Trip to Haiti After The Earthquake

Dear Praying Family and Friends, After much preparation and delays we made it to Haiti on Sunday morning. When we landed and exited the plane I felt in many ways I was back in the Army; helicopters flying by, military personnel and everything that goes with that was all around the airport. And there on the grassy areas of the airport were personnel and supplies from all around the world. Several countries were represented and flying their flags, it was a powerful scene. On our drive to the first stop, we were overwhelmed with all the destruction. The pictures that we had seen on the television were nothing in comparison to the real thing. It seemed like every home or business we seen was damaged or totally destroyed; very few buildings looked like they didn’t have any damage. As we drove through Port Au Prince the roads were fairly open. Still the masses of humanity living in the streets are truly heart-rending. Tent cities are growing at a rapid rate. Some already have thousands of people living in them. Many people are building little shacks with scraps of tin and plastic. There are Cite Soleils (primitive tin sheds by the thousands) beginning to pop up everywhere. It is surreal to see so many people living outside. Nearly everyone is afraid to chance sleeping inside the houses that are still standing. The sad fact is hundreds of thousands have no house to go back to. There are just so many people all over the place. When we made it to Qvisqveya Christian School there was no time to just sit around and visit, we soon met up with individuals we knew – and those we did not know. We immediately jumped into action and we all were given various tasks that needed to be done. God had worked it out that 4 of us traveled together: Phil Murphy, Michelle Murphy, Nate Wilkerson and myself, all of us with various gifts and talents. Phil and I started meeting and working with various ministries making necessary contacts needed now and in the future. Michelle can speak fluent Creole, so she was taken to a hospital where she interpreted for English speaking German surgeons and Nate was helping to move and set things up around the school. We stayed very busy that first day then spent the night with the Director of Qvisqveya Christian School. We would not be in Haiti long, and we had many things that needed to be accomplished, so on Monday we started that process. Michelle and Nate stayed around the school and in a few medical camps, to help out where they could. Phil and I headed out to see if we could help some local ministries with some immediate needs before we headed out of town to Phyllis Newby’s Ministry, about a 2 hour drive out of town. At Phyllis’ we found there was very little damage from the earthquake, mostly cosmetic. They have a fairly well stocked hospital on the compound there, we had been told a medical team would be there working, so we were surprised that they were not there. One couple that flew in after us was working at Phyllis’, helping with mostly minor cuts and abrasions. We toured the hospital and found it would be a great place where many could be air lifted or brought in. They had sent representatives into town trying to let others know of the facility, without much success. Phil and I took information with us, in hope to share with others so the facility could be used. Then as we left, Phyllis herself went into town to try and inform those in charge of the facility and they could immediately start using it. Pray that this facility will start being used to help those suffering from this devastating earthquake. We traveled back to town to make some connections, telling them about Phyllis’ place then to get Michelle and Nate and head up the mountain to the House Of Blessings. It was dark when we made it to Tania and Fancky’s house, Phil and I walked through it and found that God had blessed them, their home did not have any structural damage that we could see. They had started building a second floor and some blocks from that had fallen. Then we went to the House Of Blessings orphanage, all the children were outside and excited to see us. Phil and I walked through the orphanage, Phil even went down in the cistern, under the house, and Praise God, and there was no major structural damage anywhere. God had taken care of the orphanage building! The only damage was a back porch that had been back-filled and then concrete poured on top of the back-fill and it had settled a little. There on the House Of Blessings property they had started to build a school next to the orphanage, it had the first floor completed, it did not receive any structural damage. It, too, had a second floor started and some block had fallen from it, also there was a retaining wall on the backside of the school that came down and the stones from the retaining wall went through a few windows and a door destroying them. Also, there are several areas of the wall surrounding the property that have been damaged, which causes security concerns. In all, it could have been much worse, Praise be to the Lord that Phil had did such a great job building the orphanage, which is one reason it survived so well. I wish I could say the same about the neighbors’ homes around Callabasse; they did not survive as well as the orphanage. Most of the homes have been severely damaged and destroyed, to the point they cannot be lived in. As we walked around the area talking with friends and neighbors, they would ask us to inspect their homes. It was a very heart breaking time as we talked with them, hearing their stories and looking at their destroyed homes. It will take several years to help them rebuild their homes, but their lives have been changed forever! As we drove through the streets, walking through neighborhoods and talking with so many people, we were flooded with emotions. Through all the death and devastation, glimmers of hope could be seen and heard in various places. We were told that when tremors would come, people would sing songs of inspiration and hope. People were gathering together, from all races and economic levels holding hands, crying and singing praises to the Lord. Prayer meetings were spontaneously popping up. Individuals were sharing stories of how they had been spared and God has saved them for a greater calling. Many said that they were just thankful to be alive. These strong resourceful Haitians that we have admired for so many years were once again rising up from all the rubble, with many holding strong to their Faith. Most of the people in Haiti do not have Facebook or generators. While we want to try to be a voice for the people of Haiti and represent them in a sense, and try to help, the fact is, we can leave, we have another country, and we have many possibilities of places to go. Most folks there are at the end of their rope. Once again we have been given the opportunity to share the Love, Grace and Mercy of Jesus Christ with a country that has experienced another catastrophe. Once again we have been given the opportunity to be the hands, feet, arms, legs, mouths etc. for Jesus Christ to a people that are in great need. Once again we have been given the opportunity to feed those who are hungry, give a drink to those who are thirsty, invite a stranger in, give clothes to those who need clothing, help those who are sick and in need. Once again we have been given the challenge from the Lord, “whatever you do for the least of these brothers of mine, you have done it for me.” When we returned we brought Tania and Francky’s three children with us. Tania and Francky felt if the children were with Phil and Lonnie they would be safe, allowing them to concentrate on helping the House Of Blessings children, other families, their friends and people in general. When we entered the US and went through homeland security they checked the children’ passports and visas, everything was in order. A guardianship document was made in Haiti giving Phil and Lonnie guardianship for the children, but it was not notarized. They held the children with Phil and Lonnie until 3 AM before taking the children to a facility south of Miami. This has been a very difficult and traumatic time for everyone, hopefully Phil and Lonnie should have the children soon. We traveled to Miami to be with the children; Lonnie is staying close by to visit them frequently. This is just a short statement about what has been transpiring, many details have been omitted. We need you to be aware of the situation and praying for their release to be expedited and the children to be released into the care of Phil and Lonnie. Blessings, Richard Fields Helping Hands In Motion www.hhimtoday.com/blog ]]>