Latest Haiti Updates

Update 2/21/10 - From LAFD Chaplain, George Negrete, who is at the Lighthouse Orphanage: 

            "Today before church service I was speaking with a local Christian Haitian man I know and his words caused me to pause. "Haiti is quiet." "How so? Why do you say that?" "Haiti is silent, they are not talking, they are listening to God now." "Since the earthquake?" "Yes, since the earthquake people are listening to God." "This is good?" "Yes!"

            "Just a quick word of encouragement from here in Port au Prince. Things are going well. I'm having much time with the people and children. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we are expecting a team from the States. Life here for the local people is a real study. Westerners consider comfort and luxury necessities for life. Here necessities are barely present. Here the daily grind is all about survival. We had rain last week and while I thought it was a nice cooling break in the weather, the orphans shared with me a concern for the people on the street getting soaked, as they no longer have homes to sleep in. One of the cooks here described the river running through her tarped housing. I am learning to be slower to speak these days.

            Thanks so much for bringing me here - I miss home, but I really love this more.

            "LORD, we love to obey your laws: our heart's desire is to glorify your name. All night long I search for you; earnestly I seek for God. For only when you come to judge the earth will people turn from wickedness and do what is right." ISAIAH 26.8-9

FFC Evangelistic Crusade in Haiti - April 18 - 26  

            The stadium seats 80,000 - 100,000. Pray that the Lord fills each seat and that He will provide the funds for the stadium, tracts, advertisement and all that is needed to reach Haitians for Jesus. 

Dear Prayer Warriors,

            Your prayers for Haiti are having a tremendous impact. A concern for these dear people are continually on the hearts of FFC's Emergency Relief Team members. Please ask the Lord for His perfect direction for FFC's continued physical presence in Haiti and what His plans are for FFC's involvement in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ there. Prayer is the backbone of ministry and FFC's desire is to know God's perfect will concerning future involvement.

            Here is an email received today from George Negrete, LAFD Chaplain, who presently is at the Lighthouse Orphanage. 

"I am at Maison de Lumiere here in Haiti and I wanted to personally the FFC teams for two things; first thanks for your incredible witness and secondly thanks for helping my friends. I have heard and am still hearing of your low maintenance, amazing work ethic and spiritual focus. I was at the new house yesterday and saw the school benches - I was in awe! The tent village is being occupied and we have had rain so it's a functional blessing to many families.

The kids remember you and tell me of my firemen friends with big smiles - you made a difference, regardless of ones circumstances the love of Jesus reaches into changed hearts and changes things for the better."

God bless you in your future endeavors in His service,
Brother George Negrete
           
            Here is the latest blog from the Light House Orphanage, where team members endeared their hearts to their directors, their daughter and their family of orphans. Thank you for you continued prayers, which are vital!

UPDATE 2-19-2010

• THREE DAYS OF HEAVEN
  Three is a significant number in the Bible. The Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.   The Seraphin cry three times “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Jonas in the belly of the big fish for three days and three nights.  The Three-fold gifts of grace are Faith, Hope, and Love.  The Three-fold nature of man is Spirit, and Soul, and Body.  And, of course, the most profound, the resurrection of Christ after three days in the tomb.  It is a number representing divine completion.  That was also the number of days recently acknowledged all over Haiti as a time of mourning, prayer and fasting on behalf of the earthquake.
  We were here in Haiti, of course, during this powerful time.  For us, it entailed meeting early Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning in the Ben’s (our sports center) with all the MDL kids, staff, neighbors, displaced families and friends to pray, fast, worship, read scripture, share testimonies, hear sermons, lift up praises to the Father and petition and intercede on behalf of Haiti.  It was one of the most powerful, incredible experiences of my life.
  
  Not only was the prayer and worship time at MDL incredible -- seeing our kids on their faces, passionately crying out to God or seeing the families who had lost everything, smiling, laughing, even dancing to pour themselves out as an offering to God for His glory and honor -- but it was also what was going on throughout the country. 
  
  Friday morning, after praying and worshipping with everyone at MDL,  I had to drive up to Petionville (about a 15-20 minute drive) for a brief meeting.  When I left the orphanage, I had my windows down and as I drove I heard something I only thought possible in heaven – constant, unceasing, intense, continuous prayer, worship and adoration -- from all over and everywhere.  People joining together, singing in their tent cities, in their homes, on street corners,  to offer up prayer and worship to God.  Churches, sounding like choirs of angels, overflowing into to the streets.  Small groups in circles on the streets prayed intently.  Large groups paraded through the streets – marching and singing hymns -- reciting scripture together in unison.  And the most amazing thing was the fact that the “beautiful noise” never ceased -- all the way up the hill.
  
  Add to that the irony – this same weekend was already a celebration weekend, planned out long before the earthquake.  It was the beginning of Carnival week in Haiti, the single biggest Haitian event of the year, a Mardi Gras of sorts.  A time when people sing, get drunk, celebrate voodoo, march through the streets, and often get very violent.  It is a week when all schools close down for the week and many churches host weeklong “family camps” to pray against the “spirit” of Carnival.  To hear prayer and praises to God replacing the drunken revelry of Carnival must have been like a sweet sweet fragrance to the Creator of all.
  
  Many say this weekend was a turning point.  A miracle.  A second earthquake – occurring not in the earth, but in the hearts of the Haitian people.  A time of repentance and turning to the One True God.
  I don’t know if that is the case but I’m praying.  I’m praying that this is a major shift in Haiti.  That the gods of the past will be rejected once and for all.  That Truth will overcome culture.  And that the people of Haiti will break the chains they sought to break over 200 years ago. 

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” Isaiah 58:6

Please join me in praying that this very special weekend not just be a onetime event but, instead, that it mark the launch of a new beginning for Haiti, a time where God is lifted up, first and foremost, above all, and that the people of Haiti be truly set free, once and for all, by the power, grace and might of a loving God.

UPDATE 2-08-2010

FIREFIGHTERS FOR CHRIST
While I was out on my back we were blessed with our second visit of the Firefighters for Christ.  (The first group just stopped by a few days last week, helped out tremendously, but couldn’t stay) This great group of 10 guys and 2 gals are amazing servants of God and they are still blessing us tremendously as I write.  They assisted us with med clinics, helped set up the new clinic, built shelves, helped organize our storage depot, helped us establish a tent city across from the clinic, built a security tower, and are building a whole bunch of school benches for the new school, just to mention a few of the things they’ve done so far.  They are a very self-sufficient group that prefers to sleep in tents on the guest house roof, and eat MREs , than be an “inconvenience.”  They were far from that.  We are thinking of all kinds of sneaky ways to get them to stay longer.

82ND AIRBORNE
We have also been blessed with regular late night patrols of our facilities by the 82nd Airborne Bravo Troupe.  10 to 15 well armed soldiers are patrolling our facilities now on a regular basis which we hope will discourage looters and potential trouble-makers.  They also brought a bunch of rice to use in our feeding efforts.  Great guys!