March 25, 2010

Report of Healing Every Nation trip to Haiti, March 11-18, 2010

First, we want to say thank you for supporting our efforts to bring relief and the Gospel to the survivors of that terrible tragedy. Words cannot express the amount of destruction, the lives lost and interrupted, and the fears about an uncertain future for those who live in Haiti. Thankfully, there is a God who understands and is capable of meeting the needs of those who call on His Name.

Below you will see a report from one of the members of our team. While this is only a small part of what needs to be done, it was a very productive trip in building the relationships needed for our ongoing relief efforts.

Our Trip to Haiti

We were so blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Haiti with Pastor Eddie Brito of Healing Every Nation, and actually set foot on the ground and meet the people. They are beautiful people—very resilient, very full of life, even in the midst of such harsh realities. The amount of destruction we saw was incomprehensible, yet their indomitable spirit was evident.

We were blessed to see how strong the church in Haiti is. We met many people who love Jesus and had the blessing of worshipping with Bethel Christian Assembly and Pastor Salnave on Sunday morning. We also had the privilege of meeting Pastor Franklin Val, which felt like a divine connection. Pastor Val has been ministering for over 30 years, and has an orphanage, school and church in Leogane, Haiti, which is very near the epicenter of the earthquake. Pastor Val operates a taxi service along with his ministries. He happened to be at the airport picking up passengers when the earthquake hit. He was later to learn that some unknown visitors had come to his school the afternoon of the earthquake and had visited with the children. They were leaving shortly after 4:00 p.m., and all the children followed them out of the school building. When the earthquake hit, all the children had exited and were safely outside of the building which was completely destroyed. Still nobody knows who the visitors were who visited the children and led them outside to safety, but God does. Pastor Val is in need of a new vehicle and more supplies to care for the 49 orphans he has taken in as well as money to rebuild the church and school. We would love to help him in whatever way the Lord leads. At this orphanage we distributed lollipops, balloons, coloring pages and crayons to the children who are sleeping in a make-shift tent camp and a converted chicken coop. We also made a cash donation to Pastor Val so he could buy food, bedding and blankets for the children whose beds were crushed when their orphanage collapsed.

While in Haiti we visited the hospital and were able to pray with many of the people there, so many have lost arms and legs, so many have been through so much, losing family members and all their possessions. There are so many needs. We met many young people who were injured while attending the Port-au-Prince University, and now have no place to complete their education. All the schools in Port-au-Prince have been closed, and it is actually illegal to hold school, even under a tent at this time. These young people are looking for potential scholarships in the United States or the UK or Canada in order to finish their schooling in order to become productive members of their community. So many of these people love their country and seem to have a heart to help Haiti rebuild and go forward.

Tom Dake, the church administrator of VineLife Christian Fellowship working in partnership with Healing Every Nation and New Life International was able to take a water purification system and leave it with Dr. Fablas who oversees five tent cities (approximately 8,000-10,000 people). This purification system is able to chlorinate non-potable water, making it safe for human consumption. Tom is looking forward to taking more purification systems into Haiti in the near future.

It appears the government of Haiti needs some serious overhauling. Speaking to an emergency relief worker who had been there since day three, we asked him if he had seen much change in the two months since the earthquake, unfortunately he said that he had not, and he felt it was due to the government not being able to organize. Our prayer is for godly, righteous men to come into office in Haiti—men of wisdom and integrity who would seek the Lord and His ways for this land.

While staying at the home of Pastor Roger and Margaret Clark, long-term missionaries to Haiti, we met Pastor Fernando and his traveling companion Eduardo. They had an immediate connection with Pastor Eddie Brito of Healing Every Nation and they joined with us with the same goals of meeting the needs of those in Haiti and made funds available to help with the water purification system.

I felt the need to pray and intercede over the land. The Lord was so faithful and provided her with a rooftop place where she could meet with the Lord regularly.

It seems the greatest need in Haiti is for prayer and rebuilding. We pray the Lord will continue to pour forth His love upon the people by sending those who can help with the rebuilding as well as those who can help to strengthen and encourage the church there, and may we as the body of Christ do our part to help our brothers and sisters who are in such need. May God’s hand of blessing and His arms of comfort surround the people of Haiti as they walk out this healing process.

- Yvonne Callicott

Healing Every Nation has already made arrangements for Tom Dake to return to Port-Au-Prince in mid April. He will make sure that the water purifier he trained a Hatian team to operate is in use and serving the tent camps where it is most desperately needed. If possible, we would like to take more purifiers to the country and place them in the hands of trained committees who are ready and anxious to supply safe drinking water to people in need. At least three more purifiers were requested by missionaries and Hatian ministers but truly, there could be as many as 20 more used. While in Haiti, we want to help Pastor Val again with the needs of his orphanage, school and church. His water supply was damaged when the building supporting the water tank collapsed. The tank was saved and can be reused in an effective water system that would benefit from chlorination.

Pastor Val, the forty-nine children he cares for and many other missions and organizations all expressed their thanks to us and to our supporters for bringing comfort, helping hands, and safe water. If God has put concern in your heart for children and people in need, please consider helping Healing Every Nation continue relief efforts with a view toward long-term, sustained aid.

Some Picture from Haiti

http://picasaweb.google.com/ebrito1707/HaitiTresMesesDepois?authkey=Gv1sRgCMvU8Mvfj5iLHA#slideshow/5454239639960420130

Thank you,

http://www.healingeverynation.org/

Healing Every Nation Staff and Volunteers