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 bags158 bags for distributionRice,beans,spaghetti, tomato sauce, salted herring and a small bottle of oil.
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 forgottenTypical damage in the place of the forgottenPeople never seem to look hard enough to see Haiti’s natural beautyHarry organizing the tarp distributionLet the games begin
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 homeThis is where we take our 5 gallon bucket cold water shower. This is a blessing to have a safe place to stay.
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.
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.
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.
I arrived in Guatemala on Saturday totally exhausted. The last couple of months have been brutally busy. The one and only purpose for this trip is to finally get this land gig squared away. Doctor Kenny called me last week and told me all the papers were ready and there would be no issued this time. So I scrambled to get a ticket and headed south. We have a scheduled appointment on Monday at 10:00 AM to sign papers for the land purchase. I chilled today and caught up on some much needed rest. I got up Sunday morning and went to church with Doc Kenny and Maco. After church we did a little driving around towards Antigua to look at some potential places for teams to stay in the future. On Monday we all meet at the Puertas’s house with the lawyer, the land owner and proceeded to chicken scratch signatures. Six months of trying to put all this together and it took like 5 minutes to ink the deal. The next two days I stayed with the Puertas’s (this is the rancher dude I meet on the plane).There is know way we could have done this without their help. They have spent their personal money on so many little fees so the deal could keep moving. As Victor says, this is out contribution to the project. They are 100% behind this housing project. He will also be very beneficial on the amenities to the land. He has many high profile Guatemalans friends whom he says will help keep some of the cost down. Without this Guatemalan team that I have been blessed to assemble, this project would have at least been twice as much. It was great hanging with the family and getting to know each other better. They have been so good to me. Now the real work starts. We have a lady who is involved with the Fuego refugees doing social work who has volunteered to do the case work and interviews on the families to be candidates for re location to new homes. We actually have 7 homes committed to be built. That leaves 3 homes left to complete our goal of 10 homes. So, what are you waiting for. Dig deep and let’s get this $15000.00 raised and get er done. Three homes for 15 grand is a deal anywhere. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny
At the signing table. Me,Lawyer Willy and Macco Director for Sahre4Life.
A nice glass of champagne from Spain to celebrate this long awaited day. The sellers, us and the Puertas’s. Many people worked very hard to get all the pieces of this puzzle put together.
These next two days were a whirlwind of anticipated knowledge, experience and humility. We started out early morning on the 1st towards Guatemala City the capital. I had a scheduled appointment with a lawyer recommended by Doctor Kenny. This firm does all their legal junk for their in country organization Share4Life. We are working on some legal documents that Jim requested I deal with. The lawyer was also scheduled to go over the survey for the land purchase. So we headed out early for the big city with survey and other legal docs for the land in hand. We arrived at our appointed time for our meeting with the lawyer. We talked about a contract for the land and a contract between Share4Life and CI/GMSM. These are to legally protect all involved. A smart move on our part.
As our focus moved to the land and also another contract between us and buyer, she realized after doing further research that there is a discrepancy between the new survey we had and the legal survey that’s in the municipal office. So this put a halt to any property purchase at least for today. We had a meeting later on that day with Guadeloupe the land owner and her representative. We talked about the issue and both sides agreed to move forward and get this deal done. We contacted the lawyer and they agreed to see us again the following morning. We decided to stay in the city this night so we could make the 7:00 AM appointment. Kenny and our driver dude each went home and I stayed with my friends Victor and Monica. This is the guy I met on the plane and who helped us locate this jewel of land.
The following morning we all meet back at the lawyers office. Guadeloupe brought what legal papers she had, we had ours and we compared notes. We all agreed before starting the meeting that we are all one voice in this and our goal is to help the people and that we are dead serious about this land and they are dead serious about selling it to us. The legal survey shows the land is smaller than what her survey shows.This is not necessarily a bad thing. The legal municipal survey also shows that while it is a tad smaller it’s on the choicest part of the property. It also means we will not have to pay full price. It could be 3-4 grand less. Which will allow us to put that money into electric and sanitation services. The lawyer says she can have this all squared away in about two weeks.
Although they are responsible for these fees, I told them we’d pay half. Guadeloupe is badly in need financially and I know she has been taken advantage of by some jacked up pseudo lawyer she had. We will not take advantage of this situation. This whole process has allowed me to know that God is indeed in control. HE has most definitely affirmed, protected,blessed us with proper council and confirmed this project. This is precisely why I work so hard on a relational process. We are building a great support group of like minded people down here. It’s a small set back for a great reward. Can You Imagine? Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
After a restful night and a good breakfast at the guest house, we loaded up and headed to Taxisco. This is the town close to the property. I wanted go to the property and walk the surveyed lot and just spend time doing my own visual survey. This is a beautiful piece of land with huge mango trees. Mangos are a cash crop which in time can benefit the new owners once the houses are built. The property sits in a very lush area set back off the highway. It’s roughly 5 kilometers from Taxisco. We had Guadeloupe, the seller of the land call Francisco to get us in the property. This dude’s been there since the beginning of time I think and is the self proclaimed overseer of this area. He met us at the highway and was kind enough to take several hours of his time to walk the property with us.
We left the property and went into Taxisco. I’ve wanting to check this town out for a long time and this was perfect timing. This town is close enough for the people to get supplies, medical attention and schools are in this area. After talking to Francisco and checking out the community I felt some food supplies were needed. We stopped by a market and picked up rice, beans, flour,salt,sugar, coffee, noodles, oil …..etc. and brought them back to the community. Needless to say, they were stoked. What a great day this was. Can you imagine. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny
This is the surrounding community. Needy and desperate.
The road to the property.
Francisco leading the way
Lush, shady and cool.
Some of the many mango trees
Francisco, me , two children from the community and G man our driver with some of the food and supplies. Some of the bags had already been taken away but Francisco will distribute it among the neighbors
Here we go again. Headed south down to Guatemala. The goal is to finalize the land purchase and move forward for the refugees of this area in Escuintla.
It has been a crazy process so far and I’m not real optimistic that all’s going to be in order. But as my Haitian pastor says “God knows.” I am sure in my heart of hearts that my motives are true and correct and that this is a project that will affect many lives.
I arrived safely and as usual Dr. Kenny and Macco where there to swoop me up and get on down the road. They took me to Antigua, a cool trendy hipster town that used to be the capital years back before an earthquake destroyed it. There is a huge European influence along with expats trying dissolve from life. Hmmmmm, I personally dig the country side of Guatemalan life but it’s a cool place to visit and there is lots of history around. After the Antigua stop they took me to my hotel for some much needed rest. Got up early and hit the road for Escuintla in hopes of getting started on the land purchase.
This is the holiday season with Holy Week and other celebrations. Today is no exception. Today is their Labor Day which means only restaurants and bars are open. All municipalities are locked up tight. Doc Kenny took me to a huge lake called Lago de Atitlan. We took a boat across the lake to some small Mayan villages that are very traditional. These are areas where the do medical missions with medical teams. It was a huge treat to see this and you can see the need.
After today we should be rolling again. I have several lawyer meetings in the city to work on legal documents for the land purchase. This has been a very different process and prayers are welcomed. Tomorrow is a new day. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny
These two pics are of a catholic cathedral built back in the 1500’s. It was nearly destroyed by the earthquake in the 1800’s. This town was the capital city until the quake.
These two pics are of a catholic cathedral built back in the 1500’s. It was nearly destroyed by the earthquake in the 1800’s. This town was the capital city until the quake.
Lake Atitlan surrounded by non active volcanoes.
Coming down the mountains towards Panagachel.
The main road to the Mayan village of San Antonio Palopo.
Most women in this small community still wear the traditional and native colors. All textiles in the village, cloths and veramic ware are still made by hand. It’s a hard to reach area and the health need is great.
