Category: Archived Posts – 2007-2016

Praise God from whom all blessings flow and all blessings do come from the God of creation. Time has run out for this trip down to Haiti. I will say that I am for sure ready to debrief myself and try to make sense from the senseless. We did have a good day today. Jeff, Harry and I went to Medishare hospital to speak with a person familiar with the things we are going through and he had a great ear and good advice.

To recap for all who are interested, we are unfortunately dealing with major accountability issues from a partner here. It makes me so mad that we have been put in this position. So we have had to pick up the pieces and move on towards the bigger picture which is the future of children in Haiti. With that said we are headed in the right direction to rectify the issue.

After our meeting with our new connection we took off up the mountain to the Baptist Bible College. It is drop dead killer gorgeous up there. Lots of history behind this place dating back to the 1920’s. We had to cut the visit short due to the fact that it is closed on Monday. How about that, another lesson learned. As Harry always says “we are always in school.” Tomorrow is travel day. I do leave with a heavy heart but a renewed spirit. I know we could never have pulled this off without all the prayers that were continually lifted up for us. Thank you all very much,

Kenny
GMSM

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Oh happy joy joy, we got up at the crack of dawn and took Chad to the airport and came back to the crib of cribs to get ready for church at Harry’s place of worship. So Jeff, David , Kristen and I headed out to Savon Blonde Baptist church in Croiux de Bouquet . It is always a joy going to Harry’s church. I have been there many times and have made good acquaintances there. Harry asked me to preach this Sunday and I did so under the topic of “vision”. There were several hundred people there. Like many churches through out the world, Harry has dead weight cling-ons. He also has a large number of hard workers that help him with the vision of the church, so as I preached, Harry translated for me.

After church we had the opportunity to give out some dresses and shorts that my Aunt Geneva (Jeff’s mother) and some of the women in their churches WMU had made for the children. These women are from the First Baptist Church of Glencoe, Alabama. We let Harry distribute them because he knew who the neediest families were. It was such a joy to see how grateful they were. It was brutal hot and I had to wear long pants,a button up shirt and shoes..ouch!!! That was painful enough but once you throw in a 110 degree heat index with no relief in sight, you begin to ask your self, are you sure this is what God is calling you to do haha. Not a doubt in my mind. I know beyond all things that he has called me here. So having to dress up a bit and deal with the heat is not suffering at all, it is just a few small inconveniences that we have to deal with. Joe took us back David’s place and we just hung out in the A/C and chilled for the rest of the day. Good good day! Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

GMSM

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I gotta be honest to our supporters and readers about something, so I guess this is the time for true confession. We are staying in the most killer house provided by Medishare for its volunteers and workers. I mean this place is totally cool and tricked out with A/C, power, hot showers (which I have never experienced in Haiti) and for most of the time Internet service. What a blessing this is that David has opened his doors to us and provided shelter for GMSM. He is also an awesome cook and he has kept our bellies full. So between the good food and his worship music, he continually fills our cup. Totally a very cool dude and brother. I think God has allowed us to have this time of refreshing because of the emotional and spiritual draining that this trip is being.

Today we had to face the demons head on and make tough decisions about how and where God will allow us to go and work in Haiti. I am convinced that one of the reasons this band of gypsies is here is so that Gods light will shine through the darkness of man and the things he worships. It’s funny how even though we all have times in our lives to come clean we still sometimes choose to ignore the truth and live the lies of the great deceiver. You don’t have to go to Haiti experience it either, it’s all over even in our churches. So, here we are having to pick up the pieces of broken man and seeing how God can be glorified through the mistakes of lost people without a vision. The cool thing about it is that He will be glorified and I know in my heart of hearts that God will show us the ancient path and allow us to walk down it and find rest for our souls. So as of now I am walking down the path back to the killer crib with the A/C, bot showers and awesome grindage. Praise God from whom all blessings,

Kenny

GMSM

There are times when I feel that I am on an island. Praise God that this is not one of those times. I m thankful to have two brothers with me to help share the burdens that sometimes come with ministry. The burden I am talking about is holding ourselves accountable to do what is honorable to God through holding others accountable for their actions.Today will be a fact gathering day that will help us to evaluate our relationships and partnership agreements. As we talked to some of the local people, we discovered that the things we feared most were true and that we had to take steps to try and reconcile a mess that we have no control of. The only control we do have is the fact that we can stop things from moving further along. The day ended with a nice visit from Madam Fani and Michelet at Harry’s church. We broke bread with all and fellowshipped with everyone. I talked with Madam Fani about her house and we spoke to Michelet about his school up in Crochi. After our time at Harry’s church we headed back to David’s place to regroup and talk strategy about our tough talk tomorrow that will have to take place because of selfish desires. I know many people will be praying for us and I know the Holy Spirit will fill us with wisdom. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny
GMSM

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Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Except for the dog from hell barking all night I got a good night sleep. This crib of Davids is right on. I am talking very cool. Literally cool, I mean with A/C. I know what Peter was feeling up on the mountain of transfiguration when he said, Hey Jesus let’s build some shelters up here and just hang out forever here. Well guess what in the A/C is not where the work is… it’s out in the heat and dust. Check this out though, when we are done for the day we get to go back to the glorious A/C, PTL!

Harry came by and we spent an hour or so talking and hanging out. We grabbed some grind at a local establishment and went over to Harry’s property to check out the progress on his house. Things are going very well and the bosses and workers are doing a killer job. I am so proud of him and thankful for the answered prayer that God provided through obedient servants.

After a little while we headed to an orphanage that I have visited several times in the past. Coats Little Angels Orphanage is located in the city and faces many hardships. We have been blessed in the past to give some support but have not been able to support it consistently. I wanted Jeff and Chad to see this place. It’s a hard place to see but it is real and it makes you know how blessed we are. Makes Fede’s orphanage look like a palace.

We made our way back to the A/C up on the high place and CHILLED. David showed up so we went to get groceries and some more killer grub. What a day. I was stoked to share this part of my Haiti gig with these two brothers.
Tomorrow will be a fact gathering day, happy happy joy joy!

Kenny
GMSM

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Well nothing changes for the Haiti trips. Up and out the door much earlier than I prefer but hey what’s a missionary to do. At least I did not have to worry about dealing with it all by myself, my brother Curt took me and saved Kim some much needed zzzz’s. Chuck from TEM was on the flight also and headed to Haiti to do some mission stuff.

Once I got to Miami I met up with Jeff Poland (my cousin) and financial director of Immanuel UMC in Kentucky and one of his Christian brothers Chad Simms from the same fellowship. We had some lunch in the airport and talk a little strategy for the next few days.

This will be a trip of accountability, trust, obedience and calling to a partner. This is the dirty stuff that the bible tells us and warns us about. How we deal with it is key to our own call. God has put me with two fine,strong warriors who will enter the battle with me. This has the potential to be a true bummer but I also know God has this totally under control. No matter what happens God is putting his hand to the plow and calling His people together to build a stronger coalition of believers.

Once we touched down in PAP we were met by a key component to the newly plowed field. His name is David and has been in Haiti since the quake. I have met his wife Nicole by phone only and she was so kind to turn us on to her husband. They also are working down here but under the umbrella of Eyes Wide Open. Great folks and I can’t tell you how stoked I am to find like-minded people to fellowship with and work with. He took us to his house and took care of us and offered us a place to stay for the rest of the week. Cool day, praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

GMSM

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Praise God from whom all blessings flow. I did get a pretty good night’s sleep and had the nectar of life to start the new day. Any day in Haiti that starts with coffee has the potential to be a good day. I studied the Bible for an hour or so and visited with Ashley for a little bit while I was waiting on the tap-tap to take me to Harry’s property.

On the way I found a car rental place that let me use their wireless to send off some website stuff. They were real kind about it. If we ever need to rent a car I will check them out. I spent some time with the workers before Harry arrived and then just chilled and had good conversation with Harry. It has been very nice to spend time with Harry. His time is always stress free. The work on the house is going so well and the worker dudes are doing a killer job.

I returned to the guest house and chatted with Ashley for a while again and then started my preliminary packing for the flight home tomorrow. I leave around 2:30 pm and should get to P’Cola about 10:00 pm. I will be praying for no cancelled flights. I finally heard from Fede. He said he has been calling me, I guess I never heard my cell ring at the time he was calling. He wants to come by in the morning and talk. ??? Oh well, we will see what happens. I am touching bases with Kim and calling it a night.

Kenny

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I got up way early this morning and read scripture, drank coffee and waited for my posse to awake. Deborah and Aiyana will be leaving this morning and it will be lonely not having my two new friends around to keep me straight. Aiyana kept me cool on the iPad stuff and Deborah just kept me in check. It has really been a blessing serving with these two.

Deborah hits work when she returns and Aiyana gets ready to leave for Washington State to enter college. They took off around 9:00 am and I waited for Harry to give me a call. I took a moto machine over to Harry’s property and hung out with the workers for the day and talked about future plans and ideas with Harry. I have not heard from Fede since yesterday morning which is kind of surprising in a way. He is a man of strange convictions. He keeps his plate way too full.

I really enjoyed the day with Harry. We never just have time to ourselves so it was cool. I hooked up with moto machine dude and got back to the guest house. I will say that this cat is a good safe driver. He is who Harry only rides with so I was cool with him.

Man it was quiet at the guest house. It is pretty much just Ashley, Nene, Emma and me. Nene and Emma are two Haitian people that work in the guest house and I am not really sure where they sleep. I think Emma may sleep with Ashley. Ashley is probably the sweetest young lady I have ever met. She is from Tennessee and you cannot mistake it. “Hi y’all prayze the Loward y’all got heyer sayf.” She is absolutely a pristine example of southern hospitality.

I will go back to Harry’s property in the morning and will hang with him for the day. I heard there was a little surf back home and hope it stays around for my return. It always gets the best of me and I end up calling the surf report just to torture me a little. I wonder if that qualifies as persecution. Praise God from whom all blessings flow, amen !

Kenny

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After a hot and not such a good night’s sleep we awoke to some hot coffee and pancakes. Shortly after breakfast I received a phone call from Fede who informed me that his vehicle had been broken into the night before and 95 dollars had been stolen from his wallet, and he now has a busted window. With limited gas in his vehicle he picked us up at God’s Planet guest house to take us to Harry’s church to meet Madame Fani and her son Michlet. On the way there we stopped and filled Fede’s car with gas and as far as we know he was going to take care of some more personal things and then head back to Peligre.

Once at Harry’s church Deborah, Aiyana, and I were let into the gate and we sat under the big mango tree to wait for Madame Fani, Michlet, and Harry to arrive. I was looking very forward to seeing Madame Fani and talking to her about how life in Corchi is and the progress on her home that we are trying to complete. I was also excited for Deborah and Aiyana to meet Madame Fani. We sat and talked for many hours under the mango tree.

We order some chicken from a little restaurant for everybody. Harry sent Adonis to pick up our food. After a long wait we finally got our food. It was fun eating with Madame Fani. Deborah and Aiyana were very impressed with Madame Fani they were able to see her strength of character and witness my relationship with her. Deborah was able to communicate with Madame Fani and Michlet and they spent quite a while talking.

During our conversations we had an impromptu focus group session. We asked what they would prioritize as the most needed between water, education, and health . Crochi is a small village in the mountains close to Z’Orange. Water is well over several hours away and food can be relatively nonexistent at times. The answer to the question we received from both of them was that they felt that education was a priority over water and health and that a school was much needed. When we heard the answer we all three looked at each other in agreement that the face of Give Me Shelter Ministries may be changing.

Out of the many people we interviewed on this mission trip all of them gave us the same answer as far as education being the primary need. Once Madame Fani and Michlet left the church, the three of us along with Harry and two other men went into Port au Prince and played tourist. Harry deposited us back at the guest house where we were met by our hostess Ashley and had a Haitian-American meal of grilled chicken, rice and beans, sauce, and pickles. Today may very well been one of the highlights of this trip, being able to spend time with Madame Fani and introducing her to my new friends. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

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We woke up very early and started getting our chum together to pack up and head out. We had an appointment at Partners In Health (PIH) at 9:00 am with a young man named Joel who has an administrative role at this organization. This was the first time I have been to Cange and to PIH. PIH is a free clinic in various parts of Haiti that was started by a man named Paul Farmer back in the 70’s. This is an important relationship to the Peligre school and orphanage that has been damaged for reasons that would be too much to try to explain. One thing for sure though, most of our professional (doctors, nurses etc.) folks we bring up here want to work through them for the good of the children.

So Deborah, Aiyana and I had a nice meeting and was able to gather some good info that may help to begin bridging the gap. We were given a tour of the compound. We were shown the school, hospital,and training centers. We were shown the production facility where PIH makes a protein supplement from their farmed peanuts to be given out to severe starvation cases.Over all we were very impressed with PIH.

From there we went back to the Plaza hotel in Mirebalais where we were able to send our emails and eat one of the worst sandwiches made by mankind. The Lord was truly watching over us because no one got sick.

After leaving Mirebalais we went to God’s Planet Guest House in Croix de Bouquet where we dropped our chum off and Harry picked us up in a Tap-Tap. We took Deborah and Aiyana to Harry’s property and church. I was happy that they were able to see what Harry has going on in his world. We met Harry’s wife Nadesh and his daughter Djina for a meal at a restaurant by the airport, then headed back to the guest house. Deborah and Aiyana’s flight back to the states on Wednesday was canceled, so they will be staying one more day in hopes that Thursday they will be able to leave. Although I know they are ready to get home for various reasons, I will enjoy their company for one more day. We are not sure what tomorrow will bring, but we will fill it with whatever opportunities come our way. Praise God for whom all blessings flow.

Kenny