Salty Servant

Wilson

2011-11-13T20:13:00.001-05:00

It was the pregnant pause on the phone line that I knew was the deciding factor in what would turn into a life changing event for two people I barely knew 48 hours ago.

I had called the apply-for-a-visa line at the US Embassy in Santo Domingo and the woman was very polite but very methodical and obviously versed in all she was saying. She clearly had much experience in taking information from all sorts of people desiring to enter the USA. I was just another voice until the question got asked. The question I was asked was simply why do you want to go to the USA?

The phone call was precipitated by the fact that we were applying for a visa for a just turned nine year old boy and his mom, in fact the day before I called the embassy was his birthday. Little Wilson has a perforated anus and a fistula in his urinary tract. Essentially since he was born he has needed to use a colostomy bag. The feelings of embarrassment he has are clear by the way he is around people. He is quite shy, friendly but very timid. I have never spent any time around Wilson until the van ride to the embassy. It was during that two hour bus ride I started to understand why he would be embarrassed. Literally, he is regularly changing a pamper every hour or so. Some times more. He can’t always empty his colostomy bag so when you put these two things together with regular bodily functions there is an odor that is created. Many times there is also an infection that is created. Wilson is regularly sick fighting off disease and health problems, along with the people who make fun of him.

I called Tatiana and invited her to the ministry house the moment we had all of the papers in line. This in and of itself was a difficult task. Credit goes to Vicki Rogers and Josanne Johnson on GO’s staff who presented this case to the board at Kosairs Children’s Hospital in Louisville KY. There was a video assembled by Amanda Braistad too but the man behind the scene who wishes to remain anonymous was the person who coordinated the doctors giving of their time and talent to assist Wilson. Many times we do not see the people behind the scenes doing the work.

Trying to get paperwork completed here in the DR is at times futile. We attempted to get a doctor who did surgery on Wilson to write a letter saying that it was best for Wilson to be treated in the USA. That surgeon would not, nor would the other surgeon who operated on Wilson. The one doctor operated on Wilson twice and told us that if he was to operate on Wilson again that he would have no more than a 50% chance to leave the operating table alive. Yet he would not write a letter giving this young boy a better chance. What drives that doctor? What runs through his mind? What is his thought pattern?

Since we could not get the letters we decided to proclaim the GO Ministries doctor, Vladimir Rosario Canela, Wilson’s primary care physician and have him write the letter with the details. We also could not get copies of the surgery or doctors visits for Wilson. Even though the law states the patient has a right to those documents they would not be released to Wilson’s mom. With little time to spare we just did what we had to.

The call to the embassy was a very methodical until the woman asked why do you want to go to the United States. I blurted it out, even though I had practiced what to say, to the woman I am applying for a visa for Wilson because he was born without an anus and he has had three reconstructive surgeries that have all failed. There was not another dogmatic responsive question from the woman, there was simply that eerie silence where time seems like it is racing by but it really only was about 7 or 8 seconds.

I said, "hello". The woman said in a softened yet agitated voice that I took as her being mad nothing was done to help this little guy, "Is there anything else I need to know about him?" I shared a little bit about his mom and that she needed to go also and then the woman got back into the methodical questioning. I had a sneaking suspicion at that point that he was going to be approved.

2011-10-17T15:26:00.001-04:00

Leonel meets the people in Cienfuegos
President Leonel Fernandez visited the Cienfuegos barrio in Santiago yesterday and listened to a litany of complaints and requests that is so typical of these meetings. The President instructed the Minister of Public Works to start paving the barrio streets as part of the second stage of paving work in all the city's barrios.

According to El Nuevo Diario, Fernandez talked about the Barrio Seguro program that is aimed at improving the quality of life in the barrios by reducing crime and he talked about how "democracy is fundamental in order to provide institutional development."

In a swipe at the strike that has been called by the Alternative Social Forum for 14 November, Fernandez said that it was a historic moment to meet in an orderly fashion to hear about all the communities' issues and needs.

The President was accompanied by his Minister of Public Works, Victor Diaz Rua, Presidency minister Cesar Pina Toribio and Ramon Fadul (Monchy) the Minister of the Interior and Police. The Attorney General of the Republic, Radhames Jimenez Pena, Chamber of Deputies president Abel Martinez and Santiago senator Julio Cesar Valentin were also present on the dais, as well as local District Attorney Yenny Berenice Reynoso and provincial governor Raul Martinez.

DR's first wind farm opens
The first wind farm for electricity generation will open in Juancho, Pedernales today. The US$100 million facility will produce 33 megawatts in its first phase and 83 megawatts in its second phase. Located in the far southwest of the country, the energy site is expected to stimulate the development of the entire region. Some 3,600 Ede-Sur customers will be the immediate beneficiaries of the new electricity source. CDEEE chief Celso Marranzini witnessed a US$3.2 million deal between Ede-Sur and Ege-Haina for refurbishing the power lines in the areas of Los Cocos, Juancho, Villa Esperanza and Oviedo.

http://www.dr1.com
The best internet resource for information on the Dominican Republic
Delivering the Dominican Republic's news daily since 1996!

A Million Single Moms

2011-09-06T15:04:00.001-04:00

The Dominican Republic has at least a million and a half single mothers, whether by choice, widowhood, divorce or some other reason. This means that 35% of households are headed by a single parent and of these, some 90% are headed by women. More than 20% of single parent households survive on less than two dollars a day.

According to El Caribe, people who have lived in barrios for many years are noticing the different demographics of this rise in single-parent homes. One woman noted that in the building next to hers, there were three women with children but no visible husbands, and on the other side there was a young woman whose child was cared for by her parents, while she worked.

The report cites the last study that counted the single mothers, done in 2007: The Demographic and Health Survey. In 2007, the study projected 1.4 million single mothers, with most of them in the National District and the province of Santo Domingo.

A later study by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank carried out at the request of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development during 2005 and released in 2010 said that 32% of households were headed by a single parent.

The 2007 Enhogar survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (ONE) showed 39.8% of the homes to be headed by a woman. The World Bank and IDB study showed that single-parent households were generally much poorer than families headed by a man or a couple.

2011-03-18T19:01:00.000-04:00

I have been meaning to start blogging again regularly so here it is short but sweet.

In September of 2010, GO Ministries had all kinds of proper paperwork to send a container of Haiti Relief items from medicine to hospital equipment across the border. Getting that across took seventy-five days with twenty-five of those days being spent in the city of Port-au-Prince visiting office after office. The container finally crossed even after a last minute snag of a truck driver not having his passport.

Today we went to the border literally on a wing and a prayer and the 864 boxes of medicine went across the border in about 6 hours.

As I reflect on what caused it to get across so much easier, I think it is living for God. When GO does things, we do it as best as we can the way God wants. We have this reputation at the border crossing in Dajabon / Ouanaminthe. When people see us they smile.

Today was not an easy day but the goals to get the medicine across and, as always, share the love of Christ were reached. That medicine will be put to use as people fight off the terrible effects of cholera.

blood pressure of a little guy

The disease, while easily preventable and also curable, is still deadly. If not treated rapidly a person could die within 24 hours. If a person is treated properly there is a very high percentage of people who live. It is an ugly disease that can simply dehydrate you so rapidly that your body has no chance to function properly on various levels.

agony of waiting

Thanks so much for your prayers and for assisting us to aid the Haitian people in their fight against the tough disease of cholera! We are winning!

Haitian nurses at the cholera clinic

Run For Education

2011-01-16T23:16:00.001-05:00

In 1998 I began working at a college in Louisville, KY. I had worked in higher education with students for about 10 years at that point and occasionally had students challenge me to racquetball matches, tennis matches, swim meets, one-on-one basketball, fishing derbies, and even a few boxing matches (with and without gloves);but no one ever suggested I could not run. I had run all of my life although not in races. In high school I played soccer and in college I played the position of center midfielder, on my Division one lacrosse team.

When those two college students challenged me to run the Louisville, KY Derby mini-marathon I thought 13.1 miles was impossible. They continued to encourage me during that cold January in 1999 to prepare me for the late April race. They encouraged me enough (read antagonized) to get me out there running.

That first mini-marathon was indeed a wonderful experience. I started running with those two girls and they left me in the dust. My running has come a long way since those early days. I am still competitive, but against myself and the hills.

This 30 of January I am going to run a different kind of race.

I am running and asking people to support me in buying educational supplies for kids in Haiti. I work with seven underfunded schools in Haiti… as if there are any fully-funded schools in Haiti. I am wanting to get these schools everything I can from chalk, chalk boards and erasers to paper to computers and lights.

You will see pictures of the kids receiving and using all of the items donated. So if you are wanting to give to work in Haiti but are leery of what is happening there you have my word and you will see the proof that 100% of your funds go toward school supplies. I am not spending anything on teachers salaries at this point but that may come in the future.

Will you sponsor me per mile, or per step, or per minute?! The choice is yours and the amount you donate is up to you.

Visit the "Run For Education" tab on my blog and learn more.

If you want to Run for Education please drop me a note and we can chat about how to do that.

So it does not matter if you are in Alaska or Maine you can help the children of Haiti, that is my word.

School supplies, God supplies!

2011-01-11T17:08:00.000-05:00

Friends, G.O. Ministries is in need in of 1000 square feet of free warehouse space in the Louisville area, hopefully in or near the bluegrass industrial park, J-town or Middletown. Can someone help us out? Post a comment or call 502.493.9846

Updates!

2011-01-11T14:03:00.001-05:00

Find out more ways to support my ministry work in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Please take a minute and visit the new pages added to the blog.

Cholera panic sparks Haiti witch-hunt; 12 killed

2010-12-03T13:32:00.007-05:00

Leave it to Fox news to be the only station to be talking about the impact of voodoo in the Haitian culture. This is only the second article in over a year of full coverage on Hait that I have seen which describes how voodoo is adding to the chaos, of which the country is already in the midst. Please continue to pray that this country continues to know the prescence and reality of Jesus in their midst and that they leave the ugly voodoo behind!

Click here to read the article

2010-11-28T16:37:00.001-05:00

The Dominican and Haiti are tied in so many ways. This trade debt is just one of the many ways.

Exports to Haiti exceed US$700m
Dominican exports to Haiti continue to grow at a sustained rate and will pass the US$700 million mark this year, according to official projections. As of 30 September, Dominican exports to the neighboring country reached US$658.2 million, according to official figures from the Dominican Republic Center for Export and Investment (CEI-RD). During 2008 exports from the DR to Haiti climbed to US$565.2 million, while last year the total reached US$647.5 million, an increase of US$82.3 million or about 14.5%. As of 30 September 2010, the Dominican exports have increased by US$10.7 million compared to the US$647.5 million of last year, an increase of 1.7%.
Exports to Haiti are led by cotton fabric, with a value of US$139 million, followed by pajamas and men's clothing from synthetic fibers for US$61.3 million, and flour for US$37.3 million. Other leading products are cement, US$30.7 million, foodstuffs, US$21.1 million, rebar worth US$18.8 million, fertilizers valued at US$18.5 million and used clothing said to be worth US$3.6 million. Also on the list are diarrhea medicines, US$15.8 million, gasoline worth US$11.8 million, diesel for US$8.5 million, plantains valued at US$2.8 million, and bottled water for US$7.9 million. The country also exported plastic bags, sheets of tin roofing and chicken stock cubes.

2010-10-17T18:18:00.001-04:00

THANKS for shopping with GO and John ! ! !
Kroger Cards are a great easy fundraiser for me. The Kroger Corporation which is made up of 22 supermarkets, convience stores and whole sale food markets all accept the Kroger card to donate to my ministry work in the DR and Haiti.

Instructions:
1) Ask me to send you a Kroger Card which can be used at any of the stores listed below.
2) Go to the store of your choice listed below and ask any cashier to put whatever amount of money you would like on the card. You may do so with cash or a credit card.
3) Shop
4) Present the Kroger Card that you put your money on earlier.
5) John Martinez from GO Ministries automatically makes 4% of what you just spent.

The companies are:

SUPERMARKETS
Kroger (including Kroger gas)
Ralph's
King Soopers
City Market
Dillows
Smith's
Fry's
QFC
Bakers
Owens
Jay C
Hillander
Gorbes
PayLess
Scott's
Food 4 Less
Foods Co.

CONVENIENCE STORES
Tukey Hill
Quick Shop
Loaf n Jug
Quick Stop
Tom Thumb
Smith's Express

2010-09-12T18:14:00.001-04:00

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — From the dusty rock mounds lining the streets to a National Palace that looks like it's vomiting concrete from its core, rubble is one of the most visible reminders of Haiti's devastating earthquake.

Rubble is everywhere in this capital city: cracked slabs, busted-up cinder blocks, half-destroyed buildings that still spill bricks and pulverized concrete onto the sidewalks. Some places look as though they have been flipped upside down, or are sinking to the ground, or listing precariously to one side.

By some estimates, the quake left about 33 million cubic yards of debris in Port-au-Prince— more than seven times the amount of concrete used to build the Hoover Dam. So far, only about 2% has been cleared, which means the city looks pretty much as it did a month after the Jan. 12 quake.

Government officials and outside aid groups say rubble removal is the priority before Haiti can rebuild. But the reasons why so little has been cleared are complex. And frustrating.

Heavy equipment has to be shipped in by sea. Dump trucks have difficulty navigating narrow and mountainous dirt roads. An abysmal records system makes it hard for the government to determine who owns a dilapidated property. And there are few sites on which to dump the rubble, which often contains human remains.

Also, no single person in the Haitian government has been declared in charge of the rubble, prompting foreign nongovernmental organizations to take on the task themselves. The groups are often forced to fight for a small pool of available money and contracts — which in turn means the work is done piecemeal, with little coordination.

Projects funded by USAID and the U.S. Department of Defense have spent more than $98.5 million to remove 1.2 million cubic yards of rubble.

"There's not a master plan," Eric Overvest, country director for the U.N. Development Program, said with a sigh. "After the earthquake, the first priority was clearing the roads. That was the easiest part."

Overvest said the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission — created after the earthquake to coordinate billions of dollars in aid — has approved a $17 million plan to clear rubble from six neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. The neighborhoods have not yet been selected, however, and it's unclear when debris will be removed from other areas.

Leslie Voltaire, a Haitian architect, urban planner and presidential candidate, says his country needs a "rubble czar."

"Everybody is passing the blame on why things haven't happened yet," he said. "There should be one person in charge. Resettlement has not even begun yet, and it can't until the city has been cleared."

Voltaire maintains that there are enough crushers, dump trucks and other heavy equipment for the job; others say that more machinery is needed. But everyone agrees that recovery will take decades — and the slower the rubble removal, the longer the recovery.

Most Haitians are simply living with the rubble, working and walking around it. After a while, the gray heaps and cockeyed buildings just blend into the tattered background of the city.

"It will take many, many years to fix," Overvest acknowledged. "We can't just go with wheelbarrows to remove it."

But that's exactly what some Haitians are doing: using shovels and wheelbarrows to clear properties — a Sisyphean task if there ever was one.

"Personally, I don't think Port-au-Prince will ever be cleared," said 47-year-old Yvon Clerisier, an artist working a temporary job clearing rubble with a rusty shovel for a private homeowner. He wore torn jeans, a sweaty T-shirt and sandals, and was covered in a fine dust.

Clerisier was one of a dozen men working in temperatures higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The property owner, Gregory Antoine, said he paid the crew $1,200 for three weeks of work.

"People want to work," Antoine said. "If you get a good organization to put people to work and give them direction, things will get done. But right now, nothing is getting done."

It's not for lack of trying. The nonprofit organization CHF International spent about $5 million of USAID money on heavy machinery and paying Haitians to remove rubble from specific sites.

Dan Strode was the rubble-removal operations manager for CHF for three months; some dubbed him "the rubble guy" because of his enthusiasm for the job.

"Rubble isn't sexy," the Californian said. "And clearing it is not as simple as people think."

Strode's big worry: that debris won't be cleared fast enough and that the piles of rocks and garbage and dirt will be overtaken by tropical growth.

"If we don't clear it, what we will leave behind is something that is worse than before," he said. "If you come back in a year, and the rubble hasn't been cleared, it will be grown over, subject to landslides and unstable."

Strode, who coordinated the removal of nearly 290,000 cubic yards of material in three months, said a major obstacle to demolishing buildings has been the lack of property records, which either were destroyed in the quake or never existed at all.

Without an owner's consent, it is difficult to remove debris, he said. Another problem: Strode often received approval to demolish a building such as a hospital or a school — even when nearby homes were at risk.

"You cannot wantonly go in and demolish," he said. "There's a liability issue."

Strode is no longer doing rubble removal. The grant money ran out, and has not yet been renewed.

Another hurdle: dumping the debris.

While many private landowners and others are dumping the rubble in the streets, canals or countryside, there's only one place in all of Haiti where NGOs using U.S. money can take contaminated rubble: an approved and environmentally surveyed site.

"Not all rubble is the same," said Michael Zamba, the spokesman for the Pan American Development Foundation. "There's a lot of contaminated rubble with human remains in it. It can't go in a standard landfill."

Zamba points out that before the earthquake, Haiti was the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere — so it's not that surprising recovery is slow.

"Haiti is a really expensive place to work: You have to ship in gas, vehicles, people," he said. "But you clean up the rubble in a neighborhood, and it transforms it. Life comes back."

The DREAM Project

2010-06-15T20:26:00.000-04:00

11. Coast Guard sailors help ready DREAM camp
The message "you can change" is written on the wall of La Cienaga Public School and the 950 children attending will now have the opportunity to do just that, thanks to 25 sailors from the ship USCGC Thetis. This US Coast Guard Cutter Ship is docked in Puerto Plata this week and its dedicated crewmembers stepped off their boat and headed straight to the communities of La Cienaga and Colonia Nueva to give a hand. They skipped the fun and sun of Playa Dorada to help the DREAM Project and prepare two schools for the 2010 Guzman Ariza Summer Camp and School. The popular camp kicks off on July 1st with over 70 volunteers and 300 children, but after a long school year, La Cienaga Public School and the new Dona Flora and Benjamin Rabinovitch Learning Center in Cabarete needed a lot of help.
There were no working bathrooms at La Cienaga, no running water, little usable furniture or working doors, but that has all changed. The crew of the Thetis and DREAM Project spent all last Sunday repairing bathrooms, chairs, tables, desks, doors, installing water tanks, plumbing and painting. They also put the finishing touches to the new Learning Center in Cabarete, building gardens and planting flowers. Thanks to the sailors and their varied skills sets, they were able to make these two schools as good as new.
The Guzman Ariza Summer Camp and School, now in its sixth year, is a response to the lack of quality education in the north coast and throughout the country. It is the first camp of its kind offered for free and provides vital opportunities for children living in varying levels of poverty. The campers experience new adventures through excursions to places like Ocean World, the Puerto Plata Cable Car and the Centro Leon Cultural Center. They learn about racism and sexual health through sports, work in internships with local businesses, improve their academic performance with progressive methodologies, they study English, learn about their culture, the arts, the environment and basic health. The DREAM Project plans to cooperate with the US Embassy's Franklin Center, the Guzman Ariza Law Firm and local businesses to provide this amazing program to hundreds of deserving youth.
If you would like to learn more about DREAM or get involved, go to www.dominicandream.org.

Haiti's Mountains

2010-06-08T11:26:00.000-04:00

Dominican Jockey 4th in Derby

2010-05-07T23:02:00.001-04:00

In an exciting final stretch run, 25-year old Dominican jockey Joel Rosario riding Make Music for Me moved up from last place through the first 3/4 mile to fourth of 20 at the finish. He raced before 155,804 fans that braved heavy early morning rain and sporadic showers throughout the day to watch the 136th Kentucky Derby.
Rosario told the Kentucky Courier-Journal that his colt "held the track really good," but the pace was probably faster than he would have liked.
Rosario is regarded as one of the top two or three riders on the Southern California circuit during the past two years. Rosario won the Del Mar and Hollywood riding titles in 2009, and finished 5th in the US with purse earnings of US$13 million last year. The Derby was won by WinStar Farm LLC's Super Saver.
Watch the race at http://www.kentuckyderby.com/kentucky-derby-136-race-video

Killing Animals On My Behalf II

2010-04-23T13:41:00.003-04:00

What I am about to say may be offensive to some so allow me to tell you I am going to talk about killing of animals without much detail. I do know that to some of you this would be injurious hence the warning. There will be no physical pictures but I am going to draw a verbal picture with a little humor I hope….

Waking up one morning in Cerca Carvajal, Haiti I was treated to breakfast. That morning we did not have the traditional spaghetti for breakfast it was more like cream of corn. It is a cream of wheat or farina type of food. All the while I was eating breakfast I was watching a chicken try to escape from being tied to a cement block in the kitchen. He was trying to scrape that thin rope off of himself, pecked at it and tried pulling the block away. All the time I am thinking to myself that “This chicken is sick and needs some medical attention”. He did not look healthy in any way but I quickly forgot him as breakfast ended.

Morning came and went as we visited the radio station, played with some kids and then at noon we sat down and had some vittles. A typical lunch for a guest visiting Haiti is going to be beans, rice and chicken. Sure enough that is what it was. Something was a little fishy as I sat down in the same seat I had sat in for breakfast. The view from the seat had changed, the chicken was missing.

I asked our hostess if the chicken was the same one I saw tied up to the block? Her response was “of course yes.” After taking a bite or two of chicken I said I did not believe her because this was very good chicken and what was tied up earlier looked sickly and thin. He did not look like he would have such good flavor. She smiled and looked back and said, “how can you tell what a chicken is going to taste like before you eat him”? No truer words were ever spoken. It was a delicious meal. The chicken who just hours before had been ugly was now a very fine meal.

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would someday be writing about chickens dieing on my behalf for lunch I would have told you that you were crazy. Life can throw some pitches you are not expecting. Are you ready for a change-up or a fast ball, a slider or a curve? Are you ready to follow where God is leading?

Wave 3 Story

2010-04-09T11:54:00.001-04:00

beisbol

2010-04-06T21:28:00.001-04:00

So often we get asked about baseball players from the Dominican We have a ton of players from here in the big leagues and minors also. In fact we have a guy from our church right here in Hoya del Caimito playing in the minors for the Orioles of Baltimore. He is a pitcher, Armando Garbandi.

Here are all of the major league players on starting rosters as the season commences:

81 Dominicans in MLB
A total of 81 Dominicans will be playing in Major League Baseball this season, reports beisbol.org.do
Dominican players make up more than 10% of the rosters of a total 750 players this season. The season opened on Sunday with Pedro Martinez throwing the ceremonial pitch in the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees opening game.
Only two MLB clubs don't have Dominicans on their rosters - the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners. There are 39 Dominican ball players in the American League, and 42 in the National League.
Dominicans in the American League:
Boston (4): Manny Del Carmen (P); Ramon Ramirez (P); David Ortiz (DH), Adrian Beltre (3B).
Orioles (3): Felix Pie (OF); Miguel Tejada (3B), Julio Lugo (SS).
Chicago (1): Tony Pena (P).
Indians (4): Johnny Peralta (3B); Andy Marte (INF); Fausto Carmona (P), Rafael Perez (P).
Detroit (2): Jose Valverde (P) y Ramon Santiago (SS).
Yankees (3): Alex Rodriguez (3B); Robinson Cano (2B) and Damaso Marte (P).
Twins (2): Francisco Liriano (P) and Alexis Casilla (2B).
Bluejays (3): Edwin Encarnacion (3B); Jose Bautista (Utility), Melkin Valdez (P).
Anaheim (3): Fernando Rodney (P); Ervin Santana (P), Eric Aybar (SS).
Texas (6): Vladimir Guerrero (DH); Julio Borbon (OF); Nelson Cruz (OF); Joaquin Arias (INF); Frank Francisco (P), Neftaly Feliz (P).
Royals (4): Juan Cruz (P); Robinson Tejeda (P); Jose Guillen (OF) y Roman Colon (P).
Athletics (1): Edward Ramirez (P).
Tampa Rays (3): Carlos Pena (1B); Rafael Soriano (P), Willie Aybar (Inf).

National League (42):
Cardinals (1): Albert Pujols (1B).
Cubs (4): Aramis Ramirez (3B); Alfonso Soriano (OF); Esmailin Caridad (P), Carlos Marmol (P).
Phillies (2): Placido Polanco (3B); Antonio Bastardo (P).
Mets (2): Luis Castillo (SS), Fernando Tatis (Utility). Jose Reyes is on the list of injured. Braves (1): Melky Cabrera (OF).
Dodgers (5); Ramon Ortiz (P); Ronny Belliard (Inf); Manny Ramirez (OF); Rafael Furcal (SS), Ramon Troncoso (P).
Arizona (3); Jordan Norberto (P); Tony Abreu (2B), Esmerling Vazquez (P).
Rockies (3); Miguel Olivo (C); Ubaldo Jimenez (P), Esmil Rogers (P).
Giants (4); Waldys Joaquin (P); Guillermo Mota (P); Juan Uribe (Inf), Eugenio Velez (Utility).
Nationals (2); Cristian Guzman (SS); Miguel Batista (P).
Marlins (5); Leo Nunez (P); Hanley Ramirez (SS); Emilio Bonifacio (Inf); Jose Veras (P), Ronny Paulino (C).
Reds (3): Johnny Cueto (P); Francisco Cordero (P), Juan Francisco (Inf).
Astros (3): Sammy Gervacio (P); Wandy Rodriguez (P), Pedro Feliz (3B).
Brewers (3): Carlos Gomez (OF); Claudio Vargas (P), Carlos Villanueva (P).
Pirates (1): Octavio Dotel (P).

2010-04-05T09:35:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone. This note started out pretty good. Little positives, but then the last line will grab you since Santiago is in the middle of the Cibao Valley. YIKES !

12. Small quakes should not worry people
The recent series of minor earthquakes that have affected parts of the Dominican Republic is a probable indicator that these are not forecasting a major seismic event, according to geologist Luis Pena. At a conference at the Pedro Henriquez Urena National University (UNPHU), Pena and fellow geologist Orlando Franco explained that these smaller events are considered positive, since they free up energy that accumulates in the earth's crust.
According to the experts "We should thank God that they are occurring in so many different places, since if they were to occur all in the same place it could be dangerous".
They stressed however, that while this is good news, it would not be wise to allow awareness of the risk of a major earthquake in the country to disappear. They said that education, evaluation of existing structures and remodeling of those found lacking in some way were of utmost importance. They said that the Cibao region is the area at greatest risk.

Keep Praying for Haiti

2010-03-28T15:07:00.001-04:00

PLEASE friends keep praying for and lifting up and supporting Haiti and our work there !

The NY Times focus on Haiti's misery
Today's lead editorial in the New York Times says that Haiti's misery is not over. "It's getting worse, as the outside attention fades away". The editorial goes on to describe the horrific conditions in the temporary camps that are housing hundreds of thousands of earthquake victims. Overcrowding, disease and vile living conditions are accentuated by the rains that have begun and that will peak in May, says the newspaper. It points out that rape and sexual assaults are commonplace at night, and the victims are silent because there is no functioning police or judicial system. Aid groups abound, each trying to do their bit. What the country needs, desperately, are shelters. The government has been very slow in exercising eminent domain, and housing is still non-existent.
The editorial ends by saying: "Haiti is in danger of becoming what it always was, a nagging blot on the conscience, a neglected project that never gets completed".
For the full editorial: www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/opinion/26fri1.html?th&emc=th

2010-03-22T07:12:00.002-04:00

Hey All: Below are some superb opportunities to share your time and talent with GO for the bigger cause of Haiti ! ! It is a lot of fun also !

Here are some internet pages to assist us with KY Derby fundraising ! As they would say in Haiti "Souple" (Please)

The first is for Pre-Derby set up, cleaning out trailers, merchandise display and t-shirt folding.

The 2nd is for the Pre-Derby races, this year they will start on April 24th.

The 3rd is for the 3 day Derby event. We need people so please take some time and do a facebook post, e-mail distribution or blog update. Also the G.O. Derby page has been updated at www.goderby.blogspot.com

1. http://bit.ly/aXWRiO

2. http://www.gohelphaiti.org/content/pre-derby-sales-sign

3. http://www.gohelphaiti.org/content/kentucky-derby-136-volunteer-registration

In Haitian Creole: Mesi Anpil (Thank you very much)

In Grace,

John

Hospital Tent

2010-03-19T21:31:00.001-04:00

For more than thirty days we have been working on getting a hospital tent released from customs in the DR to be sent to Haiti. I can only guess I alone, let alone the others have spent about 15 hours writing people, visiting office after office, and chasing down snipes in order to get this hospital tent released.

Today something interesting happened:

Eduard Gabriel and I are sitting in the office for an hour waiting while they, the customs officials, do their usual shuffling papers, “you don't have this, you don't have that” and we are just worn out. It is Friday afternoon nine weeks after the earthquake and we are still fighting for things that should be smooth.

Without knocking, in walks a guy and our guy behind the desk shoots to attention and says "hi Senior Blanco" Our guy introduces him to Eduard and I. Senior Blanco says, “I had a meeting canceled for 5pm and since I was close by I thought I would stop in and say hello.”

Our guys says yes they are waiting for the hospital tent to bring to Haiti but we don't have the correct papers. Blanco says, what do they have, our guy hands Blanco our little letter stating we are going to fly the hospital tent out on the Embraer 110 that will arrive on Monday. It was another of the dozen letters that they had asked us for to complete some formality that we wonder exists.

Blanco says give the letter to me. He writes on it, "APPROVED" and signs it. Our guys looks at us and says that is all I need, come back in 30 minutes. DONE DEAL.

Just so happens that the Regional Customs guy has a meeting on Friday at 5pm in Santiago, he is from Santo Domingo three hours away and he just wanted to say hi.

Good way to end the week, PRAISE GOD !

Update on Baby Mackinson

2010-03-17T13:51:00.000-04:00

Hey All,
Here is a follow up link to find out more about little baby Mackinson.
Kind of interesting we have been writing his name three different ways but all of us are caring for the same little guy.

The link attached is from a friends blog. They are in Jacmel where the little guy is growing.
Cody and Maria are doing wonderful work there and they have written and have photos of the little guy from this week.
Thanks for your prayers for him and us.
http://networkedblogs.com/p29696183

In Grace,

John

2010-03-15T21:31:00.001-04:00

Finally someone is talking about voodoo in a real life manner. I have said all along the country will not change until belief in voodoo is changed.

It is such an important part of the culture but that has begun to be investigated and reversed. This year the holiday of rara was canceled due to the earthquake. That is a voodoo based holiday similar to "carnival".

Where there is light there cannot be darkness. Darkness is the absence of light.

USA TODAY 15 March 2010

Studying voodoo isn't a judgment

Journalists should deal with religion respectfully, of course. But that doesn’t mean dismissing the tough questions.

By Rod Dreher
Did you hear about the Protestant minister who said that Haiti "has been in bondage to the devil for four generations"? No, it wasn't Pat Robertson but Chavannes Jeune, a popular Evangelical pastor in Haiti who has long crusaded to cleanse his nation of what he believes is an ancestral voodoo curse. It turns out that more than a few Haitians agree with Jeune and Robertson that their nation's crushing problems are caused by, yes, voodoo.
I know this not because I read it in a newspaper or saw it on TV, but because of a blog. University of Tennessee-Knoxville cultural anthropologist Bertin M. Louis Jr., an expert on Haitian Protestantism, posted an essay exploring this viewpoint on The Immanent Frame, a social scientist group blog devoted to religion, secularism and the public sphere.
Elsewhere on The Immanent Frame, there's a fascinating piece by Wesleyan University religion professor Elizabeth McAlister touching on how the voodoo worldview affects Haiti's cultural and political economy. She writes that the widespread belief that events happen because of secret pacts with gods and spirits perpetuates "the idea that real, causal power operates in a hidden realm, and that invisible powers explain material conditions and events." Though McAlister is largely sympathetic to voodoo practitioners, she acknowledges that any effective attempt to relieve and rebuild Haiti will contend with that social reality.
In a recent New York Times column, religion reporter Samuel G. Freedman rightly lamented the way the American news media have largely ignored voodoo in their Haiti earthquake reporting. But he also chided media commentators (including me) for speculating about voodoo as a harmful cultural force. Freedman quoted academics who praised the Haitian folk religion, and who complained about the ignorance and supposed racism of voodoo skeptics.
This, alas, is all too typical of American media's religion coverage. We journalists ignore or downplay the role religion plays in the everyday life, or we take a naive viewpoint toward exotic religions practiced by people unlike us.
Trending positive
For years, I've watched this instinct show itself in the way most in the mainstream media cover Islam in America. Reporters are eager to find positive stories and often allergic to stories that might, in their minds, give aid and comfort to rednecks, right-wingers and other so-called undesirables. Once I attended a news meeting in which an editor angrily declined to look into substantive evidence that local Muslim institutions were teaching Islamic radicalism to youth by barking, "What about Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson?! We never write about their radicalism!"
As if the Christian televangelists were comparable to Osama bin Laden. As if they were even relevant. The story — an important one — never was written. In that case, an editor who knew little about religion interpreted religious data through a partisan culture-war lens. He chose by omission not to give the newspaper's readers a picture of the world as it is, but rather of the world as he wishes it were.
Years of survey data show that U.S. journalists lean strongly to the left, particularly on social issues — a stance often associated with a secular outlook. As a religious believer and professional journalist for 20 years, time and time again I've seen journalists who fail to get the dictum set down by the indispensable media criticism blog GetReligion.org: "It's impossible for journalists to understand how things work in the real world if they do not take religion seriously."
Here's why. In his influential 1948 book Ideas Have Consequences, Richard Weaver identified a person's "metaphysical dream of the world" — that is, the way the world works at its most basic level — as the foundation of one's thoughts and conduct. This is the realm of religion — or of no religion at all, because scientific materialism offers its own particular view of the structure of reality.
Faith meets reality
A culture's metaphysical dream tells us a lot about its strengths and weaknesses. One is not required to make a theological judgment about voodoo — or any other religion — to explore the connection between its metaphysical tenets and the world it has made among its believers.
A world in which most people believe that reality is governed by the occult caprice of the gods will be a very different place than a world in which people believe events can be explained according to either a Christian or a scientific materialist metaphysic. It's as legitimate to ask what role voodoo plays in Haiti's fathomless social troubles as it is to ask the same question about fundamentalist Islam in the Middle East, conservative Christianity in the Bible Belt, or militant atheism in the land of academia. And it's as necessary.
Ironically, intelligent critics of voodoo show more respect for the religion than do its would-be media protectors, simply by taking voodoo seriously enough to fault it.
Rod Dreher is director of publications at the John Templeton Foundation and blogs at Beliefnet.com.
(In Haiti: Half of its 9 million people are Catholic and a third Protestant; voodoo is pervasive./Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images.)

Killing Animals On My Behalf

2010-03-15T21:12:00.002-04:00

When our friend in Pignon heard that we were coming to town the very first thing he said was, “we are going to celebrate”. My friend Philip has been trying to get me to visit his town for over two years. As with many Haitians a trait he has is persistence. Living in the country they live in, they need this trait. It is a difficult place to live and without persistence little would get accomplished. Hearing those words of “we are going to celebrate” I knew what that meant. We were going to eat a special meal. In Haiti that has always entailed killing a goat to eat. I instantly told Philip, we do not need to have a special meal we are bringing food to the people and we do not want to take away any from their mouths. The discussion that ensued was of course a losing battle on my behalf. Philip insisted and if I pushed the issue more I would certainly be offensive to him and his family.

I did not want to insult him or the family so I tried to put it out of my mind for a while but the thoughts of my last goat experience still does not sit well with me. To give you the summation of the last experience let me say that the hosts insisted I kill the goat we were to eat. I insisted “no” in the end I am so glad I did not. The manner that the goat was killed was by accident a slower death than normal as literally a butter knife was used to kill the animal. When all was said and done we did celebrate and the goat was cooked in a fabulous way.

I was hoping that I would not be part of that same type of experience in Pignon when I arrived. I wanted to celebrate not desecrate. We know the situation that Phillip is in, and in Pignon in general, so to take more food from them in my mind was contrary to why we had brought the planes of food there.

We had already sent in a number of planes from Santiago to Pignon for the community to share. There was another entity who we sent food to also but we found out eventually that he was doing unscrupulous things with the food so we stopped. Phillip has been faithful as have 99% of the people to whom we have delivered food .

A typical goat in Haiti costs around 1,150 gourdes (Haitian currency) or about 30 bucks American. I sure did not want Philip spending that amount of money on me. Goats are raised with the family and they generally treat it as a pet for a little while even allowing it in the house to sleep at times. Goats roam free and somehow or another everyone just knows whose goat is belongs to whom. This is one of those cultural things I have not learned yet.

After unloading the plane of supplies, paying the airport people their due and saying goodbye to our friendly pilot Samuel we headed to the house. When we unloaded the truck of supplies into the house it was already about 5pm and so we were ready for diner. Of course it was goat. Madam Philip had done a great job cooking rice, plantains and goat for us. The goat had some spice to it though, as many foods in Haiti do. Haitians spicy like food but not Dominicans. Philip filled my plate after saying grace and giving thanks for the opportunity to distribute supplies. There was no getting away from this one. I was eating goat. I really enjoyed the meal that is until the third piece of goat which Philip placed on my plate. Unlike processing in the USA there are not standards, no USDA grading to the consumer.

I just wanted to finish eating at this point. I was over worrying if I was going to get sick, if the goat been cooked properly, if the vegetables ok to eat, or was the water pure? I was ok with everything but then it all came crumbling down in an instant. As I bit into some cooked goat I felt it in my mouth. The goat had not been completely clean and I had goat hair in my mouth. All I could think about was spitting but everyone in the group was sitting around the table with me. Did my face already give away that something dramatically wrong was happening, did everyone know I was about to gag? Ever so calmly and professionally I continued to chew on the goat(hair) and took a big breath of air and swallowed. I felt like a cat with a hairball going down my throat.

As the evening passed I realized it was too late to do anything and I just moved on. I did not get sick but mentally I still have a tough time knowing I had goat hair on my banquet meat.

Coming up NEXT… the ugly chicken

2010-03-10T15:47:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone,
This is a series that WAVE 3 TV from Louisville is doing on GO and Haiti. If you can imagine this, I was standing just to the reporters left for this whole interview and did not jump into the picture ! Yes a new day is dawning. I am in Jacmel Haiti at this point still working on distributing food and planning on rebuilding.

Bondye Benee Ou

Wave 3 Interview

Leaving Venbal

2010-03-07T18:23:00.002-05:00

It is Saturday and I am back in Santiago. I got in last night around 8pm from Haiti. After almost two weeks of investigation, service and travel I entered my apartment grateful for a hot shower and a warm bowl of soup. I know it may sound funny to think about being in the DR and eating soup but it was cold yesterday dipping into the low 70s temperature wise. I know, I know people are thinking John your blood really has thinned out after 8 years on the island of Hispaniola. Let me explain for just a moment what occurred yesterday.

Dad, if mom is reading this have her skip the next two or three paragraphs. Yes my mom still loves me and cares about my health.

After awaking at 2am, 3am, 4am and 5am almost on the button I finally stayed awake. I was in Venbal, Haiti. My buddy Tim Krauss calls it the “happiest place on earth” and he also says Disney World has nothing on Venbal. It is the home of the Timothe family. They are simple God fearing people who clearly love life and each other. This is their joy, to be with their family.

I too enjoy being with their family. I especially enjoy Malik the matriarch of the brood. She is about 70 and has outlived the typical Haitian age for male or females by more than twenty years. Every time I have been to Venbal over the last 6 years I have stayed at Malik’s stick and mud house. Malik has a habit that I can only envy and look forward to everytime I visit.

At sometime between 4:45 and 5:30 everyday, from what she says as long as she can remember, she awakes and strikes a match for a candle to illuminate the darkness and softly, beautifully, sings songs of praise. Usually this singing lasts about 7-10 minutes but it is oh so golden. I would describe it as majestic. Malik does not have the prettiest voice for her age as a Haitian woman she is in good shape but it is not the power of her lungs that is so fantastic and it is not the songs themselves because I really cannot understand her when she sings in Creole. No, for me, she sings in an angelic tone that I can best describe as holy. In the bible it states that there are angles singing, Holy, Holy, Holy, around our Lord all of the time. I imagine they have beautiful voices but Malik’s voice is not so. Malik sings not with her voice but with her heart. One can hear Malik’s heart in the way she sings in that barely lit room at 5am even as I wake out of a sleepy coma.

It is something I look forward to each and every time I go to Venbal no matter how tired I may be.

This is a picture of Mailk, her daughter Monica who lives with her,
and me in front of their stick and mud home.

This is a full picture of her house.

...............

In leaving Venbal, the best thing to do is go by motorcycle and that is where yesterday was a long day. We started at about 10am after distributing food in town. So we took off. It was overcast as we rode. The first hour went well on the usual goat path roads of mountainous Haiti. We stopped in a town called Carise to switch motorcycles and rented two and two drivers for 300 pesos for the 90 more minutes to Ouanamenthe. As soon as we left town it started to rain. The roads became a mess. Once out on the open road traveling through puddles and ruts filled with water, of course the motorcycle fell to the mud. I was covered. I soon became a joke on the road as people began to tell my driver that he should have not allowed the “blanc” to fall.

As we were getting closer to our destination we stopped at a river to get cleaned up. There were three motorcycles and a handful of people there. Still being the joke I thought I would just stay uncleaned to give some others a laugh. Well laugh they did when we fell again but I am glad I was not cleaned the first time giving me the last laugh so to speak.

...............

There was good news on the baby, Mackinson. I have received email and notes and people telling me they are praying for this little guy. Well prayers work. The other day when the mom and the baby came into the hospital to get checked for the malnutrition and AIDS the doctors had a long talk with the mom. If you recall the mom has had two babies die on her shortly after birth. It seems the pediatrician had some kind of impact on her and she decided to give the baby up for at least a little while to the Sisters of Charity Catholic Mission in Jacmel.. They have agreed to take the baby and raise him even with a clause should the mom decide to want to raise him later on that she can have him back. This is what the mother seemed to indicate she wanted.

I’ll check in about the mom sometime soon but we do know that Mackinson is in good hands.

2010-03-06T18:54:00.002-05:00

This is a sad day for Poton. His baby is going to the "gua gua hospital" for the first time ever on an "gua gua ambulance"

The big bus for the first time ever had to be towed out because of brake problems. I am certain it will be fixed in a flash and ready to go!

Anyone who knows Poton knows that this is a difficult thing for him to see...

Say good bye to the gua gua for the moment.

2010-03-03T16:14:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a long day of travel but thanks to the donation of a pilot, Romano and I were able to save about 4 hours of travel time from Jacmel to Port au Prince. He flew us into the airport, and that saved all of the time. Flying over the port is an amazing thing to see-- all of the ships with aid, helicopters ferrying supplies etc., and lots of soldiers from various countries. At one point we counted 11 helicopters at the airport with planes coming and going. For those who have been critical of the military entering, what I saw yesterday was a ballet of machines in the air. I believe without the professionalism of the military it would not happen.

We arrived in Cerca Carvajal at about 6pm and reunited with two of our pastors in the mountains here. They are well. One is a new dad of one month. The second, his wife is sick so this morning we're going to the doctor.

We will also, I hope, receive food via air from Santiago for refugees in a town called "Pignion" today.

Today we will travel there and to MinDos.

Tomorrow we will be in Vinbal, Haiti. We are in the northeast of the country now.

It was also a big day in the life of Mackinson. In the morning the doctor met with the mom at the hospital. Thanks to Michelle and her determination to follow through with this little life, they brought the mom and Mackinson to the hospital treatment center. From that point, there was a big surprise. More later due to limited computer time.

Jacmel Day 5

2010-03-02T15:40:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a kind of hurry up and wait day. We went to the airport to drop off a pilot and videographer who were with us for a few days here at the Hands and Feet Project. The pilot, Dennis, has been great in getting supplies to us in his very efficient Cessna. He is another testimony to the “little guy” making things work for so many. It does not matter if you are a big organization or not, everyone has their part to share and complete. Many times great things are accomplished by the consistent work of one person with a big heart.

Dave videoed for hours and hours in order to catch what is going on here in Haiti and how so many are making a difference in the lives of so many others. I can’t wait to see the final product that he produces because it is going to be something special. He has done bits on everything from Mackinson, the little baby who is malnourished, to where the food supply starts way before it ever reaches the mouths of Haitians.

These two guys have been humble and always looking for ways to be able to serve as we have been commanded to accomplish. Many get stuck on how they can serve but we need to pick a passion and go with it. If there is something on your heart then follow it provided it is good and upstanding. If someone else is doing that same thing join forces and work together to provide for others.

News today on Mackinson, our little guy, was not good again today. At some point during the day the mom ripped out the IV that Mackinson had in his arm and absconded with him for her home. This is a travesty in many ways. The mom obviously has an obligation and responsibility to raise this little boy. If she wants to give him up for adoption then she needs to find someone who will take care of the little guy not just allow him to die.

When Maria from Global Outreach stumbled upon her, Maria found out that she had left earlier in the day. Supposedly the mom left the hospital, where she was not paying a cent or Haitian “gourde,” because of peer pressure. The other patients and she were sharing a tent at the hospital. Various parts of the hospital had collapsed, one of those areas being pediatrics so this department will be in temporary housing for a while. The other patients were bothering her. The patients said that she had a “foul odor” about her. The woman was not getting support from her family so she had not received clothing or food from them for two days. We had given her some food but not a sufficient amount to sustain her. The family had said they would bring her the supplies so we simply were adding to that, or so we thought. So the conversations have begun with the family but our main concern is the baby. Maria (Global Outreach) and Michelle (Hands and Feet Project) spoke. Michelle called the pediatrician who has been treating little Mackinson, he emphasized to bring the baby to his office again. Maria was able to get the mom to bring the baby back to the doctor’s office where he spoke with her. At some point they came to an agreement that on Tuesday morning at 8am they would meet at the hospital again to readmit the baby to the hospital. I am not sure what will be different this time on mom’s end but certainly we can assist on the mom’s end by getting her some hygiene products and some different clothes for her stay there. Michelle supplied Mackinson with some new clothes so he is all set.

This is a little drama that is occurring in the face of larger things here in Haiti. In the big picture we still need to remember that we are guests in this country. We can help in a variety of ways but if we overstep our boundaries we can hurt much more than we can ever help.

Something I am so happy with that GO accomplishes is that we support the nationals by coming alongside them. Brook, The President of GO, has always said that they can do ministry a lot better than we can here in Haiti or the Dominican Republic and I so agree. Even if we are here for 25 years and have command of the language there are many things that we overlook as outsiders, little nuances that we may never comprehend.

On this excursion Romano and I have been teamed up. Born and raised in Haiti, he catches things all of the time that I have a blind eye towards and he speaks up about them. In this situation with Mackinson, Romano was the first to point out that the mom may not be completely stable mentally. We don’t know what might be causing that but Romano’s observation from within the first 15 minutes of meeting the woman has proven consistent to the rest of us now over the course of this experience with her. What an asset to be partnered with Romano for the betterment of his country.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for and encouraging us here in Haiti. It seems that now Chile needs an elevation of prayers and assistance. We are with them as well in spirit.

Prayer Requests

To find good storage area for supplies in Jacmel

To have wisdom in distributing supplies

For those who have been here since the quake for endurance and patience

For the Love of our God to be spread from person to person

For those in Chile who are yet to be found

Bondye Benee Ou

Jacmel

2010-03-01T19:07:00.009-05:00

Distributing tents to those without housing or minimal housing. Most people are still not sleeping in their houses. With after shocks occuring as late as this weekend they are clearly still living in fear. This woman has 6 kids and her husband in their house. She will also be inviting her neighbors to stay with her in this tent. She estimates about 15 people will be sleeping in the tent.

This is in front of a house that completely fell. Estimates are that this family will have 16 people sleeping in this tent.

Pastor Maxsis, Cyvadyer Christian Church. Received tents from GO and distributed them in less than one hour. He is a partner of Hands and Feet Project.

In the worst of times GO partnered with Mack Burberry from Haiti Christian Mission. HCM has been working in Haiti for more than 15 years and especially in Port Au Prince. Pastor RoRo has been working side by side with Mack for that whole time.

Here is Pastor Ro Ro, Mack, Cerradio Romano and John Martinez

This is the main road to Leogone from Jacmel. It is a main transport road that goes all the way to Port Au Prince. The road is not just cracked it is a mess.

A little girl braving to sleep in her house. Her mother was watching closely just outside the door just in case another aftershock hits, ready to grab her out the door.

A little guy named "Ferdenel" who was living in the hills where we delivered tents. He was in charge of a few goats. This was a type of tent he was in before we delivered tents.

My little buddy, Federnal, the goat pastor, with the edge of the tent city behind him down next to the road.

Jacmel Day 4

2010-02-27T19:02:00.002-05:00

One of the best pieces of news I have heard really struck me today on the same day I have heard a bad piece of news.

First the good news. There is a celebration called Rara that is here in Haiti. That is a celebration of spirits, generally evil spirits. This celebration has the roots of Mardi Gras and Carnival. Due to the earthquake the country has decided to cancel the celebration.

The government has decided that too many resources would be used for this celebration that would not be used for rebuilding and that working on the country was much more important than the celebration. Good decision Haitian government!

The bad news is that the baby Mackinson who I wrote about the other day that was born premature has AIDS. This is pretty serious because we believe that the mom does not know that she has AIDS. We also found out that the mom had four kids, including Mackinson, and two of them had died shortly after birth.

We were all dismayed when we heard this information. When we heard that Mackinson had a chance to live we were really happy and elevated. We thought that he had been given a new lease on life. With this news it is tough to say that, although it is still true.

Baby Mackinson was underweight clearly. One of the things the doctor did was test the elasticity of Mackinson's skin . As he pinched the skin you could clearly see the baby had only skin and no meat on his bones at all. The baby weighed in at under four pounds.

This was a complete “accident” that we found baby Mackinson. It was only because we had given food to the family as an outreach to them that this baby was discovered. He was living in a tent away from the beaten path, so to speak, and there was not anyway that the baby was going to live if he had not been found.

The first time I saw Mackinson I thought immediately of the movie ET because the baby was so skinny and his head a simple skull with hallowed eyes.

One of the most upsetting things about this situation is that the mom is distant from Mackinson. She seems like she is not wanting to be with her own baby. She did not want to carry the baby the whole time we were with her. She did remain with Mackinson at the hospital all night. The report from the people at the hospital was the same, she seems out of it, not caring for the baby. It causes us to think about what that woman might be going through in her own life, what she saw during the earthquake. Was the baby due to a rape? Due to some clues we pondered she might even be an indentured slave. We can never tell what is happening in people’s lives.

Please pray for Mackinson and his mother. I’ll keep you updated.

Today was a productive day. It was refreshing to meet with seven other “NGOs” working here in Jacmel. We came to a little bit more in the way of action steps and building our relationships. There are some solid players here in Jacmel and I am happy to see us pulling together to assist others in this dire time of need. It seems there is no politicking going on here. While clearly politics is part of the city life it has not been in our little group.

If you would pray for us to have wisdom as we grow together in serving Haiti I sure would appreciate it greatly:

Calvary Chapel of Ft. Lauderdale

Global Outreach

GO Ministries

Hands and Feet Project

Joy in Hope

Olivetree projects

Pilots flying in supplies

Two days ago we submitted a request to GO Ministries in Santiago for missing medicine here in the clinic. The medicine arrived today in under forty-eight hours from time of order. That medicine traveled more than 250 miles in that short amount of time by bus, truck and plane. Thanks to all of the GO staff who are assisting in helping save Haiti.

Please join us in helping Haiti rebuild. Join us in this great opportunity.

Jacmel Day 3

2010-02-27T18:52:00.002-05:00

The road is long and windy. That was the story of today for me. We spent about four hours on the road to a place called Gran Gwas. This little town is located near Loanes, the epicenter of the earthquake. Everywhere one turns there is destruction and destitution. Six weeks after the first major quake there continue to be minor aftershocks with ratings as high as 4.7 on the Richter scale. The latest just three days ago. Hence people are not sleeping in their houses still. They continue to dwell in the streets of towns like Jacmel where I am, Jeremie, Les Cayes, Pignon, and even as far away as Cap Haiti.

Grand Guavve is a little town near Leogone. They are maybe 5 kilometers apart. Needless to say that GG is pretty much destroyed. If a building has not been toppled by the earthquake it has been rendered uninhabitable. In this town of GG there is much going on to assist the people of the town. Pastor Lex and his wife Renee are doing a fabulous work feeding over 1500 people a day. The food is all donated to him from various sources including GO Ministries. There are two small refugee camps that have sprung up next to and near where Lex and Renee are working. People are needing food still.

The markets have started to grow back into opportunities for local business but they are still not at the amount of pre-quake range. The variety of items available is growing each day, however. So Lex and Renee are also housing about fifty orphans. They want to build an orphanage in GG soon in order to house more orphans. This is a growing problem in Haiti-- orphans. One hears about the problem in some countries but like so many other things in our life we don’t understand it until we see it with our own eyes. I have seen it now with my own eyes, there is a problem with kids on the street wandering and lost. Many times kids with parents don’t have much but at least they have a sheet tent and parents. If I had to estimate right now in the places I have been, 90% of the population is sleeping outside and about 50 percent of those have durable tents. The other half have sheet tents or palm tents. There are some who are using zinc or metal but not many.

Today I saw the most organized food distribution I have ever seen in Haiti. Really it was an amazing thing because Haitians in general do not form lines but while waiting for food today they were in line. It was so good to see people waiting to get food that was sent mostly from the United States.

Jacmel Day 2

2010-02-26T21:05:00.005-05:00

Today, like most other days here in Haiti, takes on a life of its own. We lay out a goal and things just don’t seem to go as planned.

Today’s goals were to get Dr. Belsabeth settled into the clinic at Caye Jacmel and go to the nutrition area we have been supplying with food. Those two things for the morning were both well within reason.

I knew it would be a good day because it started off with quiet time. That has been at a premium lately. This morning I had about thirty minutes of it. Then for breakfast the American woman, Michelle, who is hosting us, made pancakes. If you know me you know I really enjoy pancakes. There is no place in the DR to get good pancakes, although obviously in Haiti there is and by the grace of God I found it this morn. After breakfast we piled into the truck to bring Dr. Belsabeth to the clinic.

The clinic has changed dramatically since my first trip here. The stages of the clinic have been rapid and varied. The first time GO was here the doctors were doing lots of operations fast and furiously and were under supplied. The doctors were very much over worked and doing the best they could. There were people waiting in line for emergency operations. Outside of the surgery line there was not much assistance. Now there is a general clinic going on, doctors have things they need for surgery like anesthesia and x-rays and the line is not urgent. Surgeries are not casual but much, much more organized and methodical.

Today at the clinic there were no people screaming in agony, no one bleeding uncontrollably, and doctors and patients alike were being fed. There are tents up in an area to examine each person arriving, and a place for family to be waiting for the patients. Dr. Philip, the head doctor, actually had time to breath and arrived to the clinic after 9am. That is incredible considering that he was performing surgery nearly 20 hours each day for four weeks right after the earthquake.

Our GO doctor got settled in at the clinic today and will be assisting in the general practice and surgical units of the clinic. She is a new comer to GO having just started with us in January. The idea we had was for her to get a little experience assisting Dr. Vladimir at our clinic in Santiago and then send her back to Haiti to serve her country and our God. One step was obviously missed in that process and she went to work directly in her country. She is a good example of GO partnering with nationals to lead their country. There are not many Haitian doctors and even fewer female doctors but Dr. Belsabeth has stepped up to the plate in a big way to come to Jacmel for one month.

Our next goal was to simply drop off Dennis at the airport, as he is a pilot, and set him free for the day to fly to Santiago and return with more supplies for us to distribute. I did not even have it as an original goal because dropping someone off should be pretty easy. He had some challenges leaving and was delayed but eventually got off the ground. During this time we met some others trying to organize just as we are, for the long term, for Jacmel and how to serve the people as it says in the good book, “if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him how can the love of God be in him?” Simply put: Love your neighbor.

These people are from Calvary Chapel in Ft. Lauderdale and are planning a long term response to the tragedy in Jacmel. Right now we are all on the same page and very appreciative of the efforts they are putting forth on behalf of this city.

After the airport we stopped in at Hands and Feet Project for a lunch of grilled cheese. Yes, it took us that long to accomplish those two things. Lunch was super. Part of lunch was also pretty good rice. I have to admit something too. I really enjoy iced tea without sugar. Here at Hands and Feet they have sweet tea. I am not sure, but someone here at Hands and Feet is from the south and is making this sweet tea. I have become an addict. I hope whoever is making the tea is not reading this blog because they will know it is me gulping down all of their sweet tea.

After lunch we all jumped in the pick up truck to go to Cody and Maria’s place so we could see in action the tools GO purchased and was able to get flown into Jacmel. It was great to see this project because a few weeks ago I was here and brought food, a week ago Cody gave this family tents obtained through GO and now there are tools from GO being used to build them a house. The family is elated for how they have been treated by these “rookie missionaries”. Cody and Maria from Global Outreach Missions were only in Jacmel for two weeks prior to the earthquake. Their plan had been to learn the language and immerse themselves in the culture. Instead they are serving food and building houses for people sharing the love of God in material and non-material ways. Every day is a step of faith for them as they have been thrust into the limelight.

While at the work sight someone brought us a baby who seemed a little sickly. There happened to be a doctor working with Cody and Maria building this house and he urged us to take the baby to a hospital to be treated for severe dehydration. We jumped into the truck with the mom of the baby and headed off. We stopped at Hands and Feet Project again to get some clean clothes for the baby and clean him up as he was dirty. As we bathed the little guy I was appalled at the fungus growing on the body of the baby. It was clear the baby was not being cared for by mom or anyone else.

Michelle from Hands and Feet called their orphanages pediatrician and he agreed to see the baby right away. We went to his house. He diagnosed the baby as a premature baby who was severely malnourished. He urged us to take the little baby boy named Mackinson, to St Michelle’s hospital in downtown Jacmel.

As I sat on the porch of the doctor’s house and prayed for the little guy. I was watching the doctor examine him. Yes, the doctor checked out the baby right on the front porch. I looked at the group of people assembled there for this little guy. We had come from different cities to assist little Mackinson: St Mark, Haiti; Nashville, TN; Evansville,IN; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Jacmel, Haiti and Bayville, NY. Certainly God has something in store for this little guy.

We took some clothes and formula and bottles for Mackinson as we headed for the hospital. The mom was very non-interactive the entire time with us or the baby.

Knowing the hospital system here we stopped and picked up medicine at a pharmacy on the way. There was a good chance the hospital would not have medicine or other supplies available. On the way to the hospital we tried to figure out when the baby was born. The mom gave us a date very close to the day of the earthquake (Jan12) but she said “I don’t recall”. We asked her how old she was and she did not know that either. It is amazing for me to comprehend this but in this culture it is not really a vital part of their being. Mackinson was born at home so there was no hospital involved to record anything.

Mackinson is surely premature. We figure that he was about 6 weeks of age and a whopping 4.1 pounds with diaper and clothes. That would put little Mackinson to weigh in at less than four pounds and he is living outside in the dirt and dust of Haiti. In the USA he would be in an incubator.

As it turns out, the doctors believe that Mackinson is going to make it. They estimate that he will need at least a week in the hospital receiving special formula and special attention.

We headed back to the H & F project just in time to see the kids in the program eating dinner. After seeing Mackinson who was skin and bones I was even more pleased to see these kids getting three square meals a day.

Thanks to our hosts Hands and Feet Project and Global Outreach Mission. Please visit their web pages to see how they are going to help Haiti. www.gohelphaiti.org

2010-02-23T14:05:00.003-05:00

The day started with another run as I prepare for the upcoming 10k. The goal is to be ready for a marathon in the USA sometime in April. It is going to be a tough thing to accomplish but I am giving it a shot. So I ran with one of the guys this morning at 6:15am . It was an easy run this morning. I wish I could get credit for “running around” so much too.

Today was a day of running around. Amidst the tonnage of things to accomplish for Haiti we are still trying to accomplish for our ministry in general. This week I have a little bit of a crunch because we are preparing for a men’s conference in April, needing to pay Pastors in Haiti this Friday and preparing to leave for Haiti for an extended length of time. That means that everything needs to be in place before I leave, otherwise there could be problems.

One of the things I am most excited about is that we are now sponsoring a Haitian doctor. She has been educated in the Dominican but wants to return to Haiti . As soon as she finished school the earthquake struck and she has been thrown into the fire. We are asking her to work in a location called Cay-Jacmel for one month. This is a clinic which has a doctor who also happens to be a bone doctor. Dr. Philip is his name and he has worked more hours than anyone I know in this situation. Doctor Philip desires to aid his country and save lives.

There are two unique things about the doctor we are now sponsoring- she is a female and she wants to return to Haiti to work in her field. This is great and she will do wonderful things in conjunction with Dr. Philip. I can’t wait to see them working together to assist in saving life and limb.

I’ll write more as tomorrow I leave for Haiti for an uncertain amount of time. We are going to begin planning how we can assist in the rebuilding phase of the post earthquake Haiti . There will be much listening going on. I ask for your prayers for wisdom as we assess what to do and how to do it.

Next Phase

2010-02-19T19:24:00.000-05:00

There is big news happening here for GO. While we are sad that there are no survivors who have been found in the last week. It is time to move on to the next phase of rebuilding Haiti .

This coming week we are meeting with a number of organizations in Haiti to plan how we are going to ban together to assist in the reconstruction. This is a unique opportunity to do something fabulous for so many people who have lived in dire circumstances their whole lives.

Please pray for wisdom and fortitude and grace.

2010-02-19T19:03:00.000-05:00

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (Feb. 17) -- Willie José, 26, speaks perfect Dominican Spanish, has a Latin-sounding last name and dresses stylishly like many Dominican men in tight blue jeans, a bright red T-shirt and a white cap bent inward to frame his face.

But his heritage lies across the border, where style -- and the good life -- are for the rich and powerful only.

José was born Haitian. His native country was already in bad shape when his family took him across the border as a child decades ago. Now, after the earthquake, he says he'll ever go back and live in that devastated land.

"There's nothing for me there now," he said.

Mark Dye for AOL

Willie Jose was born in Haiti but has lived in the Dominican Republic for years. He has no intention of ever going back.

And therein lies another chapter of Haiti's unfolding tragedy. Its neighbor on the shared island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic, has long given hope and stability to immigrants like José. They have responded by doing the Dominican Republic's dirty and unwanted jobs -- the vegetable picking and the janitorial cleanups -- just as immigrants do in many countries.

But the numerous Haitians now following in their footsteps are getting an increasingly chilly reception as they overwhelm the Dominican Republic's services and test its good will.

José works, as many Haitians do, as a construction laborer so he can support his wife and two children who live back in Port -au-Prince, close to grandparents and other loved ones. Luckily, he said, no one in his immediate family was hurt during the Jan. 12 earthquake.

José and a friend sat in Santo Domingo waiting for a bus to the Haitian border so they could visit with their families, but not to stay. "We are here so we can do work," he said. "There [in Haiti] there aren't that many possibilities, and we have a much better chance to better our lives and our families' lives here."

For new refugees, that may no longer be the case. Dominicans, wrestling with recession, were already concerned in recent years about illegal immigration of Haitians; now it's really out in the open.

Mark Dye for AOL

Jacob Francois, a Haitian who fled to the Dominic Republic after the earthquake, is unemployed and says he does not know how he will support his family.

"It's been said for some time that Haitians put pressure on social services and, were there to be a proper regulation where the rule and procedure were drawn up, it would be much easier to make them pay taxes," said Bridget Wooding, a researcher who studies immigration at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences in Santo Domingo.

But fears that Haitians are "stealing Dominican jobs" don't make sense, she said. "Dominicans out-migrate to lower jobs in Spain and Puerto Rico, leaving considerable space for migrants to come in and take those jobs," Wooding said. In fact, she added, there's been a demographic crisis in rural areas, where the average age of Dominican cocoa farmers is now 62.

For a century, Haitians have been taking low-wage jobs such as cutting sugar cane. In the mid-1980s, the Dominican government even contracted tens of thousands of Haitian migrant workers for the annual harvesting of sugar cane, rice, coffee and cocoa.

But Haitians also have crossed the border illegally and end up selling cheap items like sunglasses or candy on urban streets.

The net result: Some estimates are that more than a million Haitians -- roughly one-ninth of the total population -- live illegally in the Dominican Republic.

As pressure has mounted on the Dominican government to crack down on illegal immigration, Haitians face "a sort of de facto discrimination," Wooding said. In some cases, she said, government officials refuse to give children of Haitian-born immigrants identity cards or full abstracts of their birth certificates, so "they can't engage in normal civil transactions [like] getting married, getting a passport or opening a bank account."

Dominican President Leonel Fernandez recently signed into law an exclusionary clause in the country's new constitution, which took effect. Jan. 26. The law says that any child born to illegal migrants is not able to become a citizen of the Dominican Republic.

"The hospitals are totally full with Haitians with amputations and arms in casts. They don't have a future and they don't have a home to return to in their country," said Dominican hairstylist Anetty El Cantara, 32. She said the many Haitians who crowd the streets selling cheap goods are driving Dominican stores out of business.

"One of the major problems is that they can put a sweets stand in front of your house, for example, and a week later there's a million of them," she said.

Haitian refugee Jacob Francois, 40, acknowledged the problem that Haitians are willing to do jobs for less pay than Dominicans will accept. "That's where the tension is created," he said as he ate a typical Dominican dinner of chicken, rice and beans at a roadside café outside Santiago.

Francois, who's unemployed, worries about how he's going to support his wife and five children, who came to Santiago as earthquake refugees a few weeks ago. "Unemployment is already high. It's difficult to find a job. ... I tried to go the Haitian Embassy, but there is nothing available right now," he said.

Francois' identification card, hanging on his neck, identifies him as a "chaplain of the state." He said in that capacity he tries to bail out the many Haitians he says have been indiscriminately thrown into Dominican jails.

"A lot of Haitians are in prison. The situation is not good," he said. "They arrest you like you are selling drugs, and you have nothing to do with that."

Mark Dye for AOL

Anetty El Cantara, a Dominican hairstylist, says she has a lot of sympathy for the Haitian people, but she does not think the large influx of Haitians is good for the Dominican Republic.

But Frank Olivares, a spokesman for office of the President Fernandez, said those allegations are false.

"Every person who's processed for drug dealing or drug trafficking is treated the same in the terms of the law; their nationality doesn't matter," he said. "Those are false accusations to the Dominican Republic in a moment where it is clear that our solidarity and spirit to help has exceeded our capabilities."

Olivares also pointed out that the Dominican Republic was the first country to get aid across the border after the quake and has since sent dozens of doctors and public health officers along with military convoys filled with food and water. The government also is helping the Haitian government restore electricity and communications, he said.

At the same time, Olivares added, the Dominican government has pragmatically tightened border security against the expectation of even more refugees.

"We are taking every measure possible not to have illegal immigration from Haiti," he said. As far as refugees who enter the country for medical services, he said, "They are not going to walk out of the hospital and be at will. If they don't have papers, they will have to go back to Haiti or to a refugee camp."

Elaine Jimenez, 30, a secretary for the police in Santo Domingo, said the issue is complicated by the genuine sympathy Dominicans feel toward the Haitian people. "It's really difficult; there's always been a Haitian-Dominican conflict, and the government does nothing," she said. "Just as we want to go to the United States to find a new life, here the Haitians invade our country."

IDB: Haiti needs US$14 billion

2010-02-19T19:02:00.001-05:00

It is possible that the man in the street does not know that in 30 seconds Haiti lost 60% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as claimed by the Haitian government, or, as the Inter-American Development Bank says, suffered the worst damage to a country in modern history. All he knows is that the factory where he works will close for repairs at the end of the month and that the private school where he taught English was destroyed by the earthquake. According to Listin Diario, the director for the Center for Promoting Investments in Haiti (CFI), Guy Lamothe, said that only 20% of Haiti's economy is formal and 80% is informal, but all of it has been affected by the earthquake.
According to ECLAC (the UN's Economic Commission for Latin America), Haiti had been recovering, with a 2% GDP increase and a reduction in the balance of payments deficit of 14%. However, now the situation is disastrous.
According to Haitian Commerce and Industry Minister Joselin Colimon Fethiere, there was a 40% unemployment rate before the earthquake, and they had just created a program that would provide 25,000 jobs right away and 100,000 in 3 years. All this went by the wayside on 12 January. Yesterday, CNN announced that the IDB has said that they needed US$14 billion to rebuild Haiti.
The impact of all of this on the Dominican Republic could be huge. Government economists and other experts are warning that the demand for products for rebuilding Haiti could have a negative effect on the Dominican economy if it is not protected in time. Customs Director Rafael Camilo has said that if there is excess demand for products, once the initial stage of emergency aid is over, this could affect national production and cause an increase in the prices of certain items to the detriment of the "popular classes."
Fabricio Gomez Mazara, an economist at INTEC, says that Dominican producers should adapt to the demand for goods, a situation he calls "good for producers, because it increases their production, but harmful for consumers who will see increased prices for consumer goods."

Earthquake

2010-02-16T21:13:00.004-05:00

As I was talking with the 102 year old woman the floor began to shake and people began to chatter. The woman I was speaking with did not feel anything but clearly we were being shaken by the earth. Actually, it was more of a sway then a shake this time.

The last earthquake I was in was centered just 55 miles away and literally shook the ground.

During this earthquake that struck Hispaniola (Jan12) I was more than 85 miles away as the crow flies. I was happily talking to an elderly woman in Hato del Yaque with the Montan family. As the earth swayed we could not believe it because we could not stand without losing balance. The moments passed and we quickly went on with our lives.

As is usual for the lifestyle here we do not get news very often. We did awake to lots of news the next morning. The streets were a buzz and there was a lot of talk of damage. We tried to cover our bases of Haitians who we know and also tried contacting our friends in Haiti not knowing that telephone lines would be down for many days ahead.

I did not know on that day that my life would be changed forever in the way I think about people, places and one very special thing.

It is now 16 February and my memory cannot hold all of the things that have happened in the time since.

Let me say unequivocally that I am so proud of how G.O. Ministries has responded to this disaster where we work. It is not just the American GO Ministries it is also the Dominican and Haitians who make up GO who I have grown to respect and admire during this time.

One quick example of dedication during this time is of Dr. Belsebeth Augustine. She is a GO supported doctor. She is Haitian but living in the Dominican. She went on her own accord to work in Port Au Prince for four weeks. During that time she slept the hours she could on the cold hard ground. She did not have a pillow nor a mattress during her attending to literally thousands of suffering patients. She thought the patients needed the mattresses more than she did.

The outpouring from our supporters has been great. I urge you to continue praying for those suffering still of malnourishment and also infection. There are still people fighting for their lives.

Please let me say thanks to all of my fellow workers at GO and all over who have given so that others might be comforted. MESI ANPIL !

Emanuel Clinic

2010-02-06T16:22:00.003-05:00

Here are some photos of the "Emanuel Clinic" in Caye Jacmel, Haiti.

It has served the earthquake victims since day one. This is just a guess but when I visited Dr. Phillip was performing more than 4 surgeries a day. His lights were from a generator which GO Ministries supplied some gas for in the first days. The surgery room is no way sterile and they do the best they can with cleaning the instruments.

Glucose Monitor

2010-02-06T16:05:00.004-05:00

As I was buying a new mosquito net tonight I recalled a doctor in Jacmel , Haiti this weekend was desperate for a glucose testing machine. I looked at two of them in the store where I was purchasing the mosquito protection. The first one was very expensive. I settled on the less expensive one because I did not have the money to spend on this. I bought the machine for 3861 pesos here in the Dominican Republic . I put it on my charge card and figured some how I would manage it. At the end of every month I pay off my bill so I hoped this month would be no different.

On the drive from the store I received a phone call from my dad. I had not talked to him in a little more than a week and he was checking in on me. He also wanted to let me know that his chapter of the Knights of Columbus from his church have donated $100 dollars to me. That donation paid for all but $7 of that glucose testing machine.

I am sending the machine to Jacmel in the morning to be personally delivered by a good friend of mine. He will hand it to the doctor himself, Dr. Philip. Dr. Phillip has been working tirelessly since the earthquake to save lives and literally limbs. He is a general doctor but has been called into service to accomplish it all during this tragedy. Please pray for him.

Isn't it wonderful when God just takes care of his children sometimes $100 at a time! MESI ANPIL is Creole for THANK YOU VERY MUCH Knights of Columbus from St Johns Church in Marshall 's Creek, PA.

Haiti Relief

2010-01-24T19:23:00.002-05:00

To find the latest news and how you can partner with G. O. Ministries to bring help to Haiti follow the link to G. O. Help Haiti

Haiti Relief

2010-01-18T22:19:00.003-05:00

A record 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti on Tuesday, January 12. We are still getting reports in of the massive destruction and devastation especially around the capital, Port-Au-Prince. All teams, partners and missionaries with G.O. Ministries are safe. However, many have not heard from family members and friends and our hearts are broken for our brothers and sisters. Cell phone and landline services are down in Haiti and we are working hard to get more information

As a result, G.O. Ministries is setting up a Haitian Relief Fund called 'Help Haiti'. We thank all of you for your phone calls and your desire to help. Right now, the most important things you can do is pray for the recovery efforts and give. Thank you for those who are willing to go, however, we are currently using people that are already there to funnel our resources through. If you would like to give, please make your checks out to G.O. Ministries with 'Help Haiti' in the memo or you can give online at G. O. Help Haiti. 100% of what you give will go towards providing recovery resources specific to the relief efforts in Haiti.

Hunger Relief Video From International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES)

2010-01-18T22:10:00.001-05:00

2009-10-28T12:56:00.001-04:00

On the tropical island of Hispaniola much is happening...not all of it good. Often we don't hear about the problems other than poverty. What could be a source of that poverty -- drugs. If the trafficing is happening certainly the use is happening.
If education is the answer, why have we not educated more? Or why has it not worked to this point?
There really is only one answer...

Drugs: the ongoing battle
A dubious honor, but there it is. The DR ranks first amongst all nations as a drugs trans-shipment point, with 11% of all drugs that go to Europe or Latin America passing through the DR. The DR is followed on the list by Argentina and Brazil. The information was revealed in a report from the Office Of Drugs and Crimes in Central America and the Caribbean. The report says that of the 15% of cocaine seized world wide, 97% was found in Central America and 7% was seized in the Caribbean. Of this total, 104 metric tons, 3.85 tons were seized in the DR. Between January and September 2009, 2,305.6 kilos have been seized ion the DR, 13.3 kilos of crack, 735.1 kilos of marijuana, 409.2 kilos of amphetamines, 5 kilos of opium, 99.5 kilos of heroin and 1,965 ecstasy pills. Mabel Feliz, president of the DR's National Drug Council (CND), disclosed this information during the 19th meeting of Latin American and Caribbean Anti-Drug Officials (HONLEA) held on Venezuela's Margarita Island.

Press Freedom Declines

2009-10-28T12:52:00.002-04:00

As has been the case with many media outlets in Latin America and Europe, the DR's standing in the 2009 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index has taking a step back from its 2008 standing, and is now placed at #98 on the list. The standing is the worst of all Latin American states with democratically elected governments. The DR moved back nine places compared to 2008. The report takes into consideration reports in the national media, cases involving journalists and political attitudes towards the media. The DR has seen an increase in violence towards journalists in 2009.

www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html

September 21, 2009

2009-09-21T21:40:00.005-04:00

The blog is back and better than ever…well it is back. The summer is always a difficult time to blog. While ministry continues here it has also slowed down enough to give me a chance to jot some thoughts.

In this photo I am giving a computer to World Vision medical laboratory in Batey 6 of the province of Barucho in the Dominican. This lab does a tremendous amount of work with health education and lab analysis. I have seen different stats that say the Dominican and Haiti are two areas where HIV is growing. We are very careful with our own health and always watchful of disease and sickness while ministering.

The laboratory was running into problems with their antiquated computer. As a body we are called to be unified. Some would say but World Vision is so large why should you buy them a computer or John they have so much more going on and you are the underdog let them take care of it. I understand those comments but that is not what we are called to. There are many things that a small person can do as opposed to a tall person. In fact the bible says we should be like the “ant” one of the smallest insects. Since the lab needed a computer and I happened to find one on a huge discount I picked it up in Santiago and brought it to aid in the fight against HIV in the batey area. In Spanish we simply say “se puede” which would translate in this case to “I can”. The lab does some wonderful work with this fight against all types of disease and the big guy will help the little guy later on I am sure. We are a unified body.

Recently, I did manage to take three days off and hit the beach in Punta Cana. This is the richest area of the island by far. The name with the likes of Trump, Clinton, and Bush all own property in this area of the DR. I on the other hand found an all inclusive, 4 star resort with a room about 25 meters from the beach for $50 a night. Of course it is off-season. I also happened to be there during the full moon oh how gorgeous it was to walk the beach at night under those starlit and moon soaked night.

I want to say a huge thanks to the Great Expectations Class for donating school supplies and uniforms for all of the kids in Hoya de Bartola known as the Hole. It is a requirement for kids to have uniforms before attending school. Most of the kids in the Hole cannot afford those uniforms or even school supplies. They also aided the only two students attending the university who are from the Hole. These two young ladies are the only two in the hole who are bettering themselves. These girls were both involved in the GO nutrition center and still attend church, in fact I saw them both in church last night there.

Ministry continues here in the DR. We will be completing a ministry retreat with all of GO (DR and Haiti) and then with the month of October full with groups. At the moment I am going to be in the states for Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years in the Dominican. I am so excited about what is coming up.

More coming up and more blogging.

Blackouts Announced for Whole Country

2009-09-18T20:33:00.000-04:00

The executive vice-president of the State-owned Electricity Companies (CDEEE), Celso Marranzini, has announced a series of scheduled blackouts. He said by programming them, the blackouts would be fairer and more evenly distributed nationwide.
He said blackouts will continue because there is just not enough money to pay the generators, which are thus supplying 80% of demand. Marranzini acknowledged that some sectors are suffering 18 and 20-hour blackouts. He said the high level of debts at the CDEEE could take at least five years to be cleared.
The official asked National Police chief Guillermo Rafael Guzman Fermin, to "prevent rambunctious people from causing problems with strikes, picketing, or marches in the barrios when we announce blackouts in specific places." He said that the blackouts would be announced in newspapers ads.
Marranzini also said that the CDEEE needed US$350 million to finish the year without having to increase the electricity rates, including US$60 million for the monthly subsidy on electricity bills. He said that there is close to a billion dollars (US$1,000,000,000) in debts, and these cannot be paid in a month or in a year, and for this he asked for patience, since an IMF agreement or a bond emission would help solve the problem. Finally, he called for a 10-year strategy, which he said did not exist.
The Dominican Association of the Electricity Industry says the country needs to invest US$3.5 billion to meet demand for power into the next decade. Marco de la Rosa, president of the organization, has expressed his support for the new authorities at the CDEEE.

Los Guandules Article

2009-06-23T17:08:00.002-04:00

20 Junio 2009, 9:34 PM

Los Guandules
Alquilarán y después entregarán viviendas a familias quedaron sin hogar

Escrito por: SANTIAGO GONZALEZ (s.gonzalez@elnacional.com.do)

SANTIAGO.- El presidente Leonel Fernández prometió ayer a residentes de Los Guandules, donde se originan derrumbes desde hace ocho días, reubicarlos en casas alquiladas hasta que tengan una solución definitiva.

Dijo esperar que en un plazo de al menos tres meses tengan los fondos provenientes de un programa firmado con el Gobierno colombiano para construir viviendas a bajo costo.

El mandatario visitó el lugar y constató cómo viven alrededor de 70 familias que sufrieron los deslizamientos de sus casas.

Afirmó que la solución de este caso será gestionada con un fondo proveniente de un programa de viviendas firmado con Colombia, que fue aprobado por el Congreso y ya sólo faltan los desembolsos.

Fernández habló con dirigentes de la Comisión de Seguimiento a los derrumbes que integran juntas de vecinos e iglesias de esa barriada, ubicada en la parte sur de Santiago.

“Nosotros en un escenario pesimista le damos tres meses para el inicio de la construcción de estas obras y dejar resuelto lo que ha ocurrido”, expresó.

El Presidente dijo que a través de la gobernación el Gobierno asumirá el pago de los alquileres a los afectados, “un esquema que hemos adoptado en otras ocasiones, porque no podemos dejar a los damnificados de manera indefinida en la iglesia”.

Fernández habló en presencia de la directora del Instituto Nacional de la Vivienda, Alma Fernández; el secretario de Obras Públicas, Víctor Díaz Rúa; el gobernador José Izquierdo, el senador Francisco Domínguez Brito y el síndico José Enrique Sued.

Tras la conversación, el mandatario caminó desde la iglesia hasta el lugar donde se han producido los derrumbes.

Fernández llegó alrededor de las 12:40 de la tarde y de inmediato entró al templo religioso, donde estaban los afectados.

Luego habló a los periodistas sobre el plan del Gobierno para dejar esa situación resuelta, y el gobernador dijo que pueden conseguir viviendas cerca del lugar donde están para garantizarles un techo.

Alegría

El mandatario dijo a la directora del Invi, ingeniera Alma Fernández, que las nuevas casas no deben estar ubicadas en el mismo lugar. Los afectados manifestaron su alegría por las promesas.

Celebration Prayers

2009-05-07T22:18:00.001-04:00

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." Psalms 1:2-3

There are so many wonderful worlds coming together next week and so much to pray for! Psalms 1:2-3 is our scripture for the conference! What a wonderful challenge and reminder! Please join me in praying for the following:

For the National pastors and Christian workers - that their hearts will be filled with joy, they will be empowered by the Holy Spirit, they will encounter God, they will be refreshed by God's presence
That marriages will be strengthened by intentional time together and that individual spirits will be challenged and encouraged
For American partners - that their hearts will be overwhelmed with God's work and power, that they will grow stronger in their commitments, that they will courageously communicate with their partner with bold encouragement
For our staff and board to be encouraged by God's glory through His work across the island, that God's presence will rejuvenate our purpose, and our hearts will be focused on service
For the hotel staff - that they will encounter God's sweet presence and hope through those at the conference
For Gabriel as he is surprised with love and he is encouraged by his brothers and sisters
For Eduard to be courageous, humble, and steadfast as he takes on a new leadership role
For all of the traveling going on - for flexibility - for smooth transitions

Thank you brothers and sisters!!! What an incredible week to look forward

Twelve Year Old Supporter

2009-03-29T18:00:00.008-04:00

During my stint in the USA for the holidays I was able to gain perhaps my biggest supporter. Now I am of course grateful for all of my supporters but this supporter came as a complete surprise.

Let me set this up. While visiting long-time friends in Wisconsin recently I was speaking about what I eat in the Dominican. Their family is made up of mom and dad and three kids. I talked about the typical meals I have of plantains, chicken or “la bandera” (the flag) rice and beans or spaghetti Dominican style. I then talked how just about every morning I have either eggs or oatmeal. I really enjoy both. For some reason growing up I always enjoyed oatmeal and putting cinnamon or raisins or grape jelly on it. That continues today but I replace the grape jelly with honey. Eggs I also doctor up with salt, pepper, Cajun spice or Tabasco. In our conversation my new supporter also asked, “is there anything you miss eating that you eat in the United States?” It came to mind that maybe once a month or two months I like to get a box of milk and a small box of frosted flakes. Yes, milk is sold in 1 liter boxes of milk that do not need refrigeration if it is an unopened box. The frosted flakes I purchase are from Columbia and are called “Zucaros”, which I would translate as sugar flakes. While not exactly Tony the Tigers official, “They’re GREAT flakes” they do the job.

My to-be new supporter asked well how much do those Zucaros cost? I did the intense math in my head and figured out that a box of Zucaros costs about 60 pesos. There are about 33 pesos to the dollar so I shared with her that a little box is about two U.S. dollars.

That conversation ended innocently enough until I was ready to depart from my friends house. As I was preparing to leave my new supporter came to me in my friend’s dining room and said, “Mr. Martinez I want to start supporting you.” Initially, I was a little embarrassed but said “thank you.” She continued, “I am going to start sending you two dollars a month so that you can buy yourself a box of frosted flakes every month.”

The twelve year old donating her first two dollars cash.

In first Corinthians 13 we are told that Love is not self-seeking. My friend Elisabeth is not self-seeking she is “other-seeking.” She is a loving kid. As a twelve year old she understands how to reach out to others and what missions is about. In a very practical manner it is simply the second of the two greatest commandments, love your neighbor. This is missions in its most foundational, practical form -- giving to others.

There are lots of little motivators when we become missionaries. So often I get to see people’s hearts. When people get out of their comfort zone while here in the field it is easy to see where they stand with the Lord. There are those who when they hear I am a missionary do things like apologize for their cursing or stand up straight. Or there are those that give the little they can to make others lives better.

Elisabeth thanks for the frosted flakes this month. As I crunch away and get my sugar rush I am asking God to show me how I can be like you today. I hope you have a GREAT day!

Bridge Out

2009-03-07T21:16:00.005-05:00

There are snow storms happening in the USA right now causing problems and dilemmas for perhaps millions of people. The storms have caused millions of dollars of damage and cut off many from the typical life we live in the USA.

Recently a community in the Dominican was cut off. The Hole, Hoya de Bartola, suffered a slight set back when the bridge that crosses the pollution-laden river was simply washed out. More than 20 kids who come to the nutrition center everyday live on the other side of the river . For these kids it means splish-splashing across the river on the “temporary” tire platoon until that is washed away by the rain. I pause to wonder what this bridge really means in terms of economy, health, community development and encouragement.

One does not think about economy much when speaking about the hole. The people there just get by. There is not much cash flow in the hole, either into or out of, but there are still people who leave the hole to work. Many of them now have to pay extra money or leave extra early to leave to get to work as their route is cut off. On a very basic scale it could mean as little as an extra thirty minute walk to get around the hole and thirty minutes back. If a person works six days a week that is six hours extra per week that is being taken away from this person's livelihood or family. If it means an extra public car ride that is thirteen pesos each way or twenty six pesos daily. Just short of one dollar. Again six days a week means six dollars a week. No big deal? Do you remember when gas prices were on the rise and how you felt shelling out the extra cash?

From the perspective of health, it goes unsaid that we are going to have more kids getting sick in the hole. The kids will of course try to traverse the bridge or slip and fall in the water as they make their way across the tires. Kids with open cuts will get more seriously sick. Other people will just get a little “gripe” (pronounced gree-pay). I know I am not a very pleasant person when I am sick. If they have ongoing sickness as they battle the water in the river regularly what will that do to the “community” of the hole?

Community development has come to a grinding slow down in the hole. One might ask, “What community development?”. Well, getting to a neighbor's place just took on a very different look. You can’t just go across to see how the neighbor is. In fact I feel bad because I have not passed by to visit my elderly neighbor there whose house is right on the edge of the small river. I am not sure if it is still there considering that the bridge is out. Well John, why haven’t you gone? My reply is embarrassing, “the bridge it out”. I am guilty of failing the community development test.

That leads directly into encouragement. Even Pastor Felix is having to make special trips to the other side of the hole now that the bridge is out. He has to really make an effort to visit the sick in their houses and if there are not kids coming to the feeding center he usually checks on them after missing two days. How can he be an encourager or motivator when he himself is having a tougher time of it? For those wanting to come to the church what are they doing?

A simple bridge, so symbolic, so vital, so needed. I wonder what happens when we have no faith to cross those raging rivers in our lives?

Emaciated girl helped by Haiti food aid

2009-01-06T17:11:00.003-05:00

At right, Venecia Louis, 4, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Nov. 19. At left, Venecia Louis while recovering from malnutrition on Dec. 11. View related photos
Ramon Espinosa / AP

updated 8:27 p.m. ET, Mon., Dec. 15, 2008

BAIE D'ORANGE, Haiti - It was late afternoon and the young mother was hiding in the kitchen of her banana-thatch shack, lighting a cooking fire she hoped her neighbors would not see — she gets food aid while they must scrounge to eat.

Her 4-year-old daughter — whose sunken eyes drew worldwide attention in an Associated Press photograph that showed her dangling limply from the strap of a scale — grinned in anticipation.

It's been a month since little Venecia Louis got emergency treatment for malnutrition, and now she is walking, playing and even has a pinch of baby fat on her cheeks.

Venecia was among dozens of children suffering from severe malnutrition who were airlifted from this remote region in Haiti's southeast to hospitals in Port-au-Prince after 26 children died from starvation here.

As a result, Venecia and her family now get just enough food aid to scrape by.

Venecia smiled last week as her mother, Rosemen Saint-Juste, prepared a can and a half of rice that would be dinner for six people. She has gained some weight and her arms are plumper after treatment with antibiotics, anti-worm medications and enriched milk. But she is by no means cured from her life-threatening bout with malnutrition.

Mother hoards what she can
The child's 30-year-old mother hoards what she can to protect her children's health but says she must give away some to the hungry families who live nearby or risk their revenge — by physical attack or the Voodoo spell she believes they might cast to kill her children.

"The food I have is going to last for three days" instead of four, she said after giving away some of her rice. "If I don't share it with my neighbors, the devil will eat my kids."

Four tropical storms that killed 793 people in August and September and caused $1 billion in damage made Haiti's ongoing food crisis even worse. Crops were wiped out and mountain roads destroyed, cutting farmers off from markets where they sell their crops and buy food for their children.

Little attention had been paid to the villages around Baie d'Orange, located on a muddy plateau 6,000 feet above the Caribbean, until doctors from nearby cities alerted the international aid groups Terre des Hommes about deaths and severe malnutrition there.

An AP report on the crisis and photos of Venecia, who was initially identified by the hospital as Venecia Lonis, and other severely malnourished children brought an outpouring of offers of help.

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, Democrat of Los Angeles, cited the AP report in urging the U.S. Agency for International Development to search for any Haitian children in danger of starvation and pledged to follow up with the Haitian ambassador and President Rene Preval. Two church congregations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that raised $18,000 were among many groups moved by their plight.

Aid groups step up work
In response to the children's deaths, aid groups have stepped up their work in this isolated pocket that in some places lies just over a peak from the capital's richest suburbs — but a six-hour trek over a circuitous mountain highway, washed-out bridges and unmarked goat paths.

The U.N. World Food Program now feeds 5,000 people here every two weeks, delivering food primarily by helicopter. USAID has increased its nutrition programs by $4.5 million nationwide.

Medical aid organizations Doctors Without Borders and Medicins du Monde have set up clinics as they scour the region for more pockets of hunger. They have not found any as severe as Baie d'Orange, according to a Doctors Without Borders spokesman, Francois Servranckx.

Still, the donations are merely a stopgap measure, residents say. Far more critical is support for rebuilding their fields so they can feed themselves.

2008-10-12T21:50:00.008-04:00

Woman of Esperanza

2008-10-08T17:06:00.000-04:00

This weekend I had the chance to go to a town called Esperanza, which means “hope” in Spanish. On the way there I did not feel as if anything would provide me a boost in my hope. In fact, I knew I was going to a church that struggles to maintain a place in the community.

The community is a growing area and is known for its agriculture and a regular influx of Haitians to help in the fields. While I sat in the pews of the church the pastor asked me to share. I had not really prepared anything but had been reading Galatians 5 so thought I would just share some insight on that.

After preaching one of the women in the congregation asked for a ride home. I had noticed her while I was in front of the church sharing because her eyes were aglow. I willingly gave her a ride along with Diane Miller who had accompanied me to Esperanza. The car ride lasted only a few minutes but our time at her house was much longer.

She told us the story of her life to this point. She has been following Christ for about 32 years, she figures. Her faith had always been strong but not really tested until about two years ago. One day she started getting sick. She went to the doctors but they could not determine what was wrong. Eventually she was hospitalized with something that to this day the doctors still can’t put a name to. She was having major headaches and pain in her legs and was actually losing consciousness.

While in the hospital the doctors told her family that she was going to die. She had come so close that her family actually bought her coffin. She told them this is only a test of faith. She started to get better but her legs were paralyzed for some reason. The doctors told her she would never walk again. She left the hospital eventually under her own power with a walker.

While trying to rehabilitate herself she walked up and down a dirt hill street area in her neighborhood. She did it everyday and shared how God had saved her. She was soon walking without the walker. During these daily journeys she would gather children and share the love of Jesus with them. So many kids started following her that she now has started a church service for kids that has adults attending. She set up a church in her own backyard. I wish I had taken a camera with me because it is a very simple set up but clearly kid friendly, not a usual thing in the Dominican. She also takes the church on the road. While she is still strengthening her legs going up and down that hill she gathers the kids and simply stops in from of some little person’s home and has church there. The kids are all proud to have her stop in front of their home.

About a year after her battle with the unnamed disease she lost her sight. The way she described it was, “Poof it was gone.” Again the doctors were at a loss. For the first month of her vision loss she struggled with being able to walk and knowing her way around but she was determined to learn to live on her own. Her three girls had all moved out after being married. One weekend her youngest daughter was spending time with her and at 5am she woke up and again “poof” had her vision. She got up, cleaned the house, set the breakfast table and cooked breakfast for her daughter. When her daughter got up she asked her mom who was here this early in the morning to clean and cook? Her mom said, “no one, I did it”. Needless to say there were a ton of tears.

She claims that God has given her tests of faith to strengthen her but also to strengthen other people so that they can see what belief in Jesus can do. She says, “ I lived like Job.” I have faith and believe that God is good.

She still meets with about 30 kids and 6 adults two times a week to share God’s word.

What an encouragement she was to me that morning in Esperanza, surely I left there with a much grander hope and faith!

Rice Aid

2008-09-23T14:43:00.010-04:00

Everyone knows of the hurricanes and tropical storms that have passed through and brought damage and destruction to the Dominican Republic and Haiti which make up the island of Hispaniola. We see on the news that there is major flooding and people walking for miles looking for dry land. Indeed it is semi-reminiscent of Noah the way things, especially in Haiti, have flooded. I have worked with two pastors in the two hardest hit areas of Haiti, Les Cayes and Goniaeves. They are the St. Germain brothers, Lewis and Dony. Together they and their families and their ministry, El Shadai Ministry International (ESMI) work with almost 700 orphans.

It is a great task of faith to keep those kids fed, educated, bathed and learning about God each and every day. While there is a lesson plan to educate the kids on faith, the St. Germain’s lives reflect their profound faith everyday seemingly without really blinking an eye.

Perhaps the biggest test of their faith came recently with hurricane Ike. The flooding has caused major physical problems but to understand why this was more than just not having food we have to go back to nearly three years ago and hurricane ??????? that caused major flooding and landslides in Goniaves. In total, there are an estimated three thousand people who lost their lives just in that city alone. Many of the children were left parent-less, literally swimming alone in the waters of the flood or stuck in the mud of the landslide. Dony, Lewis and their ministry collected most of the orphans who populate their orphanages after this hurricane. It was then that a vision was initiated to serve the orphan population and to grow a new Haiti from there. What a “dream.” That is exactly what is happening though through. ESMI. So the children of ESMI are growing into this new family provided by the orphanage. Yet they are going through storms that are similar to the ones where many lost parents, friends, classmates and others in their daily lives. So the children still struggle with this first massive loss and now must cope with the possibility of losing other loved ones in their lives. Again, Gonieve was hit very hard and caused major flooding. Again the loss of life is estimated into the hundreds.

The psychological damage brought on by the storms is obviously a type of mental anguish. There is little to no help for this in Haiti. Really this type of aid is left in the hands of God or voodoo even in the major metropolitan city of Port-au-Prince. That is why it is so important to pray for these little folks and the leadership there. These little ones continue to suffer from the past and now they must work through that current storm in their lives.

The waters have subsided but that does not mean that things are much easier, in fact much worse because now that the pictures of flooded fields and overflowed bridges and the dirt lanes called roads are washed away from the tv screen many will be forgotten. Recent estimates of crop loss due to Ike on a national level are at fifty percent or more. In the areas of the orphanages these men of strong faith simply use the word “devastated.” There is little that they will be able to harvest from the crops they plant for each orphanage.

There is another “D” word that the pastor does not use but is very clearly portrayed in his actions, that is dependence. The orphanage, the ministry or the churches would not have been built had it not been for a complete dependence on God. In my time knowing these pastors their faith is simple - pray and depend. They live on the fact that God supplies to the faithful. And indeed God does.

I believe it was because of so many prayers, especially those of the orphans that God began an innocent conversation last Wednesday eve to bring about five hundred pounds of donated rice to the orphans. That conversation happened between a guy from Florida and a missionary in the Dominican Republic. That conversation led to action. The action led to the discovery that there was actually probably only about two hundred pounds of rice could be brought for the orphans and it would cost about six-hundred dollars. In attempting to work out the flight information to bring that two hundred pounds of rice in, money was sent from a woman in Kentucky for the service. Before the money even arrived though that attempted flight was canceled.

That “scrubbing” caused a brainstorm session which led to changing the plan a little and depending on another avenue to bring in the rice with the same plane. That was also negated by people in charge of the plane. In seeking more information about the rice we discovered that there was another plane available with the rice in the Bahamas. The orphans would eat, we thought.

The plan was good except that God had not supplied gasoline money. We needed at least one thousand dollars to have the plane take off. The money originally sent from Kentucky seemed to be tied up. But alas the pilot Dave, was able to have someone lend him money for gas and to put up $1,500 cash donation. When the plane finally left the ground on Thursday it was loaded with 800 lbs of rice and beans, 150 lbs of drinking water, 150 lbs of clothing and the cash. What was originally planned as a delivery of 500 pounds of rice dropped to 200 pounds of rice. What we were told was not “efficient” turned out to be nearly ½ a ton of goods brought into Haiti plus cash for the local economy. God can do more than we can ever dream exceedingly more abundantly that we can dream of.

I have no doubts that there were six hundred or so orphans and so many of you praying to God and God had to answer. The bible says that we are to take care of the widows and orphans and I think God wants to more than anyone. He is indeed faithful.

Attached are some photos of Dave and my friends at the orphanage. Dou Dou is the guy waving in the photo. He is an incredible God follower working with those orphans day and night. I have to admit though the photo of the rainbow taken on the way back from Haiti made me cry as we serve our promise keeping God.

The Bateys

2008-09-06T16:55:00.003-04:00

After six hours in a crowded bus jammed with people and suitcases I believed I was prepared for my change in living conditions. I was arriving from Santiago , a city of about one million people that has water problems and electricity problems but nothing like what I was to find in Batey 9. The moment of arrival in Batey 9 there is a distinct odor of urine. It was not just the smell though, almost instantly all of one’s senses are bombarded and assaulted.

The attack does not stop nor in my time in the batey area did I grow accustomed to that occurring. There is an assault that occurs on each and everyone of the senses and then some. It is easy to describe the things that happen to one due to the foul odors that collide with each other in one’s nostrils. Often when I think about assaults of odors it is easy to escape them be it walking past a garbage dumpster or pass the black smoke of a diesel engine in front of you. The comical way to visualize it is to think about the character “pig pen” in the Peanuts cartoons. He always has that dirty swirl around him. That is a simple way to describe what goes on in the batey area.

One of your senses is always being attacked. It may be that you can’t breathe, that you are being eaten alive by mosquitoes, the intense heat is causing you to sweat profusely as never before, there is dirt in your mouth even though you have not opened it in 15 minutes, or that you see things with your eyes that are just not “normal.” An example of that would be seeing a hog being slaughtered and dissected right before you. That is a full sensory filling event unto itself.

This is just the introduction to what it is like entering the batey area. In the coming days I am going to share more of the other senses that are assaulted sometimes without even knowing what has happened to you literally your life is changed.

2008-08-18T16:13:00.004-04:00

THE FOLLOWING TWO ARTICLES ARE TRANSLATED VERSIONS OF ARTICLES IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS FROM TODAY AUG 18. THE ONE ON BOXING REALLY GAVE A WORLD PERSPECTIVE THAT WE DO NOT GET IN THE USA. THE DOMINICAN GOVERNMENT PAYS FOR PEOPLE TO WIN CONTESTS IN A WORLD COMPETITION. SO IF A PERSON WINS A GOLD THEY NOT ONLY BECOME A NATIONAL HERO THEY ARE REWARDED FINANCIALLY, VERY WELL.

Diaz claims at least bronze. Light welterweight Feliz Diaz won his match (11-6) against the Iranian Morteza Sepahvandi in the quarterfinals of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and could win the DR's first medal in the Games, at least a bronze. This would be only the third in DR sports history and the second in boxing. Diaz had almost made bronze in the Athens Olympics. This time around, although Diaz started off behind in the points, little by little he came back, tiring out his opponent and scoring points. Cuban trainer Pedro Luis Diaz's strategy paid off. After two rounds Diaz had turned around the score, and in the third and fourth rounds he dominated the fight. From then on his rival was left behind and his corner yelled at him to fight smart and maintain his advantage. Diaz, according to some reports, will earn RD$3.5 million and a new car for his medal efforts. If he were to win his next fight against Frenchman Alexis Vastine, the ante will be raised to RD$5 million. Meanwhile, his family is cleaning out mud and rubbish from their shack next to the Ozama River after the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Fay. The semifinal fight is scheduled for Friday, 22 August. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2008/results/BXM064.html

10. Tropical Storm Fay: four dead. The Center for Emergency Operations (COE) reported the death of four persons and the displacement of more than 11,000 people as Tropical Storm Fay passed south. For most of the weekend, Red Alerts were posted for the majority of southern provinces, with special interest in the areas of Azua and Pedernales and eastern provinces. According to the Hoy newspaper, Colonel Juan Manuel Mendez, the COE commander, said that 1,023 persons were refuged in government shelters and over 10,000 moved to spend the storm with family and friends. The colonel also reported over 2,300 homes affected by floodwaters, five bridges out and several highways seriously damaged nationwide. Flooding was reported to have affected traffic on the brand new Samana highway, a US$150 million investment. The highway was opened to traffic in February 2008. The president of the National Emergency Commission (CNE), General Luis Luna Paulino, announced that the CNE would accuse the driver of the pickup truck that carried three persons to their deaths. Luna Paulino told reporters from the Nuevo Diario that the driver ignored warnings not to attempt to cross the Chauchau River near Higuey. Two minors and a 34-year old woman were swept away and drowned. Other newspapers are reporting that the driver was the father of the two children. General Luna Paulino told reporters that Azua was the most affected province, according to the reports he was receiving.

Tropical Storm Fay

2008-08-16T18:39:00.003-04:00

It looks as if we have dodged another bullet. Tropical Storm Fay has passed by Santiago with “minimal” rain being dumped on us. There have been three deaths in the Dominican Republic and the number is currently uncounted in Haiti. I have yet to visit Hoyo de Bartola, as with every rain there is major flooding there and often loss of some type. I am not sure if it is still in existence but the neighborhood had hired a “lifeguard” of sorts for when it rains. He had big rubber boots, a Dominican rain jacket, a baseball cap and a long rope. If anyone got swept away in a flood it was his job to rescue them.
Every rain I also pray for Adela my old woman friend who lives alone on the edge of the smaller tributary to the Hole’s main river. Adela’s house could fall into the tributary at any moment. See pictures on earlier posts for that. I will make sure I get down there or call Pastor Felix to see if he can stop by and see how she fared in the tropical storm

School uniforms in Hoyo de Bartola, The Hole

2008-08-16T18:09:00.012-04:00

So many people say to me ,John, you are doing so much on the front lines but I always reply they are incorrect because I am blessed so much. One of those many blessings came this week as I worked in the Hole.

The Hole is actually a hole dug out in the city. The area is named after a once famous city official Hoyo de Bartola. The area is considered a dangerous area to live because it is so prone to flooding, high crime rates and drug and alcohol use.

As the church in Hoyo de Bartola grows, so have our outreach programs. One of the longest running programs is the school uniform and supply distribution. Kids in the Dominican cannot attend school unless they are in uniform. I am amazed at how many do not go to school because they do not have a blue top and khaki pants or skirt that either fit or are not destroyed. Kids usually get one uniform and that is it so it is washed very often and most try to take care of it. Many will be kids and play in it after school and rip it or stain it beyond repair often, but they have to wear it for the school year, regardless.

This week I was able to share fifty uniforms with kids from Hoya de Bartola. The local pastor, Felix Abreau (in photo) was able to assess who was in most need and they received a uniform and an adequate amount of notebooks. The kids in the hole all go to public school which costs about 400 pesos to register and then materials and uniforms. The kids walk to school every day, there are no big yellow school buses here.

Before we distributed the material to the kids we asked them to pray for the people who have supplied the essentials for the school year. One little girl raised her hand and prayed. All of them repeated the prayer and then said a unified AMEN! The parents too are grateful for the assistance. One mom was so desperate for just one note book she kept tugging at my side for “just one.” She got one for one child and a second for the second child she has in school. Each little one also got a big hug from me and a “Jesus te ama.” (Jesus loves you) Most responded with “yo se.” (I know). That is becasue there are people who love them even though they have never met.

I have to send out a HUGE GRACIAS to the Great Expectations class at Southeast Christian Church who annually has supplied uniforms and materials for at least 50 kids from Hoyo de Bartola. I am grateful to you my brothers and sisters.

If there is anyone else who would like to share in providing school supplies it is never too late to contribute either the material or money to purchase uniforms or school supplies.

Warrenville in the Bateys

2008-07-29T17:20:00.003-04:00

What a phenomenal week we had in the Bateys. Over 850 people were seen in two days during the medical clinics in Batey Cinco and Batey Cuchilla.

Here is a link to the video posted on youtube if you would like to check it out!

Warrenville Video

Mango

2008-07-23T13:50:00.002-04:00

This is mango season in the Dominican. The trees are at top production and many have already fallen to the ground to be consumed, mostly by people. There are so many who enjoy mangos, myself included. Mangos have a tropical flavor that is unrivaled. Most of the time people here consume the mango just like an apple. The mango’s thin skin is peeled and then people dive into the juicy orange flesh. There are mangos all over the place. Mango trees provide much shade and offer a dangerous location to sit during the fruit season because they can hurt if they hit you in the head. I know a number of people who have been hit indeed. In Haiti there are fewer and fewer mango trees because of the desperate need for wood even more so than the precious fruit.

The fruit is also used as a friendship offering. Many times friends will bring a friend a mango. It is a simple way to say I love you or I care about you. If you don’t have a mango tree you might buy a mango and give it to someone. Mangos open doors and cause smiles to happen. Mangos are a part of the culture and when the mangos are arriving hopes are high and smiles are so evident when the season is over the there is a lull that occurs.

Can a fruit do all of that?

Vengo Ahorra

2008-06-17T21:47:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite phrases in the Dominican is “vengo ahorra.”

The translation of this would be “I am returning now”. So one might be talking to you and say I am going to borrow the keys and “vengo ahorra.” It means I will be back very soon, sort of. Anyone who has been in the Dominican Republic for a week or more knows that this could be five minutes later, one hour later, or maybe six hours later depending on how many people they bump into and spend time with in route.

In the United States if we say I am on my way we really mean it. Generally, if we still have time left someplace we will say I am leaving in however many minutes. There is clearly a difference between the two cultures in this respect. I have noted a few cultural differences in other writings.

After every trip to the USA I come back and realize there is something that has bitten me about my home country. In the past it has been foods, consumption, spirituality and of course hot sauce. As Dominicans are asking me how my time went in the USA I tell them it was too fast, literally.

Everything in the USA is fast which is I feel a problem in and of itself. Perhaps what has jumped out at me the most this time back in the USA was how we use the words associated with doing something fast, rapid, hurried or quick.

Do we ever listen to ourselves speak? Everything is done at high velocity even our speech. What may be easier to do is notice the words we use. We tell people we are going to do things fast but why? Recently, someone said to me, I am going to quickly make some coffee (referring to a percolator). I am not a coffee person but I know that the person can’t percolate coffee any faster than the coffee maker can percolate the coffee. Sure you can pour water into the percolator faster and scoop in all 5 scoops of coffee faster but how much faster is the coffee going to get made? Simple answer; it is not. Percolated coffee takes time. What really struck me in the face was when someone said recently, “Will you watch my baby real quick?” I did a double take. How on earth does anyone watch a baby, “real quick”?

I understood what my friend was saying but it caused me to wonder first how did that phrase enter our vocabulary and second how is it that people live by it? I know of someone who takes his wife away on a weekend get away once a quarter. They usually don’t do much of anything during these weekends although some trips have been rather posh. I respect this man a lot because he has made his wife a priority and rests with her and keeps his focus on their marriage. I have another friend who arises early each morning at 4:30am to simply read and be quiet before her day begins. One other friend of mine refuses to put her kids in organized sports until they are at least ten years old. Thank goodness there is one little boy who won’t lose his childhood to being a soccer mom’s kid.

I respect these things because it helps with focus and relational growth. A number of best sellers talk about taking the time to reflect and refocus including Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Purpose Driven Life. Authors John Maxwell and Zig Ziglar mention it often as well. Billy Graham perhaps one of the busiest men of our time has said that he wishes he had spent more time with his family. We are being robbed of something extremely precious called relationships because we are in such a hurry.

Dominicans and Haitians know that without relationships we are missing a big piece of life. Speed is not everything in life. They will spend hours at someone’s house and then will say another interesting phrase….I am going to arrive. They don’t use the phrase I am “going to leave” or “it is time to leave”. I can’t say for sure why but I think if they tell their neighbor I am going to leave it sounds like they are not being welcomed anymore, an obvious insult to the host. So they say I am going to arrive… at my next destination. It says to the host, you are important so I am not leaving I am simply going to rest somewhere else, for the time being.

Voy a llegar ahorra.

Prison Seekers

2008-05-28T18:49:00.010-04:00

Have you ever felt like you are trapped with your life?

This past Saturday I learned first hand what it means to be trapped with no place to go.

I went to prison in Danville, Kentucky.

As part of a softball team called the Seekers I was able to enter prison. There we were able to play softball with a bunch of guys who are trapped, tethered, and relinquished to limited space that was predominately concrete and obviously surrounded by shiny metal razor wire.

There was a definite sadness in the prison. Guys were joking around and laughing but it was harsh, course and sarcastic. There was not much positive feedback from teammate to teammate and even less from the crowd gathered to watch us play. It seems that can be expected from a person who has been restricted to bleak, sanitized and locked space with fellow delinquents. That state of sadness comes out in discussions with the men. It seems they have only one thing on their mind and that is to be strong or to win. I thought for sure they would all talk about getting out, how much more time they have, maybe things they miss but their focus was really on how bad everything inside was except that some of them actually did not want to leave or were very scared to leave while still trying to beat the system

Inside the prison there are expectations and everyone knows what those expectations are, there are few variables. It makes it more secure for inmates, visitors and guards. It also gives the inmates structure that many of them need and many of them desire and many can’t do without once they leave the 20 foot high fence confines.

It is sad to see men, who I believe naturally crave adventure and sovereignty, desiring to remain incarcerated because he believes he can’t function without some type of outside rigid force aiding him in decision making on an hourly or so basis. This is not how men were made to live.

I can’t nor want to get into all of the psychological theories that can be spoken about concerning inmates. The fact of the matter is they are there serving time and hopefully learning about what it will take to live in a manner non-offensive to society the next time around. It is literally the next time around. When one enters prison your life is no longer your own. You do nothing without someone having the ability to see what you are doing in person or on camera .

This weekend I also gained a great respect for the people who serve the population within the walls of the prison. Clearly guards and others working within the four walls are putting their lives on the line to protect the public and aid in the development of the prisoners. From these men and women I did hear quite often in fact positive words and encouragement toward the incarcerated. It is my guess that they get little of the respect they deserve for assisting us in a difficult task.

For the guys on the team I went with I am appreciative they let me be part of them. The entire time we where behind the walls of the prison the men of the Seekers were positive and up beat cheering on both teams, mingling with the prisoners and showing gratitude for the workers. The Seekers even ate a lunch of beans, Spanish rice, cole slaw and cornbread with the prisoners all with a smile on their faces and laughter in their voices. The prisoners loved it because the Seekers had to pay $1.00 for lunch inside the prison. One inmate chided the state government saying that he gets his kid’s school newsletter and that his first grader gets bigger portions of food than full grown men; from what I saw I think he is correct.

I have thought about that prison trip numerous times since “getting out” after the games. I can see myself going through the double gates, talking with officers behind bulletproof glass to use a restroom, seeing foul balls get cut in the razor wire, the inmates all wearing the same beige clothing, at least 12 foot fencing around everything and hearing that eerie sound of metal on metal as another set of bars or a solid metal door closes behind me. All of those reminders of being held captive and I think that really the worst prison is that the men I saw allowed themselves to be held hostage. It is not just the walls impeding these men it is themselves in many cases. There is no need to go into the discussions I had but these men were more trapped emotionally and spiritually than physically.

I look around and I clearly see walls around the people of the Dominican Republic and Haiti poverty, lack of education and the list goes on. At times my walls are not much different than those in the DR, Haiti or from behind the concrete of Danville. I am grateful for those who have gone before to show how to tear down walls and the toughness of my heart and mind.

I do have to share a faith story with you while I was in prison. First let me tell you that in all of the games I have played with the Seekers I have hit only singles. It is important to, at the very least put up a good battle against the inmates. Needless to say everyone on the team hits homeruns, except me. Not even once have I hit a double. This is an important fact to know.

This week the Seekers lost the first two games of the day, again not a good thing in prison. After the second game I got to share a little of my life story and pray. At the end of my prayer I asked God to allow us to hit a few homeruns. We went on a homerun derby the next game. Even yours truly hit his first homerun EVER! The inmates were even hooting and hollering for me when it went over the fence. They started clamoring things about God hearing my prayer and angles carrying the ball over the wall. I know it was not luck or my smooth swing or even a loaded bat!

DERBY BLOG

2008-05-14T17:28:00.012-04:00

The KY Derby always conjures up images of chestnut horses, colorful jockey uniforms, big hats, bow ties and lest we not forget lots of money. Most of this held true during my few days working at Churchill Downs recently. Annually, G.O. Ministries hosts a derby fundraiser at Churchill Downs. G.O. finds responsible staff people to help a company called “THE GAME” sell apparel and other memorabilia.

Last year I had a fun time working in a tractor-trailer turned sales booth near the paddock area. It was an interesting mix of rich folks, poor folks, working folks and the horses. There are also sales locations outside Churchill Downs, in the walkways, across from the one thousand dollar mint julep stand and in the infamous “infield”. This year I was assigned to the luxurious and well known Jockey Club. Many people refer to this area as Millionaires’ Row. The minimum cost of a meal in this area was three hundred dollars. The food consisted of finger food, salads and fancy little desserts. The extra money obviously was to cover the impeccable service and fantastic view of the entire track from the sixth floor.

During my three days of work I was able to spot just one person who I knew for sure was famous, that was the Governor of Kentucky Steven Beshear. I knew him for sure because there were state police around him. That was not unusual, as all day there were police coming and going with whoever could pay their salary for the day. I did not recognize a single person who had police protection other than the governor of the commonwealth of Kentucky.

G.O. succeeded in what we wanted to accomplish and we are so thankful for each and every volunteer who spent their own resources and time to assist us in aiding Dominicans and Haitians.

There were some differences in being in the paddock area last year and millionaires’ row this year. The biggest was obviously the money and the purchases made. In millionaire’s row almost every dialogue started with “give me”, “I need” or “I want”. In the paddock area each transaction began with “how much is…”?

During one very brief break I was able to run to the restroom. While in the bathroom I turned toward a mirror and immediately recognized a famous person. I did not know who it was but I knew I had seen him on TV or the movies. In the mirror I saw this “star” primp himself but more so I noticed the look on his face. It was an expression of “am I good enough or can I do this.” The expression was sincere and the look in his eyes seemed to be searching for confidence. I did not understand it because he was in a great looking suit, is famous if I recognized him so I knew he had money, and there he was clearly pondering something. Later it came to light to me why he was searching for confidence. When the derby ended I saw him leaving with a woman that was seemingly 20 years younger than he, taller than he and very pretty.

Another interesting thing occurred right in front of my eyes in millionaire’s row. At one point a woman came up to the booth and asked for some items. I sold them to her without looking at her credit card. She was a mid-age woman, blondish hair, thin build and a little unkempt. After the transaction she turned to leave but stopped and bent over to tie her shoe. Her skirt was camouflage and short much different from the colorful, frilly, cocktail dresses everyone else was wearing. Needless to say the skirt got shorter when she bent over. I turned back toward the display and gave her a moment to walk away and I turned back to aid the next customer. At that point she reached up in the air to stretch and fix her hair and exposed another part of her body. Again, I turned away. It was a busy point so I gave her just another moment and turned back again to help another customer. At this point she looked at me and said, “have a good afternoon.” I simply said “you too” and served the next person. I was later to find out that allegedly she was a very rich daughter of a past US president.

Another gentleman who stayed around our booth for a few hours was full of laughs. He was making joke after joke about life, people, the derby, horses and about being rich. He was constantly on the “blackberry phone” to his wife about what she wanted him to buy for various members of the family. I have to say I enjoyed his company. We found out that he lived in Dallas/Ft. Worth and owned a horse farm in Lexington, KY. We also found out that he is an owner of not one but two horses in the derby, neither of which won, placed or showed. He talked about how he missed his kids but that they were spoiled, he wanted his wife to be with him but there were challenges there and the list went on as the day drew later. It was clear from numerous comments that he was a lonely gentleman.

One last scenario that played out over the day was with a woman and two men. The first time I saw this man he was by himself, coherent and was wanting to buy something but was not sure who to buy for and he would stop by later. Before the actual derby race he came back with a woman who was clearly intoxicated as was he now. He started to buy things telling her, “get whatever you want.” She said simply, I just need something for my two sons and proceeded to look at the t-shirts. Another woman standing near-by commented to her that her, how do I say bra, was showing a bit too much. She fired back instantly, “he’ll take care of that later.” Of course that started a drunken dialogue and kissing. They left with about 150 dollars worth of items. After the derby was clearing out that woman stopped by the booth with another man who also bought her some things and they left together hand in hand. After the last race was over the first man came by with two other guys and yet another woman. It was clear from their conversation that they had all just met and were going to party.

People are people. We all have problems no matter race, monetary level or education. One of the nicest persons I met during my time at the derby was Nikki who was a tattooed 6’2’ woman who was working in the elevator all day. She was real, cheery and very helpful.

The rich are no different than the poor. We think there are different levels of poverty and wealth but we are all the same. We are all seeking love, unconditional love which only God can supply.

I am in Louisville and have a busy time in the USA. One of the most frequent questions I get is, “how are you enjoying your vacation?” Something I have learned over the last years in the Dominican is that I don’t take a Sabbath and make it Holy. Since January of this year I have been really trying to not break that commandment. It is possibly the commandment we break most frequently. While in the USA I have been taking that day of rest but outside of that my rest has been getting 7 or so hours of sleeping in a quiet environment. I am so thankful for my host family. Dick and Bev are wonderful hosts and treat me as a younger brother. They will attest to the crazy schedule I keep while in Louisville. My friend Tom with whom I often stay while in Florida will speak up quickly about the running around I do in that state. Coming to the United States is a break in some respects and more difficult in others. If I can make one point from this little blog no matter where I go I am a missionary and so are you. Missionaries who are stateside reaching out to non-Christian populations here in the USA are also on the front lines. That front line starts at your home’s main entrance.

Haiti Update

2008-04-19T11:08:00.003-04:00

While this article tells a tale of horror in this poor island nation I have friends who have written me from Port Au Prince to share that the violence has quieted.

It does not mean that poverty has been smashed though. Read on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/world/americas/18food.html?ex=1366257600&en=81fac0de4cff836c&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

I am on my "sharing" tour right now in Charelston, SC. Please let me know if I can share with your group, bible study, organization or even just meet your family. I will be int he United States until 6 May.

Ivan

2008-04-10T16:18:00.007-04:00

This is my little buddy Ivan. He lives in the house across the alley from me. Brian, my roommate and I got to know Ivan because since the first day Ivan knocked on our door asking for cookies. It has now become a daily routine for Ivan and his little cousin Brian to knock on our door and ask for cookies. We have started giving him cookied every other day becasue Ivan is a smart little guy.

Ivan would watch our apartment and wait for one of us to be alone and then go and ask for cookies. So Ivan and Brian were each getting cookies twice a day, once from me and once from my roommate Brian. The little guys would then go to the house of our co-workers Will and Audrey and ask them for cookies. On some days Ivan and Brian were raking in three cookies each. We Americans finally smartened up and now they only get a cookie a day beween us. Ivan is only four years old and can't count...that is unless there are cookies involved.

In the photo above he is in our "living room" doing karate moves. He loves activity. His mom however does not. I am actually not even sure where they get money to buy food or pay rent. Not sure means I have an idea what they are doing something illegal but I can't say absolutely.

But here is the thing...Brain and I started taking little Ivan and his cousin to church where there is a good solid kids program. That coupled with the fact that Ivan has a sponsor through the G.O Kis program to the school we work with in the neighborhood. Ivan is talking about God now all of the time. The other day my landlady, Marta, caught him, Ivan, throwing rocks at my door. He was being a little boy. So when I heard about this I yelled down the alley for Ivan to come and speak with Marta and I. I said to Ivan, you know Brian and I love you but were you throwing rocks at our door earlier? He did not respond right away. I could tell he was thinking and then he spit out, "yes, I was but she forgave me." The way he said it with his innocent face and voice I could not help bust out laughing and neither could Marta who was with us. After catching my breath from laughter I did tell him he would not get cookies for three days.

Another thing is now we have invited his mom and aunt to church. They have started attending church. Praise God that they are being fed with this spiritual food through this little four year old boy. Please pray for Ivan's mom and Brian's mom and his grandmother. This photo is of Brian and Ivan coloring with a kit left by a recent team from Discovery Church in CA. They are on the front porch of their house where they live with their respective moms and grandmother.

Electronic Aid

2008-04-10T16:11:00.003-04:00

Many of you have commented that it is great to see me writing a little more often than last year. I have actually more than quadrupled the number of blog writings than I had all of last year. y newsletters are always consistent but myblog has photos which is a bonus. Even with this the biggest joke around our staff meetings is my lack of computer savy...to be it nicely. I admit I even make fun of myself electronically.

One of the things about being a missionary is that, I think, we learn to be humble. So I have to be humble at this moment in my life and ask you all for a little assistance...

IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN ASSIST ME WITH MY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION,PLEASE???? !!!!!!

It would include assisting with my blog, my electonic newsletter and maybe even facebook. The biggest being the blog.

Ok I'll just sit here and be humble until someone helps me. GRACIAS.

Haiti

2008-04-10T16:04:00.002-04:00

The mess in Haiti continues to be...well a mess. Please visit the following link to see a brief article and video about the ridiculous things going on in Haiti. Please keep the whole country in your prayers but especially the ministries that are feeding people and the six Pastors who we work with in the mountains of Haiti's central and north east area.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/09/haiti.food.protests.ap/index.html?eref=rss_world

My Home, your home, Adela's home

2008-04-10T15:24:00.007-04:00

This little newsletter, as always, is simply to share. Frankly, if you feel offended or guilty or reprieved or whatever from what I write then I hope it is God using me as a tool. Genesis 12:2 “…I will bless you…and you will be a blessing.”

My housing situation is a question that comes up often in discussion with people. Since living in the Dominican Republic I have gained a reputation of living on a shoestring to cut costs.

While living in Santiago I lived in one house for three years. That house has now become the GO Ministries medical clinic. I have also lived in many “temporary” locations including the church, the dormitory, vacated staff apartments and the list goes on including with the Gabriel family. A temporary location is ninety days or less. This, of course, does not include the weeks I have spent in Haiti or in the south of the Dominican Republic as I visit the many active locations of G.O. I have learned a great deal from these many moves but mostly that for me traveling light is best.

Even while living on little I have been able to comfortably host numerous people over the years. Just for a laugh I tried to count the number of roommates or people I have housed for more than two months wherever I called home. That totals out to more than nine roommates (including two Haitians, one Polish guy, a semi pro basketball player, and two high schoolers who everyone said looked liked me). That does not include the number of weeks I have slept in “dorm” housing with multiple guys who snore, sleepwalk or otherwise disturb one’s sleep. I admit I am not innocent of snoring loudly either.

As with so many things we evaluate and change as life evolves two things have happened in my life to cause me to rethink my living arrangements. Many of you know I want a family someday. I have pondered what my family would need if they are to live in Santiago with me. I now believe the first thing they would require is a psychiatrist because of all of the moving I have done in the past. J It is clear that I needed to change that style of living for more stability.

With that said, somewhere on this blog are photos of my new apartment. I took a big step and actually rented an apartment with another G.O. staff member. My roommate Brian is a super guy. It is a great little apartment that is just off the beaten path but so close that I can get to where I need to be in a matter of a quick walk. The rent is not expensive, 3,800 pesos per month not including utilities, another 400 pesos and the apartment is in really good shape. What more could I ask for here in a developing nation. As far as I am concerned, nothing.

The second thing that got me thinking about this topic is a woman named Adela. I have seen this woman on a regular basis yet I did not know this woman’s name for more than four years as she was slowly impacting my life.

Many of you have visited Hoya de Bartola often called, the Hole. Adela lives in the hole. For those of you who have not check out the photos of the garbage dump. A picture is worth one thousand words. Every time we go down into the hole to feed those “cute, joyous kids” in the feeding center we pass Adela’s house. The door is

the other corner of my room almost always open BUT Adela has it open only to let the smoke from her cooking out the door. Adela lives in a shack. See the photo with me in front and on the side stretching my arms out to show the length of her place. Right next to her home is a contributing stream to the river that runs through the hole. Literally if you slip coming out her door you will be in this feces polluted stream.

For years I have stopped by Adela’s house and spoken briefly with her. I can tell she is still uneasy in speaking to me. Until this week she would not share her name. She still won’t allow a photo of her to be taken, nor of her house. She doesn’t speak much so I don’t know if she has family or who her friends are let alone many other details of her life. Regardless of the time of day I pass she has coals burning inside her house. I am not sure if it is to keep her feeble body warm or to keep the mosquitoes away. Her house consists of a bed, an open pit fireplace and a few clothes (she is always wearing a black skirt and My bed and closet from my door white top the traditional mourning clothing of Catholics in the Dominican), she has electricity for her one light bulb and no running water not even a toilet. Her “life” is inside that shack ready to be washed away any moment by that stream of pollution.

I always try to bring a little something for Adela when I know I am going ot pass her home, just a small treat, a pack of gum, some cookies, a little rice, a carton of juice just to let her know I am thinking about her. Today it was my roommate’s cookies. Yes he gave me permission to give them away. Today was a monumental day because today is the day I learned her name. I imagine she shared her name with me because over time she has felt a little more trust in me and I always bring the treats.

Adela lives alone in the hole. Not exactly the safest place to live for a 55 plus year old woman. Adela's home in the hole with my friends

In all of this time I have never seen other people in her house and she does not answer when I ask about her family. When I ask the residents of the hole about her usually no one knows of who I speak. Adela, it seems to me, is living a lonely, abandoned, desperate life. I pray to know her story.

I often ask myself questions about Adela: Who will love her? Who is it that will extend a hand to this lonely woman and share with her the love we all have and all desire? In this family oriented culture where is her family? How does she “exist” as she does? What is it I need to exist and to live? Is Adela really satisfied with her life?

Adela has got me asking these questions about my own life. Am I really truly satisfied with my life the way it is? Is there something that God is saying and I have heard but am not doing? What is the difference between me and this woman living inches from a sewer filled stream? The width of Adela's home

Will she be in heaven? Who is her neighbor? Where is my family? Do my neighbors know me? Do I know my neighbors and the list can go on but I will stop it there.

Many would think that Adela is lost but Isaiah says, “...See you shall call the nations that you do not know and the nations that do not know you shall run to you…”. I am sure God has a special place for Adela and for you and I and at some point we will all meet God because even if we do not have a house we all have a home with Christ.

Something we don't think much about

2008-03-28T18:06:00.002-04:00

Love your neighbor we are told. Sometimes it is so difficult.

At the medical clinic held this week we had the opportunity to serve more than 1,000 people in 2.25 days. The entire team worked in sync and really reved up the engines to distribute free medicine, vitamins and love. Every person got their blood pressure taken, every person received vitamins and every person received an anti-parasite tablet. What a fun few days to share the love of Jesus as we have been filled!

Regretfully, I had to address severe racisim in those two days. It is incredible to me that it was so blatent. I ask for your prayers for those who still insist on deliberate oppression due to their own hurts or wounds.

I also worked with a wonderful group of youth from Discovery Church in CA this week. What energy, what work ethic, what a future they have!!! Pictures to follow of the clinic and my little neighbor, Ivan also.

Upcoming blogs are going to address housing in the hole and my apartment as well as my finances. I am looking forward to writing!

USA Visit

2008-03-24T23:36:00.003-04:00

My next stint to the USA will be from

2 April - 6 May
I plan on being in FL, OH, IN, IL, KY (April 29-May 4 or 5) and SC.

Please let me know if you would like me to share with your small group, scout troop, bible study, sunday school, church or even little league....Hey Sammy Sosa started in the Dominican Little League!
I would enjoy seeing as many of you as possible!
E-mail is the best way to reach me.

By the way you can find me on www.facebook.com also
See you soon

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

2008-03-24T22:29:00.002-04:00

Hey All, This week I am participating with a medical clinic directed a a heavily populated Haitian area here in Santiago. One in every 9 people in the Dominican is Haitian. The population of Haitians is growing everyday. They have no medical care to speak of and usually if brought to a hospital willl be the last to be served as I found out in real life last week.

Today we served 574 people in our medical "operativo". Our clinic is usually open five days a week from 2-5pm.

We want to not just assist this population but serve them. You can help us with that by assisting us with your time in an upcoming even in Louisville KY.

Thanks so much for all you do for me and G.O. Ministries.

We have another exciting annual event coming up I want to remind you of...that event is Kentucky Derby. We are seeking more than 100 volunteers for our KY Derby fundraiser. We hope to net more than $20,000 for the feeding centers here on the island of Hispaniola. Help us do that by visiting www.goderby.blogspot.com
GRACIAS
AND please pray for our medical clinic this week.

A Changed Life

2008-03-15T22:59:00.002-04:00

This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life. I have been through some storms but this week was a challenge spiritually and emotionally. This week I was involved in an incident where I saw some things I have not seen in the DR before or on a very minimal scale. I saw racism at its worst this week. It has clearly impacted my life and I have to say it impacted at least two other lives for eternity. God has given me a chance to share about this in church tomorrow so please keep this in your prayers. Without hesitation I say if it was not for G.O. Ministries it is a certainty someone would have died due to this incident.
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7 NIV).

Bon & The Hole

2008-03-10T16:52:00.005-04:00

This past Saturday afternoon was a super afternoon. It was an afternoon that was simply fun.
The G.O. Ministries staff was able to take 50 kids from Hoya de Bartola otherwise known as the Hole to an ice cream shop. Many of you know the Hole as a garbage dump/sewer run off/ drug, alcohol infested hole nearly in the center of Santiago. Thanks to Gilberts Chapel United Baptist Church in London, KY for helping to pay for this fun event.

We picked up the kids from the hole at 2pm and from the moment they entered the bus they were singing and making joyful noise. They sang so loudly that our famous bus driver Edinson had to cover his ears while driving. As for me I simply joined in with the loud screaming so I was just part of the joy. The kids ran off the bus into Bon and without stopping headed toward the big red slide. Literally for over an hour and 20 minutes fifty kids shoved, pushed and climbed their way up those plastic steps to the curly-q plastic slide. They then went down the slide with huge grins on their faces until it was time to head back to the dreary hole.

There is no doubt that bubble gum ice cream was their favorite as we took a vote on the bus. This was proved true as they devoured the blue colored bubble gum at leaving at least a gallon of chocolate remaining needless to say the chocolate lasted for only a few moments longer. On a day that was easily 80 degrees neither of the two big containers of ice cream lasted long enough to melt at all.

For some of the kids it was their first time having ice cream. For others it was the first time they were in air conditioning (on our bus) and for others still it was the first time they were on a bus. I sat in profound amazement as I watched some of the kids faces as we drove through the city to our destination. They just have no idea what the outside world looks like. Their eyes were lit up like it was Christmas in New York City!

Our culture in the USA is one of expectation and with these kids there is no expectation: They don’t expect to leave the sewage of the hole, they don’t expect for medical care, they don’t expect for life’s hidden surprises, they don’t expect for anyone to care about them at times not even their own families. Are they in dire circumstances, no not really they are just not given many chances to live a life of abundance that we have been granted.

I hope that Bon gave them a cold bubble gum flavored sliver of that abundance.

Sowing words, reaping harvest

2008-02-13T17:07:00.000-05:00

I get to work in the Caribbean on a tropical island. Many of you wish you could be here now in the eighty degree temperatures.

I have been here seven years this year and cannot recall once backing out of work because of the heat. This summer I did that on two separate occasions in a place called Batey 9. This little village is on the south western corner of the Dominican and is in the center of kilometers and kilometers of sugar cane. There is no beach.

In fact, the closest water source is a sugar cane canal which is filled with mosquito larvae, frogs, pigs, cows, goats and an occasional horse or donkey. Batey 9 is not the Caribbean as we think of it. There is no sandy beach, ocean waves, seashells, coastal breeze or pina coladas. The day I want to share about I was doing everything I could to stay in the shade. There were no swaying coconut palms as we often think about. Literally, the sun was so hot I was drinking three gallons of water a day and not how do I say this…not suing the bathroom. But on with the story…

On one of these “dust bowl” days I was “wisely” staying in the shade when four women and a few children walked by my bit of shade. As is common place I gave a cheery “hola”. The women responded and with a hola and I asked them “como estan”? They all replied in unison “que calor.” It’s hot in Spanish. I was in front of a church and I asked them if they had ever visited the church? They said they had but they were not Christian. I said that is ok we can pray right now if you would like to accept Christ and live for Him forever and have eternal peace. They said really, so naturally I said yes. They said ok. Of the four kids with them two of them also accepted to repent and allow the Holy Spirit to change their lives. I took their names and gave them to the local Pastor who said he would follow up with them.

This past month I was able to speak to those women again. In fact I was at their baptism (not in the sugar cane canal) and visited them at the church they have started in nearby Batey 8. We baptized them in the Caribbean sea as a treat, that sugar cane water just does not cut it for cleansing.

I don’t believe that God has given this “extroverted” personality to everyone as God has given to me. As they say in Creole which is used in the Batey because there are so many Haitians living there, “Mwe vle fe zami avek tout moun” (I want to be friends with everyone).

Clearly God has called us all to be sharers of the Gospel (See Genesis 12:1-3, Acts 1:8). I believe St Francis of Assisi said it well, “Preach the Gospel and if you must use words.” There is a time and place for words. Sometimes we need to build a relationship before using the words. Sometimes just saying God bless you or Jesus loves you is sufficient to plant a seed. Keep sowing for His kingdom, it is glorious to hear those angels in heaven sing

Photos on:

http://www.gojmartinez.blogspot.com/

Christmas Gum

2008-01-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

Greetings to you during this Christmas season.

A blessing I get to share often is to provide treats for people. For kids, I frequently give a piece of candy. A sight I repeatedly see in Haiti that always touches my heart occurs when I give gum away. The best type of gum in the Caribbean is the candy coated “Chicklets” because it does not melt as regular stick chewing gum does. When I work in Haiti I will often give those dime sized chicklets to the kids. Inevitably the kids will share the gum by biting off half of the chicklet and giving half of it to another kid who does not have.

Regularly visiting adults will ask, "but what about disease, germs, the gum’s flavor can’t last, why can’t each kid get their own piece?" Those kids are not thinking about such things.

In six years of doing this not once have I ever seen a single kids say, “no, you enjoy the gum yourself.” or “no, I don’t need any” or “no, I just had some” or “no, I don’t deserve this because I did not share any with you” or “no, I don’t want to give you any of mine when I get some.” The kids always accept the chicklet from the giving kid and pop it right into their mouth and chomp away as much as they can on half a chicklet. They know there are no strings attached.

These kids have learned to give even from the little they have and that sharing is a good thing. These kids have also learned that in accepting that half piece of chicklet they too are sharing. They are sharing the blessing back to the person who is giving. This is love.

At Christmas God gave us His baby son Jesus. Often we don’t accept Jesus in our lives because we may think, I don’t deserve God’s Son, I have sin in my life and can’t pay back his love, I can’t love Him the way He loves me, I don’t like the flavor of Jesus’ love. Please allow me to say simply plainly and clearly, God loves you. God gave you His Son to show you His love no strings attached. I hope you accept Him and chomp away at life with Him. Enjoy that chicklet for a life time of flavor. .
FELIZ NAVIDAD

Quick Updates/ Prayer Requests
1) Haiti and the Dominican were in the path of Tropical Storm Olga, the second in one month’s time. More than 40 lives were lost in Santiago alone. Deaths in Haiti are in the hundreds. To tell you that crops have been ruined is an understatement Let me give you three numbers that will tell the tale: 100% of the tomato crop destroyed, 95 % of the plantain crop has been damaged and food costs have already risen 25% in the Dominican. I am still working on numbers for Haiti but rest assured they are devastated also. Please pray for them as they “recover.”
2) There are three mom’s of staff members who are very sick: Tim Krauss, Dianne Miller and Kelly Creak. Please pray for these staff member’s moms and families
3) For the peace of Christ to reign in our hearts during this Christmas season
4) For the continued growth, direction and wisdom of G.O. Ministries
PLEASE let me know how I can be praying for you!
A healthy, happy and prosperous 2008 to you and your family

2007 Kicked Off

2007-02-05T15:02:00.000-05:00

2007 has rocketed off the launch pad!!

Every year so many of us make resolutions to change. For me 2007 has started with some advances that you should all know about.

First, I want to share with you the story attached. God continues to work here on the island of Hispaniola in ways I least expect. This little story is one of those ways.

Second, my mailing address is changed effective immediately:

John E. Martinez
Agape Flights STI 13731
100 Airport Ave
Venice, FL 34285

Everyone knows the story of the turtle and the hare. G.O. has got both of them going on to raise support for the ministry this year.

Third is the turtle way GO is raising funds: Instead of using a great big search engine if you use GOODSEARCH.COM and plug in G.O. Ministries, where it asks for “designated cause.” We get a small sum of money each time our name is used. Please share this with friends and family to exponentially increase God’s money for mission in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Fourth is the hare way to raise money. We are seeking volunteers to work with us during the Kentucky Derby at Church Hill Downs. We will be right in the middle of the action. We need 85 volunteers to make a big chunk of money for just Friday, Saturday and Sunday May 4,5, 6. There are various ways to assist us PLEASE contact Jeff Rogers at

jeff.rogers@go-ministries.org for more information. I and the entire GO Staff will be working the Derby this year. Make this a mini-mission trip for your family, your church, bible study, men’s group, boy scouts or Sunday school. It will be fun and God will provide many opportunities to share His love.
Contact person: jeff.rogers@go-ministries.org

Fifth and finally everyone knows the age of technology is upon us. In order to remain on the cutting edge of this new age I have a computer, a battery back up when the regluar power goes out here in the DR and I have also started a blog. A blog is a place on the internet where I will be posting pictures, more frequent updates, stories about what is going in ministry, prayer requests and my life as I live it. You can also post comments about what you see giving me feedback. If you are interested click on www.gojmartinez.blogspot.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Bridge built

2007-02-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

He just kept hounding us with his heavily accented English. "Meester, just one listen, Meester, I can hiilp you, Meester, you can safe money." It seemed to get louder and louder as he grew more annoying in my mind. He stalked us...ok maybe it was followed us down the street yelling and acosting us for about one hundred yards. It is funny that while being antagonized I thought about a session I had heard from Dave Stone, Pastor of a church I am a member of in Louisville Kentucky, called “building bridges.” Dave explains how everything can be turned into an opportunity from Christ. That Saturday morning session in KY with donuts and coffee in air conditioning given not by a missionary but by a pastor came to the forefront of my mind as I walked in 95+ degree sun in a foreign country with a screech echoing in my ears.

I turned to my stalker, and said "ok I will listen to you if you listen to me" as kindly as I could at that trying moment. He went through his spiel about hotel rooms really cheeep, he had hotel rooms all around the world and I could have cheeep access to them if I purchased something from him. I thought beads of sweat were pouring down from my brow but they were more like golf balls of sweat. He finished finally and I politely said “no thank you, I don’t travel the world and I am not interested” as kindly as I could knowing that my attitude was not very cheery at this moment. At last, it was my turn I thought to myself. I pulled my bible out of my backpack and opened to Romans 3:23. I asked him “do you know where you are going when you die?” He started to grin from ear to ear and said to me, “Are you a Christian?” Sarcastically, I said, “yes, are you?” Expecting to hear the typical, "I am, almost." Instead, he exclaimed loudly, “yes, I love the Lord and hesitatingly added but what kind of Christian are you?” "I believe in the bible and Jesus is the son of God." I asked him are you baptized? He said "no." My attitude of self righteousness would not let go and spiked at this precise moment, this was my chance to get him. "Well let’s go baptize you right now" I stated with gusto. We all knew we were within walking distance of a body of water called the Atlantic Ocean. To my complete surprise and admittidly shagrin he said, "ok, lets go." I was so taken off guard I forgot which way the ocean was. After getting my bearings we headed off. We talked on the way to the beach as I tried to find out if he really had given his life to Christ. From what I could gather he truly was living for the Lord. But then it happened. I said, "do you have a towel or anything" and he asked why? I said, "well when we dunk you in the water you will be wet." He said, "oh you are not going to sprinkle me on the head?" Had his ploy worked or did I need to explain why we baptize by immersion. As I talked I could only think about him claiming to be a Christian just to get me to buy something. We did not baptize Philippe that day. He did give me his phone number and I promised to call him when I was in town so he could be baptized. We seperated and I had learned my lesson about my attitude. I had to ask myself if God was thinking well of my not so joyful giving.

I called Philippe a few times to no avail as I was back in his town for various things. I figured he gave me a fake number and just wanted my money. One Saturday on whim I called him again and spoke with him. I told him I was going to be in town on Monday and that if he wanted to he could be baptized. He said it would have to be at 6pm after work so we agreed to meet. On Monday I was on my way to meet up with another missionary who was working with Mercy Ships. I shared with my friend Jeff King what I wanted to do and he readily agreed to assist. I was still not so sure what would happen with Phillipe because it was not such an easy road to set this all up. I kept thinking isn’t God in control and remembering my poor attitude of the "chance" meeting of Phillipe? If God is so big then why would he stop one of His kids from being baptized? There was also a little challenge in communication. While Philippe could speak English it was difficult to understand so we spoke mostly Spanish. His Spanish was also a challenge for me because Philippe is Haitian and my Spanish is sub-par. I found out later he had little schooling but could still speak four languages (Creole, French, Spanish, English) as opposed to me who has had much schooling and have trouble with standard English. It wasn’t because he was speaking Spanish poorly but rather I was not accustomed to hearing this type of heavy Creole accent in Spanish.

Jeff and I went to the meeting point. Philippe was not there. About thirty minutes later I got hold of him by phone and said, where are you? He said he lived just 20 minutes away and that he would be there shortly. 7pm came and went; 7:30 came and went. Jeff and I with my colleague Amaury who had also joined me sat down at a local restaurant and had a soda. Amaury helped me drive the 90 minutes or so from Santiago to the coast. At 8pm still no Philippe. For sure he is not coming and he is just wanting my money I thought again. Well, he is only going to get another phone call to chew him out. At 8:15 between my third and fourth soda I spot him. Philippe showed up to be baptized. Not only that he brought with him a cousin who also wanted to be baptized. I still was admittedly sour and I was not going to make this easy for them because they were so late. I asked them numerous questions and we talked for about two hours. Somewhere around 10pm we walked to the shoreline.

Amaury had the camera and I rolled up my pants to get into the Atlantic Ocean. I entered and Phillipe called to me from the beach and said, you are going to get all wet we are not going in with our pants on. At that moment I was not sure what to do. I prayed ever so fast, "Lord I don’t want to take my pants off what should I do?" The answer I got was “this is not about you John, make them as comfortable as possible." I thought to myself, "make them as comfortable as possible, what kind of a response is that God?" How easy it is to think about baptizing someone is going to get me points in heaven. I am so glad that we don’t work on a point system because even as I was preparing to baptize others into the Body of Christ I was thinking about myself. How selfish am I? I walked back up to where they were standing in this deserted part of the beach, looked around to make sure no one was watching and ever so caustiously, removed my pants while peering up and down the beach for people.

Until that moment those guys had not started to head toward the water but when I reluctantly took my pants off it was like a race for them to get into the water. Under a almost a full moon, a cornucopia of twinkling stars, listening to the gentle lapping of waves from the calm sea and with soft sand between my toes I baptized two new brothers in Christ. There was not a better place to be that night. What a thrill for me to see this happen and in all of it God has taught me how to obey Him and persevere where He is involved. At any point especially right on the street I could have easily told Philippe off and who knows if he would have been baptized? At any other given point because of my “negativism” I could have ruined a very good thing. I praise God for not letting me get in the way of His work. I have learned to continue to take various situations and turn them into God moments. I was in a room recently where we were evangelizing and a child dropped a plate. The mom was very upset but God gave me the chance to use that broken plate incident to explain the Gospel and how we are broken. The mom's countenance changed considerably when she heard how God could change her broken life.

If you ever get the chance to take the building bridges class I urge you attend with open ears and then share with an open heart, not like me. It makes things much more difficult. Tell Dave a mssionary in the Dominican Republic learned a thing or two from him