(Haiti Jezi Remnen´W means Haiti Jesus loves you!)
From Brazil to Haiti with Love...
I can´t begin to describe what the experience in Haiti was like. We are still processing all that happened in this short time. We are so grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to live out Isaiah 61:1-3
``The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord´s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion (Haiti) to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousnes, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.``
Many said this was the end, but I belive this is really the beginning of a new Haiti!
Our camp in Port-au-Prince...
the sights around us...
The police station turned into a clinic...
As soon as we arrived we noticed that no one was doing the cleaning, not because they didn´t want to (I think) but because everyone was constantly busy with patients and everything else; The trashes were overflowing, the bathrooms with no water and well...VERY dirty, medications and other donations were still stacked in boxes and suitcases, something needed to be done...The Brazil team immediatly became the cleaning crew (besides the doctor and two nurses who had their hands busy with patients)...
We put together our own money to buy all the cleaning supplies (it ended up costing $300...everyone that can is selling things very expensive)
(above) Mario making a ``door`` for the surgery room
(below) Igor and one of the Americans that came with us from Saint Marc picking up trash...
I used two sheets taped together and used duct tape to write ``Haiti, Jesus loves you`` in Criolle for all to see...Mario and Igor put it up for me...
Peter and making a trash ``picker-uper`` out of card board and duct tape. They also taped cardboard over areas where the tile was broken to keep dirt out...
Mario mopping the clinic before the rush...
Preparing bags with donations (canned food, water, milk, crackers, and whatever else we had).
Assembly lines made the job much faster...
We did this several times during the week and the boys
(excourted by Haitian police would take them out to distribute the goodies)
At the end there was never enough and people ran after the truck in hopes of getting something...
We were increadibly blessed to have Marcelo and his wife Fernanda with us on this mission. I believe they were individually called to be in Haiti at this time. Having been married only a month and a half, they chose to leave the comfort of they home to be Jesus´hands and feet in that desperate nation. Marcelo is a general surgeon and Fernanda a nurse. When we got to Port-au-Prince and said we had brought a surgeon on our team one of the nurses praised God and told us that the night before they had prayed for God to send a surgeon because the one that was there was leaving the next day...the same day we arrived! God is perfect in His timming, isn´t he?!
The following pictures are of some of the many surgeries and wound managment that they did, Mario and I were privaledged to assist them in some of these...
Severe finger wound...
This little girl broke her arm in the earthquake and it had healed wrong, she was sent out to get an X-ray at a local hospital that was set up that had that kind of equipment...
The first time this lady came to the clinic she was screaming the first day we arrived and became Marcelos first patient. She had broken a toe when a wall fell on her foot (after the earthquake) she begged that we would not cut her toe so Marcelo was able to put a pin in it (with a manual drill!),
He gave her medication against infection, but unfortunatly the Hatians are not very good about taking their meds. On our last day she returned and unfortunatly we had to amputate 3 toes and some of the foot about the toes...I was so sad for her and as she waited for the surgery I sat with her outside and prayed with her, she began to cry and I couldn´t hold back my tears either...
I know she will be ok....the most important thing is that now she knows that Jesus loves her because through a translator I was able to share about Jesus with her. I knew she understood when after the surgery she called for me and I held her as she cried her loss one more time...It was hard to see her go...
This boy had a severely swolen arm, looks like there was some internal bleeding...
Despite all the crying and sadness around us, we also had moments where I could not hold in my joy...4 little babies were born while we were there...Marcelo did the first birth. Little John was born to a 15 year old mother amidst this tragedy... I had the trivalege of being right there and watching as the little boy took his first breaths...
We were there to help the young, scared mother accept her baby and nurse him...
We were there to help her give little John his first bath...
We were there the moments mommy didn´t want to nurse...
At first we were afraid that the mom did not want to keep the baby, but we walked her through all the steps of motherhood, and sent her home praying and trusting that the Lord would fill her heart with love for her child...on our last day in Port-au-Prince we were delighted when suddenly there came little John snuggled in his mother´s arm, and accompanied by his proud grandma....mommy was all smiles!!! Praise God!!!
This little boy (it´s common for moms to braid little boys hair in Haiti) had third degree burns on his left leg and part of his right leg...
I was amazed at how brave all these little kids were...
I think the case that broke my heart the most of that of this beautiful, expressive girl named Jasmin (about 5-6 years old)...Her right leg had been amputated right after the earthquake, and she had also lost her father in the disaster...she came in for wound management and to take out stitches, but what we also discovered when Fernanda was changing her dipper is that she has been severely abused, she had some scarring in her anus and no himen...the realization that someone could do something like that left us in shock and horror....and how to tell her mom about it? I ran to get the Haitian Christian doctor that was with us in the camp and Marcelo explained the situation to him....and he told the mom as best he could.
We prayed for her and wept together. I found comfort at the time in the fact that she told us that she had become a believer after the earthquake...God is still in control!
In the clinic Jasmin received a pair crutches and we all cheered her on as she took her first steps again! Praise God for people who donated these and other supplies...he or she probably has no idea about Jasmin´s story, but I pray God will extend His blessings over everyone who gave so generously.
This brave boy cried silently as one of his toes was amputated...
A time to comfort...
We gave a warm welcome to little Marco, the second baby born while we were there...
What will happen to this generation?
What will their future be like? My prayer is not that they will have riches, but that they will know a new Haiti under the leadership of the one true God!
These two cuties used to be 3 (triplets) the dad and one of the babies died in the earthquake leaving mom with the two babies and an 8 year old boy to take care of...
And look at how precious this little albino boy is...praise God he has a mom that loves him so much.
Thank you for your prayers and support! Let us not forget about Haiti as time goes by, but pray that the Lord will lift up a new nation that will serve Him only...much remains to be done, thousands of people still need not only physical healing, but emotional and spiritual healing, hundreds of orphans wait for families to take them in, who knows how many children continue to be abused day after day with no one to protect them, who knows how many people are living in camps under a few sheets and tarps pasted together, with no sewer system, or even a door to give them some dignity when they need to go to the bathroom...
There is still much to be done!
(above) a picture with some of our new friends from YWAM Dominican Republic (and Jon, a nurse from the States in the dark blue shirt)
(below) One of the Haitians that stood out to us for his leadership and servant heart was Peterson, a young YWAMers who took us to see a house that he and his wife want to buy to make into a YWAM base which he will direct. He challenged us to pray that God will bring raise people who will help him purchase this land and rebuild the fallen house....it was a profetic moment where we laid hands on him and prayed. I belive God put this in his heart, so that this base can be a point of reference for Port-au-Prince...
Well, much more happened that I won´t be able to get to in this blog, but I praise God for letting us live this amazing experiece....Sometimes we think missions is only preaching the gospel from house to house or from a pulpit, but in my journey I have found that most of the time we spend mopping a floor, wipping a runny nose, giving a glass of water, or just cleaning a dirty toilet!
In our short time in Haiti, we may not have changed a lot, but I know we made an impact because everyday people tapped us on the shoulder and said thank you for cleaning that...
One of the people we must have had a great impact was the Haitian police, who were with us in the building still and just observing us all the time. On the last day our ride to the bus station forgot about us, so the police took us in their car themselves, when we got to the station there were no more busses leaving for the next two days....guess what happened?! The police themselves took us all the way to the R.Dominican boarder...almost 2 hours away for free!! (of course we gave them a little something).
