Touching Lives for Generations to Come

Longtime C3 church, Creekside Community Church (Gainesville, FL) has felt burdened to build up basic educational opportunities in their C3 church, Baraderes, and its district churches for quite awhile.  Many of the district churches are very remote, from small gatherings on nearby islands to the mountains above Baraderes.  In order to do that they needed to strengthen and resource those churches.  Before a school building could be built, they had to build proper church buildings.  So this is what they have done.  Over the past several years they’ve built 3 church buildings and have committed to building a 4th one.  They’ve also built 1 school, committed to building another one and added one room onto a school to store the food for the Hot Lunch Program.   All of this has been done using local labor and under the supervision of RMI’s construction crew.  Way to go Creekside!

These efforts will reverberate not only throughout the region but down through generations to come.

Baraderes Church...the school is on the first floor and the sanctuary is on the second floor.

Riviere Salee Church, funded by the youth of Creekside.

Pederin Church praying with the Creekside team.

Grand Boucan Church’s current meeting place.  This will be the next church to be built.

We Plan, but God Decides our Steps…

God says, “Man plans his way, but God determines the path.” The original trip from Creekside Community Church, Gainesville, FL, to visit their Sister Church in Baradere Haiti, was planned for the last week of August.  But, since the team was flying directly to Les Cayes from Florida in a small, private plane, the trip was cancelled because of Tropical Storm Danny.  It was rescheduled for the next Monday, but had to be postponed another day because of Tropical Storm Erika!

This was a VERY unique visit.  The team had 2 purposes… First, they wanted to focus on Hope for Kidz child sponsorship initiatives by interviewing teachers, graduates and present sponsored children in the school.  The second purpose was to get things started and/or see progress on the new school building that is being funded. 

Except the pilot of the plane, all team members were veterans of C3P visits to Baradere.  It was extremely enriching to everyone as team members talked with the pastor, his wife, the deacons, the cook ladies, and those involved with the school. Laughter between the host church and team members characterized the ease of communication and friendship between them. Individual conversations were video taped to help the team remember information from the interviews and to imprint the experience upon them and those at Creekside.  Two of the team members hiked two hours one way up a mountain with the pastor and two RMI staff to experience what one sponsored child experiences each day as the child walks to and from school. Because they were walking, they were able to talk with several other children and families along the way.  All the interviews at the parsonage, school, and homes led each team member to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the culture and of the school. All of the team members were impressed by the insight and qualifications of the teachers, as well as the complexity of questions asked by the recent graduates.

A statement (paraphrased) by the pilot, a first time visitor with RMI, summed up his impression of those families interviewed by the team. He said that he was amazed by the cleanliness and orderliness of the homes and the pride of the people even in the midst of such poverty. He wants to be included in future trips.

Creekside Visits Their Sister Church at Baradare...

It was a busy, exciting, memorable sister church visit when Creekside Church of Gainesville, Florida went to Baradare, Haiti.  For four people on the team, it was their first trip to Haiti. For others, such as Don Forrester, it was a time of renewing friendships in Baradare, Haiti. Don was making his 28th trip to Baradare as team leader!

For another team member, Laura, it was a time of joy and sadness. It was her 5th trip to Haiti, but her last trip for a long time. She is leaving later this year as a full-time missionary, ministering most likely in North Africa.  For RMI field missionaries, Laura and Joel Sutton, it was a touch of home since Creekside is their home church in Florida. Even more personal, two of the three nurses on the team were Laura's former nursing students.

Everyone was excited to see the changes in the community of Baradare from clean, paved streets to the amazing city park with exercise equipment, a stage, and beautifully landscaped greenery.

Waiting for the service to start. Town people on the sides.

The team and church put the park to good use with an outdoor service Sunday evening. To make it even better,  there was a heavy rain shower. So,  everyone crowded on the stage or on nearby porches until the rain stopped. They heard fantastic music, two inspiring testimonies, and a message all showing the need for a Savior.

The team of four nurses, a Haitian nurse, other team members, RMI staff, and church leaders saw 182 people in the health clinics over three mornings in Baradare and the satellite church at Pedirain.

Climbing the hill to the Pedirain church!

A pediatric nurse was also great with older people

 

The Haitian nurse explaining medications to a patient 

The Ladies' Tea, children's program, discussion with the church leadership about Hope for Kids, playing with children, and visiting shut-ins did not take second place in importance to the clinics.

Ladies Tea - enjoying the fellowship

Children playing with two of the team members

Visiting shut-ins

Worshipping together and sharing God's Word were the most significant events of the week. The special music by the cooks and the children as the team left, saying goodbye to Laura was an example of the importance of relationships that happen because of long-term Sister Church relationships.

Truly, God is great and His church is strong!

You can see more pictures here.

Effects of the Rain

Rainy season in Haiti is a mixed blessing.  Its always hot and dusty and the earth is parched so when the rain comes its celebrated.  But at the same time the majority of the Haitian people depend on gardens and livestock for their sustenance and many of Haiti’s roads are unpaved and with lack of proper drainage systems throughout the country, too much rain and gardens are lost, livestock drowns, roads become impassible and flooding occurs.  Waterborne illness it is also often spread through the rivers as they rise. At the beginning of June it rained nonstop for more than a week.  While Haiti needed the rain the inundation of water did cause some damage.  Here is what we currently know from our Sister Churches:

Pestel:
Crop loss, building damage and loss, and the spread of waterborne illness which has led to some deaths in the area(while it has some symptoms which are similar it doesn’t appear to be Cholera).

Fond D’Heron:
Livestock and crop loss

Corail:
Crop loss

Lievre:
Livestock loss (6 cows, 2 mules, 5 goats, 3 horses, 18 donkeys, 12 sheep and several chickens.)

Baradere:
Livestock and crop loss and one human causality

Les Anglais:
Crop loss (peas)

Please keep these churches and all of our Sister Churches in your prayers.  There has been a good bit of rain over the last few days but has been mostly falling at night.  The days have been breezy and slightly overcast with even hints of sunshine.  While the weather right now is quite lovely, hurricane season is upon us which often brings with it days of rain, heavy winds and the damage that follows.  Please pray that God’s hand of protection over Haiti in the coming days and weeks.

Creekside Community Church in Baradares

In April Creekside Baptist Church visited their Sister Church in Baradere, Haiti.  The team was greeted at the edge of town by a small brigade of children and some of the adult church members and deacons. They marched the team through town to the Pastor’s house where they were greeted with a “Welcome to Baradere” poster and a song by the ladies of the church. It was a great start to a great visit.

The visit was bittersweet as it would be the last visit with Leon Bonhomme as the Pastor at Baradere as he and his wife will be transferring to another location in August of this year. Despite the sentiment of losing a dear friend in Pastor Bonhomme, the visit was a great time of fellowship between Creekside Community Church and the Baptist Church in Baradere. In addition to many of the normal activities such as an evangelistic service, Ladies Tea and the Deacon’s Meeting the team was able to spend a good bit time out in the community visiting and praying with some of the church widows and shut-ins, visiting the homes of their sponsored children and also the school to observe the CRS feeding program in action. In addition to the community visits the group also took an hour’s journey by boat out into open ocean to eventually reach the destination of Gran Boukan, one of the Baradere Satellite locations where they had a short service and a craft for the church members in attendance.

At the end of the week, back in Cayes, the team was able to spend a little time with the new Pastor and his wife who will be serving at Baradere starting in August.

Pastor Bonhomme and Renee just after the team’s arrival in Baradere.

Lee visiting the home of his sponsored child.

Joel hangin’ with some of the local youth

Laura and Joel with one of the Pharmacy Staff at the Hospital at Bonne Fin.  The team donated some medical supplies to the hospital.

It was a great week for both the US team and the Sister Church and in all the activities and events throughout the week it was a great time of building up the church, reaching out to the lost and encouraging one another in Christ.

Too see more pictures from the week check out RMI’s Online Picasa Web Album.

A Caribbean Cruise

While in Baradere last week, the team visited a town in the Baradere district called Gran Boukan.

To get there we took about a 20-25 minute hike beside the river and through a wooded area along a some times rocky path.

Once there we boarded a motor boat called Welcome Holy Spirit

which led us through a channel

out into the open ocean.

We had about an hour journey across the Caribbean sea until we reached the dock of the ocean side town of Gran Boukan.

There we did a short church service and a few activities with the members before we boarded the boat again, traveled back across the ocean, back into the channel, back onto dry land and took another hike back to the church.

Lots of fun was had! It was a great time of ministry, fun memories were made by all (team and staff alike) and we got to take a little cruise out into the Caribbean to boot!

Keep checking back over the next few days for a full report from the week!

You can’t go around hugging missionaries!

Dan and I are at our daughter’s college (Trinity College of Florida) missionary conference.  We set up our booth yesterday a.m. and were prepared when classes were dismissed.  Dawn walked by our booth with a group of her friends.  When she got to the end of the table, I was standing there and she gave me a big hug.  One of her classmates gave a gasp, her hand flew to her mouth and she said, “Dawn you can’t go around hugging the missionaries!”  Dawn turned around and “She’s my mom!”.  Her friend’s eyes flew open wide and the look of chagrin on her face was priceless.  Everyone around had a great laugh about it.  She knew Dawn was an MK, missionary kid, so she figured that due to that Dawn felt a real affinity toward missionaries and was going around hugging the missionaries.  She didn’t know we were her parents.  It really was hilarious!

As the students were milling around, perusing the booths, the school’s 4 Haitians found our booth.  One of them picked up the Creole hymnal that we have out and found her favorite hymn.  She started singing and the others joined in.  They stood there and sang all the verses.  A crowd formed and listened to the impromptu concert in a foreign language.  It was cool.  Each one of them have made an effort to find us from time to time during the day to say hi and talk about Haiti.

Yesterday, the first day of the conference, also found me having an interesting conversation with the Child Evangelism Fellowship missionary at his booth.  He is what I call a ripple effect.  He quit the military to become a missionary because of the ministry and influence of my dad who was a CEF missionary to the US military in Germany.  When he got to the US for CEF’s training institute, my dad was one of his teachers.  One can never tell how far out your ministry will ripple!  It brought tears to my eyes.  I wish my dad knew how far his ripples have reached!  (My dad died of ALS in 2002.)

Today has been a good day of interaction with the students at our booth, at meals and in chapel.  It’s been fun to meet Dawn’s friends, too, and to see her going through “the college experience”.  Tonight Dan will have 7 minutes to share with the student body.

Tomorrow we will have a 45 minute workshop (one of several offered).  The conference ends at lunch time.

Rob is in Haiti

One more update:  Rob is in Haiti this week, Sept. 21 – 25, 2009.  He is working on RMI’s finances there and taking care of other administrative details.  Pray that the electricity stays on and the internet is stable so that he and the missionary staff will be able to accomplish all that needs to be done during this time.  Pray for Becky as she is home alone with the kids.

We have power and other updates!

The RMI office finally has power!  It was turned on at 6 p.m. Friday.  We started the work with in the 20th century….there was power, but no internet and no phones.  Dan had to work all day on that.  After a frustrating day, he was finally able to resolve it and bring us into the 21st century.  Wow.  We are very thankful that we can get down to business now.

Debbie sent out 4 orders of orientation materials today!  Teams are preparing for their upcoming visit to their Sister Churches.  We are really excited about the updated Orientation Training that we now have available.  Our goal is to make sure that a team member is well prepared when they arrive and ready to minister and be ministered to.

Dan and Debbie had a great time in Ft. Lauderdale.  The team there did a fantastic job of sharing their how their visit with their Sister Church impacted their lives.  They had a great video and photo collection, shared a Creole song and testimonies.  The pastor worked his message around the team, challenging the church to get out of their comfort zone (as each person on the team had done) and minister locally and globally.  We were there for all 3 services and had 2 meals with the team.  Dan had gone to Haiti with this team, so it was good to re-connect with them and see how their trip had impacted their lives.

RMI Impacts Lives Forever!

Moses News!

From the Moses' blog:

Yes, we have closed! Hooray! Yipee! Yes! and any other words that you can think of to describe our joy.

After 8 long weeks we finally closed last Wednesday August 26th. We were in Texas during the first part of June and put together a contract to close on June 28th. The Moses family returned to Haiti and packed all of our things and headed to Port-au-Prince. In Port we boarded a DC-3 to Ft. Pierce, FL with our 3 dogs and 2 cats. We spent the night in Ft. Pierce and woke up the next morning to life in America. We loaded up all of our belongs and animals with the help of Rob Thompson and Dan Shoemaker into a 16 foot Penske Truck and headed to Texas. This was on a Friday morning. By Saturday evening we were in Texas. Welcome home to the Lone Star State! We were tired, but very excited to be with family and to be moving into our new home on the following Tuesday.

Oh but wait! The mortgage company and the US department of agriculture got involved. We had worked out our loan through the USDA because they were offering a $0 down program aimed at developing rural areas. This is a great deal except for one thing. Everybody in America it seems, that is purchasing a home is doing it through USDA. As a result, every day we would ask…today? And every day we would get the response, “no, maybe tomorrow”.

Finally everything was approved and we were able to close last Wednesday. We were so excited, we started moving in that night and slept there. By 10am the next morning, our storage room was empty and most of our stuff was at least in the garage.

We are very grateful to God and are enjoying setting up our new home. The animals are beginning to settle down and feel like they are home too.

Now if we can only figure out where to put everything!!!!

Read about Rob and Becky's adventures in Haiti

Rob and Becky had a great time in Haiti.  They were able to accomplish quite a bit, experience a lot and came back glowing with excitement about their impending move there.

Here is the beginning of their blog entry when they got back:

"It was truly phenomenal.  We are excited, and want to go tomorrow.  But, funds must be raised first and cross cultural training must be acquired.  Our plan is to go in March.  Help us get there!

For those who are interested, here is an overview of what we did… "

You'll find the rest of the entry, a day by day account of their adventure, at Rob and Becky's blog.  We share their joy and excitement!

Tropical Storm Ana moves north

Rob and Becky Thompson go to Haiti tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18 for 6 days.  They are praying that Tropical Storm Ana will not be an issue.  It will be in the vicinity but so far, will looks like it will be north of Port-au-Prince and the Cayes area, thus enabling them to reach the mission center.  A good site to use to follow hurricanes and other tropical systems is, http://www.stormpulse.com/.  It provides good graphics, projected paths, timelines, etc. 

Pray for Rob and Becky.   Their time there is limited and they have a lot to accomplish during their stay.  Pray that the 3 kids do well with their host families. 

A personal letter from Jules!

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Good morning dear brothers and sisters.  I greet you with Philippians 1:2-4  "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ (with the daily guidance of the Holy Spirit).  I thank God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy."  It is good to have brothers and sisters in the faith to support each other with prayers.

I know you have heard from Dan Shoemaker - I am very sick and I am here in the United States for treatment since the spring.  I want to thank you so much for your prayers for me, my wife Martha who is with me, and my two sons:  Jeremy and his wife Kizzy, and Joshua, during this difficult time.  The young men live in the Atlanta area.  We have sensed people are praying for us.  It says in II Corinthians 1: 3 and 4, "...God of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."  Yes, I am going through some great and painful difficulties at the moment but I have sensed His comfort and strength, and comfort from you, my brothers and sisters.

I want to thank each of you who have sent monies to RMI for my support during these difficult days.  Martha and I do appreciate the financial support so much as neither of us are able to work at this time.  I also want to thank those who have sent cards to encourage me and the family.  There are not enough words to say thank you for these encouragements of financial gifts, cards and prayers.

We do not know how long we will be here in the United States but we are relying on God and the doctor's council.  We are following the treatments they recommend and trusting God.

If anyone wished the address of my niece-in-law's apartment where we are staying while going for medical treatments and doctors appointments:

150 Sammett St., Malden, MA  02148

The cell phone where you can reach me or Martha is 321-217-4165.

In closing, it says in Galations 6:9 and 10, "and let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."  We (Martha and I) remember you and give thanks to God for each of you and pray for you always.

Your brother,

Jules Gedna

Dan is in Haiti

Dan is in Haiti for 2 weeks.  He landed yesterday and is joining the Florida Bible Church as they visit their Sister Church and establish forever relationships for the first time.  It should be a fun time!  Can you imagine finding brothers and sisters in Haiti that you never knew you had?!  What a thought!

 

After they leave on Friday,  he will have administrative meetings with RMI missionaries, Gary and Marilyn McLaughlin and Amy Long, and the RMI Haitian staff.  He'll also be meeting with all the Haitian Sister Church pastors and School Directors to share with them the recent updates in the Hope for Kidz Program. 

 

During the last part of his visit, Rob and Becky Thompson will arrive and spend several days.  When they move there, they will be living in the Moses' house (which had been ours before that).  They will be able to see the house first hand, Becky can take measurements of the rooms and windows and they can make realistic plans on what they need to bring to set up house.  They'll tour the area where they'll be living and meet some of the other missionaries on the mission center.  There are several families with young children.  Rob will participate in some of the meetings with Dan.  He is also going to speak at the missionary prayer meeting.  In other words, they are establishing some forever relationships for the first time for themselves AND their kids.  What an exciting time for them!  Over the years we made many forever relationships with our fellow missionaries.  Some are still there and some are scattered around the world.  Our kids regard the kids they grew up with as siblings, not just childhood buddies. 

 

We are really excited about having the Thompsons on the field.  Pray that God will bring in their support quickly so they can get to Haiti by their March target date. 

 

Pray for Dan as he shares his heart and does  vision casting for the future of RMI  in Haiti.  He has a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time and all in the hottest time of the year.  Pray that God will have His Hand on all the various meetings, formal and informal.  Pray for the Thompsons that they'll have a good, positive and encouraging time in Haiti.

The Moses' are in Texas

Saturday Debbie Moses sent this update:  "left Ft Pierce, FL yesterday at 1:30pm. Arrived in Sanger,Texas at 5:00pm today. Whew! Fast trip with 5 animals, 2 kids and almost 4000 lbs of cargo.  GOD is so good!"

They are currently staying with Debbie's dad.  What a great dad to take them, the 2 cats, 3 dogs and all that cargo in!  Pray for them as they look for a place to live and get settled into their new life.  It's hard to make an international move and start all over again from scratch.  Pray that all the pieces will fall into place as they rebuild their household, the girls get into school and they all adjust to living with full time electricity, running water and Walmart again.  :)

On the road to Texas

Dan and Rob met the Moses family in Ft. Pierce, FL yesterday, Friday, and helped them load their stuff into their rental van and truck.  Leaving Haiti was hard and bittersweet, but they were in good spirits and excited about starting a new chapter of their lives and continued ministry with RMI.  They hope to arrive in Texas Sunday evening. 

The Moses family is on the plane

And so are all of their belongings, their animals, and their suitcases.  Today they fly out of Haiti on MFI's DC 3 (Missionary Flights International).  A tropical wave has been going through the area, which has resulted in their last 2-3 days being very rainy. 

Their long, steep driveway partially washed away and they had to rebuild it so the truck loaded with their stuff could get out and on the road to meet them at the plane.  Even so, the truck almost tipped over and it took 2 tries for it to get up the rebuilt, muddy, slick driveway.  Their stuff got wet, but we're not sure to what extent.

A DC 3 trip is quite an experience.  Cargo of all sizes and shapes as well as the animal crates are strapped securely down.  Only enough seats are added for the exact number of passengers that are on the plane.  It is not known for its amenities!  There's a port-a-potty in the back tail area.  It's loud and the trip is over 5 hours long.  But God uses MFI and these DC 3s in such a vital way!  They provide mail, purchasing, cargo, shipping and transporting services for over 300 missionaries. 

[We personally used MFI's services for over 20 years.  We received mail, packages, cargo and even Thanksgiving turkeys via MFI.  We flew into Haiti with them numerous times and were evacuated from Haiti twice on MFI.  Our final flight out of Haiti was when we moved 3 years ago...all our belongings, animals and suitcases!  We appreciate them and their ministry so much!!]

Once they land at MFI's base in Ft. Pierce, Florida, they will spend the night there.  Tomorrow their belongings will have to clear customs before they can claim it, load it up and hit to road to Texas.  RMI President, Dan Shoemaker, and RMI's VP of US Operations, Rob Thompson, will be meeting them there in Ft. Pierce to help them load their stuff and touch base with them before they leave.  They hope to arrive in Texas Sunday.

Pray for them.  They will be bone-tired!  Pray for them also as they start down this new path that God has laid out for them.  Billy will still be doing his US Sister Church Partnership Coordinator job with RMI.  They will still need your support!!

RMI in Haiti Interactive Map

I have been working on this map for a little while.  This is a map that contains the approximate location of RMI’s Sister Churches in Haiti as well as some other points of interest.

This map needs the collaboration of others for locations and pictures. Some locations are quite accurate, others are not.  Some pictures have been added, but many more can be added.

You will want to click here to truly view the map and make edits.  Have at it…

Rob

View RMI in Haiti in a larger map

Change is in the air: The Moses Family is moving to the US!

RMI Family,
As part of a restructuring for the good of RMI and the Sister Church Program, the RMI Board of Directors is excited to announce that Billy and Debbie Moses will be moving up to the United States so that Billy can continue to serve with RMI as the US Sister Church Partnership Coordinator from here in the United States.  Among other responsibilities with RMI, he will continue to remain your main point of contact related to your Sister Church Partnerships.  Gary McLaughlin will continue to serve in Haiti as the Haiti Sister Church Partnership Coordinator.  Please join with us in prayer as we continue to work out all the details with the Moses (timeline, raising of finances, home location, job descriptions, etc.).

This is not a decision that has been easy.  RMI has appreciated the ministry of the Moses in Haiti immensely.  However, after much thought about the needs of RMI and examination of many variables, as well as considering what would be best for the Moses family, this decision has been made for the good of all involved.  The Moses are excited about this new path the Lord is placing in front of them.  Continue to pray for them as there are many decisions to be made as shared above that will impact them as a family.  

(A note from Billy: All though we are sad to be leaving Haiti, Debbie and I are very excited about the new chapter that God is opening in our lives. Please continue to pray for us as the next couple of weeks will be very stressful and taxing as we tell the RMI Haiti staff goodbye, try to sell house hold items, pack, and travel back to and through the U.S. There are exciting times ahead as well as many challenges. Thanks for all your support in prayer, finances, and friendships. Please continue with that support.  We are going on faith that God will provide funds for our move.  One time gifts would be a huge help in this endeavor and we would appreciate your prayerful consideration in giving to this financial need.  Should you be able to help, please send your gift to RMI designated, “Moses Move”.  Thanks so much.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any question, or comments.)

Rob Thompson
VP of Operations
Reciprocal Ministries International