Some perspective....

I recently received a message from someone saying they were glad I was here in Haiti. Their next sentence was, "Is it really as bad as the news makes it look?" I replied back that it wasn't as bad as the news is making it.

It's worse.

Few at home will ever know what Haiti is like right now and it's difficult for me to put into words.

I was talking to someone the other night about how beautiful Italy is and how happy it makes me to be there. They asked me to describe the countryside to them. I did my best, but told them you really could not fully describe the beauty of God's creation to somebody, you just had to experience it. Today, I'm thinking it is the same with trying to describe complete and utter destruction.

Since you're not here I'll attempt to share this with you...through pictures and words. Few words because your emotions will give you the right ones I cannot provide.

Picture the White House. Some of us have stood in front of the gates, some been inside. All have seen pictures. Picture its grandeur. Picture what it means to our country, to our leadership our pride and our strength. Now, picture the majestic building collapsed...as in...the bottom floors giving way to the floors above it and the White House just sinking in to itself. This is the "White House" of Haiti:


Now imagine our Senate, Treasury....everything where our important papers are and decisions for the country are made. Nearly every Haitian government building looks like this:


Yes, government has its issues. Regardless of any of that, because all was lost in the collapse of these buildings, the people of Haiti have lost their "existence" in the country they live in.

Haiti is a deeply spiritual nation. Most of the country is Roman Catholic. Here is their Cathedral...their place of worship....the place young men and women became husbands and wives, where children sat by their parent's side during church....where they found community:


And now the people who depend on Haiti's government and who worshiped in the Cathedral have homes that look like this:






It's definitely not easy to summarize the situation. What I can tell you is that, as my pastor Mike Glenn has said repeatedly, Haiti is not going to be a problem that goes away overnight. It is a marathon. So, if you've given your $10 to the cause and think that's all that's required of you, I encourage you to pray over that again. If you've stopped keeping the people of Haiti in your prayers, I implore you to petition God on their behalf in everything you and your family pray for. And, if you are a church body wanting to put your love and faith into action and compassion, then do not waste a moment.

There are vast ways in which you, your family, church, school, office and community can help. If you sit and say you don't know where to start, I'll sit there with you and give you possibilities to pray over. Anything is possible. What is not acceptable is saying that nothing you do can make a difference. Every ONE THING you do makes a profound difference.

Especially to the orphaned, the abandoned...the displaced and the vulnerable children of Haiti. Children like these precious ones:



Pray. Get involved. Advocate. Give. Check out HORT at www.haitiorphanproject.org or Sweet Sleep at www.sweetsleep.org. Do something. Today.

See you in the next blog,
Jen

photos and thoughts from haiti

 

Here are some of our HORT members spending time with kids at the Global Orphan Project village.

More of the sweet kids in the village.

 

A tent city on a hill.

I've seen, heard and experienced some amazing and overwhelming things so far this week...

• Our friends at the Global Orphan Project reunited a child with his parents after being separated for 5 weeks. Amazing. Thank you, Jesus!

• I passed a group of Haitians this morning dressed in white walking down the street singing praises and thanking God. Hands down the most moving thing I've ever seen.

• I stood in front of a school and orphanage for handicapped children that was absolutely flattened by the quake -- overwhelmed by the sight, the smell - and my thoughts. 

"the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26

Please continue to pray for Haiti and for our HORT team today. Your prayers are doing great things here...

See you in the next blog,

jen

Faces of the Children We Met Today

I wanted to share with you a few of the faces of the children we met today. 

I'll tell you more about what we're experiencing here in my next blog.

more soon..... 

jen

First Orphanage Visit and Tuesday Morning with HORT

 

Good morning, friends... A few photos of our morning in Haiti.

This is a school/orphanage that we visited this morning that was completely collapsed. The CAT machines were just firing up when we arrived. They were moving rubble from one pile to the next. It would stop after each moved load and a group would come and scavenge through the debris. We saw them pull out a copier and many, many, many little readers (school books). 

The sight was overwhelming. The smell I really don't have words for.

This is the presidential palace. Hard to believe...

Here's the reason it's hard to get legal issues resolved in Haiti. This is the courthouse.

Amidst the rubble, hope. The cross at the Cathedral.

 Thank you for praying for me and for our HORT group today. More soon...

jen

day 1...in pictures

for you to enjoy...stories later.....


landing in the dominican....


just between the DR/Haiti border in a place called "No man's land" that doesn't apparently belong to either country so they just have a market.....


The road just after crossing into Haiti. So pretty...


a sheet city


UN soldiers

Along the way

Along the way to Haiti we've had a detour, a few road blocks with burning palms and tires, random goats, a stop for gas where some of the team took a zillion cute pictures of cute school children and 2 drivers. Still not sure about that one. Good stuff though.

We're an hour from the border. Will post pictures later. Continue to pray for safety in traveling.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Report from the Dominican Republic

 Lake Henry: though it sounds more exciting in Dominican tongue.

Just a little travel insight for you all as we wrap up our 1st travel day here. You know, a little something to ease you and I both in to what is about to happen.

Most of our team met up in Miami, where the airport is colder than Antarctica. There are 11 of us total and with all the gifts God has brought together in the team, it's important for y'all to be praying because monumental things are going to happen.

I've never been to the Dominican before, but it was interesting to see the landscape as our plane descended this afternoon. I was just taking everything in and then suddenly saw 8 baseball diamonds in semi close proximity.  It made me wonder what that was about and I made a mental note to ask you baseball knowers about this.

The other thing that was interesting to see if the countryside. Lots of green and fields divided into handmade, hand worked plots bordered with brown potholed roads.

As we got closer to the city the countryside drastically changed and suddenly there were metal corrugated house with tin roofs everywhere and tropical palm trees and such. It was a drastic and interesting change. Made me want to be out among the people and children watching life and taking pictures.

Our team enjoyed Valentine's dinner together and we're now hunkering down for some much needed rest. This task force came together quickly, so sleep was on the back burner for us all. It's good to have a place to be together and to rest before we jump into the trenches tomorrow.

Thanks for praying. Sign up for blog updates and you'll know each time I post about our work. Just scroll around and look for the orange icon that says something about RSS feeds. It's easy to do, trust me!

Thanks friends. The DR is on Atlantic time, 2 hours ahead of central. We'll depart here at 7:00 am AST and expect it to be a 7 or 8 hour drive.

See you in the next blog,
Jen

Would you pray?

Friends....

I suppose if I would have gone to bed tonight I'd be waking in 15 minutes to get ready for the airport. It's hard to believe I'm just a few hours away from a flight that will take me to meet with 10 others from across the States who'll make up this first HORT (Haiti Orphan Relief Team) iniatitative. We have much to do and it's absolutely necessary to have a giant team here at home praying for all that is happening.

Here is a post from one of my fellow team members, David Leventhal, with Hope for Orphans, explaining a bit about our mission as well as ways you can begin to pray. I'll be sure to keep you posted on how you can continue. And, I thank you so, so much for being a part of this mission in this---and so many other ways.

By way of reminder the overarching aim of the Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT) is to identify, train and resource Haitian churches to be the direct rescue and care mechanism for Haiti’s hundreds of thousands of orphans. This is truly the most effective and scalable response to a need of such great complexity and magnitude. The primary goal is to better enable Haitian churches to reunite or keep children within extended family structures. For children that have no other options, HORT will help Haitian churches to provide direct care in home environments, not institutional orphanages. U.S. churches are also part of the solution and are being recruited by HORT to come alongside these Haitian churches in church-to-church partnerships to initiate, strengthen and grow their outreach to orphans in their immediate communities. These partnerships will also work toward the self-sustainability of the orphan rescue and care efforts in Haiti. HORT is a Christ-centered, church-focused initiative based on the assumption that the church has been clearly called by God to care for orphans (James 1:27).

As for this first HORT deployment, here are some specific prayer requests:

* Pray that as a team we might be the hands and feet of Christ to the people of Haiti.
* Pray that our attitude toward the people of Haiti would be servant-focused, that is, that we would see ourselves as their servants for Christ’ sake.
* Pray for unity of hearts and minds amidst the team – that logos and egos would be left in the U.S. and that our attitude would be that of Christ (Philippians 2:1-8)
* Pray that HORT would be able to begin to effectively map out a long term, sustainable orphan-care model for Haiti
* Pray that as a result of our efforts many Haitian children would find love, support, education and care in a Christ-centered environment
* Pray for safe travel from the states to Dominican Republic and then from DR into Haiti
* Pray that the Lord would lead us to the churches and pastors He wants HORT to engage
* Pray for discernment to know how to handle the unexpected issues that will certainly arise
* Pray for extra patience and grace for wives, husbands and children back in the States.
* Pray for the Lord to raise up churches in the U.S. that would be willing to partner with churches in Haiti in a church-to-church partnership.
*
Pray by name for the team for spiritual (Ephesians 6:10) and physical protection:
o John Roberts (Incident Commander)
o Paul Myhill (Liaison Officer)
o Jodi Jackson Tucker (Information Officer)
o Scott Vair (Planning and Finance)
o Byron Schick (Operations)
o Jen Gash (Logistics)
o Theo Sandberg (Task Force Leader)
o Alan Hunt (Task Force Leader)
o Aaron Bensko (Videographer)
o Dieula Previlon (Local Cultural Expert)
o David Leventhal (Task Force Leader)

Disaster Response Experts Team With Orphan Care Organizations to Create Long-Term Solutions in Haiti

Four days, Friends! Subscribe to this blog and you'll get emails each time I post stories and updates from Haiti. (Just click on the "subscribe" button!)

Here's the story below from Yahoo! News:
PR Newswire

Tue Feb 9

Unique team to deploy Valentine's Day

RALEIGH, N.C., PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A volunteer team of U.S. disaster response experts and orphan care providers is coming together to provide strategic help to Haitian churches. The team will equip and train Haitian church leaders to provide local, long-term care for orphaned Haitian children in the aftermath of the January earthquake.

The Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT) is a cooperative volunteer effort of disaster response experts and orphan-care professionals from many U.S.-based ministries that have joined forces to respond to the crisis in Haiti. An initial HORT on-the-ground team will deploy for a two week period beginning on February 14, 2010. The team will work to identify churches in Haiti that can be paired with U.S. churches for ongoing partnerships in caring for orphaned children, so that local resources can sustain this effort beyond the HORT team's deployment.

"We know that this disaster is not going to be fixed overnight, but by putting in place key pieces of infrastructure, efforts can be sustained and strengthened long after the HORT team has returned to the United States," said John E. Roberts, past Director of the Federal Government's National Interagency Training Center, and Incident Command System (ICS) team commander for HORT. "We are looking to build a long-term solution to the immediate crisis."

Recognizing that many Haitian church facilities were destroyed, HORT will use advanced mapping techniques developed by the U.S. government to physically identify the church facilities that are best able to provide long-term solutions to children now and in the future.

"We are looking for churches that want to become part of the long-term solution to the orphan need in Haiti. Â We encourage U.S. churches to come alongside the churches of Haiti to address this catastrophe," said Paul Myhill, President, World Orphans, and a member of the deployment team.

A Valentine's Day fund-raising drive is under way to help HORT deploy. Donors can personalize an eCard with a Valentine message and for every eCard sent, the team will personally deliver a Valentine to a Haitian orphan.

"Outside help alone won't reach Haiti's deepest need. If we're serious about helping Haiti's orphans toward a bright future, it'll be absolutely vital to equip and support committed local Haitian churches to care for the orphans in their communities," said Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans.

More about HORT can be found at: www.haitiorphanrelief.org

Collaborators in this effort include:

Christian Alliance for Orphans, www.christianalliancefororphans.org

Global Aid Network, www.gainusa.org

Hope for Orphans, www.hopefororphans.org

Lifesong for Orphans, www.lifesongfororphans.org

Love Haiti, www.lovehaitimissions.com

Loving Shepherd Ministries, www.loving-shepherd.org

Sweet Sleep, www.sweetsleep.org

Together for Adoption, www.togetherforadoption.org

University of North Carolina, School of Public Health, www.sph.unc.edu

World Orphans, www.worldorphans.org


Thanks friends....see you in the next blog!

Jen

Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT)

Sweet Sleep is a member of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO). Several of their partners and multiple US disaster relief experts have come together to create an initiative called HORT, Haiti Orphan Relief Team. Its 15-member team deploys for Port-au-Prince, Haiti on February 14, 2010 to implement a short and long-term strategy for displaced and orphaned children in the wake of last month’s devastating earthquake.

HORT is comprised of disaster response specialists as well as leaders from non-profit organizations that are members of the CAFO. I have agreed to serve as the deputy logistics director.

The team will create a communications infrastructure with a radio command system which is used by FEMA. Team members will train Haitian church leaders and orphanage directors to use the system to communicate their needs and to provide updates on their situations. Additionally, our team will be using a GIS mapping system to chart the coordinates of each orphanage and Christian church we can learn of. This infrastructure will become the basis of a permanent network that will provide immediate and long-term assistance where and when it’s needed most.

The specific mission is to support the churches of Haiti to care for orphaned children. This will be accomplished by pairing U.S. churches with Haitian churches, to provide ongoing resources and support. HORT will collaborate with and train Haitian partners to sustain this effort beyond the deployment period. The mission goes far beyond today’s immediate needs of Haiti’s orphans as HORT establishes a network of support for these children for years to come. The Haitian churches which link with orphanages will later be linked to churches in the United States who will walk alongside them in rebuilding a sustainable Haiti and strong children.

HORT partners are: CAFO, World Orphans, UNC School of Public Health, Together for Adoption, Sweet Sleep, and Orphan Lifeline. Information and giving opportunities to HORT can be found at www.haitiorphanrelief.org.

Haitian churches will be matched with US churches who are interested in long-term ministry opportunities to walk alongside their brothers and sisters and children in Haiti. People can also keep up with the happenings in Haiti on our website www.sweetsleep.org as well as this blog or the link on the home page in the next few days and beyond.

I would greatly love to have everyone’s prayers for this work---for the details, planning, fundraising, travel, health, safety and execution of everything involved. I’ll keep you posted over the next 11 days…oh, my.

Appreciate you!!

See you in the next blog,
Jen