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More Southern Haiti Flooding Info

Dan is in Haiti and sent the following report:  "The palm trees are swaying in the tropical breeze but it's RAINING BUCKETS!  Again!  Southern Haiti has had almost steady rain for more than a month and a half.  Tropical Storm Noel contributed quite a bit of rain and there is more disturbed weather in the Caribbean coming this way.  All this rain has created incredible hardships on a people that are already struggling for their day to day existence.  Most crops have been lost - especially tough since the Les Cayes plain area is the "breadbasket" of Haiti.  Animals have been swept away.  Commerce in the outlaying areas has ground to a halt because supplies cannot be brought from the capital to Cayes and then trucks cannot get out to the areas they service.  Everything people own is soaking wet, water is inside their flimsy homes (some homes have actually been swept away or are covered in water), sickness is increasing and there is much hunger.  Pray for the people!"

Dan went in Wed. Oct. 31 to help prepare for a team from Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church (Chicago area) who were to go in today.  Their Sister Church, Astruc, is very remote.  It is in the mountains in the middle of the southern peninsula.  The Sister Church pastor sent word that the river they must cross to get there is completely impassable.  It's way over people's heads.  Also, the road leading to the river has been washed away in 3 places.   The trip to this church is usually pretty tough in dry conditions.  Rain turns the road to a muddy clay mixture that is truly difficult to get through. 

After consulting with Dan, the US team decided to cancel the trip.  It was clear that they wouldn't be able to get to the church.  We are all very disappointed needless to say, but it is a wise decision.  They have rescheduled their trip for January.  Things should be dried out by then!

Rob was to go in with the team too.  Of course, he is not going now, but may still go to Haiti next week to work on the bookkeeping system.  We'll keep you up to date on that once his plans are clear.

At this point, we have no word from any of the other sister churches.  They will work at that once things dry out and navigation is possible.

Here are some photos that Jenn Rogan (RMI missionary) took 2 weeks ago as they traveled back from a Sister Church.

This is a road!  They had to manually build a new section to get around the boulders!

Well, it WAS a road!

RMI staff checking to see if that part of the road was passable.

 

Jenn, Dan and some RMI staff took these pictures yesterday:

  

The river in Les Cayes, near the mission center, called La Ravine.

Notice the wet high water mark on the house!

  

A couple of missionary friends (not RMI) also sent information and photos.  Where one of them live, at the top of the mountains in the middle of Haiti's southern peninsula, they personally recorded over 19 inches of rain and 70 mph winds.  Here are the pictures they sent:

Again, pray for the people of Haiti!

Debbie

To go, or not to go, Pray for Haiti...

The flooding persists.  TS Noel has come and gone, but the rain has not.  I may or may not be going to Haiti today as planned.  A decision will be made in the next couple of hours.  So sad if I and the team from Chicago can't go!  Up to this point, the road to the village I would be visiting is impassable due to a raging river that we need to cross (there is no bridge. so the water levels must decrease, and the mud must dry out enough so that our 4 wheel drive vehicles can navigate across).

Here is a picture from 2 days ago with the kind of destruction that is so common due to the rains.  This is not the road I was to take, but it gives you an idea as to what the rains have done.  This is a very, and I mean very typical sight.

Rob

Moving forward...

Yesterday at RMI, we had the opportunity to meet with Dale Janzen.  He is not only a design and marketing expert, but he is an "alumnus" of multiple trips to Haiti to visit his sister church through RMI.  When it comes to RMI, he just gets it.

We recently had the RMI logo redone by Rich Cerrina.  He did a great job.  Thanks Rich.  Now, it is time to take the next step.

Dale is co-founder of the degaje group, a design/marketing group based in the North West suburbs of Chicago (Bartlett). 

He flew down for a few days to chat and collaborate.  We talked at great length about the development of a whole scheme to communicate/promote RMI.  We talked about brochures, displays (see below), video, web, etc.  Pretty much everything you can think of when it comes to communicating RMI.  He is obviously very talented, experienced and aware of the issues.  Very cool. Very exciting indeed.

Display?  You know, one of those things that orgs use to put on a table to sort of draw you in?  There are all kinds of designs.  We need a redo!  Our's doesn't exactly "draw you in".  Not that long ago, I went to a missions conference at a college and got out my "display".  I sort of already knew it didn't really cut it, but it is all we had.  I didn't realize what I was up against!  A few tables down from me was a "display", that included a 50" flat widescreen TV, running this very cool/edgy/hip video that certainly drew people in and drew people away from all the other sub-par displays.  Now I am not saying we need to be wacky crazy edgy, but I am saying we can do better.  We may not have a plasma, but we sure can provide a reputable presentation.

I can't wait.

Rob

A Reciprocal Pat on the Back...

John Peterson, a member of Second Cape May Baptist, in Cape May NJ, writes...

"Just wanted to say hello and let you know that our work group from 2^nd Cape had a productive and enjoyable trip last week in Cayes, Haiti.  We got a lot done at the guest house and when we left the inverter and generator were once again fully operational and there were several new ceiling fans, outlets, toilet paper holders door knobs, screens etc.. It was truly a joy and a privilege to be able to serve in some small way in the ministry there."

He continued...

"I have been reading the web site and blogs and think that they are an excellent tool for information sharing.  Tell whoever is responsible to keep up the good work."

Thanks John, and a "Great Job" back at you and the rest of your team for the work you did at the Guest House in Haiti!

Rob

Baradere visit, wow...

This is an email we received from Gary McLaughlin in Haiti...

Good Morning,

Just a quick note to let you know that we were out of Baradères and now at the retreat center. It was a bit of a struggle but we made it with the help of God. It started raining sometime in the night and was raining hard from at least 3 am on. We left at 8:20 am with water about 1 to 2 feet on the road coming out of Baradères. It was still raining hard too. I wanted to get going before it was too high. We had to cross 2 high rivers that were running fast and hard but not too wide. We had to move large rocks from the road and build a wall on the downhill side of the road so we could get around bigger rocks that were too big to move. Wow Baby!! That was interesting. We prayed that God would help us to get past this spot before we started building. It took about 3 hours to get that situation taken care of but we all worked together to make it happen. There was singing, dancing and praises to God after we got all the vehicles through. I was told by the RMI staff that it was the first time we ever had to do what we did that morning. After the slide area and the road work we had a large truck on it's side but there was enough room on the side to get by with no problem. Praise God! We stopped by Bon Fin to drop off some things there and to pick up Jenn's new puppy. We heard that we had the road washed away at the bottom of the mountain where the dry (normally) river is with the market. We were told it was not a good situation and if we couldn't pass it we could come back and spend the night there. We decided to go take a look and if we could fix it we would. When we got there a ramp of dirt and road had already been made and so we crossed with no big problem. Just the normal yelling on the behalf of the Haitians that built the ramp. I think they wanted money to cross on their ramp. I let Jules handle that and got back in my truck and we all drove across. So, I just want to give you some information at this time to let you know we are in good shape here. It was a good trip. I think everything went pretty good. The weather here at the retreat center now is much better. The sun is out this morning and the day is looking good. Pray that the rains stop for a little while. Its been raining so hard.

Love You All,

In Christ,

Gary

Flooding hits Southern Haiti

It has been a week of storms and flooding in Southern Haiti.     Monday, Oct. 1, they experienced the most severe flooding with roads, homes and parts of downtown Cayes (Haiti's 3rd largest city) completely under water, however, the rains and thunder / lightening storms have continued all week.  As of today, Oct. 9, it has been raining for 9 straight days.  The mission center (located in the village of Simon, a suburb of Cayes) where RMI's missionaries live is located on 2 hilltops, so their homes were not flooded.  However, here are pictures of the village immediately surrounding the mission center.  That's 2 1/2 ft. of water in the local Christian high school yard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is downtown Cayes, Haiti.

 

 

 

 

Thank you to Harvest missionary kid Christie Wray for sharing these photos with us!

At this point, due to the flooding, we have heard reports of crop and livestock loss, as well as home, business and road damage.  We have not heard from any "outback" sister churches as to how this has affected them.  When we hear news, we will post it.

 

Debbie Shoemaker

A picture is worth...

"Words once dominated Western culture, but now images are changing everything from our theology and preaching to the way our brains process information."  Shane Hipps, Leadership Summer 2007

"Visualcy?" (credit Andy Crouch)  There are all kinds of pitfalls here I am sure, but I am quite intrigued.  So, here is my sermon for the day...

Rob

Coreano Newsletter available...

Enrique and Chrissie Coreano just sent out their most recent e-newsletter.  If you want to join their mailing list, visit their website at www.coreanofamily.com.

Rob

A final note on our weekend in Columbia, SC...We were also able to visit the Coreano's home church while they were at CIU, North Trenholm Baptist Church.  Dan was able to say a few words and a final prayer for both of their Sunday a.m. services as well as was generously given the whole Sunday School class time to share at the Coreano's Young Couples Sunday School class.  This was followed by a great Mexican meal at a restaurant with most of the folk from NTBC that recently went to Guatemala.  NTBC is a new sister church and they just had their first visit in June!  They shared their experiences, what impressed them the most as well as their photos and some funny stories.  We really enjoyed spending time with them.

Ministry Trip to CIU

Dan and I are back in the office after a 6 day ministry trip.  We attended homecoming at Columbia International University (our alma mater, class of 1980) in Columbia, South Carolina.  It was a fun weekend.  This year they hosted a reunion of the school's singing group, True Life Company, that represented CIU in the 1970's.  Dan sang and played trumpet for TLC for 2 years while he was a student.  True Life Company members sang and provided the worship for all the different meetings and venues that took place this weekend.   It was great as we re-connected with classmates and friends, most of whom we hadn't seen for more than 20 years.  Frank and Kay Fry, RMI's VP of International Development, were there as well.  Frank was TLC's producer in the early 1970's and Kay played violin.  Here, they are chatting with CIU president, Dr. Bill Jones.  We were able to share with quite a few people about RMI and its ministries.  We also made some significant contacts that will help us within the administration of RMI, possibly in the area of providing counseling for missionary staff. 

 

We were surprised to meet 2 CIU alumni from our own area, Ft. Myers!  We plan on getting together in the near future and see how we can enhance each other's ministries.  If nothing else, we will enjoy the fellowship of fellow CIU folks.

 

On a personal note, we were able to spend time with Deb's mom while we were there since that is where we stayed.  We also had a brief time with Deb's sister, Marti and her husband, Frank Bedell (CIU's Director of Development).

 

Dawn is doing well.  She is a junior at Evangelical Christian School in Ft. Myers.  She is having a blast playing varsity volleyball for ECS.  The team is a state championship team and are doing very well.  As a 2A school, they are beating many 5A schools in the area!  Her position is middle blocker (for those of you who are volleyball savvy) and at 5'11", she has a good vertical jump on her that helps her do a fairly good job!

 

Devon is living and working in Dallas.  Dan saw him recently and was able to spend some time with him.  He's doing well and we are proud of him being able to maintain a good Christian witness in his work environment. 

 

Oh, also, be looking for the link to our new personal blog!  We hope to have it up and running soon.  I know, I know, we should have done it quite a while ago, but we are old dogs learning all these new tricks!

Guatemala Pictures: Part 2

   If you didn't see the first post, scroll down!  You can also see all the pictures at www.robandbecky.com/family/pictures.htm (you will need to scroll down to find the Guatemala pictures).

 

Carrie and Susan setting up the army cots in the church.

Julie helped me organize the pharmacy the first day.  The drugs were organized on 2 army cots.  We had more than what you see, I just only put out a few bottles of each thing.

Chrissy, RMI missionary and a nurse, and Carol at the first station of medical clinic doing triage: Checking vital signs and getting the patients chief complaint.

Dr's Susan and Trevor seeing patients.

We made sure to pray or present the gospel to each patient that came thru before they got their medications.  Here Julie and RMI missionary, Brandon, are sharing.

  Here's me counseling a patient on how to take their medications.  I had a Spanish translator, Alexis, but the pastor of our sister church, Javier, was often translating the Spanish into Mam.  many of the people are illiterate, so we had pictures to remind them how to take their medications.  It was important to make sure they understood before they left.

   

Carrie Jumped right in the kitchen as helped some of the ladies prepare meals.  Julia is on the left and Delphina on the right.

All the babies are carried like this on backs!  The ladies just go about their work.  Older siblings often carried their younger siblings like this on their backs as well.

 

There is going to have to be a Part 3!

Becky

Guatemala Pictures: Part 1

I have been busy since I got back from my trip to Guatemala!  Sorry I haven't posted pictures sooner!  You can see all the pictures I took here www.robandbecky.com/family/pictures.htm and go to the Guatemala album.  Here are a few from the first few days of the trip:

Below is a view from the roof balcony of the RMI guesthouse in Xela, about a 5 hours drive from Guatemala City. 

We were relieved to get to such a comfortable place after such a long day of travel.

Saturday we spent at the RMI guesthouse reorganizing our supplies for the trip out to the aldea (village) the next day.  In the afternoon we went to the market in Xela to get some last minute supplies.  We also went to purchase a new skirt and top as a gift for our sister church pastors wife. 

Below is just one picture of the colorful market.

Julie and I had to get a picture taken with the vegetables at market-- look at that head of cauliflower!  Huge! 

All the vegetables in the regions were monstrous! (And all sold in the open air market or off the side of the road)  The large produce is due to the volcanic soil prevalent in the region.

On our way to the Aldea we stopped at a lookout by the side of the road and snapped a group picture!  This over looks Comitancillo and was about 30 minutes from out sister church.

 

Check out this chicken bus! 

The roads from Xela to our sister church in Chipel were steep and mostly dirt roads.

 

We've arrived at our sister church!  The van can't drive the road that leads to the church, so we walk there, about a 1/2 mile?.  A group from the church-- lots of kids-- meets us at the bottom of the road and walks up with us.

A picture of our sister church.  So much ministry happened in that building that week!

Need I say more?

I'll send another batch in the next few days of the rest of the trip!

Becky

Pray for Dan, Debbie, Frank and Kay...

They will be attending homecoming ceremonies at their Alma Mater, Columbia International University (formerly Columbia Bible College) in Columbia, SC.  While enjoying the festivities and catching up with old friends, they will be representing and sharing all about RMI.  They left today, Sept. 9 and return home Sept 17.

Rob

New Receipt..

If you have donated very recently, you may be one of the first to see our newly designed receipt.  We are very excited about all the upgrades and changes around here recently!  If you haven't donated, then I guess you will miss out on seeing the receipt!  Now there is motivation for giving (wink wink)!

Rob

Sweat and Tears...

Kingdom work.  It is why we are here. 

When kingdom work gets tough, my first response is to internalize, stomp my foot and get frustrated.  It is easy for me to forget that we are constantly being refined (as long as we are walking with him).  It is so easy for things to get out of perspective.  Refiner's Fire.  You know the song.  My heart's one desire?  Yes or No.  In the midst of it all, I am being refined to be a purer more able servant.  It is easy to get discouraged.  We are here to see Jesus glorified and his kingdom further established, not ourselves or our own.

God is at work friends.  Are you involved in kingdom work?

Rob

Hurricane Felix in Guatemala?

Here is a quote form our missionary in Guatemala...

"Well, don't worry too much as Felix has been down graded to a tropical depression.  We have received advisories from the US embassy that we should expect heavy rainfall.  So far, it is a beautiful sunny day today.  So, we will wait and see.  The rain is expected to start here sometime tonight through Thursday. 

Thanks for the prayers and we will let you know what else happens.

God Bless,

Chrissie"

Rob

McGregor Baptist Home Safely from Guatemala...

Our team from McGregor Baptist Church visiting their church in Chipel, Guatemala has arrived back home safely.  Here is an excerpt from an email we received...  One of the team members said "God truly blessed us in so many ways as we grew in our love for our Sister Church Members who served us so preciously!"

Praise the Lord.

Rob