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More Winds of the Spirit:
Reflections
Winds of the Spirit
Words from CBF-LA Coordinator Reid Doster
Special Disaster Response Report:
Haiti Mission, Tornado Damage in Rayne, Louisiana, and Use of Community Service Trailer
Between February 19-23, I was back in Haiti with Daniel Vestal, Harry Rowland and our Grand Goave team. Many stories emerged from this visit and I want to share just a few, so you will feel like a part of the experience and be assured that your financial support is secure and going where it makes a real and lasting difference.
Luke (below) lives in a refugee camp in Grand Goave. His wife was killed in the January 12, 2010, earthquake which left 300,000 known dead and over one million people homeless. Luke suffers from physical and emotional pain that will not go away. To the left below, is a picture of Luke in front of his current “house.” To the right, Jeremy Holloman, representing one of our partners, Conscience International, and I are discussing with Luke progress on a new permanent house that is currently being constructed for him in Grand Goave.
The construction process uses steel reinforced wire cages filled with recycled rubble. The dimensions of the concrete slab are 14’ x 20’, and each house has a metal roof and lockable door and window. We employ Haitian labor as much as possible and augment that with volunteer labor from our CBF constituency. We also purchase all supplies competitively in Haiti, to reinvest in the economy. The homeowner must be able to prove proper title to the land and is required to invest a certain amount of “sweat equity” to cultivate a greater sense of pride, dignity, respect and personal responsibility. The best news is that we can construct this permanent, earthquake and hurricane resistant house for $4,000 per unit.
Below, is a photo of Daniel Vestal, missionary Tim Brendle and me manning a bucket brigade to dump rubble into the 12” wire cage that will then be plastered on both sides with 1 ½” of stucco. The young lady is Melissa Vestal, Daniel’s daughter-in-law, who is assisting in the construction of a wire cage.
Jacqueline, on the far left below, is a forty year old woman whose husband was killed in the quake. She and her children live in the house behind her, also provided by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Standing next to Jacqueline is Nancy James, our CBF medical missionary and the wife of Steven James, M.D. The Haitian gentleman on the far right is Jeanson Cherry, a local man from Grand Goave, who serves as CBF’s Volunteer Coordinator.
Jacqueline’s house has something unique – an indoor toilet --- but the water supply is not yet connected and there is no way to tell when that might be possible.
The magnificent man standing between Tim Brendle and me is Pastor Milord Florestal, now retired and in his 80’s after having served the Lord in ministry for 67 years. His home was destroyed in the quake, but thanks to your gifts of prayer and financial support, Milord and his wife Iciamante have a safe, dry permanent home in which to live out their days on this earth and continue their work of inspiring and encouraging others.
Below is a photo of a widow named Therese, surrounded by Jeremy Holloman, Daniel Vestal, Harry Rowland, Tim Brendle and Brenda Harwood (wife of our Coordinator on the ground in Grand Goave). We and many others gathered with Therese for a prayer of dedication and invocation of God’s blessings upon her new home, laying hands on the house and asking the Lord to keep her safe and healthy.
One day, we took a grueling ride up a mountain to a village where CBF provides basic medical care. The clinic site needs a metal roof, to protect our workers from the sun and rain. In good weather, it also serves as a place of worship. Five kilometers up and across the mountain from the village is a natural spring and, prior to the earthquake, water was conveyed by means of a ¾” plastic pipe to a concrete cistern in the village. The pipe was destroyed in the earthquake. Now, women in the village must make a 30 minute trek down the mountain to a not-so-pure river and carry a 40 lb. bucket of water on their heads back to the village. This happens at least once per day. We asked the local pastor how many people had been drawing water from the cistern and, to our surprise, he said “at least 5,000.” One non-governmental organization (NGO) has conducted a “study” of the problem, but no definite plans are yet in place to repair the pipes. I could not help but think that the metal roof over the clinic and restoration the crude water system would make a worthy project for some of us. Here are photos Tim Brendle and Daniel, then Daniel, Harry Rowland and the local pastor discussing the gravity of the villagers’ plight.
CBF is rebuilding Siloe School, in Grand Goave. Here we see a photo of Mike Harwood presenting a school bell and a plaque to the Schoolmaster. Notice the quality of construction of the new school and the children celebrating this special day.
Here is another photo of that portion of the school still under construction. From a distance, you can get the lay of the land.
And, of course, there are always the children, who touch our hearts so deeply.
In the photo below, Harry Rowland and Daniel Vestal have just presented a one-time check for $25,000 toward the completion of an orphanage in Port au Prince. Receiving the check on behalf of the Haitian Baptist Convention is Pastor Ronel Mesidor. The Hungarian Baptist Convention began the project and others, including Baptist World Aid, Virginia Baptist Association and CBF, have also offered support. The orphanage will house 50 students, but will also accommodate an additional 150 commuter-students for vocational training.
CBF is also assisting with the formation and function of simple savings and credit associations. These are self-organized and self-managed groups that learn to save from their earnings and provide micro-loans to group members to grow their businesses and opportunities for work. The focus is on establishing women groups as a way to enhance dignity and to increase their options for small business development. Options for vocational training are being explored, particularly for women.
CBF, in collaboration with Mercer University’s Department of Counseling, under the leadership of David Lane, has been providing training to Haitian pastors to provide early intervention for Post Traumatic Stress.
The photo below is of a meeting held at Baptist Eglise des Cites, in Port au Prince, where Ronel Mesidor serves as Pastor. We are listening to a report from several who were sent by CBF to Ethiopia for small group self-help microfinance training. Our Ethiopian program has produced outstanding results and serves as a strong model for Haitian women.
In this same meeting, we also heard from pastors about the success of the Post Traumatic Stress intervention techniques. They are requesting more training, to also include lay persons, so Dr. Lane and I will be returning to Port au Prince in August to accommodate this request.
There was time for worship, with Daniel’s preaching being translated by Joel Dorsinville, Disaster response Coordinator for the Haitian Baptist Convention. The young lady is Jenny Jenkins, an oncology nurse who is now employed by CBF to run our medical clinics in Haiti.
This is a choir from an American Baptist Churches-USA congregation in Upstate New York.
One of the highlights for me was getting better acquainted with Dennis Shierman of Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM). Charles Ray and I met Dennis in Birmingham recently during the North American Baptist Federation meeting. We were locked in by snow and ice and many could not attend. As Providence would have it, Dennis made it in from Canada before the storm hit and we spent a lot of time talking about how we can work as partners. When we invited Dennis to Haiti, he jumped on it and I do believe we will be seeing some serious collaboration in Haiti with CBM. Dennis was a great sport as he took a lot of kidding about Canadians. He could also dish it out! The folks with Canadian Baptist Ministries are among our dearest friends. Here is a photo of Harry Rowland and Dennis.
Finally, we are grateful for the expertise of our friends with Conscience International, who have led the way in designing a permanent house that is enduring, affordable and culturally sensitive. Our CBF volunteers enjoy building these houses because they know the structures will be standing fifty years from now. From left to right is Michael Welchel, Jim Jennings, me and Jeremy Holloman. They were joking with me about sucking in my stomach!
The Lord is blessing our work in Haiti. To learn more, please check out
www.haitihousingnetwork.com
Tornado Report From Rayne, Louisiana
Yesterday, March 5th, a tornado damaged or destroyed over 100 homes in Rayne, LA, killing one young mother who died while successfully shielding her child. I visited the area, which has no CBF church close by, thinking we might be able to identify at least one family whom we can help. If you have any contacts in or near Rayne, please let me know. In the meantime, I will communicate with our friends in Volunteer Organizations Assisting in Disasters (VOAD).
Community Service Trailer
Recently, Bridgewater Church has been using one of CBF’s Disaster Response utility trailers to help people in various ways.
For example, when we learned about a little blind girl who was taking piano lessons and very much wanted a piano of her own, we decided to give her a piano. The trailer transported the instrument part of the distance.
We have also been offering use of this trailer to people who simply need to move stuff, and there are MANY such folks these days. We’ve even extended a helping hand (or back!) by toting furniture and boxes. The lady in the photo is named Kim. She lost everything she owned in Katrina. After recovering from that, her house burned to the ground. Pray for Kim as she gets her feet back on the ground.
A young couple, Shawn and Kyle, were in a bind needing to move some stuff fast. Again, our trailer came to the rescue.
Then there is Brian, who is going through divorce and who was given only a few hours to get some personal belongings moved. We were there for him, too.
I don’t know if your church has ever thought about investing in a small utility trailer, but if you purchase one, you might as well put “Disaster Response” on the side, because people all around us are experiencing one kind of disaster after another. What a great way to be the presence of Christ when a helping hand is most appreciated.
God bless you,
Reid
G. Reid Doster, DMin., LPC, LMFT Coordinator, CBF Louisiana