More World Relief News from Haiti

From the Ashes
Pastor Gerald Bataille looks weary. His voice cracks with the hoarse edge of someone who has not slept well for some time.

In the weeks following the January earthquake, the leader of the Tabernacle of Glory Pentecostal Church in Port-au-Prince has been working around the clock every day. But Pastor Bataille is not in the frame of mind to give up. His name means “fighter.” And that, say those who know him the best, is exactly what Pastor Bataille has shown himself to be. In the face of massive – even overwhelming – odds, Pastor Bataille has rallied his people to respond with energy, with compassion, with grace.

Less than three weeks after the quake, Pastor Bataille led a funeral service for 30 of his church members killed in the disaster. Some of their bodies had not even been recovered from the rubble. There were moments, he admits, that he felt like dissolving into tears. But he kept it together – not just for himself, but for all those looking to him for strength and leadership.

With such a heavy weight on his shoulders, it is remarkable, perhaps, that Pastor Bataille can stay buoyant. Yet he exudes genuine optimism, genuine hope.“People are seeing the love of Christ in us,” he says, barely pausing to talk as he helps to unload rice and beans at his church. “With World Relief’s help, we’re showing people the love of Jesus, not just telling them… and their hearts are touched.

The love of Christ is something that everybody needs and I believe this love can draw people to find hope and peace.“I pray: ‘Lord, this is the time… it is the time for change for Haiti.’ If we will turn to God, He will hear us. We have known so much pain, so much sorrow, but I really believe this is the time for a big change.”

Within hours of the most cataclysmic earthquake in Haiti’s history, the Tabernacle of Glory Pentecostal Church in Port-au-Prince became a place of refuge for thousands. The church – an impressive half-completed mini-amphitheater – became a central food distribution point for World Relief. Inside, thousands of bags of rice and beans – enough to feed more than 100,000 people – were readied for distribution to the neediest families.

World Relief set up a system with the church to distribute the food in bulk, primarily to trusted local pastors. Word soon got out. Hundreds of pastors and others lined up in the sun in the hope of receiving some rice to take back to their families and their churches. Meanwhile, children were served hot meals of rice and beans at the church’s feeding station – a lifeline for many families struggling to find any food.

Pastor Louis Ricot came to the church every day after the quake, looking for food. “My people have nothing,” he said with a slight shrug. “We have no help from anywhere else…”Pastor Ricot was just one of thousands of pastors desperate to help his people who were living in tents made out of sticks and torn sheets. “It’s very difficult because there are many people in Port-au-Prince who are hungry right now,” said Michael Jean Baptiste, a church mobilization officer with World Relief, working alongside the church. “I thank God that we’re able to serve Christian and non-Christian alike, because everybody needs help.”

Like many quake survivors at the Tabernacle of Glory, Baptiste questioned God: ‘Lord, thousands have died… why am I not one of them?’God gave him the answer: ‘I have given you the opportunity to live to help your brothers and sisters in this hour.’ “Pastors come to us and say: ‘I have to feed 500 people… can you help me?’” explained Baptiste. “These people love Jesus… Jesus taught us to give to those who are hungry and it is a grace for me to serve them.”

Meanwhile, in the church grounds, hundreds received medical care at a clinic set up under a shelter. Moms with their babies in their arms waited patiently, while a doctor and nurses from Colorado treated and bandaged wounds, checked eye infections and gave out vitamins.

“I feel that God is at work here,” one mother said. “Who else would do this for us?”

Jim Dykhuis

I miss our C.T. guys immensely! After the first full day, we all had an immediate connection, it could be because we were all disgustingly dirty, or the sporadic laughter we shared throughout the day, or working with some of the most God fearing young adults I have ever met in my life...Walston, Jean Charles (JC), Junior x 2, Elbe, Jamel, Pastor Peoewh and Pastor Jules, just to mention a few. I would leave to go back there tomorrow with these guys...as long as I could bring my family with me this time. Debby great pics and post.

Morquettes Home

This is Lincolnson, our household helper.. Very nice kid!!! I gave him my clock and he was ecstatic and very grateful, for just a little ol clock..

This is Eda our other household helper... She cooked and cleaned up after us, helped us whenever we needed anything.. A very sweet young lady.. I gave her my watch and she was very grateful...

This was from the dining room looking into the kitchen..
This was only 1/2 of the dining room and the table we all gather at for breakfast and dinner time.. We all knew when to come for meals as Dr. Morquette would sing this song and we all would come running.. 1/2 the time if you weren't in the room you would hear everyone sing very loudly at the end, AMEN~AMEN~~

Dining room again...

This was the Family room where we gathered every night for our team meetings..

This is the 2nd 1/2 of the dining room where myself and JR spent a lot of time on our computers:) AND SEE THE DOOR BEHIND JR?? THAT WAS KEPT SHUT ALL THE TIME SO JR WOULD HAVE A NICE COLD ROOM TO SLEEP IN EVERY NIGHT!!! hahahaha!! :)

Family gathering room..

Amanda took my braids out for me after having them in for 4-5 days, THANK YOU AMANDA & this was the final result..

Here is a few picture of the Morquettes home that we stayed at.. The food was good and plentiful, beds were clean, (except for Teri's one night, hehehe) and well better than sleeping on the floor hehehe... Some had air conditioning (JR-JR-JR-JR!!! hahahaha BUSTED!!!) others had fans and we all had ice packs.. We had showers daily, some of us had bucket showers and some had water coming out of a make shift shower head BUT we all got clean daily:)

Our last night we all discussed how well we ALL got along great.. There were NO disagreements nor personality conflicts, and we all truly enjoyed being around each other:)

OUR HAPPIEST time during the trip

This was by far the funniest day we had.. Our last full day we were able to spend the majority of the day with the children of the Garden (Orphanage).. They laughed, played, sang, danced took our cameras to take pictures of each other and us..

After that we went to the Church site and had fun with the kids there... It was just a HAPPY HAPPY day, not only for the kids, but us too..

I figured how to post more than 1 picture at a time JR!!!! YEAH "ME"!!!

Patient of the week..

This was by far my favorite patient and touched me the most and I don't even know his name..How sad is that...

You can't even see the stitches in his forehead from the gash that was all the way down to where you could actually see his skull...That wound will heal, the others probably never will.....

Hi everyone! It was great to get home and see my dear faithful blogger friend Michelle and my beautiful wife RC.  RC had pizza for me when I got home and I had flowers from the Nelson family. It was truly an inspirational and spiritual expereince and our team leaders Amy and Mike Adams were the best. The entire team said they would not hesitate to make another trip to Haiti in the future. We ALL felt so blessed by God to experience everything he allowed us to go through in Haiti, from tears, to fears and everything in-between, especially laughter. We could not have had 12 better people from 12 different backgrounds, all at different paths in their walk with God. Thank you to all my team members for making this an unforgettable experience for me as a person and Christ follower! I love you all dearly and look forward to our team celebration. JR

FINALLY HOME & I'm SPEECHLESS

This video & picture will speak for itself.

So HAPPY to be home..

Safe & sound & back in town!

JR & RC see each other for the first time! So sweet!




Welcome home CCC Go Team! It was so nice to see all of you at the airport last night and welcome you in person! What a privilege to hear the stories from JR and Vince on the way home and I look forward to hearing many more! Well done! You are all inspirations to me! Thank you for all of your hard work!



In Christ,

Michelle

I miss my wife and daughters cannot wait to see them! My phone is finally toast! It's been great all week, I drop one call after another with AT&T sitting at my desk upstairs in South Elgin, but I can call from Haiti and have a great wi-fi connection, what's wrong with this picture? We are checked in through customs and immigration with very little problem, a lot easier to get out of the country than it is to get in! We are relaxing upstairs at our gate, most are playing Uno, I'm blogging, Debby and Justine are still trying to figure out how to get on th "free" wi-fi here at the airport...lol! Teri is not feeling well, she thinks she may have picked up a cold from one of the kids, but of course she is still smiling and says everything is fine. Amanda and I are craving Pizza, Sarah wants Subway, Tom wants an ice cold Pepsi, Vince wants to help the world, Amy was showing off her puppeteering skills with her passport, Jim is itching to find a wall to tear down and Mike is looking for a pile of rocks to move, and poor Dr. Steve is home and we hope he fills better. We saw the capital building today and the devastation of Port au Prince, it was UNBELIEVABLE! There was a demonstration starting and we had to high tell it out of town and to the Visa Lodge for lunch and then to the airport. We are getting ready to board I will call my wonderful wife who I cannot wait to hug in Miami. I love you honey XXOO, I have some pretty cool news, I will tell you when I see you! Mee-Shell-Lee i knew you would never abandon the blog, I just wanted to make sure the owls wer not crowding us out.

Nubby (JR) is facebookin and bloggin with one hand

"Look honey one hand", says JR to RC! LOL!

JR your wife has been making me cry with her sweet post too. You should see the text she sends me. I'm pretty sure I'm her fave! LOL! I was at your house last night around 10:30 and RC was working her tushie off preparing the house for your homecoming! I think you are gonna like Coco's new pink pillow that goes right above yours in your bed. She has missed you too! She (Coco) gave up drinking bottled water while you were gone just as an act of appreciation.

Alexis said she may even wash her smelly volleyball gear too before you get home tonight. Just between us, well and all the other bloggers, I hope she does. It smells like the inside of my kickboxing gloves!

Did you sweet talk any government officials so they will consider opening the borders for international adoption again?

I'm praying for y'all today and the people on the airplane who have to sit next to you...lol...seriously safe travels all the way into the arms of your families! Well done!

Love,
Michelle, Meshelle, Shellyboo, Shelly just don't call me RJ

Meshellee is here Capin' Ron

Hey JR I've never left the blog for a minute, well maybe a minute to check in on the owls!

I've been gettin' my funny on in the comment section of the blog! Have you been checking the comment section? We sure have enjoyed ourselves there! LOL!

I can't wait to get the news that you are back on American soil, so text me from Miami K?!

Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made rejoice and be glad in it!!!

I love the pictures!

church

Hello all.  this is a picture taken at church after service.  some of the kids from church.  this is the church that the team has been working on. even though they increased the space in church to double it's capacity, it was packed! about 500 people at service.  it was powerful and amazing!  justine see you all at home soon. 

Where has Mee-Shell-Lee Gone? No posts or comments in two days! ...Is she okay? I hope so. I feel baaaaddddd that I have not heard from her.

Hi Honey! My phone has been down since yesterday. It says "No Sim Card" I have popped it out and cleaned it, but it still is not reading, so I cannot use my phone. You brought tears to my eyes after reading your past couple blogs. I love you so much and cannot wait to see you. Your info is correct, we have very little time in Miami, I will have to borrow someones phone to call you. So, plan on that time. I cannot wait to give you a big wet dirty hug and kiss! Yesterday was tough to get through. Jim and I were not feeling well, he was an animal the harder he worked the better he felt. So, I tried that too...and it worked for me as well, the harder I watched Jim work the better it made me feel! LOL! I couldn't eat lunch and for dinner I just had rice, bread, split pea soup and a piece of cake. I left with 5 bags and I am coming home with two! We gave everything away yesterday to our Haitian friends, even our shoes...Mike had to piggy back me to the van so I wouldn't have to walk through the sewer water we picked up rocks out of all week. Now I think he needs to see a back doctor when he gets home. Everyone is so excited about getting home to see their loved ones.  Thank you so much for taking care of everything which allowed me to go on this trip. The next one we are doing together! I asked Mike when the next Hawaii mission trip was and to let me know and to count us in! I wish! Okay, I gotta go help Mike find his ipod. Love you and talk to you soon! JR

Flight info

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think I found the flight info for the Go Team.  I was going through some paper work and happen to come across it. The GoTeam will be leaving Haiti @ 4:55 pm. arrive in Miami @ 8:15 pm. Depart Miami @ 9:50 pm. arrive into Chicago Ohare @ 11:55 pm. Wow long day of travel for you guys. I will keep you all in my prayers. Please call from Miami so I know where to pick you up from.


Love,
RC

You're coming home tomorrow!!! God bless you're last day in Haiti and may Christ's love shine brightly in all you do and say... speak boldly the truth that saves...

Love and safe travels back to the good ol USA!!!

Kelly

ISA 58:8-14

Isaiah 58:8-14 (New International Version)
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness [a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

This reading says it all for your trip to the "sun scortched land" and the work you all have done this week - may you rest well tonight and be prepared for your journey back home tomorrow. We pray for God's protection on you all for a safe journey back hom tomorrow. What are great work our Lord has done thru you all this week.

One more day!

Hello GoTeam, I hope you are all having a good time on your last day of your mission. You guys have done GODS work over there and you all should be proud, (even tho pride is a sin). I know I am very proud of my Husband J.R., for him to go with out A/C for seven days is HUGE! Can't wait to hear all the stories.

J.R. you inspire me, for you to go way out of your element zone and do it with grace and with a smile on your face. You just keep taking my breath away.

When we met I was overwhelmed with the idea of you,
When we got to know each other I learned that you were a person with strengths and weaknesses like everyone else
When we got closer I was overwhelmed with the idea of love
Now as time has passed, I am no longer overwhelmed with the idea of you and love, but I am more than overwhelmed with you and the love we share
-Susan Polis Schutz

I miss you and can't wait to see you!

Love,
RC

This is Mislinda, She was adorable enough for both of us, so my ugly mug didn't need to be in the picture anyway. She hung out with us all day, she even worked the bucket live

Yes Virginia, Their is a Vincent or "V" as many Haitians have come to affectionately call him. He is the youngest member of our team, thus the blunt of jokes and being teased, but he is a wonderful young man and takes it in stride. He has done an outstanding job of documenting our trip.