Dr4Christ Emergency Response eNews for February 13, 2010

Moving Forward Thought I'd write you from Haiti today. I'm headed back via Dajabon as fast as possible to see Tyler, he was hospitalized yesterday with Influenza. I hope I can get back in time for the young people's meeting tonight and take them to see him in the hospital. Please pray he recovers and gets home soon. Galations 6:10 says "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Pastor Jean Dial, Luis Manuel and I with your prayers and finances continue do exactly this and left for Haiti on February 8th. We came in from Elias Piñas so we could check on different entry / exit points for future operations. We had over 1500 lbs pounds of food, water, medicine, tracts, ect. As we came in we went to six different churches and did not finish until late at night. We went directly to the church building locations we had logged via GPS and got back to them with out any problems. However, several times we had to get in the truck and move to another location close by because people wanted our supplies. One man took out his machete for a bottle of water. Our distribution methods will improve as we look for better mobile drop off points around these affected churches. Every day we continued relief efforts with what we brought in and on the third day we got some general distribution items for the first time from MFI. I also attended the shelter, camp management and food cluster meetings at the U.N base and met with Mr. Aslam of the World Food Program (WFP) about our original food application made three weeks ago. I do not want to be negative but we need to commit this to prayer and try and partner as much as possible with other Non-Government Organizations who are working outside the U.N. structure. There are a conglomerate of agency's working together that direct you to the WFP desk for food. I confirmed last time before I left that we were in the computer and Mr. Aslam recognized who we are but so far they have not distributed anything to us. Mayby it is due to so many requests or due to bad organization or mayby its because we are Baptist, I really don't know but God does and I feel that He may have someone out there reading this that can give us a contact that will meet this continuing need. If so please send me an e-mail to Tom@DR4Christ.com and I guarantee you we will follow it to the end of the rainbow. We spent one night getting Pastor Leny Funtecha's generator up and running. We rigged a gasket with paper and cleaned the carburetor / fuel lines. I pray that he can use this to charge up his batteries and power some lights that are needed for security. This will help out a lot. Nationals are still working on shoring up the wall and they currently have half of the cement we originally donated. Currently, 65 people are staying on church property and the tent we gave has been put to good use. We decided to check out a local hotel that had been recommended to us and it was full with International NGO's which has had quite an effect on the price of things (more than double) and our team decided to look for more economical and secure accommodations that can house future teams. The Lord really worked and we were able to find an area just outside of Port-au-Prince close to one of the church buildings that has been destroyed. We knew instantly that this was the place and rented it for six months for $250 a month. This is going to save 10,000's of dollars over the months to come. God is good!! Things at Eglize du Tabernacle are moving forward.

It has taken over a week and finally we were able to remove the bodies of three ladies Wednesday. If you compare the above picture with that of the one below you can get an idea of how much of a miracle has taken place in the last week. All of the work has been done by hand and the members buried the remains close by and put some flowers over where the recovery took place. Amazingly the ladies were all found in a fetal position and my only thought was that they looked like they were praying. Pastor Gerald wanted to continue clearing the rubble to have services. I'm very sensitive to listening and following national leaders but in this circumstance I counseled the Pastor to take a step back, take care of his family and wait until plans are made for the demolition of surrounding buildings which look as if they are about to fall on the property. Luis who has been involved with construction projects in the Dominican Republic his whole life calculated that the four story building would take by hand a strong crew approximately 45 days to clear. The church is His people in this local area and an alternative sight I believe by faith can be found in this local area sooner. Please pray that this place can be found so that spiritual healing can begin. Also, pray that in the future large back hoes can be found to speed up clearing and rebuilding. I have got quotes from CAT and have investigated several other leads and the prices are very expensive. We must rely on the Lord. The Pastor is living in the street and I gave him a cash offering so that he could take better care of his family.

We also gave Pastor Sylvio of Maranatha Baptist Church an offering to repair his wall and gate. This will help to control the flow of people moving through his property. We also gave a cash offering to Pastor Odvin of Good Shepard Baptist Church for body and rubble removal. Pastor Odvin's church is up, but the smell of a house that has fallen into the property is one of the obstacles we need to overcome to establish services in the building. Pastor Odvin found a local area to meet in but can do more if he has his building back.

Pastor Odvin has many ministries one of which includes The kids at the Good Shepherd Baptist Children's home who will absolutely touch your heart.

During our time away Pastor Odvin had a clinic with the medical supplies we brought him, so we loaded him up with some more supplies from our friends at Missionary Flights International (Thanks Mr. Cheeseburger man!! - Article on ESPN under Hendrick Team Racing). MFI gave us so much we were able to give Water and Medical supplies to two other church pastors as well. The list of those you have helped goes on and on. Your prayers and finances are making a difference and I know He is planning something special for Haiti's Spiritual future.

One month Passes

Yesterday, February 12th marked the beginning of three days of mourning, prayer and fasting. Many christian leaders petitioned this from the government and the people have really responded.

Everything I've seen open this last week (Gas Stations, Banks ect.) was closed and the streets where virtually empty. Churches and people gathered everywhere so they could to listen and pray.

I heard Near the Cross, Amazing Grace and many other hymns in Creol during the National Broadcast. Many who spoke quoted scripture and portions of Isaiah were read. Government officials recapped the tragedy and announced that more than 217,000 had died. Pastor Job from the First Baptist Church of Port-au-Prince had a great message and several including the Mayor of Port-au-Prince spoke out strongly against voodoo during the program. I was excited to hear this development due to the national governments openness to the occult. Be in prayer that this wickedness that is practiced by many will disappear entirely.

This is a Voodoo temple a couple blocks away from one of the churches we are ministering to. I had to do some cropping to keep our e-mails kid friendly. But the ugly truth is that this African Syncretistic religion must be attacked one soul at a time by courageous national christians who have the boldness of Paul and who will bluntly proclaim truth of the scriptures through every creative medium imaginable - no matter the cost.

Spanish Translation

For those who habla el español we have our latest letter up on http://www.dr4christ.com/february2010/EmergencyResponseSP.html

Thank you so much to Pastor Francisco Chavarria (Atlanta) and Missionary Marvin Robertson (Spain) for your help.

Gheskio

God is using all kinds of people to bring people to Christ. Alan Conner a member of Bible Baptist Church in Buffalo, MO (which is just a hop skip and jump from our sending church) sent us an encouraging note yesterday. I met Alan in the Gheskio University Field Hospital. You probably will never here about Gheskio again but a lot of lives where saved there and Alan Conner and the Missouri Haz Mat team were a large part of that. It was a bit crazy when I got there but the Marines looked like they were managing it pretty well.

Hello Pastor Franklin,

I wanted to thank you for seeking me out and checking on my well being while I was serving Homeland Security in Haiti. I was touched that you would at the risk of personal safety check on me! I hope and pray that you and your ministry are safe and sound. I'm back in Missouri, it was a tough mission, we did touch many lives, and I'm happy to report to you that many also accepted Christ while we where there at GHESKIO .

Please stay in touch, let us know if our church can be of any assistance.

Love in Christ,

Alan Conner

DR4Christ Emergency Response eNews February 8, 2010

Dear Pastor, Church, Friends and Family

I’m headed to Haiti once again this morning and wanted to give you a report and ask you to pray once more for our trip. The Baptist Bible Tribune asked us for an update this week and some of this information may coincide with information we submitted for the upcoming issue, but for those that like the long version – this is for you. Wink!

I have learned over the years that not everything we experience can be explained. Especially things like disasters, persecution, suffering, etc... There are no easy answers. I know God uses trials and tribulations many times so that we can grow. I believe also that He desires to teach us to wholly rely on Him, which always makes us stronger. It's tough, no matter how strong you are, to see people go through so much like what we are witnessing in Haiti. During these times I remind myself that God has a plan and even though we don't know all the details, He does and has everything under control. I’m thankful He has me busy reminding people of this and that no matter how impossible a situation might look, nothing is to hard for God. Jer 32:17 says, “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee” and Jer 32:27 says “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” There is NO WAY MAN can resolve this problem. In my opinion, we must rely on GOD. We must pray that He shows us the way and stay everyday in His will.

On this side of the border many hospitals in Haiti have been sending patients to hospitals here in the Dominican Republic. Gary, which many of you know from previous letters, has been visiting the hospitals, giving out food, printing tracts, preaching and helping Regina with the Bucketsfull of Hope project. When we returned, he fell ill and has been diagnosed now with Dengue. Please pray for Gary. He is a faithful worker and he really wanted to go with me to Haiti today. I prayed with him in the hospital and shared with him the details of my message Sunday morning, which I’m sure he will share with those around him – Smile – He’s quite the preacher.

Regina and the kids have been absolute warriors during all this and we have had some great family time this week. It has been decided that I will not miss Sunday’s unless we have a group going into Haiti. I will preach in Haiti during the week, when invited, and get back as soon as possible to preach at our church.

In Haiti, I see what we are doing now as: Relieving the suffering of independent Baptist Church leadership / membership (when possible) and ministering to the spiritual needs of each local church while rebuilding places of worship and full time worker's homes so future ministry can continue under pre-earthquake national leadership.

Preaching, counsel & prayer has occurred throughout my response. I've completed Initial Evaluations on 16 different churches in the affected area. When I left, there was still some body recovery left to do at Eglise Baptise de Don Burger and Eglise Du Tabernacle, which I will check on this week. I’m still prioritizing churches and members needs, applying for aid from the World Food Program, OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and several NGO's (Non Govermental Organizations), coordinating & organizing efforts from different church groups (our first team arrives March 23), meeting with leaders at the American Embassy, United Nations base, field hospital's and clinic's. I am logging GPS Coordinates & Elevation data and this week began contacting specific NGO's that could advise us on low cost permanent housing that can withstand future earthquakes and hurricanes.

Sadly and with a heavy heart, I can preliminarily report the following: Approximately half of the churches evaluated have been initially classified as destroyed and/or condemned, attendance is down approximately 50% in most of the churches and in several cases churches cannot have services. I have, in my first group of initial evaluations, 16 pastors/full time workers who have lost there homes and 3 pastor's homes/full time workers that need repair. Between 2,000 to 3,000 in these works need food and approximately 35% need shelter. In most cases everyone has lost their job and all report deaths and/or injuries to church members. One pastor lost approximately 50 of his 300 members and reported that he has had 26 funerals in the last few weeks.

As I travel in with teams from our church, we are being very careful and using a lot of discernment. The government of Haiti and the United Nations now reports that there could be as many as 2,000,000 IDP's (Internally Displaced Person's) and there is plenty of evidence that people are hungry. This combined with the problems of Aids, Outlaw Gangs, Poverty and Voodoo makes the current work in Haiti very challenging.

Financially, from the 20th of January through last week Regina and I have received $74,718.16 from 53 churches, missionaries & individual donors. No phone calls have been made, just e-mail / blog correspondence which are recorded on www.dr4christ.blogspot.com. 33 of these are our regular supporters & 4 BBF missionaries have also given. The first church to respond was Burleson Boulevard Baptist Church in Burleson, Texas / Pastor Terry Williams and our largest donor has been Heritage Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas / Pastor George Newcomb who has given $12,060. Both have supported us since we were in Cuba and we are humbled by each & every church, missionary & friend who has given.

$37,448.16 in Haitian Relief Project Sub Account in Missions Office

$19,800 is in Transit to our Dominican Association's Account

$17,470 has been spent, we are trying to save as much as possible for the long term

With that $17,470 we have done the following as of last week:

1. Over 200 "Bucketfulls of Hope" have been made & most are now in Haiti. The new contents can feed a family of 4 for over a week and includes a spiritual encouragement letter and a color tract in Creol.

2. Over $1000 of medical supplies have been distributed to the D.A.S.H clinic on Delmas #48, to Pastor Odvin's clinic & to many pastor's who have members with significant injuries

3. 70 bags of concrete were purchased to begin the process of reinforcing Pastor Leny's (Asian Baptist Clearing House) outer church wall for security purposes.

4. A small, used, enclosed truck was purchased for $1,700 to transport food, shelter, materials and water from the airport to the churches.

5. Over 20 bundles of water, an inverter, several new car batteries, solar & larger type flashlights have been given out.

6. 1 large 8 man tent has been donated for base camp operations and for the Deaf ministry students in Bro. Funtecha's church

7. A used Toyota van was purchased for $3500 to save money on transportation when taking groups and supplies into Haiti. Bus tickets, one way, for groups of 7, from Santo Domingo, cost over $1000

8. Paid Armed Guard from the Dominican Military to accompany 2500 lbs of relief supplies

9. Initial Gasoline & Diesel Deposit has been established

10. Offering's to Haitian Pastor's have been made in extreme cases.

Thank you for what you are doing. In times of natural disaster the needs seem overwhelming. We realized that many people are reluctant to give financially to the Haitian Relief efforts, because so many try to take advantage in times of tragedy. We understand this, desire to be transparent and do our best to do our part. We will continue to be available to help in what ever way we can. We give God the honor and glory for what He is doing. Knowing that you stand behind us in prayer is a big comfort. Thank you and we will continue to report what we are doing as timely as possible.

Lord Bless,

Tom