Retreat/trip to Port

This passed Friday through Monday was the retreat for all of the missionaries on the compound. We went to the beach all day Saturday, then stayed at a nice hotel in Cap Hatian through Monday morning. We had a pastor of some of our missionaries, from back home in the states, come with his wife and put on our sessions throughout the weekend. It was a lovely much-needed rest and spritual refreshment. Then on Monday, Julie and I left the hotel and headed out to Milot to work for a half day. I am really glad we did too, because we hadn't been there for awhile and I had a lot of catching up to do. I won't have a chance to get out to Milot again until next week, as I will be leaving for Diquini in Port au prince tomorrow morning at 7. It will be a team of about 25 people made up of missionaries and seminary students. We will be there through Monday supporting Junior and His new church ministry in Diquini in any way we can. The plan is that some of the team will be doing Evangelization and outreach, and others will be putting on a VBS program for the children. I get to work with the children, along with Julie, Kate, and a few of the seminary students. I am really excited for this opportunity God has given me to go visit and encourage Junior and his staff, and hopefully be a blessing to the children in Diquini. I ask that you would lift up this trip in your prayers, that we would all be willing to be used in whatever way the Lord sees fit and that the Holy Spirit would do a mighty work in the hearts of His people. Thank you, may you experience God's power in a new way this week!

Week at Milot

I had the opportunity to work at the hospital in Milot all last week. It was a busy and tiring week, but really good. I was able to run the C-arm in surgeries and the portable in the "ER". The team of doctors there were great to work with, and I was able to share with some of them a bit of my story and what I was doing in Haiti for a year. The good news is that while I was there, there were a noticable amount of patients who were healing and being discharged. What has been heartbreaking is that the majority of them have lost most or all of their families and homes. They have no jobs, no money, and no place to go. Many patients are trying any and everything to convince nurses and drs that they are not well enough to be discharged so that they can stay there and be taken care of. There is a huge need for some sort of homeless/rehabilitation center where these people could be given shelter, counseled, and mentored on how to begin rebuilding their lives. The depressing reality is that many of the people we have been treating will end up dying from starvation, malnutrition, or some other sickness. Medically speaking, the circumstances are bleak and hopeless. But in terms of eternal well-being, most of the earthquake victims are living with the hope and love of Jesus in their lives! Praise God that their true home is not here on this Earth! Many of them became saved after the earthquake and almost none of them have a bible. Julie and I have talked about trying to find a bunch of Kreyol bibles that we can take down there and pass out to these new believers. We would like to have plenty to pass out so we don't have to pick and choose who to give them to. We are looking into finding somewhere that sells Kreyol bibles in large quantities. Money to buy all these would be an issue, so please pray that God would provide the means to do so.
It has been great to be back on the compound here in Cap Haitian and I was able to be at the clinic yesterday for the first time in a week. We are headed back out to Milot this morning, and depending on the situation with the types of teams that are there and how busy it is, I'm going to try to determine out how often I should be working out there. I just got news today from Miss Prudence who is the head nurse at our clinic, that a team of nurses from the states is coming and they are working to get one of their husbands who knows how to do ultrasounds to come down here and teach me some of the basics. He is a doctor, but has done ultrasound in the past. One of the other nurses has lots of experience with EKGs and is going to teach me how to use the machine that they have here. God is so good! It has been one answered prayer after another, and I am so thankful for all of you supporting me with your prayers! We serve an unfathomobly powerful God who is limitless in what He can do and I am priviledged to be able to share with you that truth being evident in my life.

Answered Prayers

I have been working at Milot hospital the passed few days. Julie and I went with a group of nurses who are here for 2 weeks. I hadn't been out there for a couple weeks and was very surprised to find that since then, they had gotten a very nice portable xray machine. This has been a huge blessing for the doctors and nurses who need to get an xray quickly, since the machine can be moved to anywhere in the hospital and used as long as there is an outlet. I found out that the xray tech who has been there since last Saturday is the only one there and before her there hadn't been one since they got the new machine. She is leaving on Saturday and there is not another tech scheduled to come in after her. So this is a great opportunity for me to go down there and run the machine, as well as the C-arm in surgeries. Julie and I are going to be driving out there 3 times a week, and then working at the clinic here in Cap Haitian the other days. We are both so excited that we are being able to specifically use the gifts God has given us to help these earthquake victims.What a huge answer to prayer! God has gone before us and opened up many doors so that we can be used effectively in administering care both physically and spiritually. There is such a huge mission field there, as the majority of the short-term teams from the states that are coming through there are not Christians. It is crazy to think that God 's perfect plan has led me to this hospital in Milot Haiti, to share the love of Jesus with Americans! Please be praying for Julie and I, that we would be bold in reflecting Christ in all situations with our words, actions, and attitudes. Also that we would be a comfort and witness to the patients we see as well.

We had a 4 hour prayer meeting this morning involving all of the people who work in various OMS ministries, both Haitian and non. It was a wonderful(and hot) time of worship, praise, thanksgiving, and supplication. We heard of Junior down in Diquini and of his hard work and perserverance in carrying out the Lord's will. He has been living by faith, depending on the Lord for all things. He is living in a tent, relying on the Lord to provide his daily bread, and working himself to exhaustion. Please pray for renewed strength and energy for this young man. Pray that God would fill Junior with peace and joy overflowing, that word of the Lord would continue to abide in him and pour out into the lives of others. Thanky you.

Here are a few pictures of the hospital in Milot, and our crazy truck ride home :)

Tents that were set up a month ago for the earthquake victims being flown in from Port-au-prince. They are across the street from the hospital.

The front of the hospital.

The beautiful new portable machine in Milot :)

The ride home. Those are mattresses we are sitting on. It was actually one of the most enjoyable drives I've had yet!

Sunset on the way home.

Ephesians 2:10

The Lord has recently opened up an opportunity for me to serve Him by helping one of the women missionaries here, Jane, be a hostess for short term teams coming to Haiti through the OMS organization. This job will involve coordinating schedules with our headquarters in Greenwood as to when we have available room and specific jobs for various teams. I will have to decide where to house everyone, make vehicle arrangements, inform housekeeping and kitchen staff of dates when they will need to be working, and take new teams through orientation(rules, tour, info about OMS, schedules, etc.). This is all done with the intent to ensure that their time here is fruitful and unhindered in what God wants to accomplish in and through them. I am trying to learn quickly from Jane how this process all works out, as she and her husband are leaving mid April to go back to the states for 2 weeks and I will be in charge of teams on my own! I am really glad I am able to help relieve some of the stress from Jane, as she is in charge of other ministries and can't do it all by herself anymore. It is incredible to witness the ways in which God works and see His perfect plan unfold. In cross training I learned that one of my spiritual gifts is hospitality, and when Jane came to me and said she thought I would be great for this job, I praised God that He had created me for good works in Christ Jesus, which He had prepared in advance! Never ceases to amaze me the way He perfectly knits together each tiny detail of our lives before we are even born, so that His name might be glorified through us, if only we are willing to give Him back the life that He has given us. I want to encourage you all with Psalm 139. Know that God is acquainted with ALL your ways, and the days that He formed for you have already been written! We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has already prepared beforehand that we should walk in them! All He is asking is that we surrender our life willingly to the plans that He has for us, not ours, but His. And He will do greater things in and through us than we could ever imagine, to the glory of His name!

Please pray that God will use me to pour out His love, truth, and grace into the teams that come through here, and that I will have sufficient organizational skills to keep all in order and running smoothly. I am so thankful for everyones prayers and encouragment! May you be filled with His perfect peace and joy this week!