Haiti's Response

Our team heard from many that when the earthquake struck, Haitians thought the world was literally ending. It wasn't, but the survivors haven’t lost their big-picture perspective.

As we conducted interviews, we kept expecting to talk to people who were angry at God – angry for losing their homes, angry for being injured, angry for losing loved ones. We didn’t meet any.

Instead, we kept hearing thankfulness. They are thankful to still be alive. They are thankful to still have their families. And they are thankful for the help that is coming.

[Photo borrowed – I forgot my camera!]

They believe that God’s protection was only reason they survived the earthquake.

So, right now, Haiti is more open to the Gospel than ever.

Many people asked us to tell them about God when they found out we were Christians. I watched as our translator, Junior, fearlessly witnessed to those we met and passionately prayed for them.

The harvest in plentiful, and I'm excited to see how God moves through Haiti in the coming months.

What I Hope to See Next

It’s hard to experience something like Haiti without forming some opinions about it. I grew very fond of the Haitians we met, and I want the right thing to be done by them.

One thing the international community did very right was getting medical personal operational so quickly. The clinics are vital and have certainly saved lives. I’m very impressed by how efficient and helpful these medical efforts have been.

Unfortunately, we also saw uncoordinated organizations, ill-prepared volunteers and supplies bottlenecked at the Port-au-Prince airport. The international community’s enthusiasm to help may have created a reckless rush to act.

The immediate need of medical care was well met, but other needs are more long-term and require a strategic approach. It would have been wiser for other volunteers to pause, plan and coordinate before taking action.

All the same, I love how passionate and available people have made themselves. I think we have learned a lot from Katrina and the Tsunami.

But let’s be thoughtful about how we help next.

From the beginning, Haiti was a crippled nation. Colonial slaves won independence from France 200 years ago. But as a nation of recently freed slaves, the population was largely uneducated and without resources. As the years have gone on, Haiti has experienced incredible corruption and poverty, creating a huge need.

This need has not gone unnoticed. Many organizations have been at work in Haiti for years. But it is a difficult place to work as, some say, a dependence on outside help has developed.

When long-term efforts do begin to unfold in Haiti, it should be with a “teach a man to fish” model. Haitians need to be enabled to help each other.

The best way to do this is by equipping the Haitian Church to reach out to its neighborhoods.

Individuals who are willing to work hard and get an education usually leave the country altogether. But the Haitian Christians work hard, get an education and stay to help and minister.

Haitian Christians are people of intelligence and strong character who know both the language and the culture of their country. They are better suited than anyone to minister to their fellow Haitians.

If we send them our resources, they will distribute. If we send them our volunteers, they will direct. If we enable them to act, they will make a difference in their country.

We should partner with our Haitian brothers and sisters.

In Haiti: Ronel Mesidor

Pastor Ronel Mesidor was on his way home from working at Compassion International in Port-au-Prince. Halfway there, the earthquake hit.

When the tremors finally stopped, Ronel didn’t know what to do. The road was too messed up to continue driving. And all the phones were down. He couldn’t contact his family or his church. With no other option, Ronel began walking home. All night, he made his way through a night-mare landscape of death, destruction and despair.

Hours later, as the sun was coming up, Ronel arrived home. To his relief, his wife and five children were all right. He also found that both his house and his church were still standing.

Ronel and his family had been spared the destruction. This enabled them to reach out to their neighbors right away.

Ronel’s wife, Manise, is a nurse and began treating people out of their home. They also made space available to friends left homeless, and there are now 12 non-family members living in the Mesidor household. At night, they serve a meal, tell jokes, sing songs and pray together. Their children told me that this bedtime routine is their favorite part of the day. Then, they pull mattresses into the street and bed down for the night with their neighbors (people are still unwilling to spend the night under a roof).

Ronel’s church, Concord Baptist, has also become a haven for many. During the day, the church is a clinic, and a doctor friend of Ronel’s treats patients who line up outside the door. In the evenings, Ronel leads a short worship service, food is prepared, and people bring out blankets and pillows to sleep on the church grounds.

The Mesidors have even adopted four children into their already big family, three of which were left orphaned by the earthquake. Currently Ronel is leading efforts to prepare the church grounds to host volunteer teams that will soon be coming in.

We had the chance to visit Ronel’s church and home and talk with his family. It’s amazing to see the impact one family has had on their community. And they are only one example of how our Haitian brothers and sisters are already ministering in the quake aftermath.

Keep the Mesidors in your prayers.

In The D.R.: Tim Dortch and Michael Acosta

Our team owes a lot to the Hispaniola Mountain Ministry.

Tim Dortch, a bi-vocational pastor from Mississippi, began the mission based in Barahona, D.R. with the help of his church.

When Tim is in the States, he entrusts the work of the ministry to his partner, Michael Acosta. Michael grew up in Barahona, and now lives there with his wife and two sons. He leads the Hispaniola Mountain Ministry church and works with Tim when he’s in town.

Since the earthquake, Michael has been hosting volunteer teams by making arrangements for them and leading them through Haiti.

Tim has quit one of his jobs in the States and left his church in the care of other leadership in order to come to the D.R. indefinitely. He anticipates that many volunteer teams will need the help of his ministry as they come to serve Haiti.

Together, Tim and Michael have sacrificed their time and resources to serve the teams that have already been coming to Barahona to cross the border. But Tim has a long-term plan.

Many Haitian immigrants live and work in the mountain orchards of the D.R. In the coming months, many more will be leaving the earthquake-ravaged Haiti, crossing the border on foot and joining their friends and relatives in the D.R. These refugees will likely be in need of food, water, and medical attention. But Tim fears they will be forgotten, as most the help will go directly to Port-au-Prince.

So Tim and Michael are preparing. Already the two have been scouting the mountain villages, looking for those in need and planning for how to provide care.

Please Pray for the ministry of Tim, Michael and the Hispaniola Mountain Ministry.

In Haiti: Hubert Duchatelier

Hubert Duchatelier is a Haitian Christian who has made an effort to counter the voodoo beliefs of his river valley neighborhood, Vallee de Bourdon. Having recently completed Bible school, he helps foreign missionaries in Haiti, holds Bible studies in his home and leads morning and evening devotions for his neighbors.

At least he used to.

Since the earthquake, almost nobody lives in Vallee de Bourdon. The once beautiful hillside neighborhood has become a ghost town. Those who can’t leave have moved into the pig shacks along a riverbed. Hubert is heartbroken to see his neighbors suffer this humiliation, but it’s their only safe option. Their unstable concrete houses are now completely uninhabitable.

Hubert has had to move his wife, Maria, and their five children to Maria’s hometown, Saint-Marc. He sometimes returns to Valle de Bourdon to minister to his friends, but he’s looking to what God has next for him.

He intends to continue his Bible studies and daily devotionals in his new Saint-Marc neighborhood. The earthquake has done nothing to diminish Hubert’s passion to share the gospel.

Please pray for Hubert as he continues his ministry in a new location.

In Haiti: Nicole Douglas

While in Port-au-Prince, we stayed in God’s Littlest Angels orphanage. There was space for us because, within two weeks of the earthquake, 80% of their kids had been adopted and moved out of the country. Volunteers seeking lodging quickly filled the newly made space.

One of the volunteers I met was a Christian woman named Nicole Douglass.

Nicole is a young nurse in the middle of getting her masters degree. She had volunteered with the orphanage in the past and quickly returned when she heard about the earthquake. When I met her she had already been working for days in the clinic at the Baptist Haiti Mission nearby.

Her days were filled with difficulty – surgeries, amputations and deaths. She was on the verge of tears once as she told me about a baby no one thought would survive the night.

But Nicole loves the work and was always positive. She told me about sharing in friendships, hugs, births and Bibles. No matter how hard her day, she always came back smiling.

She told me recently that she has suspended her studies and signed on to work at the clinic for another six months. I’m not surprised – she loves the people of Haiti.

Please pray for Nicole as she cares for the survivors of the earthquake.

In Haiti: Junior Cineas

My best friend in Haiti was a man named Junior Cineas. I don’t think we ever would have found him if God hadn’t led us to him. At first, he was simply meeting with us to talk. Then he began working with us as our translator. By the end of our time there, he was our dear friend.

Junior is the son of a Voodoo priest and was raised in the Port-au-Prince area. He was taught Voodoo as a child and was expected to take his father’s place as a Voodoo priest in the future.

But as a teenager, Junior heard the gospel and gave his life to Christ. It was a decision that would completely change his life – and would affect the lives of others.

Junior’s newfound faith, and abandonment of voodoo, caused a rift in his family. They essentially disowned him, and his father stopped speaking to him.

But Junior found a new home with a family of Missionaries in Port-au-Prince. They took him in, discipled him, and loved them as their own. Years later, Junior is a seminary student and an ardent evangelist.

Junior still prays for his family to meet Jesus.

When the earthquake struck, Junior went to Port-au-Prince to see how he could help. A speaker of both Creole and English, he knew he would be useful to volunteer teams coming in.

But the clinic Junior started working for was forced to close due to limited resources. He was praying about what to do next when our paths crossed with his. Junior saw our meeting as God’s direction, and devoted himself to helping us find God’s stories. He translated, set up meetings and suggested story ideas. I don’t know what we would have done without him.

I am most thankful for our meeting with Junior because it gave me a chance to see his heart for his country. He knows that the God of the Bible is greater than Voodoo, and he desperately wants his countrymen to know Jesus like he does. Everywhere we went Junior shared the gospel with those who were open. He even invited me to join him, translating for me as I prayed for the Haitians he witnessed to.

Meeting Junior was a blessing in a huge way, and I am forever grateful to God for bringing us into each other's lives.

Please pray for Junior as he Shares his faith in Haiti.