Aroma of Christ

It was a blessing to be back in Diquini this past weekend. Despite the hot dusty ride and getting bounced around in the back of the truck for a total of 16 hours, the journey there and back was quite enjoyable and full of energy, singing, laughing, and prayer. I only knew two of the seminary students from prior trips and mobile clinics, Pastor Belonie and Pastor Devicour. It was great to get to know some new people and see their hearts for God and for their Haitian brothers and sisters. Junior met us in Port, he went down the week before to organize all of our housing and eating arrangements and to get the word out in the community that we were coming.

The first night we arrived we had a service at the church and 8 people came forward and gave their lives to Christ! Matt passionately preached the truth of the Gospel and the power we have through the salvation of Jesus Christ. It was a great way to start off the crusade and everyone left excited and encouraged for how God is clearly at work in this place.

The next morning Julie and I went out in groups with the students to evangelize. Although I was a bit nervous and timid about how I as a young “blan“(white in Kreyol) female would be received, the students boldly spoke of the grace of Jesus in truth and love and almost everyone was willing to listen and let us prayer with them. There were still more who heard the message of redemption and decided to live the rest of their lives in light of that truth. There was one older lady who had been deep in the cultural roots of voodoo for most of her life. The students revealed God's true perfect love for her and what He had done on her behalf because of that love. She became a Christian that day, and to symbolize the dying of her old life and beginning of a new one in Jesus, we had a little fire outside to burn all the various voodoo articles she had in her house.This experience truly challenged and stretched me, and my own faith was strengthened through witnessing the power of the Gospel.

After lunch we planned out a VBS for the kids. We sang songs, learned about Noah and how God blessed him for his obedience, memorized Genesis 7:5, and Julie and I sang a song in English that we had taught them back in April. We were both amazed that straight after we finished singing that same song in Kreyol, they started right into it in English and remembered the whole thing without any of our help! We had a great service that night, Devicour preached and the theme for this weekend was all who are tired and thirsty, come to Jesus because He is the living water and only in Him can we find true lasting life. There were more people who came forward after he spoke to give their lives to the Lord.The next morning Julie and I went with Junior to see a lady who had a broken hip the last time we were there. Julie had given her some exercises to help strengthen her muscles and wanted to see how she was doing. We walked down the side of the mountain through the mix of tarp tents, lean-tos, and the occasional cement house. The lady was very happy to see us and said she still had pain but could walk and get around just fine. After we left her house, Junior told us about how he had helped build 12 houses in Diquini during his time there. When he was in his early teens he went to live with a missionary family in Port who took him in as their own son. He told us that his “dad” had sent him money to buy materials to build houses for those in Diquini who had lost their homes in the earthquake and were now living in tents. He took us to see a couple of them and they were by far some of the nicest houses in the area and definitely a big step up from the tarp homes surrounding them. Junior told us that he has been looking for more support so that he can buy materials and continue building houses for these people. The need is so great and each night we were there, there was thunder, lightening, and pouring rain. We heard of one house collapsing under the force of the rain, and I'm sure there are many more that are frequently damaged during those kinds of storms. It is also safe to say that no one living in one of those tents would have a chance of staying dry when it rained. It was heart breaking to think that most of these families had been suffering in these conditions for the past 9 months.I am praying for a way in which I could help raise support to give these people proper homes to live in. If you would like to join in helping the families of Diquini, you can get in touch with me via email and I will give you more details about how you can do that.

Kids club on Friday afternoon got a tad bit chaotic when we brought out beads and string to make bracelets. We had black, red, white, green, and yellow beads and we explained to them that black stood for the darkness our sin, red represented the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all of that sin, the white bead represents how we are made clean and pure through His blood that covers us, the green stands for growth in our faith in who He is, and yellow represents heaven and the hope we have of spending eternity there with God. The seminary students were all really wonderful, and it was a blast working together with them.

Saturday night Pastor Belonie preached about Jesus and the Samarian woman in John 4. He incorporated humor, passion, and intensity into his message and had all of us shouting an amen at one point or another. He drove home the point that whoever drinks of the water Jesus offers will NEVER again be thirsty and that water will become in him a spring welling up to eternal life. We sang and danced, more people were saved, and the night ended in everyone running to their homes to try and escape the downpour. We were all up early the next morning. Church started at 6 because we needed to get on the road early so we wouldn’t be driving on the treacherous roads in the dark. The service was lovely, we heard from Pastor Elizay about the true bread and water of eternal life. In total, there were about 20 people who came to know the Lord during the crusade. We took communion, prayed for the church, and pastor Charlo who took over after Junior left, prayed for all of us as well. After church we had breakfast, packed up, and spent some time together as a group thanking God for who He is and all He had done in the short amount of time we were there. We prayed for His continued presence and blessings in the lives of His children in Diquini. I am so grateful that God has allowed me to be apart of experiences like these and apart of the work He is doing here. Even when we feel weak, discouraged, unfit to accomplish anything for the Kingdom, worn out, under attack, in the middle of a crisis, or out of our element, praise the Lord He is so much greater than our circumstances and that through our weaknesses He is made strong. For it is Christ who is living in us, and who chooses us as vessels to accomplish His will so that He may be glorified."But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing..." 1 Corinthians 2:14&15

Thankful heart

I wanted to share with you a couple of answers to prayers, and thank those of you who have been praying for me and the people of Haiti these past few months.

The special week at the clinic went really great. We saw over 200 patients a day and despite being exhausted at the end of the week, everyone worked really well together and was satisfied with how everything went. The medical team from the states that was here helping us brought 2 pastors with them, and they along with our 2 Haitian pastors on staff at the clinic, led 17 people to Christ...exciting! Currently Dr. Rodney is working to create a budget for the clinic that will allow Bethesda to permanently lower their prices and continue to offer the same affordable health care to all of their patients.

The never ending job of pill counting...woohoo!

I have an update on Tania the 23 year old girl in Milot who has breast cancer. We have been praying that she would be accepted to a hospital somewhere in the states for chemotherapy treatment and we just found out on Monday that a center in Baltimore that specializes in breast cancer patients has accepted her for treatment. There were many details that needed to be organized such as flights, someone to travel with her, living expenses while she is there, and of course all of the paperwork needed for her to be allowed into the country. They are estimating that she will need to be there for a year to complete the needed treatment. The hospital has found an apartment for her and her mom that is on the same campus as the hospital which will eliminate the need for transportation back and forth. The cost for them to live there with all of their meals included is $100 per day. There are a few people here who are looking to different organizations and businesses to try and find the funds to support her during the year, but the need is still great. Also, we are waiting for her and here mom to get their visas approved before they can go. They are scheduled to leave for the states on the 23rd of this month. Please pray that their visa applications would go through and that we would be able to find enough support to fully fund the trip before they leave. If you feel you would like to help Tania financially, you can let me know via email and we can make arrangements for that to happen. My address is hannahp333@yahoo.com.

It is amazing to see how God has been working in this situation and preparing the way for her to receive the help that she needs. I am confident that He will see it through to completion if we continue to trust in Him to provide for everything. I am so encouraged by Tania's attitude and steadfast faith in God despite her circumstances. Please continue to pray for her physical, emotional, and spiritual well being throughout this journey.

One last bit of news...I will be going back to Diquini Port-au-Prince tomorrow morning and coming back Sunday. There is team of missionaries and seminary students going to encourage the church there, lead church services, and do some evangelism in the surrounding areas. We would all appreciate your prayers for this opportunity we've been given to show the love of Christ to these people.

Up to date...

It has been while since I have written and a lot has happened since then. I had the opportunity to go back home for a couple weeks for my brother Tom's wedding. I am so thankful I was able to be there to share in the celebration and be a part of Tom and Hannah's special day!My sister flew back to Haiti with me on the 11th of September. The Lord blessed us with two special weeks together, and she just left to go back home on Thursday. We did many things while she was here as I tried to share with her all the aspects of my life in Haiti: my work at the clinic and in Milot, friends, ministry, church, and just everyday routine interactions/encounters. We were able to see some of God's beautiful creation here in Haiti as well when we visited the Citadel and the beach. It was such a treat to have her companionship, encouragement, and help these past two weeks and our relationship only grew deeper as we shared these experiences together.

Wadner gave us a ride on his bike

Documenting our fatigue during a hot long day at Milot hospital

Now I'd like to share with you about some of the things that are happening in the lives of some of my friends and patients in Milot. The first person I'd like to talk about is a 23 year old girl named Tania. I met Tania for the first time in Milot the day after I got back from the states. Julie filled me in a bit on her story before I met her. She was admitted about a month ago now, for breast cancer and has already had 4 operations to remove a sarcoma tumor from her left breast, but the tumor just keeps growing back. She was told at the hospital that she needs to go to the states to receive chemotherapy treatments to completely rid her body of the cancer so the tumor doesn't keep coming back. She really has no means of getting to the states, so she had asked Julie if there was anything she could do because the Haitians know that when patients are sent to the states, a lot of time it is the "white" teams of doctors and nurses that come in, who organize it. We have been talking with some of the people in Milot, trying to figure out a way we can get her there so she can get the care she needs. Without the chemo treatment, she will die. She went in for surgery last Wednesday to remove the tumor because it had grown to be fairly large again. But it will just continue to grow back until she has chemo to kill those cancer cells. Em and I were able to spend some time with her and her little sister each day we went to Milot. She is a Christian and told me that she knows it is all in God's hands and all we can do is pray. Please pray that the Lord would work out all the details and provide the means for her to get the care she needs in the states. Please also pray for God's strength and peace for Tania during this time as she is fighting for her life.

Tania and I

Em and Tania's sister

Next I have some exciting news about something that happened while I was in the states. This is the story as told to me by Julie, because she was here when it all happened and I will paraphrase what she told me. This took place a little over 3 weeks ago in the morning just after clinic devotions. Ms. Ketely who is a nurse here at the clinic called Julie over to show here a little baby girl who had just came with her dad. She was crying and the father told them that he left his house at 3am that morning to come there. He said the baby's mom died about 2 months ago and he was left with the baby. He wasn't sure what to do because he didn't know how to take care of her. They asked him if she was sick because he had come to a clinic, but he said he didn't think so, she just cries a lot. They got the baby some clothes and Julie sat and tried to feed her a bottle of milk, but after the first few tries it was obvious that she didn't know how to use a bottle. So they asked the dad what he had been feeding her and he told them cows milk with a spoon and butter and flour. So they kept her for awhile to feed her and try and calm her down. In the meantime, Dr. Rodney had come over to see what was going on and after hearing the story, out of the blue, told Julie that he would take the baby. She asked him what about Vedane(his wife) and he told Julie to call her and tell her to come to the clinic. Vedane didn't hesitate whatsoever in saying yes and came right away to see the baby. Vedane sat and talked with the dad and sorted out all of the legal details, the father had already brought everything with him that he needed to give the baby away.

And that was that! Later on after the fact, Julie asked Dr. Rodney how he was able to make such a huge decision like that so quickly. He said that he knew by the way the dad was talking that he didn't want to keep the baby and was looking to give her to someone else. He said he just felt like he should be the one to take her. When she asked Vedane the same question, she told Julie that the night before she had had a dream that she was with someone and there was a baby there for her to take, but someone came along and asked for the baby. She didn't want to fight so she said "Ok take the baby, God is going to send me a beautiful baby girl." So when Dr. Rodney told her about this baby in the clinic, she knew right away that it was from God.

Her name was Dalundy, but they changed it to Alisha. She is such a wonderful addition to their family, everyone who comes to see her falls in love with her immediately. She is adorable, loves to smile, and is such a good baby! She eats well, sleeps well, and has just been a huge blessing for their family already. I was able to hear about her before I came back from the US and I brought some baby clothes and other necessities. She is so beautiful and Em and I had a great time getting to know her and playing with her. Here are a few pictures of Alisha....
There is some more exciting things coming up in the this next week. We have a team of doctors and nurses from the states here that will be working at the clinic. Dr. Rodney decided to organize a special clinic for this week in which everyone patient who comes is only required to pay 50 goudes($1.25) for their medical care. Dr. Rodney has been announcing this on the radio and at church, so the word is out and we are expecting a large amount of people to come every day. The staff will be starting at 6, clinic opens at 8, and we will be closed roughly at 4. It is going to be a bit insane, but I am really looking forward to it. What a great way to reach out to the community, to those who would not otherwise be able to receive treatment, and to be the hands and feet and mouths of Jesus. I would ask for your prayers for strength and endurance this next week, for unity among the staff and medical team, for each of the staff to be administers of the grace and love that we've so freely been given, and that God would begin preparing the hearts of those who will come that they would be softened and ready to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support, I know God is faithful and can and will do much more than we could ever imagine.