Hello loyal supporters!
We are preparing for our trip to Haiti on Feb 4-Feb 13. Our team of 5 has been meeting for a couple months now and we are 6 weeks out from our trip. We are getting to know each other and learning more about the Lord and His calling for us in Haiti as we go. It is so clear to all of us that He wants us in Haiti. Let me tell you a little about each of the team members:
Scott- Scott is a 43 year old that has worked with Jr. High Boys in our church for years. He was our son, Brad's, team leader and Brad respects him a lot. His calling to this team came from a request I made to Scott and his wife, Sue to look into the opportunities that MGEFC had for 2011 for missions trips. They went to all of the meetings that outline the trips and decided that Scott would not only go to Haiti but he would join his wife this summer in Poland also! Scott is a researcher and is out to find us the best deals on our gear we need to take into Haiti. He is so far the quiet one of the team...but you know what they say about the quiet ones...they are always thinking and I have a feeling that in the field he will be anything but quiet.
Andrea-Andrea is 37 years old and works in the nursery at church. She is also a teacher so when she heard about a trip to Haiti, it didn't take long for the Lord's tugging to become a reality for her. She is excited to get into Haiti and pour God's love out upon the children of Haiti. The orphans is the first thing she talked about when she inquired about the trip. Andrea is NOT quiet and she is a workhorse! She asks for tasks before they are given to her and she is the first to volunteer her time and talents for the team.
Paul-Paul is the oldest member of our team at age 60 but with his age comes wisdom. He is a historian and has become somewhat of a scribe for our team. He takes notes and saves everything he comes across to share with the group. He is a former construction business owner and his skills in this area will be invaluable to the team and the field. Paul actually has felt the calling to go to Haiti since the earthquake happened in January of 2010. He has followed God's calling. His knowledge of the word is a blessing to us all.
Rob-Rob is also a former construction business owner. He turns 54 a few days before we leave. As stated previously in this blog, Rob was in Haiti 3 weeks after the quake hit in January and is already aware of what is going on down there and has kept up on the recent happenings in Haiti also. Rob is our fearless leader and is helping us all to trust God to get us into and out of Haiti safely.
Jackie-Jackie will turn 51 the day we get back from Haiti. She is the "talker" of the group. Her motto is "there are not strangers on earth, just people she hasn't met yet". She has also kept up with what is happening in Haiti through contacts at EFCA missions and the news. Jackie loves to spend time with people and has a heart for lost people of all nations.
Now for our HUGE prayer request! There has been much civil unrest in Haiti due to a presidential election that many Haitian's feel was unfair. Another election is to take place the first part of January. Due to this the EFCA has canceled or rerouted all trips to Haiti for the month of January. They have not canceled February trips because they feel that the unrest should be done by the end of January and we should be able to go down and continue with God's work in Haiti. Our request is that the unrest in Haiti subside so that we can get in there and continue with our trip as planned. If we don't go to Haiti, we will most likely be rerouted to another field as directed by the EFCA. We all want to do God's will and all feel called to Haiti. Please pray that God calms the hearts of the Haitians so they can begin to rebuild their country. Pray like warriors!!!!!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
God calling to Haiti again
Last March when Rob came home from Haiti he said..."I'll be back there". There is so much work to do that he knew he'd be back. Well, the time has come for Rob to go back to Haiti but this time I will join him along with 3 other people from our church, Maple Grove Evangelical Free Church. We will be doing a variety of things such as helping with shelter homes, doing a VBS at an orphanage or 2...or 3, loving on children, doing a Sunday school class at a church, helping out around the house and whatever else God calls us to do.
We do have a few prayer requests right now. One is that the civil unrest in Haiti come to an end so that we can go down and do the work that God has requested. A few trips to the EFCA Touch Global base have been canceled due to unrest. We will not go to Haiti if the staff on the ground feel that it is not safe for us to go...we would however then go to where ever Touch Global sends us. A couple options would be the Dominican Republic or New Orleans. Pray for us to have open hearts and open minds as to where God ends up sending us. Another prayer request is that everyone can get their funds raised. Most support letters have gone out and we have had a fundraiser already. Pray for unity on our team and for the health of our team both now and as we go on our trip. Lastly pray that God would prepare the hearts of our team members and the people we will be ministering too and with.
The journey is not over...far from it! God has us walking in His wisdom not ours. And we will obey.
We do have a few prayer requests right now. One is that the civil unrest in Haiti come to an end so that we can go down and do the work that God has requested. A few trips to the EFCA Touch Global base have been canceled due to unrest. We will not go to Haiti if the staff on the ground feel that it is not safe for us to go...we would however then go to where ever Touch Global sends us. A couple options would be the Dominican Republic or New Orleans. Pray for us to have open hearts and open minds as to where God ends up sending us. Another prayer request is that everyone can get their funds raised. Most support letters have gone out and we have had a fundraiser already. Pray for unity on our team and for the health of our team both now and as we go on our trip. Lastly pray that God would prepare the hearts of our team members and the people we will be ministering too and with.
The journey is not over...far from it! God has us walking in His wisdom not ours. And we will obey.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Wonderful times with friends in Brazil
Vanderlei and Elemar
We had an amazing time in Brazil with 2 churches in Brazil! Our first weekend was spent with our friends in Campo Grande at the home of Pr. Vanderlei and Elemar. What an amazing God loving couple they are. They had a young lady named Stefani living with them to help her out and Elemar was so loving to her. This little lady needs the love of Jesus so badly and Elemar was able to be the hands and feet of Jesus and minister to her. We are blessed to call this couple friends. We went to the newly formed men's and women's groups where Jackie gave a short message on Romans 12. What a great time of prayer and fellowship. They spent a good deal of the time in prayer over the child of one of the members that is struggling. This group was formed to help the women come together to support each other and to study the bible. They also had the most amazing food!
We spent a lot of time sitting around the kitchen table eating and talking. Elemar speaks a little English and Jackie speaks a little Portuguese and the guys both talk in hand signals but we seemed to communicate just fine! That was a huge concern for us but God broke down that barrier with translators and language skills. Bianca and Thiago were a huge help in translating for us. I don't know what we would have done without them!
Thiago
Bianca and Rob
Church is held in Vanderlei and Elemar's Home. Fabricio did a wonderful sermon and there was fellowship and snacks after the service. We sang songs we knew and some we didn't. It was so awesome to be in communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Campo Grande. They are very close to our hearts.
Dinner our last day in Campo Grande. Vanderlei, Myllena, Stefani, Rob and Elemar.
*************************************************************************************
Our next few days were spent on a renewal for Rob and I. Originally, we were going to be taking a missionary couple on a retreat during this time but due to unforeseen circumstances they had to leave Brazil before we got there. So this gave us time to renew our relationship with each other and with God. We enjoyed our Pousada (similar to a bed and breakfast), the ocean and the food! We met some local people and took a long walk around a golf course (yes I said golf course) just before dark and ended up not getting out of there until after dark. Some scary animal growled at us from the forest and we were later told it was probably a wild pig....and they are not happy campers when it comes to humans invading their territory!
Here are a few pictures of our time together in Angra dos Reis.
**************************************************************************************
From Angra we drove back up to the Rio area to Niteroi. Niteroi has a thriving church of about 150 people. Pr. Moises and Fabiane were our hosts for this weekend.
<- Pr. Moises and Fabiane We spent time touring Niteroi and a really awesome Fort built during the colonization of Brazil. Niteroi is a huge city right next to Rio De Janiero City. It's next to the bay and the points of land around the bay form a natural encampment for protection of the two cities from the enemies. The famous Sugar Loaf and the Christ Statue were both visible from the Fort. The tour was given by a member of the Brazilian Army as this is a working Fort where barracks are set up for the troups. Moises and Fabiane were great tour guides! Below are a few pictures from the Fort and dinner before.
Moises and Gabriel with a server and Chicken hearts on the right...Rob's Favorite!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The church was putting a new ceiling in the facility while we were there and we helped to clean up for a Sunday evening service. Rob was able to give his testimony and share the message with the congregation for that service. During the service a young lady came up to rededicate her life to the Lord. Everyone prayer over her and you could feel the power of the Holy Spirit moving in the room. After church 2 women make a few Brazilian treats to sell to purchase kitchen equipment for the church. The items are awesome and really hit the spot after service.
<- Ceiling tile being "mudded". Father and son ->
work together washing chairs in the
church
Yes, That is a power washer they are washing the floor with and the pews. Everything was then squeegeed off of the floor and the pews were wiped down. This is in the upstairs of a building so the water went downstairs and they then power washed the stairs and the sidewalk out in front of the store below the church. So many people showed up to help out to get the church cleaned up for services that night. Was amazing to watch the body of Christ work together.
A trip to Niteroi just isn't the same without a Pr. Moises Churrasco (Brazilian Barbeque) and wonderful salad and dessert by
Fabiane!
Two Women that sell the snacks
Getting ready for Sunday evening service
We had an amazing time in Brazil with 2 churches in Brazil! Our first weekend was spent with our friends in Campo Grande at the home of Pr. Vanderlei and Elemar. What an amazing God loving couple they are. They had a young lady named Stefani living with them to help her out and Elemar was so loving to her. This little lady needs the love of Jesus so badly and Elemar was able to be the hands and feet of Jesus and minister to her. We are blessed to call this couple friends. We went to the newly formed men's and women's groups where Jackie gave a short message on Romans 12. What a great time of prayer and fellowship. They spent a good deal of the time in prayer over the child of one of the members that is struggling. This group was formed to help the women come together to support each other and to study the bible. They also had the most amazing food!
We spent a lot of time sitting around the kitchen table eating and talking. Elemar speaks a little English and Jackie speaks a little Portuguese and the guys both talk in hand signals but we seemed to communicate just fine! That was a huge concern for us but God broke down that barrier with translators and language skills. Bianca and Thiago were a huge help in translating for us. I don't know what we would have done without them!
Thiago
Bianca and Rob
Church is held in Vanderlei and Elemar's Home. Fabricio did a wonderful sermon and there was fellowship and snacks after the service. We sang songs we knew and some we didn't. It was so awesome to be in communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Campo Grande. They are very close to our hearts.
Dinner our last day in Campo Grande. Vanderlei, Myllena, Stefani, Rob and Elemar.
*************************************************************************************
Our next few days were spent on a renewal for Rob and I. Originally, we were going to be taking a missionary couple on a retreat during this time but due to unforeseen circumstances they had to leave Brazil before we got there. So this gave us time to renew our relationship with each other and with God. We enjoyed our Pousada (similar to a bed and breakfast), the ocean and the food! We met some local people and took a long walk around a golf course (yes I said golf course) just before dark and ended up not getting out of there until after dark. Some scary animal growled at us from the forest and we were later told it was probably a wild pig....and they are not happy campers when it comes to humans invading their territory!
Here are a few pictures of our time together in Angra dos Reis.
**************************************************************************************
From Angra we drove back up to the Rio area to Niteroi. Niteroi has a thriving church of about 150 people. Pr. Moises and Fabiane were our hosts for this weekend.
<- Pr. Moises and Fabiane We spent time touring Niteroi and a really awesome Fort built during the colonization of Brazil. Niteroi is a huge city right next to Rio De Janiero City. It's next to the bay and the points of land around the bay form a natural encampment for protection of the two cities from the enemies. The famous Sugar Loaf and the Christ Statue were both visible from the Fort. The tour was given by a member of the Brazilian Army as this is a working Fort where barracks are set up for the troups. Moises and Fabiane were great tour guides! Below are a few pictures from the Fort and dinner before.
Moises and Gabriel with a server and Chicken hearts on the right...Rob's Favorite!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The church was putting a new ceiling in the facility while we were there and we helped to clean up for a Sunday evening service. Rob was able to give his testimony and share the message with the congregation for that service. During the service a young lady came up to rededicate her life to the Lord. Everyone prayer over her and you could feel the power of the Holy Spirit moving in the room. After church 2 women make a few Brazilian treats to sell to purchase kitchen equipment for the church. The items are awesome and really hit the spot after service.
<- Ceiling tile being "mudded". Father and son ->
work together washing chairs in the
church
Yes, That is a power washer they are washing the floor with and the pews. Everything was then squeegeed off of the floor and the pews were wiped down. This is in the upstairs of a building so the water went downstairs and they then power washed the stairs and the sidewalk out in front of the store below the church. So many people showed up to help out to get the church cleaned up for services that night. Was amazing to watch the body of Christ work together.
A trip to Niteroi just isn't the same without a Pr. Moises Churrasco (Brazilian Barbeque) and wonderful salad and dessert byFabiane!
Two Women that sell the snacks
Getting ready for Sunday evening service
Monday, August 9, 2010
Prayer letter for Brazil 2010
August 8, 2010
Dear Friends and Family,
As many of you know, Rob and I have been working in missions at our church, Maple Grove Evangelical Free Church for several years now. We have been to Brazil, Peru, Poland, New Orleans and Haiti between the two of us. The Lord has called us to many areas to do so many things and we feel so blessed to be used by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to carry the message of hope around the world.
We again have been called by God to go to Brazil. We will be leaving on September 23, 2010 and returning on October 4, 2010. This trip is a little different than our other trips in that we will be going alone. We are the “team”. We will be going down to love on the missionaries and to care for them, pray with them and let them know that they are loved and supported. That is our number one goal of this trip. Our secondary goal is to visit the ministries we have been involved in in the past and bring our love to them and to see where God is working and calling the Brazil mission for the future.
The field missionaries have been given some wonderful opportunities to minister to the some of the poorest people in Rio De Janeiro recently. These people live in what we would consider slums. They live in small shacks made of whatever they can find on the streets. The children are recruited at a young age to help in the drug trade and many fall into sin without knowing what they have gotten themselves into. Our missionaries are teaching English at a school in one area, ministering to those young people in another area, and doing outreach and evangelism in several of the worst areas of Rio and the people there are accepting them and are asking for prayer on a daily basis. God is working in amazing ways in these new ministries. The blog that will explain more in detail about these ministries is http://droogsmanews.blogspot.com/
We are writing to ask you to be on our prayer team. The specific requests we have at this time are the following:
1. That hearts in Brazil will be opened even now before we arrive.
2. That the details of our trip will come together
3. That our time with the missionaries will be one of renewal and fellowship and that we can bring the love of Christ to them.
4. For safety in our travels to, from and around Brazil.
5. For the in-country team to feel that we will not be a burden but be a blessing.
6. That all the details for Brad’s care while we are gone will come together.
Let us know if you are interested in being on our prayer team. We want and need your prayers.
Blessings to you all!
Rob and Jackie Passer
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Dear Friends and Family,
As many of you know, Rob and I have been working in missions at our church, Maple Grove Evangelical Free Church for several years now. We have been to Brazil, Peru, Poland, New Orleans and Haiti between the two of us. The Lord has called us to many areas to do so many things and we feel so blessed to be used by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to carry the message of hope around the world.
We again have been called by God to go to Brazil. We will be leaving on September 23, 2010 and returning on October 4, 2010. This trip is a little different than our other trips in that we will be going alone. We are the “team”. We will be going down to love on the missionaries and to care for them, pray with them and let them know that they are loved and supported. That is our number one goal of this trip. Our secondary goal is to visit the ministries we have been involved in in the past and bring our love to them and to see where God is working and calling the Brazil mission for the future.
The field missionaries have been given some wonderful opportunities to minister to the some of the poorest people in Rio De Janeiro recently. These people live in what we would consider slums. They live in small shacks made of whatever they can find on the streets. The children are recruited at a young age to help in the drug trade and many fall into sin without knowing what they have gotten themselves into. Our missionaries are teaching English at a school in one area, ministering to those young people in another area, and doing outreach and evangelism in several of the worst areas of Rio and the people there are accepting them and are asking for prayer on a daily basis. God is working in amazing ways in these new ministries. The blog that will explain more in detail about these ministries is http://droogsmanews.blogspot.com/
We are writing to ask you to be on our prayer team. The specific requests we have at this time are the following:
1. That hearts in Brazil will be opened even now before we arrive.
2. That the details of our trip will come together
3. That our time with the missionaries will be one of renewal and fellowship and that we can bring the love of Christ to them.
4. For safety in our travels to, from and around Brazil.
5. For the in-country team to feel that we will not be a burden but be a blessing.
6. That all the details for Brad’s care while we are gone will come together.
Let us know if you are interested in being on our prayer team. We want and need your prayers.
Blessings to you all!
Rob and Jackie Passer
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Cap Haitian Hilton
Hi Everyone
I want to thank you for all of your support and prayer while I was in Haiti. I have made it home. I landed about 11:30 last night after a long two days. It started at 5:30 Monday morning driving to the airport in Port-au-Prince. We got there after about getting smashed by two big trucks. Thats the closest I have been to death in a long time. We got to the airport at 7:30 AM. There were eight of us so we took two planes over to Cape Haitian. The plane I was in wouldn't leave the airport until the first plane landed and radioed back to let our pilot know if they could land or not as the weather can be bad this time of year as far as the fog goes. So we got confirmation and took off and landed just in time to catch our next flight to Ft. Lauderdale. We had to run in to get checked in. Well Bimini Airline's big airplane had some trouble so they brought a smaller plane. Well this plane could only take 19 people and yes I was number 20. So I was left in Cape Haitian and they told me they were trying to get me on another fight that left in an hour. Well the other airlines wouldn't work with them and after sitting around the airport till 3:00 P.M. they said they were going to have to put me up in a hotel and maybe I could fly out tomorrow. Well I'll tell you what this was a 5 star hotel. You will all be lining up for this one.
Bathroom facilities
Bedroom with Box Springs...no mattresses?
Last Meal in Haiti
View from the Veranda
Enjoying the pool!
Our ride back to the USA...
There was no toilet paper. There was no shower head, just a pipe sticking out the wall. There was no mattress just box springs. The TV didn't work. And no lights. I don't even think they had electricity. But they called all night to see if I was alright. Makes you wonder what kind of neighborhood it was. They said about 8:00 pm that they had a plane for me at 10:00 AM and they would pick me up at 7:00 am. So I was back at the airport at 7:30 after a wonderful night to sit and wait till 10:00 AM for my flight. Well at about 9:00 AM they said it would be noon and it finally did happen at 12:00. My plane landed to take the 5 people that didn't have a seat on yesterday's fight back to the U.S.. It was a twin prop 8 seater with absolutely no leg room and it would be a 4 hour fight back to the States. I'm glad I'm not any taller I wouldn't even have gotten in the seat. Thank goodness we had to stop in the Bahamas to get fuel so we could get out and stretch and go to the bathroom...only two more hours. It was 2:30 PM when we pulled out of there and I had to catch my plane out of Ft Lauderdale at 5:30 and we were due into Fort Lauderdale 4:30. I had to go through customs, get across the airport, get a boarding pass, go through security and to the gate in an hour and I forgot go to the bathroom. Well I made it with enough time to stop at a deli to grab a sandwich as I hadn't eaten anything yet and was starved. I reached the gate to load the plane and eat on the plane. Then we had an hour delay in Detroit cause of an ice storm in Atlanta. But I made it home at 11:30 last night and am feeling mighty grateful for everything about my life and life itself.
Thanks for being there with me and believe me I could feel your prayer with me and couldn't have done it without you.
Thanks and God Bless you
Rob
I want to thank you for all of your support and prayer while I was in Haiti. I have made it home. I landed about 11:30 last night after a long two days. It started at 5:30 Monday morning driving to the airport in Port-au-Prince. We got there after about getting smashed by two big trucks. Thats the closest I have been to death in a long time. We got to the airport at 7:30 AM. There were eight of us so we took two planes over to Cape Haitian. The plane I was in wouldn't leave the airport until the first plane landed and radioed back to let our pilot know if they could land or not as the weather can be bad this time of year as far as the fog goes. So we got confirmation and took off and landed just in time to catch our next flight to Ft. Lauderdale. We had to run in to get checked in. Well Bimini Airline's big airplane had some trouble so they brought a smaller plane. Well this plane could only take 19 people and yes I was number 20. So I was left in Cape Haitian and they told me they were trying to get me on another fight that left in an hour. Well the other airlines wouldn't work with them and after sitting around the airport till 3:00 P.M. they said they were going to have to put me up in a hotel and maybe I could fly out tomorrow. Well I'll tell you what this was a 5 star hotel. You will all be lining up for this one.
Bathroom facilities
Bedroom with Box Springs...no mattresses?
Last Meal in Haiti
View from the Veranda
Enjoying the pool!
Our ride back to the USA...
There was no toilet paper. There was no shower head, just a pipe sticking out the wall. There was no mattress just box springs. The TV didn't work. And no lights. I don't even think they had electricity. But they called all night to see if I was alright. Makes you wonder what kind of neighborhood it was. They said about 8:00 pm that they had a plane for me at 10:00 AM and they would pick me up at 7:00 am. So I was back at the airport at 7:30 after a wonderful night to sit and wait till 10:00 AM for my flight. Well at about 9:00 AM they said it would be noon and it finally did happen at 12:00. My plane landed to take the 5 people that didn't have a seat on yesterday's fight back to the U.S.. It was a twin prop 8 seater with absolutely no leg room and it would be a 4 hour fight back to the States. I'm glad I'm not any taller I wouldn't even have gotten in the seat. Thank goodness we had to stop in the Bahamas to get fuel so we could get out and stretch and go to the bathroom...only two more hours. It was 2:30 PM when we pulled out of there and I had to catch my plane out of Ft Lauderdale at 5:30 and we were due into Fort Lauderdale 4:30. I had to go through customs, get across the airport, get a boarding pass, go through security and to the gate in an hour and I forgot go to the bathroom. Well I made it with enough time to stop at a deli to grab a sandwich as I hadn't eaten anything yet and was starved. I reached the gate to load the plane and eat on the plane. Then we had an hour delay in Detroit cause of an ice storm in Atlanta. But I made it home at 11:30 last night and am feeling mighty grateful for everything about my life and life itself.
Thanks for being there with me and believe me I could feel your prayer with me and couldn't have done it without you.
Thanks and God Bless you
Rob
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Winding down in Haiti
Well things are winding down for me in Haiti. We have really gotten a lot accomplished, but there is so much to do. The house after tomorrow night will be able to sleep 12 people and the two bunk houses can sleep 32 more. That is a lot of people down here to do the Lord's work. We put up these 24' x 16' Bunk houses for about $1200.00 US a piece. These would make great houses for these people and we are having a lot of people stopping and watching us. They probably have never seen construction like this. We may be starting a new trend. They do have termites but you can paint under the floor with diesel fuel and that will last a long time. Then you can call the exterminator (Ha!).
You know it is and has been really hard to not be doing something for the people that need so much. But I am only one person and I can only do what I can do and this is what God had me doing and now 44 people can come down and do what I wish I could do. But how much more 44 people can do than I could ever dream of doing. So I did my part and am thankful and blessed to do it. And now the people will also be blessed 44 times greater. Cool isn't it. Now if YOU would like to experience the mission trip of a life time, this place is going to be awesome. I cannot wait to see what God is going to be doing down here. It is already happening in the relationships that have been formed. The presence of the Holy Spirit is so strong you can feel it everywhere.
Even though the people look so sad they are really friendly and are really good people. They just are stuck in a world that has no guidelines. By the government or anyone. It is really sad that there is so much going against them and yet they do not blame the Lord, they are just the opposite. They are praising the Lord and I think we can all take lessons from them. I really feel God is going to make some major changes here and it is going to be exciting to see.
God bless you all
Rob
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Could use some prayers-began on Tuesday 2/23
Hey all
We have all had a rough last two nights. If you could please say a few prayers tonight that the earth could be calm tonight. We all are exhausted and need some rest. Two nights ago at 4:00 am we had a 4.7 earthquake or after shock. That started our day a bit earlier then we intended. We all were standing out side after running out of this house trying to calm our nerves. Then we went inside and had our breakfast. There was a little talk all day about the security of being inside and maybe the Haitians are outside for a reason. Well Last night we had another wake up call at about 2:30 AM and it pretty much rumbled all night and I believe we had at least six tremors and then another one at breakfast about 7:00 AM. Well today (Tuesday) we spent the day putting up temporary housing for us outside. Tomorrow we will be putting up some frame work that will last for future teams. We had 7 more people come in today so now we have 15 people here. 2 of which will be helping with the construction. One is to take my place. I am excited to pass the baton along because it has been challenging to say the least as everything has had to be repaired in some way, shape or form in the whole house and I am just exhausted. And then not to be able to sleep just added to the frustration. But as a whole, the team has hung in there and we have stuck together and under these circumstances that is God and his presence here and each and everyone of us is here because God asked us to come down here to help the Haitian people. And we all are here for His purpose and His purpose alone and He will take care of us. In my devotions yesterday morning I was reading Philippians 1:20 and 21 "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, But will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me." I love to be here and I know this is where I am suppose to be. But this passage gave me peace about being here. But it is still unnerving when the earth is shaking under you. Just as Peter felt when he was walking on the water and he was in the presence of Jesus. We all have our faith put to the test.
Wednesday night now....Well the generator got shut off and this didn't get sent out in time. So this is the next night and we all prayed before we went to bed for a calm night so we could get some rest and God answered our prayers. Amen. We all got a good night sleep. But we continue to build outside. Had a little tremor about an hour ago. Hope its not another rough night.
The guys are doing an awesome job. There is a lot of switching from one job to another, and about face. And they have done great, very flexible if you can't do change its hard to go on a mission trip. You have to be flexible it's Gods plan and His agenda and sometimes we don't understand it but we need to go with it. It always turns out in the end and you sit back and say Wow did you see what God did? It is awesome to see every time and I never get tired of it. Well I need to get this out tonight so you can be praying.
Thanks for praying
Rob
We have all had a rough last two nights. If you could please say a few prayers tonight that the earth could be calm tonight. We all are exhausted and need some rest. Two nights ago at 4:00 am we had a 4.7 earthquake or after shock. That started our day a bit earlier then we intended. We all were standing out side after running out of this house trying to calm our nerves. Then we went inside and had our breakfast. There was a little talk all day about the security of being inside and maybe the Haitians are outside for a reason. Well Last night we had another wake up call at about 2:30 AM and it pretty much rumbled all night and I believe we had at least six tremors and then another one at breakfast about 7:00 AM. Well today (Tuesday) we spent the day putting up temporary housing for us outside. Tomorrow we will be putting up some frame work that will last for future teams. We had 7 more people come in today so now we have 15 people here. 2 of which will be helping with the construction. One is to take my place. I am excited to pass the baton along because it has been challenging to say the least as everything has had to be repaired in some way, shape or form in the whole house and I am just exhausted. And then not to be able to sleep just added to the frustration. But as a whole, the team has hung in there and we have stuck together and under these circumstances that is God and his presence here and each and everyone of us is here because God asked us to come down here to help the Haitian people. And we all are here for His purpose and His purpose alone and He will take care of us. In my devotions yesterday morning I was reading Philippians 1:20 and 21 "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, But will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me." I love to be here and I know this is where I am suppose to be. But this passage gave me peace about being here. But it is still unnerving when the earth is shaking under you. Just as Peter felt when he was walking on the water and he was in the presence of Jesus. We all have our faith put to the test.
Wednesday night now....Well the generator got shut off and this didn't get sent out in time. So this is the next night and we all prayed before we went to bed for a calm night so we could get some rest and God answered our prayers. Amen. We all got a good night sleep. But we continue to build outside. Had a little tremor about an hour ago. Hope its not another rough night.
The guys are doing an awesome job. There is a lot of switching from one job to another, and about face. And they have done great, very flexible if you can't do change its hard to go on a mission trip. You have to be flexible it's Gods plan and His agenda and sometimes we don't understand it but we need to go with it. It always turns out in the end and you sit back and say Wow did you see what God did? It is awesome to see every time and I never get tired of it. Well I need to get this out tonight so you can be praying.
Thanks for praying
Rob
Monday, February 22, 2010
"Wanted you to hear before you watched the news"
This is Jackie, I received a phone call from Rob this morning. There was another earthquake in Haiti at 4:00 AM this morning. The entire team is safe. He said it was really scary. Everyone bolted out of bed and ran outside. There was no damage to the house they are living in or no damage to the new construction on the upstairs of the house. He said he imaged that buildings in PaP that were already falling down or close did fall. He said the epicenter was close to where they are. PLEASE keep praying for safely for the team.
This is what was on a "The Strait Times" website this morning.
"A MODERATE 4.7 earthquake hit the Haiti region early Monday, the US government reported.
The epicenter of the tremor, which occurred at 4.36am (0936 GMT, 5.36pm Singapore time), was located in the sea 35 kilometers west of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, according to the US Geological Survey.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage."
This is what was on a "The Strait Times" website this morning.
"A MODERATE 4.7 earthquake hit the Haiti region early Monday, the US government reported.
The epicenter of the tremor, which occurred at 4.36am (0936 GMT, 5.36pm Singapore time), was located in the sea 35 kilometers west of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, according to the US Geological Survey.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage."
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Hard work paying off
Hi Everyone,
I would like to thank you for all your prayers. Things are starting to turn around a little now. We are getting a lot accomplished on the house we were having so much troubled with getting electricity to the house that I finally had to tear it all apart and start over. There was so much junk in the breaker box it was unbelievable. There were #10 wires running into # 8 wires and back to #10. There were no wire nuts on anything. There were little jumper wires all over the place and we were probably only getting half the power that the generator was putting out into the house. I got it all cleaned up and now I have 240 running into the house instead of 120 and we aren't blowing breakers any more. After getting into it though the job just keep growing and growing so now I have to rewire the solar panel system cause we should be getting a lot more out of it. Will be doing that tomorrow.
The block work is coming along great. Four guys from Massachucets came down and we hired three guys from down here and they are moving! It should be ready for the rafters by the end of the week.
We went to Chistianville to church this morning and we ran into one of the eye doctors named Frank very nice man. He is a Haitian and he offered to translate the service for us so we sat in back and he did an awesome job. They had a great service. The people are so nice it isn't as dangerous as we expected but just the opposite. They are so grateful that we are down here to help them.
Mike Gunderson and the ladies went to town and had a day with about seventy kids on Saturday. They told a Bible story and played a bunch of games. The kids had a ball. I brought a bunch of cards that the kids at MGEFC made for the kids down here they handed out the cards and they really enjoyed them. They are off to do it again tomorrow with another bunch and I believe they are doing it on Tuesday also. I think the groups are supposed to be bigger this week. Please pray for them that the kids can just have a little time to be kids and to forget about the chaos in their lives.
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Well we did some touring today to get the work crew out and to see some sights.
I have to close now it is almost 10:00 PM and we need to turn the generator off and I need to send this first.
Blessings,
Rob
I would like to thank you for all your prayers. Things are starting to turn around a little now. We are getting a lot accomplished on the house we were having so much troubled with getting electricity to the house that I finally had to tear it all apart and start over. There was so much junk in the breaker box it was unbelievable. There were #10 wires running into # 8 wires and back to #10. There were no wire nuts on anything. There were little jumper wires all over the place and we were probably only getting half the power that the generator was putting out into the house. I got it all cleaned up and now I have 240 running into the house instead of 120 and we aren't blowing breakers any more. After getting into it though the job just keep growing and growing so now I have to rewire the solar panel system cause we should be getting a lot more out of it. Will be doing that tomorrow.
The block work is coming along great. Four guys from Massachucets came down and we hired three guys from down here and they are moving! It should be ready for the rafters by the end of the week.
We went to Chistianville to church this morning and we ran into one of the eye doctors named Frank very nice man. He is a Haitian and he offered to translate the service for us so we sat in back and he did an awesome job. They had a great service. The people are so nice it isn't as dangerous as we expected but just the opposite. They are so grateful that we are down here to help them.
Mike Gunderson and the ladies went to town and had a day with about seventy kids on Saturday. They told a Bible story and played a bunch of games. The kids had a ball. I brought a bunch of cards that the kids at MGEFC made for the kids down here they handed out the cards and they really enjoyed them. They are off to do it again tomorrow with another bunch and I believe they are doing it on Tuesday also. I think the groups are supposed to be bigger this week. Please pray for them that the kids can just have a little time to be kids and to forget about the chaos in their lives.
.JPG)
Well we did some touring today to get the work crew out and to see some sights.
I have to close now it is almost 10:00 PM and we need to turn the generator off and I need to send this first.
Blessings,
Rob
Thursday, February 18, 2010
In the Hands of God
Hi everyone
Another couple days have gone by and need to keep in touch. It feels like I have been here a life time. Yesterday our driver had to take a couple guys to the airport so I rode along. We already burned up a generator so I needed to pick up a new one and the batteries were shot on the solar electric and would not hold a charge so I needed to get some new batteries. Well I started at 7:15 am and got back at 6:00 pm. These are the roads I have to drive on and getting worse every day.
.JPG)
This is actually one of the paved roads which are one of the best. Most of them are gravel and there is so much dust from all the shattered blocks and concrete. The traffic is stop and go everywhere except early in the morning. No one is doing any road work that I have seen yet. In front of the UN station where they are handing out food it is just deep holes and gravel road. We have been getting rain at night the last 3 nights so now it’s just mud holes that are filled with water andit is a mess. I have seen trucks with the whole wheel ripped right off the vehicle. You can't see what is under the water. What a road grader could do in about four hours there.
At the UN food stations all the ladies are in a line that goes for at least a mile and all the men are on the other side off the road waiting. They have to wait for hours. I heard two days ago they had run out of food. How would you like to be the person in the front when they said they were out of food after standing there for hours in the hot sun? It is really hot and humid about 95 during the days and they say this is their winter. They say you don't even want to be here in August.
Anyways, it took us 4 hours to get to the airport and then the hardware store. I got the replacement batteries for the solar electric and paid too much. We needed to get some equipment and some hardware. I couldn't even get a power saw anywhere. I needed a 24' extension ladder and they wanted $560.00 so I guess we will do without until our container gets here. We are having a container shipped full of tools and equipment that arrives next Friday. We need a lot of prayers that we can get it without paying a lot of money. Everyone says if you don't have connections it will cost you a lot of money to get it out of the ship yard because they are really crooked and they can get the money. Well we only have one connection, God, and he can close eyes and that big container will slip right past them. So keep that in your prayers. I found a 2500 generator for $1250.00, unbelievable, since I think it may cost $450.00 in the States. I kept looking and ran across a 6700 diesel for $1800 so I had to buy it, way too much money but we needed it since the last generator that was smaller only lasted four days. Anyway I finally got home after that all day process. Today I got the batteries installed and the generator hooked up and it runs great. I am hoping we can use the generator very little now that we have new batteries. I will know by tomorrow.
Yesterday I was in the part of town up in the hills that was really hit hard. There were a lot of buildings that are now graves. They can't get the people out and have left them so I'm not sure what they are going to do but it was very sad. I went past a school that everyone in it was killed. A big apartment building where several died. And that big market where hundreds were killed and some were Americans. The car was very quiet as we drive down the street where there building after building had fallen down.
We are getting a lot done around the house. We are getting walls put up on the second floor. We are putting up 3 shower stalls in the back yard. Got 9 bunk beds built. I think we should be able to house over forty people here within the next three weeks. It is very exciting.
In the hands of God
Rob
Another couple days have gone by and need to keep in touch. It feels like I have been here a life time. Yesterday our driver had to take a couple guys to the airport so I rode along. We already burned up a generator so I needed to pick up a new one and the batteries were shot on the solar electric and would not hold a charge so I needed to get some new batteries. Well I started at 7:15 am and got back at 6:00 pm. These are the roads I have to drive on and getting worse every day.
.JPG)
This is actually one of the paved roads which are one of the best. Most of them are gravel and there is so much dust from all the shattered blocks and concrete. The traffic is stop and go everywhere except early in the morning. No one is doing any road work that I have seen yet. In front of the UN station where they are handing out food it is just deep holes and gravel road. We have been getting rain at night the last 3 nights so now it’s just mud holes that are filled with water andit is a mess. I have seen trucks with the whole wheel ripped right off the vehicle. You can't see what is under the water. What a road grader could do in about four hours there.
At the UN food stations all the ladies are in a line that goes for at least a mile and all the men are on the other side off the road waiting. They have to wait for hours. I heard two days ago they had run out of food. How would you like to be the person in the front when they said they were out of food after standing there for hours in the hot sun? It is really hot and humid about 95 during the days and they say this is their winter. They say you don't even want to be here in August.
Anyways, it took us 4 hours to get to the airport and then the hardware store. I got the replacement batteries for the solar electric and paid too much. We needed to get some equipment and some hardware. I couldn't even get a power saw anywhere. I needed a 24' extension ladder and they wanted $560.00 so I guess we will do without until our container gets here. We are having a container shipped full of tools and equipment that arrives next Friday. We need a lot of prayers that we can get it without paying a lot of money. Everyone says if you don't have connections it will cost you a lot of money to get it out of the ship yard because they are really crooked and they can get the money. Well we only have one connection, God, and he can close eyes and that big container will slip right past them. So keep that in your prayers. I found a 2500 generator for $1250.00, unbelievable, since I think it may cost $450.00 in the States. I kept looking and ran across a 6700 diesel for $1800 so I had to buy it, way too much money but we needed it since the last generator that was smaller only lasted four days. Anyway I finally got home after that all day process. Today I got the batteries installed and the generator hooked up and it runs great. I am hoping we can use the generator very little now that we have new batteries. I will know by tomorrow.
Yesterday I was in the part of town up in the hills that was really hit hard. There were a lot of buildings that are now graves. They can't get the people out and have left them so I'm not sure what they are going to do but it was very sad. I went past a school that everyone in it was killed. A big apartment building where several died. And that big market where hundreds were killed and some were Americans. The car was very quiet as we drive down the street where there building after building had fallen down.
We are getting a lot done around the house. We are getting walls put up on the second floor. We are putting up 3 shower stalls in the back yard. Got 9 bunk beds built. I think we should be able to house over forty people here within the next three weeks. It is very exciting.
In the hands of God
Rob
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