J.L. is traveling with Richard Moore from Manteo, and the two of them were finally picked up by Arie VanWingerden and taken into Haiti and on to Double Harvest (DH).  I guess that’s where they will be staying but I haven’t heard.  The generator at Double Harvest had died so the doctors and workers were scrambling to make do without the extra power to operate, cook, etc.  J.L. contacted Ambassador Lew Lucke and he was able to find a generator and arrange transportation of it to the Double Harvest site.  Lew is a former Ambassador to Haiti and was in the New Directions first singing group in 1968.  J.L. and he went to Haiti in December in part to meet our partners and see the work at Double Harvest.  Now the US government has appointed Lew, United Relief Coordinator—Haiti.  Lew has been such a help to so many during this difficult time for the Haitian people.  (Note: Please read Lew’s report on the relief effort to JL posted here).

J.L. on the tarmac in Port-au-Prince on Thursday awaiting the arrival of volunteers from the Joe Gibbs racing team

J.L. and I, the staff of New Directions and Impact of Hope, are very grateful for your on-going prayers and financial support.  Thank you, thank you, as we continue on a very long journey toward the physical and spiritual wholeness of Haiti.

Love in Christ,
Patt, for J.L.

Was this earthquake God’s punishment on Haiti for voodoo?  Was it His judgment against the rampant political corruption that has largely reigned in Haiti for 200 years?  Was it somehow the result of two millennia of ecological exploitation?  Was it some kind of “divine discipline” against Haitian Christians?  Or was it just a random and capricious act of “mother nature?”

One thing for sure, Haiti was an “accident waiting to happen” in terms of a lack of infrastructure, poor building codes, inferior building materials, sewage disposal – all of which we take for granted in America.  Shacks built on top of each other will little or no foundations on denuded hillsides is a disaster in the making.  Scientists and Seismologists have been warning for years of the certainty of severe earthquakes in Haiti.  It was not a matter of if but of when.  Back in the early 1980s when we lived there as a family, we experienced several tremors that “shook us up!”  So there are some very basic answers to many such “natural disasters.”

However, while there are no easy or complete answers to these sovereign imponderables of life, the Bible does give us some helpful insights.  When I first got the news of this killer quake from a phone call from Patt,  I was in east India near the Bhutan border.  Almost immediately the Holy Spirit brought one passage of Scripture to my mind.  Let me remind you of it.

Jesus was speaking to a group of people who asked Him why God had allowed Pilate to slaughter a group of Galileans and “…mix their blood with their sacrifices” at the Temple?  The prevailing religious attitude among the Jews of the day was this: Calamity confirmed guilt.  Sickness proved sin.  This same attitude is seen in the rather detached and calloused response of the disciples to a man born blind whom Jesus and His disciples met one day sitting on the side of the road.  They asked Jesus: “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?”  Jesus’ response is eternally timely: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (Jn. 9:1-3). Jesus gave a similar response to the question about the seeming capricious murder of the Galileans by Pilate in the midst of their worship at the Temple.  We do well to prayerfully ponder Jesus’ response in the light of the current Haitian crisis:

“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?  I tell you, no!  But unless you repent you too will all perish.  Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem.  I tell you, no!  But unless you repent you too will all perish” (Lk. 13:1-5).

Here Jesus spoke to two types of apparent whimsical evils that so often unexpectedly befall people in life.  First, the injustice and atrocities capriciously carried out by evil political leaders – in this case Pilate, who would eventually condemn Him to death by crucifixion.  These politically motivated murders and genocides have been consistently carried out throughout history ever since Cain killed his brother Abel.  What God said to Cain He continues to say today: “Listen!  Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (Gen. 3:10).  Ever since that first murder, evil leaders from Pharaoh in Egypt…to Herod in Palestine…to Pilate in Jerusalem…to Hitler in Germany…to Pol Pot in Cambodia…to Idi Amin in Uganda…to Al Bashir in Sudan – have continued this brotherly genocide!  The list of homicidal maniac political leaders in history is endless!  The entire earth is saturated with the blood of people slaughtered by paranoid megalomaniacs!  So, evil and wicked men have taken the lives of far more innocent people down through history than have been killed by natural disasters.  All these insane leaders have done is to unmistakably prove the reality of the devil on the one hand, and the evil within man’s own heart on the other!  To paraphrase C.S. Lewis at this point:  “Evil in the universe does not tell me anything new about God.  It only confirms the universality of evil in the heart of man.”  As he further poignantly said: “I have my own heart – I need no other, to convince me of the evil of man!”

Secondly, Jesus spoke of a seeming random “act of nature” that killed “…eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them.”  Was this collapse of the tower in Siloam the result of an earthquake – like in Haiti?  Was it the result of poor building codes and poor building materials – again like in Haiti?  Or was it somehow the capricious judgment of God upon these particular Galileans because of their sinfulness – like the voodoo worshipers in Haiti?  There are no easy answers here that perfectly resolve all of these mysteries of life.

But in both cases Jesus answered the assumption of guilt with a resounding NO!  That alone should caution us about snap judgments toward people who are killed by the seeming capricious “acts of nature” or “acts of man.”  So whether it is a cataclysmic earthquake, a car accident, a killer disease, a random murder, a rape or a genocide – we must be carful about assigning guilt and judgment on the unfortunate victims of random evil in a fallen and rebellious universe.  According to the Bible, these kinds of “natural disasters” are the direct result of a cosmos that is radically different than it was originally created by a good and gracious God.  As a result, it will continue to “groan under a curse” until it is fully removed and restored by the return of Christ.  Until that time, we must do all we can to be Christ’s hands of love and compassion to those whose lives have been forever marred and scared by both natural and man-made disasters.

Two final things…

AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST AND AMERICA

First, please read the timely email I posted yesterday from NDI Alumni, Ambassador Lewis Lucke.  He is heading the USAID Relief and Restoration efforts in Haiti.  Recently we were together in Haiti – just a few weeks before this mega earthquake.  We stayed in the Montana Hotel that is now totally destroyed – killing scores of Americans, Europeans and Haitians.  It could have just as easily happened when we were staying there as now.  But, for some reason that we will not fully understand this side of heaven, we were spared.  Both Lew and I believe it was “…for such a time as this” (Esth. 4:14).  So I thank God that a Christian brother and friend is in this strategic position for our American Government and for the Body of Christ.  He is seeking to be a good steward of the millions of dollars that are at his disposal.  And he is directing a lot to Christian ministries of experience and integrity who are strategically involved in both the relief and development of Haiti.

Secondly, I have reposted a longer study on these types of natural disaster.  It is a more thorough Biblical study for those of you who want to take the time for a “longer read” and more in-depth study of this difficult study on what theologians call a theodicy, or the mysterious “acts of God” behind the devastating “acts of nature” or evil “acts of man.”  This imponderable of “why the innocent suffer” in a world created by a sovereign and loving God has always been one of the greatest stumbling blocks to faith.  It is the spiritual and intellectual fodder of atheism, agnosticism and existentialism.  So if you did not read it in the past when I posted it after the Asian Tsunami and hurricanes Katrina and Rita,  I hope you will take time to prayerfully read it now.  It is entitled “Stormy Lessons.”  This study does not give “all of the answers” to these very difficult spiritual issues.  But I believe it does give a balanced Biblical perspective that can help anchor and secure our souls as we see and experience more and more of these “…beginning of birth pains” for the new world order, called the Kingdom of God, that the Lord Jesus will usher in..

Download the Stormy Lessons study here.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Once again I want to urge you to help me help our bruised and battered Haitian brothers and sisters through your prayers and giving.  While it has been encouraging to see the generous financial response to a lot of the TV and celebrity-based appeals, much of those millions of dollars will be misused and misspent.  Much of those millions of well-intentioned dollars will flow through the hand of corrupt political leaders in Haiti who will abuse it – just like took place in many countries after the Asian Tsunami.  Others will end up in the coffers of bureaucratic NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that are already bloated and top-heavy organizationally where a disproportionate percent of the money will be self-consumed.  And sadly, most of these organizations do not have the motivation of Christian love and compassion.  While helpful relief may be given, the message of Christ and His hope will not accompany the help.  Our relief work is very short-sighted if it only makes people more comfortable on the way to hell!  To heal the body without healing the soul is not the holistic salvation that the Bible teaches.  And to that end,  I can assure you that the 501 ©(3) organization I am currently working under, Impact of Hope, will give 100% of your financial support to the work I will be directing in Haiti.  You can contribute to the Haiti Relief effort via IOH by clicking on the “Donate” page of my website and following the directions there.  And I can also assure you that the relief and development work that my son, Joseph, will be doing through NDI will be just as strategic and efficient.

I therefore urge and exhort Christians to remember the words of the Lord Jesus about this kind of giving:  “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

Mark, the earliest Gospel written,  included the words of the Lord that our acts of compassion should be “…in His Name.” (Matt.  10:42; Mk; 9:41).  So make sure that your financial giving goes through organizations and ministries who will also do their best to add the eternal dimension of spiritual giving “in the Name of Christ.”

Because of His Love & Compassion,

We have had seven US rescue and recovery teams here—from VA, FL/Miami, CA/Los Angeles, NJ, NYC, etc.—-some at the Montana Hotel.  I know that place well and was staying there myself seven weeks back.  I am friends of the owners—one of the owner sisters was pulled out of rubble after five days—hurt but alive and recovering.  Her 7-year old grandson’s body has not been recovered. The parents of the Massachusetts college kids lost in the Montana arrived here yesterday.  Once they saw with their own eyes the damage and saw our incredible rescue teams at work, they finally had closure.  The family that critized us and the military the most on US TV was the most emotional, apologized for past remarks and praised our rescue folks and USAID to ABC as they departed. We pulled out all the stops for them and we are proud of our teams. Over 135 live rescues were done in Port-au-Prince and the US teams did 45 of them—a record for any disaster.  Incredibly, there was another one yesterday—12 days after the earthquake.

We are scrambling to get in more food, shelter and meds.  We have spent about $200 million total of which about half is for food. We have provided 2,000,000 rations with our partner the WFP and our food NGOs CRS, World Vision and ACDI/VOCA.  We are soon getting the GOH reinstalled in two new US owned buildings and possibly additional temp quarters as they decide.  We are now clearing streets and rubble and will have created 25,000 jobs by February 1st with many more to come.  We are structuring a bigger humanitarian relief cell to house US/UN/other donor/military operations to improve coordination.

We get incredible cooperation from the US military.  Unlike the case in early Iraq days, we are on the same page.  This is a humanitarian mission and we are working extremely well together.  These are very capable men and women and it makes you proud to see them at work.  They are “squared away” as they would say in military parlance.  They are smart and know their mission.  God bless them all.

The response of the international community is amazing—Spanish, German, French, Chilean, Canada, Phillipines, Iceland (!), Norway, Colombia, etc. etc.  We are working with the French to feed, water etc. a tent camp of 10,000 near the collapsed Presidential palace and are getting surgical equipment to a Spanish medical team. And many, many more.  Via a UN-sponsored “cluster” system, we coordinate our efforts on water, health, food, shelter, logistics, airslots (landings) at the airport which is run by the US military.  I am mobilizing our people to work with the GOH on planning reconstruction—power, building, water infrastructure, telecoms etc.  We in USAID may not have the lead on this ultimately but it is for sure we will plan and carry out much of the work (with much help from other nations) but we have to plan ahead and we are doing so.

We are swamped by celebrities, special requests from Congress etc, a zillion volunteers and church groups and trying to respond. It has been nuts.  BTW, the news you see on TV—particularly CNN—is a tiny snapshot of the worst things possible.  This is how they operate and do not give you an accurate overall picture. No one should shape their views based on this kind of coverage. I have seen the “CNN effect” and I don’t like it.

We have so much to do but we get better and faster every day. I have a great and growing team of good people helping the effort. We have issues and a thousand problems to deal with—like 500 emails a day, many from DC and many with tasks and reporting we are supposed to do.  Increasingly I have more skilled staff I can delegate to.  We are receiving help from FEMA, HHS, FCC, State, White House, Treasury, DHS and more.  We will soon have a mechanism to coordinate all the corporate contributions and offers we get every day.

The Haitian people are resilient but nobody should have to be this resilient. They are scared to go into ruined and damaged buildings.  Schools cannot open and so forth.  Some 250,000 people have moved to “spontaneous camps” around Port-au-Prince and we are scrambling to service them.

But the streets are also full of life, markets, gas and water trucks.  Some stores are reopening.  My own staff has MREs to eat—I don’t like the idea or them—and many are sleeping on the floors of their little cubicle offices.  I should have cots for everyone today and a tent camp is being set up on the Embassy compound.  Everyone works 18+ hours a day.  It’s the job.

I have to run. We appreciate your support. Please help by providing monetary support to the Clinton-Bush group for Haiti or other groups like Red Cross, CRS, CHF Internatonal, Catholic Relief or US groups/universities/hospitals already working in Haiti.  And send us a thousand nurses.

Thank you & again I appreciate your support.

Ambassador Lewis Lucke
Coordinator for Relief and Recovery—Haiti
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Ambassador Lewis Lucke with Pastor Chavannes Jeune and JL Williams at the former location of the Montana Hotel last year.

FATHER & SON MINISTRY

Chennai is often referred to as the “Jerusalem of India.”  That’s because Christianity was first planted here by Thomas, the “doubting disciple,” before the end of the first century.  And Christian tradition says that he was martyred and buried here.  So Chennai has thousands of Christians and churches.  But it also has even more Hindu Temples, Buddhist shrines and Moslem mosques.  So there is still great need for evangelism here.  Also for greater unity by the churches—several thousand of which have come together for this Festival.

This has been a very historic meeting for Franklin since his father, Dr. Billy Graham, first held a Crusade here in 1956.  Then he held another one here in 1977.  While Franklin has been to India a number of times to do Relief work through Samaritan’s Purse, this is his first Festival here (He calls his events “Festivals” rather than “Crusades” since that is an odious term in many parts of the world—especially the Islamic world because of the “Christian Crusades” against the Moslems).  So we have retrned from the Festival with great rejoicing over all that God did and will continue to do to extend His Kingdom here in Chennai, one of the most important cities of India with over 6 million people (formerly called Madras).

THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP

Our long-time friend and partner, Bishop Ezra Sargunam, has been the catalyst and Chairman for the Festival.  He was one of Franklin’s very first national partners in India.  And it was through Franklin that I first met Bishop Ezra over 25 years ago.  Franklin had asked me to teach in a Pastor’s Conference in Bangladesh.  Afterwards we were to take some supplies in to one of his key partners in Burma (now Mynamar).  After that he asked me to come to India and dedicate several “Jesus Wells” he had made possible through his young partnership with Ezra and ECI, or the Evangelical Church of India.  It was then that I first met Ezra.  We were quickly fused in heart because of our mutual passion to “reach the unreached!”  We have worked closely ever since.  Our friendship has been so close that I preached at his oldest daughter’s wedding here in Chennai and he prayed at my oldest daughter’s wedding in Burlington!  So the success of this Festival is another great testimony of the “Power of Partnership!”

STAYING POWER

It has also been so encouraging while I have been here to meet several groups of Christians who are still working on Tsunami Relief and Development.  Very quickly after the devastating Asian tsunami in 2004, hundreds of millions of dollars were raised and sent to India.  Unfortunately, much of those funds never got through the corruption and bureacy of government officials and self-serving NGO (Non Governmental Organizations).  And long after the interest in the tsunami had subsided like the tital wave that struck the shores, everyone has packed up and gone.  That is, everyone has left except the Christians.  It is only the love and compassion of Christ that keeps people in the dirty trenches long after the spot light has shifted to other areas of crisis and need.  But it has been such a blessing to not only visit and talk to some of our on-going tsunami work through ECI, but to see other Christian groups faithfully sticking it out…continuing to care for orphans…continuing to support the widows….continuing to feed the hungry…continuing to rebuild houses…continuing to “weep with those who are still weeping!”

And the same thing will happen in Haiti.  Right now Haiti has the attention of the world.  Hundreds of millions of dollars are being donated by people around the world as they have seen the horrific pictures.  Thousands of workers are pouring in to rescue people…give medical attention to the wounded…bury the dead…give out food and water… provide temporary shelter…comfort and console the traumatized…“weep with those who weep.”

So while we have been rejoicing together here in Chennai over all the good things going on spiritually, we continue to weep over the on-going horrific crisis in Haiti—already being called the BIGGEST natural disaster in the world to date!  At the morning staff devotions with the Samaritan’s Purse team, Franklin has shared updates from his SP team on the ground in Haiti being led by Dr. Dick Furman and Senator Bill Frisk.  As we have heard some of the stories, all of us have wept together before the Lord in behalf of our beloved friends in Haiti!  Franklin and I have also had some strategic discussions about our on-going relief works there and how we can partner together.  We have both rejoiced greatly over the great work being done by the VanWingerden family through “Double Harvest” agricultural ministry that I first became involved with over 35 years ago in Haiti.  Since then, I networked them with Franklin and Samaritan’s Purse which led to other partnerships and projects in Ethiopia during the famines in the early 1980s.  Also in Sudan where Franklin has been one of the pioneer Christian relief and development works there all during the worst war years.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT - PLEASE HELP!

As I shared in my previous email, I plan to do as quick a turn-around for Haiti as possible when i get home from India.  And I will need immediate financial resources to continue to meet needs in Haiti.  So PLEASE send in as generous a gift as you can to me through “Impact of Hope” (IOH), a 501(c)(3) ministry based in Raleigh that will honor 100% of what you give for my on-going Relief work in Haiti.  And to help out more quickly, you can give on line by following the brief instructions found on the Donate page of my website.  So by God’s grace and with your help, I will soon be reporting to you from Haiti!  Until then, may God richly bless and reward you for your faithful prayers and generous financial partnership.

Because of His love & compassion,

When I heard the news, I was stunned.  Haiti is our oldest field of ministry, going back to 1969.  Immediately my heart was divided and pulled in two different directions.  I wanted to jump into a “time machine” and go to Haiti to help out!  But since no such vehicle is available except in Hollywood movies, I could only pray and begin to plan to get to Haiti as soon as possible after I return from India.  In spite of the strong pull of my emotions, I knew I had to “stay the course” and complete the ministry tasks God had brought me to Asia to do.

Once I got to South India to be with our partner, Murli Menon, I could get on line and begin to communicate with Patt at home, ministry partners in the States and friends in Haiti.  From what I have been able to hear, most of our key ministry partners were not killed.  But there is not a family in Haiti that has not been impacted by this horrific event through the loss of a family member or total loss of property.  The family scars will last into eternity.

But I am thankful that I have been able to do some crucial communication and major coordination from here.  It has been amazing to be on this side of the world helping coordinate Disaster Relief in Haiti!  But that is the benefit of the world we live in that is connected via TV, internet, sat phones and Blackberries!  More than that, it is the blessing of a life-time of strategic partnerships in America and Haiti we could build upon during this dark hour of crisis that will go on for months and years.

THE ASIAN TSUNAMI

This tragic news brought back a lot of similar painful membories when I was here in India in 2004 shortly after the Tsunami, doing relief work in villages that were totally destroyed by the massive waves that flattened everything in its path.  While I was here then in this same city of Chennai working with Bishop Ezra Sargunam, I was also communicating regularly with Haiti relative to the “Haiti At The Cross Events” we were coordinating there for the 200th Anniversary of the country.  There was a strong move in the country to rededicate it to Voodoo.  And in partnership with our long-time friend and partner, Dr. Chavannes Jeune, we were seeking to mobalize the Christians to break the blood covenant with the devil and radify the blood covenant of Christ on the cross.  God wonderfully honored those events through great spiritual revival.

Now the situation is reversed.  I am sitting in India helping coordinate relief efforts in Haiti!  And here there is growing opposition by the Hindu Fundamentalists.  We were to dedicate a new church we built in memory of a beloved friend who came to India with me several decades ago, Jimmy Byrd.  I preached his funeral several months ago.  The family gave funds to build the church and it was up to roof level and almost ready for our trip and dedication this very week.  Then we got the sad news from Bishop Ezra that the militants had stormed the church and threatened to kill the workers if they continued.  Work was stopped.  The church now is incompleted.  We still hope to see the problem solved so we can return and dedicate it around Easter.  So there are so many similarities between India and Haiti.  But God is sovereignly working in both—often in ways we will never fully understand this side of eternity.

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN HAITI AND INDIA

On my first ministry trip to Haiti in 1969 with the “New Directions” musical team, I was told this: “The only real preparation for ministry in places like Bombay or Calcutta, India, is Port-au-Prince, Haiti.”  That meant that the only partial preparation you could get for the massive problems of poverty in India was the similar poverty in Haiti.  The only difference was in quantity rather than quality.  The levels of poverty were the same.  There was just so much more of it in India.  At that time the total population of Haiti was around 6 million people.  There were already several cities in India with populations twice the size of all of Haiti!  So Haiti was not only a strategic focal point of ministry for me and NDI, it was an incredible preparation for the ministry in India that God would also give us.

It is also very interesting to me that God in His sovereignty allowed me to connect two of our key Haitian and India partners: Bishop Ezra Sargunam and Dr. Chavannes Jeune.  A few years ago I took Bishop Ezra to Haiti with me to teach a Pastor’s Seminar for Chavannes.  They immediately were joined in spirit.  It was also interesting to me that both men are short of statue—but “giants in the spirit!”  Both are passionate about their countries, the development of Christian pastors and leaders and the growth of the church.  And both are politically proactive in their countries.  God has given both Bishop Ezra and Pastor Chavannes great political influence which they are seeking to use for the poor and for the advance of the Kingdom of God.

One thing I will never forget is what Bishop Ezra said when I took him on a short walking tour of Cite Sole in Port-au-Prince.  He said he almost threw up because he had never seen anything that bad in India—which has some of the largest and worst slums in the world.  That was saying a lot for a man who has ministered in some of the worst slums in Asia!

So there has been a strong connection between India and Haiti in my personal life and ministry.  And there has been a wonderful and strategic connection between Bishop Ezra and Pastor Chavannes!  When God wants to get things done for His Kingdom, He always raises up strategic leaders in His church.  These two men are giants for the Kingdom and two of my dearest friends in the world!  They have been united in ministry and in tragedy.  So please continue to pray for them both because they are making huge differences for time and eternity in their respective countries.

SUPPORT FOR RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT

I want to thank those of you who have already given for the relief work in Haiti through New Directions International or Impact Of Hope International—just like you did for the Tsunami work here in Asia.  Right now the eyes and hearts of the world—especially Americans, are fixed on Haiti.  Rightfully so since it is on our door-step as a nation.  I know we will rise to the challenge by giving liberally and even sacrifically to stand with our Haitian brothers and sisters.  But unlike India, Haiti does not have much of an infrastructure in place to build upon.  We will have to clean away the rubble and start from ‘ground zero’ to rebuild the nation.  It will take years to complete the task!  Many people will get tired of hearing about the need and fall into ‘compassion fatigue.’  But I urge you to keep focused by faith and love on these dear people.  With your continued help we can and will make a big difference!  And while we will continue to focus on the relief and disaster relief in Haiti, we must not forget our other crucial partners and projects in other countries.  Their needs and opportunities are great also.  I can’t wait to share some of the reports from here that will bless and encourage you.  Be watching for those in the days ahead.

There is much more I would like to share about what is happening there through our friends and partners at Double Harvest.  It was first in Haiti that I began a friendship with the VanWingerdens that has spanned over 3 decades and several countries in Africa like Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya and Zimbabwe.  Right now they have one of the strongest infrastructues still standing.  I will tell you more about that soon.

OPPORTUNITY & OPPOSITION

As I wrote in my New Year’s blog, these are but more of the “signs of the times” that the Bible has warned us about in advance.  Jesus predicted that these kinds of crisis would come more and more like “birth pains” leading up to the “End of the Age.”  Therefore, all over the world, opportunity and opposition come together.  Seldom do you get one with out the other.  And after over 40 years of of ministry in America and across the world, I have found that you must “respond by faith” to both when they come.  There are no pause or rewind buttons on the controls of life.  Patt and I have also found over and over again that neither opportunity or crisis come at a convenient time for us!  They seem to always come at the times when we least expect them and are often the least prepared spiritually, emotionally and physically to deal with them.  As the saying goes: “Life happens.”  And you have to deal with it by God’s grace when it comes to the best of your ability.

Frankly, I am physically tired right now from a very exhausting trip that I started with a bad cold and cough.  I have basically coughed my way through Nepal and India.  I was looking forward to getting back home with Patt for some rest so I could get better and stronger.  But that option does not seem to exist now in the face of the Haitian crisis.  I am certainly not trying to be a martyr.  But the Spirit will not let me sit back and “look after me” when there are countless thousands whose needs are so much greater than mine.  So I do covet your prayers for a fresh healing touch from the Lord Jesus and renewed strength for the trip to Haiti I hope to make next week if I can get into the country.

More soon…

In His Sovereign Love,

FIRST PICTURES – The first pictures from Double Harvest and the surrounding area are on Facebook now on at the following link.  60 pictures both share the pain and suffering, as well as the help that Double Harvest is providing.  Some pictures are very graphic.  They are at http://www.facebook.com/#/photos.php?id=281879714253

FUEL ISSUES CONTINUE – We are pulling out all of the stops, but fuel continues to be a difficult process.  From arranging delivery to just getting information on where to get fuel, we need to continue to have better luck finding sources for consistent fuel delivery.  Teams are working this, but keep them in your thoughts and if you have a lead, let us know.

SURGICAL TEAM – the team of over 40 medical personnel now on the ground at Double Harvest performed surgeries ranging from setting broken bones to amputations.  This is tough work and with limited medical resources/facilities, the cafeteria has now been transformed into a post operating room recovery area.  Keep this team in your prayers.

REINFORCEMENTS ON THE WAY – The first responder group (Uncle John, Uncle Bob, Cousin Joey) left Double Harvest last night and returned safely to the USA.  They are being “replaced” by Uncle Willem, Uncle Rich, and a fresh team of experienced folks.  This will allow the energy to stay high, new supplies to be brought in, and the continued work to go on.

MORE GREAT NEWS COVERAGE – Everyone is doing a great job using their media contacts both nationally and in the their local areas.  The VanWingerden in Connecticut at Growers Direct Farms got the attached coverage on their local TV station to help drive awareness to the work at Double Harvest.  NBC Connecticut.  Kim McCulloch also did a segment on the local Charlotte station on her husband Art’s work in the surgical unit at Double harvest.

PEOPLE ARE GENEROUS – Just on Wednesday, we received $18,000 via PayPay off the website ($38,000 to date in 3 days) and another $75,000 in contributions just on Wednesday alone.  Continue to direct people to Doubleharvest.org for donation information.

NEW LAW IN CONGRESS ON HAITIAN DONATIONS -  Taxpayers who make donations for Haitian earthquake victims would be able to write off this charitable deduction when they file their 2009 taxes this spring, under a bill passed by the House Wednesday.    Under current law, donors would have to wait until they file their 2010 returns next year to take the deductions. But the newly advanced bill would allow donations made by the end of February to be deducted from 2009 returns.  The bill passed on a voice vote with no opposition. Quick Senate action is expected. A similar law was enacted in 2005 for donations to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP:

CONTINUE TO GIVE:  Running the facility to an ever expanding need takes money——plain and simple.  We can do better by sourcing many needs locally in Haiti (vs. the cost of shipping items in), but it takes cash to make that happen.

SHARE -  Post this update to Facebook and email it to others.  Get with your media contacts and let them share for us.  Check doubleharvest.org for donation options and for updated information.

We now are getting a better sense of the physical needs at Double Harvest and should have something out on that in the next few days.

Thanks,
Abe Vanwingerden

People close to Chavannes know that he always leaves Port late to go to Cayes.  Because God wanted to spare him Chavannes had planned a meeting at 6PM in Cayes.  Because of that we had to leave early to get to Cayes at 5:35PM.  I heard that they are vehicles on the road who turned over or hit other vehicle during the earthquake but we were driving toward Cayes and did not even notice the earthquake.  I have so many proofs of His sovereignty that the only thing I want to do now is bow down and say:  “How great thou art”.

God is no respecter of person.

Dear brothers and sisters, it is true.  Wealthy people, poor people have been affected.  Everybody is affected.  I don’t think there is one Haitian family that is not affected one way or another.  Yesterday Chavannes went to visit a vacant place where many people are staying and you know what some of them are saying, the “gran neg” (the big guys) are encouraging us to go into the country so they can take all the food that will be distributed.  You know what, both the “gran neg” and the poor are waiting for some help.  I have a relative who is a poor girl who was living in Port.  She came back yesterday and she told me that rich people and poor are sleeping together on the open field where they were staying.  God is telling me and everyone that we are all the same, dust.  All of them sleep on the ground or on a sheet if someone gives them one, or on a piece of board.  What a lesson of humility.  I am thrilled.

Do not be attached with wealth.

Around 10:00 o’clock AM I was by my father’s home, at 4:53 PM no more home.  In less than 2 minutes no more home.  My father bought a new vehicle less than two months a go, now no vehicle.  I didn’t even ask about his 4 story buildings that he has on Delmas or another house on Delmas 31.  In less than two minutes no more wealth.  My mother would not stay at my house for a week, she wanted to be sure everything was in order and that my father was well fed.  Now someone has to give her a dress to wear or a pair of shoes.  Can you imagine?  Do not store wealth, they won’t serve you in the days of trouble.

I tell you, I have learned my lessons.  They are more lessons but I capitalize on those three.  I hear so many testimonies.  Haitians will never be the same if they have learned the lessons God has given during this time.  Yesterday as I walked to church I ask everyone I met, how are you, do you hear from your folks in Port.  Everyone had a story about how God escaped someone and let someone else die.  At church one lady would start crying and when I approach her, she has not heard from any of her relatives in Port.  Another one was crying, she is not from Cayes but she came with other people and she has lost her house.  Oh ,the people need comfort.  My Mom has lot of pain, her body aches for being underneath the gravel for 5 hours but I think she is suffering mentally as well as many Haitians.  A lady at church was taking care of her husband at St Francois de Salles hospital, died together with her husband and a brother, a sister who were visiting.  The husband had an accident on November 16th, he did not die then, it was not the time appointed by God.  Oh, too many examples!!!  Chavannes’s driver has lost 13 people from his family.  The surviving ones are in the street.  Pasteur Vilcnor at my office has 26 people sleeping in the streets, Past Amorce lost 12 people and 3 houses collapsed.  Everyone is affected.  Sometimes I say it’s like when the angel passed over in Egypt.

My son finishes school at 3:30 and it’s 3:37, I have to pick him up.  I feel like telling about so many stories.  God is good.  Last night I barely sleep.  Chavannes came home last night and he received calls all night.  One called, I don’t know at what time, and I talked in order for Chavannes to sleep.  That pastor lives in Leogane, he lost everything.  He said that he is in the streets with his wife and kids.  At 2:38 a.m., I gave Chavannes the phone. Another one called from Gonaives.  These affected people need someone to talk to and from midnight to six AM, calls are free.  At 3:45 AM I turned off Chavannes’ phone and slept until 6: 30.  The situation is terrible, people need everything.  Many have been asking what to send, you can send everything but they won’t get to the people now.  For me I think now it’s better to send money.  Today one Western Union was opened in Cayes, I don’t know about Port-au-Prince.  Cayes was not affected but loads of people from Port arrived every day.  On Saturday there were 192 people on the main soccer field.  Plus General hospital is full, Brenda is full, Cite Lumiere and Bonnefin also.  On the Radio I heard that they were transferring the orthopedic cases to Bonnefin.  Several committes had been formed in the city to accommodate all these people from Port and to receive help to distribute.  They come from everywhere, they want to flee from Port.  In the mean time food prices, fuel prices have increased.  God knows why, we cannot question him.  May His name be blessed!

Thank you for all your prayers and your support!
Because of His love,
Marie Lucie