July 12 was the six-month anniversary of what has been described as the greatest natural disaster in recorded history. A major metropolitan area (Port- au-Prince is home to one- fourth of Haiti’s population) was hit by a major earthquake. The response of the Free Methodist Church was immediate and generous. Over $1.6 million has been received from churches in the United States, Canada, the Dominican Republic and around the world. To date, more than a mil lion of that has been distributed.

The full report can be reviewed in PDF format HERE.

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Relationships are crucial to partnerships. Consider this example from missionary Rick Ireland involving two U.S. teams (from The Journey Community Church, CO, and Ransomville FMC, NY) that worked alongside Haitians to rebuild after the earthquake: “The church at Petite Place Cazeau is in a poor community, but each day they fed the U.S. teams both breakfast and lunch. Though it was a real financial sacrifice for this Haitian church, it didn’t stop them from ministering to the people who were ministering to them. If their U.S. brothers and sisters were willing to sacrifice money, time and comfort to help them, they were going to return it as best they could. Each Sunday the U.S. teams drove to Petite Place Cazeau for worship. Both teams reported that God showed up in a big way.” Does the prospect of relationships like this stir something in you? Contact Dale Woods (Dale4Missions@gmail.com or 810-836-6527) to discover how you can be involved.

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Update from Rick Ireland

Phases 1 and 2 of the recovery plan (which have been completed) included the following:

• More than 1,000 people were vaccinated and more than 2,000 people were seen in free clinics. These clinics were staffed by Haitian medical people volunteering their time to serve their churches and communities.
• We (the steering committee) have worked extensively with the local churches to develop programming for children prior to the restart of school.
• We conducted distributions at every church in the West and South Districts. Some of these churches are hours from Port-au-Prince, and this was the only help these people received. We have also distributed relief supplies to school staffs.
• We have given grants to 29 pastors to provide for provisional shelter and to an additional 19 pastors to assist in repairing their homes.
• We have assisted a number of churches in demolition. The typical pattern is that local church people provide the labor to take down the buildings and we provide money to have the rubble hauled away.
• We have been identifying and funding projects that can be accomplished with Haitian labor.
• We have made major progress in rebuilding the financial system and hope to be done in the next week or so.
• The Bible school has restarted.

Looking ahead

• Nearly a dozen sites have lost both their church and school. We are working hard to get at least one usable structure at every site.
• New building materials are being tested: a new (to us) steel frame building structure and a new (to Haiti) type of foam core building.
• We are expecting a major shipment of tents.
• We are looking at the possibility of a second pastors’ retreat. The first retreat was limited to only West and South District pastors. We would like to do something for all pastors and wives. The earthquake has had an impact far beyond Port-au-Prince. Superintendent Charite reports that in his region alone the population has swelled by 156,000 people and the schools are serving 20,000 additional students.
• We are planning major subsidies to all FM schools to assist them in paying for staff.
• We need to continue to rebuild the administrative structure of the mission in Haiti. This begins with finances but there are a number of other things, such as government reports and permits that need to be brought up to date as the government structure gets back to normal.

VISA Need in Haiti:

The FM recovery program in Haiti requires a geotechnical engineer to join a small team of structural engineers departing soon.
DUTIES: Help in the ongoing assessments of selected FM churches and schools which remain standing following the January earthquake. Help prepare a brief report on findings and conclusions.
ELIGIBILITY: A qualified geotechnical engineer experienced in time-efficient field assessments. A team player who understands and is in full sympathy with the Christian basis for this work is needed for this mission.
MISSION DURATION: approximately one week.
TIMING: soon – to be arranged in consultation with the team leader. Interested individuals should e-mail: conniek@fmcna.org.

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Excerpts from Fri., May 7, 2010 Update

Rick Ireland

More than ever before I am struck by the contrasts of life in the U.S. and life here in Haiti. A noticeable number of buildings are being demolished. I remember watching a house be demolished in the States – a giant machine came in and the house was gone in an afternoon. Here they are being demolished by crews of men with sledgehammers. It is a lot slower but things are just as demolished in the end. If there is an underlying lesson it is just this, life is a lot harder here.

This was driven home in a more personal way as I talked with my friend Jean Marc. Jean Marc is a pastor and a very able administrator, and we work very closely together for the relief effort. Last night my head hit the pillow about 9 p.m. and I slept like a log until about 4:30 or so. Jean Marc didn’t get much sleep. He sleeps in a tent in a school courtyard. It rained a good part of last night, and he had to get up and empty the rain that pooled up in the canvas tarps that overhung the courtyard. He was also awakened several times to help his elderly father to the bathroom. But today he was cheerful and full of hope. He went on and on about how God was at work and that we were entering good days for Haiti.

I see that all around me. People are in difficult circumstances but they are approaching life with peace and contentment. I think one of the reasons the Haitian people have been so resilient in their difficult times is that they are not as focused on the treasures of earth which they no longer have.

Other Haiti news

Edwani, wife of Erlin Blot the FOHO (Friends of Haiti Organization) caretaker who was killed in the earthquake, recently gave birth to a baby girl. The baby’s name is Jeanne after Pastor Jeanne Acheson-Munos who also lost her life in the quake.

The Miraj, India, FM Church is made up of members disabled by the ravages of Hansen’s disease (leprosy). Some make their living by begging and some by weaving. Out of their meager earnings, they contributed more than $100 to the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.

Workers with Clear Blue Global Water Project have provided 22 working wells in Haiti since mid-January. They plan to return to Haiti in July and August, as funds are available. To learn more about Clear Blue’s efforts to bring safe drinking water to Haiti and how you can be involved, click here.

VISA Need in Haiti:

The FM recovery program in Haiti requires a geotechnical engineer to join a small team of structural engineers departing soon.
DUTIES: Help in the ongoing assessments of selected FM churches and schools which remain standing following the January earthquake. Help prepare a brief report on findings and conclusions.
ELIGIBILITY: A qualified geotechnical engineer experienced in time-efficient field assessments. A team player who understands and is in full sympathy with the Christian basis for this work is needed for this mission.
MISSION DURATION: approximately one week.
TIMING: soon – to be arranged in consultation with the team leader. Interested individuals should e-mail: conniek@fmcna.org.

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The FM recovery program in Haiti requires a geotechnical engineer to join a small team of structural engineers departing soon.

DUTIES: Help in the ongoing assessments of selected FM churches and schools which remain standing following the January earthquake. Help prepare a brief report on findings and conclusions.

ELIGIBILITY: A qualified geotechnical engineer experienced in time-efficient field assessments. A team player who understands and is in full sympathy with the Christian basis for this work is needed for this mission.

MISSION DURATION: approximately one week.

TIMING: soon – to be arranged in consultation with the team leader. Interested individuals should email: conniek@fmcna.org.

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Recently the pastors of the West and South Districts impacted by the earthquake met to review progress to date and to look ahead. A lot is going on. Over the past couple of weeks, 6,500 food packs were passed out through the pastors at 27 church locations. Each food pack contained enough food for a person for a week.

Most of the pastors there had benefited from a grant program initiated by the Haitian Relief Steering Committee. Pastors who lost homes they owned were eligible for a grant to assist in taking down the homes and clearing rubble. All pastors with homes in the earthquake were eligible for a grant to assist in building temporary structures until more permanent solutions can be implemented. The temporary homes are already going up. Money has also been authorized to assist Mission staff and Child Care staff. The money not only helps the pastors and other staff, it provides much-needed jobs as people are hired to assist. Following the meeting each pastor received lunch, a bag of food, a case of water and other items.

Another popular program has been a series of health and immunization clinics run by Haitian doctors and nurses volunteering their time. More than 600 have been immunized, and hundreds have been treated in these free clinics.

A major challenge on the horizon is the rebuilding of damaged or destroyed churches and schools. In some locations one or the other building is repairable but in many locations all buildings have been ruined. We are looking for ways to provide temporary structures until buildings can be replaced. So far three damaged churches have been repaired. In two of those locations the schools had minimal damage, but in one, it was totally destroyed. The schools will be able to use the church buildings on a temporary basis.

Keep Haiti in your prayers. The hard work has only just begun. It is going to take years to fully recover.

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GOOD NEWS!!
The drill rig has arrived in Haiti.

Many helped make this happen but especially Healing Hands International.

Now we need money to go directly to drilling expenses (fuel, casing, bits, pumps, etc.) so that we can get as many wells as possible providing clean water this spring when the need is greatest. We are actively working on getting a shipping container of pumps directly from the manufacturer in India purchased and shipped to Haiti. These pumps are the critical piece for the ongoing delivery of clean water. We can get a limited supply of pumps in Haiti for about $1,000 each but if we buy in quantity directly from the manufacturer we hope to get the price significantly reduced.

Your gifts and prayers, and your willingness to contact others with this urgent and immediate need is vital. Clear Blue is a very lean operation, all volunteer. The gifts going directly to the needs, Please help us keep a steady stream of money going so there is no delay in the life-giving resource.

Give Now

More information on the Clear Blue Water Project please visit their website at www.clearblueproject.com.

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International Child Care Ministries (ICCM) Director Linda Adams has just returned from her second post-earthquake trip to Haiti. She learned that children whose sponsor numbers begin with a 6 or 7 (schools away from Port-au-Prince) have been attending school since February 1. School directors report many “refugees” from Port-au-Prince are attending their schools for now. Only the earthquake zone is still waiting for schools to open on April 5.

Progress:

• Hundreds of water filters have been assembled and put in use; 1,000 more are being sent this week.
• A shipping container with 270,000 fortified rice meals has arrived; distribution will begin this week.
• ICCM staff and teachers are receiving emergency aid.
• Kids clubs are providing activities, exercise and nutrition for children in many school yards.
• A team of three structural engineers has assessed the damaged buildings and is making recommendations.
• American/Haitian work teams have repaired three churches/schools, with more underway each week.
• Haitian workers are demolishing structures that need to be torn down.
• Hundreds of tents are being sent.
• Some soccer balls, volley balls and jump ropes have been given out.
• School directors have received January and February support and gifts from ICCM along with sponsors’ letters to children.

Note to sponsors of Haitian children: Only Haitian children with sponsor numbers beginning with “HA5…” are among children living within the quake-affected area. If we learn that a sponsored child has perished or was seriously injured in the earthquake, we will contact their sponsor directly. Please continue to support your sponsored child unless you hear directly from us.

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from Bishop David Rollers blog

Yvonne and I spent last week in Haiti. Three nights we spent in tents in the rain worrying about the 1.5 million homeless, and for 3 days we were at a hotel with Haitian church leaders.

Relief and recovery is hard word and tears people apart. Partly because everyone is fatigued to the bone, one of the tasks is to keep the team together. Because the task is so huge hard decisions have to be made and no one can make everyone happy.

We’re working under Haitian superintendents team. Their decisions set our priorities. I think they’re doing an exceptional job.

We were able to spent a few moments alone at the graveside of Erlin, Jeanne, Merle & Gene. The bodies of the latter three were recovered by the U.S. military, positive identification was made through dental records and they were laid to rest on church property.

We now have a preliminary count of Free Methodists who died, in the western district, of about 100. Probably fewer died in the southern district, but still no count from them.

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Days after the January 12 earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, I met with the Haitian superintendents to determine the priorities for Free Methodist response. A steering committee of six Haitian pastors and one North American missionary was empowered to manage the response according to these priorities.

Of course, the Haitian leaders understood that by identifying these priorities there were other important things they would have to trust God to accomplish through other means. They have demonstrated great maturity by maintaining focus on the priorities despite the criticism of well-meaning people who think they should try to do everything.

Partnerships are being developed with other agencies so that Free Methodist relief funds are being leveraged to go farther. Resources are being used to help people help themselves and help others. With the relief funds you have generously contributed:

• Thousands have been vaccinated against typhoid and tetanus.
• Thousand of food kits have been distributed.
• Children’s clubs been started to assist with trauma counseling.
• Structural inspections have been conducted on schools, churches and homes.
• Haitian people have been hired to demolish damaged buildings.
• Grants have been made available for pastors and teachers to build temporary homes before the rainy season.
• Medical relief for victims of the earthquake has been provided at Dessalines Hospital.

All of these things have been delivered at a grass roots level – along with pastoral care. People have experienced healing and spiritual encouragement even though they are psychologically battered by the memories of the terror. Please continue to pray for the many people living in primitive conditions – including Free Methodist pastors and other leaders who are working tirelessly to minister to others.

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