Sunday, November 28, 2010

Elections

Here's a link to a New York Times article on the election situation:

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Basketball Clinic at Petionville Club Refugee Camp


href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghPi0tuPvGRyuVnDETy4sAm9loRbGVlipOJJEmAiXiT0HvHxtU2VZlyWcsAOS3dZTf2_D-cWB_lMunIkf71-VAn0nFwVfzWlT8Z9Q2OWkNrQlaaIyX9goZZ4lTJwxovS9aXg4u8N39DP-u/s1600/100_0975.JPG">






On Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving, we had scheduled a coaching clinic with 6 Christian Schools in Port-au-Prince so that our visitor Kevin Belmont could use his basketball skills in ministry.

I had also invited Art McMahon, the basketball coach of Quisqueya Christian School, the youth Pastor and Pastor of Quisqueya Chapel, Marc Williams and Bobby Boyer, and Ronald William the administrator of AIS Haiti to help out.

We all arrived a little late at the school, but then we ended up waiting and waiting until we realized that nobody was going to show up except the assistant coach of the school where we were holding the clinic.

So we prayed and God gave me the idea of going to a refugee camp close by and doing a clinic with the kids there. So I called my contact there and he gathered about 30 children. By the time we ended, there were at least 100 kids!

We split up into six "stations" - dribbling, defense, shooting, passing, etc. and divided the kids up.

Thankfully, I had brought a portable basketball hoop which Kevin carried on his back to the middle of the camp.

Of course the conditions were not ideal with the "court" being made of uneven hard-packed mud, but the children had a great time and were all smiles. Kevin overcame the language barrier by demonstrating the moves with great animation and the help of a Haitian coach working with him.

After the clinic I had the opportunity to share the story of how I got shot and share the Gospel with these precious young men. They listened in spite of all the noise and activity all around them. I left enough evangelical books for the camp recreation leader to give one for each participant. Only God knows how the message I spoke will affect the lives of those who heard it, but we are praying that we will be able to follow up with many in the days ahead!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

He never earned more than $5,000 US a year, he lived in what we would call poverty all his life, his job was boring and mundane – a gate guard for the UEBH mission in Bolosse for as long as I can remember (over 10 years). In the world’s eyes he was not a man of importance and had very little in the way of material goods. But in the eyes of his wife and children, and I believe in the eyes of God, he was a man worthy of honor and many tears were shed at his passing. He wasn’t perfect, but he was loved by those most important in his life. He died in peace, surrounded by those who loved him – he died a rich man!

Frere Levy (Brother Levy) was a wonderful Christian husband and parent. He and his wife, whom we have known for many years, raised 5 children and instilled in them a love for God, for learning and for each other. He was a gentle man and a beautiful Christian example of praising the Lord in spite of difficulties.

Last week I was upset because I had an appointment to get a check, but the person who had to sign it had forgotten about it. I now had four hours to spend until he would come. God directed me to spend two of those hours with Frere Levy and his family, and now I am so glad I listened to the small, still voice of God.

When I got to the house I was greeted by Naomi and her newborn daughter: Frere Levy's only grandchild. I peaked in on Frere Levy to see if he was awake, but he was sleeping. So I took some time to hold the baby and talk to Naomi and her Mother. Their house had been damaged during the earthquake and thanks to the generous gifts of our supporters, we had been able to help them reinforce the house and enlarge it. So they took pride in showing me all the work that was done.

But Madame Levy was honest about how hard it was to care for her dying husband. She said he would sleep during the day and moan and be awake most of the night in extreme pain. He could do nothing for himself. This had gone on for over 3 months as each day he became weaker and weaker. There are no “Hospices” in Haiti that I know of. No “Nursing Homes”. Frere Levy spent a month in the public hospital in Port-au-Prince, but when there was nothing more they could do for him, he went back to his house, and it is there that he died.

During my visit the other day, four out of his five children appeared one by one. Joshua had come the farthest. He was studying Spanish in the Dominican Republic in the hopes of attending University there next year. He would like to become a Doctor. Then David and Moise came in from the local High School they attend where they are in their last year. Elysee, the oldest son, was not there, but has been with his father a lot. I had just seen him recently so I knew how he was struggling with his Father’s illness.

We all went into Frere Levy's room where he lay on a simple cot. No rich bedding, lizards running though the rafters, a bare cement floor, but it could have been the bedroom of a King as the love and respect his children and his wife had for him was palpable. We started singing hymns in Creole and French and his eyes fluttered open and he started to wave his hands. He was too weak to really move or sit up, but he recognized me during a break in the singing and then we prayed with him.

I will never forget the sight: His loving wife of many years on one end. Naomi holding the baby in the middle, three of his sons beside her, and an extra cousin and a young neighbor boy for added measure. They were all there showing their love and respect for this man who had provided for them and taught them so much about God and life. I realized that this is how I wanted to go.

Sadly, Frere Levy died of Prostate Cancer which in the US would might have been found early and have been treated. Unfortunately, by the time it was detected they had to operate right away and did not get all of it, so it spread rapidly throughout his body and he was literally a skeleton when he died. He suffered much over the past few months, but still kept his faith and would even try and sing along when we sang hymns for him.

But “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints”, and Frere Levy had shown his love for the Lord by being a diligent student of the Bible. Even though he had nothing more than a High School Education, he knew the Bible very well and had won a number of “Bible knowledge” competitions at his church of over 1,000 members. He had also been the President of the parents committee of the Lemuel Football Club that three of his sons were involved in. He encouraged the parents on his committee to visit the Moms and Dads of all the players and talk to them about Christ. In this way many parents of our players trusted in Christ.

So, farewell, Frere Levy. You will always be a great example to me of a man with spiritual riches, put poor materially. Rich in family love, who left a wonderful Christian legacy for his family, friends and church.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Denver Post publishes Photo essay of Amputee Soccer Team

Wow, these are great photos of the Amputee Soccer team taken by the talented Leah Mills. See the comments below for how they have affected those who have viewed them.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/10/27/haitian-amputee-football/2519/

These photos are will worth your time!

2 Exciting Things and 1 Scary Thing

Today is Ronald William's wedding day. Ronald has been a key leader in AIS-Haiti for a few years now. Hopefully tomorrow we'll post some pictures. Pray for him and Marie-France--for their future. Marie-France doesn't have a job and Ronald could use a second parttime job. Pray that Marie-France will support Ronald in his work with AIS-Haiti and that they will encourage each other to be closer to the Lord.

The second exciting thing is that the foundation for Francoise's house is being built today. Construction on the house is supposed to start Monday or soon after that. Pray that the process goes well and that she and her children can be under a roof soon. Since we have visitors coming from France and right after that a friend from Crossing Community, they will be back in the tent in our courtyard again. Pray for no rain at night and no hard rain on her tent while they're in it! (They can come into the living room if it rains, but that can be a pain in the middle of the night :) ).

The scary thing is the cholera epidemic. At this point 800 people have died, 12,000 hospitalized and we don't know how many have had it. The worst aspects of it are: people not being treated because health workers are afraid to get (this isn't happening everywhere, but we've heard that it happens); people not getting to the hospital because the driver of the "taxi" (tap-tap) is afraid to get the disease; and people comparing this epidemic to one in Peru where 230,000 people died before it ended (if it gets much bigger the health centers won't have room for all those who need hospitalization and maybe there would not enough antibiotics in the country for it--however the government has said they have enough to treat about that many people). We pray several times a day about it. Please pray with us. We pray that no one else would die from it--it's treatable. Pray for people to have clean water and food, for them to follow the good advice given on the radio and for people to be able to get what they need quickly enough to get better. Cholera creates diarrhea that expels so much water, that a person can die within hours if not treated (according to Dr. Sanjay Gupta's blog).
thanks

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Hurricane Tomas

Everyone's trying to prepare for Hurricane Tomas. Richard has been securing things around the yard and house, buying water, gas for the generator, etc. The Haitian government called off school for today and tomorrow. At QCS we still had school today and although it was gloomy and we had a little rain, it didn't really get started until this evening.

Although the government has called for evacuations of the tent camps, they are just asking people to go to the homes of friends and family. There are no places people are being evacuated TO.

Please pray for the people of Haiti. The storm's center is passing just west of us between tonight and tomorrow.