GREAT NEWS!

Haiti Update: This weekend is Carnival, a time of revelry, satanic worship, and voodoo rituals. It has been CANCELLED and instead,a National Weekend of Prayer, Fasting, Mourning has been declared! Hallelujah! You prayer warriors, come alongside our family of God this weekend and join them!

ENJOY!

HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THEM?

Scroll down to the Gallery post also....

DO NOT FORGET....

More Wonderful Photos

Please pray for these precious ones!

Eye Opener.....

Thoughts on Haiti

Having just returned from a medical relief effort, I cannot get my mind off of Haiti. The experience continues to haunt me, brings tears to my eyes and overwhelms me with emotion. At the same time I feel anger for the unnecessary suffering and misery that this country has dealt its people. The common man in Haiti, has a life expectancy of 50 yrs, and an average daily wage of $2, when he can find a job. Although he has nothing, he still manages to walk with pride and exude friendliness and kindness. (This is true in the countryside and smaller cities, as I was not in a large urban area.)The children are beautiful, friendly and innocent. The women work hard trying to scratch out a subsistence living. The people are clean, although they are ridden with malnutrition, congenital and acquired health issues. It is not money for which they occasionally hold out their hands, but for food. And when you hand them a sandwich, a small snack, or a bag of trail mix, the smile of gratitude, makes you wish you had more in your back pack to give.

The economy seems to be one based on bartering. Charcoal, the primary cooking fuel and the manufacture of which may have contributed to the devastating deforestation of the county, is traded for rice. Sugar cane is traded for beans and a chicken or pig or goat for something else, and on, and on. The ubiquitous burning of charcoal leaves a haze of irritating smoke over the populated areas, that is largely responsible for the chronic complaints of cough, asthma and burning eyes.

Anger? Yes, for it is hard for an American to comprehend a country without any sense of organization or infrastructure. Chaos and inefficiency rule. There is no running water, unless you count the river, which is full of people bathing, doing their laundry, digging sand, dumping garbage, etc. Even the hospital has no water! Can you imagine a hospital without the basics of water? There is no electricity, unless you have a solar panel, or diesel and a generator. Even with these, the power is turned off around 5 PM. This includes public facilities such as the airport and hospital. Voluntary surgeons are ready to work through the night to save lives and limbs, but are told to leave at 5 PM, and the power shut down.

There is no organization and the country smacks you with total chaos. Nothing runs as expected or according to any sense of planning. There seems to be no interest in public welfare or the suffering that is universal, rather than occasional. I presume there are some people who have better living conditions than average. But these “well-to-do” do not seem to have any interest in helping the masses of needy around them. Indeed, in my shallow experience, they seemed to be clearly more interested in themselves than their countryman.

Imagine a hospital filled with people suffering with fractured limbs as well as mind boggling medical issues, covered with flies, and lying in darkened, warm, humid rooms without ventilation. They are tended primarily by their family, who are responsible for feeding them, cleaning them, emptying the bucket under their bed and chasing the flies from them. When you walk by, they look at you with hope and expectancy for any sense of relief. Your training tells you what to do, but your efforts are impeded by locked supplies, resistant nursing staff and hospital administration.

Although there are many foreigners trying to deliver aide to this population, their efforts are met with incomprehensible delays and hurdles from those in charge, who do not seem to mind the suffering around them. Oh, the massive relief effort has provided food and masses of medical supplies. However these supplies are not available to the medial teams, and relief efforts. These desperately needed supplies are warehoused and locked away, by customs or hospital officials. To access them, you need to run from one authority to another wasting precious time and energy at the expense of suffering and death. The UN and the US military try to assist, but remember they are there to help in a sovereign country and have very limited authority to act. Many religious organizations have made significant strides in their attempts to serve the people, and move them into the 21^st century. But their efforts are not enough by themselves, and require country leadership.

It has been hard to have experienced this without developing a mixture of love, sadness, frustration and anger. Haiti is a “country” without any semblance of structure. Perhaps this devastating earthquake is a moment, not to start rebuilding, but to build a country from scratch, with a new economy, educational efforts, public health, and perhaps a whole new social culture. This will require a totally unselfish political and engineering leadership, which hopefully can arise from the ashes that now cover this country.

Gallery

Nothing Is Easy!

Finally, he is home....We are going to debrief for a day or so. He is catching up on reading accounts in the papers that are just adding another layer to an already complex situation in Haiti.

He is in good spirits and good health. I thank God for that.

I thank all of you for your care about Haiti and the "team"...Let's not forget them and continue to see how we can help, in some way!

Stay tuned......I know there will be more pictures and maybe even a tale or two straight from the "horses mouth!"

Love to you all.....

YEA!

John and team are on a flight heading west as I type..

The blog is not ending here. I appreciate all those who have been interested in this journey to Haiti and back. There will be more stories and even trips, I am sure.

I also hope you caught a glimpse of why we do what we do when we go to all these foreign lands doing medical care and working with children. We do it because we have love for His people and more importantly, we have a story to tell them. The story of One who died for them and rose again. This is truth that brings hope and purpose to all who believe. If you have been thinking about it, or wondering about it, and would like to talk personally with me or John, we would love it! Just ask us. We would love to tell you why we do what we do! It would be a privilege.

God bless your day everyone and stay tuned. I know John will have some outstanding pictures that I can post, after he rests some.

UGH!

I hear the team did not make it out of Haiti in time to make a Florida flight. I have not heard from John, yet, but am not expecting him home tonight..

Yes, I am moping a bit but it might be ok since they will get a good nights sleep in a hotel in Florida and even a good dinner! Rested and ready to make the final leg of the trip tomorrow! I hope:)

Making His Way Home!

John is trying to get home today. Pray that all will go well. He is ready to come home. He needs a break physically and mentally. He will most likely be coming back a different person. How can you not be when you have seen, heard and even smelled what he has. God will bless him for the sacrifice he has made. I know he touched lives there. That is why he went, to do what he could. This is what it means to show the love of God to your neighbor.

While he has been away, I have been blessed by all the emails, comments, calls, etc praising what John is doing. Now, if you feel like it, share those sentiments directly to him. I know he has no idea how all of you have been following this, praying, and just being an encouragement behind the scene. A most important part!

I thank you so very much, and I know John will too. Here is his email if you want to drop him a line. jalafata@aol.com

Have a meaningful day!