Haiti Update: September 2011

Immediate Prayer Request

Louis St. Germain, our Haiti Field Director, informed us yesterday that since Friday the western peninsula of Haiti has been inundated with heavy rain. This is a tropical depression that is moving through the area and that should pass by Wednesday. This much rain causes the rivers to swell quickly and the surrounding areas to flood.

Here is a list of areas and churches that are flooded at this time:

• Downtown Les Cayes is totally flooded. 
• The road to the Pelerin church is flooded.

         

• The road to the Picot church is flooded. 

         

• The Torbeck church is flooded. 

         

• Our Cherette facility (church, school, and orphanage) is Flooded. All the children have been removed from the site. The river is in a fury. We have water inside the church and in the orphanage. We are praying because the pastor doesn't know what to do. He had just called Louis and was in panic and tears. 

            

• Our Casa Major facility (church, school, orphanage, and medical clinic) is on alert now as the level of the river is rising. 

            

Please lift our brothers and sisters in these areas up in your prayers. There are already reports of fatalities coming out of the area and the resources to help in the recovery are very limited.

Projects Update

I do not have a lot of new updates for you since the last email went out in September. My work has been focused on working with potential donors to secure funding for upcoming projects and developing detailed design documents for new structures that we are targeting over the next few months.

Here are some of the projects that we are working on and/or trying to raise funds for:
A new church plant in BonBon in the Grand-Anse Department.

• The Administration Building at the Jeremie University. 
• The School of Joy in Maniche in the Sud Department. 
• New children’s homes at the Mapou facility in the Artibonite Department. 
• Developing a solar power solution for the Jeremie University. 
• Working with the city of Gonaives to run a water line to our Fayeton Facility. 
• Securing funding partners to establish various micro-businesses at several of our facilities throughout the country. 
• Working with our partners that have been sending short-term teams to work with our brothers and sisters in Haiti as they plan for their trips next year. 
• Putting together pastor training classes and seminars to be taught at the Jeremie University. 

Continuing to host short-term teams to our facilities. Please be praying for us as we work through these and many other projects. There is so much work to be done and we need God’s guidance to be prioritizing our time and resources effectively.

In Closing…

It continues to be exciting to be a part of this work that is going on in Haiti. The people there have such great need and yet they have so much to offer each of us. I would encourage you to consider joining us at some time on a short-term trip so that you can meet the people that we are serving and get to know them personally. Your life will be changed forever.

Thanks...