Ministry in Tent Cities

At least twice a week a group of people, including the Billy Graham chaplains and various young Haitian men, are going to tent cities to have Bible studies and visit people living there. Recently Darlene started going along and doing a children's program as part of the visit also. Darlene just recently returned to Haiti after almost 10 years and has a real burden for children.
Last week when she went to a tent city they had more then 50 children listen to the Bible story and learn basic truths about the Lord.
We are praising God for the great work that is being done within the tent cities.
On Tuesday Marilyn, the Billy Graham chaplain, was talking with some people and they shared with her that the government wasn't able to help them, but it is the Christians who are the ones helping them.
Praise God that the church of Haiti is really being a testimony during this time and reaching out to the people around them in need.


Darlene and Marjon sharing with the children.




Marilyn and Elismond visiting a woman living in a tent city.

New homes being built

We are praising God that we have been able to begin rebuilding good strong homes for people in the surrounding communities. We have a great construction team that is working diligently to build about 1 home each week. The families are so grateful to have a good strong home that is built well and is keeping them safe and dry.
Thank you for partnering with us to help provide these homes for these families. When we talk with them they share how grateful they are and their desire to say thank you to those who have provided the funds to build them these homes.


We started today to build a new home for this family.

Part of the construction crew starting the foundation.

Yonel

The following was written by Marjon Harkema:

On our second day at the mission we saw a little boy in a wheelchair. It was clear that he was a victim of the earthquake. His arm and leg were hurt. Beside him I saw his mother. We asked for the story behind this family. During the earthquake Yonel broke his arm and leg. After a couple of days he came to the hospital at the mission with his mom. They had to walk for many hours to reach the mission. Yonel´s mother was sick, but she thought she had an infection. She had been sick for 2 1/2 years already and since they live in such a remote village, medical care is not easily assessable so she never saw a doctor. After some examinations in the mission hospital the doctors discovered that she has very advanced breast cancer. She will probably only have 6 months to live. Instead of being sad, she is so thankful and happy that people at the mission honestly shared with her what was wrong. Now she can arrange everything for her kids before she dies. Her husband died in December 2009 and when she dies she will be leaving 5 children orphans. But thankfully there are family members and people from the church who are willing to come a long side of these children and see that they are well taken care of.
This story made a deep impact on me. She is not afraid to die at all. She is a real Christian. Wow,...what a brave women. She doesn´t complain, she doesn´t give up. She is a real example of a good Christian. Every single day she give thanks to the medical people. Please pray for her and her family.


Marjon's children with Yonel.


Yonel

Schools reopen

As of Monday April 5, the Ministry of Education has told all schools that are able to, that they should open and resume classes. It is so encouraging to see children going back to school, even if they have to meet under plastic or in a tent. We are praising God for sending people here who have been a huge help setting up tents at several schools. We are also praising God for the work that is being done to repair several schools.

Training for pastors and teachers by Billy Graham Association

On Tuesday five more people from the Billy Graham Association arrived at the Mission. During the next four days they are going to be training pastors and teachers in different areas of Haiti in how to share the gospel during a time of crisis and grief counseling. Yesterday they started in a place called Thomassin (15 minutes from the Mission).
The training in Thomassin was attended by 80 pastors and teachers and was about grief and how to deal with this after the earthquake. First there was a plenary session which was about the symptoms of grief and how to deal with this from a biblical perspective. It was so interesting to notice the big difference between the North American/European way of thinking about how people would react to a disaster like this and the Haitian way of thinking. An example of this was: Marjon Harkema who joined the Billy Graham team said to a Haitian man: After I heard about the earthquake I was so sad about everything. Then this man said: “Why were you sad? I wasn’t sad.....Yes, I lost my house but my family is still living, so I have no reason to be sad. So why should you be sad...?” It is so easy to project your own way of thinking and your own emotions to other people and expect that they will think and feel the same.
After the plenary session the whole group was divided into smaller groups accompanied by a Billy Graham chaplain. In these small groups there was a dialog about the personal stories and experiences. The most important thing that came up was that some people felt powerless to not be able to provide the material needs of people. The Billy Graham people explained that you can’t be responsible to provide for all the needs of people. You have to believe that God will provide whatever you need (maybe not in a way you think, but He will provide). The most important thing for the pastors and teachers is to help the people spiritually and to show them God’s great love. The bible text which was applied during these session was 2 Corinthians 1. The training was closed with singing and prayer. What a blessing to be able to have these training sessions!

Marjon and 2 of the Billy Graham chaplains


Sharing in their small groups

At the same time yesterday more tents were being placed at a school in Thomazeau (2 hours from the Mission).

Tents are going up at schools for temporary classrooms

Last week several people from the Netherlands arrived in Haiti. Gerben Jousma, Sietze van der Velde and Gerben & Marjon Harkema from BHM the Netherlands with their two kids Emma and Thomas.
Last Friday and Saturday they put up several tents at the Fermathe school, which is close to the mission. Yesterday the schools started again and since the school is damaged, it’s not safe to be in this school anymore. The back of the school has collasped. That’s why the tents were needed to be able to start school again.




This is a second building on the school property which is used as classrooms and an auditorium. We have been working on repairs and it is almost ready to be used once again.

Sunday we celebrated Easter. The church was full, we had a great service. People were singing, worshipping, praying for more than 3 hours. Several people accepted Jesus as their personal saviour. What a blessing!


Gerben, Sietze, and Gerben pose for a picture after getting back from setting up the tents. Hannah and Elizabeth Lieb joined them for the picture.

Emma and Thomas enjoyed meeting Yonel, a young boy who was injured in the earthquake, after church on Sunday.