Stephanie, our nursing student

On Thursday, March 15, a small cadre of SFH representatives traveled to Haiti to survey conditions in general and our work in particular.  We are pleased to tell you that there are many good signs to report.

We met with some of our post-high school students who are thriving and excited about their prospects.  Watch this site for more reports and profiles of these young people.

The initial batch of SFH-backed businesses has begun their efforts to support themselves.  We were delighted to find, in a local grocery store, candies distributed by one of our budding entrepreneurs.  We brought back a few morsels, some of which will be available for sampling at Trivia Night.

Our “man-on-the-ground”, Monite, is already gearing up for her next class, just awaiting funding.  Proceeds from Trivia Night will go toward that need, but extra donations are needed and appreciated.

Monite (far left) and her Biznis Pam students (l to r): Odulka, Shedlyne, Wilda, and Johnny

While in Haiti, we met several other groups doing their part to help our friends move forward.  Many of the projects are long range ones aimed at helping the Haitian people help themselves.  Initiatives to revive the dormant rice industry and other agricultural enterprises show tremendous promise.  We ate some of the local produce and couldn’t get enough of it.

Other works we heard about involved reforestation and creating an export market for Haitian coffee.

Efforts like these will some day make Haiti self-sufficient.  The Haitian people want to work.  They are tired of handouts and are willing to do whatever it takes to turn their homeland around.  With your help, we can create a new sunrise in Haiti.

This trip report is from a young man from Hawaii who had never been to Haiti before:

Day 1: Wednesday  – “The Awakening”

We left Hawaii later in the evening around seven or eight pm.  At first, my initial thoughts and feelings towards the trip were anticipation and excitement: What will God have for us? Who will God place into our path for us to meet? What will Haiti be like? What will the team members be like?  These questions filled my head throughout the many hours from Honolulu to Los Angeles, as well as from Los Angeles to Miami.  These flights and the long layover in LAX really helped me to form the start of a special relationship with my dad throughout the trip.  We spent long hours talking and eating multiple times in airports and just hanging out.  It brought us closer even in the midst of anticipation and long waits.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, we made it to Miami.  We met up with about half of the team there.  Reuniting with my best friend, Alex, second sister, Lauren, and second dad, Kirk, filled my heart with joy and instantly wiped my mind clean of any impatience or negative thoughts.  We then met the portion of the team that had traveled together from Boston, Massachusetts.  The team leader, Laurae, her daughter, Melissa, and many others gave us a warm welcome to the gate.  Instantly, we all became best friends.  We started playing Scrabble and hanging out getting to know each other and forming bonds to last us a lifetime.

After our short flight (about 2 hours) to Haiti, we were all thrown into the chaos of the Haiti airport.  No sooner were we shuttled to the baggage claim area then we were asked to fly through customs and retrieve our bags.  Looking for duffels with “SFH” (Servants For Haiti) spray-painted on them, and my dad’s military duffel, and my own military duffel amidst all the luggage carts, Americans, Haitians, and luggage was completely ridiculous.  Next, the walk from baggage claim to ground transportation resembled a gauntlet.  Just as you leave the baggage claim with your luggage cart, what seems like hundreds of Haitian men start either asking or just taking your cart expecting payment for their service later.  Desperate shouts of, “No, merci!” (No, thank you!)  and muscling our carts away from the helpers proved to be challenging and harried.

We finally made it to ground transportation and after a short wait, about a quarter of the team piled onto a well-maintained, half school bus.  Amidst all the bags and fellow team members, I experienced the reason why I named this day “The Awakening”.  Most of the way from the airport to the orphanage all I could see from the left to the right was tents.  Tents full of people whose homes were ravaged by the earthquake and left to fend for themselves.  How humbling.  My heart instantly broke for these people.  Alex said something like, “I thought I knew what to expect, but I didn’t expect this.”  There was some level of truth in his statement to all of us new to Haiti, but also those who had been to Haiti numerous times before.  We were all awakened by the raw need here in Haiti and immediately our hearts were rendered in the right place.

We made it to the orphanage pretty spiritually drained, or at least I was, and literally, as soon as we walked in the door, I was hit by what seemed like a two-foot wave of 3 year olds.  This wave was composed of three rambunctious, energetic toddler boys named Clarence, Cowen, and Chryslin.  Immediately one child ran up to me and raised his little arms.  If my heart wasn’t already in pieces it surely broke completely at this point.  I picked him up and hung out with him for the first hours at the orphanage.  How amazing to serve a God who serves as a father to the fatherless!

The rest of the evening was spent forming amazing friendships with every new team member that walked through the door of the orphanage with either a firm handshake or a welcoming hug.  We played an extremely long game of Egyptian rat-tail screw and unpacked all our bags.  Near the end of the night, we all came together and had devotions to recap our day and reflect.  We drank some Cokes and then hit the bed.

Day 2: Thursday – “The Kick-start”

This morning I woke up around 3:30 a.m. Haitian time and felt around ten to fifteen mosquito bites on my legs and arms.  I immediately got out of bed and sprayed on some bug spray.  Silly me!  After a few more hours of sleep, I woke up at normal time: 6:30a.m.  I awoke to Haitian music and voices riding the morning breeze through our window into our room filling it with soft songs that sounded a lot like hymns or worship songs.  I woke up praising God with the Haitians even though I knew none of the words they were so fervently singing.  How amazing to serve a God who’s worship surpasses language barriers.

A lot of the team sat out on the roof that morning doing morning devotions individually.  It was refreshing to see so many people seeking after God in the same place at the same time.  We progressed downstairs and ate our breakfast, which was so kindly prepared for us by the Haitian women in the kitchen.  Eggs with celery and onions chopped up inside, Portuguese sausage, and bread filled our stomachs and gave us energy for our morning ahead.  Eating with many toddlers around asking to be picked up and asking for a little morsel of our almost American food was tough, definitely heartbreaking.

Next, we all walked together from the orphanage to the church where we would be working during the next few days.  This walk could have been the most impacting ten minutes of my entire week.  Seeing the poverty just along the side of the road was extremely intense.  People living in tents, young children walking aimlessly, dirty water running throughout the streets, everything.  One thing I will say is that God was there.  With me, with them, in Haiti.  He knows their needs and has a plan for each and every one of them.  With this statement, I come to the reason why I named this day “The Kick-start”:  consistently every morning, but in particular this morning God would kick start my heart from being so broken with the orphans to running full speed on fire for Him ready to work my heart out for His kingdom and His church.

Next, we worked.  We moved rubble down three stories, moved re-bar up three stories, moved benches, and much more.  We grabbed lunch (pb and j) around noon and went back to the orphanage around two in the afternoon – a short work day.  We came home took baby wipe showers (which feel ridiculously amazing) and hung out with the team and the orphans.  We then had devotions as a team.  I led worship: Hosanna by Hillsong and I Could Sing of You Love Forever.

After devos, I hung out with Jo and Amanda, two girls from our team, and sang worship songs while playing guitar for what seemed like ages! It was probably only an hour or two.  Then we all took our showers in the evening.  Showers in Haiti consist of a 5-gallon bucket of water and a large cup.  You can imagine that it’s a little different than back home, but I immediately appreciated bucket showers for their coolness and refreshing feeling.  After my shower I climbed in bed, but not before putting on loads of bug spray J, and was completely asleep in two seconds.

Day 3 – Friday:  “The Vets”

Friday, I woke up at 6:30 a.m. the same as the day before.  That morning I decided to help to make pb and j sandwiches for lunch.  A lot of us crowded around a table and made two loaves worth! After that I went back to the roof and did my morning devos as well as grabbed some breakfast with the team.  One thing I really appreciated about breakfast and every meal is that we hold hands and sing a verse of a song before praying for the meal.  It’s really refreshing and great to see other team members in song together praising our awesome God each meal.  We then walked from the church to the orphanage.  Then, we worked.  We moved cinder blocks up three stories either walking them up two at a time or making a long line passing them person-to-person.  Either way it was tiring.  When we were in a line, I was on the ladder which involved pulling the brick from between your legs to above your head.  It was intense and awesome!  I worked on the ladder for a long time, lots of people switched off but I stayed on.  When I finally got off, when all the bricks were done, three or four Haitian young men slapped my back and said, “You not lazy!”  In a few hours with a little sweat and work, I had earned their respect.  This is why I called this day “The Vets” because all of us new team members felt like we were fitting right in with the rest of the veteran workers and Haitian workers.  We took lunch and then moved cement bags and metal supports for the remainder of the afternoon.  We then went home and hung out with all the young orphans.  A few hours later we convened for a dinner of chicken, rice, and plantains.  Good stuff.  We then had devotions, in which Adam led two songs: How Deep theFfather’s Love For Us and El Shaddai.  It was a great worship time.  Next, the teens met on the roof and played cards and hung out in the cool breeze.  After a couple hours up there we all grabbed bucket showers and hit the bed.

Day 4 – Saturday: “God’s Haiti”

This day we woke up a little later then we usually did.  We got up around seven, what a blessing to have a sleep-in day!  We all piled into a big, blue bus and headed to a ministry called The Apparent Project.  This ministry helps struggling people to learn how to make jewelry, so that they can sell it and support their families.  This ministry is particularly great because they learn how to support themselves instead of relying on the aid coming from the United States and other countries.  We shopped there and supported them by buying their merchandise.  We then went out into the Haitian country to a mission up in the hills.  We had some delicious lunch there.  I had an awesome steak, ham, and onion sandwich.  We then went out into the street and bartered for Haitian bracelets, Haitian boxes, original paintings, and carved, wooden-handled machetes.  We had lots of fun and got some good stuff pretty cheap.  We then piled into the bus and went to another ministry back in the city.  Named Christian Light Ministries, this ministry is an elementary school that houses, clothes, feeds, and educates the kids in all the subjects of normal school, as well as the Bible.  The older lady who started this ministry is amazing.  She has such a vision and endless goals with God.  This is why I called today “God’s Haiti” because in seeing all these amazing missions and ministries, I have a peace that God has plans for Haiti.  We then headed home, grabbed dinner, and hung out with the orphans and each other for the remainder of the evening.  We grabbed bucket showers and went to sleep.

Day 5 – Sunday: “Church of Champions”

We woke up extra early today to get all spiffy for church.  Guys wore pants, long sleeve collared shirts, and ties.   Girls wore long dresses and sweaters.  We all walked to church together in the hot Haitian sun.  We were so sweaty J.  It was amazing to see all of the Haitians who have so little dressed up to honor our God.  Their church service was three and a half hours long.  How intense is that?  I will never get bored in an hour and a half church service again in my entire life.  I have a new found respect for sitting on wooden benches.  They sang the song Breathe in Creole and I knew this because I could hear the music and the melody.  This is why I called today “Church of Champions” because Haitian church is intense!  We came back from church at around eleven in the morning and grabbed breakfast for lunch – waffles, Portuguese sausage, and hard-boiled eggs.  Next, we piled in a bus and a pickup truck and went to an ice cream shop.  We bartered for the ice cream using goods instead of dollars and ate together.  In line for ice cream, I talked with the guy behind me and found out that he was from Hawaii!  What a small world.  He lives in the Dominican Republic currently, but lived in Hawaii before.  After ice cream we went to the President’s Palace, which was reduced to rubble in the earthquake and still has not been repaired.  It was stunning to see the damage.  Next, we went home and had dinner – squash soup, a Haitian favorite.  Next, we had devotions as a team.  Lastly, we went down into the foyer and played worship music with the Haitians hanging out there.  They knew many songs in English and we worshiped our mighty God together.  Next, we took our bucket showers and hit the bed.

Day 6 – Monday: “Heart and Home”

We woke up at normal time 6:30 am and got downstairs to have our delicious breakfast of fried eggs, French toast, and pineapple.  We fellowshipped and started our day with sustenance physically and spiritually by singing and praying before our meal.  We then walked to the worksite together.  I am pretty sure today was the day that we all did a prayer walk together.  I paired up with Alex and we prayed for people we passed on the street, both of our sisters, and what they are going through, Haiti as a whole, our team, just everything.  I felt like God was extremely present in this fifteen-minute walk to the worksite.  It felt as if He was walking and listening to all of our prayers with us.   This is why I called today “Heart and Home” because I felt like my heart and home was definitely in Haiti this day.  We worked on moving more cinder blocks up onto the roof, moving rebar back down to the lowest level, and salvaging wood to use in other places.  How amazing to be able to serve a God that will allow us to work all day for His glory, but also walk with us and hear our prayers!  We grabbed lunch of pb and j sandwiches and Haitian meat pies, which were delicious.  We then finished up work and headed back to the orphanage.  We hung out with the Haitians and the orphans.  We had devotions as a team, heard about a soccer ministry, had dinner, and took bucket showers.  We went onto the roof with our mattresses and slept in the cool breeze.

Day 7 – Tuesday: “Together as One”

6:30 wake up time just like normal.  We had a great breakfast and walked to the worksite.  This day was our longest work day.  We formed a line and passed buckets filled with cement up three stories, across the roof, and then laid the foundation for the next section of the building.  We had many more Haitians working with us this day than any of the others in order to finish the roof quickly.  They all stood on a huge wooden ladder that looked like it could break at any moment and passed up bucket after bucket.  Their work ethic is unmatched and very impressive.  We had lunch of pb and j sandwiches and then went straight back to work and didn’t finish till around 6:30 in the evening.  The whole time we were working we did an exercise of thankfulness thinking about one hundred things to be thankful for.  We surpassed our goal and reached far beyond what we ever thought.  This is why I call today “Together as One” because we came together and meshed as brothers and sisters in Christ and helped this school and church to finish their third story.    We had dinner, hung out with the orphans, and hit the bed.

Days 8 and 9 – Wednesday and Thursday: “Relaxation Station and Travels”

On Wednesday we spent time at the beach just relaxing and debriefing from our trip.  We swam in the water, played Frisbee on the beach, and bought some things from the local vendors.  On Thursday we said our goodbyes, traveled to the airport, and arrived swiftly back into Miami only to be met with layovers, delays, missed flights, and sicknesses.  However, we made it home safely, only by the grace of God.  Thank you for supporting me.  This trip changed my life, changed my view of myself, and changed my view of God

Reports are coming in from the latest team to return from Haiti. We will add some short comments over time as we receive them from the folks who traveled there from June 24 to July 2, 2010.

Here’s an observation from Rebecca, who joined one of our teams for the first time:

It was my first trip, but it won’t be my last. The despair of the country is overshadowed by the Haitian peoples’ joy and thankfulness for life. There is so much we can learn from them.

This insight is from Carolyn, a veteran team member, after her first post-earthquake trip:

Even though I knew most people were living in tents, I was still taken aback to see the massive tent camps in place of the poorly constructed houses that stood before. One thing most people don’t think about is how permanent this situation is going to be for the Haitian people; tents are now being numbered and turned into permanent addresses. Haiti has always been in great need, but now the need is greater than ever.

This is a very important point to remember, motivating Servants for Haiti to work that much harder for the long term recovery of Haiti.  Your help, either through donations, fund-raising efforts, or participation on a work team, will be a key part of that work.

The latest SFH team arrived in Haiti today.  This is a big one, with over 30 people traveling to perform construction at the school and work with the kids at the orphanage.  Of course, we’ll have trip reports as soon as possible after the team returns on 7/2.

General info on teams and trips can be found here.

12-year-old Sage recently traveled to Haiti with her mother.  Their purpose was to visit with the child her family is adopting from Kingdom Kids Orphanage.  Below is a poignant report she wrote about her trip:

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On the morning of January 12th my mom booked our tickets for our trip to Haiti. I was so excited to be officially going. Ever since I was nine I had always dreamed about going to Haiti. Later that same day Haiti was changed forever. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit Haiti leaving tens of thousands dead, thousands more missing, hearts broken, and devastated people.

For six weeks after the earthquake I didn’t know if I was going to be able to go to Haiti. Everything was more dangerous and they were continuing to have powerful aftershocks. My family and friends were all telling me I wasn’t going, but I knew that God wanted me there so I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Two months and many prayers later I was on my way to Haiti.

When I arrived in Haiti I had a good idea (or so I thought at the time) of what it would look like. I knew there would be people that had nothing, starving children, sad faces, tent cities, and collapsed buildings because that’s just Haiti. But, you just can’t prepare yourself until you actually see it. I can’t explain it any better than that. It was devastating, that being my first time there I don’t know how much of a difference there is, but to me it looked horrible. There were piles of rubble everywhere, buildings collapsed, homeless lining every street, the Haitians with their aged faces that wore solemn expressions and appeared much older than they actually were, countless tent cities, and graffiti writings saying “We need help” or “SOS” on every wall. I felt guilty. There I was sitting in the back of a truck well fed and clothed, with my mother, and there they were sitting on the streets most not knowing where their next meal was going to come from.

When I got to Wayom Timoun (Kingdom Kids) it was a different story. There were still tents, collapsed buildings, starving people, and orphaned children, but it was the atmosphere that changed. These children were sleeping in overstuffed tents that smelled like pee, next to open “gutters” that were basically sewage pipes, they had lost everything they had, whether from the earthquake or before, but yet, they were happy. From the way they acted you could’ve never guessed what these kids have been through. They were just regular kids, they loved to talk, and hang out, to play Uno and Spoons, to fool around and make you laugh, to dance, to sing, and to just sit with you and hold your hand.

These kids have been through more than I will ever know.  One day as we were driving through the country side. My nine year old brother, Roody (whom my family is adopting), pointed out the mass graves, a look of complete sadness came over his face and he kept saying “tris, tris” which means “sad” in English.  Another boy about ten told me about the shaking and how scared he was.

The Haitians in Pastor Rigaud’s church have amazing trust in God.  There appeared to be about 100 people at the 3 hour long church service. They all got really involved in worship and the service. When you compare it to most churches in the US it is very different. We sometimes will miss a service because we planned something or we have a little cough, but not there. They get up at 5:00am to sit through a three hour church service! They lift their hands up and start to dance around and say “Mesi Bondye!” (“Thank you Lord”)  Here most church services don’t start until around 9:00 or 10:00, they last about an hour, and people will rarely get involved in worship.

I loved Haiti. It was better than any other trip or vacation I’ve ever been on. I loved hanging out with the kids, holding the babies, playing monkey in the middle with tennis balls, watching the boys break dance and sing Just Beat It, and We are the World, playing Uno and Spoons after dinner for hours on end, teaching them how to high five and play Frisbee, watching them dive in the warm ocean and come back up face dripping, eye’s squeezed shut, and a huge smile on their face.  I loved it all and can’t wait to go back again.

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Sage really hit the klou (Creole for “nail”) on the head with her statement, “But, you just can’t prepare yourself until you actually see it.“  I would encourage all readers of this post to check out her assessment for yourselves.  Join us on a future trip to Haiti.  Chances are it will be “better than any other trip or vacation” for you as well.

Another small team, the third since the earthquake, is on the ground in Haiti.  They return on 3/23 after visiting to support our people there.  Besides bringing supplies and financial support, they will be holding activities to encourage and support the staff at the school and orphanage, as well as the children who live at KKO.

Watch this space for a trip report.

Meanwhile, consider joining us when full teams resume traveling to Haiti in June.  For more information, see the Future Trips page.

The small team that returned on March 4 brought home many photos of the situation in Haiti.  Some are in the previous post.  Here are some more (click to see larger versions):

The kids at KKO seem to be taking it all in stride.

Food is still being served to kids at CJRA even while the school is closed.

The littlest ones at KKO may never fully know what they survived.

The ruins of the once beautiful National Cathedral.

A grafitti artist captures the situation in Haiti with this poignant creation.

Here are some photos taken by the small team that traveled to Haiti at the end of February.  Click on the pictures to see a larger view.

Tents are set up everywhere and anywhere.

Many first floors collapsed under the weight of a second floor.

Some buildings were partially destroyed and are unsafe but are still used by their occupants.

More to come…

Here are some photos from the small team that went to Haiti to do recovery work in January 2010.  Go here for the trip report.

John checks out the new water filtration system.

Tents set up outside the orphanage. Kids and staff are staying outside due to continuing aftershocks.

Working with World Vision to plan food distribution at CJRA.

Back on Monday, January 25, Servants for Haiti sent its first team to work in post-earthquake Haiti.  Three people, including two members of the SFH board, stayed between one and two weeks and accomplished a great deal.  Here is a “diary” of their trip, mostly reprinted from an earlier blog from before this new site came online:

Tuesday,  Jan 26, 2010:

They brought with them four heavy duty tents for the orphans, a water purifier, medical supplies, diapers, infant formula, and food: tuna, peanut butter, and more. They also brought money to purchase food and water. The money was especially helpful because the larger aid agencies had not yet made it to the Cite Militaire and Village Solidarite neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince. Your generosity has made all this possible.

Thursday, Jan 28, 2010:

The team managed to get to the Dominican Republic to buy food. They purchased enough to supply the orphanage for a few weeks!

The smell of decaying bodies is still evident.

One child from KKO has been hospitalized for dehydration.

The US Army gave our team more tents to protect the children. These are desperately needed to protect them from the elements.

The Army also supplied the orphanage with some water. No food has been received from the larger aid services, so any food we get is because of your donations.

Our missionary friends, Karl and Ann Olsson, brought food and drink mixes over.

Pastor Rigaud (for those who don’t know, the school and orphanage were founded and are run by him) has arrived back in Haiti after a few days in the US. He had accompanied the four adopted orphans to FL last week. With him, he has brought a small generator that will be used to run the water filtration system the team brought with them.

A member of our team got another generator and some water from the US Army. The new generator will supply other essential electrical.

Friday, Jan 29, 2010:

Here is a text message received just this morning from one of our board members in Haiti:

Tonight I walked over to the school with Jacnel (who works for Pastor Rigaud). Usually at this time the streets are crowded, not tonight. It was a ghost town, no one was on the street, it was empty. Still people aren’t sleeping in homes that appear safe. There are makeshift cities everywhere but few are lucky enough to have real tents, most are made from sheets. The kids and staff continue to sleep outside and seem to manage amazingly well. The staff is unbelievable with how they are handling things. Everywhere we go people are praising God for saving them. So many have no idea what the future holds for them, no home, no job, nothing.

This kind of strength is yet another reason why we love serving our Haitian friends.

Saturday, Jan 30, 2010:

Today had lots of positive activity. Here’s a summary:

• The orphan that had been taken to the hospital for dehydration has been released and is well.
• Every night, our friends at the orphanage are making rice and whatever else is available. They feed anyone from the neighborhood who is in need.
• Our SFH team worked hard making connections and collecting supplies at the airport. In the end, they came away up with more medical supplies, diapers, water, blankets, food, and toiletries. A good haul!
• The team also went to a local hospital for some meds to treat conjunctivitis, which many of the children have contracted.
• Very exciting partnership news: World Vision is going to be using the CJRA school and the adjacent Bethlehem Baptist Church as a distribution point for food for the entire area. They will be distributing 5,000 boxes of food, each of which contains enough to feed someone for a month!
• Rigaud Antoine has been working with a Haitian judge all day to help facilitate more adoptions. (As we’ve said on our web site, you can contact SFH if you are interested in adopting a child. Write to info@servantsforhaiti.org and we’ll send you a packet of information.)

This is all great news. We are very excited to see people going to great lengths to help our Haitian friends. We are thrilled and humbled to be part of such a great worldwide effort.

Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010:

One member of our team in Haiti returned Sunday night.

Meanwhile progress continues to be made. There was a distribution of water from the school and church yesterday. This should help prepare for the large scale food distribution that World Vision will be doing later in the week. People from SFH and WV met to plan this effort. They have been collecting names of people in the Cite Militaire and Village Solidarite neighborhoods who will be given food. As was mentioned in the previous post, they plan to distribute enough food to feed 5,000 people for a month.

Pastor Rigaud continues to work through the adoption process for the children in the orphanage. While four children have made it to the US, we hope that more can find their permanent homes soon.

Church was held on Sunday, just one service at 6:30 AM. There were 1,000 in the congregation, compared to the usual 3,000.

Wednesday, Feb 3, 2010:

Behind every great man is… his mother. In this case we’re talking about Pastor Rigaud Antoine’s mother. For those of you who are unaware, Pastor Rigaud is the driving force behind the CJRA school and Kingdom Kids orphanage. His mother is an amazing presence at any time, but she has truly stepped up in this disaster.

Meanwhile, our team is searching for additional sources of food for the people living there.

Thursday, Feb 4, 2010:

We have been able to buy food to supply “Grandma’s Tent City” (see previous post). People in the neighborhood of KKO have also been fed with food purchased by SFH.

World Vision arrived today and distributed food boxes to 1700 people in Village Solidarite, using the school as a base. They will give out the same amount each of the next two days.

One of the two people from SFH that are in Haiti is planning to return today.

Tuesday, Feb 9, 2010:

The three team members have all returned to the US.

Things are going as well as can be expected down at the school and orphanage. Thank God, we still have not heard of any serious casualties among the people we work with or serve there. With the exodus of people to the countryside, it may be a long time before we know the fate of all our friends. Some we may never know about.

Pastor Rigaud is still doing what he can to expedite adoptions. Food, water, and medical care are still in short supply. People are still living in tents, uncertain about their future.

Of one thing they can be sure. Servants for Haiti will always care and will be there for them if at all possible. We plan to send another small team as soon as commercial flights to Haiti resume.

Your help will go a long way to ensuring that we are doing as much as we can. In return for your generosity, we pledge our greatest efforts to help the children and all people of Haiti.

God bless you all…