Thursday, April 29, 2010

Update from Cindy McMartin

April 25, 2010

Our get-away time is fast coming to a close. We have been so thankful for this time to kick back, not worry too much about responsibilities, and to enjoy some good time with part of our family. Once we got to Missouri, we realized how tired we were. It was very easy for Bruce to adopt Tyler’s schedule and nap when he did. :0) Bruce is just now beginning to feel “normal” again. He had several upper respiratory infections in Haiti and started up with another one soon after our arrival here. Please continue to pray with us for a return to complete health for Bruce.

The last large team that was with us was able to accomplish a lot. Four of the men worked many long, hard hours repairing the damage to one campus house. The rest of the group held medical/dental clinics. They treated hundreds of people in the community surrounding our campus and at Merger. They also set up in the rubble of a church in a community of one of our STEP students. This was the first medical/dental aid they had received so the people were very grateful. It was also the church of Dr. Milo, a graduate of STEP and the dentist who had served on the 2 Haitian outreach teams to Senegal. He and his wife and child were killed in the quake.

It was great having the girls home again. They went out with the team each day, but we still managed to steal some times together.

Those of us serving on the committee that was taking care of the IDP camp turned over this responsibility to the UEBH the end of March. The UEBH informed the IDP camp they would need to move off the campus by April 3rd because schools were to resume the 5th. We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly this process went. Many groups of people expressed their appreciation for all that had been done for them to help them after the quake.

STEP is holding classes for the 4th-year students out in the country at the UEBH’s property in Verrettes. Graduation is planned for June. The other students are organized in ministries and social services until classes resume in the fall. No decision has been made yet as to where STEP will rebuild. They are continuing to explore different possibilities, land, and the affects of a move.

We leave here the 28th. We’ve had a great time with Joel and Andi and the boys, but we are ready to get back to Haiti and to the plans God has laid out for us to be involved in. Two big projects in the near future will be the demolition of the STEP and apartment buildings. We realize the months ahead will be full of teams continuing to come to be involved in the work still needing to be done. Please pray especially for Bruce as he helps to organize all the logistics involved with this. One idea talked about was organizing the community to work together in repairing their homes. Pray for wisdom in moving ahead with this.

We will be receiving a team in May to continue the work out at Jehu’s property. Jehu is reinforcing walls/pillars and changing building plans a bit to make it more quake proof. He has the boys in school out in their new area now. Please pray for the boys in all the many challenges they’ve been through these past few months. Pray for Jehu as he takes care of these boys and interacts with them.

The coffee project, students to disciple, the Haitian missionary organization, work teams, repairs, strategic planning – some of the many challenges and opportunities facing us as we return to Haiti. Thank you for your faithful involvement with us as we are involved in the activities and ministries God directs us to.

Love, Cindy for Bruce too

Friday, April 23, 2010

Prayer Request

Phyllis' brother Bob Roper went to be with Jesus today. Please pray for the whole family. We are rejoicing that he is with Jesus but grieving the loss of our dear one. No details regarding arrangement have been decided as of yet.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Reminder of May 8 get together at Calvary Homes

In order to see as many people as possible, there is a get together scheduled. Here are the details:

When: May 8, 2010 from 2pm to 4pm
Where: Calvary Homes, Assembly Room (Directions below)
Who: Anyone who would like to get an update about Haiti and see the Schmids
Directions to Calvary Homes:
Calvary Homes are located at 502 Elizabeth Drive (Lancaster, PA 17601-4499). You can get turn by turn directions at www.maps.google.com or www.mapquest.com

If you still need help getting there, feel free to call my cell phone or you can also call Calvary Homes at (717) 393-0711.

Once at Calvary Homes, go to the main entrance under the portico.Turn right at the receptionist station and the room should be down the hall.

This will be a very informal time for fellowship. There will be a PowerPoint presentation available for viewing as well as pictures.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Short update

The country is beginning to find its feet. The schools were to open on April 6th. Those that were able to open, did so.

Bolosse campus as a christian high school on campus and they were scheduled to open on April 6th. In order to do so, the campus needed to be made available. By late March, many of the people on campus had already returned to their homes or to existing displacement camps around the city where aid is provided by such groups as the Salvation Army, the Red Cross and many others. As of April 13th, all of the displaced persons had moved off campus.

Prayer requests:
  • pray for the people of Haiti as they are still working to recover from the earthquake over three months ago. Many people are not able to go to their homes because they were destroyed. This is the rainy season in Haiti so people living in the tent cities are affected by the weather.
  • pray for the goverment leaders in Haiti. That they will be able to lead the country effectively and not sit back and let the well-meaning foreign help take over. Pray for them personally. Each man and woman in leadership has a burden to carry their country forward.
  • pray for the new belivers all around the country of Haiti. Pray that their spiritual growth would not be stunted. That they will get connected to a bible believing church that will walk beside them as they grow in Christ.
  • pray for local churchs around the country as they reach out to new belivers and those who are not belivers. Pray for wisdom to know who needs their help, courage to speak out for Christ and strength to keep the faith as they are affected by the earthquake and are facing some of the same fears and challenges for the future.
  • pray for the leadership of the UEBH (the Haitian organization that has long been associated with CrossWorld, located on Bolosse campus) and the leadership of STEP (the seminary (a ministry of the UEBH), located on Bolosse campus) as they decide what the future will look like for both of these organizations.

Update on the missionaries at Bolosse:

  • The McMartins are in Missouri with their son and daughter-in-law, Joel and Andi. The are getting some Grandma and Grandpa time Joel and Andi's two boys!
  • The Schmids are in Pennsylvania getting some much needed rest at a vacation home of some friends. Their three kids are sure to be dropping by as often as possible!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Prayer Request for the Schmids

Please be praying for Phyllis Schmid's brother Bob Roper and his family. God knows the details. Out of respect, I will not share them here.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Get together is planned

In order to see as many people as possible, there is a get together scheduled. Here are the details:

When: May 8, 2010 from 2pm to 4pm
Where: Calvary Homes, Assembly Room (Directions below)
Who: Anyone who would like to get an update about Haiti and see the Schmids

Directions to Calvary Homes:
Calvary Homes are located at 502 Elizabeth Drive (Lancaster, PA 17601-4499). You can get turn by turn directions at www.maps.google.com or www.mapquest.com

If you still need help getting there, feel free to call my cell phone or you can also call Calvary Homes at (717) 393-0711.

Once at Calvary Homes, go to the main entrance under the portico.
Turn right at the receptionist station and the room should be down the hall.

This will be a very informal time for fellowship. There will be a PowerPoint presentation available for viewing as well as pictures.

Update from Phyllis Schmid

Hi,

My flights to PA went well but I was really weary when Jeff and I finally got to Amy's at about 2:30 am. I loved having a chance to talk with Jeff on the drive home. It was hard to leave what we'd been living in for 2 1/2 months to arrive back in the United States where no one else was dealing with tent cities, demolished buildings and damaged lives. In the Miami airport where I was waiting for my flight to Philadelphia the floor kept shaking off and on. My heart beat faster and immediately thought - "earthquake!" but I looked around and no one was paying any attention to it.
I kept wanting to say something to someone but knew it would sound crazy since no one else was reacting. I think that feeling will be with me for a while.

David is so busy getting ready for his class and tying up all the loose ends before the McMartins leave tomorrow. I am including an email David sent this morning. This is some of the news he sent out today and will bring you more up to date since some of this news surprised even me. I did not know about the people leaving campus. I knew some had left but it sounds like the temporary tent city has closed much sooner than I thought it would be.

Right now things are moving towards a get together with anyone interested in seeing us on May 8th in the afternoon in Lancaster. Time and location are not known at this time but Amy will post it here. This is just a chance to see people all together and not try to spread ourselves too thin.

There is also a link on Facebook with pictures you might be interested in viewing. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Haiti-Alumni-Association/113823438630636?v=wall

I am glad to be here experiencing the beautiful signs of spring and renewal in PA. I pray each of you will rejoice in God's blessings during this weekend of celebration of Christ's resurrection. He is RISEN!

Love to all of you,
Phyllis
***********************************************
From David:
What a surprise this morning at 6 am when I walked the dog. The tent city on Bolosse campus was being dismantled. Yes, everyone is gone and no problems. Let me explain.

The Haitian government declared schools were to open on April 5. The UEBH decided to use that date to encourage people to move off campus and return to their communities or to established displacement communities developed by international aid agencies in concert with the Haitian government. Two weeks ago the UEBH posted a notice on all the entrance gates and spread the word that people were to be off campus by April 3. Some started moving off the early part of the week but there were still people in all 4 sections. Section 4, at the end of the campus by the shop, emptied on Thursday and the tarps were taken down. This morning when I got up people were tying up their belongings and moving off in the other 3 sections.

A number of people came up and thanked me for opening up the campus to receive and provide for them in their time of need. My eyes began to water and I choked up. We have been through a lot as the crisis brought us together. It was another way in which I bonded with the Haitian people in a way that is hard to explain. My heart pained for them knowing that many would still face difficult days ahead of them.

Where are they going? Many are returning home to residences that are habitable but in need of repair. They do not have the money but somehow will manage. Others have lost homes and will live under some type of covering in their neighbor's yards. Some may move to the official communities developed for displaced people in La Plaine, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. I helped one lady make that move and paid for a tap-tap pickup truck to take her. She lost everything in her collapsed house in the next community to Bolosse where the campus is located.

What is the next phase of recovery? On campus we still need to put the razor wire on the rebuilt walls. The campus cistern is holding. We completed the work on Pastor Tony' s house yesterday, the campus residence most severely damaged. We will paint the interior rooms this next week.

Then we will work on the remaining residences that need fixing. I am finding more and more significant cracks in our house as I have had time to examine it better. The next major project is to rebuild the retaining walls that put some residences at risk. We hope to have all these projects completed by the end of July.

We still need to demolish the Seminary building and the apartment complex. Both are still standing. That will be done this summer by July, Lord willing.

We still are focusing on the communities around the campus and see how we can continue to help people. Yes, they left the campus but life is still hard and a challenge for many. Since McMartins and Schmids are taking their R&R in April, this will be evaluated and acted on this summer.

I want to, thank all of you for your part in the crisis and recovery process to date. We could not have done it without the Lord's help and your personal effort and presence. Words cannot express my personal appreciation for what each one of you did. The demonstration of Christ's compassion and love has marked many. Many came to Christ while a part of the tent city.
You marked my life with your presence too and have become a part of the extended family of CrossWorld.

Blessings on you all this Easter season.

David

Link to Video of Haiti

These videos are courtesy of Doug Anderson and Matt Mason. Thanks Gentlemen for sharing!


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Haiti-Alumni-Association/113823438630636?v=wall


I hope you all can access it. There are several videos and lots of pictures.


Thursday, April 1, 2010

CrossWorld News: Does Haiti Still Need Our Help?

Apr 01, 2010 12:01 pm

Haiti is no longer in the news much. And yet the plight of those who lost family members, friends, homes, employment, possessions is as dire as before.

Through your gifts, thousands have been helped. Cindy McMartin writes with appreciation: "Thank you to all of you who continue to pray for us and to so many who have contributed funds to help us in responding to the needs here. It has amazed us to hear of all the creative ways that have been used to raise funds for relief by so many of you. Your generosity and concern for the situation here has overwhelmed us. You have enabled us to help many with food, clothing, medicines, quilts, car repairs, house repairs, and tarps. In the midst of all this, we want to be sensitive to spiritual needs too."

What is the next phase of response?

The next phase of response, through our Haitian partners, will adapt to the needs of the people in each new area. It may be shelter from the rainy season in one area, while in another, medicines and hygiene may be most needed. In another location, the greatest need will be food. One village may most need seeds to plant crops, while another lacks Bibles and Christian literature - or perhaps the need will be for school supplies. In some places, meeting all of these needs may be what is required.

Seismic Explanations - Update from Bruce & Deb Robinson

I was out in the neighborhood last night. It gets real dark here. We don’t have streetlights and there was no moon. A guy came by on a 50cc motorbike and we exchanged hellos. I didn’t recognize him, so I called after him. I might have recognized the face in daylight but he introduced himself. His father is the caretaker at the building the pastors have for development, and someone we have been working with on an irrigation canal.

He reminded me he had been away in Port-au-Prince at university. A big deal for around here. I
asked about his university- was it in session during the earthquake? Yes, but he had morning classes and had been home after taking an exam.

The university is pretty much gone. The loss among students and professors was significant. The highest school toll was university age as most universities were in session when the quake hit. Most students and professors have day jobs. The universities (and our mission seminary) hold classes from 4 to 8PM. Many were decimated in the earthquake. Most were multistory buildings and a few had no survivors. Sadrack is the young Haitian engineer who works with us. His alma mater, GOC, well known for Civil Engineering, is completely gone. We both weren’t in a hurry so I asked the guy on the motorcycle how he survived.

He was on the way out of the house to a local pharmacy when it hit. But hadn’t been in a hurry
and was helping a younger girl with her school lesson. The house started shaking violently. It was swinging back and forth so much that it was hitting the buildings next to it. He finally figured he better get outside.

When he got on the porch he says God caused him to look up before he got completely out. The
multistory building across the street was falling down and coming his way. He stopped and turned to go a different direction off the porch just as a girl came running out of the house next door. A wall came down on her splattering him with blood. At this point he decided for better or for worse he was going to stick it out on the porch.

Directly behind his house was a school with 1500 students in it from elementary to trade school/vocational level. It was in session. He said it pretty much got them all. They did pull out a few injured the next day but he shook his head and said he didn’t think that any of them lived very long.

The pharmacy where he was late walking to sunk into the ground when the earth liquefied. Only six inches of the first floor is still above ground. He didn’t say anything about his friend who worked there.

He is third year in accounting and among other things is worried about whether he is going to lose this school year and if there is going to be a way or a university for him to finish at. Now he has time to talk. He is here with his parents with nothing to do and nothing clear about his future. But as he pointed out, he is alive.

For eight days he lived on the streets. He didn’t have any money to come home with so was stuck there. The helicopters dropped cookies (probably protein bars) and there was a huge battle for them everywhere they dropped. The thieves took over, stealing and getting stuff everywhere. The thing that saved them at his house is that there was one of the camps that sprung up in the church and school yard next door so there were always people around and
that helped.

One of the things we are helping the pastors organize at five centrally located churches out here
is retreats over Easter for the local and displaced young adults. Hoping for spiritual input and to help young people like this young man to deal with grief and trauma. I think many like this young man are still in shock and haven’t started to deal with the loss and the what-ifs. He said if you lived through it, it was only God because it totally depended on where you were for one instant on the afternoon of January 12th.

As I said before, many of the IDPs (internally displaced people) are out here and as it rains more
will come. Pastor Bernex has six or seven at his house, the pastor here as many. Boss Aletude from the shop had six but has set up three of them in Port-de-Paix. One friend has 22. Some are staying at the house and some are going to Port-de-Paix the town near us. Which bothers me. Construction in Port-de-Paix is as bad or worse than what fell down in Port-au-Prince. There are many buildings that worried me even before this earthquake happened.

When I came to this remote part of Northwest Haiti, we were the only people for two hours drive with a bicycle, motorcycle, or vehicle. All that has changed. People don’t walk ten or twelve miles to town anymore.

The vehicle of choice for doing public transportation is a little Toyota pickup. They are called tap taps because when you are ready to get off you tap on the body of the truck somewhere and say thank you to the chauffeur. With some modification to the springs, they can carry a couple tons of bagged rice or flour or twenty some people. They have just come out with roof racks which are good for one to three, and one guy lays on the hood and reclines against the passenger side windshield. Deb calls him the windshield wiper. Sometimes there are goats tied upside down in front of the radiator and usually bags of charcoal hanging off the back. How many people they can put in the bed of the truck is a mystery to me. I always lose count in the mid- twenties and don’t bother to try anymore.

But you can be sure when they have that many in there, people are packed in pretty tight and there is no personal space.

One of the challenges of explaining things, particularly cross culturally is to put something in context for the people you are explaining it to. Consider for instance plate tectonics; how the
pieces of the earth’s plates move and cause earthquakes. How do you explain this to your Haitian friends? What is all this with the ground moving all of the sudden. First the big one, and then all the aftershocks that continue to this day.

Even in a hungry country, there are a few of the market ladies that get pretty big. Fat or obesity
doesn’t have the same stigma as it would, for instance in America. Big is beautiful. When we
come back from the states, we are told (as a compliment), oh you look fat. OK, so friends make
wonderful meals for missionaries but you don’t have to rub it in. But here it is the best compliment you can give or get. So you smile and hope you are going to have time to get in a routine and get on the treadmill some. Anyhow, BIG here means you are eating. And that is good.

The best way I have found to explain what is going on with these earthquakes is to explain that one of these huge ladies in the middle of the back of the tap taps with twenty some other people surrounding her has gotten uncomfortable. When she finally gets uncomfortable enough and rearranges her mass, there are problems in the back of the truck. Because everyone is so tightly packed in, everyone around her has to make some adjustment to account for the way she has moved. That is aftershocks.

When everyone finally gets resettled, things calm down and nothing moves again. But it takes a while for the repositioning to ripple through the back of the truck because everyone is packed in like or worse than 25 people playing twister.

When everyone finally gets resettled, things calm down and nothing moves again. But it takes a while for the repositioning to ripple through the back of the truck because everyone is packed in like or worse than 25 people playing twister.

In the middle of it all, two pastors from one of our sending churches came and their first comment was appreciation that we stayed at our posts. It makes the news when they dig though the rubble to save one single someone who has been under it all for two weeks. But if you want to save lives in Haiti, there are water systems to build, medical work to be done, irrigation and drainage canals, and tons of other stuff that can be done every day. But it won’t make CNN. Because of all these people coming, we didn’t need to go to Port-au-Prince and so missed being at the center of the world’s attention for a couple weeks. But we had the luxury of keeping
working and not having to interrupt the work we were doing. And then the refugees (IDPs) from
Port-au-Prince started showing up.

Life also continues. Pastor Chrisbon’s father is dying and finally dies. He was born in 1908 and
lived on his own up until the last week. It is raining to beat all. For the farmers it is the best year in recent memory. However, the clay roads are mud and it is not weather to be traveling or trying to bury your father. My task is to get 5 drums of water for the wake and go over to the funeral to help with hauling supplies and give moral support. Like a brother. I am going down our road getting mad. A large US humanitarian group which started out pretty good in this area 30 years ago had money from USAID to fix this road but didn’t and USAID finally fired them which surprised everyone since they had (not) been doing projects like this for the last 15 years. But I can barely get down the road in the mud and rain and I can’t stay home like I normally would because of the funeral. And the same organization that didn’t do the road is raking in the money because of the earthquake with slick websites, a well oiled advertising budget and people
lobbying inside the beltway. Keep your mind on the road and keep the LandCruiser between the ditches. Let your mind dwell on something that is more positive or that you can do something about.

The man of God is buried with honor and dignity even if the graveside part was hasty because it
started to rain again. I drove Pastor Chrisbon back to his father’s house and he had to walk in the last part of the road. He didn’t get out with his 4x4 until two days later when the roads dried out.

Meanwhile, we are doing the projects we normally do, only with more sense of urgency. I still think about earthquakes a lot. As time goes on, I am more appreciative that I didn’t have to go down and work in Port-au-Prince. You remember from the last letter I said we had tents and tarps and demolition equipment stored here because of the fault that runs along the north coast near us here. And that I thought it was this fault that would go off first. The construction in Port-de-Paix is worse than Port-au-Prince and the foundation conditions are much worse multiplying any earth movement. We only sent half of our stuff to Port-au-Prince after the
quake. Just in case. Besides trying to help Port-au- Prince and the refugees out here, we are trying to get our stock of emergency supplies and equipment here back up to where it was. There is a second big mama in the back of this tap-tap. And we are praying she is comfortable and doesn’t move.