Whew!

We were able to house 21 people. It has been so neat. People were everywhere and when it came to meal time, we had seven more. Service International came in with a team of four Dr's and four nurses to work at St Nicholaus Hospital; two orthopedic surgeons, one plastic surgeon, one anesthesiologist. Brian and Diana Moreno, friends and nurses from WV got in two days before the St Louis team to assess everything so they could give a report and the team could begin working immediately. On Wednesday, they hit the ground running. The list of everything they accomplished is quite extensive, it must be posted.

Rewired one operating room during surgery
40- E. R. Patients treated
1- laceration repair
1- pin removal
1- abcess repair
1- wound debrivment
2- cast removals
4- splints
1- fractured arm repair with plate
2- incision and drain
4- fractured bone set and cast
10- nerve blocks
12- spinal blocks
60- dressing changes
17- skin grafts
1- severed heal and sole repair
1- gunshot wound treatment
1- machette wound repair
3- amputations
150- patients
Prayed with ALL

Sunday distribution of personal hygiene kits to over 250 patients along with prayer for each one!

More surgery and treatment scheduled for Sunday.

If you notice there were 17 skin grafts, every one needed. When I walked through the hospital while dressings were being changed, all I could see is huge pieces of flesh missing on arms and legs from the quake. The only way they could possibly heal would be to graft skin. Dr Corbin, a retired plastic surgeon from St Louis area, (with a reputation of being the best, I'm told) did the grafting and people are healing because of his laying down his life to help the least of these. By the way, I've said more than once, 'if a plastic surgeon ever comes to Haiti, perhaps I'll get a facelift,' but it did not happen. :0)

The orthopedic men and anesthesiologist work together on a regular basis and it was apparent as they made rounds, each doing their part of looking, diagnosing and counseling with one another.

The nurses were Service International volunteers who, except for one, had been on other teams around the world. They were so kind.

The construction side of the team was awesome as well. Service International has rented a house on the street above us and they spent their time, fixing, securing, and sleeping. In their love for the Lord, one gentleman was assigned to me and was told to do anything I wanted in the mission house. Do you think I had fun? Every woman desires someone who has the skills, to do everything they want to make a house more convenient (especially when there was no kitchen originally). That's not to say that Gary hasn't done plenty, he has and I'm blessed, but those "little thing" or "bigger things" take time he doesn't have. I now sport more selves in the kitchen, a huge cabinet with a door, in a space that was unusable. Now the only problem is my inability to find things because they are so rearranged! Today, I will have time to plan where to put things and maybe label drawers so Nancy won't be lost trying to work when there are other groups.

Speaking of other groups, today we said goodbye (to the SI team) and this evening we will say hello. There is a group of four coming in from WI. Moreno's are still here and with five of us who live here all the time, we still have a house full. The Fearings will teach at El Shaddai and get to sight see a bit. They are excited, raised money for motorcycles. Touch Ministries now sports two brand new motor cycles. One Joe drives and he runs for the orphanage needs as directed by Al and Bev Carpenter; the other, Kevin drives and will keep at his home at the end of the day. It will be used for school needs. There is always running to do at school and it's always an emergency. A "moto" will get there in half the time it takes the truck to lumber off the hill and through town. The blessings of the Lord maketh rich and He adds no sorrow to it. Just for thought, I've confessed for years that this is a house of abundance. Not for Gary and I but so we can give to others. Truly, I've watched God bring abundance into this house. Our refrigerator is so full I can barely get the door closed. We didn't buy the food, it is left over from what SI brought in from the Dominican. Everyday now, Junior wants a turkey sandwich for breakfast.

Ed Fasnacht, has traveled literally hundreds of thousands of miles with teams for SI. He certainly knows how to organize and motivate the team to flow toward one direction. We learned a lot during his stay by observation and his counsel.

I know this is a long blog, hope you stayed with it because there is some more. We saw Richard, a former employee, who had the opportunity to go to medical school in Port au Prince. He told me the day of the quake, the professor gave them a ten minute break. They were all outside the building, the quake hit and they watched their school fall to the ground! Now, he's living in a tent, volunteering at a big hospital, and distraught to say the least. He told me about all the children wondering around without father or mother. They come to the hospital daily to get food. He also told me about a 15 year old girl, who is alone, no one to care for her because the rest of the family was killed. She has had to fight off rapists at night and she too, comes to the hospital for food each day, after she sweeps and mops the hospital floor. It's very hard to hear these stories and not do something. He asked if we'd take some of these young boys in the orphanage, but right now, we don't have the space. Richard is one of many whose hopes were crumbled in less than a minute on Jan. 12^th. His school is gone, it will not be rebuilt for many years. The future Dr's for this island is grim. Not to mention children, young women, teachers. Everyone who had anything now has nothing. It's overwhelming and the stories keep coming.

KEEPING YOU POSTED ON TOUCH...

From the day of the quake one month and a day ago, our lives continue to change. We have made upteen trips to Port au Prince, for one reason or the other. Every trip reminds us of the horrible thing that happened here, but people are beginning to come to grips with it, and lives are returning to normal, even in the tent cities.

We were contacted by a group out of St Louis, Service International and we've been networking with them to get a foothold here. Their mission is to go into crisis countries, states, and help rebuild. Service International will be here for the long haul, they are still in the planning stage as to how they will work in Haiti. We have given them our three acres of property to use for the duration. It is my guess they will make it a refugee camp. In the meantime, they are bringing in three highly skilled doctors and four nurses, all of whom will stay at our place and work at St Nicholaus Hospital. Service International have also acquired housing right behind us, and will use it for teams coming and going in the near future. The vehicle that Family Harvest church bought for our ministry will be used by Service International to get around in. They have purchased the needed tires and battery for us. We will help them get all the employees they will need for their ongoing work. They will do construction work on our building to make it better.

An engineer by the name of Jeff Samida is with us for a few more days to show Haitians how to rebuild earthquake safe. They are listening and your dollars are going toward the purchase of the right materials for them to build. There is another construction man coming in a couple of weeks who has sent us a welding maching and generator that Gary is picking up today and a Methodist group has sent in tents so we can help a few get into temporary housing.

Many of our Haitian staff has family from Port au Prince living with them, we are albe to help give them extra food. For instance, Hormise, a teacher we hired in September who had been deported from the US because she didn't have the correct papers (discovered when her mother applied for a SS number for her) is now housing 20 people!! She barely makes enough money to feed she and her daughter. Feeding 20 is a big responsibility compared to feeding two. In Haiti, no one says NO. If family is in trouble and needs help, the answer is always yes. Pierre has three family members living with him in his two room house, wife and two children. He came yesterday with another family of three that came to him. He said, "I have no place to put them." We will help them find a place.

Our school wall is being torn down before it falls. It was bad but the earthquake made it worse so we will rebuild, making it quite safe.

The church we are rebuilding in Port au Prince, is going to be so much better than what they had. Pastor Gary believes it will cost 10,000 USD plus some before it's finished, but if another quake hits, this building will not kill anyone. Pastor Cesar has twenty people without homes, we will help rebuild.

In the meantime, Junior, age 11 is with us. He's going to school at El Shaddai and learning English (slowly but surely). It's fun having a youngster around amidst all these Americans coming and going. We pick up Diana and Brian Moreno tomorrow at the Dominican border, nurses who will work at the hospital. Then Wednesday, 19 people coming from Service International. It's going to be interesting to say the least.

The Tshirt campaign continues under the direction of Anthony Thompson, if you've not gotten your Tshirt yet, log on to Gesu Christo. com and purchase one. 100 percent of profit goes to this ministry.

Thanks to everyone who is praying and who has given. We could not maintain if people were not praying. I read a FB post from someone at Family Harvest saying a little boy prayed they'd find the people in the rubble. The teacher thought, how can that be, it's too late. The next day, one month from the quake, they found a man in the rubble alive, stating that a man in white gave him water. Could it have been the little boys' prayer in Tinley Park, IL? Our God hears and answers prayer and how fitting that is because yesterday Haiti prayed as a nation, and today they are there again, all over town, at the park, people are praying. God is working in Haiti.

PICTURES OF PETER AT THIRD BIRTHDAY

It was Peter's birthday and everyone had a great time. Because I've not mastered this blog thing, the pictures are not the way they should be presented but Peter is the chunky guy. The other one is Lesnelson. Believe it or not, Peter and Lesnelson are almost the same age. Peter turned three and you may remember we found him in a yard nearly a year ago, dying from malnutrition and diarrhea. There was no hesitation in getting him into our orphanage quickly. The caring love and attention given him by Al and Bev Carpenter, using the medical mamba peanut butter program resulted in Peter becoming that programs' most successful patient. Peter grew and grew and grew. To date, he's quite a hunk of kid! He's sweet, quiet, loves to sing in the morning when he first wakes up and is tender to the others if they are crying. Little Lesnelson is nearly Peter's age, but so much smaller. I guess my whole point in posting these photos is to show you how children thrive in safe environments. Our children are not for adoption. They all have at least one parent (except Junior, who was rescued from the orphanage in Bon Repos, along with his brothers and sister who got to go to the US on an Humanitarian Parole, and is now with the Picketts in Kentucky...Junior will be adopted by that family).

Did you ever think about how children suffer? What goes through their young minds when they are hungry, afraid, lonely, struggling to exist? Peter, for instance, was ignored by his young mother who didn't stay home much. When he got sick, his grandmother gave up and didn't attend to him, because she was so impoverished, she was worn out by all the other children there were in her house. Peter could barely stand. The effects of that hard time show up when it's time to eat. He ravishes the food like there may not be anymore later. He's not forgotten that terrible time when he was near death. And the compassion he exhibits toward others could be from knowing what being alone is like.

Our children's home, House of Hope, does exactly that, brings hope to the hopeless. Tires is happy, helpful, and yet the fears he dealt with when he had no hope, linger. The earthquake scared him trememdously. He dreams about his father dying and he cries at the slightest failure. He too, has a tender heart.

The girls' section is almost finished. The hard part is finding the right Haitian staff for the children who are with them overnight and on weekends. Housing children is a great expense, we appeal to anyone who would like to see lives saved from the horrible sufferings that go on here prior to and after the earthquake. Children die all the time. And, for every child we have (which are few in number right now) there are hundreds more. Because you give, others live happy, healthy, lives and learn that Jesus is real. They are Haiti's future. When Rosemary Sunderman (founder of Touch) was working in this field, she wrote a poem, Hait's Child.
I touched the heart of God one day

When Haiti’s child, in full display

With the world’s uncaring eyes to see

I took that child up to me.



I touched the heart of God one day,

For Haiti’s child I knelt to pray.

“Oh God, you see she’s all alone,

The world has dealt with hearts of stone.”



“For Haiti’s child, You shed your blood.

You gave your life, You gave her love.”

And so, we wait to hear her say,

“Lord cleanse me, Wash my sins away.”



The heart of God was touched one day

When Haiti’s child knelt down to pray. . . . .

Tout Moun Preya….

Every church is either having service or the Christians are gathered in the Park, singing and praying for their country. All the stores are closed, traffic is blocked off, no public transportation. It is incredible how the people have mobilized to pray and recognize the God of Glory!!!

Tonight, they'll pray from 9PM until 3AM in their churches and tomorrow, they will gather again in the park or in their churches. There have been a lot of "firsts" for me during these ten years, war (a big first) floods, hurricanes, death everywhere, but , never has it been a people, an entire country gathered for prayer.

Remember, this is Mardis Gras season. This is when the revelry that goes on around the world comes to Haiti. Every year, each city in Haiti is given money to build stages for bands and singers. They have parades, dance, drink, anything and everything sin enjoys before Ash Wednesday. In Haiti, this revelry goes on until Easter. Mardi Gras will not and is not happening this year, what's happening is everyone, the entire church is worshipping and praising God.

Saturday Morning: The music has already begun for prayer this morning. Jeff, an engineer who came to look at our buildings (and others) and to instruct on how to rebuild "earthquake" safe, was in Jacmel, left today when he had the chance to get public transportation because everything is closed! Everything. It's most amazing how seriously the Haitian people have taken this call to prayer.

Jeff Samida, instructed Pastor Cesar and his people on how to rebuild the church and they are listening. It's been our experience that no matter what instructions you give as to a better or easier way to do things, it falls on deaf ears. Not this time. They are afraid and they are willing to do it exactly the way they are instructed. In times past, we'd give the money for better construction only to find short cuts, so the money could be stretched…there is always need for other things. This time, they are building to "code" so to speak. Gary figures the church will cost 10,000 USD before it's completed, but it'll be a building the church members won't fear falling on them.

Today, Gary is leaving for Port to pick up a big shipment of tents, a welding machine and various other items that will be necessary as we continue to plan for relocating people.

President Preval Proclaims Fasting and Prayer…

Since January 12, Gary has done nothing but drive to and from Port. Today, he took Service International's Trey and Mike, to catch a small plane to Santa Domingo and from there to St Louis. Certainly don't envy their returning to snow! While we sport 81 degrees at 6:30 AM EST, everyone seems to be inundated and overwhelmed digging out of snow. Guess that's a lot better than the rubble in Port au Prince. But, when I also read early this morning, that a 4.3 earthquake struck near Chicago, wow! As many 4 pointers as we've felt in the last month, I know what those in IL were feeling at the impact of it all. A very "earth shaking" and mind boggling experience!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, typically, the revelry of Kanival (Mardi Gras), will not take place, fasting and prayer will. The President has called the island to prayer. Schools will be closed as churches gather together in parks and fields to pray for their country. They've been instructed not to pray for personal needs but to pray for Haiti. Sounds like 2 Chronicles 7:14, doesn't it? It's wonderful when leaders call for prayer. Perhaps it takes something so horrendous as the January 12^th earthquake to shake people to cry out to God. It's a fact that the church in peace and safety loses it's power because everyone becomes complacent and religious. Even the Christians in Acts didn't fulfill the commission until they were persecuted and dispersed to other places. So, Haiti is going to pray and call on Bondye, the Good God. To the unchurched that's who He is. Good God certainly suggests there are many gods, doesn't it? For those who've trusted in many gods who are not good, who cannot be trusted, who cannot hear the cries of help and desperation, I would expect many to come into the Body of Christ over these three days of meetings. Since the earthquake, Haitians have been coming, repenting, choosing Jesus.

When you consider Haiti to be the most evangelized country in the world, there is rarely a soul who has not heard the name Jesus here. Every child grows up shouting, Halleluia and singing His praises, only to wander off into voudou or worldly living. January 12^th has awakened hundreds of survivors whether they have all their limbs or not. They are worshipping the Lord. All the prayers and prophetic words spoken over this little island will come to pass and Haiti will no longer be a reproach but an example of what the Lord Jesus Christ can do when He is Lord. I wonder if the American President would ever call Americans to a day or days of fasting and prayer. Several years ago, the Holy Spirit prompted me to pray Ezekiel's prayer over this nation, speaking to the dry bones. (Ez. 37). This could be that time.

I know where our thoughts go with calling a nation to prayer based on all the comments that have been made in the past. Haiti has been known for it's demonic worship and fasting and prayer will be to many gods. Yes, that's probably true, and there are many gods here in Haiti as well as the US, but when people rise to the occasion of crying out, there is only one GOD to which they cry and that is the Living God. He's called Bondye. He is the only TRUE and GOOD GOD.