All of the icons below are things and places that were affected by January's earthquake in Haiti. Joel and April have been getting a lot of emails about ways in which individuals can help, and they thought this might be a cool way to provide the opportunity to do so. To see more pictures of a specific project, just click on the icon and it will direct you to correct set of pictures. If you are interested in helping out with a specific project, please contact Johnny and Sandra Craft (using the contact page at the top) via e-mail and state which project you would like to help fund. Once somebody has offered to financially support a project, this web page will be updated with that information.
We thank the Lord that the compound did not sustain much damage during the earthquake.
The damage that was done is very fixable and fairly inexpensive. All four corners are falling apart, and will need cement poured in and columns. The addition that we had just added to the walls a few months ago has crumbled as well. It will need to be fixed all the way around.
We also have major damage in the upstairs stair well going to the roof. It will need to be knocked down and rebuilt, and then have some columns put in. It is unsafe to walk through right now. It will not hold many more tremors.
We are really thankful for how the church held up. It is standing, but there is some structural damage. The front wall of the church is cracked majorly in four places, and is really needing to be repaired. The other walls are also showing cracking, mainly near the foundation and some in the corners. We are wanting to put in at least 12 columns for extra support as well. The estimated cost for these projects are $6,397.50.
During the earthquake, our school sustained a lot of damage. A lot of the walls separating the classrooms were broken down, some desk and tables destroyed etc. We were in the process of showing you the damage and need for funds to repair. However, God had a different plan of action! He sent in a team last week to totally rebuild those walls, and build some new school benches for us! He is an awesome God! Thanks to the score team that came in and worked so hard to make this possible!
Basically our needs have been met! We have some things that we have been wanting the school to have since before the earthquake, they are not urgent.
Our teachers are needing desk and to give the walls a chairs in there rooms, they have nowhere to work out of, we are wanting fresh coat of paint, and some other minor things.
Where do we begin. Our church at Leogane is pastured by a elderly gentleman named, Pastor Gilles. He has been there over 30 years being faithful to the call of God to be a missionary to his own people. He lived in a small parsonage on the property, and ran a school of where over 300 children attended, and the church where over 100 attended. As most of you know Leogane was hit the hardest during the earthquake, and our work in leogane lost everything. The house is flat, some of the church walls are standing, but have sustained major damage and will have to brought down. The school is about halfway down, there were no columns in the school building, so most of the walls crumbled. The compound walls are all completely down. Almost every person in the church has lost there home. Four of the congregation were killed, including a 8 year old boy.
Praise the Lord in the last week, God provided a huge 40x140 foot tent to the congregation to live in and have church in. And we were able to find a truckload of MRE’s for the church. We have been collecting clothes from our congregation at Despinos to take out to the people also.
To rebuild this work will take a lot of manpower and funds. It will need to be cleared out first, and then rebuilt. Prayerful consider partnering with us to rebuild this 30 year old work, that has been reaching the lost for Christ.
Unfortunately, we are unable to give any estimates at this point, we are hoping to have a engineer come in and help us to know what our next step is.
This is Boss Wilfred’s Home. He is a good Christian mason worker that lives just down the street. He is responsible for building the upstairs story to the mission house at Despinos. He had been working on his 4 room home for the past year, and was nearing the final stretches when the earthquake came, and his house crumbled to the ground. Now he has to start over. Robertson is another Christian man in the community who's house collapsed in the community.
NON-EARTHQUAKE NEEDS
Here's a list of items sent to me from Joel and April. These are things that they're needing at the Haiti Gospel Mission.
Vehicle: We are in need of a lug wrench and floor jack for the Chevy.
Tents of all sizes
Mosquito nets
Candles
Plastic Dishes
Umbrellas tor raincoats
Towels, wash cloths, dish towels, dish rags.
Clorox wipes for sterilizing
Matches
Vitamins for children & adults
Multi Purpose Building (can be used for teams, bible studies, children services)
Pouring the roof, putting in the electricity, put in bathroom showers, toilets and sinks
Doors
Children's Chapel (used for Children's Church and Chapel)
Expanding walls, pouring cement floor, installing 4 fet forge windows, new tin roof, floating and painting.
Mission Compound House (aka Hess Home, Guest House)
Finish upstairs bathroom (flooring, painting)
Finishing floating on first floor
Kitchen Cabinets
Painting, Ceramic (especially downstairs)
Floating outside, painting
Jesse’s House (aka guest house #2)
Floating walls, ceramic, painting inside and out
Glass windows (6 windows)
Enclosing the entire property with a security wall. (the empty field)
Once this is accomplished, we can plant a garden, raise our own goats and pigs for eating, chickens etc. we would like to become more self sufficient, but our property is open to the public right now.
Our future plan is to possibly open an orphanage, and training school on this properties.
VEHICLE NEED
We cannot thank God enough for our good ole' suburban. This truck has been amazing; it has saved many many lives, running as an ambulance. However it has been very hard to only have this one machine. Our little Mazda has been giving us many problems and during this crisis, we have really been needing another vehicle. Because the suburban was being used as a ambulance at all hours day and night, we have had to rent a car a few times, which is very expensive. The mission is in great need of another vehicle, so that much can be accomplished. Help us pray for the needed funds for a second vehicle
Multi Purpose Building (can be used for teams, bible studies, children services)
Pouring the roof, putting in the electricity, put in bathroom showers, toilets and sinks
Doors
Children’s Chapel (used for children’s church and chapel)
Expanding walls, pouring cement floor, installing 4 fet forge windows, new tin roof, floating and painting.
Mission compound House ( aka Hess home, guest house)
Finish upstairs bathroom (flooring, painting)
Finishing floating on first floor
Kitchen cabinets
Painting, ceramic (especially downstairs)
Floating outside, painting
Jesse’s House (aka guest house #2)
Floating walls, ceramic, painting inside and out
Glass windows (6 windows)
Inclosing the entire property with a security wall. (the empty field)
Once this is accomplished, we can plant a garden, raise our own goats and pigs for eating, chickens etc. we would like to become more self sufficient, but our property is open to the public right now.
Our future plan is to possibly open an orphanage, and training school on this properties.
I've been in contact with April over the past couple of days and she's getting together a lot of information for me to update the website. We're going to work on updating the website with projects and areas of Haiti that still need some help. Be on the lookout for a complete list of information and serving opportunities available this upcoming Saturday morning!
Also, Joel and April wanted me to post a list of special thanks to everybody that has helped in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake that happened in January. The following is directly from them:
Special Thanks
We want to take a moment to thank those who have played a huge role in helping during this terrible tragedy.
Christina Christianson: a RN from Virginia Beach, Virgina who came the very night of the earthquake and stayed for two weeks, helping April run the clinic and see many, many patients. We couldn’t have done it without her. Our patients and people fell in love with her. Thanks so much Christina, we are waiting on your return!
John Bottoms: A member of Gateway FWB who came shortly after the earthquake, who played a big part in getting many medical donations for the clinic, and also foods for the mission compound. Thanks so much John.
Cary Lane & Dean Bullardand Gateway Team: They were here within hours of the earthquake, you guys were wonderful in cleaning, organizing, tending to the children, making phone calls, sending emails, taking our pics(DEAN!!:) We cannot thank you all for the help you gave in those first crucial hours.
Dr. Richard Kauffman: How can we thank you or repay you for your help. What a relief to see you walk thru that door! So glad you were here to save that young man, and help with so many more. We are waiting for your return! J
Joyce: For sacrificing her time off of work to come and help care for the patients. We will never forget the good laugh you gave us Joyce! J
Duane Frampton, for sacrificing your time and energy. For going thru the hastle to get down here so quickly. Thanks for stepping in and taking up the slack, sorry for leaving you stranded!:) We hope that you come back under normal circumstances.
Rachel Turner and Allie: We will never forget the day we met you! J We thank God for how he brought you our way. Thanks so much for all you have done and for bringing score to us.
Michael Pinson and his team: We thank you so much for all the medication donations and other things donated towards our clinic. We appreciate it so much! Thanks for the time you donated in the country helping those that were sick.
Score International, Kevin Malone, Rachel and Tim and the team: How can we thank you! We were so happy and impressed by your team! You were all such a blessing to us. You helped ease the tension of the situation. Thanks so much, looking forward to more teams!
Randy, Dr. Ron, and Donald: You guys were amazing! You were such an encouragement to us. The “little Meeting” on the rooftop was encouraging to us! God Bless you and we hope to see you soon!
Gateway FWB, Tim Mcreight: How can we repay you all for what you have done. We would not be eating our daily granola bars if it were not for you! You have blessed in so many ways we cannot find the words to thank you. Whatever we have needed you have done your best to provide, including our brand new computer! Thanks so much for sacrificing your church members to us too. May God richly bless you.
Our Big Tent Guys!: You were here and gone so quickly, we didn’t get to know you well. The pastor at leogane calls every day to thank us for the tent that was set up for them! You have truly been a blessing.
Misty and Josh Petty: Thank you so much for losing many hours of sleep, picking up and dropping off people from the airport. Thanks for the Burger King, Walmart, and clothes, Misty! We appreciate all you did!
Gary and Lois Mills: Thanks so much mom and dad for your help thru this hard time, for losing sleep, and taking care of little Michael and Emma for us. And for being there to answer questions and give info for us. We love you!
Doug and Toni, (mom and Dad): Thanks so much for working so hard at those soccer games, to raise money, and for being instrumental in raising funds to rebuild. We love you, thanks for your support.
To our mission staff Matt, Jesse, Casie, and Sandra and Johnny: Thanks to you all for organizing, and working so hard to keep things straight for us. You are awesome!
Garrett Crawford: For all your hard labor, and hours of work in keeping this website functioning properly, and keeping people informed. We thank you so much!
To all those who have donated funds towards the relief efforts:. You are being obedient to the call of Matthew 25, and God will bless you abundantly.
Mike and Andrea Brewer: For your help during those first few hours. Thanks for pitching in!
Grant R: Thanks for the transportation help, and diesel runs, and many other area’s you helped. For bringing Dr Kauffman too us! We appreciate it bunches.
Score International: Thanks so much for all the wonderful teams that you have sent our way! You have been such a blessing to us! May God Bless you richly.
We have tried so many times to sit down and give you all the full scoop on what has been going on, and it seems there is always a emergency that makes it impossible. So again I will try today, we will see how it goes. Since Jan 12th, our world here in Haiti has been turned upside down, for us and the Haitian people. It was a little after 5 pm and Emma, Berta and I were at Sonya’s little mud hut in Lahatte having bible study. Sonya’s little grandbaby was lying next to the house in a little basin sleeping and began to cry, she got and went to the baby. As soon as she came around the house and sat down, her world changed. We were studying Abraham and his faithfulness to God, Emma and Berlin were running around the house playing, when all of a sudden the ground began to sway underneath us, all was silent, just swaying.. Emma ran to us, and we were all thrown together, when it sounded like thousands of horses stampeding together, the swaying became more forceful with the noise and then the shaking began. The most incredible thing I have ever experienced. The women ( not knowing what a earthquake was) were just calling on the name of Jesus, Emma was asking if it was Jesus , we prayed, and held onto each other. We watched sonya’s little mud huts crumbling around us, listened to the nearby orphanage walls crumbling, children screaming and running, a brand new cement home, cracked and fell into a heap. Within seconds we were on our way home to check on our loved ones. I had no idea if Joel and Michael were inside, if they were harmed, if our house was standing… The thing that was the most amazing to me was that the Haitian people were all within seconds in the street praising God, there hands in the air, saying things like “ you are God, thank you Jesus.” I cannot tell you the relief I had in my heart when I rounded the curve in the road behind our property and I saw the house standing. Joel and Michael were standing in the street with the neighbors, all in shock. Joel and Michael were upstairs in our room, trying to get Michael to sleep. By the time Joel was able to make it downstairs, the earthquake had stopped.
Within minutes everything shifted into high gear. Our compound wall had fell onto our neighbor girl, and she was covered in blood and rocks, grabbed the clinic keys, and off to the clinic I went. By the time I arrived at the clinic there were over 30 patients all with bleeding wounds waiting for me.
God is always on time! He had worked out His plan well in advance. We had a group from GFW church in Va beach, that were to spend the night at our house and continue on to there destination the next day. Just so happened they had a RN with them. They were in the car on the way to our house when the earthquake hit. Im not sure what time exactly we met, but remember I was in the middle of suturing a patients head, when she walked in and said My name’s Christina, how can I help. She was like the angel of mercy! We never looked at each other, or stopped for small talk, we worked all thru the night and into wed. It was about 4 am when we made formal introductions.
That first night, I cannot begin to tell you the horrible cases that we had. Fully exposed bones, amputated fingers, hands, large head wounds, large gut wounds… not our typical clinic day. We prayed much those first few days. I can tell you that I could feel the Lord’s strength, and wisdom. There is no way we could have gotten thru those first few hours and days without Him to lean on. Our suburban instantly became “ the ambulance” for Haiti, with Joel running to ten buck two searching for those who were injured. The hours and days passed without our knowing, no sleep, living on beef jerky those first few days. The team that had stayed that first night with us contacted there church and they got right on getting supplies sent us. By the beginning of the next week we were beginning to receive some things we needed.
Into the next week we were feeling tremor after tremor. Grabbing the kids and running outside, sleeping on cots under the stars. To begin with we had all our household, plus some injured people, some fellow missionaries and some of there orphans, other visitors.. our house and yard looked like a army camp. FYI the shower or toilet are not the ideal place to be during a earthquake!:)
By Thursday, we had a hospital in our church, with over 30 patients. These patients came to be very special to Christina and I. Little Ramses with a broken wrist, back injury and good spirits. Little baby four months old 3 degree burns from being left for dead on the roof. Leon silie, a little 11 year old boy, with cuts, lacerations all over his little body, and Dayana with a open gash 4 days old full of maggots. Some of these have returned home, and some are still in our care. I think we have 10 left in our “hospital”.
As most of you know as of a week ago, the Lord worked a miracle and Michael was able to get out of the country on a humanitarian Parole visa. I flew him and Emma to my parents, got them settled and flew right back. I won’t have time in this letter to explain the “miracle of Michael”, that will come in the next one. I will be going home shortly to see my little ones and to begin Michaels paperwork ( please pray)
We have so many adventures to share, unfortunately they cannot all fit in this email. Maybe someday we will put it all in a book for you. One last thought, no one is ever prepared for a natural disaster, as such such was our case. And living in a country like Haiti, it definatly has been a even harder, and challenging situation. However, it has been amazing how we have seen God’s hand at work every single step of the way. When I look back into the few months before I can see how he prepared the clinic with certain things we would need, how he orchestrated a nurse to spend the night with us, just that night in particular, how he brought Gateway FWB across our path that week, how he helped Michael get stateside, protected our family, the clinic did not have one block crack, was in perfect condition so that those who were wounded could be treated… I could go on and on about how God has been working. The best news of all is that 2 women in my studies who have been under conviction, accepted Christ, days after the earthquake!!!
Ok, we promised to finish this letter long ago. We want to thank you all for your many many prayers, and for those of you who have raised money, sent money, and supplies. We cannot thank you enough.
The Hess Family,
Joel, April, Michael and Emma
Hello everyone,
We have tried so many times to sit down and give you all the full scoop on what has been going on, and it seems there is always a emergency that makes it impossible. So again I will try today, we will see how it goes. Since Jan 12th, our world here in Haiti has been turned upside down, for us and the Haitian people. It was a little after 5 pm and Emma, Berta and I were at Sonya’s little mud hut in Lahatte having bible study. Sonya’s little grandbaby was lying next to the house in a little basin sleeping and began to cry, she got and went to the baby. As soon as she came around the house and sat down, her world changed. We were studying Abraham and his faithfulness to God, Emma and Berlin were running around the house playing, when all of a sudden the ground began to sway underneath us, all was silent, just swaying.. Emma ran to us, and we were all thrown together, when it sounded like thousands of horses stampeding together, the swaying became more forceful with the noise and then the shaking began. The most incredible thing I have ever experienced. The women ( not knowing what a earthquake was) were just calling on the name of Jesus, Emma was asking if it was Jesus , we prayed, and held onto each other. We watched sonya’s little mud huts crumbling around us, listened to the nearby orphanage walls crumbling, children screaming and running, a brand new cement home, cracked and fell into a heap. Within seconds we were on our way home to check on our loved ones. I had no idea if Joel and Michael were inside, if they were harmed, if our house was standing… The thing that was the most amazing to me was that the Haitian people were all within seconds in the street praising God, there hands in the air, saying things like “ you are God, thank you Jesus.” I cannot tell you the relief I had in my heart when I rounded the curve in the road behind our property and I saw the house standing. Joel and Michael were standing in the street with the neighbors, all in shock. Joel and Michael were upstairs in our room, trying to get Michael to sleep. By the time Joel was able to make it downstairs, the earthquake had stopped.
Within minutes everything shifted into high gear. Our compound wall had fell onto our neighbor girl, and she was covered in blood and rocks, grabbed the clinic keys, and off to the clinic I went. By the time I arrived at the clinic there were over 30 patients all with bleeding wounds waiting for me.
God is always on time! He had worked out His plan well in advance. We had a group from GFW church in Va beach, that were to spend the night at our house and continue on to there destination the next day. Just so happened they had a RN with them. They were in the car on the way to our house when the earthquake hit. Im not sure what time exactly we met, but remember I was in the middle of suturing a patients head, when she walked in and said My name’s Christina, how can I help. She was like the angel of mercy! We never looked at each other, or stopped for small talk, we worked all thru the night and into wed. It was about 4 am when we made formal introductions.
That first night, I cannot begin to tell you the horrible cases that we had. Fully exposed bones, amputated fingers, hands, large head wounds, large gut wounds… not our typical clinic day. We prayed much those first few days. I can tell you that I could feel the Lord’s strength, and wisdom. There is no way we could have gotten thru those first few hours and days without Him to lean on. Our suburban instantly became “ the ambulance” for Haiti, with Joel running to ten buck two searching for those who were injured. The hours and days passed without our knowing, no sleep, living on beef jerky those first few days. The team that had stayed that first night with us contacted there church and they got right on getting supplies sent us. By the beginning of the next week we were beginning to receive some things we needed.
Into the next week we were feeling tremor after tremor. Grabbing the kids and running outside, sleeping on cots under the stars. To begin with we had all our household, plus some injured people, some fellow missionaries and some of there orphans, other visitors.. our house and yard looked like a army camp. FYI the shower or toilet are not the ideal place to be during a earthquake!:)
By Thursday, we had a hospital in our church, with over 30 patients. These patients came to be very special to Christina and I. Little Ramses with a broken wrist, back injury and good spirits. Little baby four months old 3 degree burns from being left for dead on the roof. Leon silie, a little 11 year old boy, with cuts, lacerations all over his little body, and Dayana with a open gash 4 days old full of maggots. Some of these have returned home, and some are still in our care. I think we have 10 left in our “hospital”.
As most of you know as of a week ago, the Lord worked a miracle and Michael was able to get out of the country on a humanitarian Parole visa. I flew him and Emma to my parents, got them settled and flew right back. I won’t have time in this letter to explain the “miracle of Michael”, that will come in the next one. I will be going home shortly to see my little ones and to begin Michaels paperwork ( please pray)
We have so many adventures to share, unfortunately they cannot all fit in this email. Maybe someday we will put it all in a book for you. One last thought, no one is ever prepared for a natural disaster, as such such was our case. And living in a country like Haiti, it definitely has been a even harder, and challenging situation. However, it has been amazing how we have seen God’s hand at work every single step of the way. When I look back into the few months before I can see how he prepared the clinic with certain things we would need, how he orchestrated a nurse to spend the night with us, just that night in particular, how he brought Gateway FWB across our path that week, how he helped Michael get stateside, protected our family, the clinic did not have one block crack, was in perfect condition so that those who were wounded could be treated… I could go on and on about how God has been working. The best news of all is that 2 women in my studies who have been under conviction, accepted Christ, days after the earthquake!!!
Ok, we promised to finish this letter long ago. We want to thank you all for your many many prayers, and for those of you who have raised money, sent money, and supplies. We cannot thank you enough.
Emma and Michael have been back in the states for about a week now. They're both enjoying staying with April's parents for the time being. Some of their pictures can be seen in the "HGM media" section to the left. However, Michael has come down with an intestine infection known as Rota Virus in the past couple days. He's in the hospital hooked up to an IV, but from word-of-mouth I think he's going to be fine. Jesse said he's been running up and down the hospital halls with his IV poll attached right behind him. =) Please pray for little Mike, and for April and Joel for having to be away from their children and especially since one of them are sick.
Jesse also let me know the following: "As of right now the tent and the 340lbs of food are at the airport in Florida on pallets getting marked with the mission's name, Joel's name, and his phone number/email address. Lord willing it will all fly out on a huge plane at 1am Monday morning. Also, the two guys who are going down to put up the 40' x 140' tent will be going down on a Missionary Flights International plane on Monday as well."
And finally, a little note from the web adminstrator. I realize that the website's been pretty a little bumpy over the past week. The links have either been broken or the templates completely "not there". I think I might've gotten it fixed as I've been in contact in support forums throughout the week trying to get this tricky little bug fixed. So if you see something messed up, I've got a close eye on it and will get it up and working ASAP. Thanks for all the patience! --Garrett
The following is a letter Jesse received from his friend (and roomate) Jeemps at the Haiti Gospel Mission.
"Today Doc Duane worked only with the patients who were on our compound he put something on their leg and he saw some new patients too and they sent some over to double harvest (a mission about 20 minutes away) John and Deacon Vilason went with them to make sure they take care of them but they didn't take them because they don't do surgery for bones .they got back with them and they're now at the compound. Reynold has a big whole at the back of his leg it's almost the same thing Maxime (my friend that died) had but he's doing much better now. I (James) have been working all day long today at the pharmacy to file the Medicine that John brought, we have a lady who had an amputation over in Dominican Rep. she is now at the compound. Yesterday Joel,John, and Carel went to Leogane they brought a lot of people from Gressier and they hadn't ever seen the doctor yet, they kept them at the compound to feed them and to give them medical care. we are putting up two tents outside they are calling for another quake within 24 hours."
The other update is that April flew back with Emma and Michael yesterday to get the kids out of the dangerous environment. So if you're reading this please pray for Emma and Michael as they've gone through an event that no kid should have to experience, and for April and Joel for having to be separated from their kids. April came back with the kids on the airplane and is now in transit to West Palm Beach airport where they'll fly first thing in the morningup to April Mom and Dad's place. April is planning on heading back to Haiti on Monday or Tuesday as soon as she can get back there, in spite of the fact that we all know she needs rest.
Misty Parker sent the follwing message to Jesse today after picking up April and the kids at the airport:
"Aprils flight arrived at 6 pm. Since they had to get Michael's Visa stamped, we were not able to leave until 8ish. At 7:56 pm Michael was free to roam the U.S. as he pleased. Prior to that he kept us and the Custom's staff busy running all over the place. :) When we opened the door at Customs to leave Michael did not want to leave at first. Once we got him outside, several friends he made on the flight had to say bye before we could leave. Michael does not like car seats and shivers in the air conditioning. His first American food was a Burger King Chicken Nugget Kids Meal w/ an orange soda. Before we made it to Wal Mart he was fast asleep. Emma got a new flashlight and Barbie toothbrush which she loves; now all she needs is a strawberry milkshake and we can consider their trip to the U.S. a success!"
We can only imagine Michael's first trip to the United States must've look like something above! =)
Joel Hess's cousin just updated us about the condition today at the Haiti Gospel Mission after the latest earthquake has hit Haiti. The Haiti Gospel Mission was not affected at all by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti this morning. To give you a sense of the difference between last week's earthquake, it was 32 times stronger than the one that hit this morning, its epicenter was 6.5 miles down further, and it only lasted for 4 seconds. The country of Haiti at large didn't experience too many injuries from this mornings event. However, psychologically it is really affecting everyone down there tremendosly.
With that said, communinication is still very sketchy and Joel's cousin was only able to get in contact with April for just a little bit. Their internet is down, so April is requesting that anybody that is trying to get in contact with them or get updated to check this website for the most current news. If you do choose to contact them, they probably will not be able to get back right away. We're working our best to keep information up as soon as it comes in.
April said they are working on getting tents for people, as the population is afraid to go indoors. She wants us to be praying the need is met.
A special done by PBS Newsweeky summing up the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. The Haiti Gospel mission is mentioned at 3:43.
January 18th
The Gateway crew had a private jet fly them back to the states this morning. They got to have a little bit of comfort with a box of Dunkin' Donuts after a week they will undoubtedly never forget. In the bottom picture you can see Jesse Hales was there to meet them (black shirt) at the Florida airport.
Posting updated information is so hard to keep up with right now with everything that is going on, but i want to do the best I can to keep you informed. You are the backbone of this mission and we lean on you to keep us standing through the Grace of God and His answering your prayers and His blessing on your support. Lives are being saved, communities healed, hope given, stomachs filled, and eternity changed through the heroic acts of our missionaries that are on the field in Haiti right now, through your response in giving and praying and doing.
As of the last contact I had with our loved ones in Haiti everyone is still ok at the compound. We are very worried about our two churches in Leogon and Petionville. These are both 2 of the hardest hit areas. Louilson told me that there was hardly anything left of Petionville, and that they keep hearing about bad damage in Leogon. The roads are blocked to Leogon and no telling when they will be able to get thought to be able to check on our people there. PLEASE PLEASE keep praying.
The compound has turned into more of a refuge camp than a home. Friends and loved ones are still showing up with no where to go. Everyone is still sleeping outside with little to act as shelter. They have enough food for now for themselves but everyone in the area is hungry (even more than normal). They are staring to have a hard time getting diesel and are running low on that as well. They said the safe water that they bought just before the quake is about to run out also. Its hard to imagine things sounding any worse, but through it all God showing Himself faithful. They have been able to keep the clinic open everyday. When there medical supplies started getting desperately low the red cross was able to get some more supplies to them to keep them going. they told me that in the morning (Saturday) some of them were going to start working on cleaning out the rubble in the school where the interior walls fell down. I believe they are planning on using the school as temporary housing for those who lost their homes when everyone can start sleeping inside again.
Please keep praying for the emotional trauma that our loved ones are going through. Every time I talk to them I am reminded of how they are still dealing with a state of shock. Also, the team that is in Haiti helping us right now need to be able to get out of the country and that process is proving hard.
We have some wonderful guys here in the states that have been working non-stop on getting our website back up and running www.haitigospelmission.org . It is up to date with information. There you can see the live twitter feed for the mission or be linked to our new twitter account www.twitter.com/haitigospelmiss that they have set up. You can also visit the website to learn how to donate to our mission electronically through Paypal etc., or see the info about where to send checks. You can view the latest pictures, news interviews, and even check out our map off the different locations we have in Haiti. We are very excited to offer you this helpful tool, so please check it out. With that in mind we have not been able to work out all the bugs to it quite yet so if you visit it and it is not working please do not give up on it, keep trying back. As you can imagine we have had a lot of traffic on it in the last few days and a lot of updates to add to it. Our guys are working hard to get it set up for the extra traffic.
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for everything you are doing for us.
"GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE. THEREFORE WILL NOT WE FEAR, THOUGH THE EARTH BE REMOVED, AND THOUGH THE MOUNTAINS BE CARRIED INTO THE MIDST OF THE SEA;" PSALM 46:1,2
Yours truly,
Jesse Hales
Haiti Gospel Mission
www.haitigospelmission.org
For a complete listing of all of our updates on the Haiti Earthquake situation please visit:
I am here in the states. I came back to the states to take care of some business for the mission and to speak to some churches. I was scheduled to fly back to Haiti on the 2nd or 3rd of February, but as of right now I'm not sure how soon I can get back in there. I have been keeping in contact with Joel and April the other missionaries that are in Haiti right now, and some of my close friends there. You can get two detailed accounts from Joel and the Nurse below that came straight from the Haiti Gospel Mission.
Other important news is that we know that our church in Leogon received a lot of damage but have not heard about the safety of any of the people from that church or any of our other churches yet. They have been able to buy Diesel everyday and are not running out of food so far. Some friend of ours brought their 22 orphans over to our place and are staying there for now because their orphanage was to badly damages to stay at.
The new address to send support to is:
Haiti Gospel Mission
134 Watson Dr.
Bremen, GA 30110
please make check payable to "Haiti Gospel Mission" and mark it in the memo section that it is "for disaster relief"
you can visit our website http://www.haitigospelmission.org for some updates and pictures, or for a more detailed and moment by moment update you can visit my personal Facebook page, just look me up there using my email address.
Thank you so very much for all of your prayers and support.
Yours truly,
Jesse Hales
Haiti Gospel Mission
The new address to send support to is:
Haiti Gospel Mission
134 Watson Dr.
Bremen, GA 30110
please make check payable to "Haiti Gospel Mission" and mark it in the memo section that it is "for disaster relief"
Thank you so very much for all of your prayers and support.
From the Nurse that is visiting and helping in our clinic
Through the eyes of a long term christian missionary and a visiting nurse. Within minutes of the earthquake our little clinic was flooded with haitians seeking medical attention. With most of the building being made out of block one can imagine the impact and force on the human body. Our first patient was our neighbor who is an 8 year old female was covered with blocks that fell from our compound wall. Multiple children with weeping wounds and rocks embedded in their skin brought in by family; while other family member left in the rubble...many dead. Andrew is a three year old little boy, who was brought in by his mother who's first question was, is my baby going to live. After removing his clothes we discovered, a ten inch laceration on the abdomen with his stomach protruding from his wound. We were only able to stich up half of the laceration and have used sterile technique to cover the exposed wound in hope for a surgeon to come operate or for him to be taken stateside to be treated. While assesing this little boy we had a woman carried in by six men, to find her fibula bone completly severed above the ankle, and protruding. At the time she had adequate perfusion to her foot, unfortunatly we were only able to clean and dress the wound and prayerfully send her searching for a Doctor to correct the bone...at two am a mother brought her 18 month old baby with a deep laceration starting at the hairline and spanding about 5 cm to the opposite eyelid. His frontal bone was exposed, and rocks embedded in his skin. We were able to successfully clean and suture the wound, all the while mom is weeping and he is screaming and being held down.
Gateway Free Will Baptist Church was on their way to a normal week to help out at the Haiti Gospel Mission when the unheard of happened. The biggest earthquake in the past 200 years in Haiti occurred measuring in at a frightening 7.0 on the Richter scale. They landed at the Haiti International airport at 4pm in the afternoon and were on the road back to the HGM complex when the earthquake struck. Members of the Gateway FWB team were the first people to get the startling photos out of the country and on national television, and have become primary sources for CNN for letting the world know what is happening at our very own HGM complex and the surrounding areas of Haiti. Below are some of the media items that have been put out since their arrival.
To our Friends and Family, thankyou for your prayers and concern.
Everyone here at Despinos, Our little town, for the most part doing well. Like a lot of places here, people have lost their houses. April was out doing a bible study and watched a house fall apart before her eyes when it hit. We have many people in our area that that need to rebuild. Its hard to figure out where to start.
Our has has lost a security wall completely, this isnt just a want its a need. After things settle down people here as anywhere will try taken advantage of the situation. A major part of the back wall to the church is down and almost the complete wall to the north of the church is down too. The school is together for the most part and thank God nothing happened to the clinic. April worked about 19 hours total in the clinic just dressing wounds, setting legs and trying to get people cleaned up. Because most hospitals are shut down because of structure damage, there are very few open to recieve people. We have an RN here, Christina Christianson, Who had just flown in and was on the road here when it happened. She an another nurse from here got right to work when they arrived here in Despinos.
Haiti 2010 Earthquake Archive
