A construction team of 12 from the Spring Arbor FMC, MI, under the leadership of Matt Hurt, will minister in Haiti Feb. 2 to 12.

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Assignments: Two doctors from Washington, Dr. Garrit Stanley and Dr. Jerry Rusher, travel to Dessalines, Haiti, Nov. 18 to Dec. 17. They will work at the hospital and help teach medical students.

Teams: Keith Snyder of the Edgewood FMC, Rochester, NY, and 15 others will celebrate Thanksgiving Day in Haiti this year. This team will construct a new school in Jessome, Nov. 20 to 28. Edgewood FMC has been involved in all phases of the project, from preliminary-site planning to the school design and now the construction of the building.

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Crossroads Community Church (FM), Ottawa Lake, MI, is sending a team of 13 to Dessalines, Haiti, Nov. 10-17. This team, under the leadership of Eric Messer, will be involved in maintenance projects at the hospital, laying flooring at the new vision/dental clinic and pre-trip planning for the next trip in April.

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We thank God for all the volunteers who have gone to Haiti since the 2010 earthquake to work alongside our Haitian brothers and sisters rebuilding schools and churches and doing the work of relief and recovery. Our VISA Ministries office has processed 602 volunteers since January 2010! Sixty work teams have demolished or repaired buildings; built schools and churches; drilled wells; distributed water filters, food and solar ovens; assisted with medical needs at Dessalines Hospital; and equipped 500 Haitian teachers.

This week we received the report that finally all schools “have a roof over their heads,” either occupying their own schools or using the church buildings. The next phase will be to replace temporary structures with permanent ones and to build schools in the places where sanctuaries have been turned into temporary classrooms.

A great big THANK YOU to all who have gone, all who pray, and all who continue to give generously to support the recovery efforts in Haiti. We are far from done! But we have reached a very significant milestone along this very long journey, for which we thank God.

To make a donation to this ongoing work, click here and select “Haiti Recovery Fund.”

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A team of nine from Round Rock, TX, will do maintenance work and conduct outreach ministries in Dessalines, Haiti, Nov. 2 to 9. Jim Rowan is the team leader.

Mike Bootland, Polson Park FMC, Ontario, Canada, travels to Dessalines, Haiti, to help with hospital renovations and repairs. His travel dates are Nov. 1 to 15.

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As a missionary, one has feet in two different worlds. When I left my world of origin (Western New York) and moved to Haiti, I had a great deal to both learn and to unlearn. I am learning a new language. I have had to learn to drive as driving here in Haiti is a completely different experience than in the US. I could go on but I suspect you don’t have too much trouble coming up with things one might have to learn when one moves to a different country. It didn’t surprise me that I had new things to learn. What has surprised me is how much I have had to unlearn. I have had to unlearn that water is freely available and safe to drink. I have to keep a jug of “safe” water in my bathroom to rinse my toothbrush. I have had to unlearn that electricity is a given. Between learning to use an inverter, checking the water in my battery bank, and maintaining my generator for those frequent times that the municipal electric isn’t working, I spend hours a week just to ensure I have something I never had to think much about in my old world. I have had to unlearn that the safety of my food supply is mostly a given. I have had to unlearn that a quick trip to Walmart will supply me with most anything I might need. There is not a Walmart or even a McDonalds in the entire country of Haiti that I am aware of. A quick trip? Not.

This past summer Cookie and I spent several months in the US visiting our supporting churches. It seemed odd to leave this world (Haiti) and re-enter that one. It sure made me appreciate how blessed we in the US really are. It also made me very aware that I have my feet in two different worlds in a way that I had not really thought of before. Then I thought further and I realized that living with one’s feet in two different worlds was not a new experience after all. I invited Jesus into my world (or perhaps more correctly I entered His) at the ripe old age of 27. I had a lot to learn. Before that “grace” was a quick prayer some people said before they ate. I used to think that was kind of odd. Now grace means something very different. I have learned a lot of new words as a Christian. I learned a new way to spend Sundays. I learned a new way to treat the people in my world. The Bible has become more than a dusty book on my bookshelf. I had some things to unlearn as well. My language could be pretty “salty”. It has been a lifetime struggle to move from being “self centered” to “Christ centered”. I am still working on that one; it’s a lifetime journey.

Hebrews 11 celebrates the lives of heroes of the faith. It makes this observation:
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16, NIV)

Did you get that? They were and we are “aliens and strangers”. The point is simple and basic: as Christians we walk with one foot in this world and one foot in His world. As we allow God to reshape us from what we were and are into what He has designed us to be, we have things to learn and things to unlearn. God is watching us with more than a passing interest. How is it going? Rick

Cookie and I are supported in our work in Haiti by people like you. If you would like to be a part of our team and support us financially or prayerfully (both are needed) go to our website at www.servinghaiti.com where you will find links under the “Join Us” tab.

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Ken and Denise Wallis, from Saskatchewan, Canada, travel to Dessalines, Haiti, Oct. 24 to Dec. 13 to help facilitate teams and assist with building maintenance. They have six years of experience with this work.

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A 15-member construction team from East Williamson, NY, will minister in Haiti Sept. 21 to Oct. 1. Cathy and Dick Herman are the leaders for this team that will work on a school building in Gonaives.

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VISA Ministries
A team of 11, sponsored by the Centennial FMC, Belleview, ON, is currently ministering in Haiti until April 10. This team, made up of members from five congregations in eastern Ontario and led by Pastor Rodney Peterson and Les Young, are doing construction on a church in the Mapou area.

Gene and Kelli Page, Lapeer FMC, MI, are leading a team of 15, April 2 to 9, to Haiti. This team is involved in ministry through maintenance on the properties in Dessalines. Among other supplies, the group has carried in water filters for area families.

Richard Poissant, Canada, travels to Haiti April 5 to 15. He will be doing general construction.

International Child Care Ministries
Mark Johnson, Meadowood FMC, CO, has traveled to Haiti this week to assist the International Child Care Ministries office in setting up a functioning computer network in Port-au-Prince. He will also teach the staff in how to use the new database. Mark returns Tues., April 12.

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From Andy Yardy 7 Nov 2010:
Today, I visited what used to be the Delma 53 free Methodist church. I remember it from my last trip here cause it was one of the buildings that I saw with so much damage it was amazing that it even was still standing. Since then they have torn the building down and moved to a new piece of land with space to grow. There are nearly twice as many people attending services there as there were before the earthquake one lady Gaardine Liberte lead a prayer at the service today who had been trapped in a building that had pancaked only a few feet from the old church.

This afternoon, we visited several other churches and school buildings that had been rebuilt over the last 10 months. One church across the street from a UN tent city with 3000 families had a well provided through clear blue global water project that is now the primary water source for these dislocated families. The final stop for the day was the sight for a new university the Haitians are building. It’s a dream they had before the quake but motivated by the need to educate there own people to rebuild there own country construction is beginning in the next few weeks to they can start classes next school year.

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