Author: kenny phillips

Still the 28th
We went to a local hardware depot and picked up all the material for each house. This included metal zinc sheets, fasteners, cement and some lumber. We dropped off the material on the road and it was up to the locals at this point to get it up the mountain. Each house was represented for the pick up of material and it was so cool seeing the community pitch in to help. Tomorrow we will start construction and we will scout out the rest of the village and start assessment for the next homes to restore. I hear there is about 70 homes up there. We have also heard there is a local pastor. We will seek him out and have a conversation with him. So far things have gone as planned. Please keep us lifted up, this ha the potential to be a hard place for many reasons. Praise Hod from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny
CI/GMSM

Haiti mission 1/26-2/2 2017

1/26-27

Conscience International (CI) and Give Me Shelter Ministries (GMSM) once again are partnering together to continue the relief effort for damaged homes from Hurricane Mathew in late September of 2016. Our vision is to restore homes in in reached areas where no relief effort is going on. We want to help redevelop existing communities. Task at hand is get to Port au Prince and rent a 4×4 and head south. My Haitian partner Harry had done a recon mission for us and found an area in the Aniquet region located between Les Ceyes and Port Salut. We saw this area last trip but was unable to check it out at the time. Once we get the vehicle I will stay at Harrys house and we will head out early to go south and west. They team is Harry, Finder and myself. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny
CI/GMSM

Oct. 31- Nov. 2

Spent the last couple of days at Harry’s house with his family. It was great to just catch up on things with him. We were so busy the last 3 weeks and never had time to really talk about our lives and family. I also was able to spend two nights in his home. This was a first for me. He has done a lot of work on his house and I am very proud of him.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

Oct 30

Today was a day of rest before heading back to Port. Alex bolted with the vehicle so we were on our own for the entire day. We made good use of our time though. Harry haggled with a fisher man and scored some great fish and huge crabs. The cookers grilled the fish and boiled the crabs and we had a feast for all to enjoy. The trip is winding down and I am ready. I’m going back to Port in the morning to Harrys family for a day or so. I am hoping to see my good friend Sem. He runs a great guest house and I’ve stayed there at least a dozen trips. Great place and reasonable. This has been a very interesting trip to say the least. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

Oct 28-29

We left early for Port Salut. We passed by the beach project and was very pleased with the progress. From there we went south down the coast. When we arrived at Port Salut the devastation was incredible. This was a booming coastal town frequented by the French and Europeans. Also a hangout for the Haitians. The town and economy is totally gone. Cholera is now coming back with vengeance only to add the catastrophe. It was getting late so we wanted to get back to Cayes before dark. Small villages are getting tired of seeing all the aid trucks pass them by with out offering any help. So they help themselves by barricading the roads with big rocks to block cars and then robbing them. Desperate people do desperate things. We stayed the night again in Camp Perrin. The rain has showed up again which will hinder any future trips down south. Things are winding down anyway. On the way back we stopped in Cance to see how Madame Augustave was coming along on the house. We had to 4 wheel it in because of the rain and mud. She lives well off the beaten track. She too now has a dry place to live. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

Oct. 27

After our meeting with David Harding and his wife Mary they asked if they could check out our work. I was like, heck yeah we will take you first thing in the morning. David is the Relief Coordinator for CBF. Although they are here for other reasons they were very interested in what God has allowed us to accomplish. We spent the day showing them all the job sites. They loved our approach and seemed very excited by the accomplishments on such a small budget. We had such a good time. Really good people. I think we will talk further once I return to the states. They have partnered with Conscience International in the past. Wow what a fun day. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

Oct. 26

After a good night sleep in Camp Perrin we set out early to locate roof candidates. You really don’t have to look very hard you just have to let the Holy Spirit guide. We found Madrig Dominique and after interviewing her we knew this was the next roof. After we dropped off her materials off I told the guys that I can’t stop thinking about the lady we talked to yesterday. Yeah, the job “I” thought might be to big. So we headed back to the depot and bought 60 sheets of metal, 10 bags of cement and nails and headed out of town to deliver the material. What a blessing it was. We had to get to Gran Goave by 6:00 PM to meet with a board member from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. On the way back we stopped to check the progress on the beach job and it was moving along fantastic. Praise God from whom all Blessings flow.

Kenny

Oct. 25

We packed up the rented 4×4 and headed out early for Camp Perrin. We stopped in the small coastal town of Saint Louis de Sud. This is the place where we got stuck the night of the mudslide. We saw a possible project that night so we went back to check on it. The small house was damaged and I am surprised it did not wash away. It is right on the sea. A 70 year old woman lives here with her son. This is a small fishing village. We got the materials for the house and found the right people to do the job. We have zero hands on the work. We are trying to empower the community to come together and supply some small work for this very needy area. As we moved on to Camp Perrin we looked at a few other projects. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

Oct 24

My bad on yesterday’s dates. I added a day. Days do run together down here. We had to go back to Port today to rent a 4×4 to finish off the work. We will head back to Camp Perrin in the morning, spend the night then I have a meeting with a Dave Harding from CBF in hopes of forming a partnership. Once that is done we will go much further out to many unchanged communities to assess and do some home restoration. We are looking for roofs to replace. There will be many and will depend on Gods guidance. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

Oct. 22-24

Two down days which is not to my liking. But for some reason down hear you have to continue to say it is what it is. We were all very tired on Saturday from the crazy mudslide trip and I was able to visit a local church on Sunday. So all was not totally lost. Tomorrow it will be time to rock and roll. Please pray it goes well. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.