BOGO Sale - Really

Reaching Out in Port Salut

We are continuing with relief efforts in the Port Salut area. Long after the news has died down, people are succumbing to hunger and sickness in the continuing aftermath of devastation. Roche-a-Bateau is currently in a cholera outbreak. We continue to bring food, water, clothing, and other articles as the Lord provides and this week were able to build house #5. This house is made of concrete blocks and was built for one of our critical care patients from the mobile clinics we've been doing. I've asked Angie Shepherd, PA, who heads up the medical ministry at MOHI, to share with you about Aline:

"The Story of Aline" - from Angie Shepherd

We had the pleasure of meeting Aline at our mobile outreach clinic in Port Salut about two weeks after Hurricane Matthew ransacked the area. She suffered a severe laceration to her lower leg from a piece of tin roofing that was flying through the air. Our friend, Walt Rumfelt, a physician assistant with Bless Back Worldwide, was in Haiti to help with relief efforts, and treated her injuries twice that week. She received thorough cleaning of her wound, clean bandages, and antibiotics to prevent infection. By the grace of God, her injury did not go deep enough to cut any tendons or muscles, and she still was able to move her foot and walk, although she had significant swelling.

I asked Aline for her contact information so we could follow up with her when we were in the area again. I was able to treat her again the following week, and was thrilled to see progress in her healing and no signs of infection. The following week, a medical team was in from Bless Back Worldwide, and they brought special wound care dressings from one of Walt’s colleagues at a wound care clinic in the United States. We changed her dressings again and left her enough supplies for two more weeks of care. Over the last couple of weeks, our medical staff has not been traveling to the South because we needed to care for our patients at home in Grand Goave, as well. Pastor Lex has been stopping to see Aline, change her bandages, and sends pictures of her progress back to MOHI.

Each time we saw Aline, I was so impressed with her demeanor. She was patient and friendly, and so grateful for all of the care she was receiving. She never asked for anything extra, in fact, it was several weeks into our relationship with her before we learned that her entire house was destroyed in the hurricane. Last week we were able to bless her and her family again by building them a cinderblock house to replace the one that was lost in the hurricane. We have watched as she is able to get off her crutches, walk normally again, and return to her daily activities of caring for her husband and two children. They now have a sturdy shelter to protect them from the sun, wind and rain. This was all made possible through the grace of God, medical and construction staff from MOHI, Bless Back volunteers, and generous donations from MOHI supporters. It’s a beautiful example of the body of Christ working together, each with their own part to play!

This 2 for 1 Sale is for All of Us!

We received exciting news this week from the Haiti Housing Fund [a collaboration of Heartline Ministries - Haiti, Woord en Daad (Word and Deed, Netherlands), and Maxima S.A. (a woodworking company in Port-au-Prince)]. We have been approved for a "buy one get one" grant. This first grant is for eight houses. We need to purchase four house kits at $2700 each and they will give us a total of eight house kits.

That means your donation toward housing, going forward from yesterday, will go TWICE AS FAR! If you have been thinking about getting involved in the relief efforts, NOW is the time to act!

Please donate and/or spread the word so we can purchase these homes for people like Aline, who have lost so much. Thank you.

A Wonderful Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We had some of our Grand-Goave ex-pat community here with us Thursday evening for dinner and a "show." The dinner was "pot luck," with everyone bringing a little of their family's traditional food with them. Some of us are a bit "anti-traditional" and so we had quite the smorgasbord of food.

Besides the wonderful company and yummy food, the highlight of the evening, by far, was the presentation by the students in the MOHI Education Cooperative. Our little class of American, Haitian-American, and Haitian-Canadian students had our full attention. They were all so excited to share the "secret" guest actor who would play the role of King George. And Pastor Lex made them proud with his child-like presentation of the line, "You can't do that! You go to jail!" Parents shared with me of how each student was eager for the moment of the presentation to arrive. They each put so much effort into it. They did a great job throughout and at the end, each said their memory verse with gusto!

It blesses us to see how "Miss Alicia" has worked so diligently with these students and is truly training them in the way they should go. I love the confidence I see growing in each of them. They are learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, but they are also learning about who they are in Christ. "Chapo ba! (hats off) Miss Alicia!" Thank you so much!!!!

Back in Thozin

With all the traveling and focus on the Port Salut area, I want to make sure you know that all is well "back at the farm," so to speak. School has been happening daily. The kids are learning and eating and active - Oh myyyyyyy, are they active! We've had a couple of busier than usual weeks in the clinic, after having pulled our medical staff back home for a bit. The radio station, which was out of commission is back up and on the air 24/7 with preaching, praying, service announcements, encouragement, Bible reading, and Evangelical music. English Club had a couple of weeks off, but will be back on track this week. The kids are excited about having Alicia back.

Church was great this morning. I really enjoy seeing so many brothers and sisters, family friends, and "Church Nuggets," like these...

Lex brought an inspirational message this morning, about how to take our place in the Body of Christ. The Lord got my attention as he shared the story of Solomon judging between the two women who claimed the baby was for each of them. Solomon said to split the baby in two and give them each half. The real mother was willing to sacrifice her pride for the love of that child. It no longer mattered that she was "right" - it now mattered that the child's life was more important. As a part of the Body of Christ, I too need to be willing to set aside my own selfish pride to preserve the lives of my brothers and sisters. Being right is not what's actually important in my life - loving God and loving my neighbor is what matters.

Elections in Haiti

Elections took place last weekend. We are expecting the results to be announced tomorrow. We are also expecting some unrest after the announcement. Would you join us in praying for a peaceful transition of power? Thank you. And thank you for your interest, prayers, donations, and encouragement. God bless you!