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.

It’s been ten months since the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in January. My memories of Haiti that stuck with me the scenes of devastation, hurting people and the smell of death. I have heard good things of what has happened here in the months since but it’s hard to mesh that reality with what I saw during that initial trip to port-au-prince to just see how the children from the international child care ministries schools and the free Methodist church got through this disaster. Today I landed in a much different city. If you know what your looking for it’s still apparent they had a major earthquake. Like the airport terminal is a undersized warehouse since the terminal has been damaged. There are empty lots where there used to be buildings and of course scores of tent cities to house the homeless. But it was in the eyes of the people at the santo ICCM school that I saw the real hope for Haiti. The shock has been replaced with determination to help see this little corner of Haiti heal.

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“Will we ever get over this trauma?” Gaity said. “I had an appointment with Pastor Jeanne but she was praying; so I went downstairs to wait for her to finish. Then the earthquake happened.”

“It was terrible, terrible; and now it is terribly sad, terribly sad. But this I know: God is in charge.” – Robenson Herman, Pastor Jeanne Acheson-Munos’ translator at the Bible Institute.

While Ken LaBelle and Larry Judy checked buildings for structural safety, Andy Yardy, Dr. Dale Woods and I visited schools and met and prayed with pastors and Free Methodist brothers and sisters. Some of those we prayed with are among the thousands and thousands living in “tents” made of sheets draped from poles.

There are deep cracks on the roads and hillsides that have slid into roads, making driving a nightmare. It takes hours and hours to get anywhere.

We have been in buildings where the destruction took our breath away, such as L’Eglise and School Rensberry Metodist Libre. We saw mile after mile of collapsed buildings; some looking like powder. And that was on the main roads. When we went into the communities we realized that many people – many of our people – are living in the midst of total destruction.

At the Fontamara FMC people told us what happened: a crowd was waiting for prayer meeting to start when the earthquake happened. Four died. The local pastor reports that many children have died in that neighborhood of Port-au-Prince – some of whom are “our” sponsored children through International Child Care Ministries. If schools had been in session, many more would have died. I walked into the site of a FM school and saw the blackboard: “January 12, 2010. Homework for tomorrow.” That school is no more.

Food and water are huge issues. We prayed for many people; we sang together and brought them words of encouragement. As we left, they often said: “But we still need food and water.” Heart wrenching.

We had the joy of finding some people whose friends in the States had asked us to check whether they had survived.

This is a dangerous place. Even if there are no more aftershocks there is still much physical danger. Precarious buildings that are still standing might not survive a thunderstorm. If the building is on a hillside, a mudslide will take other buildings with them.

Dr. Dale Woods and I did a training video for all VISA teams so they know what to expect if God calls them to come here. We strongly recommend that all FM VISA teams watch this video and discuss it with their spiritual leaders before coming to Haiti.

We understand a FM medical team arrived at the Dessalines Hospital (3 hours north of Port-au-Prince) today at 4 PM, but cell phone towers were knocked out, making communication a huge problem for everyone in Port-au-Prince throughout the day.

As we look to the future, there is a great need of small teams of structural engineers to determine the safety of all buildings – churches, schools and pastors’ homes. Many of our pastors are homeless, living in the streets with their families. Their homes need to be assessed for safety so they can be free to minister to others.

We saw people walking – just walking – with a completely vacant look in their eyes.

With the blessings of Bishop Roller and Dr. Art Brown we have asked Jean Marc to become Field Coordinator for FMWM response. He is a Haitian leader, qualified for this role. He will be assisted by Pastor Rick Ireland as his administrator. Pastor Jean Marc is assembling his team for this role.

Please continue to pray for us. Dr. Woods and I are both preaching tomorrow (Sunday) in different churches.

The Free Methodist Church in Haiti

• 73 full churches
• 28 church plants
• More than 8,900 children sponsored through International Child Care Ministries
• 117 primary schools / 22,122 students
• 20 secondary schools / 2,859 students

We flew to the Dominican Republic yesterday where we were met by Kendra and Sammy Luna, members of the Davison MI Free Methodist Church. We traveled together for some 3 ½ hours towards the border where we had a short night sleep.

Today we drove into Haiti. Once we saw the conditions of a road never intended for relief traffic, it was not difficult to understand why the delivery of aid has been slow. We were part of a three-vehicle convoy but it was bumper-to-bumper traffic all way to Port-au-Prince.

The destruction in Port-au-Prince is unbelievable, and I am told we have not yet seen the worst, which is downtown. Our first stop was the Friends of Haiti Organization (FOHO) building. There are no words to express the shock of seeing that building destroyed by the earthquake. It is beyond comprehension that anyone inside did survive, and it is clear nothing could have been done to rescue the four (three missionaries and the caretaker) people who lost their lives in the collapse.

We met with General Superintendent Clovis and some of his leaders and brought greetings and love from Free Methodists and fellow believers around the world. After we prayed together we sat down to discuss a strategy for relief and reconstruction, which we will start implementing tomorrow.

We will:

• Decide on a staging place for arrival of aid.
• First rebuild the schools so the children – including those sponsored through ICCM – can continue their education and their lives can begin to normalize.
• Rebuild pastor’s houses so they can minister to others

The first medical team arrives Sunday. An ICCM (International Child Care Ministries) team arrives Wednesday. The first construction team arrives the following week.

The Dominican Republic General Conference sent a team with food and water to the Haitian people – which is being distributed even as I write these words. For many reasons, this is very meaningful and beautiful to see, in spite of the tragedy.

Today I met several heroes. We had the opportunity to personally thank Gaity, Mollard and others who risked their lives on the day of the earthquake to save Katie Zook and Jack Munos on our FM team. We cannot believe they got them out. They join us in mourning the loss of our Free Methodist missionaries, Jeanne Acheson-Munos, Merle West and Gene Dufour. Andy Yardy filmed comments from Haitian people as they mourned the loss of our friends in the FOHO building.

People we met seemed to have moved out of their initial shock and into the reality of what this will mean for Haiti long term.

Thank you for your giving last Sunday. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to personally deliver significant amounts of money to the people of Haiti. The road ahead will be long and difficult, but together we will be able to accomplish what none of us could do alone. Please make sure that if your church desires to sends a team to help with the reconstruction that you work through the FMWM VISA Office, so our choices honors the priority list of our Haitian leadership.

The team was one hour away from the Haitian border. They experienced minor vehicle troubles which have been resolved. The team is traveling in a three vehicle convoy – one truck with the team and the other two trucks with Dominican Free Methodists. The trucks are loaded with relief supplies such as water, fuel and emergency provisions. As soon as the team arrives in Port-au-Prince, they will meet with Haitian church leaders to continue relief efforts. The team is doing well and asks for your continued prayers.

The five persons team includes FMWM’s Director of Mobilization, Area Director for Latin American Ministries, FMCNA’s videographer, a structural engineer, and a long-time FOHO (Friends of Haiti Organization) leader. The “A” team will be on the ground in Port-au-Prince until the Tuesday (26 Jan 10).

Priority will be given to:

• evaluating the structural integrity of the standing schools because they can serve as temporary housing and relief centers.
• connecting with aid and government distribution points for water, medicine, food and temporary shelter.
• creating a plan for effective deployment of relief teams.

Updates from Haiti

News continues to trickle about ICCM staff, friends, facilities, and conditions in the area of Haiti affected by last Tuesday’s 7.0 earthquake. Here is a synopsis of news about ICCM concerns to date:

- ICCM Field Coordinator Mondale Perkins Oscar is alive and unharmed. However, he, like most, have lost everything and are living in temporary shelters.

- Many other Haitian church leaders and ICCM staff have been found alive. All Haitian Free Methodist superintendents in the affected area are alive and well. Photo: Bishop Roller with several Haitian church members

- ICCM sponsors over 8,900 children in Haiti,1,867 of which live in the Port-au-Prince area. Specific information about their safety is still not accessible.

- The ICCM Office, Parc Chretien FM Church and ICCM School (HA500), all located together in Port-au-Prince, are damaged but standing. We do not know about ICCM’s 52 other school buildings across the island.

- The Friends Of Haiti Organization (FOHO) building, adjacent to these other facilities, collapsed.

- VISA volunteer Katie Zook and missionary Jack Munos were rescued from the rubble of the FOHO building within a few hours. Both are in ICU but stable and improving in Miami, Florida area hospitals. ICCM Director Linda Adams has been making personal visits to Katie and Jack.

Jeanne with Vanderlin- Missionary Jeanne Acheson-Munos, Merle West and Gene Defour were in the FOHO building when it collapsed but their bodies have not been recovered after nearly a week of rescue efforts. They are considered missing and presumed not alive. We grieve deeply with their families and friends. Jeanne, from Indianapolis and known to many in our U.S. ICCM office, was a tireless advocate for Haitian children and real ambassador for ICCM.

- U.S. Free Methodist Bishop David Roller visited the site of the collapsed FOHO facility on Saturday. After rescue efforts ended, Bishop Roller held a brief memorial service for Jeanne, Merle and Gene. When it is possible to recover their remains, these will buried near the site. Video excerpts of that memorial service at at this link.

- Bishop Roller delivered needed relief supplies at ICCM School HA500, which has been used as a relief shelter site. He spoke words of encouragement and solidarity to many Free Methodists and friends who gathered.

- Free Methodist Media Director Andy Yardy was with Bishop Roller in Haiti and is returning to the U.S. today with insightful video, some of which is posted at the Free Methodist Haiti response website: www.helphaitiheal.org.

How You Can Help

Please continue to join us in vigilant prayer for all who are affected by and responding to this natural disaster. May Christ’s love be conveyed in unsurpassed ways in the response.

ICCM is responding to this crisis through our Special Projects Fund. All donations to this fund at this time are being directed to Haiti relief and recovery (unless otherwise designated).

Relief supplies of water, Sawyer water filters, medical supplies, and food have already been delivered by Free Methodists. More is on the way and even more will be needed.

The Free Methodist Church is continuing to mobilize its response resources to be part of what is becoming a global compassionate relief effort.

You can follow developments, learn more about Free Methodist responses, our cooperation with other relief and recovery efforts, and consider personal involvement at www.helphaitiheal.org

ICCM is Twittering immediate updates on the situation in Haiti at www.twitter.com/intlchildcare

ICCM will continue to send updates via this special “ICCM Bulletin” to the sponsors and friends for whom we have e-mail addresses. You may also check our website – www.childcareministries.org – for information and other ways you can respond.

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Wish TV 8

While in the city, a preliminary assessment of damage to International Child Care Ministries schools and churches was conducted while meeting with pastors in the area. Logistical questions were posed and some answered. What is needed? Where does it need to go? How do we get it to the people that need it the most? The questions were posed to those with the best understanding of the situation, those living there.

Below are pictures from the day. Check back later in the day. We will post a video of the days events.