon. Just letting you know a glimpse of what has been happening over here.
God Bless You!
Lawrence
Recently Krystyna Gadd enabled us to raise approximately £2500 through the sale of “Have a Heart for Haiti” cards. A big thank you to Krystyna especially and to everyone who bought or sold cards. We will be giving the money raised by the Have a Heart for Haiti cards to Mission Direct for them to use in Haiti.
Mission Direct is an organization that we have partnered with over many years. They support locally led projects among the world's poorest people and are committed to expressing God’s love in both words and actions. Mission Direct workers have been working with Haitian refugees for several years now, across the border in the Dominican Republic. They have links in place already and are committed to doing their best work with whatever resources are given.
Lawrence Jones, Mission Direct’s man on the ground in the Dominican Republic, puts it like this:
‘Over the years hundreds of thousands of Haitians have fled from violence, disaster or just grinding poverty in search of a better life. What they often face is scarcely much better – many of them live in shacks made of waste materials, scratching some kind of living together from places like rubbish tips... We partner with an existing locally based project that builds basic houses for the refugees. It is always humbling for Christian workers not just to work on their own ‘ministry’. But we have made it a policy to lend our support to existing grassroots work, like the building project in the Dominican Republic. I know that if we were to set up our own ‘Mission Direct’ aid project in Haiti we would get large amounts of financial support. I also know that if we just stay put in the Dominican Republic and keep providing volunteers for somebody else’s housing project, we will be doing what we do best. The houses won’t ever have Mission Direct plaques on them, but the families that move into these houses won’t forget us in a hurry. I am sure a lot of the hurriedly convened groups that have arrived in Port-au-Prince have done a great deal of good. But sometimes, the best work we can do is far from the eye of the storm. Somewhere the  media won’t be visiting anytime soon, but somewhere you know that you can do what you do best.’
(taken from an article published in the Church of England Newspaper – to see the full article click on the thumbnail on the right)
We were also struck by Lawrences' description of what we feel when we go and do this stuff – ‘As a regular visitor to some of the world’s poorest nations, I constantly find myself praying something to this effect: “Lord give me a skin thick enough to cope with what I am going to see, but not too thick that I can’t be shocked by the sheer dreadfulness of the situation.” Mostly God has helped me to maintain what is a delicate balancing act. Sometimes though I see or hear something so shocking that there seems to be no “right response”.
Please do pray for Lawrence Jones and Shaun Byford who are helping to take supplies into Haiti from the Dominican Republic. They have been to Port au Prince a couple of times now, taking supplies to the Ebenezer Glenn orphanage. They have about 1000 Creole tracts will be distributed with humanitarian aid – telling people about Jesus hand in hand with meeting their physical needs. A few interesting things they have noticed:
i. 70% of Port au Prince is largely unaffected whilst news looks like the whole place fell down
ii. Planes seem to land nearly every 5 minutes and there is huge activity bringing in supplies
iii. Distribution can be wild with soldiers throwing water from trucks, much of which just smashes on the ground
iv. They were stood next to a wall of water bottles 5ft tall and 60ft long being guarded from people coming to take it!
There may be the opportunity to go out to Haiti in the months and years to come. If you would be interested in this feel free to chat to us; we are talking to Mission Direct about the possibilities at present. There are also many other opportunities around the world where we can make a difference in some of the world’s poorest nations - feeding the poor, praying for the sick, telling people about the Jesus we know and love, clothing the naked, letting God teach us more about himself and so much more. Let us know if God is prompting you to head overseas and we’d love to help you get there.
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Matt and Anne Button, 21/04/2010 |
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