Haiti4Him

What is "Haiti4Him?"

"Haiti4Him" is a site to share news and information about a strategic partnership of faith-based church and para-church ministries coming together to bring hope and restoration to the people of Haiti impacted by the 2010 earthquake.   This website serves as a central conduit for news and information for our team members, ministries, churches and supporters.  The entries are in chronological order.  If you are new to Haiti4Him you are encouraged to read older posts first to understand the scope & history of this project.

"How Can I Help?"

GIVE:  Links in the banner above re-direct you to organizations that are involved in this partnership equipped to accept and focus your financial support towards Haiti relief.  "Haiti4Him" is an informational resource only and is NOT equipped to receive financial support directly.

PRAY:  Please check back often for updates, specific prayer requests from both the people in Haiti and the members of teams leaving for and returning from the field.

GO: As the situation on the ground in Haiti is assessed by our advance team - more information will be provided by our sending organizations as to how you can participate.

"Why the Rooster Crow?"   As you entered this website you may have heard the crow of the rooster.  This sound was the ring-tone that was on the phone of Pastor Guillo.  (It was also the constant sound in the night while we were trying to rest in Haiti!)   Several of us decided to change our ring-tones to the sound of the rooster to help us remember to pray for the people of Haiti each time we hear it.  You're invited to do the same.  On the left you'll see a place to download the MP3 file that you can put on your phone.  If people ask you about it, send them to Haiti4Him to learn more about supporting the churches in Haiti, and encourage them to do the same. REMEMBER!

Save the Date: January 12, 2011

The January 2010 Haiti Earthquake radically changed the physical and emotional landscape of a land and people already devastated by oppressive poverty and spiritual slavery. Christ followers serving tirelessly in Haiti before the quake suddenly faced the reality of continuing ministry but in the wake of a catastrophic natural disaster, oppressive and corrupt government and now the threat of a cholera epidemic.

On January 12th, the one year anniversary of the earthquake, much of the world will be disconcerted by what’s NOT been accomplished in the year since the earthquake.    But, we are doing something different. DELTA Ministries, in partnership with Abundant Life Church in Happy Valley, OR and Missions Door of Colorado, invite you to a celebration of what HAS been accomplished.

Come and meet – via the debut of a new documentary film – faithful Haitian church leaders who are accomplishing great things for the Church. Witness the birth of amazing new partnerships bringing real progress and change. There’s a story here that needs to be shared.
You’re invited to join us (in person at Abundant Life Church or “LIVE” via the internet) for a free, special one hour event to learn first-hand what’s really happened since the quake, what’s next, and how you can be a part of Haiti’s amazing future.    The challenges facing Haiti are real, and understanding what support is needed by the church in Haiti will be paramount to continued success - more now than ever before.

Date: January 12, 2011

Time: 5:30-6:30 pm (PST) - doors open at 5pm

Location: Abundant Life Church, 17241 SE Hemrick Rd, Damascus, OR 97089

Special Musical Guests: TheNeverclaim

Can't join us onsite at Abundant Life Church?  Watch live online.

CLICK HERE TO BE REDIRECTED TO LIVE STREAM ON DAY OF EVENT

Always Thankful.

by Dave Proehl

On this day of Thanksgiving, one of the many things I'm thankful for is the honor and privelage to have traveled to Haiti twice this year with DELTA Ministries to document first the disaster, then the slow and steady recovery that has been made since.

Your support of the amazing pastors and organizations that are serving in Haiti IS making a difference.  This week we will continue putting together their story and will be honored to share it on the anniversary of the earthquake, January 12, 2011.

Until then, watch here for little clips documenting the effectiveness of these partnerships and remember to ask God about your role, or roles, in the Haiti recovery.   Pray. Go. Give.

 

Haiti Field Update -- November 13, 2010

By Brian Heerwagen, CEO

Praise the Lord for a very successful day in Haiti! This was our last full day here and we had so many things to accomplish.  But we got everything done and it was better than we expected!

Before I tell you about the ministry sites, I have to tell you about the place where we ate lunch. It was a crowded restaurant filled with cheerful people, and it had a sandwich bar, pizzeria, juice bar and bakery. It was fairly large and was air conditioned.   What a great reminder that there a lot of different parts to Haiti. Even though the news tends to focus on the disasters, tent cities and poverty, and there is a lot of all that, there are also nice restaurants, wonderful grocery stores, good cars and big houses.

Of course, even with the good things that exist here, there are gigantic needs. One of the hardest hit places in Port au Prince was Trou Sable, a community in a very small area in the city that had grown to about 100,000 people by the time of the earthquake.  It was nicknamed a "grave yard" because so many died in there, buried under mounds of immovable rubble.

Today, we went to Trou Sables,  it was a very different image. There was life, and sidewalks, children playing, and a new church.  The truth is that the new church building has become a symbol of hope and people are moving out of tent cities and back to Trou Sable. Using rubble from their old house along with tarps, and other creative resources, people are rebuilding and hoping to have a real home someday.

After playing with kids, and conducting several interviews, we ended up having a spontaneous time of worship with a keyboard and accordion for accompaniment.  What a great memory!

We had a BIG list of things to accomplish on this trip. The lion's share of interviews culminated today with Pastor Guillomettre Herode. And they were fantastic!  One of the profound statements he made today was in reference to those who think that "God is punishing Haiti." But, he said that it's more like God is chasing after Haiti, looking for the people to turn to Him, just like what God did with the Israelites.

Well, we are leaving here more convinced than ever that amazing things are happening here. Not everywhere, but definitely where we get to serve!  Sending teams to work with Missions Door missionaries is the best thing we can do for Haiti.  We have witnessed major accomplishments in a relatively short period of time and with limited resources. While the media reports about billions of dollars donated but "little to show for it," we are privileged to bring back video coverage and testimony of new church buildings, wedding celebrations, houses being built, water purification projects, and promises kept. What the leadership here said they would do, they are doing!

I am inspired!  Our team has been blessed to see all this and we canl wait to show you through video real people and real progress!

Don't forget Haiti! 

Haiti Field Update -- November 12, 2010

By Brian Heerwagen, CEO

Greetings from Haiti,

Water?  Did I say we got the water pump fixed?  Well I spoke too soon because near bedtime last night, the water disappeared again. Not only did the pump stop working but the water spigot where we could at least fill buckets was dry.

We do have bottled water at the Guest House and we take a case of water with us as we travel. But bathing is becoming an elusive privilege - one that we just can't seem to experience!  Good thing we have an overnight in Miami on the way home and will be in a hotel (I'm dreaming about a long, cleansing shower already!) Our families will happy with that!

We were en route to La Victoire to visit another recently finished church and school this morning.  Our hope was to catch school in session. But...once again we were plodding along in bumper to bumper traffic. We had time to do the math on yesterday's drive. Our five hour and fifteen minute  journey was only 50 miles. If your quick math matches ours, it shows that we averaged 10 mph!

Ok, back to the  La Victoire story.  School gets out at noon for lunch. We arrived at 11:58 - we made it but barely.  Our visit there was such a highlight. This church and school was the first project our teams began to work on. I hardly recognized the finished product. 230 students flock to this place for school, lunch and water each day. Some come from a nearby tent city that I will write about next. But here at La Victoire we saw so many cheerful kids, sitting in rows, following orders, doing school work, and enjoying a balanced hot meal. They practiced English by proclaiming to us in unison, "Good morning, how are you?"

We were impressed with the staff, the teachers, and the organization. This place was amazing. To add to the wonder of it all, there is a nearly completed water purification plant on the street side of the property. This is a brilliant addition to the church. It will provide purified water to people in the neighborhood at below market pricing, it will create jobs, and it will generate income for the ministry. Now here is the greatest part about all this ... the church is now the center for much of life and people are being drawn to it. The Pastor and other leaders are figuring out how to receive new people into the church - people who are not saved yet - seekers.  Praise the Lord!

After La Victoire, we next visited Delmas 33 - a tent city with a reported 20,000 inhabitants. We were able to follow one of the students from La Victoire to her home (a family-sized tent) where we met her aunt and interviewed several others. I got to go into their tent. It is on a hillside and I noticed that the door at the uphill end of the tent no longer connects to the floor. Last night it poured rain for hours, and though the house was so neat and organized, I was preoccupied by the fact that the rain water would no doubt have rushed through the tent the night before.

Here's what we learned while there. People don't want to be there and long to be someplace better. BUT, food and water comes to them and there are public bathrooms - that's pretty handy. Since there is no where to go and no resources to leave,  they feel circumstances and "the relief" system has caused these tent cities to become seemingly permanent.  People feel trapped.

What a contrast between that and our next site today. We headed for the Village of Hope outside of town aways.  We were thrilled by the calm and beauty of the countryside. And also by the opportunity that is being created in Bercy. Eighteen houses are about 3/4 constructed already. This is one of several communities we will helping to build. There will be a school, a clinic, a water purification plant, an occupational training center and of course a church. The goal in Bercy is 500 houses.  The number on the other properties is still to be determined.

I can't for you to see images and videos of our experiences today.  Many will be debuted at the January 12 event held in Portland and live over the internet.  More info will be available after out trip.

Praise God for all the progress and for the faithful use of donations and team services. Thank the Lord, too, for our wonderful and visionary Haitian partners and Missions Door.

We have one more day, and more to accomplish then one day may be able to hold. Pray for success as we wrap up so many things here.

Haiti Field Update -- November 11, 2010

By Brian Heerwagen, CEO

Greetings from Haiti,

Well, when you're in the States, and you're running a little late to a wedding, there's "fashionably late" or there's "cleaning crew." Unless of course, you're in Haiti!  Then, there is "fashionably later" or even "fashionably very later." Yep, that last option was our van with the four of us and the other folks we picked up along the way.

We left at 6 a.m. in order to attend the 8 a.m. wedding.  After four hours of serious traffic, we finally arrived ... two hours late.  But we still arrived at the church in time for the 1 Cor. 13 message, lots of special music by one group after another, the exchange of vows and rings, and so on. Yes, it was a four hour wedding. We stayed for some additional video shooting and a couple of interviews. Plus they used our van to transport the newlyweds to their hotel.

What's so significant is that this was the first wedding in Vallue  since the earthquake AND it was the pastor's own wedding. The church, that was seriously damaged by the quake, was now completely restored and today, packed to the point of standing room only. What a great celebration!

After leaving the church, we spent another five hours and fifteen minutes on mountain roads, and later in the city in bumper to bumper or stand still traffic. No kidding, the roads are totally crowded with so many cars and trucks - it's an unending traffic jam.

We arrived at the Guest House finally and we so happy to find that the water pump was fixed. So we will be able to flush toilets and we can have our first shower since leaving our homes. Yep, it's true.

Friday and Saturday are jam packed with visits to another completed church, a nearly completed water purification plant, and the new Village of Hope where already 18 of 500 houses have been started. We also have a number of interviews still to go with key Haitian pastors and leaders.

Pray for the ability to accomplish so many things before we head back to the States on Sunday/Monday.

Thanks for praying.

Haiti Field update -- November 10, 2010

By Brian Heerwagen, CEO

 

Greetings from Haiti,

 Today was unlike anything we had planned. At first, you may think it was a bad day, but let me tell you how we spent our day ... and how it turned out in the end. 

It really started last night, during our more than four-hour ride home (the distance should have only taken less than an hour), when our van started to make noises. It got worse throughout the drive. So this morning the van went in to the shop (had to have the bearings replaced). It was supposed to be back by noon but it actually came back at 7:30 pm.

Also, the pump broke yesterday that transports water to the tanks on the roof here at the Guest House, so we've been without running water since then. The internet has not been working since our arrival (thankfully I have a Blackberry). We were without electricity for a major portion of the day as well. So, you could say we were stranded here without water, electricity or internet.

And it would be true. But we actually had a wonderful day here. We were able to develop story boards and daily plans for our remaining days in Haiti. It was great to be relaxed, and to enjoy unhurried and creative time to work as a team.  We have a lot of video projects to organize as we gear up for recruiting and training of 2011 Haiti teams and also prepare to promote opportunities for long-term church partnerships, water projects, new communities and more.

Some of the great joys for us on this trip have been spending time with pastors who are encouraged, meeting new believers, and visiting  locations where there has been so much progress. We were able to review and catalog the video of these amazing experiences during the day today. 

And now, for the rest of today's story.  Once our computer batteries died (remember...we didn't have electricity for a portion of the day?), we did enjoy a little free time. Two of our guys were able to film for a short adventure about a Haitian lizard. Yes, it may not make it into theaters, but a film it shall be! 

I was able to finish an outstanding book (and one I highly recommend) by John Ortberg called "The me I Want to Be."

We were also able to start plans for a special January 12th event - the one-year anniversary of the earthquake.  I was here in Haiti, along videographer Dave Proehl, only 12 days after the earthquake meeting with Haitian church leaders and documenting both the damage and the plans for rebuilding. I am so excited to show you the changes over the 10 months since the earthquake.  It may seem slow by some standards, but one Haitian pastor said yesterday that with the help of the American church and short-term mission teams, they have been able to complete things "that would have taken 10, 20 or even 30 years to accomplish." 

One very cool story is about the church in Value.  We'll be leaving tomorrow at 6 am to go there. It is a rural church almost 7 km up from a main highway.  The earthquake damage left the church unusable.  But tomorrow, the pastor will actually be getting married INSIDE the church which is now fully restored!

One last thing tonight. On January 12th, we will host a live event that will be broadcast to the internet. During that program, there will be stories and videos. We will have worship, a special appearance by The Neverclaim, and we will pray for Haiti and for the wonderful work being done by our Missions Door partners and the 15 teams we have sent to Haiti so far. More information will be posted about this event once we are back in the States.

We thank you again for your thoughts and prayers. We still have many projects and towns to visit. And that means many more interviews with key contacts here.

All in all, today turned out to be a great day!  I'll write more at the end of Thursday.

Haiti Field Update -- November 9, 2010

By Brian Heerwagen, CEO

 

Hello all,

Well it's been a great day for video and interviews. The pastors and leaders here in Haiti are truly making progress. People are coming to know the Lord, houses are being built, churches restored.
We've been together in the van today 11 hours and we have been crawling through bumper to bumper traffic for half of that time. Residents here concur that traffic has worsened significantly in the last month. Each speculates as to the cause, but slow traffic, dust, smog, and wall to wall people make going anywhere a long process.

Our first stop today was in Petit Goave. We went there today with Pastor Francklin and I was amazed to see the progress on the community center. You can watch my January interview to remember the story from only days after the earthquake: tory add link. Today the rubble is nearly cleared and the vision is reignited. Our new interviews include next steps for this great work as well as an interview with one of the young men who accepted Christ the very night of the earthquake after miraculously escaping the Center with pastor Francklin. What a blessing!

Our second stop was Provance. The church was seriously damaged in the January quake - not destroyed, but unusable, unsafe. Today we interviewed Pastor Ecza and he joyfully expressed gratitude for a beautifully finished church where people now meet again. And the church leaders shouted in unison, "Thank you for helping Haiti!"

Now, we have a meeting with another team tonight after dinner. That is, when we finally get back to our Guest House. It's been nearly four hours of traffic and we still have a ways to go!

People here have shared such thankfulness for our teams, and the prayers and help of churches in America. And then they say, "Don't forget Haiti!"

We appreciate your continued prayers.  We have many places still to visit and people to interview. We can't wait for the new videos to be released: stories of hope and progress!

DELTA Team enroute to Haiti Sunday, Nov. 7th

Please pray for Haiti in the wake of the January 12, 2010 earthquake, and the aftermath of Tropical Storm Tomas.  Pastor Dave Proehl & Chris Behnke from Abundant Life Church will be joining DELTA Ministries CEO Brian Heerwagen and Pastor Jerry Cole of Reno, NV on a trip to Haiti from November 7-15, 2010. 

Their mission is to re-connect with and encourage pastors and ministries leaders on the ground in Haiti working tirelessly to rebuild families, communities and churches in the name of Jesus Christ. 

The film work Pastor Dave will be doing, coupled with findings they gather will be used to train future teams and raise people and monetary resources for teams that are slated to continue to serve in Haiti for the next several years.

On Wednesday, January 12, 2011, Abundant Life Church will be hosting a “Haiti…One Year Later” an awareness event that will be broadcast on the internet for anyone around the globe that would like to participate.  The target audience is those that have served, or would be interested in serving in Haiti over the next several years.   It will be a time of reflection, remembrance, prayer and worship.   Video testimonies from Christ followers in Haiti will be shared as well as a virtual prayer walk through one of the new communities being built on the outskirts of Port au Prince.

The broadcast will begin at 5:30pm PST and will conclude at 6:30pm.   Vancouver, WA based Christian band “The Neverclaim” will be providing the worship for this event.  www.myspace.com/theneverclaim

For information and field reports on the current trip and developing plans for the “Haiti…One Year Later” event, stay tuned to www.Haiti4Him.com.

PRAYER WARRIORS READ ON!

Please pray for this trip.  It’s a little extreme to be attempting to fly into one of the worst disaster areas on the planet – especially in the wake of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Tomas (not to mention Cholera!).  Regardless, as you’ve read above, we are thrilled to be able to go and be encouragers and gather important information to help keep the Haiti story alive in the hearts of Christ Followers around the globe.

ITINERARY and TRAVEL:  We depart Portland, OR at 3:15pm, Sunday November 7, fly to San Francisco and then take a red-eye to Miami, arriving Monday early.  We then take a flight from Miami to Port au Prince, arriving around 10 am EST in Haiti.

During the week (Tuesday through Sunday) will be re-tracing most of our steps of the areas we toured during our trip in February, and will be gathering documentary footage and testimonies of how God is working in Haiti, and how lives are being changed for the good for the Kingdom.  Please pray that we will find just the right stories to hear and share.  In addition to interviewing church leaders, we are excited to hear the stories of new believers since the quake and how God is working in their lives.

• First and foremost – pray for the Christ followers in Haiti, their families, their stamina, their witness and their morale.  That we might encourage them and help tell their story so others might find Christ.
  
• Pray specifically that equipment will arrive safely and work properly.  Pray for protection over our computers, cameras, videotapes and tape drives.  That sound equipment would work well and that people won’t be freaked out by the equipment but feel released to share their hearts and stories.  Pray against distractions that will keep people from sharing their story.
• Also pray that we will have access to electrical power when we need it to re-charge equipment.   I’m taking 15 hours of tape and 18 hours of battery.  We’ll need charging time for sure.
• Pray for travel in and around Haiti.  It’s a dangerous place!  Where we are planning on staying at night is safe, but it’s a troubled country filled with crime, corruption and lawlessness.  We need your prayers for a shield of protection around our vehicles and the places we go while we film.
• Is goes without saying, but pray for our health as a team.  That we would steer clear of mosquitoes with Malaria and water or food with Cholera.  That we get adequate rest at night and that we don’t twist our ankles or bang up our knees on the rubble as we tour impacted areas.  Pray for safety as we fly and drive.
• Pray that our time together as a team will be fruitful, focused and Christ honoring. 
• Pray for our families back home that they stay healthy and well and that their needs are met in our absence.  (Chris has 4 kids under ten at home!)
• Our prayer is that we will accomplish what God intends for us to do while on the ground in Haiti, so we can focus on family stuff and occupational work when we return.
• Pray for the details for the “Haiti: One Year Later” event in January.
• Finally – pray for God’s covering on the million of things I’ve forgotten to ask you to pray for!

On behalf of Brian, Chris, Jerry and I, “THANK YOU!” for your faithful prayer support.  We will try and post updates and additional prayer requests when possible during our trip at www.DELTAministries.com and at www.haiti4him.com.

October Haiti Team Wrap-up

By Tory Ruark. Short-term Mission Director.

Monday, October 18, 2010

I can’t believe I have been home a week and have not gotten a post up on here yet. I am so bad. I came home and hit the ground running with kids in school, church, soccer practice, a fundraising banquet, and so on. It is a reminder that life goes on here whether I am home or not—a common theme from our team get-together last night. The truth is, life goes on in Haiti whether I am there or not too.

Many people returning from short-term mission trips have a hard time accepting life at home after their trip. And legitimately so. There seems to be little hope for the country they were in, or they feel their trip was of little significance. I am no stranger to this feeling, yet this time, I came home with a different feeling. I came home with a feeling of hope and a feeling of satisfaction.

Our group, as are all DELTA teams, was involved with Missions Door missionaries and the Christian Center for Integrated Development (CCID or SKDE in Creole) which they helped start. This network of churches is dedicated to evangelism and long-term change in the lives of Haitians. They do not believe in saving a soul and forgetting the body and they do not believe in giving a man a fish when he could learn to fish. I am excited and confident that God has partnered us with the right men and the right ministry for “such a time as this.”

The prior blogs will tell you that we were working on some finishing projects at a church, doing a children’s program, and helping run a community health clinic. Some of the highlights from the final part of the trip were:

1. Six children prayed with Pastor Francklin to receive Christ on Thursday when he shared the Gospel with the kids at our program. The interesting part about it was that, as he was having children come forward, he sent two of them back. Since I don’t speak Creole, I can only assume that he knew they were either church kids who already knew Jesus or that they were not sincere. That is the beauty of working within the church and not coming and doing our own thing.
2. The tile project at the church was finished and the church will move out of the tent on the street and into their church! Our hard working men really had to humble themselves and serve the Haitian workers, but the rapport built with the workers was totally worth the patience, humility, and dedication they showed.
3. We got a chance to work out at the Village of Hope where they are building 20 homes for people who are homeless because of the earthquake. They have plans to build 500 but only funding for the first 20.
4. In a world where it can be so hard to see God at work, we got to see Him right in our own team. It was amazing to see how God placed each person on the team for a specific purpose. Nobody wondered about their role or why God had them there. We were only together for 10 days, but I think all of us miss each other like family.

Haiti is still a broken place with little or no government presence, no plan, and a hodge-podge of NGO’s that may or may not be actually helping. But we all come home with hope because we have seen what the Missions Door missionaries are doing through the CCID. They have a plan for helping people ranging from church outreach, to community centers, to building homes, and even to agriculture coops. Not only have we seen the plan, but we got to participate. Praise the Lord for the opportunity to participate in what He is doing in Haiti. Please continue to pray with us for the people of Haiti.  

Hope Glimmers in Haiti - Part 2

by Tory Ruark - Wednesday, October 6, 2010

            Tonight’s post will be a little shorter…I think…because, well, it is getting late and I am tired. The weather is almost as hot as it was in July and the nights are a little bit cooler. But getting good refreshing rest is difficult. Instead of unfolding my top sheet and putting it on top of me to keep me warm, I keep it folded by my pillow to wipe my sweat during the night. Most nights we get to bed somewhere between 9pm and 10:30pm. I am usually the last one as I am up writing an update, checking emails, or taking care of things for the team. Breakfast is at 7am and we leave at about 8am…Haitian time. Haitian time, thankfully, allows me to sleep in a little extra and still be ready “on time.”

            Pray for our children’s program tomorrow (Thursday). During this chapter of our story Ti-Fam (the little girl who is the main character) is going to reject Voodoo and accept Jesus as her Savior so we are going to have Pastor Francklin (our Haitian pastor who has a master’s degree in child education) present the gospel to the children. The kids, by the way, are the cutest little things in the whole world! Their big white eyes and bright smiles are infectious. And you should see how well behaved they are! They sit and listen and wait their turn. Of course it helps that their Sunday School teachers are providing a watchful eye.

            Today, we had a really neat moment with the work crew. There are four Haitian men that have been hired to tile the floor of the church. None of us are skilled workers but we want to serve and help and get dirty. On Monday they let us carry some buckets of sand and water, but mostly kept us out of the way—fearing that we would mess up their work I’m sure! Tuesday was more of the same but there were a few more smiles and a few more attempts to communicate across our language barrier. Today, though, they actually let Doug fill some grout and then lay 2 tiles! Doug laid them and then the foreman told him where to tap with the rubber mallet to get it level. It was quite a sight to see! I was going to stay and watch to see if the foreman went back and redid everything, but I got called away. We are amazed by how tirelessly the men work, their skill, and by how much pride they take in a job well done. They are a real inspiration!

            One of the highlights of yesterday and today was the “Conflict on the Cobblestone.” This is what I am naming our US vs. Haiti soccer showdowns on the cobblestone driveway at the guesthouse. Both days we have played 3 on 3 with the Haitian guesthouse workers. They, of course, live to play soccer. Besides me, no one on our team has played (though we have some pretty good athletes). Yesterday, we played to a 6-6 tie when we called the game on account of darkness. We actually played past dark, but I think they were waiting for them to take the lead (though it didn’t ever happen). Today, we played a rematch and the Americans won 5-4 on Sam Hatchell’s toe poke game winner! I can’t explain why we are competitive, except to say that we are quite lucky and that I don’t think they know what to do with our crazy kicking and flailing. I tweaked my hamstring and have some blisters setting in, but I think I will be good to go for tomorrow (Thursday). Officially I am on the “probable list,” but sources close to the player say as long as he can walk he will play.

            In all seriousness, pray for us and the Haitians. Last night we talked a little bit as a group about our impressions and what was going through our hearts and minds. As we talked and I freed my heart to feel, I felt rage. A rage against the evil and darkness of a broken world. My prayer, as I went to bed, was that God would awaken the hearts of the Haitians that don’t know Him. (It is easy to tell the nonbelievers from the Believers by the lifelessness of their face.) I have a feeling this awakening would lead to a rage also, but maybe that is a good thing. Maybe they need a good rage in their heart against this world. I pray that this rage would cause them to feel the Arms of God pulling them close. There are no trite explanations from the God of the Universe for He owes us none. Just the simple words, “But I love you. You are my child,” stated gently but with no uncertainty, and the promise of “I will make things right.” Pray that we would make those Arms felt and those Words heard.