MNA Disaster Response to Haiti

2011-10-13T19:37:00.001-07:00

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"Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit you would stay out and your dog would get in." Mark Twain

End of the June construction trip

2010-06-18T02:32:00.000-07:00

Good Evening…

Just a short one tonight…I am back in the states. I get to spend the night at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and fly out tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. This was a good trip with a good group. We were able to accomplish a lot and get started on the path of building homes that should stand up under future earthquakes or hurricanes.

Please continue to keep El Shaddai Ministries International, the Haitians, Laura and me in your prayers. It appears that the enemy is putting up his resistance in this work so we must be moving in the right direction. The people in Haiti are very appreciative of the love and support that you keep sending their way.

Thanks...

David Short (site coordinator)

2010-06-18T02:30:00.000-07:00

The team shared their food with the families and watched all of the mothers give everything to the children. They were so moved by this that when we got back they sent the pastor and Gurecy out to buy some rice and oil so that everyone could have something to eat.

New Friends

2010-06-18T02:27:00.000-07:00

Coincidence?

2010-06-18T02:23:00.000-07:00

Hello again…

It was another beautiful day in paradise…actually another very warm, dusty, dirty day…but filled with much beauty. Today I once again split off from the team to order some supplies for Pastor Myrtil’s home in City Soleil as well as assess one of the widow’s homes.

The widow that we visited with is Rose Marie Camille. She lives in the community of Petion-ville. Her home was completely damaged. She was home feeling sic with her oldest daughter Betty (30) when the earthquake hit and I am surprised that they survived. She has two sons (24 and 20) who are both going to university. Above is a picture of Rose Marie and Betty with Guercy. In the background is her house…or what is left of it.

I often here people talk about events that happen in our lives as “coincidences”. Well I, for one, believe that nothing happens this way, but because God orders our lives. Here is an example. While we were walking up to check out the damaged house I realized that we were being followed by a young man in a suit. I didn’t think about it much but he kept following us. One of the first things that I was thinking about in my assessment was that it would take at least a week to clear all of this debris. It would be some pretty messy work as well as dangerous. When Guercy and Rose Marie asked the young man who he was and why was he here he let us know that he was with the government and that he was here to determine what was needed to clear this site and when he could get started. Talk about an awesome experience. After we finish the home in City Soleil we will start on this house.

Assessments

2010-06-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

The second home was Pastor Josue Jesomour’s. He has 3 daughters and pastors a Baptist church that has two services with about 600 people attending each services. His home is of similar construction and with a little more, but similar, damage. In both of these homes we could see where the slab had just slid across the walls some.

The third home was Pastor Tulus Semiva’s. This is one of the larger homes that we have visited. It is two stories, but has sustained serious damage. This is one that I believe needs to be torn down and completely replaced. How do you tell a family this? Please keep these people (and many more like them) in your thoughts and prayers as we try to come up with solutions for their dilemmas.

3 Pastors homes assessed

2010-06-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Well we are definitely on the second have of the trip. The team has come together really well and they are having a great time…even though they are pretty tired. Today they were able to finish the wall.

Today, Guercy and I went back into Port-au-Prince to start looking at the homes of the Pastors that we have been asked to work on. We were able to make it to three homes. This has probably been one of the harder days for me. For each of the homes that we visited there was enough damage to truly question whether or not they can be salvaged. Below are some pictures and information about the Pastors.

Pastor Esau Juliene has 3 little boys. He pastors a Baptist church with 500 members. His home is like so many others down here and has a roof that is made by putting up plywood, then laying out concrete blocks on their side (basically to take up space and save cost) then pouring the concrete slab. When it is dry then the plywood is removed. If you have any building or engineering background then this probably sounds pretty scary, which it is.

Not only are the walls in pretty bad shape, but the potential of the integrity of the roof being completely gone is fairly high. My plan is to run my pictures by some engineers, but my concern is that we might have to tell these families that their homes will have to be torn down and they will have to start over. There is no such thing as home owner’s insurance here.

The Youth

2010-06-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

I am always impressed with the youth that show up on these trips. Don’t ever tell me that they can’t help…they are always awesome.

Writing in Concrete

2010-06-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

We were able to get a lot accomplished today…even with 3 of our team members getting whatever I had on recently. It must have been some kind of 24 hour flu because everyone is getting better fairly quickly.

Today we focused on rebuilding the wall at the back of the compound. We are striving to work alongside the Haitians as much as possible so that we can transfer our skills and techniques to them. For instance, the team that we have with us to rebuild the wall are the contractor and 3 laborers that helped on our last house. Right now our plan is to continue using this team on other projects and eventually have them do the teaching. Above are some pictures from today.

Tomorrow we plan to finish the wall so that Sunday we can start putting in the foundation for the house in City Soleil for Pastor Moriel.

Our Haitian contractor John picked up our new techniques very quickly. By the end of the day it looked like he was really recognizing the value of what we are introducing here. Donna and Larry own their own masonry business so they were a great team to train the Haitians.

2010-06-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

Chasing down tarantulas

2010-06-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Sorry about they delay. I am not sure what I got, but I spent all day in bed with a 100.5 fever. Since we were not ready to start working on the next house the team did some work around the compound that was important to get done. From what I could tell fro my limited movement here are some pictures of what got accomplished:

Repairs to the roof edge to eliminate drips where we did not want them.

Replaced a couple of toilets.

Today we focused on replacing the wall on the back of the compound that was damaged by the earthquake. Part of what we are doing is having the contractor and some of the laborers that helped with Pastor Pierre Paul’s house help so that we can teach them how we are building safe homes in America. Above are some pictures of the day.

Sunday

2010-06-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Today was church day. We attended church this morning with about 1200 people. As usual the service was vibrant and inspiring. More of the ESMI team came in today and headed out to Les Cayes.

This afternoon we back out to the site of the corrugated tin church in City Soleil. Our plan is to build the pastor’s home there next. The only concern is that the property has not yet been purchased. Part of our approach is that we will build a house own land that is already owned by the pastor and/or his church. We should know more tomorrow whether we will build his home or work on another one.

This evening we went back to the church that we went to 3 weeks ago and presented the $1000 that was donated to the children’s ministry program. The girls that are doing the program are Amanda and Berthola. The girls were busy during the service leading the children’s church program. They wer very appreciative of the gift. Thanks for contributing..

Pastor Pierre Paul's House

2010-06-05T23:58:00.000-07:00

June Construction (David Short's account)

2010-06-05T23:55:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Well, I made it safe and sound to Haiti once again. Today ESMI had 40 people come in to work this week. Some are going to Les Cayes to work with the orphanage, some are doing some medical work and 6 joined me in Carrefour where we will work on the damaged fence at the compound as well as start working on another house. This pastor’s house will be the one out in City Soleil which I shared about on my last trip.

Tomorrow we will go to church in the morning and in the evening go to the church where the two girls that are doing children’s church go to. We will give them the gift of $1000 that some of you help contribute to. If you are still interested in helping let me know and I will tell you where to send the funds.

Today we went out to Pastor Pierre Paul’s house, which is almost completed. Above are some pictures from the house.

Site Coordinator David Short's Story

2010-06-05T01:07:00.000-07:00

In finishing the May construction trip...

Another reason that this was a hard departure is that Laura and I are approaching 6 months now of doing this work. God has blessed us with the ability to do this. God has blessed me with a wife that has been supportive by letting me run down here four times and leaving her to fend for herself at home. We still feel like God is calling us to use our gifts and talents and lifelong skills to do this kind of work for the building of His kindom. We are still waiting upon him to show us how this will be fulfilled, or if this time that we have been involved in Haiti is just a season with an end coming soon. We do not know where this journey will lead us but we do desire your prayers and thoughts for us as we joyfully and carefully look to God to lead us. What we do know is that if this is where He leads us that we will need to raise our funds as so many other missionaries do and that we might be coming to you to consider supporting us.

I thank you so much for all of your support on these trips. My next trip…and as of this time my last one scheduled is June 5^th through 12^th. I should be able to show you pictures of Pastor Pierre Paul’s finished home as well as the next project. I would like to end with some Bible verses that might help you know a little more about my heart and why I am doing this:

John 3:16-17

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Romans 10:13-15

for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Thanks for listening to my story and the activities in Haiti…

The assessment of Pastor Myrtil's Church

2010-06-05T01:03:00.000-07:00

We, the people of the US have an opportunity to help people like this rebuild their lives. I asked what it would take to buy another piece of property similar to this one so that we could use one lot for a church and one for some homes…it was around $5,000 USD. The price that we are looking at for the homes that we are building down here (12’ by 20’, hurricane and earthquake resistant) is about $4,000 to $5,000. I am sure we could build a church for $10,000 to $15,000. If you run the numbers that could be a new lot, church and maybe 4 homes for about $35,000 to $40,000. How’s that for a church building program…that is less that some SUV’s in our garages.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet for a couple of hours with Dony St. Germain, the head of ESMI. He has been instrumental in planting 42 churches here in Haiti. The vision that ESMI has for Haiti is to target 6 communities that have been badly damaged by the earthquake. The goal is to restore the homes of pastors (Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of God, Church of Christ, Nazarene, independents), rebuild about 137 churches, and help widows and those in need to be placed in homes as well. ESMI would like to build about 300 homes. ESMI currently has the funds to build 6 homes, one of which we were working on this week. ESMI has partnered with Missions in Action to raise the funds for 100 homes. There is much to do and much opportunity for us to help.

The Story of Pastor Elio Myrtil

2010-06-05T00:58:00.000-07:00

Pastor Guercy, his brother Bookson and I went out to City Soleil to visit one of the churches that El Shaddai Ministries International (ESMI) would like to rebuild. City Soleil is one of the roughest areas in all of Port of Prince and Haiti. It has a population of about 50,000 to 60,000. It is similar to East LA or the Watts and has been an ongoing area of focus for the UN peacekeepers still here. Pastor Guercy told me that there are two sides to this city…the cool side and the hot side (translated the safe side and the dangerous side). The dangerous side is row upon row of tin and tarp shacks packed together in what looks like a land fill area with no trees for shade. As you drive further out toward the bay you come to the safe side, which is basically a flood plane. It is filled with the kinds of grasses and trees and plants that thrive in a lot of water. This is where Pastor Myrtil took us to show us his church.

The church sits on a lot that measures about 45’ by 105’. You step down about a foot from the rubble road onto a ground that is soggy and rough. Centered on the lot and set back far enough where two tents could be set up for two families to live in sits the church.

The church is built out of whatever scrap lumber and corrugated tin the congregation could find. Before the earthquake this church had about 200 members, which is about the size of my church in Ohio. They have about 150 now because many of the members have moved out to more rural areas. Last year during the hurricane season the water was up to just below the floor in the door.

As we walked into the church we were met by three ladies and two children who immediately broke out in a song welcoming us into their house of worship. If you look closely at the picture you will see that the floor is made out of rubble leveled out and made as smooth as possible by chunks of concrete and tile. You can also see the holes in the tin where the rain pours in during the rainy season (May through November). As I stood here with my brothers and sisters it was all that I could do to keep from bursting into tears. We have so much in our churches in the US and yet are often unhappy with what we have. We want bigger edifices or newer features and yet our brothers and sisters in places like Haiti are satisfied with a shack like this.

In the back of the church the Pastor has started building a “home” for him and his family of 5. It is a slow project because he has to save for each part. So far he has poured the footing. It is an 8’ x 10’ building. That is smaller than most of our bathrooms and that will be their entire home.

I am sorry if this commentary about Pastor Myrtil’s church sounds like an indictment of our affluence in the US, it is more of an indictment of my own heart and what I often find important in my own life. I have often caught myself complaining about how busy work kept me or how much I need to do on my current project. Then God introduces me to a man like Pastor Myrtil. Not only does he pastor this church of 150, but he also is a pastor/teacher/leader for 4 other churches located in: Calico (75 members), Nicola (97 members), Les Cayes (200 members), and St. Mark (50 members). He rotates through these churches every other Sunday. And by the way, the Les Cayes church is about 3-4 hours away.

Hopefully you can feel with me the emotions that welled up within me as I assessed this church, met the pastor and some members of the congregation.

Pictures of Elio Myrtil's Church

2010-06-05T00:52:00.000-07:00

The end of the May Construction trip

2010-06-05T00:49:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Today we stayed at the compound for the morning and focused on getting some minor fix up jobs completed. We then went out to the job site and check on the status of the work being done by the Haitians. The floor of the house will be ready to pour on Monday and we should be able to lay some block next week. While in the area we stopped where 60 people from Pastor Paul’s church are staying and passed out some goodies to the kids and took a group picture.

Tonight we finally got that tropical storm that has been threatening all week. It has been raining for about 5 hours now and it looks like some of the roads to the airport are already getting flooded. We will leave about 6:00 AM tomorrow morning to get there in time to start sending home the team.

Thanks…

2010-05-22T08:35:00.001-07:00

My Trip to Haiti from Peter Garriott on Vimeo.

2010-05-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the women joined us at the construction site and did a great job at working with the kids and doing some basic first aid. Today they stayed back at the compound and continued to sort through the medical supplies and do some valuable cleaning around the facility. They also replaced several of our doorknobs with new ones.

While driving out to purchase some gravel for the slab, which will be worked on next week we saw some houses being built…out of lumber. We took a lot of pictures and should be contacted by the organization doing the work soon.

Speaking the same language

2010-05-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

After our day at the work site Guercy and I went to the school we visited last week to meet with some engineers from Engineering Ministries International. It was fun spending some time with a missions team that understood my background and that could talk the same language.

At the site we continued to work with the local contractor and laborers to get everything ready to pour the footings. It was a really long day because we kept having to explain the method of construction that we are going to use on this house. The Haitians were in constant disagreement with us because they do not believe that our methods will work. It was an uphill battle but I believe after today they are finally agreeing to do it our way.

Here are some of pictures of our progress.

Collaboration

2010-05-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Today we split our team and the guys (Chris, Jamin, Britt, Guercy, Bookson, and me) went out to the construction site and the women (Lillie, Lauren, Val, Judy and Tamara) stayed back at the compound to sort through the medical supplies and inventory them. The cleaned up one of the rooms at the compound and set up the shelves they could find around the compound to use.

I checked the weather for tomorrow and it is expected to be 97 with a heat index of 110. This is probably what we have had the last two days and why it has felt so hot. As I am typing this email we are watching the lightening in the distance, but as of yet we have only gotten some sprinkles.

While out at the construction site we have gotten to the point where we are hiring two of the local contractors to help with the house. Our two contractors are teaching them what we know about construction in earthquake and hurricane prone areas and they are teach our guys what works down here. It looks like we are coming up with a good middle of the road approach that should help us develop a process going forward for building homes. We are not abandoning the stick frame approach yet, but definitely need to find a more economical way to do it than buy wood supplies here.

2010-05-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

After dinner we went out into the alley behind our compound to give the team a first hand taste of normal life in downtown Carrefour. Unfortunately a picture will not give you the sounds and smells, but here are a few of our neighborhood.

As you can see the alley is pretty busy. It is like this all the time.

Tomorrow we should be able to start pouring the footings for the walls.

Thanks...

2010-05-19T00:24:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Wow, what a day! Today we went out to the site where we are constructing a home for Pastor Pierre Paul. Two of the team members are builders (Britt Dahlin and Jamin Wight) so last night we spent a couple of hours working over the plans and strategy for building stick frame homes here. Today we sent Chris and Jamin with Guercy to the “hardware” store to get the supplies we need for the concrete and to price out the supplies to build the home. As is usual in these kinds of countries we have ended up switching to Plan “B”. The cost for a sheet of plywood (1/2”) down here is $31.50 and 16’ 2”x4”’s cost $13.85 each. Plan “B” will be to construct the home out of concrete block instead of wood.

For those of you that offered your engineering/construction expertise, please feel free to give your advice. We are going to stay with a 12’ x 20’ home. We will start by pouring 6” footings to put the walls on and still do the same type of structure with a door and window in the front on the tall wall and windows on each end. We will still do a shed roof. So far our design is to put rebar coming up out of the footing every four feet and 2-3 feet tall. We will then build the wall by slipping the CMU’s over these rebar and when we get toward the end of them attach an extension by tying them together and continue this until we get to the top of the wall. On the top of the wall we will put anchor bolts out to tie a 2”x6” top plate to. This will be used to anchor the rafters (2”x6”) notched on each wall and then tie the rafters together with 1”x6” stringers to attach the corrugated roofing to.

I know this is quite a rough description, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

Today was very hot and we still have not had any rain. We did get the lot leveled and the framing in as if we were going to pour a slab. Tomorrow we will adapt it to pour the footings.

The women spent a lot of time throughout the day hanging out with the kids and women in the area, which was really cool. Please pray for the health of the team. The weather is pretty hot and the worksite is all in the sun. Tomorrow the women will be working at the Oasis compound doing an inventory of our medical supplies and getting them organized.

Thanks...

Sunday

2010-05-19T00:17:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Today we had another opportunity to participate in a church service. Today we went to a Baptist church in Port-au-Prince. Guercy has been there several times before and even preached there a few times. He prepared me by letting me know that I might be asked to share something. I was, and had the opportunity to share a short message. As with the other services it was quite an enjoyable experience.

During the church service they had a special ceremony where they recognized all of the helpers in the church with a gift. After the church service we were invited to join in a potluck for these helpers. What we found out was that the pastor’s birthday is May 15^th so the pastor has had the church set aside the third Saturday of each May to recognize all of the helpers in the church. The potluck was wonderful and the team did a great job just becoming a part of the church community.

While we were fellowshipping with the church members two girls came up to Britt and me and shared with us that they were in charge of the children’s church that meets every Sunday. Their last time to meet is June 13^th and they plan on having a celebration for their children. They want to give each of the children a small gift. I had the pastor clarify what they needed as far as funds and it turned out to be $1000, which would be a small gift for each of their 200 students. If you would like to donate to this let me know and I will tell you where the funds can be donated. I will back down here June 5-12 and will be able to bring the funds with me.

Tomorrow we head out to our site and start working on our first home.

Thanks...

2010-05-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Another quick message. We started the day off trying to get the air conditioner fixed on the car on our way to the airport, but were not successful. So we had the mechanic throw everything back together so that we could scramble to the airport to start picking up our team. Our first team member came in at 7:30 and the last one at 12:50. We lost one team member due to some kind of passport problem and two of them got delayed until tomorrow. Our total team size will be 9 after tomorrow. Traffic today through PaP was the worst that I have seen yet and it basically took about 3 hours to get from the airport back to the compound. Tomorrow we will do church, head out to the construction site so the team can get a look at it and spend the day laying out our plans for the week. We have the approval on the design and the funding to get started. We are still waiting on the generator. Apparently the port won’t release it without some government paperwork, which we are waiting for.

Thanks...

David Short

Samaritan's Purse's work at Leveque

2010-05-15T00:27:00.000-07:00

At a local school

2010-05-15T00:20:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

We had a looooong day today. We visited a school in Bolos, which is a suburb (if you could call it that) of Port au Prince. The school has 850 students that are in classes from preschool to high school. Dony St. Germain, the head of El Shaddai Ministries International and his brother Louis went to this school. The basic campus is comprised of five main buildings, two of which have sustained some damage. The director of the school has an engineering background and he has already started buttressing some of the two-story buildings and reinforcing the ceilings of some of the lower floors. We were able to give some suggestions on how to do more quality concrete work.

A great thing that happened yesterday was that I received a call from a structural engineering ministry that happens to be in the area this week and next. They were wondering if we had any buildings for them to assess. Yesterday we didn’t…today we do. Hopefully we will be able to get them to the school next week. What a great example of God setting things up for us.

The director also asked if we could help by building 3 to 4 semi-permanent classrooms. After looking at the existing tent structures that they are using we determined that the house design that we are working on could be modified slightly and turned into a classroom. We will be discussing this with our leadership and see if this would be an appropriate project for future teams to work on.

From here we went out to a new community being built by Samaritan’s Purse…Leveque. We wanted to take a look at the transitional shelters that they are building and assess their technigues. The buildings .look pretty sound, but they are design to last for two to three years. This particular community is slated to have 250 homes built at a rate of 40 per day.

To top the day off our van broke down on the way back to the Oasis compound. And guess what, it broke down right in front of a mechanics shop. The alternator burned out. It took 4 hours to get it fixed, but at least we weren’t out at the Leveque site, which was about 20 miles from the compound.

Thanks,

David Short

Progress...

2010-05-15T00:13:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

Today we focused on getting the septic tank and drainage lines completed. We started by capping off all of the open areas where the lines feed into the tank with concrete and then moved on to filling in all of the holes. The final activity was to form in the hole on the top of the septic tank, which will be used for pumping it out in the future and pouring a concrete collar on it. The final, big task will be to fill in everything and level off the area.

After dinner we drove out to Pastor Pierre Paul’s site to assess how far along it is. The pad for the house has been cleared fairly well. We asked them to make it a little more level. We were also able to assess what the prevalent sun, storm and breeze directions would be for the placement of the house.

Now we are waiting to hear back from the leadership of ESMI and MNA as to whether or not the design of the house is acceptable and how the home is going to be funded. If that information comes in by this weekend we should be able to start construction next week. If you are praying for us please pray that decisions will be made quickly and effectively.

Thanks...

2010-05-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

Day Six of May trip

2010-05-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

Bonswa…

We got off to a fairly early start today. The sky starts to light up around 4:30, not to mention the neighborhood also starts coming alive. Today Chris and I, with the help of Julian and Guercy finished the main drain lines to the new septic tank. Tomorrow we will cover them all in and can call this project completed.

We were also able to do some odds and ends kind of jobs around the compound getting it ready for the next team. Tonight we went back to downtown Port au Prince for dinner and drove through some areas that I haven’t seen yet. Still more devastation and mayhem.

Arrival of backup

2010-05-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

Today was more of a run around and planning day. We started the day off picking up Chris Kerslake at the airport. Chris will be my back up for those trips that I cannot lead here. He is from Chicago. As is usual in a country like Haiti today had its unplanned events. On the way to the airport we got a flat on the van. Fortunately (by God’s grace) the tire went flat right in front of the pick up gate at the airport so we were not late picking up Chris.

From the airport we went to a lumber supply house (I will never complain about Lowes or Home Depot again) to get some prices on materials so that I can do a rough estimate for the home that we have been asked to build. We also picked up the supplies needed to finish the septic tank lines that we will be working on today (Wednesday).

Back at the Oasis compound Chris and Guercy went to work putting in some new light fixtures and I took on the task of cleaning our supply room so that it is better organized for when the teams arrive.

In the afternoon the contingency that was doing the Disaster Response training out at Calico came to the compound and we gave them a tour of the facility. We then loaded up in the van and drove out to Mirebalais, which is about a two hour drive. The Great Commission Alliance and Mission to North America are working with the mayor of Mirebalais to build a new city to house the people that have left Port au Prince and moved out there. The mayor has donated the property and the GCA/MNA teams are almost done building a guest house there to host construction teams. The next plans are to put in some roads, a church, an orphanage/school and a medical clinic.

On the way up to Mirebalais is snapped a picture of one of the tent cities that has sprung up on the outskirts of Port au Prince. The current desire of the government here is to relocate about half of the population of Port au Prince out to places like this. As you can tell there is a lot of work to do to make these places sustainable.

Experienced in Construction?

2010-05-11T00:29:00.000-07:00

The home will be built on a hillside overlooking the bay. I have been reviewing the materials at www.shelterhaiti.org and am leaning toward a stick and frame structure.

SPECIAL NOTE: for those of you reading this that have some construction background please take a look at the above files, which is a quick work up of what I am considering. We would like to target a 12’ x 20’, single room structure. I would like your thoughts and ideas.

David Short's Sunday

2010-05-11T00:12:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a thunderstorm roll through at about 2:00 AM. It rained so hard that our patio on the second story got flooded. I would guess that we had 3-4 inches of rain. As we drove out to the property that we are going to build on we could see standing water all over the place and a lot of areas where mud has starting washing onto the roads. The people of Haiti definitely need your thoughts and prayers as they enter into the rainy season. In another month the hurricane season starts and it will get even worse.

We started today off with church. As always the service was vibrant and joyful. Today they included a baby dedication ceremony. After speaking for a while about the dedication each of the babies were handed to a leader in the church as they were prayed over.

After church we headed out to the property where we will build our first house. The church is pastured by Pastor Pierre Paul and it is located in Merger, which is about another 15 miles out of town. The church has about 500 people in it.

We stopped by the area where they are holding their temporary church services. This is the same compound that the medical team used on the last trip for their clinic. The rain last night was so bad last night out here that it nocked down the tent that they were using for their church service. I gave them some recommendations for bracing the structure in the future that might help it stand up better. There are about 60 people staying in this compound.

We also spent about 2 hours in a meeting this afternoon with a local church leader (Pastor Mani) who is over 10 churches in the area and 4 of those pastors. They were asking us to help them with their churches and we directed them to begin the process by starting to work with Dony St. Germain who is the head of El Shaddai Ministries International and who I am working with here in Haiti.

Tomorrow we meet up with Arklie Hooten (MNA) and Pastor Dony as they prepare for a 2 day workshop with about 50 pastors and 50 deacons from the area to teach them about disaster response in preparation for the upcoming hurricane season.

Thanks...

David Short's first account of the 4th trip

2010-05-11T00:10:00.000-07:00

Bonswa (Good Evening)…

Yesterday (Friday) I flew down to Miami and spent the night on the floor of the airport. I met up with our new host/translator Pastor Guercy Meme. He and I will be working together on all of the trips going forward.

On our way out to the Oasis compound I noticed that there seems to be a lot more debris showing up on the streets. I have been reading through the recovery materials being prepared by the government and NGO’s and it has been determined that one of the significant issues of the recovery will be the management of the debris.

We also saw quite a few fuel trucks lined up at the port waiting for fuel to be made available. We needed some diesel and stopped at six service stations before we found some in bottles at a roadside vendor.

Guercy and I spent some time after dinner planning our approach. Apparently we have about 137 churches that we will be helping to rebuild. Over 75% of these have pastors whose homes were damaged or destroyed. We will start with a pastor’s home so that he can serve his church better, then we will do the church, then the members. I have been tasked with coming up with the basic design and build plans. This should be a fun opportunity to use my construction and project management backgrounds. Tomorrow we go to church and then start assessing the first property to work on.

Thanks...

Arrived at Disaster Response Workshop in Cabere, Haiti

2010-05-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Have been here for several hours. Chuck Garriot is giving a presentation. Chuck was a pastor in Oklahoma City when the bombing took place. He currently ministers to PCA members who are in congress. Chuck traveled seperately from our group. The members from our team begin presenting after lunch. Topics include; Preparing for hurricanes, Overview of effective communication systems, setting up a warning system and evacuating, assembling after a hurricane, how God uses suffering for redemptive purposes. There are approximately 100 pastors and deacons present. They are very gracious, grateful for our coming to help them. Language barrier with most. Some speak English. Dony St. Germaine of El Shaddai Ministry (our partner) is the organizer and translator for the event. Tomorrow afternoon we will tour Haiti visiting our volunteer relief camps in Carrefour and Mirebalais.

2010-05-09T10:54:00.001-07:00

Arrived in Atlanta 30 mins early. Trouble finding vacant gate for deboarding. Meet up with the rest of the team at the gate at Ft. Lauderdale @730. HUGE layover

MNA Team flies to Haiti for Disaster Response Workshop

2010-05-09T05:49:00.000-07:00

By invitation MNA and El Shaddai Ministries will host a disaster response workshop for nearly 100 Haitian church leaders; pastors and deacons. The MNA team will arrive in Ft. Lauderdale Sunday evening. Flying into Port au Prince early Monday we will have two FULL days of training as we seek to equip churches in ways to respond to natural disaster through early warning systems, mobilizing churches, addressing the spiritual implications of suffering, and providing basic medical training as it is related to natural disasters. I will attempt to post to this site regularly so please check out what's happening. Thanks for your prayers-for the people of Haiti, for our families, and for our presentations and teaching. Grateful for the opportunity and know we will learn from our brothers in Haiti so that together God would be glorified in our efforts to provide response to those in need.
Thanks for your prayers.
Curt

Haiti Trip #4: May 7 through 23, Pre-trip

2010-05-07T18:13:00.001-07:00

Hello again...

I have the opportunity to lead another team to Haiti to continue doing Disaster Response work for Mission to North America (MNA). I leave tonight and will be arriving in Haiti tomorrow morning. The first week will be meeting with some of the leaders from El Shaddai Ministries International (ESMI) and MNA to do some basic planning for future trips and ongoing recovery activities, participate in a disaster response seminar being given to some pastors, travel out to Mirebilais where MNA is working with the Great Commission Alliance to build a new community, and hopefullyeet with some of the NGO's working in the area to build our relationship with them.

We will also be getting the Oasis compound in Carrefour ready for the team that will be arriving on the 15th. This team will be the first one to start working in the community. We will be rebuilding one of the churches that was damaged in the earthquake.

As usual I will try to send out daily emails with some pictures. If you would rather not receive these emails let me know and I will take you off of my list.

David Short

Oasis Compound ready for use

2010-04-10T02:13:00.000-07:00

David Short, site coordinator's last daily log for third team on site:

Bonswa...

Today is that bittersweet day of the trip...tomorrow we head home, how sweet it will be to be back with my wife and family. But we will be leaving behind our Haitian family.

The generator has not yet arrived, but we know it will arrive exactly when God wants it to be here. We did get all of the electrical setup and ready to connect when the generator does arrive. We even got our Internet satellite and wireless router set up.

A lot of today was focused on putting together the finishing touches and putting everything in storage for the next trip, which looks like it may be April 24 through May 8 with a team of 35 from the Iowa area.

This will be my last entry until after I get back. Thanks again for putting up with all of my ramblings. I know that the Haitian people sincerely appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Now that the Oasis Compound is ready for use we will start focusing on work in the community.

Another Good Day...

2010-04-10T02:11:00.000-07:00

Bonswa...

Another good day. Both the construction and medical teams have been awesome to work with.

Each day way have started the day off with singing and a devotion. Today Marty did the devotion. He shared from John 13:4-15, which is about Jesus washing His disciples' feet. He ended the devotion by having us take the te to wash each other's feet. It was quite a humbling and encouraging time.

Today we (construction team) went out with the medical team to visit their clinic. The have been working at a compound in a city farther West from here. The compound is owned by a private individual who has let a Church of God congregation come in and set up a safe place to be. The medical team has been able to see at least 100 people each day.

After visiting the clinic the construction team went to Gressier to look at one of the churches that we will be rebuiliding on a future trip.

We continued on out to Leogaine, which is where the epicenter of the earthquake was. 97% of the city was destroyed. A lot has been done, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

From there we returned to the Oasis compound and got back to work. It looks like we will be able to leave with all of the second floor of the compound building completed, which means our next trip(s) can start focusing on working on the churches in the community. We have all of the air conditioners installed (we can't use them until the generator arrives), every room painted, all the electrical switches and recepticles replaced, and the plumbing working. Tomorrow we will finish with upgrading the lights and ceiling fans and doing some final clean up activities.

2010-04-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

Day Five

2010-04-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

Good Evening...

Today was another productive day. Jim and Dick got all of the wiring set up for the air conditioners. We will be installing five of them on the second floor, which will be predominantly used as our dormitory and dining room. Since they got that done the started going through the building and replacing the switches and recepticles with the new ones we purchased.

Marty and Gene finished the men's restroom, fixed a few more leaks and got the bathroom for the Haitian staff set up.

Franz finally got all of the needed parts to get the satelite dish set up for Internet access. He should be getting it locked in on the service provider later tonight or tomorrow. El Shadai, the local Haitian church planting ministry that MNA works with here in Haiti has a radio broadcasting station in Les Cayes so they have the technical staff to get this set up and running.

The medical staff had another good day. They have encountered a lot of cases of malaria. Here they are after a long day of work eating their dinner on the porch.

Tomorrow we hope to get all of the air conditioners installed and some ceiling fans installed. Still waiting to hear something on the generator.

Thanks for all of your support.

2010-04-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

David Short's ongoing account...

2010-04-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Bonswa...

I have often heard that your third day on a trip like this is usually the day that you hit the wall. Well we hit it today. We still accomplished quite a bit, but we were all moving a little bit slower.

We got all of the drains on the roof set up so that they will now drain properly. It shouldn't be too difficult to get them set up to collect into 50 gallon drums at some point in the future.

Jim and Dick got busy with pulling all of the electrical wires for the air conditioners. This part should be pretty well done tomorrow and we will start installing the ac units. At least this part should be ready when the generator arrives. We ran out of 90 degree elbows and Jim ended up working with one of our Haitian hosts to heat up the conduit over a fire and make our own.

Marty and Gene continued to focus on the plumbing work, fixing leaks first and then getting the sinks in the men's
bathroom set up.

Gillian, one of the guards here at the compound was put to work painting today and quickly knocked out 3 rooms and a hallway. One thing that I have definitely learned about the Haitians it is that they are very hard workers. It is certainly a priviledge to work beside them here.

We were also able to get started cleaning up some of the grounds which will help in making the compound more comfortable. We also took the opportunity to go out into the street market behind our compound and it was quite an eye opener. We walked through the intersection of two streets where the garbage was filling up the entire intersection and smoldering. The vendors sitting next to the heap were calling out to us asking us to clean up the mess because they couldn't breathe. Their thought was that since we wer foreigners were there to solve these problems. It looks like the further away from the main streets that you get then the less you see of any foreign aid.

Once again we thank you sincerely for you prayers and thoughts...we definitely feel them.

2010-04-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Progress...

2010-04-02T09:14:00.003-07:00

First of all...a correction on yesterday's post. Jim and Dick worked on the air conditioning and electrical and Marty and Gene worked on the pump.

As of tonight we have running water. Marty and Gene were able to get our shopping done with Franz...one of our hosts. They slammed through getting the pump working and then they had to run around finding all of the broken pipes and disconnected faucets followed by a lot of mopping. But it all turned out well with both the women's and the men's bathrooms having functioning showers and toilets. Tomorrow the should get the shed built around the pump, filter and tank.

Jim and Dick cranked on getting everything ready to install the air conditioners. They were able to find some scaffolding so that they could run the conduit around the outside of the building. They also put in an extra breaker box to power all of the ac and ran all of the conduits through the walls. Tomorrow we should be able to start putting the ac units in the windows. Unfortunately we won't be able to use them until we get our generator. The prognosis on the generator is Wednesday...keep praying.

While the guys were doing all their work I focused on the women's bathroom. I was able patch the door where the termites had gotten into the frame, replaced the toilet tank, applied two coats of paint, got the shower going and washed down all of the tile. We have one room completed...tomorrow we should be able to get the men's bathroom set up and painted.

The medical team shared that they had a good day and accomplished a lot. Tomorrow we will continue the plumbing, painting and electrical as well as install a satellite dish for an Internet connection. Franz will be setting up wireless and leaving two laptops here for team members to use while here.

Day Three Continued...

2010-04-02T09:12:00.001-07:00

Bow Dye Bewiw (Lord Bless You)...

When we got back from church we had another great meal and then got starting getting ready for the week. The medical team took over one of the rooms and spent the rest of the day sorting out all of their equipment and materials and basically setting up a pharmacy.

The construction crew took the divide and conquer approach. Jim and Dick focused on getting the pump and tank up and running. We got quite a bit in place and after a supply run tomorrow we should be able to get the water running in the building.

Marty and Gene focused on laying out the electrical plans for getting some of the air conditioners set up in the pastor's room and dorm rooms. I spent the day organizing our supplies and being the general gofer guy (go for this, go for that).

Tomorrow things should get pretty busy so ease keep us in your thoughts and prayers. The temperature is getting up to the upper 90's with the humidity about the same so we are all pretty well drenched by the end of the day.

At the Base

2010-03-29T01:02:00.001-07:00

Day three

2010-03-29T01:00:00.001-07:00

Bow Dye Bewiw (Lord Bless You)...

We had another great opportunity to attend church. The church was
overflowing again and had at least a thousand attendees. The service
started at 7:00 AM and went to around 10:30 AM. When we arrived there
was something already going on, which we found out later was actually
the Sunday school class. And I have a hard time making it to Sunday
school at 10:00... :-(

Day two...

2010-03-29T00:56:00.000-07:00

Bonswa...

Our team made it all here. The first of us made it at 9:40 AM and the last group arrived at the compound at around 6:00 PM. One more person gets in tomorrow. We have 5 us here to continue the construction of the compound and there are 18 team members from across the country (and one from Australia) that will be doing a medical clinic throughout the week.

For those of you that followed our last trip...the septic tank cover has been completed.

We will be going to church tomorrow morning at 7:00 and then spending the rest of the day getting everything staged for the week.

Another team from the Ohio area

2010-03-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hello Again... from David Short (MNA Haiti site-coordinator)

Today begins our third trip to Haiti. This trip is comprised of 5 men from the Ohio Valley area. We will be focusing on getting the facility in Carrefour ready to use by future teams. We will also be hosting a team of 18 medical personnel that will be travelling daily to Leogaine.

Updates to follow

2010-03-21T22:42:00.000-07:00

David Short's final report as he returns from work with the Tennessee team in Haiti

Bonjour...

I made it home about 12:30 AM Thursday morning and as with all of these kinds of trips Laura and I stayed up until 2:30 catching up. God, in His incredible sense of humor, woke us up with a call at 7:30 AM from Julie (our very pregnant daughter) letting us know that she was on the way to the hospital. She was 5 weeks early at the time. Laura and I were at the hospital yesterday until around 9:30 last night.

Levi Samuel Barr arrived this morning around 1:30 AM. He is a healthy premee weighing in at 5 lbs 10 ozs and measuring 18 inches. Mom and dad (and Nonny Laura) are doing well. The next 48 hours are critical for the development of his lungs so please be praying for him.

I sill be pushing our pictures and videos from the trip up to the Flickr server as soon as possible. My next trip is March 27th so I will send more emails then. We do have 7 of us lined up to do more construction and a medical team of 18 coming down. Please keep all of this in your prayers.

2010-03-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

2010-03-21T22:31:00.000-07:00

Praise God...

Our supplies made it here around 7:00 this evening. We were able to
get everything unloaded and in a secure storage area. Apparently we
had to pay a tariff to the government as well as multiple bribes to small government officials in order to get our own, donated supplies.
When Doudou gets a chance he will add up all of the fees and let you know how much we had to pay. My request is that you contact your senator and assembly person and let them know what is really going on down here.

Today we continued with plumbing, electrical, and more cleanup. There is an abandoned pool on the grounds that we cleaned out and we were able to get some more of the plumbing out to the septic tank in place.

2010-03-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

Day 7...

Bow Dye Bewiw (Lord Bless You)...

Today was a wonderful day of rest. We left for church at 6:30 (yes, that is AM). Church started at 7:00 and ran until 10:30. We probably had close to 1,000 people at the church and I would have to say one of the most moving worship services that I have ever been to. The Haitian people are so loving and friendly...even in the midst of the most devastation and poverty that I have ever seen.

After church we rode around the area to show the team more of Haiti.

I continue to thank you for your prayers and thoughts. Our host here is Pastor Lionel Moril. He has been married for 7 1/2 months and they have a baby due in about 6 months. The church that he pastors is about 25 miles from here and he has asked us if we would pray that God would provide a vehicle for him so that he could get to his church more easily.

I hope pictures of the devastation never get too old, but I do not believe I will ever be able to truly give you an understanding of it's enormity without coming here.

May God Bless You and your loved ones.

Day 6....

Bonswa...

Well, we are on the downhill side of this trip. We are hearing rumors that our truck and supplies may be showing up tonight. Today we spent most of the day cleaning the windows and walls of the dormitory rooms to get them ready to paint.

We also did another hardware run and will be able to get the roof drains all set up tomorrow.

The team has made a lot of friends so I suspect there will be some sadness when we head out on Wednesday.

Work and play on-site

2010-03-14T06:21:00.001-07:00

2010-03-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

From David Short, on-site coordinator, Day 3 of Tennessee team's work

Bonswa...
Well we made it through another day without our shipment. We were still able to get quite a bit accomplished. The electrical team has been able to map out most of the circuits in the building. This should help a lot when we get the supplies here. We also started tearing down the existing pump to see of we can make it work. We will test it tomorrow. We also did some more work on the plumbing.

We also took advantage of the time to clean off the roof and check out the water tank for the gravity feed. Our plan is to reroute the roof drains to some collection barrels to supplement the cistern.

We were also able to get in some frisbee and soccer (with a tennis-type ball we found on the roof).

Today the temperature was 93 but the humidity made it feel like 101. So far it is getting more humid each day, but no rain yet.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers. The team is great.

Udate from team restoring the relief site in Carrefour

2010-03-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

Bonswa...

Well...the Tennessee team made it here today without a hitch. Today it was in the mid 90's. No rain yet, but it is starting to cloud up every afternoon, which usually is an indication that the rainy season is on it's way.

We have not heard yet what the status of our trucks is so please keep praying for them. Since the team got here after 12:00 we started the work day off with a great lunch...quite a feast.

Since we did not have the construction materials we spent the afternoon assessing the facility to determine what we can do without the materials. Our first big project has been to do some work on getting the sewer line to the existing septic tank ready for some repairs.

We also put our new banner up at the compound...

Well that is it for today...tomorrow should start getting pretty busy.

Teams heading to Haiti this week

2010-03-10T01:28:00.000-08:00

From David Short, the MNA site coordinator for the construction teams in Haiti:

Hello Family and Friends…

It has been a while since I have sent out an update on Haiti. We are finally at a point with our progress that we are sending our first construction team to Haiti. We have 10 men from the Chattanooga, TN who are scheduled to arrive in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thursday, March 11^th. I will be heading down there tomorrow night with an arrival in Haiti of 9:45 on Wednesday morning. We are still praying that the supplies that we shipped out from Miami will be there waiting for us.

Our focus for this trip will be to start retrofitting our compound in Carrefour to receive future teams. The locals have named this facility Oasis. Mission to North America (MNA) has 45 teams that are lining up to come down to help rebuild churches and homes once we get this facility up and running. Here are a couple of pictures of the facility that we took while we were down there.

We already have 8 men signed up for our next construction trip, which is March 27^th through April 3^rd. Our hope is to have the facility completed by then and start sending regular teams around the middle of April.

On the medical side

2010-03-02T02:31:00.000-08:00

A couple of shots from a group of doctors from Charlotte, NC, that took a recent trip to Haiti with ESMI, providing medical relief and a great account of their work at http://morethanmedicine.wordpress.com/

2010-02-24T00:39:00.001-08:00

David Short, of South Dayton Presbyterian Church (pictured in previous post), will be heading up the relief teams sent from the Ohio region. He has recently returned from a team mission to Haiti and has daily accounts of the journey at http://www.southdaytonpcachurch.org/haiti/default.htm

Here's a sample:

Friday, February 5, 2010 - Haiti Day 6

Bonjour...

Sorry about not sending out an email yesterday. After we had breakfast yesterday Bryan and I separated from the rest of the team to do a little more assessment before our long trip back to the Dominican Republic. We started out with a visit to one of our churches in Les Cayes. It was Englese Bon Berger, a church of 4000 with an orphanage, a school and a full clinic with surgery room (this part is still in development. The church was planted here 3 years ago. Part of the design of the Haitian church is to provide a holistic approach to church planting. The need is so great and more than just the soul needs to be ministered to.

After the church we checked out the guest house in Les Cayes. It is a beautiful 3 story complex, but it looks like they will need to move out until some structural analysis is done. All of the ceilings, which are concrete slabs are showing stress fractures.

Some of the things that we learned about Haiti are:

- there is 1 doctor for every 37,000 people

- there are currently 10,000 NGO's trying to help here, with no centralized organization

- education in the country

- 4% is educated by the government

- 17% is educated by the church

- 8% is educated by other organizations

- 71% is illiterate

On our way back to the DR we drove through Le a Gere (spelling) which was near the epicenter. 97% of the town was destroyed.

Update from Medical Mission Team

2010-02-22T02:08:00.001-08:00

A group of doctors and one journalist have partnered with ESMI in Haiti this week and have some amazing reports chronicled on their blog. They also have an eye-witness account from a worker at an orphanage of the earthquake. Do check out their work:

http://morethanmedicine.wordpress.com/

The Miami Connection

2010-02-21T15:40:00.000-08:00

From left to right are Curt Moore, Leslie (El Shaddai Ministries), David Short, and Dick Griffith. The group was taking a break Thursday between purchases of equipment and trips to the port in Miami. A container and 26' truck are due to arrive in Port Au Prince either today or tomorrow. Dick and David will be traveling to Carrefour to establish a long-term disaster response base camp. Please pray for their travels and safety as they undertake this great task.

Containers Due to Arrive in Port Au Prince

2010-02-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

A container and a 26' International truck should be making their way to the port at Port au Prince, Haiti today. Inside each are supplies to begin equipping a two story bungalow in Carrefour as a disaster response base camp. Dick Griffith of Chattanooga Valley Presbytery and David Short of Ohio Valley Presbytery arrived in Miami Tuesday and began making purchases based upon a take-off list for the items needed to rehab the Carrefour facility. Wiring, plumbing, tables, chairs, fixtures, tools, and a generator were purchased. Curt Moore, the MNA Gulf Coast rep. drove beds, mattresses, and other supplies from Lagniappe Church in Bay St. Louis, MS. Working with El Shaddai Ministries they brought all supplies to a port in Miami which shipped out Friday. David and Dick will be arriving in Carrefour the first week in March to begin setting up the base camp and meeting teams due to arrive March 6. Please pray that all supplies make it to their destination and that Dick, David and others will get our facility up and running in order to multiply our relief efforts in Carrefour and beyond.

Supplies to Haiti via Miami via Mississippi

2010-02-15T18:29:00.000-08:00

A truck load of steel bunkbeds and an equal number of mattresses will be driven from Lagniappe Presbyterian Church in Bay St. Louis, MS to the El Shaddai facility this week. Lagniappe hosted a number of teams in response to Hurricane Katrina and are donating much needed supplies which will be used to establish a disaster relief camp in Carrefour. Along with the beds will be a piece of heavy equipment which will be used to excavate, level ground, move concrete, and transport palletized items. God was gracious to provide for those in need after Katrina and continues to provide for those in Haiti. Please pray for Curt Moore as he travels from Bay St. Louis to Miami and for the transportation service which will haul the skidsteer. Lord willing they will all be together in Miami and will be loaded into a container along with other supplies for transport to Haiti.

And they're going back...

2010-02-15T14:13:00.000-08:00

Pastor Mike Hsu of Grace Chapel of Lincoln, NE, has just returned from a team mission of several weeks in Haiti and Mirebelais with Brian Kelso. Here is a sample of a day through his eyes. If you'd like to read more about his experience, please check out his blog: www.hsumike.blogspot.com

2/10 Successful Day So Far

We started unloading the container at about 10:30 this morning. Because the semi could not make it up the hill, we unloaded about 20,000 lbs. of supplies and walked them the 75 yards or so to the dropoff location. We had over fifty Haitians including small children and elderly men and women carrying supplies. We're talking 8 yr. olds and 60 yr. olds carrying 50 lb. bags of rice and oats on their heads. These people are amazing. Then they got the truck over the hill and we unloaded the rest of the 20,000 lbs. on location. Next, we set up the crane with directions consisting of a picture, but Frank and Gene were great. We set up the crane with two large steel beams each weighing 200 lbs., bolted to the top, and then lowererd the 4000 lb. container to the ground. This was the part of the project where it was important that we have four Americans at each corner of the container with clear communication as we lowered the container in unison. Gene walked around to make sure the container remained level and Frank, Trey, Chris and I lowered the container. We got it done safely and efficiently. Praise God. We took a short lunch break and for the last four and a half hours, we have been working with the PaP University students to get the food into family packs in preparation for distribution. This day has been amazing. This particular project is why we came to Haiti in the first place. Though delayed by a week, this has been an awesome day so far. We still plan to work into the night. As I was working alongside Ralph, the Haitian student leader, Ralph said, "we will need to play basketball" : that gets me excited.

Blessing through ESMI

2010-02-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

Ed O'Brian, who has been organizing Florida-based food donations for ESMI, has just reported that they've filled a 20-foot truck container with $3000 worth of food and water supplies, to be shipped to Haiti next week. The container full of rice, beans, tents, water, and other supplies will arrive at Gonaives, Haiti and be conveyed to food distribution sites, as well as to pastors' families that are in need, on its way to PAP.

The container's contents have been donated by people from Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church and others in the local area, and Ed estimated over 500 people got involved. Ed noted that he'd been on mission trips with Spanish River Church in the fall, but couldn't leave on the latest mission to Haiti, so his involvement in coordinating the food donation became his mission.

For those of you seeking similar ways of participating in what God's doing, Ed noted that food is becoming less of a need, rather direct monetary donations to ESMI will go further. The ministry is attempting to buy 5 trucks in order to facilitate the distributions, transportation of teams, and to serve other needs in Haiti.

A team in Haiti from Spanish River Church

2010-02-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

A team sent from Spanish River Church partnering with ESMI is doing great work at a hospital, orphanage and food distribution center in Gonaives, Haiti. Follow their movements this week through their blog: http://srcglobal.blogspot.com/

We'll continue to update on the movements of teams and supplies sent through PCA ministries to Haiti.

The Big Picture

2010-02-03T11:36:00.000-08:00

MNA Disaster Response is working to assist PCA Pastors Dony St. Germain and Brian Kelso. These men are MNA Senior Staff members and have been working in Haiti for many years. In order to determine how best to help these men and their ministries MNA Disaster Response sent assessment team, including MNA Disaster Response Director Arklie Hooten, to travel into Haiti with these men. While in Haiti these men made contact with various ministry sites to determine how best to stage MNA Disaster Response Volunteers to response to this terrible disaster.

Currently MNA staff are working with 43 church plants which had started prior to the earthquake and is ministering to hundreds of Haitians on a regular basis. They are also working with 13 orphanages with 2,200 orphans as a ministry of mercy and outreach. This ministry is also involved with numerous local church schools and micro businesses.

Many of the 43 church plants already underway are in cities outside of Port-au-Prince. Because of the intensity of the destruction concentrated in Port-au-Prince many thousands of people have fled that city in search of a more stable place to live. This large movement of people has caused many of the outlying cities to more than double in population, with no increases in infrastructure – infrastructure that was also affected by the earthquake. This has caused depletion of almost every type of resource that a city or town would normally afford.

MNA’s initial assessment is complete with the return of the assessment team this week. A second team is on the ground now assessing damage to over 30 homes of El Shaddai Ministries church members in the Carrefour/Port-au-Prince area. A plan has been established to direct the response of MNA to this disaster. Of course as with any event of this magnitude, this plan is subject to ‘tweaking’ and change as future events unfold. At this point the plan is as follows:

Mobilize medical teams as space allows. This began within days of the earthquake and is continuing. Currently teams are booked through March. If you are a trained medical provider and desire to serve you can register now. To register, see link below.

Set up earthquake response operations at Carrefour, a city near the epicenter of the quake. We are moving deliberately and as quickly as possible. This site will become the headquarters for the response. MNA Disaster Response First Responders are preparing to mobilize to secure the facility and prepare it for a long term response. We are currently gathering materials and supplies to ship to Carrefour in advance of the arrival of the First Responders. We expect this phase to take up to six weeks to complete. Once the volunteer facility is ready to go and the airport re-opens in Port-au-Prince, mobilize teams to assist in the rebuilding efforts, beginning with the homes of the members of El Shaddai mentioned above. It is absolutely cost prohibitive to send teams through the Dominican Republic and creates a significant logistical problem for coordinating over-ground transport, which is the reason to wait for the airport to open in Port-au-Prince.
Continue to provide teams to both El Shaddai Ministries headed up by Pastor St. Germain and Great Commission Alliance headed up by Pastor Brian Kelso at various short term sites in Haiti, once the Port-au-Prince airport re-opens.

We are putting together a list of immediately needed resources and will be making this list of specific needs available shortly. Please check back later this week for this list, including specific instructions regarding packaging, palleting, and shipping these resources. Please consider an immediate financial gift to support relief effort planning, assessment and setting up a base of operations that will facilitate and care for future long term recovery volunteers who will be working in difficult conditions.

Arklie, Jordan, and the Asessment team in Haiti

2010-02-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Tents Needed!

2010-01-31T00:12:00.000-08:00

In Jacmel, Haiti some 2,000 people have lost their homes and are sleeping in a field. An organization there has a plan for transitional and long term housing, but there is an immediate need for tents. We have offered to collect 650 tents and deliver them to Jacmel within the next week.

We need your help. Please consider donating a new or unused 2 pole 3-4 person tent, along with $10 to help cover shipping. Tents can be delivered to New City Fellowship (2412 E.4th St, Chattanooga, TN 37404). Checks can be made out to New City, with Haiti tents in the memo. If you are unable to send a tent, please consider sending $50 to cover the cost of a tent.
We need to move quickly!

Contact: Brian McKeon of New City Fellowship, TN

http://www.newcityfellowship.com/

Your Church can Help

2010-01-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

Food/Supplies Collection & Shipping

Your organization can partner with GCA in bringing non-perishable food and relief supply items to Haiti for the victims of the recent earthquake. The collected food and supplies will be shipped in a container down to Mirebalais, Haiti, and then taken over to Port-au-Prince to be given directly to those who are now left with nothing.

Here is how you can help:

1. *Collect food/supplies at your organization - see supply list
2. Contact GCA when items are ready to be collected - click link below
3. GCA will package the items and ship to Haiti - help with shipping costs

http://www.gcanet.org/email/earthquake3/earthquake3.htm

Call for immediate supply needs, Georgia

2010-01-29T06:27:00.001-08:00

For the PCA ministry Reformation Hope Orphanage:

URGENT!

Local Collection by Tuesday, Feb. 2nd—

Shipping Items to Our Haitian Orphanage!!!!

We have an opportunity to quick ship items to Jean Paul on Tuesday 2/2. We can provide a skid of items that will be shipped to Jean Paul as part of a larger shipment that LeSea Feed The Hungry is sending to Haiti.They are graciously allowing us to piggyback our shipment with their shipment. Time is of the essence. Please get the word out that we are collecting the following items that Jean Paul personally shared with us he is in desperate need of:

Air mattresses, blankets, hygiene products (toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, etc.), non-perishable food (dried beans, rice, canned meat, cooking oil, etc.)

The collection point will be the rear covered lower parking area of Prayer and Praise Fellowship:
6409 Bells Ferry Road
Woodstock, GA 30189

Thanks for your help!

http://reformationhope.org/haiti.htm

Monday, January 25 update from Dony St. Germain and El Shaddai Ministries-Haiti

2010-01-26T20:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow will make it 14 days since this devastating earthquake. The pressure and intensity to get aid to the people have not subsided. Time and resources continue to be our greatest challenges with still not enough food and medical care reaching the people with the greatest need. For example in Les Cayes alone, 150,000 refugees are now there from PAP. Louis wrote on Friday:

"I just talked with some key leaders in the south. The demand is so high and we don't have the means to meet it. The churches are crowded. People came from all over and they don't have anywhere to go. Most of the people, before they left the villages, sold their land and everything. So now they have to start again. Please continue to pray with us. We have so much medical need that a whole month of 100 doctors will not be enough to serve every body. So many people fled PAP with broken bones and severe, life threatening and infected injuries. We have a hospital at Bonne Fin which my father build. It has 300 beds. All of them are occupied and patients are on the floor. We have at Cite Lumiere another Medical Clinic equip with 75 beds. Same story."

Below is an update on the response that has come in to the immediate needs mentioned on January 17:

1. Containers with Food Supply via the DR-To date, ESMI has sent in 6 food containers and distributed with over 100 Haitian volunteers from the South helping.

2. Food Containers from the US- We have a container that will be ready to leave by this Wednesday from Miami to the DR. God's willing, it should be in Haiti early next week.

3. Medical Team- 47 nurses and doctors are currently in Haiti. Thanks to Lisa, Susie, Julie and Fabiana for coordinating this. They have medical teams lined up to go in and out up to the end of February. Please contact esmieletter@aol.com if you would like to be a part of a medical team.

4. Tents for Churches and homes- Thanks to Brother Ed who secured forty-five 10x12ft tents that can each house a family of 10 people. God's willing, these will be shipped by Wednesday to the DR and should be cleared by the end of this week to be given to the families most in need.

As ESMI continues to work on the above 4 needs, we will also begin to do the following:

5. ESMI has identified 400 pastors to begin a more intentional network of food distribution. On Wednesday, January 27, ESMI's leadership team will meet with these pastors in PAP. It is important that these leaders be empowered also to participate in the effort. This is a work that cannot be done alone. It is bigger than any one church or any one organization. With a unified effort, the church in Haiti can help meet the needs of her people.

6. There is the need for 3 huge tents to hold congregations with 2000 members. Most of the churches in PAP were destroyed. The congregations are in the streets. ESMI has identified 3 locations with key leaders for these.The desire is to encourage and rebuild the spiritual life of the Haitian church. What a wonderful opportunity to share the good news that in the midst of such hopelessness, there is hope in God.

7. Containers to be packed with tents, cots, sheets, blankets, food for immediate consumption, etc. God's willing, the ports in Haiti should be opening up in a week. Ed has graciously agreed to offer his time to coordinating this effort. Please contact Ed at 1-561-988-0253. He will also assist in the coordinating efforts of the food containers from Miami.

8. Pray that by the end of this week ESMI would have secured a piece of land for temporary housing.

9. There is a need for about 6 Mack dump trucks. Once the food gets to PAP on containers, it must be reloaded onto dump trucks for distribution into the different areas of need. This is the best way to get the food out into those communities. Later these trucks will be used in clearing debris and bringing in construction material. Why Mack dump trucks? They are long-lasting trucks and the parts are easily available. There are excellent mechanics, like DouDou, who can make anything go as long as they have the parts available. To have piles of food and no means to get them to the people is a dilemma that the international aid community is now facing.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

NB.

El Shaddai Ministries International, Inc. is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) Tax

Exempt Non-Profit Religious Organization. Contribution can be sent to:

ESMI

13651 S. Biscayne River Drive

Miami, FL 33161

or on line: esmihome.org

Les Cayes now has 150,000 refugees $10,000 worth of food bought in the DR, loaded on semi-truck, and shipped to PAP for $2000

Food distribution at one site.

Right now we have four location
1. Carrefour
2. Cayes
3. Croix 5es Bouquet
4. Gonaives
Distribute to Pastors and they serve their own communities

Photos taken at night as about 100 volunteers from Cayes help load food unto truck for distribution

2010-01-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

Interview with Jordan Sikkema, MNA Assessment Team Member

Going Through Security in the Miami Airport

2010-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Arklie, Jordan, Dony, and Brian are on their way to the Dominican Republic. I just talked with Jordan who stated that they were in line about to go through the security checkpoint at the Miami International Airport. Upon entering DR they will immediately begin making their way into Haiti. Please keep them in your prayers.

MNA Assessment Team Heading to Haiti Monday

2010-01-22T21:31:00.001-08:00

Please pray for Arklie Hooten, Jordan Sikkema, Brian Kelso, and Dony St. Germain as they travel to Haiti Monday. Their goal is to provide assessments which will aid MNA in providing long term relief and recovery to the people of Haiti.

MNA Disaster Response to Haiti

End of the June construction trip

New Friends

Coincidence?

Assessments

3 Pastors homes assessed

The Youth

Writing in Concrete

Chasing down tarantulas

Sunday

Pastor Pierre Paul's House

June Construction (David Short's account)

Site Coordinator David Short's Story

The assessment of Pastor Myrtil's Church

The Story of Pastor Elio Myrtil

Pictures of Elio Myrtil's Church

The end of the May Construction trip

Speaking the same language

Collaboration

Sunday

Samaritan's Purse's work at Leveque

At a local school

Progress...

Day Six of May trip

Arrival of backup

Experienced in Construction?

David Short's Sunday

David Short's first account of the 4th trip

Arrived at Disaster Response Workshop in Cabere, Haiti

MNA Team flies to Haiti for Disaster Response Workshop

Haiti Trip #4: May 7 through 23, Pre-trip

Oasis Compound ready for use

Another Good Day...

Day Five

David Short's ongoing account...

Progress...

Day Three Continued...

At the Base

Day three

Day two...

Another team from the Ohio area

Work and play on-site

Udate from team restoring the relief site in Carrefour

Teams heading to Haiti this week

On the medical side

Update from Medical Mission Team

The Miami Connection

Containers Due to Arrive in Port Au Prince

Supplies to Haiti via Miami via Mississippi

And they're going back...

2/10 Successful Day So Far

Blessing through ESMI

A team in Haiti from Spanish River Church

The Big Picture

Arklie, Jordan, and the Asessment team in Haiti

Tents Needed!

Your Church can Help

Food/Supplies Collection & Shipping

Here is how you can help:1. *Collect food/supplies at your organization - see supply list2. Contact GCA when items are ready to be collected - click link below3. GCA will package the items and ship to Haiti - help with shipping costs

Call for immediate supply needs, Georgia

For the PCA ministry Reformation Hope Orphanage:

URGENT!

Local Collection by Tuesday, Feb. 2nd—

Shipping Items to Our Haitian Orphanage!!!!

Monday, January 25 update from Dony St. Germain and El Shaddai Ministries-Haiti

Going Through Security in the Miami Airport

MNA Assessment Team Heading to Haiti Monday

Here is how you can help:

1. *Collect food/supplies at your organization - see supply list
2. Contact GCA when items are ready to be collected - click link below
3. GCA will package the items and ship to Haiti - help with shipping costs