Haiti Relief Update - 1/26 10:11 am

Our teams in Haiti / DR have been blessed to use a ministry home operated by CC Delta (PA) as their basecamp for the past two weeks.  On Monday they were joined by the pastor of CC Delta, which sent us the following report:


[Please note, for security reasons we are not currently posting names or specific details regarding location on the blog at this time….]


This morning they left at 6 am to assess the situation to decide how they might best serve and how our fellowship in Delta and ministry in the DR can be involved in aiding the Haitian people.  Their first stop was a  visit the hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic that we had heard about.  It is on the border, and they talked with the medical personnel.  They have a huge need for nurses right now.


After leaving there, they tried to contact the pastor of CCf Port-au-Prince, who was to meet them at the border.  The phone service was not working, even though they talked to him by phone the day before.  They made their way into Haiti, having no problem crossing the border.  They were never able to locate the pastor to help them, but the Lord miraculously led them, and they ended up at CC Port-au-Prince!  The pastor was able to show them the church, their small orphanage, and then discuss the needs they had.  It was so encouraging to hear that this group of Haitian believers who have personally lost so much were going into the tent cities and sharing their faith in Jesus Christ.  They report that people have been very open to the gospel. CC PaP’s pastor also took the team (which also included 3 of the leaders from CCOB and a doctor from Boston) to visit the site of a new tent city they are establishing 15 minutes outside of the downtown area.  There is a great need for tents, so please pray that we can access some.  The church there had already moved a group on handicapped women out of the main downtown area to the new tent city location.


After leaving the church, they travelled into the downtown areas of the city, including the area around the Presidential Palace, and saw the devastation first-hand.  They had to travel with the windows up because of the smell.  Traffic was quite heavy.  Our pastor was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the destruction, commenting that the news can’t do it justice.  He said that large 3-4 story buildings were collapsed down to around 6’ tall.  He was surprised at how large a city it is and how crowded, with people too fearful to move indoors, and thankfully, many foreigners. However, even with all the aid workers, there is still way more need than supply. They only saw 2 food distributions and are wondering where the rest are.  He said that there was no where you could turn to look away from the destruction.  One of the other team members commented that it was the closest thing any of them would probably ever see to an apocalyptic scene.

They travelled back to Barahona, DR in late afternoon.  The plan for tomorrow is to try to buy supplies in Barahona early in the morning, including tents.  They aren’t sure that there are tents in Barahona, so please pray that the Lord would direct them and provide the tents and supplies that are needed.  Then they are intending to go back to Port-au-Prince to deliver the supplies and tents to the church.  They are going to try to evangelize in the tent cities.  Pray that they have an open door to sharing the gospel and that people wouldn’t miss hearing the message because it comes from Americans who are seen as physical aid providers.  They will be joined by other servants, including one who speaks Creole.  They are also looking for a secure place to stay in Haiti, and if they can locate one, will be spending the night.  The pastor has some connections to hospital personnel, and they will help our medical team to see where the areas are that have the greatest need.

Our pastor asked me to ask you all to pray for the things above, for safety(he said it wasn’t scary at all today), and for Holy boldness to share the love of Christ with these hurting people.  His heart is broken, and they need God’s heart and empowerment as they go.

Blessings to you all, and thank you for your prayers and support for the lost in Haiti.

Haiti Relief Update - 1/22 10PM

Greetings from Calvary Old Bridge!

Things are beginning to pick up momentum….

JACMEL:

Much as He did after Katrina, the Lord seems to be bringing a number of CC’s together to focus on ministry in a specific area — in this case Jacmel.

As our recon team prepares to return to the US this weekend we are planning to insert a combined CCOB / CC Costa Mesa / Cornerstone CC / Castlerock CC team into Jacmel on Sunday with the specific goal of establishing a long-term base of operations.  Tim Wylie will be part of this group, and he’ll be looking to see how we can deploy the tents, huts, and other resources stored after the ministry at Bay St. Louis ended.  He’s also in touch with Mercy Chefs and other organizations who might come together in this endeavor as well.  We’re also in touch with Chet Lowe (CC Ft. L & Patmos Ministries) who is coordinating cargo transport via boat out of Florida.  Combined with the relationship we have with the Dominican navy, this seems to be a promising avenue.

We have a long ways to go before we’re up and running, but the Lord seems to be pointing us in a direction and we’re trusting that He will continue to open doors and redirect us as necessary.

JIMANI:

This morning’s USA Today had an article that mentions the hospitals in Jimani where our teams have been helping out since last Saturday:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-01-21-Haiti-Dominican_N.htm

We have heard from several CC’s that have medical personnel on standby to deploy, and we’ll be following up as soon as we have housing re-established in the area.  A hotel/motel we had negotiated to take over for the duration reneged on the deal — we’re guessing that someone made them an offer “they couldn’t refuse.”

We have one medical team scheduled to arrive this weekend, and Lord willing we’ll have alternative arrangements in place very soon and can begin facilitating additional medical teams.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

In addition to all of the above, please pray:

*  Wisdom and vision for the new leaders that arrived yesterday.

*  Travel mercy for departing and returning teams.

*  Medical supplies — still a desperate need for surgical supplies & equipment

*  Clarity and unity as multiple CC’s and other ministries come together to serve.

Haiti Relief Effort - Update 1/21 10:30 PM

The situation in Haiti continues to develop day-to-day, even hour to hour.
Among the reports coming in from our team this evening:


*  Aid is beginning to reach areas like Jacmel that were not receiving assistance early this week.  However, there are widespread reports (and firsthand observations by our team) that much of the food and medicine being trucked in is being “diverted” and is not reaching everyone in need.  Our team had resources it arranged to be brought to one location “secured” in a warehouse and only after much effort were they able to obtain their own supplies.


*  The team’s mobility has been greatly enhanced by relationships formed with pilots helping them get around in small planes.  However, the number of people flying into small airports in Haiti from other countries has led to a crackdown at several airports including one our team was using that is now under the control of the Canadian army.


*  Prayer changes things!  One of our teams spent much of the day attempting to obtain and deliver surgical equipment and pain medication so a team of doctors could perform urgent amputations on more than forty patients.  From communication breakdowns, mechanical problems, misdirection, aftershocks, and attempts to confiscate the supplies, it seemed that the supplies would never arrive and the doctors would be forced to perform amputations with no pain medication and improvised tools.  With people around the world praying, however, the resources ultimately arrived just in time.


*  Attempts to identify a suitable location for a large-scale “basecamp” are progressing slowly.  Many buildings are obviously destroyed, and continuing aftershocks make the use of many remaining buildings unwise.  We may be looking at a “tent city” scenario.


*  Doctors and nurses are showing up throughout the country in increasing numbers, but most medical personnel our team has encountered are underutilized due to lack of logistical support and profound lack of surgical equipment and medicine.  ”Don’t send any more tylenol” was a comment made by more than one team member as they searched frantically for stronger pain medicine.


WHAT’S NEXT:
*  Over the next 72 hours we will be rotating personnel in and out of the country.  Two CCOB elders arrived today to get a download on contacts, resources, and other information from our first responders.  They will be joined by a team of eight people from three different CC’s on Saturday, including a surgeon and two combat medics.

The medical team will deploy to Jimani to assist at the refugee hospital there.  The rest of the team will is planning to focus on establishing a staging area for long-term ministry in Jacmel and the surrounding region.  We are in contact with a variety of CC-related ministries that are eager to come alongside once better infrastructure is established.


*  Nine of our eleven first responders will rotate back to the US on Saturday.  The remaining to (one from CCOB and one from Cornerstone CC) plan to remain for a week, continuing to minister and assisting with the transition.


*  As soon as we are able to expand our basecamp near Jimani we will be sending additional medical personnel; we are soliciting donations of surgical equipment, antibiotics, etc. to send with each person going down.

PRAYER:
Every conversation with our teams emphasized how clearly they see prayer playing a role in the ministry happening in Haiti.  From bringing dead radios back online to connections with planes and pilots to opening doors for supplies and in many many other ways, prayer is directly and dramatically fueling the ministry that is happening on the island.  Please continue to pray for open doors, for safety, for necessary supplies, for secure staging areas and basecamps, for travel mercy, for additional contacts w/ planes and pilots, and for the many other needs implicit in this update!

Haiti Relief Effort - Update 1/21 3:30 PM

God continues to use the team in Haiti/DR to accomplish great things!  Below is the most recent update from one of our team members giving an account of God using them to provide for injured Haitians that are in need of emergency surgery. For the past 20 hours the team has been attempting to procure medical and surgical supplies as well as surgical narcotics but have met much difficulty.

Below is the correspondence we received from the team member mentioned above.

We serve a BIG God! Narcotics and medical equipment are on the plane and ready to take off to Jacmel where doctors will literally be standing by the victims ready to operate. Satan is really playing games with communication. False reports of the runway being down etc. Tremors still occurring today (not dangerous) but pilot has no reservations as this is literally a life or death situation. Please pray for safe travel for Gene and the pilot (John).

Urgent Prayer Request - Haiti

Please send out a prayer request. Our team is literally on knees praying as the doctors in jacmel have the patients lined up but can’t do procedures until the plane arrives back with saws and narcotics.

Many of these patients to not have another day to wait before they die or be amputated without narcotics or the proper equipment. We are on our way to a hospital to plead for something at least for the patients who are near the end then racing to the plane.

Haiti Relief Effort - Urgent Needs

I spoke with the Haiti team this AM…

There is an urgent need for the following items in Haiti. Docs they encounter throughout the country say there aren’t any of these things left on the island and so far they aren’t arriving in aid shipments:

Bone plates, esp for youth
Bone saws
Ortho drills and screws and pins
External fixtures
Intramedulla rods

Topical lidocaine
BET gel
Inrocethin
Augmentin
Oral antibiotics
Oral narcotic painkiller

Casting plaster / fiberglass

We have medical personnel travelling with us on Saturday who should have the appropriate credentials to help get such items thru customs.

Please have anyone able to help us source such items contact Pastor Brien at Brien@ccob.org or 732.679.9222.

Even after we leave Saturday we will try to expedite delivery of such supplies, so donations in days and weeks to come are welcome and needed.

That said, our team emphasized that docs are delaying surgeries as long as they can while praying for these items.

Please forward to anyone who might be able to help.

Haiti Relief Effort - Update 1/20 11:11 PM

Below is a portion of an update that one of our team leaders sent to his family over text message.

I’m still in Jacmel. Lived through my first earthquake. A 6.1. You definitely feel the earth move when it strikes. It lasted what seemed to be about 5 seconds, but they said it lasted about 10—thus making it another quake, and not a tremor.

We spent the day around the airport as relief planes came and went. Got a chance to pray with a girl who was there with her deceased friend’s body. She was an American waiting for a plane to take her and the body of her friend back to the U.S.  She was just sitting on the side of the runway with the bodybag.

We were also in downtown Jacmel today and the devastation was heartbreaking.  The doctors are amputating everyone with severe broken bones because they have no screws to put them back together. One of the team members went to the medical warehouse in Santo Domingo to purchase a bunch of ortho supplies.

We should be back in DR tomorrow night. Will update again as soon as I get the chance.

*************************************

Continue to keep the entire advance team in prayer as they seek the Lord and continue to be used by Him to bring comfort and hope in Christ.

Haiti Relief Effort - Update 1/20 5:06 PM

As you most likely heard on the news, the country of Haiti was struck with another earthquake early this morning.   The quake measured 6.0 on the Richter scale.  Everyone on our team has reported they are safe with no injuries.

Today, part of the team ministering had flown back to the capital city of the DR to get more medical supplies.  Please keep this in prayer as the pilot is ill and needed to go to the hospital.  We are not sure if it is a result of exhaustion or something more serious.

Some of the team based in the DR are planning to travel back with the pilot to Leogane as the rest of the team continue to minister at the hospital and lay the groundwork for future teams to make their way into Haiti.

We are waiting to receive contact from the rest of the team in Jacmel but at last contact have been told that things are going well and they are safe.

Please continue to pray for our team, the pilot, and the people of Haiti.

Haiti Relief Effort - Additional Teams News

CCOB will be sending additional personnel to minister in Haiti this week.  Donations of surgical gloves & masks, alcohol swabs, oral & topical antibiotics, ibuprofen and/or Tylenol, and gauze bandages are all welcome.

Haiti Relief Effort - Update 1/20 7:30 AM

Just heard from the CCOB team…a 6.0 aftershock hit this AM but structural damage was minimal where they are ministering and the team is fine. Ministry continuing and all appreciate your prayers!

Haiti Relief Effort - Update 1/20 12:24AM

Today team one made their way to a refuge hospital on the Haiti/DR border in the town of Jimani.  From the accounts I received the ministry was very good but there remains much more need than there is ability to meet it.

There remains only 1 surgeon to treat 200-300 patients and while the physician is overwhelmed, he is incredibly grateful we are there and has given us a full green light to minister to the patients, pray with them and care for them.Increased medical personnel at this hospital would most certainly be welcomed.

This link shows the hospital our team was minstering in (first 8 pictures):

http://blogs.tampabay.com/photo/2010/01/haiti-earthquake-covering-the-tragedy.html


The other team that was going to Jacmel were blessed with incredibly safe travel.  After the 5 1/2 hours trip on the Dominican Republic naval ship, the team ported safely with a large amount of medical supplies.  (God had blessed the team with a way to purchase $30,000 worth of medicines and medical supplies at a mere fraction of that cost!)  The Vice Admiral was incredibly helpful.  He told us that the Navy will provide Naval transportation for our team everyday if we would like.  He even held up the boat to wait for us and our supplies!

More importantly is that we were able to connect Score International (a ministry we work with in sending teams to the DR) with our naval contacts and now Score International has a way to get tons of medical supplies into the DR that they didn’t have before!


At the port it was completely chaotic and busy, but thankfully very secure.  The presence of the DR navy and the UN made their arrival much safer than they expected.  The team was then transported to the Hands and Feet orphanage in the back of a small pick-up truck.  God certainly blessed our team as this tiny pickup carried 10 men to the destination (the pickup was more dangerous than the trip at sea!) 

Upon reaching the orphanage, the team saw much different than they expected. The orphanage was surrounded by 15ft walls and topped with barbed wire.  Inside the walls was a large yard that looked like a tent city that was “housing” many people that had no other place to go.

The team is incredibly excited to see what the Lord is going to next.  When asked to describe the trip so far, their response is that “this is a trip of the unexpected” and God continues to ask us to “just walk by faith.”

They said their plan for tomorrow is to meet the mayor of the town, go to the port warehouse and bring the supplies back to the orphanage, and scout the area to see if it will accommodate a base camp for future teams…but this is also a “trip of the unexpected” and “walking by faith.” 

Before this update could be completed, the team just told me they made contact with a pilot from Miami who has access to other planes and is eager to help in any way. The plan for tomorrow has already changed!  The pilot is taking Lonnie and Raul to Leogane which was hit worse than Port-au-Prince, as it was right near the epicenter.  There is, according to news reports, a greater need and they are airlifting  as much medical supplies as they can there.

Please keep our team, the open doors, and the people of Haiti in prayer.  Who knows what the Lord will do?!

Blessings
Lloyd

Haiti Relief Effort - Update 1/19

Today the team is splitting into 2 groups, one travelling into Haiti while the other one pursues amazing ministry near the Haiti/DR border.

One team is aboard a naval ship of the Dominican Republic with a tremendous amount medical supplies.  It is expected to be a 5 1/2 hour boat ride to the city of Jacmel.  Once there, they hope to form a relationship with the mayor thru an already established contact in the city.   They will also be scouting the area for the possibilities of Jacmel being a basecamp for future missions teams.

The other team is travelling to a hospital near the border of Haiti.  This 40 room hospital is currently treating 400 people with only 1 doctor.  Our team will be there talking and praying with the injured as well as performing minor medical care (ie. washing, bandaging, handing out medicine, etc.)

Continue to pray for our team’s safety as well as continued wisdom and discernment as they follow the Lord’s leading.

Haiti Relief Effort - Update from Team Leader Lonnie

This update comes directly from team leader Lonnie Vargas detailing God’s incredible provision during the day!

Four members of the team drove 2.5 hours from Barahona to Pedernales. We brought with us a lot of the medical supplies that the people in Jacmel, Haiti are so desperate for. Pedernales is where we hoped to be able to rent a boat to take us to Jacmel.

When we got there there was what looked like a 30’ row boat headed for Jacmel. It was making a few stops in Haiti, and would not arrive in Jacmel until evening. The problem with that was we needed some time to get the supplies to the orphanage and make a connection with the Mayor of the town who wants  us to set up our base camp there.We were negotiating a price for the trip and the locals all began to  
argue amongst themselves. The we found out another boat was headed directly to Jacmel. Then it seemed they were giving us the runaround  and we felt like God was closing the door on us.

One of the boat  captains was asking us to leave the supplies with him and we were not very comfortable with that. At that point we were praying for  direction. We needed an answer.  No sooner then we finished we saw another boat come in. We decided to talk to the new boat captain, and that was the beginning of what would be a huge miracle. We were able to negotiate for almost half of what the earlier boats were asking.

We  agreed on a price but when we went to the Military Marine Office to register for the trip, the Colonel came and offered to take us for free! They said we could take whatever we want, so we dropped off what we had at their base, and now we’re driving back to Baraharo to pick up more supplies. God had the whole thing under control. We just  needed to wait for things to unfold in His time and not our own.

So tomorrow we’ll drive back with a van loaded with medical supplies, and have a small SHIP take us into Haiti. God is so amazing! If I was not here myself I would have not believed it. You can’t even make this story up if you tried.


We all miss you and are honored for the privilege to be God’s hands and feet in this place. For those of you who stayed back but were a  part of allowing us to come, and those of you who have prayed for us,  know that you are very much a part of the work that we are able to accomplish.


Sorry for the mish-mosh letter written in the back of a very bumpy  
seat, in the dark, on my phone.


May God bless you all,
Lonnie

Guidance for Relief Workers and Others Traveling to Haiti for Earthquake Response

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has released some recommendations for anyone considering going to Haiti to assist with the relief effort. If anyone one is praying about going, I recommend that you read through this report carefully.

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/news-announcements/relief-workers-haiti.aspx

Haiti Update Monday Jan 18th

Continue to pray for our Haiti team of 12.

The Lord has opened up some wonderful doors where none existed.

They are nightly staying in DR for security and have hooked up with a missionary connected with Pastor from Miami area.

Yesterday they delivered much needed medical supplies to a makeshift medical clinic at an orphanage where a number of doctors and nurses were ministering to a line of people.

Today, the team has divided into two with eight going in with a missionary in Haiti who has armed support and knows the ins and outs of getting in and out of Port Au Prince.

This group of eight are accompanied by Jason from Calvary Calvary Chapel Magazine and a news reporter from Miami who jumped on with them. They are being led by the Miami area pastor and the missionary. They brought some much needed medical supplies to a makeshift clinic connected to an orphanage 30 miles from Port Au Prince.

They are now presently in Port Au Prince(we think) and hope to bring orphans from PAP into this secured orphanage run by Joyce Meyers which has the clinic staffed with doctors and nurses,

The other team of 4 was negotiating this am for a boat to take medical supplies into Jacmel where there is a great need. Their concern is it will take all day and they will have to spend the night with no confirmed water and place to sleep.  We have researched quite a number of possible places for a base of operations for future teams.

So pray they can make contact in Jacmel to confirm a base of operations — the best place so far seems to be the contact we have there 40 miles south of PAP.

LLoyd