Thursday, October 13, 2011

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"Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit you would stay out and your dog would get in." Mark Twain

Friday, June 18, 2010

End of the June construction trip

Good Evening…

Just a short one tonight…I am back in the states. I get to spend the night at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and fly out tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. This was a good trip with a good group. We were able to accomplish a lot and get started on the path of building homes that should stand up under future earthquakes or hurricanes.

Please continue to keep El Shaddai Ministries International, the Haitians, Laura and me in your prayers. It appears that the enemy is putting up his resistance in this work so we must be moving in the right direction. The people in Haiti are very appreciative of the love and support that you keep sending their way.

Thanks...


David Short (site coordinator)

The team shared their food with the families and watched all of the mothers give everything to the children. They were so moved by this that when we got back they sent the pastor and Gurecy out to buy some rice and oil so that everyone could have something to eat.

New Friends





Coincidence?




Hello again…

It was another beautiful day in paradise…actually another very warm, dusty, dirty day…but filled with much beauty. Today I once again split off from the team to order some supplies for Pastor Myrtil’s home in City Soleil as well as assess one of the widow’s homes.

The widow that we visited with is Rose Marie Camille. She lives in the community of Petion-ville. Her home was completely damaged. She was home feeling sic with her oldest daughter Betty (30) when the earthquake hit and I am surprised that they survived. She has two sons (24 and 20) who are both going to university. Above is a picture of Rose Marie and Betty with Guercy. In the background is her house…or what is left of it.


I often here people talk about events that happen in our lives as “coincidences”. Well I, for one, believe that nothing happens this way, but because God orders our lives. Here is an example. While we were walking up to check out the damaged house I realized that we were being followed by a young man in a suit. I didn’t think about it much but he kept following us. One of the first things that I was thinking about in my assessment was that it would take at least a week to clear all of this debris. It would be some pretty messy work as well as dangerous. When Guercy and Rose Marie asked the young man who he was and why was he here he let us know that he was with the government and that he was here to determine what was needed to clear this site and when he could get started. Talk about an awesome experience. After we finish the home in City Soleil we will start on this house.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Assessments







The second home was Pastor Josue Jesomour’s. He has 3 daughters and pastors a Baptist church that has two services with about 600 people attending each services. His home is of similar construction and with a little more, but similar, damage. In both of these homes we could see where the slab had just slid across the walls some.

The third home was Pastor Tulus Semiva’s. This is one of the larger homes that we have visited. It is two stories, but has sustained serious damage. This is one that I believe needs to be torn down and completely replaced. How do you tell a family this? Please keep these people (and many more like them) in your thoughts and prayers as we try to come up with solutions for their dilemmas.

3 Pastors homes assessed





Bonswa…

Well we are definitely on the second have of the trip. The team has come together really well and they are having a great time…even though they are pretty tired. Today they were able to finish the wall.

Today, Guercy and I went back into Port-au-Prince to start looking at the homes of the Pastors that we have been asked to work on. We were able to make it to three homes. This has probably been one of the harder days for me. For each of the homes that we visited there was enough damage to truly question whether or not they can be salvaged. Below are some pictures and information about the Pastors.

Pastor Esau Juliene has 3 little boys. He pastors a Baptist church with 500 members. His home is like so many others down here and has a roof that is made by putting up plywood, then laying out concrete blocks on their side (basically to take up space and save cost) then pouring the concrete slab. When it is dry then the plywood is removed. If you have any building or engineering background then this probably sounds pretty scary, which it is.

Not only are the walls in pretty bad shape, but the potential of the integrity of the roof being completely gone is fairly high. My plan is to run my pictures by some engineers, but my concern is that we might have to tell these families that their homes will have to be torn down and they will have to start over. There is no such thing as home owner’s insurance here.

The Youth

















I am always impressed with the youth that show up on these trips. Don’t ever tell me that they can’t help…they are always awesome.

Writing in Concrete






Bonswa…

We were able to get a lot accomplished today…even with 3 of our team members getting whatever I had on recently. It must have been some kind of 24 hour flu because everyone is getting better fairly quickly.

Today we focused on rebuilding the wall at the back of the compound. We are striving to work alongside the Haitians as much as possible so that we can transfer our skills and techniques to them. For instance, the team that we have with us to rebuild the wall are the contractor and 3 laborers that helped on our last house. Right now our plan is to continue using this team on other projects and eventually have them do the teaching. Above are some pictures from today.

Tomorrow we plan to finish the wall so that Sunday we can start putting in the foundation for the house in City Soleil for Pastor Moriel.


Our Haitian contractor John picked up our new techniques very quickly. By the end of the day it looked like he was really recognizing the value of what we are introducing here. Donna and Larry own their own masonry business so they were a great team to train the Haitians.


Chasing down tarantulas



Bonswa…

Sorry about they delay. I am not sure what I got, but I spent all day in bed with a 100.5 fever. Since we were not ready to start working on the next house the team did some work around the compound that was important to get done. From what I could tell fro my limited movement here are some pictures of what got accomplished:

Repairs to the roof edge to eliminate drips where we did not want them.

Replaced a couple of toilets.

Today we focused on replacing the wall on the back of the compound that was damaged by the earthquake. Part of what we are doing is having the contractor and some of the laborers that helped with Pastor Pierre Paul’s house help so that we can teach them how we are building safe homes in America. Above are some pictures of the day.


Monday, June 7, 2010

Sunday

Bonswa…

Today was church day. We attended church this morning with about 1200 people. As usual the service was vibrant and inspiring. More of the ESMI team came in today and headed out to Les Cayes.

This afternoon we back out to the site of the corrugated tin church in City Soleil. Our plan is to build the pastor’s home there next. The only concern is that the property has not yet been purchased. Part of our approach is that we will build a house own land that is already owned by the pastor and/or his church. We should know more tomorrow whether we will build his home or work on another one.

This evening we went back to the church that we went to 3 weeks ago and presented the $1000 that was donated to the children’s ministry program. The girls that are doing the program are Amanda and Berthola. The girls were busy during the service leading the children’s church program. They wer very appreciative of the gift. Thanks for contributing..

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Pastor Pierre Paul's House



June Construction (David Short's account)


Bonswa…

Well, I made it safe and sound to Haiti once again. Today ESMI had 40 people come in to work this week. Some are going to Les Cayes to work with the orphanage, some are doing some medical work and 6 joined me in Carrefour where we will work on the damaged fence at the compound as well as start working on another house. This pastor’s house will be the one out in City Soleil which I shared about on my last trip.

Tomorrow we will go to church in the morning and in the evening go to the church where the two girls that are doing children’s church go to. We will give them the gift of $1000 that some of you help contribute to. If you are still interested in helping let me know and I will tell you where to send the funds.

Today we went out to Pastor Pierre Paul’s house, which is almost completed. Above are some pictures from the house.

Site Coordinator David Short's Story



In finishing the May construction trip...


Another reason that this was a hard departure is that Laura and I are approaching 6 months now of doing this work. God has blessed us with the ability to do this. God has blessed me with a wife that has been supportive by letting me run down here four times and leaving her to fend for herself at home. We still feel like God is calling us to use our gifts and talents and lifelong skills to do this kind of work for the building of His kindom. We are still waiting upon him to show us how this will be fulfilled, or if this time that we have been involved in Haiti is just a season with an end coming soon. We do not know where this journey will lead us but we do desire your prayers and thoughts for us as we joyfully and carefully look to God to lead us. What we do know is that if this is where He leads us that we will need to raise our funds as so many other missionaries do and that we might be coming to you to consider supporting us.

I thank you so much for all of your support on these trips. My next trip…and as of this time my last one scheduled is June 5th through 12th. I should be able to show you pictures of Pastor Pierre Paul’s finished home as well as the next project. I would like to end with some Bible verses that might help you know a little more about my heart and why I am doing this:

John 3:16-17

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Romans 10:13-15

for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Thanks for listening to my story and the activities in Haiti…

The assessment of Pastor Myrtil's Church


We, the people of the US have an opportunity to help people like this rebuild their lives. I asked what it would take to buy another piece of property similar to this one so that we could use one lot for a church and one for some homes…it was around $5,000 USD. The price that we are looking at for the homes that we are building down here (12’ by 20’, hurricane and earthquake resistant) is about $4,000 to $5,000. I am sure we could build a church for $10,000 to $15,000. If you run the numbers that could be a new lot, church and maybe 4 homes for about $35,000 to $40,000. How’s that for a church building program…that is less that some SUV’s in our garages.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet for a couple of hours with Dony St. Germain, the head of ESMI. He has been instrumental in planting 42 churches here in Haiti. The vision that ESMI has for Haiti is to target 6 communities that have been badly damaged by the earthquake. The goal is to restore the homes of pastors (Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of God, Church of Christ, Nazarene, independents), rebuild about 137 churches, and help widows and those in need to be placed in homes as well. ESMI would like to build about 300 homes. ESMI currently has the funds to build 6 homes, one of which we were working on this week. ESMI has partnered with Missions in Action to raise the funds for 100 homes. There is much to do and much opportunity for us to help.

The Story of Pastor Elio Myrtil




Pastor Guercy, his brother Bookson and I went out to City Soleil to visit one of the churches that El Shaddai Ministries International (ESMI) would like to rebuild. City Soleil is one of the roughest areas in all of Port of Prince and Haiti. It has a population of about 50,000 to 60,000. It is similar to East LA or the Watts and has been an ongoing area of focus for the UN peacekeepers still here. Pastor Guercy told me that there are two sides to this city…the cool side and the hot side (translated the safe side and the dangerous side). The dangerous side is row upon row of tin and tarp shacks packed together in what looks like a land fill area with no trees for shade. As you drive further out toward the bay you come to the safe side, which is basically a flood plane. It is filled with the kinds of grasses and trees and plants that thrive in a lot of water. This is where Pastor Myrtil took us to show us his church.

The church sits on a lot that measures about 45’ by 105’. You step down about a foot from the rubble road onto a ground that is soggy and rough. Centered on the lot and set back far enough where two tents could be set up for two families to live in sits the church.

The church is built out of whatever scrap lumber and corrugated tin the congregation could find. Before the earthquake this church had about 200 members, which is about the size of my church in Ohio. They have about 150 now because many of the members have moved out to more rural areas. Last year during the hurricane season the water was up to just below the floor in the door.

As we walked into the church we were met by three ladies and two children who immediately broke out in a song welcoming us into their house of worship. If you look closely at the picture you will see that the floor is made out of rubble leveled out and made as smooth as possible by chunks of concrete and tile. You can also see the holes in the tin where the rain pours in during the rainy season (May through November). As I stood here with my brothers and sisters it was all that I could do to keep from bursting into tears. We have so much in our churches in the US and yet are often unhappy with what we have. We want bigger edifices or newer features and yet our brothers and sisters in places like Haiti are satisfied with a shack like this.


In the back of the church the Pastor has started building a “home” for him and his family of 5. It is a slow project because he has to save for each part. So far he has poured the footing. It is an 8’ x 10’ building. That is smaller than most of our bathrooms and that will be their entire home.


I am sorry if this commentary about Pastor Myrtil’s church sounds like an indictment of our affluence in the US, it is more of an indictment of my own heart and what I often find important in my own life. I have often caught myself complaining about how busy work kept me or how much I need to do on my current project. Then God introduces me to a man like Pastor Myrtil. Not only does he pastor this church of 150, but he also is a pastor/teacher/leader for 4 other churches located in: Calico (75 members), Nicola (97 members), Les Cayes (200 members), and St. Mark (50 members). He rotates through these churches every other Sunday. And by the way, the Les Cayes church is about 3-4 hours away.

Hopefully you can feel with me the emotions that welled up within me as I assessed this church, met the pastor and some members of the congregation.

Pictures of Elio Myrtil's Church



The end of the May Construction trip





Bonswa…

Today we stayed at the compound for the morning and focused on getting some minor fix up jobs completed. We then went out to the job site and check on the status of the work being done by the Haitians. The floor of the house will be ready to pour on Monday and we should be able to lay some block next week. While in the area we stopped where 60 people from Pastor Paul’s church are staying and passed out some goodies to the kids and took a group picture.


Tonight we finally got that tropical storm that has been threatening all week. It has been raining for about 5 hours now and it looks like some of the roads to the airport are already getting flooded. We will leave about 6:00 AM tomorrow morning to get there in time to start sending home the team.

Thanks…