Haiti Update: April 2011

Bonswa…Kòman ou ye?  (Good afternoon/evening…how are you?)…

Special note:  If you are not able to view this email with the pictures showing up embedded in the text I have set up a blog where I post this same information.  It can be found at: http://intimatewarrior.blogspot.com/

Hello again from the Projects Desk of ESMI.  Sorry for being late this month with this update.  The ESMI Executive Team had the opportunity to participate in the Spanish River Church Glocal Church Planting Conference last week in Boca Raton and I am still catching up on all of the work that got away from me.  This event was a wonderful opportunity to meet with close to 300 church planters and their families from around the world.

Spanish River Church is in Boca Raton, FL and is one of the friendliest churches that Laura and I have had the opportunity to worship at in a long time.  It was so wonderful to participate in a large church and be treated like we were one of the regular attendees.  This church’s mission is to plant churches around the world and across the United States and Canada.  If you are ever in the Boca Raton area I highly recommend visiting them.  We were also blessed by being able to stay with Tom and Dee who took great care of us.  Thanks to all of the Spanish River Church family for adopting us for five days.

Now for some updates:

CHERETTE RIVERBANK PROJECT

I do not have the final pictures of the project yet, but we were able to get this very important project taken care of.  Thanks to the hard work of many local Haitians and the supervision of Pastor Louis and Mario the site at Cherette will be protected from the encroachment of the river.

Second row of gabions being placed.

Another view of the gabions.

FAYETON PROJECTS

Fayeton, in the Gonaives area of the Artibonite Department is one of our larger facilities.  We have a church, an orphanage, a medical clinic, a bakery and a community school.  We will also be setting up a staging area here for shipments coming into the country.  This past month we worked on several projects here.  Below are some pictures with explanations of the projects.

Cistern under the church.

The Gonaives area is a very dry, almost desert like place.  Our facility is very close to the bay and so far all of our wells have been spoiled by salt water encroachment.  We finished a cistern under the pulpit area in the church.  We will start by collecting rain water and hopefully in the future be able to connect with a regional water supply line under development.

School addition.

We are doubling the size of our school.  This will be the first school for ESMI that will be using our new construction standards.  The picture above was taken at the beginning of the month so new pictures being taken this week will show the school almost completed.

New playground structure.

One of our short-term teams took a couple of days out of their home construction trip and installed this wonderful play structure for the children at our orphanage and school.

HOME CONSTRUCTION

The roof has been added to home #9 and the keys turned over to the owners, Pastor Smith and family.  We also completed home #10 and turned it over to Pastor Avin Pierre and turned the keys over to them.

Home #9.

House #10.

We have received the funds to start home #11 and the team should be starting on it later this week.  We cannot thank our friends here in the United States enough for supporting the construction of these homes.  We have been able to keep our team of 7 Haitians employed for an entire year now and have put 10 families into a permanent structure.  Another exciting part of this activity is that John, our Haitian contractor has informed us that he is ready to split his team so that we can start building two homes at a time.

If you, your church, or your business/organization would be interested in sponsoring one of these homes the cost is $4,500 and you can donate at our website.

ASSESSMENT REORGANIZATION

As many of you will remember, last September I had the opportunity to visit 65 of our sites for an assessment trip.  I am in the process of reorganizing them by location within Haiti and will be using these to track our work at each site.  Below is a map from Google Earth that shows a snapshot of these sites.  When I get this task completed I will be publishing pictures for the sites on my Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_b_short/collections/) as well as publishing the Google Earth map with associated links.  I will let you know when this is completed.

Our sites are labeled in white.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

I can certainly use your prayers over the next few months.  I have a meeting in Chicago in 10 days and I need to have a school and a medical clinic design ready to present to a group of churches there.  In 4 weeks I will be heading down to Virginia Beach, VA where we will be presenting our ministry at a denominational conference.  And then Laura and I will be heading back out to California mid-July for a family reunion and my youngest daughter’s wedding in August.  While in California I hope to be meeting with some churches, a couple of partner ministries, and possibly a quick drive to San Luis Obispo to meet with some professors at the university about helping with our work in Haiti.

God has been good and we are seeing a lot of wonderful work coming to pass in Haiti.  And yet, there is so much to be done.  We sincerely appreciate having each of you on our team and supporting us with your thoughts, your prayers, and your resources.

For those of you that have been following our support raising progress here is a breakdown of how the support has been going as of the end of last month.  I needed to report this to our Board of Directors so I broke it down into a few different categories this time.  As you can tell it is our friends like each of you that it making it possible for us to remain in this work…THANK YOU!!!

Monthly Support

Pledged per month       43% of goal

One Time Gifts             23% of goal spread across 2011

Total                            66% of goal

Sources

Source       % of support

Churches            27%

Organizations       8%

Individuals          65%

Contact Response Analysis

Total Contacted    466

Responded            255   55%

Positive                  52   21%

Negative               201   79%

Thanks again for your interest in what we are doing in Haiti.  If at any time you would like to be removed from my mailing list please let me know and I will take you off.

Haiti Update: March 2011

Bonswa…Kòman ou ye?  (Good afternoon/evening…how are you?)…

 
Well, another month has blown by and we have already seen the first quarter of this year pass by.  I am not sure about you, but I am so anxious to see this long, drawn out winter move into spring.  We keep getting glimpses of it here in Ohio, but then winter-like weather rolls back in.  Isn’t this how it often seems to be with the rest of life as well.  We make it through a difficult time, a winter, in our lives and just when we think it is over…spring has arrived, the pings of winter resurface.  My prayers are that each you will feel the blessings that are in store for you as life continues to unfold.
 
Our work in Haiti continues to keep us all busy and things are constantly changing.  As you saw from my last email our President Dony St. Germain and his wife Sharon were involved in a car hijack.  They are doing well and getting back to normal.  Thank you so much for your prayers and donations.
 
I did not make it back down to Haiti last month.  There has been plenty of work to keep me very busy and I am so blessed that I am able to do this work from anywhere…even in Ohio.  As we continue to raise our support we are doing our best to be good stewards with what has been provided, which means optimizing on trips to and from Haiti.
 
Below are a couple of the projects that we have been working on this last month.  We definitely value your prayers and ongoing support.  Our short-term planning team (Dale and Susie Austin) is getting pretty busy as we move into the main season of hosting short-term teams in Haiti.  Please keep this part of our ministry in your prayers and thoughts.  Also, Dony and his brother Louis have been pretty busy getting everything ready with the government of Haiti to get the university started up in October and get other activities registered with the government of Haiti.
 
CHERETTE RIVERBANK PROJECT
 
At our site in Cherette we have a church, school, medical clinic and orphanage.  The site is located next to a river.  This past year the rains have begun washing out the bank and the river is encroaching upon our facility.  Last month one of our visiting short-term teams was in the area and so moved by the situation that they decided to do something about it.  The team had an engineer with them.  He put together a design to place gabions (wire baskets filled with rock) along the riverbank to stop the erosion.  The estimate to do the work was $70,000 USD.  The team then returned home and immediately went to work to raise the funds to do this project.  Thanks go out to our friends and supporters in the Chicago area.

Assessment of the damage.

 
The project is well underway with hopes to have it completed before the end of this month.
 

 The work is drawing quite a crowd.

Filling the gabions by hand.

 
We are estimating that by the time we finish the project we will have employed close to 300 people at one point in time or another.  We even have a cook in place to feed the workers lunch.  Thanks again to the support from our friends in Chicago.
 
HOME CONSTRUCTION
 
Pastor Guercy and our Haitian construction team completed home #9 this past month and will be putting the roof on shortly.  We are starting on home #10 with a team that is there this week from Spanish River Church in Boca Raton, FL.
 

Home #9 for Pastor Smith almost ready for the roof.

 Pastor Avin Pierre and his wife will be receiving home #10.

John (left) supervising the SRC team.

 
The next few months will continue to keep us busy as we start up new projects and also participate in some fundraising and support events around the country.  We thank you for your continuing prayers, thoughts and support.
 
For those of you that have been following our progress on raising our support we are currently at 43%, which comes to 66% with one-time donations added in.  God is till providing for us on a month-by-month basis and our base of supporters is continuing to grow.  Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

UPDATE: ESMI President and Wife accosted in Dominican Republic

Update on Pastor Dony and Sharon

Posted Fri, Mar 11, 2011 1:58 pm
We received updated information on Pastor Dony and Sharon that we would like to pass along to you.
If The Lord is willing they are leaving the Dominican Republic today (Friday). Sharon had to go back to the doctor on Thursday due to the pain in her neck where she was struck by the gunman. Dony is doing well, though they are both still quite shaken from the ordeal. He (Dony) did tell us that they are very blessed to be alive and that the material things can be replaced. As they assessed what was lost, it is quite overwhelming.

Dony had stopped over in Miami while on his way home from a mission conference in South Carolina and had packed up the remainder his clothes, mainly his suits and shoes, so he has lost most of his dress clothes. His Bibles (several translations) which included years of notes, sermons and teaching materials. The briefcase that he was carrying was lost as well and it contained files for many of the projects that ESMI is working on.

A more comprehensive list of items that were stolen in the robbery:

• Heavy damage to the car that they were driving, maybe beyond repair
• Dony's medications
• (2) US Blackberry phones and (2) Haitian Blackberry phones
• (2) Laptop computers
• (1) iPad
• Sharon's purse with cash and credit cards
• Dony's wallet with cash and credit cards (This included cash for repairs on the vehicle that was stolen and purchase of items for their new home $5,000 +)
• Clothes that Sharon had packed for travel

If you or your church would like to assist our the St.Germains in replacing these items, you can send your checks to:

El Shaddai Ministries International
P.O. Box 811000
Boca Raton, FL. 33486
Mark your check: Replacing Ministry Supplies

You can also donate from our website at:

http://www.esmihome.org/site.php/donate/sponsor_a_project1/
Under the project name please include Replacing Ministry Supplies

After this terrifying ordeal our dear friends are blessed to not be in worse shape. The Hand of The Almighty was surely upon them. Last night in his normal fashion Pastor Dony closed a conversation by saying, "...tomorrow we go back to work."

ESMI President and Wife accosted in Dominican Republic

Please pray for the President of ESMI and his wife (Dony and Sharon St. Germain.   Below is Sharon's account of an attempt last night to kidnap them while they were traveling through the Dominican Republic.
=============================================================
From: Dony and Sharon St. Germain
Subject: Dony & Sharon-Car Hijacked in the DR

Brothers:

What I am about to share to you seems unreal.  Not sure where to begin but to ask you to be in prayer for us once you have finished reading this.

Yesterday I met up with Dony in Port.  My flight from Jeremie was late so I didn't reach until 2:30 pm.  Since we needed to fix the car, we decided to drive it to the DR to do this and have some R & R while it got fixed. We croseed over into the DR about 4:30pm and were about 20 minutes from the capital, Santo Domingo, when we got stuck behind a slow moving truck.  A red car pulled alongside us, banged on the window with guns and flashlights and said, "Policia, Policia!"  We thought this was unusaual because we weren't speeding, the car had no siren signals, the banging on the window...what was this?  Our vehicle was to the curb where there was a ditchand two of the men jumped out of the vehicle demandig us to come to a full stop which we did.  By this time, it was about 8:20 on the highway and it was dark.  They violently asked us to step out of the vehicle.  We showed them the insurance documents we had from the border and the guy at Dony's side tore them apart.  That's when we realized these weren't true police officers even though one of them showed me his identification when I asked him.  We were pulled out of the vehicle and they began pushing us toward theirs to the back.  They were two other guys in that car.  One of them wrapped Dony's hand behind him as if to handcuff him.  He pulled out his gus and pushed it into Dony's side demanding him to get into the car.  Dony said to me in English, they are going to kidnap us.  At that point, I thought to myself no way, and began trying to get loose from the guy who was pushing me.  I began waving my arm and screaming, "Help! Help!"  I felt one of them use the gun and hit me behind my right ear, and the other guy hit Dony in his head.  Dony screamed out to the LOrd and then said to the men in Spanish, "I am a pastor.  Go ahead and take our car but spare my wife and me.!"  I by that time was trying to wave down passing cars for help.  The men looked around and then left as the other two already jumped into our car.  They drove off with everything we had, 5 bags, the ESMI dsiplay, the  $5,000 cash to fix the vehicle, and pay for some personal construction material on our home, our credit cards, my laptop with all the ESMI work that I was planning to do,....and my shoes.  I was barefooted as I screamed to apssing cars to stop and help us and begged God that someone would. An old man stopped.  Dony explained in his Spanish what had happened.  A few meters down the highway, he stopped where there were some men standing who were trying to get a car out of a ditch.  It so happened that as the bandits were taking off in our car, they pushed this vehicle off to the side.  After conversing with these men, the old man decided to take us to the nearest police sttion in the city ahead.

When we got to the station, the language was a barrier but Dony did his best to explain.  After about an hour, an officer who spoke English came and translated for us.  They took the information down and we'll return there this morning.  My time is running short as a friend is here to take us there.

We both woke up with some pain and bruises we hadn't felt before but we are thankful that we are alive.  This is the fourth time since we've moved to Haiti that we have had to call upon the Lord in a different kind of manner but He has been so so faithful to protect our family.  We serve a faithful God.

All we ask this morning is that you keep us in your prayers and that we will not be distracted from our purpose for being here in the DR to rest and seek God's face as we move forward.  The car is gone with all our clothing, computers, cell phones, ipad, iphone...and my shoes..but God remains!!!

No phones, but will check email later.  Keep an eye out fo our green car on facebook!

In His Name,


Dony & Sharon

Haiti Update - February 2011

Bonswa…Bondye beni ou (Good Evening…Lord bless you),

I have spent the last few days getting my contact list updated to include friends and family from my email, my Facebook, and other sources. This may be your first email from me related to our activities in Haiti. If this is so and you would rather not receive these emails please let me know and I will take your name off of my distribution list.

For those of you that are receiving this update from me for the first time this is one of my emails reporting on how things are progressing with our ministry, El Shaddai Ministries International (ESMI) in Haiti. I joined ESMI almost a year ago as their Projects and Development Director and I am now managing their projects across the country. If you would like more information about our ministry check us out at www.esmihaiti.org.

I did not make it down to Haiti this month but was kept pretty busy. I was given the opportunity to preach for two services at our church here in the Dayton area as well as give a presentation about our ministry during Sunday School. I was also able to share our story at Christ Presbyterian Church in Richmond, IN. Tomorrow they have a team of 11 people headed down to Port-au-Prince to get started building home number 9. I also had the opportunity to ride my motorcycle down to Macon, GA to meet with the missions committee of First Presbyterian Church. I was able to spend a couple of nights at my daughter’s house and hang out with my two precious grandchildren there. As of now I don’t have any upcoming events until the end of April.

The progress on the chapel is coming along quite well. We broke ground on it February 1st and you can see from the picture below that we are ready to put the roof on. I have been working on the detail drawings for the classrooms, dormitory, faculty residences, a cafeteria, and an administration office that will all be part of the university that we are building in Jeremie.

View from the front of the David Nicholas Chapel.

Our Haitian construction team completed homes 7 and 8 and both of them came in right at $4,500. Pastor Guercy Meme and the construction team are doing a phenomenal job on these houses.

Home # 7 built for Pastor Max Lazare


Home #8 built for Pastor Joseph Benito Chery

I am often asked how the reconstruction of Haiti is coming along. Things are progressing slowly, but they are progressing. However, I would like to share some stories that present another perspective how some things are changing in Haiti.

Over the last week we had two groups down in the Jeremie area. One group was focused on setting up a computer lab at our orphanage in Lundy and teaching the teachers at the school there in the use of the new lab and computers. Below is a picture of these teachers in training.


The teachers and students from Covenant Day School conducted the computer training and English as a Second Language with the teachers of the El Shaddai School in Lundy, Jeremie. Of all the 14 people present, only 3 were familiar with the use of the computer. The teachers were excited to be in the training. At the end of the week the teachers received a certificate for having participated in the training.

We also had a team of teachers from the Chicago area that assisted in conducting pastoral training for 150 pastors this past week.


Finally, I would like to share a story with you that came in today, which highlights the core of why we are here in Haiti helping people rebuild their lives…

Here is the story directly from Dony St. Germain, the President of ESMI:

This has been such an awesome week of ministry with both of our teams from Chicago, IL and Charlotte, NC. Incredible things have been happening that could only be God-orchestrated. This week the medical team from Chicago have been doing ministry in the downtown church of Les Cayes. The Bon Berger Church in Savannes was constructed after the earthquake to minister to the massive influx of families who sought refuge in this poorer section of Les Cayes. Services in this church began last summer with Pastor Mongerard, a faithful man of God. On Tuesday a well-known gang leader had been experiencing excruciating pain in his right arm. He came to the medical team to ask them for medication to relief the pain that was being caused by a needle. The medical team was in disbelief of his request and asked him to explain. He began to share that several years ago he went to a witch doctor asking him to make him a powerful man. The witchdoctor called upon his spirits and placed a needle in his wrist to empower him. The witch doctor told him not to remove the needle as it was his source of power. The man became very strong physically and very evil in the crimes he committed. With his strength, he rose to the recognition of a gang leader and everyone in the community knew this and feared him. As the years passed, the needle kept moving up his wrist, then past his forearm, then past his elbow and now into his arm causing so much unbearable pain. The medical team listened to his story and sure enough when they felt his arm, they felt the presence of what seemed to be a needle. Pastor Mongerard and the medical doctor shared the powerful news of the gospel with him. The doctor then went on to explain that this needle had to be removed. The man in all these years did not remove it because it was the source of his strength, the source of his notoriety. He had borne the pain for a long time. The response of the gang leader, "Before you remove this needle, there is one thing I'd like to do." The team was now thinking maybe he needed to speak with a family member, or had a job to do. What came from his mouth was totally unexpected. This is what he said, "Would you pray for me now as I want Christ to be in my life?" You and I cannot imagine the jubilation in the hearts of Pastor Mongerard and the medical team. As I write this testimonial on Friday, February 25 at 2:15pm, our "new" brother in Christ is having the procedure done by the medical team to remove the needle. Isn't God just incredibly great!!! Let's keep this dear brother in Christ in our prayers and Pastor Mongerard as he does follow up ministry.


Here is our new brother Jude. As of 4:15 this afternoon the doctors were not able to remove the needle. They are still trying to see what can be done…please keep Jude and the doctors in your prayers.

For those of you that have been following our progress on raising our support we are currently at 38%, which comes to 60% with one-time donations added in. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.