Things are going well for with our team in Haiti.  The team has had four more days of ministry since our last blog. These days here in Jacmel, Haiti have been long busy ones and we have seen so much fruit already.  God is faithful.

The weekend turned out to be a fabulous.  Our team drove about 40 minutes into a mountain village where we held a children’s outreach.  There we sang songs, performed dramas, fed them lunch, gave flip flops to the children, and took pictures of each child and put in in a frame to take home with them.  This was especially unique for a couple of reasons.  First, because these children very rarely get to have a photo of themselves, secondly, because God did an amazing little miracle just for the team with this particular craft,  You see we needed to use an instant camera and film in order to take over two hundred pictures and get them in frames for each child to take home in time the outreach was over.  You never know exactly how many children will show up for these events.  We were told to plan for two hundred children for each craft.  This helps to have a number for purchasing the craft supplies.  When we ordered the film, we felt to order a little extra.  240 pieces to be exact.  When we got to Jacmel we used one of the prints to test and measure the foam frames we cut out for the kids.  This left us with 239 photos left.  To make a long story short, there were lots and lots of kids that day.  We all prayed as the line for pictures wrapped around the building that day.  As we neared the end of children our film was running low.  We think it’s a miracle…. 239 kids, 239 photos, no one turned away. IT WAS EXACTLY THE NUMBER WE NEEDED. What a testimony of God’s faithfulness!!!

For our weekly schedule, we visit and minister in schools in the mornings. In the afternoon the focus is on orphanages.

Holding those babies and playing ball with the kids has been amazing.

The schools are now a series of tents/canopies made into classrooms, likewise with hospitals.

The hospital conditions have been a bit distressing; the care for patients and proper treatment isn’t the best because of lack of the correct supplies, however  the staff are very grateful for the help .

The hospital here in Jacmel has a huge need for physical therapists.

We have one therapist on our team.  She, plus one other volunteer therapist and a trainee is all the hospital here currently has. Needless to say they has been NONSTOP. At times it is overwhelming.  Wound care is an issue as well.  The lack of proper supplies leads to the lack of proper treatment.  Motrin and ice are even very hard to come by. PLEASE pray for these people, the supplies, and medical personnel needed to help them.

The construction team has done some demo for a family that has their neighbors two story house laying on ½ of their home since the earthquake.

They have also been busy building school desks, pews for the overflow at the churches and cribs for babies that have been sleeping on the floor at an orphanage.

The team building school benches and pews

This baby slept on the floor

Not any more!

The city of Jacmel is rubble and flattened buildings in many areas. Tents and little “suburbs” of tents everywhere.  The conditions are difficult.

Tents and little “suburbs” of tents everywhere. The conditions are difficult.

Still we see hope and joy in many Haitian eyes.

Church services have grown by 300-400%.  Many have turned to Jesus. We have been able to personally witness many come to Christ.  Our team sat on the outside of the church service this past Sunday (there was no room inside and the overflow went around the building). We could see the mountains and the beauty of this country just above the top of the building. As we looked back down at the people it was clear to see how the Lord was changing their hearts.  Isaiah 54 (especially the second half) seems to fit so well.  He is doing a new thing here. 

Please continue to pray for these people and the team.

Thank you for your love and support!

The first summer team has landed. We are in Haiti! On Thursday afternoon BWO kicked off the 2010 summer mission year.  We have 11 individuals that have answered  the call to go to Haiti.  We departed from Miami on Wednesday morning.  After a short flight we arrived in Port Au Prince, Haiti.  The journey was not over yet.  After getting through a VERY busy Main airport terminal we grabbed a taxi van to the charter terminal. That is where we caught our Charter plane headed for Jacmel.  Jacmel is a city 40 miles south of Port Au prince with a large mountains that separate the two cities.  After hearing that the roads where badly damaged by the quake, we decided it best to charter two planes, one 10 passenger Caravan  and small Cessna to deliver us to the Jacmel airport.
Once we were to Jacmel our missionary contacts promptly retrieved us and delivered us to our wonderful “outreach” house.  We have been very blessed to have accommodations such as these for us to recover at after a long days of ministry.
After arrival and lunch our missionary friends wasted no time in getting us started.  Our first stop was a Mother Theresa orphanage with precious babies and toddlers. It was so amazing! These beautiful little people loving and climbing all over us.  Loved it!
Next we took a tour of the city. There are no words to explain what has happened to this country.  Lives lost, children fatherless, families homeless, but they are resilient and hungry for Jesus!
Thursday was our first full day of ministry.  The construction team headed off to Nerland’s house.  Her family had 1/2 half of their house demolished by the two story house that fell on it that used to sit right next to theirs.  They have been waiting nearly 6 months for the rubble to be removed so they could start to rebuild.  Bet you’ve never seen a 100+ lb girl work harder than 6 men.  She did!!
The medical team went to the local hospital where our physical therapist had an unending line of people.  Our nurse practitioner worked in wound care.
The outreach team visited a school in the morning and an orphanage in the afternoon.  The school had been very badly damaged by the quake.  As a result all of the children are forced to have classes under tarps set up into classes around the outside of the school.  We played games,  sang songs, performed a skit, talked to the kids about how they lives are hidden in Christ, then as a representation they all received a brightly colored visor they could decorate and take home with them.
We finished our day with an evening outreach to the community where Nerland lives. As we arrived there we tents set up everywhere.  These are now people’s homes.  As we stood on the slab where Nerland’s neighbor’s house used to stand she told me where she stood during the quake.  She pointed and said, “Over there was a professional school (trade school) where you learn a profession. Everyone died when the building collapsed.This is their reality but we are privileged to be able to offer them hope.
As the sun went down we set up a 10 x 12 foot screen in the middle of the street closing it off to vehicles.  Our missionary contact pulled up his SUV and plugged in a projector & sound system to an inverter to his car battery and made a make shift movie theater in the middle of town.  Two to three hundred people gathered to watch The God Maniac in Creole.  This is a powerful depiction of the Gospel.  Following the movie Pastor Abraham gave a very anointed opportunity for people to come forward.  So many came to know Jesus last night.  It was amazing sight to see.  As we drove Pastor Abraham back to his tent, he was so excited as he shared how the young men that accepted Christ asked him to come back and hold bible studies with them.
WHAT A DAY!
So I leave you with this request.  Please keep us in your prayers.  Not only for this trip but the many that will go out this summer.
THIS ENTRY IS A FEW DAYS LATE AS THE INTERNET WENT DOWN JUST BEFORE WE WERE ABLE TO MAKE IT PUBLIC. Much more has happened and God has moved mightily.  Stay tuned for the next blog.

Hi Friends,

We have been so blessed to see how many people are excited about serving in Haiti. To help people that are in such desperate need of love and support.  We thought we would post some key aspects of the trip that so many of you are interested in.

Answers to questions you may have:
THE VISION-
#1. BWO’s primary goal will be to use physical relief to open doors for ministry in evangelism and discipleship.
#2 To be able to create/facilitate opportunities to get people on the mission field so they can experience a deeper relationship with Christ.
THE SCOPE-
Ministry opportunities will include:

• Medical. We will set up medical clinics to treat earthquake victims and other medical needs. We are looking for trained medical persons in all fields.
• Construction. The clean-up effort will take months, if not years. We will help clear rubble and rebuild homes.
• Orphanage and Children’s Outreach. We will be ministering among these devastated and fatherless children to bring joy of Christ to their lives.
• Village Ministry. We will work with people living in local village areas in and around Jacmel,serving in evangelism, VBS, and food relief. These are communities that are receiving aid  because they are so far from the city. These  are  communities in desperate need.
• Refugee Camp Ministry. We will serve in  evangelism and food relief in the refugee camps located in and around Jacmel.

THE LODGING-
Since the entire nation of Haiti is currently in a state of emergency, and since conditions aren’t likely to change, our accommodations will be the four acre fenced in ministry property that holds an outreach house as well as  200 x 200 tent that will serve as a lodging facility for team as time progresses. you will need a sleeping bag, and whatever you can carry in a small suitcase for your personal items.
THE TRAVEL-
We are planning to fly out of LAX & Fort Lauderdale right now.  We usually stage to different fly out cities on each side of the U.S. so it is easier for folks who may be on the other side of the country.  The two cities are LA & Fort Lauderdale for this trip.

THE ITINERARY-

Trip Dates:
June 8-19, 2010- from Los Angeles
June 8-19, 2010- from Fort Lauderdale

18 years and older

AND

August 7-18, 2010- from Los Angeles
August 7-18, 2010- from Fort Lauderdale

18 years and older

*We will open other dates or if need be customize a specific date/trip for a church that desires their own trip.

Example Schedule:

DAY 1 - We will depart LAX & Fort Lauderdale

Day 2- Travel-  Take a charter flight from Port-Au-Prince to  Jacmel Airport airport. travel to lodging facility. Get situated.

Day 3- Orientation/ ministry training Ministry team visit surrounding villages & site checks for medical & VBS
Day 4,5,6,7,8,9,10 -Ministry teams-Medical, Outreach, Construction teams

Medical Team —    to medical clinic/village/ refugee camp outreach
Orphanage Team- love, care, vbs
Construction- rubble removal and rebuilding
Aid Distribution- helps service in areas most needed (may combine aid & outreach team together)
Outreach Team —

o    Door to door friendship evangelism/ Bible distribution
o    Drama outreach
o    Vbs with village children
o    Soccer outreach & Clinics for youth

Day 11- possible day off & debrief-
Day 12- fly back to LAX & Fort Lauderdale

*Keep in mind, it’s missions. Everything may be subject to change.

What may a typical day look like?

This usually works well. Everything is subject to the environment and country we are in.
• 7:00 am                 Breakfast
• 7:30 am                 Personal Devotions
• 8:00 am                 Team Time
• 9:00 am-5pm       Depart lodging facilities/ to ministry sites

• Medical Team           —   out
• Outreach/Aid Team —  out
• Orphanage team     —  out
• Construction team —-  out

•  6:00 pm                                Dinner
•  7:00 pm                                Evening meeting/Service- worship, speaking, debrief
• 9:00-10pm                            Back to lodging facility -Lights out

THE COST:
The other is lodging.  If we are able to put the teams up in an actual lodging facility rather than tents we would much prefer doing that but we are preparing them for tents.

$1798 departure from Fort Lauderdale;

$1948 departure from Los Angeles

THE TRAINING AND PRE-TRIP PREPARATION -

The missions manual: Once a person fills out the application  for a trip with BWO, they will be sent a missions manual and a payment schedule.  The manual has all the necessary paperwork that need to be filled out , personal info, medical, insurance, notarized forms, pastor (small group leader) recommendations. It also has example fundraising ideas, example support letters, how to prepare your heart, what to pack, and more.

The training DVD & book: We have just finished working with some Calvary Chapel teachers that assisted us in putting together a DVD series on how to minister cross culturally.  There are 9 short 6-10 minute segments that coincides with the book- Ministering Cross-Culturally. Each person will receive this to prepare them for their trip. It is a very helpful tool to help them gain perspective and  different cultural views before they leave this country.

Devotional guide: We have put together a devotional guide to prepare hearts before, during, and after the mission trip.  This devotional guide is offered to each missionary.  It has 8 devotions to be read the 8 weeks prior to departure of the mission trip, 14 daily devotions while on the trip, and 6 devotions to be read the following weeks after the trip.  All the devotions are from various Christian mission type leaders.  There is also a place to journal after each brief devotion.

In the office: We want to walk with the missionaries every step of  the way.  We are here to answer questions, talk, and pray.  This is the part of the garden we feel called by the Lord to till. We desire to do this with excellence unto Him who called us. And… have a fun time doing it too. : )

THE NEXT STEP-

I hope this helps answer some of your questions. When you are ready to sign up you can simply go to www.believersworld.com , hit online application and follow the prompts.  Have more questions? call us at (877)641-5100. Hope you can join us on this trip or one of our other mission trips!

For The Glory of His Name,

BWO Staff

 

If you have read the previous post & Haiti trip page and feel called to minister in Haiti this summer with Believers World Outreach. The next step is to click on the online application page, sign up, pay the application fee and we will begin the process.

Like any of the BWO missions trips, this is the first step in the process.  Once you sign up, within one week you will receive a missions manual and payment schedule in the mail. Shortly after that you will receive a training DVD and book on cross cultural ministry that is a very important tool to prepare you for your trip.

In the manual you will find paperwork that needs to be filled out and sent back to us as soon as possible.  There are also lots of other helpful things in the there.  So be sure to read it. Like fund raising ideas,example support letter and pledge forms.  These things are crucial to raising funds for your trip.  Also, what to pack, how to prepare yourself physically and prayerfully.

We want to help you every step of the way. That’s what we feel is our call here at Believer World Outreach.  To help others reach out to the hurting and lost of this world.  Always pointing them to the one who loves them so very much- JESUS! When you do this… He pours so much more right back into you.  He is good!

If you are interested in bringing a group or just have more questions please give us a call at (918) 641-5100 or email debbie@believersworld.com.