Kids Around the World, the missions organization we worked with to send the meals to Haiti, is there now installing the playground that they sent with our meals.  God is good! 

Weather Forecast in Port-au-Prince Haiti: 95 degrees. RealFeel: 103 degrees... But despite the heat we are seeing the Lord in so many ways. He is doing wonderful things here in Haiti. Praise Jehovah!

David: On Tuesday morning we were able to get up and have breakfast as usual. This is typically some bread, peanut butter, fruit juice and maybe some banana. What we were able to do after breakfast was our initial plan of teaching a lesson on integrity. For example, in the case of Joseph, he had integrity even though his brother treated him wrongly, Potipher’s wife treated him wrongly, and he was accused of many things he was a man of integrity and did the right things because of his relationship with God.

Emily: It’s interesting that we were able to teach on this, because back in September when we were first starting to plan this trip before the earthquake we were planning on doing huge Vacation Bible Schools. When the earthquake happened we kind of had to drop that idea because, obviously, our whole mission and vision here was going to be different. But it was really cool that what we initially planned we were still able to use.

David: We spent some time doing that with the orphan girls who live on the compound. After that we teamed up with Bishop Juene’s son, Danny, and he is in charge of this whole ministry compound because his father’s jurisdiction stretches father, but they both still live here. Danny is in charge of, basically the mayor over one ninth of Car Four. We’ve been able to eat meals with him, talk and joke with him and one time when we were talking with him he said that we could send a good message to the people. So we did it! What we did was, we went out among the 20,000 people staying here. One of the problems is there are huge piles of rubble and it’s filthy. It’s just sitting there rotting. So we put on our boot and gloves, grabbed some shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows. We decided just to take care of this because no one else was. Danny’s vision was that maybe then the people would then think, “Hey, we should be doing that!” and then take over the responsibility for where they were living. So as we were doing it maybe 25 of us were working and about 500 people were watching. They then began taking over and saying, “This is my country. I should be taking care of it!” It was co encouraging to see them not being offended, but taking ownership of their county. They saw that if other people from another country can serve us, then I can surely serve my brothers and sisters in my own community.

Emily: I think the key is that in Haitian culture you would rather have no money than to potentially degrade yourself. So these people are in a cycle of not wanting to degrade themselves and not wanting to pick things up. We were then able to be an example of these people and show them it was okay to pick us this filth. Then today, Wednesday, we were driving back into the compound we saw the Haitian people still working on the project. That was such an encouragement to us!

David: On Sunday we were able to see a lot of things happening in the church., but on Monday we got to see the work being done in the ministry compound. The first day after the earthquake 15,000 refugees arrived on the compound seeking some place to stay. The compund is only 20 acres. There are now 20,000 refugees staying within these walls each night. The man that oversees the compound also oversees 200 churches. His name is Bishop Joel Jeune. He is basically a pastor who is supervising 200 churches instead of just one. Monday morning we visited the boys' orphanage within the compound. We were able to spend time with the boys and hang out with them. We were able to talk back and forth because we had a translator with us. It was cool to be able to encourage them and play games with them and bring smiles to their faces. It’s funny because whenever children see us the first thing they notice is that we’re white and so they always say the word for white, which is “blanc” or blank. Another section of the compound is the widow center and it’s kind of like a nursing home. We were able to give supplies to widows such as medical ointments, wraps, and various things to do.

Emily: After that we went to another section of the compound and David was able to teach a lessons on Daniel not only to the orphans in the compound but also with the street kids ran after us as we arrived in the bus. When we got back to our portion of the compound, we’re actually staying in the girls’ orphanage portion of the compound; we visited a hospital that’s part of the compound. It’s a very solid building due to the “Zero Safety Code Compromises” so they didn’t take any short cuts in the construction of the building.

David: So they were unable to get a whole lot of people in there yet, which is good because if they had taken short cuts to save money to make it open and operable sooner it probably would have collapsed on all the people in it. It’s completely in tact and we were able to go on top and see the view of the compound from there. You can actually see it in one of our videos.

Emily: The view was beautiful. We were able to also see the mountains and the oceans. That night after dinner we met a congressman from Car Four and he oversees about 1,000,000 people in Car Four (that’s the city we’re in) and he told us that he would rather America send missionaries than the military. He sees that the missionaries are more sympathetic and compassionate. The military has been helping, but the missionaries seem to be doing more good.

David: The money that goes to the military and the expenses that they have to take care of the peace does help, but more work has been done by the missionaries.

David: Bonswa!

Emily: That means “Good Afternoon” in Creole.

David: We’ve seen many eye opening things here in our visit and travels in Haiti. For example on Sunday a lot of cool things happened. Sunday morning we went to church in the ministry compound. One of our team members, Chris, whose name actually in Creole actually means “Christ” is one that we have to be careful of and actually say “Christopher” because it might sound offensive if we say it flippantly. He spoke and gave a sermon that Sunday to the church. It’s encouraging because there were over 1,000 people in attendance and they were all worshipping God so fervently. There was so much joy despite the circumstance. The pastor of the church lost two of his children, yet in this service he urged the congregation to repent if they had doubted God or had not kept on believing that God was In control He is loving. So on Sunday we learned more sayings in Creole and practicing them with people. Such as:

Emily: “Bonjour” means “good morning” and…

David: “Bon swa” means “good afternoon” and “s'ak Pase” means “what’s up?”

Emily: Then you answer with “map bule” which literally means “I am burning” and a lot of the Haitians believe that life is hard and you just have to get through it. “I am burning” can also mean “I am getting by.”

David: Or “I am fighting” because a lot of the things they are trying to do is just provide food. If they have a really luxurious life then they can send their kids to school and allow them to have an education.

Emily: Before the earthquake the unemployment rate was 90% and now after it is 95%. So the people who were not employed to have food and to send their kids to school would be the ideal of a good life.

David: Well, on Sunday night members from the team, including us, got to share a testimony of what God is doing in our lives with about 800 people who were attending the evening service.

Emily: It was an interesting concept because our team leader, Welson, who is Haitian, had to translate into Creole for us. So that was an interesting experience that none of us had ever experienced before.

David: It’s amazing to see the people who know God in Haiti still worshipping God despite things literally crashing down.  They don’t have houses and maybe have one pair of clothes.  It’s just beautiful to see.

Please remember to pray for David Wood and Emily Sterkel as they spread the love and Gospel of Jesus to the people of Haiti.

From March 6th through the 16th, they will be ministering in Haiti with 7 other Moody Bible Institute students.  They are planning to minister to refugees staying at a ministry compound in Carrefour, the recent earthquake’s epicenter.

Lord willing, they will:

• Provide 16 families with much needed tents (shelter).
• Distribute 2,000 Gospel tracts in Creole (common language).
• Preach translated sermons on both Sundays of our trip.
• Demonstrate Christ’s love through manual labor, construction efforts, and food/water distribution.
• Supply permanent ministry leaders with post-traumatic-stress-disorder education and counseling materials in Creole.
• Bring hope to those we encounter through our prayers, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit.

Additionally, please intercede on the behalf of those in Haiti who need Jesus and have physical needs. Pray that:

• God would use our availability and efforts to demonstrate the saving love of Jesus Christ.
• The message of Jesus Christ would penetrate the needy hearts.
• The Holy Spirit would fill our team and be at work in every opportunity we encounter.
• The physical needs of the people would be met as God desires.

With all the volunteers we had from the church and the community we were able to have all the food packed and loaded back in the truck by 6:45pm and the church cleaned up soon after!  It is such a joy to be a part of God's work in Haiti and to have served with such an large group of people with such willing hearts.  The meals will be shipped to an orphanage 80 miles outside of Port au Prince along with a playground next week.  (See blog entry below for more information.)

It's exciting to be spreading God's love to the people of Haiti and to have been able to share God's love with so many people from the community through serving along side them in the relief efforts.  We had a prayer all throughout the night and were able to stop briefly at 5:30 and share with all the volunteers exactly why we are doing this kind of ministry.

What an exciting night!

In light of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, two of the greatest needs at this time are food and shelter.

We are partnering with Kids Around the World and Kids Against Hunger to bring much needed food to ministry partners in Haiti. We plan to tackle 50,000 of the million meals Kids Around the World is striving to send.

Some containers of food have already made their way through to Haiti and are quickly being depleted.  Ours meals will go to one of the following two organizations:

Northwest Haiti Christian Mission: Located 8 hours north of Port Au Prince and been serving the community there for 35 years.  Currently they are feeding 10,000 people every day!

NHCM is dedicated to establishing and partnering with indigenous churches to help bring people in Northwest Haiti out of spiritual, physical and social poverty to demonstrate God’s love for all.  Through the churches, they serve thousands of people across Northwest Haiti regardless of their age, gender, or religion through a diverse collection of programs that include primary schools, feeding projects, orphanages, medical clinics, church planting, a Bible college, and agricultural development. NHCM is the largest employer in the zone and one of the largest ministries in Haiti.  NHCM Web Site

Love A Child Ministry: Located in the rough town of Petit Desdunes (referred to as Babylon by locals) where they have been serving for 19 years.  Currently Love A Child is feeding over 5,000 children every day!

LAC is working to spread the word of God and show the love of Jesus by example, as they minister to the poorest of the poor in Haiti. Their outreach programs include 14 Love A Child schools, where they educate and feed over 5,000 children each day, and food distribution programs that feed thousands of Haitian families. With the help of partners, they establish churches in villages, hold remote medical clinics and oversee many other projects to benefit the poor in Haiti.  More inifo on the food distribution component of this ministry: Click Here  (Additional interesting info Here and Here.)

__________________________ 

To accomplish this goal, we will need your help. We'll need 100-200 people to help prepare the food packets on Saturday, February 20, at 4:30 pm. The food cost is 25 cents per meal so we'll also need to come up with $12,500 to cover those costs.  If you plan to come, please click on the RSVP link at the top of this page.  If you would like to help cover the costs, please give online (click here) and specify your gift for Haiti Disaster Relief.  100% of your contribution will be used for this intended purposes.

Food Info: One food package contains six servings and costs $1.50. Each package is prepared in less than twenty minutes by adding it to boiling water. One box contains 36 packages, costs $54.00 and feeds 216 children. One pallet contains 33 boxes with 1,188 packages, costs $1,782.00 and feeds 7,128 children! The food is a rice and soy mix fortified with 21 vitamins and minerals, 6 dehydrated vegetables and chicken flavoring. This soy (52% protein) and nutrient rich formula reverses the starvation process and its effects.

"Good morning church. It’s February 3rd today, which is Wednesday morning. We’re getting ready to leave the mission house for the day. Everyone on the team slept about so-so last night. There were roosters crowing before the sun came up and dogs barking all night, no air conditioning and lots of mosquitoes, but we’re all okay. We are going to be going to the orphanage today and we’re divided up on teams based on a time schedule. We’ll be hanging out with the kids today: possibly teaching, possibly organizing activities; games, coloring, and things like that. We’re expecting new kids to come in from Port of Prince and we’re not sure what to be expecting as far as medical issues.

There are about 5 children here who have various amputations and wounds, and there’s a child with Cerebral Palsy here whose mother left him in the hospital in Port of Prince, so he’s been abandoned and they’re caring for him. Several of the health care people on the team have been assigned to one specific child who has health concerns to monitor them throughout the day. That entails taking them to the bathroom, keeping them in shady areas, moving them along with there group as the group move through the day, making sure that they stay hydrated, administering any medications that they may need. I am planning on doing all the wound care today with the pediatrician that’s here. We’ll be rounding all the children and changing their bandages and inspecting the wounds on a train for signs of infection and things like that. That’s the plan for today. I hope we’re able to express to the children that people care about them and love them. Take care!"

Good morning church and friends. It is Tuesday morning. I am in the Dominican Republic and we have a big pile of our supplies piled up in the hotel lobby. We are going to be boarding a bus to take a three hour trip to the Haiti / Dominican boarder. We are going to be walking through the border crossing, with all of our things, which should be interesting. From there we are going to be walking to the orphanage. Everyone in the group, all 11 of us, are feeling good and healthy. We are excited to get to work. It is 80 degrees, sunny and beautiful here. I will be checking in with you when we get to the orphanage.

A friend, Becki Carlson, will be leading a Visiting Orphans team of 10 experienced orphanage workers to help at Danita's Children orphanage in Haiti. They leave this Monday, 2/1, and Amy Whipp, from our church, will be joining them, serving as their medic. 

This orphanage is already established close to the border of the Dominican Republic - right now they house 78 orphans. Danita will be bringing in 200-300 displaced orphans this week. She has been in Port Au Prince getting this set up. The orphans that she plans to bring in come from other orphanages that were destroyed, come from hospitals, and some are newly orphaned. There are many children with injuries coming.

There is a Visiting Orphans team there this week, so they will be able to give Becki's team a better idea of what to expect. You can follow their blog: Click Here 

Visiting Orphans is hoping to establish a good rapport with this ministry so that they can continue to send teams there to help care for the orphans. If you have an interest in helping on-site this might materialize into a feasible option.

Please pray for this trip.  Becki writes, "We will truly need to be completely covered in prayer the whole week. It is not a good situation that we are going into. But GOD......and He is so much bigger than the evil."

Danita brought in 28 new orphans at 2 AM on Tuesday night. Here they are eating their second meal in their new home...Wanted you all to get a glimpse of their precious faces....

The orphanage moved the pews out of their church to set up enough beds for the new children. Talk about the church being the church!

Visiting Orphans Blog 

There are many unknowns at this time regarding what will happen to these vulnerable children, and it has been my hope that The Church would step forward and do just what you are proposing.

I will forward any information to you as I receive it and we hope to be posting information on our website www.projecthopeful.org

Please feel free to contact me with any and all questions regarding adoption in general or Haiti specifically and I will do my best to tell you what I can.

Blessings,

Traci

Project Hopeful

• Population of Haiti in 2009 10,000,000
• The current death toll estimate is 165,000.
• There were at least 65 US fatalities.
• Conservatively, there are an estimated 692,000 internally displaced persons just in and around the city of Port-au-Prince.
• Those 692,000 people have formed 591 spontaneous settlements in and around Port-au-Prince.
• Poor hygiene and the coming rainy season are going to conspire to be the next morbidity/mortality wave; an estimated 2-4% of those displaced will die or become severely ill to the point of incapacitation due to illness.
• There are over 500 NGO's registered through the US Consulate at the PAP airport.
• By the time you read this well over 1,500 planes will have landed to disgorge either goods or people to help.
• 109 Countries have provided manpower or resources.
• The US represents the overwhelming majority of those individuals providing aid (70-85%).
• Over 11,000 patients have been seen in US facilities (other countries unknown).
• Of the 134 rescues so far, 47 were made by teams from the USA.

Senator Christopher Bond (Missouri) suggests that orphaned children in Haiti cannot afford to wait until government offices there are rebuilt and re-staffed. "It is clear that the relief and rebuild efforts to help our friends in Haiti put the pieces of their lives back together will take years," Bond said. "But the littlest and most vulnerable victims of the tragedy in Haiti are orphan children, and they cannot wait for help."

Several senators are supporting the Families for Orphans Act, and are trying to get it onto the Senate floor quickly. The bill would establish a separate office in the State Department to handle adoption issues.

Groups including Save the Children and World Vision have called for a suspension of new adoptions from Haiti until every child has been given the chance to be reunited with his or her family.

Lawmakers agree that the first priority should be to reunite children with their families in Haiti and those children should be protected from human traffickers.

But Landrieu strongly disagrees with appeals to suspend the adoptions.

"We need to be accelerating the process of child protection and adoption, even if it is temporary, with extraordinary measures, not stopping it," Landrieu said. "And I am going to challenge those organizations every step of the way. This is the time to step up and say, 'I want to adopt.' This is the time to try to save the lives of children."

Landrieu agrees that appropriate legal safeguards should be in place to identify orphans. But she adds that orphans belong in families as soon as possible, not in institutions or left alone on Haiti's devastated streets.

(Published in VOA News)

If any members of your congregation are interested in adoption, were the program to reopen, I would suggest to them to first look over the information on the Holt International website regarding the adoption process in Haiti. It might help to review the current adoption criteria to see if they would be applicable. We have no way to know whether or not these regulations will change in the future to address the need in Haiti. I would also recommend visiting the general Inter-country Adoption page of the Department of State’s website (www.adoption.state.gov) for updates on any future changes to that may occur. Lastly, there are children around the world that are in need of loving families, so I would also suggest looking into alternative programs to anyone who is interested in adoption internationally.

General News

Update: January 26, 2010 from Dr. David Anderson, Director of Safe Families & LYDIA Home Association

• 150,000 confirmed dead with estimates of 200,000
• 194,000 injured
• 3 million affected
• 800,000 to 1 million displaced
• 300,000 children below 2 years old in need of critical nutrition

These are staggering numbers. Although searches are still going on, efforts are expanding to meet basic needs of food and water. Flights into and out of Haiti are increasing as well. They are now projecting 130 - 150 flights per day. United will again be flying charter missions later this week to drop off supplies and bring back people.

I've also learned a lot about the State Department. Illinois had us prepare for what they thought would be a surge of Haitian children starting last week and possibly continuing on for a period of time. This weekend, I was contacted via phone and email by a number of orphanages who were seeking assistance in extracting children. However, as time has gone on, it appears as though the State Department is standing firm on only allowing US residents or Haitians with pre-approved visas to enter the States. They did ease some immigration restrictions by expediting children who were already in the pipeline to be adopted and had a family identified. So far, 263 orphans have been evacuated and connected with adoptive families. However, as of yesterday, the US embassy in Haiti halted the evacuation of orphans who were already in the pipeline to be adopted, per David Levanthal from Hope for the Orphans. Paul Pennington from Hope for the Orphans was in Haiti at the US Embassy yesterday with 20 children who were pre-approved for adoption and had awaiting families. They were told that the evacuation of those children is on hold. Paul returned to the states last night.

Until the State Department eases immigration standards, that's where we are. However, they are routinely reviewing these decisions and changes may occur depending on need and capacity. Recent statements by the State Department indicate their commitment to provide support to Haitians in their own country. We've had discussions with DCFS yesterday about providing short-term care (6 months) to help alleviate some of the suffering. This was well received. However, until the State Department eases standards, this probably will not be an option.

The response to the projected need has been great. We are processing new Safe Family applicants now.

Thank you so much for your interest. Please keep praying for the people of Haiti and for wisdom for people in the State Department. The Christian Industrial League and the Red Cross are still processing legal immigrants coming on flights from Haiti. We've let them know that some of our families may be interested in accepting a parent and their children.

Thanks,

Dave

How you can help:

• If you are interested in becoming a Safe Family please start by filling out our application and other necessary paperwork.
• For more information about our Safe Families program or to be added to our mailing list please fill out our inquiry form.

At the same time, there are challenges, at least in the short term, meeting this need through adoption. The reasons are simple:

1. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, it is often difficult to ascertain that a child is truly an orphan. Parents may have become separated from their children in the confusion and may be in another refugee camp or just over the border. It is not ethical to place a child for adoption unless it is clear that no parent able to care for that child will be found. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will not grant an orphan visa to a child unless he/she clearly meets the definition of an eligible orphan; eligible orphan status cannot be considered if there is a possibility that a parent could provide care at the country's normal standard of acceptability and did not purposely abandon or relinquish the child.

2. Even if it is clear that a child has no parent able to care for him/her, good adoption practice requires that attempts be made to place the child with extended family, members of the community, or others in his/her birth country. Intercountry adoption is appropriate only if a child is unlikely to find a permanent, loving family in his/her birth country. In addition, children may need to be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and international adoption may not be in their best interest at this time.

3. Ethical adoption practice requires that a child be considered legally relinquished or abandoned, and then legally adopted according to the laws of his/her country of citizenship. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, a country's government may be in disarray and what resources are available may be deployed on projects such as providing safe water and food, caring for the injured, burying the dead, maintaining order, etc. Thus, the courts and other entities that could handle relinquishments and adoptions may not be functioning at all, or may be giving first priority to projects in other areas. Adoption cannot proceed in such an environment.

4. In the immediate aftermath of natural or man-made disasters, an area may not be safe for travel. Occasionally, U.S. government officials who review the legitimacy of adoptions and process exit visas are unable to work safely in a country. Moreover, even if staff and families might be willing to travel, civilian air and ground transport to and within an area might be unavailable.

5. Even if a country manages to get its legal system functioning and to identify parentless children, the process is long and thorough. The best interests of children who have been through traumatic situations is to receive immediate care within familiar surroundings. Families wishing to help children during this crisis may best do so by contributing to their loving care through a reputable charity or humanitarian group.

Please note that there are millions of orphaned children who are waiting for adoption in numerous countries throughout the world. A good place to begin a journey is at www.rainbowkids.com.

Adoption Advocacy:

• Rainbow Kids
• Show Hope (Steven Curtis Chapman)
• Project Hopeful  (HIV/AIDS focus)
• Hope for Orphans    Blog

Orphan Care:

• Visiting Orphans Web Site    Blog
• Life for the World

Haitian Orphanages:

• Danita's Children
• Love A Child
• Maranatha Oprhanage & School
• Kids Alive
• Three Angels

State Side Orphanages Accepting Haitian Orphans:

• Mooseheart (Batavia, IL)

State Side International Adoption Agencies:

• Bethany Christian Services
• Sunny Ridge Adoption Services
• America World Adoption
• Holt International

Foster Care Organizations Helping Hatian Orphans:

• 4kids of South Florida
• Safe Families for Children

Missions Agencies Providing Food & Shelter in Haiti:

• Bright Hope
• World Relief
• World Vision
• Samaritan's Purse

We are thrilled that some of the children we have been advocating for will be allowed to come to their forever families in the U.S. We will do everything that we can to come along side these families and encourage, support and pray for them. We are heartbroken over the children that will not be allowed to come to prospective adoptive families waiting for them on this end. Paul Pennington and others have spent countless hours working to convince Embassy Authorities that we have home study ready families prepared to parent these children in the U.S. Unfortunately, they are unwilling to allow these children to leave if they had not previously (before the earthquake) been assigned to an approved family. These children should be available, through the normal adoption process, when the Haitian government resumes adoption placements.

If the Lord has used this tragedy in Haiti to ignite the flame in your heart to adopt, then we would encourage you to pray that His Spirit would lead you to your waiting child. There are over 140 MILLION orphans across the globe. Not all of those are adoptable, but many are and your family might be the answer to their future. There are approximately 118,000 adoptable children in the U.S. Foster Care system. We encourage you not to miss God’s blessing.

Thank you to all who have worked tirelessly over the last few days to help these children: volunteers, staff, physicians, churches, American Airlines, and so many others. Please visit our website at www.HopeForOrphans.org to find out how you can engage your church to care for the orphan. We will continue to post updates on our blog.

Thank you for serving along side with us,

- Robin Pennington

Thank you so much for featuring the Visiting Orphans website on your church website - we so appreciate that. We are a mission sending organization - we don't personally deal with adoptions. Amanda, our executive director, is down in Haiti right now - while she is there, she will be finding out if we are able to send more teams down. We hope that we will be able to. If you're interested in finding out more about that, let me know and I will add you to the list of interested persons for upcoming Haiti trips to minister to orphans. Thank you for your heart for orphans and for Haiti.

Many blessings to you in Christ,

Visiting Orphans
www.visitingorphans.org

Thanks!

Samaritan's Purse

CNN Pictures          WorldVision report from Haiti