Mission Update - Friday, February 5, 2010
The team arrived back in Knoxville on Tuesday, after our plane had mechanical difficulties and we had to lay over in Atlanta on Monday night. None of our baggage made it back with us, but we were so glad to be home, the baggage didn’t matter much.
We are giving God thanks for keeping us safe on the trip, and for allowing much to accomplished for His glory. The medical team did an awesome job. They served every night from about 6:00 PM until 8:00 AM or later each day. Caring for many critically injured patients, and many who were recovering from operations, they were nearly overwhelmed. The nurses, Sue McBee, Courtney Finney, and Kathy Schrader worked beyond exhaustion, and patients would have died without their help. Bruce Bower, CRNA, worked with the nurses to alleviate some of the severe pain the patients were experiencing. They were assisted by Dr. Bryan Smith and another volunteer Robert Dominique in managing a large section of the hospital. As they served in the name of Jesus Christ, they gave a quality of care that was heroic under the circumstances. Many of their patients cried when they left.
Megan McBee,
(left) a pharmacist, and daughter of Sue, organized the critical
care pharmacy which was a mess when we arrived. She worked all day to
inventory and organize the donated medicine and supplies. Our team
brought in 44 suitcases and trunks of supplies, and other teams had also
brought much. Without the organization that Megan provided, the work
would have been made much slower.
The
rest of the team traveled into Port-au-Prince on a daily basis. We had
three mission groups represented on our bus. Phil and Bud Ogle from
Gatlinburg serve with the Luther and Stella Ogle Foundation. David Wood
and Bill Ferguson from Frontlines Global Mission traveled and worked
with us, and I have never met two more courageous
and selfless servants
of the Lord. David suffered a severe leg injury on the first day in
the field while we were erecting a large tarp cover over the yard of the
Good Neighbor orphanage to keep those children sheltered. David
continued to travel and work and wouldn’t stop to get treatment until
the end of the trip. Jonathan Martin carried the heavy video camera and
equipment, and assisted in many ways. I had the joy of working alongside
these wonderful and Godly people, and was honored to enjoy their
fellowship. We hope to have video to share with you in the next
few weeks. I will let you know when video is available.
The team, with God’s help, provided food for the hospital patients, provided food and money for the orphanages, helped transport patients, worked to secure the safety of the orphanage children, and began the process of looking for a new location for the Good Neighbor orphanage. We delivered water purifiers, and medical supplies into Haiti, and we tried to bring encouragement and hope to the people wherever we went. Our bus driver went drove us into some of the roughest areas in Port-au-Prince and our team never doubted that God would protect us.
We made many new friends from many places in our country, and saw many old friends on the mission field. Through it all we were constantly reminded of how blessed we are in this country, how much we have, and how much more thankful we need to be.
Our God is great, and already we are making plans for a new mission center outside the city which will house the orphanage, administer the pastor network, and provide a mission medical clinic. We are looking for land suitable for this project, and hope to start as soon as possible.
Recovery for nation is going to take many years, but already God is working to reach the Haitian people with the Gospel, and like never before, many are ready to open their hearts to His saving grace.
Mission Update - Thursday - January 28, 2010
We arrived in Santo Domingo yesterday, with thirteen team members and 44 bags. The flight was smooth, and we were helped through the airport by Dr. Victor Atallah, a Dominican cardiologist. We boarded the bus and headed for the hospital complex on the Haitian border. We are staying in the Radio Bible Hour house and the Ogle Foundation house, and felt earth tremors during the night. Today we had breakfast at the hospital, and the medical people with us checked in and were asked to serve running one of the units on the night shift. They will be working from 7PM until 7AM, and will need our prayers. There are patients everywhere, even camping out in the yard because people are afraid of being inside buildings.
We went on to
Port-au-Prince and the orphanage. The children looked good, but were
beginning to have some digestive problems. We delivered two large water
purifiers which will give them clean water. Some of the men erected a large
tarp to provide shade for the children and staff, since it is unsafe to be
in the house. The orphanage building has large cracks in the yard and
the walls are very cracked and damaged so the building is dangerous.
Several of us entered the orphanage building and removed the children's
records, while walking very carefully.
We got resources to John and the orphans, and tomorrow they are going to
receive a load of food from a wonderful group called Children of the
Nations who work a lot in Africa. The miracle is that none of the orphans
were injured, since the house directly across the street was totally
destroyed and two were killed there.
We brought two injured ladies back to the hospital in Jimani to be treated
for injuries. The medical people are doing wonderful work, and are serving
in very difficult conditions. Dorothy and Dale Betterton of
International Medical Alliance have been working non-stop since the
earthquake, and are exhausted, but doing amazing work.
Thanks again for all
who have contributed to help send relief and help to these people. The
situation in Port-au-Prince is hard to describe, with building after
building flattened. It is hard to imagine what these people have been
through.
Mission Update - Friday - January 22, 2010
The last few days we have busy coordinating our trip to Haiti. We leave next Tuesday, and will be going with a medical team with three doctors and three nurses. In addition, Phil and Bud Ogle will be going with us to check on their churches and schools in Haiti.
We plan to travel to Santo Domingo with medical supplies and other relief supplies, then travel to Jimani on the Haitian border. The medical team will be staying there and working with the many injured Haitians who have crossed the border for treatment.
The Radio Bible Hour mission house in Jimani, and the Ogle Foundation mission house, have been filled with medical teams since the catastrophe, and we are giving them first priority. We will probably be sleeping on air mattresses on the floor, or out under tarps in the open air.
Phil, Bud and I will be going on to Port-au-Prince to try to reach John and the orphans, and we will work to try and relocate them to a safer place. Please pray for us, as we will be taking more than 1200 pounds of medicine and relief supplies.
Please pray for the safety of the team, and that we will be effective in bringing glory to our Lord. Please pray for John Thelus, our ministry coordinator in Haiti, and for the many pastors that we know in Haiti. Pray for the Ogle Foundation’s churches and schools, and for their pastors, teachers and students, and finally, pray that God will intervene in Haiti to bring salvation to the many people who are lost.
Of all the places on earth, God has called us to respond to, this place which is probably the most desperate and hopeless place in the world right now. It is a privilege to be able to go an represent our Lord in that place. Pray that we will be good servants of Him.
Thank you to all of you who have contributed so generously over the past week to help with this work. With God’s help, and for His glory, we will all be a blessing to many on this trip.