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Reaching The Nations…One Soul At A Time

“For the PROMISE is for you and your CHILDREN and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” Acts 2:39

Over 350,000 children have been displaced due to the January 2010 earthquake that devastated this already impoverished country. Our vision is to fund and build an extensive mission compound which will include: an orphanage, a primary school, a medical/dental clinic, missionary quarters to house short-term teams, and a solid Bible-teaching church and worship center. By hiring local Haitians for construction and security, we can create employment opportunities to stimulate the Haitian economy. By starting the Promise Child sponsorship program, we can hire local teachers and provide for the basic needs of children including: food, clothing, & school supplies. We will be partnering with Taste of Living Water to provide clean drinking water for the facility and the community through well projects. A compound like this will provide a long-term practical ministry base for countless ministries to partner with. Through meeting basic physical needs and providing a spiritual refuge for the Haitian people, the love of Christ will shine forth, bringing open doors for the gospel to be preached, allowing us to be a part of fulfilling the great commission to “GO and make disciples of all nations!”

We have two exciting events coming up that may help us realize our vision in Haiti.

We have an event that has been confirmed for March 7th at:
St. Andrews Presbyterian Church,
600 St. Andrews Road,
Newport Beach, CA 92663

The concert begins at 4:00 pm and the admission is free.
We hope to see you there!

For more information, please go to: www.jungtrio.com

Also, please keep in prayer a benefit concert that may be taking place in April with the band, “P.O.D” headlining. The promoter has confirmed that the Lord has put Promise Child on his heart. If this goes through, it would really help jump start our vision for Haiti.

Until the last one hears,
Pastor Brent Kaser
Founder/Director of Promise Child
714-968-4823

New Missions Website
Many of you know that Calvary Chapel WestGrove is a big supporter of Promise Child. CCWG has a passion for discipleship and is funding discipleship training in all the countries Promise Child serves in. CCWG has just launched a new missions website that gives information about mission trips to all the Promise Child countries. If you have ever prayed about joining a trip to Uganda, Nepal, India, Sudan, or Kentucky check out the website at ccwgmissions.org

Sponsorship
We currently have 10 children available for sponsorship.
100% of every dollar donated to child sponsorship goes directly to the child or designated project. If you know of anyone who would like to sponsor a child, please feel free to forward this email or direct them to our website at promisechild.com

Reaching the Nations…One Soul At A Time

Well our time here in Haiti (for at least this trip) has come to an end. We pack up and leave early tomorrow morning for the Dominican Republic. We will stay the night there and catch our flight out Monday morning.

Today was an amazing day. We headed out to a small fishing village about two hours outside of Port-au-Prince. There is probably a couple hundred people (including the children) living in this small village. We went there to distribute some of the rice that we were able to purchase through your support and prayers. What an awesome thing to think that the whole village went to bed tonight with a full stomach. Before we left we were able to visit a couple of huts and watch them cook some of the rice we gave them… wow that was an exciting thing to see.

While we were in the village we were able to provide some basic medical care for the people. We brought with us all the antibiotics, medications, and first aid supplies. It was quite a sight. There were so many needs. We treated everything from Herpes, Scabies, Abscesses, and infected wounds… and so much more. It was heartbreaking to see how little these people have. Even the basic healthcare needed to clean cuts and scrapes isn’t even there. One girl we saw had a cut on her ankle about the size of a silver dollar.

What happened was she fell and scrapped it on a rock (like any kid does) but due the lack of medical knowledge and basic first aid care her little cut turned into a massive sore. We were able to clean out the sore that was packed full of dirt and riddled with infection. As well as give her bandages, training on how to care for it (which we taught her mom), and antibiotics to help fight further infections. There will be a team coming out the beginning of next week that we will have head out to the village to check up on this girl and see how she is doing. If we wouldn’t have arrived when we did with the needed medications most likely she would have lost her foot. However, she is not out of the woods yet and needs a LOT of prayer.

While in the village we were also able to shoot pictures and take down all the kids’ information for Promise Child to create profile cards and get sponsors for each of the children. This was one of my favorite times because I was able to get down in the dirt and take all their pictures and teach them how to give a high five and knuckles (slam-it… for you hip people). There was lots of smiles and laughter.

My heart was truly filled with joy just hanging out in the baking sun with those kids. Each one of them is a beautiful creation of God and is so precious. Please pray for all of them. And if you are interested about sponsoring any of these children or any other children Promise Child has adopted please visit their website at www.promisechild.com or e-mail Pastor Brent at promisechild@mac.com.

All together this has been a wonderful trip and God has so much in store for this country. I want to thank you all for all you love, prayers, and support. When I get home I will be uploading all the videos that I have shot so you can get a better picture of life and ministry down here in Haiti. Meanwhile, I have been able to upload hundreds of pictures for you to view. You can access those at http://www.sgwm.com/newsblog/.

I look forward to connecting with you and further sharing with you what the Lord has laid on my heart and Pastor Brent’s heart for Haiti. We desire to continue providing ongoing medical and food relief for the people down here. Also, there is an amazing opportunity for discipleship of hundreds of pastors that are connected with Pastor Marcel and are hungry for discipleship.

So we are praying that in about 6 week we would be able to travel down here again and continue the work we started as well as put on a Pastors Conference (there are teams lined up almost back to back from now until then from various Calvary Chapels.).  In addition, we desire to organize a community building plan for the small fishing village we visited today. We are praying through a couple of things like a fish hatchery (they already run one out of makeshift cages), a boat and net project, agriculture, etc… Please pray with me as I seek the Lord for SGWM role for where God is calling us in Haiti.

If you feel the Lord is putting on your heart to travel down to Haiti and assist us in the ministry here I want to welcome you. Please contact me at mikethiemann@sgwm.com and let me know. We are also looking for medical, construction (i.e.; masonry), water purification, and other professionals. So if you know anyone that would be interested please forward our information on to them and I will get them plugged in on a team.

Once again thank you for all your prayers and you labor of love. Please continue to pray about supporting our efforts here in Haiti by donating through the Haiti Relief Fund on www.sgwm.com.

God Bless,

Mike

Director
Saving Grace World Missions

For more information please visit:
http://www.sgwm.com
http://twitter.com/sgwmissions

“Reaching the Nations… One Soul at a Time.”

We have seen our food relief stretch to many different areas, mainly away from the dangerous streets of Port au Prince. We have given food out to widows at the church, distributed food to local pastors, and distributed massive amounts in local villages. We traveled back through the marketplace to the warehouse to purchase more bags of rice. As the truck moved through the crowds of people, a little girl in a dirty white dress was following the truck with two rolls of salami for sale. As she followed us, I would bring the camera up and she would shyly turn away. I felt compelled to buy her salami when the truck stopped, but once we stopped she was strangely gone.

I was moved to tears as I saw an old woman selling plastic bags on the crowded streets. She was hunched over, and seemed to have a hip injury. Both of her arms were full with bags very much like the ones we throw away from the grocery store. She was probably selling them for change. The wind was strong and one of her  black bags fell from her arm. She chased her flying bag down the street and she nearly fell over as she reached down to grab the bag. The sad reality is that the little things we throw away at home, people here in Haiti are running down the street after simply to survive.

Eventually we saw over 100 patients, and had many more people make decisions for Christ. Another awesome thing that happened yesterday was being able to get into the U.N. Headquarters in Port a Prince. We were debriefed on many situations and met valuable contacts that may soon help us with food aid and medicines on future trips.

Today was the last official day in Haiti for the majority of the team and it was by far one of the most rewarding and yet, most challenging. We brought our mobile clinic and food relief to a village outside of Port au Prince.

As we arrived, we were greeted with happy smiles and little hands reaching out to ours. The children in this village are longing to be loved and were warm and open. Some were clothed with torn, dirty garments, while others had no clothes at all. I sat back and watched the team as they tried to absorb the surreal situation. I believe most were instantly hit with the simple thought of the many blessings we have at home.

Joe greeted the large crowd that was waiting to receive rice, and was hit with emotion and unable to address the people. Later, Tracy stood in awe as a little girl clung to both of her hands affectionately …she whispered to me “I think I found my Promise Child.”  The members of this village stood orderly in line with their buckets, pans and jars that would soon hold the food that they so desperately needed (and many of you provided for them). A woman in the front of the line began to worship, and everyone joined in, it was a holy moment as worship filled the air.

Once the relief rice was distributed, our teams broke into two- one team working on Promise Child profile cards for the children, and the others starting to see patients. The room we used for the clinic was built of sticks, with palm fronds tied together with netting, twine, barb wire and any other material that could be wrapped around the branch support beams. The first little girl we saw had an open wound on her ankle, with no clean water in this village the small wound had become badly infected. Her entire ankle was swollen.  As our doctors cut away the outer infected tissue, the little girl bravely endured the pain. She would periodically wipe away the tears that she wanted no one to notice.

The next patient was a little boy who was three years old. As he entered the clinic, he was wide-eyed wondering what was going on. He had an abscess on his left buttock. We made a make-shift operating table with two fifty pound bags of rice, told his father that what we are going to do would hurt, and began to pray. As the doctors punctured the abscess the boy began to scream in Creole; if we had to guess what he was saying it would be “why, why, why?” he continued to wail as the team pushed out about a cup of infection. The pain was quickly over and he was back running around with the other children. I know one thing is certain… the next time a bunch of Americans come into this village, this little boy will be running (but at least he will be running without an abscess).

While it sounds harsh, our team worked with amazing compassion, praying prior, during, and after every procedure.

The Promise Child team was overwhelmed trying to keep up with all the children. Finally after a bit too much chaos, Joe came over and got things instantly under control.  For two hours straight, photos and profiles were taken of these precious children. The stories were all the same… no favorite color, no favorite food, and no hopes or dreams for the future. We hope to change that by providing for the basic needs of these hurting children and sharing the love of Christ with them through Promise Child.

The team finished the day by walking through the village, entering huts, hearing stories, and praying and encouraging the people.

If anyone says short term missions teams make no difference, I would strongly disagree. The love of Jesus has been poured out on the Haitian people by this team, and that can change everything. People are reaching out for the hand of God like never before and I feel privileged to be traveling with this amazing group of short term missionaries who have been the hands and feet of Jesus in this place.

Can we really make a difference in this broken country? I believe the answer is yes, as the Holy Spirit moves through the ruins into the hearts of the people who are so desperately looking for answers and hope, this place will be changed.

Can the love of Christ really make a difference in Haiti?…you bet it can, and we are experiencing it first hand. Thank you all for coming along on the journey with us. Through your prayers and support we have brought hope through Jesus Christ.

Until the last one hears,
Pastor Brent on behalf of the Haiti mission team.

Another day is finished here in Haiti and I can’t believe how fast it has gone by. I guess time fly’s when you are as busy as we are here.

This morning we headed out to the church compound to start another day of medical relief. Once we got the team set up there Pastor Brent from Promise Child, Joe Pedregrass from Tru Hope, and I headed over to Port-au-Prince to attend an NGO meeting on the UN headquarters base. It is amazing to see how God is with us on this trip. We parked right outside of the massive UN base and walked up to the check-in window and waited in line for a few minutes. As we were standing there a Haitian security guard who oversaw the entrance gate walked up to us and asked us if we were Americans (in perfect English). He told us that he lived in Miami for 14 years and loved America. He asked us where we parked and we told him just down the street… he told us to go get the car and he would let us into the compound. We sent Joe to go tell the guys to drive in and they flagged us right through security. Once in we found help to lead us through the maze of tents to the NGO registration tent.

As we walked around we saw that most of the large organizations including UNICEF, WFP, and World Vision have tents stationed in a specific location within the compound.

Once we registered the next step was to contact a “cluster leader.”  Each type of relief (food, water, health, education, etc) is divided into its own section or a cluster, with the leader supervising the operation. There are many meetings that take place on a daily basis for the various relief clusters.

We attended some meetings and talked to a LOT of people and found out a lot of information about various organizations that can help us out with medications and food.

We also connected with a lady who is with an NGO assigned to the Croix Des Bouquet (pronounced “Quada Bouquet” where we are located) region.  She is an Israeli and was here with an Israeli relief organization.  Much of their funding is coming from a larger organization called Operation Blessing.  At Crois Des Bouquet, their NGO set up a small clinic which they ran at the same time as us here in Crois Des Bouquet.  They have completed their time in the area and are leaving Haiti.  However, she felt that we should link up with Operation Blessing who were impressed with the needs of the local community in regards to their water needs and have a vision to bring water purification systems to every home in the area. Isn’t that amazing! Let me paint the picture for you. There is no clean water in this area except bottled water… which is too expensive for the common person to afford on a daily bases. There are about five working wells in the town of about 500,000 and due to the earthquake the well water has been contaminated and needs treatment for it to be safe to drink. Many of the people don’t have any treatment options and are forced to drink this water and are getting sick. So the fact that they have a heart to bring water purifying systems in this area is an amazing thing. We are in the process of connecting with Operation Blessing to figure out how we can work together in this effort.

We were not able to attend the food cluster meeting today but received all the contact information we need to network with the various food distribution centers in hopes of receiving food to be able to distribute to the people within Pastor Marcel’s church and community.

On a different note (but still in the context of food) we were able to purchase 10,000 pounds of rice for Pastor Marcel to distribute to his congregation. We crunched the numbers today and figured out some basic statistics… To feed a family (average size in Haiti is 5+) for two weeks (50 lbs bag of rice) costs $30 that works out to be about $2.14 per-day.

Well, that was my day today. I know it doesn’t sound to exciting on the “missions” front. But this was probably one of the greatest days we have had here in Haiti. The contacts that we made are amazing and have the potential to help us massively by providing us with much needed supplies.

The rest of the team had another great day serving in the clinic we have set up and saw probably about 70-80 patients today. We had some interesting procedures today with patching up sliced open fingers, draining a cyst on a ladies face, and prescribing much needed antibiotics and medicine for the people.

Tonight after dinner we were able to interview Pastor Marcel’s kids that he has adopted for Promise Child profile cards. Pastor Marcel has 15 kids that he has brought into his house and adopted (along with his 6 daughters… yep that’s 21 kids!). It was a fun time hanging out and talking with all of them.

Well, I think that is about it for today. Please keep us in your prayer as we finish up our last day of ministry tomorrow. We are all feeling tired as we have been running hard sense we left the States. The team is doing great and spirits are high as we are all excited and amazed at all the things that God has done.

I want to thank you for your prayers and your support.

God Bless,
Mike

Director
Saving Grace World Missions

For more information please visit:
http://www.sgwm.com
http://twitter.com/sgwmissions

“Reaching the Nations… One Soul at a Time.”

Well today was a different day of ministry. I think the best way to describe it would be – a time of learning. After devotions this morning with the team we headed out to find a food storehouse where we could purchase food in bulk. Once again the Lord led us to the right place and we were able to purchase 100 bags of rice to give to families in need. Pastor Marcel has about 20 satellite churches that have branched off of his fellowship into the surrounding communities and villages. A lot of those pastors have contacted Marcel and told him that they are running out of food and that the people in the churches are quickly running out of food. So Lord willing we will be able through Marcel to put this food into the hands of the pastors of these churches so that they can help distribute it to their fellowships. We also hope to purchase a lot more food in the near future. Please pray that the Lord would provide all the finances needed. Also, as we spoke with the storehouse manager, he shared with us that there are no more shipments of food coming in to the country.

Yes the NGO’s and various governments are distributing food but the local business’ and economy will be suffering even more in the near future due to lack of inventory on an ongoing basis. It is our heart to come alongside the local contacts we have made with the Haitian business owners; like the pharmacy and the storehouse, and use them as our suppliers so that we can do our part in helping not only feed the people but also give the economy a boost. Yes it might be a little cheaper to purchase food over the border in the Dominican Republic but once you include the transport costs and import taxes the savings would not be worth it. So we think it would be better ministry to simply invest in the local businesses and help them, in the small way we can, get back on their feet.

After we finished purchasing the rice we started the long, smoggy, traffic congested, journey into Port-au-Prince. To be honest we were all in shock. It looked like a war zone. Houses and building totally demolished and people sleeping in makeshift tents out on the streets. We were able to travel around the city and view the Parliament building, the massive Catholic Church that was almost totally destroyed, and many other prominent buildings brought down to a pile of rubble.

I have uploaded a couple hundred pictures into our Haiti Picture page (see www.sgwm.com/newsblog and click on the Haiti Picture tab) for you to look at. To be honest it is hard for me to type and describe the devastation that has taken place here in Haiti. I think to be honest I am still trying to process all the things that I saw today. Doing missions I have seen a lot of death, sickness and poverty. But I have never seen anything like what I saw today. The feeling that goes through you is something like total hopelessness. However, we have a God that is ALL POWERFUL and full of HOPE and even though we are weak He will always remain strong and able. And as I have been praying over the immense task ahead of us the Lord keeps ministering to my heart this saying, “I want to rebuild Haiti upon My Righteousness.” This is a county that is riddled with corruption from the top down and I believe God wants to move in the hearts of the people of this nation and bring them into fellowship with Him. That’s my prayer and my heart for this nation… would you please pray with me?

After we traveled through the city we stopped to get some gas and ran into a patrol of US Army Rangers. We first walked over to them and gave them all handshakes and hugs and thanked them for serving our Country. Then we had a sweet time just hanging out with them and hearing their stories and struggles with what is going on down here and we were able to get a lot of “Intel” (keeping with the Army lingo) from them on various ministries and NGO’s that they have run into. Please keep our Guys (US Army) in your prayers as they serve. One of the stories they were telling us was about the prisoners that have escaped from the prison that totally collapsed during the earthquake. They were sharing about how all the gang leaders that were in prison have returned to “reclaim their territory” and the gang violence in downtown Port-au-Prince has skyrocketed. They were sharing how they hear the gunfire all night long from the gangs fighting each other.

From there we drove back home for the night and had a sweet time of fellowship and debriefing as a team. Please keep us all in your prayers. We still have a few days of ministry ahead of us and are all feeling a little tired. Praise God that none of us has gotten sick.

Again, please check out the photos on http://www.sgwm.com/newsblog as well as keep helping us spread the word about what God is doing down here by re-posting these updates and photos on your facebook, myspace, twitter, blog, etc. I also want to thank you for all your prayers… please keep them coming.

God Bless,
Mike

Director
Saving Grace World Missions

For more information please visit:
http://www.sgwm.com
http://twitter.com/sgwmissions

“Reaching the Nations… One Soul at a Time.”

As we drove down the crowded, narrow, broken streets we were amazed that the cattle truck that our team pilled into did not crush any of the toes of the vendors walking dangerously close to our truck. Some moved baskets full of potatoes, onions, and spices aside to let us pass, and others, who were carrying their produce on baskets on their heads, turned sideways to let the truck go by. You would think a situation like this in Haiti would cause fear in the team, but all we had to do was give a little smile or wave at the Haitians and the hard look in their worn faces quickly turned to a smile or a wave back.

We finally made it to the warehouse, and rejoiced as we saw that the warehouse had thousands of bags of rice. We decided this would be a perfect opportunity to use some of the funds given to Promise Child and CCWG for food relief. We negotiated telling the local owner that we wanted to give back to the community and at the same time wanted a fair price. After about thirty minutes of friendly haggling, we came to an agreement and purchased 5500 pounds of rice! Now that we have formed a friendship with this man we can’t wait to come back and buy thousands of pounds more with the funds many of you have so graciously provided.

Because buying the food took so long, we decided to head into Port au Prince rather that go to the village. I watched the team respond to the scene of the devastated city. Some of them gasped, others pointed out destroyed buildings, some took photos, and many wept as they felt first-hand the pain the people of Haiti are going through. Tents cities are everywhere and our hearts wondered how all these people will be reached.

During our long trip through the ruins we had to stop for gas. As we filled up, some of our U.S. military boys came rolling up, and our team was drawn to them like magnets. They shared with us inside information about how they have been helping to guard food distribution being run by World Vision. They said things are slowly getting better, and more and more people are being reached with relief. The city is showing signs of life as vendors and people are once again selling and walking on the streets. Our military boys asked our team doctors what they could do for the stomach pain that the malaria medication was causing. They showed us how much they have been getting bitten by mosquitoes and shared how they just want to get back onto U.S. soil. It was a blessing to minster to them. Let’s not forget to remember our own military in our prayers.

Tomorrow we will be seeing patients in the medical clinic again, and will be able to pass out food to the people as well. We will go to the village on our last day here with food and a mobile medical clinic. As always, we are grateful for your prayers. Please pray that our team’s morale will stay high in the midst of all the sicknesses and hard stories that I am sure will come again tomorrow at our clinic. Also join us in praying for the Spirit of God to move as we minister the gospel of truth.

Until the last one hears,
Pastor Brent on behalf of the Haiti mission team.

Well today was another jam packed day of ministry. After a short time of devotions and a really good (and needed) breakfast we headed out with the intention to try to hunt down much needed medicine. The doctors that came down with us brought a whole bunch of various medical supplies that mainly focused on what the internet and CNN was telling us about all the trauma, lack of water and food, etc… Which all those things were true but we were in desperate need of more focused medication that dealt with the issues people were having like , malaria, worms, vaginal infections, stomach issues, etc… The first day of medical triage was a great assessment day that showed us a lot about what we needed to focus on. So this morning we headed out to a local pharmacy praying that we would be able to find the medication we needed at a price that was affordable. In our hearts we all feared that we weren’t going to be able to find any medication at all… and if we did find some that it was going to be so radically inflated and we weren’t going to be able to afford it. But, once again, God showed up and directed us to the perfect pharmacy that had EVERYTHING we needed and the prices were extremely reasonable. It was awesome seeing the doctors in the little pharmacy that was about 10×10… they were like kids in a candy store. We purchased about $900 worth of medication and headed off to the church to set up the clinic again. (Photo above: Devo’s)(Photo below: Medical Clinic)

Today there was a new sense of excitement as the doctors felt better equipped to treat patients. All together we were able to see about 200 patients and all of us on the team jumped right in and ministered. It was great to see how God brought this team together and quickly knitted our hearts as a single unit. (Photo Below: This is the girl with the gash in her calf.)

I was able to assist in the clinic today helping with some basic first aid. There was a girl that came in today that had about a 3 inch gash on the side of her calf. A block fell on her during the earthquake and this was the first opportunity she had to see a doctor and get it patched up. It was amazing to me that it took this woman three weeks to be able to receive medical attention. It was a harsh reminder of the urgency there is down here… it’s literally a life or death situation. Even more, one of the medical guys that came down today was treating this little girl who had a braided necklace on. He asked the translator what it was and she explained to him that the girl was first taken to the witch doctor for treatment and that this necklace was supposed to… I guess summon out the bad spirits within her and heal her. This further echoed the point I just made about it being a life or death situation. But let me say this – it’s a spiritual life or death situation even more. Church, this is real and God is using us down here to bring hope to these people in Jesus’ name and God wants to use you also. Please continue to pray for these people.  (Photo: below: Medical Clinic)

As a team we were all able to pray with various people today and there were about 8 people we all lead in the, “sinner’s prayer.” One story was amazing and I would like to share it with you.  There was this young woman that came in to get some follow-up treatment from some injuries she received as a result of the earthquake. She was telling us that before the earthquake she was so hard towards Jesus Christ, wanted nothing to do with him, and harbored a lot of bitterness in her heart. She explained that during the quake she was hurt and called out for help and no one came… a few minutes later when she was afraid she wasn’t going to make it she cried out to Jesus for help and out of the blue someone walks right into where she was and carries her out. She looked us in our eyes and said, “I now believe Jesus is real and am ready to give my life to him.” Isn’t that amazing! (Photo: Wonderful children)

After we wrapped up the medical clinic it was just about time for church.  We all met outside under a massive tent. Pastor Brent gave an amazing message on how God wants to rebuild Haiti and pour out His Spirit upon the people. It was such a blessing to sing and worship with them. Even though we don’t speak the same language we were united under the common bond of worshiping our God. And my favorite part of the night was after Pastor Marcel closed the night everyone came over and gave all of us hugs and thanked us. Now let me paint the picture for you… there were over 400 people at the church service tonight. We were giving hugs for about 15 minutes. It was easily the highlight of my trip. My heart yearns for these people and I have prayed for these people for a long time and to sit in a church service with them… and then get the opportunity to embrace them and say, “God bless you,” put such a huge smile on my face and filled my heart with great joy. It was such a blessing.  (Photo below: Church Service)

After we said our good nights to everyone we headed back to the house for a much needed dinner of beans and rice and a sweet time of debriefing with the team.  (Photo below: Church Service)

Well that was our day. I hope you are blessed by reading these updates. Please continue to pray and spread the word about what the Lord is doing down here. Also, if you are lead to give you can do so by visiting www.sgwm.com and clicking on the Donate to Haiti button.

May God Bless You,
Mike
(photo: medical Clinic)

Joe used his emergency training to the fullest today. It’s not everyday you get to see an ex-bouncer treat a four year old little boy’s infected ear with such gentleness…it was the love of Christ in action.

With Adrian & Jay doing all sorts of medical procedures, we must have treated another 200 patients TODAY.  I was awestruck as the team became one united MASH unit. By the way, I am ready to test for my pharmaceutical license, as I spent most of the day setting up and dispensing medications.

This afternoon, Jay was hit with the reality of this demonic society. Demonic possession and oppression have been common, but we have gone out knowing our Lord is more powerful than our enemy.A two year old little girl came in with severe cuts & rashes all over her body. The parents took this child to a local witch doctor and he tied a colorful string around the girls neck with strange knots that were supposed to cure her. At seeing this, Jay wept as he recognized how far from Jesus some people here really are. The team rallied around Jay with scripture and the word of God. The way the team lifted up their emotional brother was one of my highlights from the day.

Tracy, Rick and Bruce were manning the prayer room and every single person who was seen in the clinic was prayed for. Many received the salvation today as the message of the gospel went out to every single person who came to the clinic. We realized yesterday that the most important thing we can do is lead people into the throne room of our gracious God.

We shared with an eighteen year old boy who was suffering from malnourishment. Food is scarce, both his parents have lost everything and have no way to feed their family. This is a common theme as food is becoming harder and harder to find. Pray the relief gets here soon.  We focused our attention to this young man’s spiritual needs, told him to hold onto Jesus, as we silently prayed for God to provide. We asked if we could take a picture with him so we could remember his face and a bright boyish smile appeared. It was as if just being here brought him hope.

In the midst of such despair there has been incredible praise reports as well. One woman who had rejected Christ time and time again shared the testimony of the day the earthquake hit. As her home began to crumble she cried out for help but no one came, then she shouted the name of Jesus, and the help came. After this surreal encounter with God, she has surrendered her life to Him.

We hosted church service tonight and the Word of God went out powerfully, and the people were uplifted as a message of hope was poured out from heaven.

The message closed with Isaiah 61: 1-4

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up the former devastations;
And they will repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.”

After the service Mike (from Saving Grace World Missions) was blown away with the love he felt as the entire congregation gave each team member long, sincere hugs. The people in Haiti are so encouraged that we are here. We are so grateful you have been partnering with us through your prayer & financial support.

Tomorrow, we will be heading to “Ground Zero”, a refuge camp, and to a rural village outside of Port au Prince to provide food relief. I am sure it will be another day full of emotional ups and downs as we see the devastation first hand. As always, your prayers are treasured.

Until the last one hears,
Pastor Brent on behalf of the Haiti mission team.