Haiti – August 28

Wrapping up today. Up a 5:00 AM and broke camp and headed to Port. We stopped in St. Louise de Sud. This is a small fishing village I ran across about 5 years ago. I always stop in to see my friend Chuco. We always bring bags of rice, beans etc. These folks have always been so kind to us. They always share food with us, mostly lobster or fish. It’s an absolute beautiful place on the Caribbean Sea.

We had a good visit and headed east. It’s an all day dusty drive with lots of stops due to the most traffic you can possibly imagine. These 8 days were incredibly tough but there so many blessings. Looking forward to getting home to my beautiful Kim and the girls. And hopefully catching some leftover waves from Ida. Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.
Kenny

Fresh coconut juice is always provided
Natural beauty in the Lord’s creation
The kids are so cool. Notice the Shaka sign with the kid next to me.

Haiti – August 27

Today was hygiene bag day. We started in Lasaline the coastal community and then headed to the mountain village of Gandou. We delivered a total of 150 bags. As usual Pastor Harry calmed the crowds and things went well. We never seem to have enough but we are gracious what God gives us. This is our last day, tomorrow we head back to Port au Prince. We had a tremendous amount of local help and security. Without, it would have difficult to pull off. Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.

Kenny

Gandou hygiene bag distribution
Lasaline female hygiene bag distribution

Haiti – August 26

Last night was crazy. There is tropical activity all around us. It rained so hard and the wind was howling. I thought my tent would blow away. I got up several times in the pouring rain to adjust the rain flap on my tent. Today in the rain we discovered a small community called Lasaline Les Cayes. It is on the southern most part of town and was hit very hard by the earthquake. This community is right on the coast. We made two trips here today to distribute the food bags. Once again Pastor Harry calmed the aggressive crowds down and all went well. After our second time into the community I decided to change gears. We spent the rest of the day buying products for Hygiene bags. We bought enough supplies for 150 hygiene bags. We will take some tomorrow to the coast and also to the mountain community we were at several days before. We made bags for women and for men. Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.

Kenny

Women’s hygiene bag deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, toilet paper and sanitary pads
Men’s hygiene bag, toilet paper,soap, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste

Haiti – August 25

Wow! What a day this was.

We headed back to Saut- Matherine where we passed out the tarps. We had our bags of food disguised very well. As we approached the village several people stopped us and said do not go down because the people where fighting. Man I get it, these people are desperate with no shelter or food.

We decided to go back to several villages up the mountain that we passed through on the day of the tarp distribution. Once there, Harry gathered the people and told them what we were here  for. His loving calm spirit calmed the crowd. Both villages received us and no trouble was made. We start with the elderly, then mothers with small children. From there it’s survival for the fittest. It went amazingly well. I have been on the other side where the people rushed us and we had to get the heck out of there quickly. Not a good feeling. That’s why food distribution is never a priority to me. My mission is to do things that is transferable to the people I work with. But this situation is an exception. All in all a great day.

What is really needed is tents and tarps and a lot of both. When I get back to Port I will see what the availability for tents are. To date we have distributed 66 tarps and 190 bags of food. When we got back to camp the rain and wind started due to some sort of tropical system. Just what this place needs. Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.

Kenny

We always try to help the elderly first.

Harry bringing calm to a probable aggressive crowd.
Preparing the food bags

Haiti – August 24

The days seem to be running together but the and they seem to be getting harder. We spent most the day in Les Cayes buying food supplies for distribution in the small community where we distributed the tarps. Food distribution is not always what I care to do but these people lost everything in the earthquake. These situations always have the tendency to be dangerous. When people see the food it can become like a powder keg. We will disguise the food so they will not see it and Pastor Harry will be able to bring calm and discipline to the crowd before the distribution starts. The food bag contains rice, beans, spaghetti, tomato sauce, salted herring and a small bottle of oil. It will take much prayer and discernment to pull this off. Praise God From Whom all Blessings Flow.

Kenny

Preparing the food bags
158 bags for distribution
Rice,beans,spaghetti, tomato sauce, salted herring and a small bottle of oil.

Haiti – August 23

Today is our first day in the field. We went into Les Cayes to drive around the city to survey. Once inside the oldest part of town we felt that this was not where we need to be due to the fact that the major players were in place. We decided to head north to Camp Perrin to a town that was totally devastated by the 2016 hurricane Mathew. On arrival we saw much more damage here than Les Cayes. The natural thing for me was, if this town suffered this much, what do the small villages look like that are forsaken by the government. We headed over mountains and ravines where we saw total devastation. We ended up in a village called Saut-Matrime. It was here where we felt the need to stop. Harry organized the people and we handed out 48 tarps with the help of the mayor. God was surely with us as we all know desperate people can do desperate things. Tarps are a premium now and hard to get. Tomorrow we head back with food and water. Another adventure in the far away bush. Food distribution is not my gig but these people are very needy and they’ve lost everything. Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.
Kenny

Typical damage in the place of the forgotten
Typical damage in the place of the forgotten
People never seem to look hard enough to see Haiti’s natural beauty
Harry organizing the tarp distribution
Let the games begin

Haiti – August 22

We traveled most the day with safe passage. We arrived in Les Ceyes  safely. We were not sure where we were going to stay. It was too late to make any survey so the main concern was where to pitch our tent. There is a guest house that we have stayed at several times before on the west side of town. I knew it was totally destroyed but the security wall was still intact. After the quake the lady left and went to the states. Harry reached her by phone and she graciously gave us permission to use her wall guarded rubble. She also called her security to come let us in and stay for the duration of our stay. So we pitched tents and settled down for the night. Tomorrow will be another long day of assessment and praying on how we can help in the best way. Praise God For Whom All Blessings Flow ( PGFWABF)

Kenny

Our temporary home
This is where we take our 5 gallon bucket cold water shower. This is a blessing to have a safe place to stay.

Haiti – August 21

After a much needed day of rest, we are on our way to Les Cayes (the epicenter). Yesterday (August 21) was one of the toughest days I’ve had on quite sometime. With driving 9+ hours and then being on the airport all night without sleep. My flight was delayed which put me in Port au Prince too late to travel south. We got up early this morning and prepared the truck for travel. We got groceries for our camping in Les Cayes and now we are headed south with 66 large tarps and are prayed up. We have been in contact with the depot we use outside of Les Cayes and it is open for business. This such a good thing. Now I know we can get material as needed. PGFWABF
Kenny

Pastor Harry and Fender getting the truck ready for the trip to the southwest.

Haiti – August 20th

Here I go. I drove all day to Fort Lauderdale to catch the only flight that would get me down to Haiti. This was the only flight that would put me in Port au Prince when I needed to get there. Got here about 10:00 pm and just hung out at the airport. Auuugghhhhhh! I leave at 6:40 this morning and arrive in Port at 8:30. I am truly humbled by all the promised prayers and the donations and I want to thank each one of you. God only knows what we will run into but I have been down this road many times. I will be posting on the website as much as possible.

The Work Has Continued!

Dear church and friends,

They say sometimes you need to step back and look a little harder look at our lives and calling. That’s what had happened in my life in late 2019. We had a major family set back that pushed me into a much needed sabbatical of sorts. And then Covid struck. In early 2020 I was in Nicaragua to start a new project when COVID started making its rounds against the world. I was fortunate to get out as I was on one of the last planes to leave before the country was shut down.

I will admit that between the sabbatical and COVID that I fell into a deep funk. Because of not being able to travel and have my finger on the pulse of our projects my blogging came to a halt. I know God has a plan through all this and trust me, Him and I have had many prayerful conversations about all this. All though the giving has dropped off a bit (as with most churches and non profits) praise God for those who have continued to be faithful.

The work has continued…
Your giving has allowed ALL our work to continue while our in-country partners have carried on while I stayed on the sidelines. This is why I spend so much time with the people building solid  relationships. It’s been truly amazing how the work has continued. It’s been slow but it has moved forward. 

  • Our school in Haiti continues to stay open, however resources have dwindled and we need you to prayerfully consider supporting this school monthly. 
  • Our  roof project in Haiti has continued. 
  • The housing project in Guatemala continues with 12 houses now completed.
  • I am working on a disaster relief project for Nicaragua.
  • My in-country field work for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has kept me busy state-side and I’ve been asked to help oversee the construction of a community center project on Grand Bahama with the vision of one on Abaco also. Hurricane Dorian brought all this together. This will act also as an emergency relief center in times of need which unfortunately may be often. 

Back in the field…
Now that travel is starting to become a tad safer and easier we are beginning to jump back in full on. As you may know by now our most pressing issue is this earthquake that has just hit Haiti. This thing has struck smack dab in the middle of where our roof project is. I am planning at the moment to get down there ASAP if I can. Pastor Harry and I have been in constant communication and he has sent me some horrible pictures. Looks like the 2010 earthquake we went through down there. We are asking for much prayer and support as I will be tasked to figure out how we can help our dear Haitian brothers and sisters. Please pray for my safety and pray how God may allow you to help. Hey, it’s been a while but we are back in the saddle. I was headed down to Guatemala but the earthquake has changed that plan. 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny