Missions - Haiti
 

Haiti 2009

Dear Friends,

I want to report on the trip to Haiti this past July. This was the first time I traveled without a team which allowed me to do some things that I wouldn’t normally do. I went with some goals in mind knowing that plans are often changed when you get to Haiti. Let me highlight some of what I saw and did.

Gleanings Offering

I asked the Pastor of AFCA village what we could do to help. He requested that we do a food distribution at AFCA village. We were able to purchase 700 lbs of rice and 100 lbs of beans.

This was distributed among the 14 families in the village, 20 families from the AFCA church, 5 gate keepers’ families and 20 girls at the AFCA orphanage.

I then visited Sherry Fausey www.christianlighthaiti.org and asked what we could do to help. She suggested purchasing the ingredients for peanut butter balls. These are balls made of peanut butter, baby formula, powdered sugar, oil, and honey. They are used to feed severely malnourished children. We bought enough ingredients to feed 1 one child in PAP, 17 children in Croix-des-Bouquets, and 30 children in Gonaives.

In addition to this I was able to leave the balance of the Gleanings Offering with Luke which he used to do food distribution in a village named Fonde Blanc outside of PAP.

Above is a picture of some of the boys at LWCH orphanage. Nicky on the left is an old friend from a VBS we did in 2006. He is now the oldest and has taken on a lot of responsibility. He has also become much more outgoing. As an Albino Haitian he has suffered a lot of abuse. Also in the picture are Mickey, Mich and Wes. Mich recently had surgery to correct a deformed leg on a USN hospital ship in PAP harbor. We were able to provide a truckload of water for this orphanage.

This is Eli who was also at LWCH orphanage. I’ve seen a lot of hydrocephalic babies in Haiti. Eli had an operation to install a shunt to drain the fluid from his brain, but passed away the week after I left.

Above is Becca at another ministry we visited operated by a woman named Dorothy Pearce www.dorothypearcehaiti.blogspot.com Dorothy takes in severely malnutritioned infants and nurses them back to health if possible or provides palliative care.

Poutichino is above. Portichino is a story of success for Dorothy. Although he needs a little help to get up, when he does he loves to dance!

JJ is Becca’s favorite. He was brought to Dorothy barely clinging to life with a badly burned right arm and hand. His mom died in childbirth and his dad is unknown. JJ’s aunt took him in, but then became pregnant with her ninth child. When JJ was found at 5 months old he was nearly dead from starvation. Today he is 2-1/2 years old and a little chubby! We helped Dorothy with some finances to pay staff.

I attended Quisqueya Chapel on Sunday where Luke pastored for the summer. It is an international English speaking church. On that Sunday there were about 250 in attendance representing about 20 different countries. It was a joy to be a channel of God’s resources to the people of Haiti. Please pray for those who pour themselves out for the Lord in Haiti.

Thank you,
Al
July 2009


Update From Luke & Becca Perkins

Back in the States after a full and challenging summer.

Becca and I are back in Dallas and settling into a new semester after a busy and
challenging couple of months.

Thank You!

Becca and I want to begin this update by saying a big thank you to those of you who supported us financially and prayed for us this summer as we ministered for
two months in Haiti. We feel like we had one of the most productive times in Haiti that we’ve ever had and none of it would have happened without your faithful
support. So - thank you all so much! In this update, we’ll give you a few snapshots of what we were up to.

Becca: Kids (anyone surprised?)

Most days Becca spent a good portion of the day working with Sherrie Fausey at the Christian Light School. Each day she worked with a 4th and a 6th grade summer school class, teaching them English and Science. She especially enjoyed
doing science experiments with them, like testing for lime content of rocks. When she wasn’t teaching these classes she would help work with the orphanage that
Sherrie took over after last years hurricane season. In addition to working with Sherrie, Becca was also able to work with Beth McHoul and Heartline ministries. While working with this ministry she helped administer pre-natal and baby exams, taught a child development class for new mothers and helped the boys at their boys home with their fine motor skills. The time Becca spent with Beth was both very exciting and heart wrenching.

Luke: Quisqueya Chapel

I was able to play an interesting role in the life of Quisqueya Chapel (QC) this summer. After 10 years as Senior Pastor, Karl Olsson finished serving at QC at
the end of June and is beginning an exciting new season of ministry in Haiti this fall. Beginning the second week of August, Bobby Boyer began his ministry as the new Senior Pastor of QC. I was able to serve with both of these men in addition to covering the pastoral responsibilities during the interim period. During the six week period between the time Pastor Karl left to the time Pastor Bobby arrived I was able to preach through most of the book of Ephesians. In addition to my
preaching responsibilities, I administered the daily operations of the church, oversaw a construction project, and taught a series of weekly Bible studies
on the theology of salvation. Becca and I also enjoyed many times of fellowship with various QC families as we shared meals together, sometimes in their homes and sometimes in the home we stayed in. We’ve really come to love the people of QC over the past few years and just had a great time serving alongside them this summer. I’m excited about the relationship that developed between QC’s new pastor, Pastor Bobby and I, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with QC in the years that come. After Pastor Bobby began preaching at QC, I was able to preach in two Haitian churches before returning to the States. It was fun to meet new people when I preached at Croix-des-Bouquets and see old friends
when I preached at AFCA village.

Relief opportunities

We were reminded several times this summer that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most corrupt in the world. Corruption
showed up in electricity shortages, in a police officer robbing a house in our neighborhood, and in one of our friends having his house demolished by the
government and loosing everything in the process. Poverty demonstrated itself this time in the desperate situations of three children. Daniella is a baby girl that
was brought to the McHoul’s clinic. Daniella’s mom had been having trouble producing breast milk so she had been given water for about a month. Although she was severely malnourished when Becca first saw her; by the time we left she was beginning to do better. Jean-Paul is a baby boy that came to the clinic severely malnourished and with pneumonia. At 8 months old, he weighed just 8 pounds. By the time we left, he was beginning to do better as well. Finally there is
Emmanuella. Emanuella was abandoned by her mother at her grandmothers house in Port-au-Prince. Not knowing what to do, her grandmother found some missionaries who directed her to Sherrie’s school. After being turned away by two
hospitals because she was “too far gone” she returned to Sherrie’s and we decided to take her to another missionary who has an infant rescue mission. When I picked her up to put her in the car, her arms and legs were cold to the touch. When I arrived at the infant rescue mission and we put her on the scale we learned that at 3 years old she weighed just 12.5 lbs. Initially we thought she might die, but when we left she was eating and beginning to improve.

The corruption made life difficult, the poverty ripped our hearts out. As I reflected on my flight back to the States, I decided that this time in Haiti was both our
worst time and our best. It was our worst because it was emotionally trying and physically difficult, but it was our best because both came away KNOWING that we were in very real ways used by God to do His work. There really is nothing better than that. So, thank you again for so faithfully supporting us this summer as we ministered in a place that we love so much. Through your support, you were literally ministering with us. We believe and we pray that God was glorified.

-Luke and Becca
August 2009

The rest of the story...

If you interested in learning more about our work this past summer, you can visit
our blog at: theperkinsblog.blogspot.com where we have more detailed stories and pictures.




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Danville Baptist Church - Missions In Haiti 2008