… and sent them two by two

Luke 10: 1-4. After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.  He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.  Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

I don’t think so much as to compare to the original 72 but we had a small sense of what it may have been like. We went as two, the work was a plenty, and our travel was both limited and cautious. The days are very perilous in Haiti. People are desperate for basic things. Inflation is five times worse than 6 months ago. There are food and fuel shortages. Violence and terror weigh heavily on people. We have a reckless dependence on Jesus to go. Medicine is our tool through which to share the hope and love of Jesus.

We were blessed to have our local friends help us. Wayne Leblanc and I ran clinic a bit differently than in the past. We had the opportunity to spend a lot more time with each patient because we also dispensed medications and prayed with each at our stations.

The Creole’ gospel coins from Village ministries and the Creole’ gospel tracts from Fellowship Tract League are great gospel tools.

The team was able to provide medical care to just under 200 patients. A few babies were screened and will be added to the PGM infant malnutrition clinic. Two babies had to be sent to the hospital for congenital abnormalities that require urgent surgical attention. Care was provided to a young man in sickle cell crisis over three days and one procedure was performed on a man’s face.

We love our Bills though they may fail but we love Jesus more.

Romans 10: 8-11

But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

“BE PREPARED TO BE UNPREPARED”

The trip started as all others. We were prepared to be unprepared.

There were many potential obstacles to our ability to minister but God is bigger and gets all the glory! Haiti is in a state of crisis with ongoing gang wars, political instability, fuel shortages, food shortages and starvation, fear of travel, schools shut down, and skyrocketing inflation. We were prepared to be flexible to share the gospel and provide medical care. I was a little uncertain how many people would risk the attempt to come to clinics, how many of our translators would be able and willing to come, and if we would be holding our typical clinics or would we be addressing the physical and emotional wounds of the gang wars.

The team partnered with Priceless Grace Ministries and treated over 300 patients. The four mobile clinics were set up at locations familiar to us and a short distance from where we stayed. It was unwise to travel any more than necessary. One woman left her home in the gang embattled area of Citi Soliel at 3am with her baby to make it to the infant malnutrition clinic and planned to wait until 3am to get back in hoping to go undetected. Citi Soliel is only a few short miles away and thousands are trapped by gun fire.

Pastor Pierre’ came down from Kenscoff with a few patients and helped us with 2 clinics. Pastor Savine and pastor Lafantanat helped us at the other 2 sites. These men have an overflowing heart for Haiti. The people were so grateful for our willingness to come and serve. I was overwhelmed by the tremendous need and absence of the global community.

The next trip is scheduled for January 2023!

Matthew 28: 19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

Could there be a better descriptor for 2020?

Our travel plans to Haiti have been markedly impacted. The summer trip was canceled by the airline just weeks before the trip. Travel to Haiti has since been enabled but remains costly and unpredictable. The majority of our trip members are from the state of New York. The winter trip remains postponed as Haiti is one the countries subject to the New York Governor’s executive order and mandatory quarantine requirement following return from international travel. Only 31 global countries are exempt at the present time.

Please continue to pray for Haiti in this tremendous time of need.

SIGN is still active with our missionary partners and helping as best as possible to enable those partners in their ministries serving the spiritual and physical needs of the people. Details will follow in the future.

Isaiah 25:1

Praise to the Lord

Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.

Romans 10:15

And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?

As it is written:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

It was another adventurous trip! The team was able to arrive on time and settle in for a busy week. We spent the weekend sorting our supplies for the days to come, visited missionary partners, and experienced an amazing church service Sunday at the Church on the Rock in Delmas 31.

The first two days of clinic were spent in the Kenscoff Mountains. It is winter in Haiti but the weather is as nice as a summer day gets in Western NY. We had a good sweat in our shorts and scrub tops as we explained to our waiting Haitian patients where we are from. We like to introduce ourselves to those waiting and a trip member will share their testimony or personal story.

The team spent the night on the mountain and pastor Pierre went out of his way to make us feel at home. We spend the night as the travel to and from the mountain is time consuming and it allows to host back to back clinics.

Foreigners do not travel there often as the travel is not easy. We bring ample supplies to tide us over for the two days and the church leaders there prepare food for us and aide us in every way possible. It does cool off at night and team members sleep inside the church building in one man insect tents (though I have yet to see a mosquito on the mountain) and hiking sleeping bags. It gets very dark quickly so we set up for the night immediately after clinic is done.

 

475 patients were treated in all at 4 clinic sites. Over 1350 prescriptions were written, 5 people accepted Christ, there were 12 maternity clinic referrals and many referrals for greater needs. 1 infant patient diverted was sent to a local hospital with severe dehydration. The greatest demographic for future focus: women 18-40. Continue to pray for Haiti.

 

The next trip is scheduled for July!

“But thanks be to God, 
who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession 
and uses us to spread the aromaof the knowledge of him everywhere.” 
2 Corinthians 2:14

Our thanks to pastor Pierre & the Kenscoff Reform Church, Karen Bultje & Coram Deo, Priceless Grace Ministries, Kelby’s Kids,  sponsors & donors, and our prayers warriors.

 

http://trocaire.z-paper.com/TrocaireTrailblazer2018/

“BE PREPARED TO BE UNPREPARED” – another Parsonsism

The trip started as all others. We were prepared to be unprepared. The team had prepped and prayed for months in readiness for the Haiti summer mission trip. We had planned on holding clinics in the Kenscoff Mountains and overnighting there before holding clinics in Delmas 33 just a few miles south of the airport. 

Circumstances charged as airlines canceled flights into Haiti amidst ongoing riots over fuel prices. Out flight did not cancel until after we had all arrived at JFK. Everyone was willing to go somewhere else if it worked out. The Jetblue customer service agent helped us rearrange our flight in and out of the Dominican Republic while a former trip member helped us with contacts to facilitate coordinating with SCORE International to continue the mission in the DR.

 

 

The team was not prepared for the comfort and hospitality that the SCORE facility had. Our new host had many other teams staying there but no medical teams. The housing they provided met all our needs. The director coordinated our schedule with planned village clinic sites, transportation, and translators. We had planned to serve with and to the Haitians in Haiti but instead worked and served with many Haitians in the DR.

 

355 patients were treated in all at 4 clinic sites. The sites were in Esperazza, Buenos Aires, Consuelo, and La Sierra (SOCO). We had 2 individuals accept Christ and prayed with almost all the patients. Some prayer requests were documented and will be available for those that are willing to pray for them. We donated all our remaining medical and non medical supplies initially intended for Haiti to SCORE, the Monte Cristi nursing home, and a rural clinic of an old friend and his wife in San Jose, San Pedro De Macoris.

 

The next trip is scheduled for January!

Matthew 28: 19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

 

Our thanks to SCORE International, Brother’s Brother, Kingsway Charities, our donors, and our prayers warriors.

 

 

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March 12-31, 2018 1.5% of a purchase made by First Time user will be donated!

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The January 2018 mission trip started with flight cancellations and a scramble to get everyone back on the same flight. We arrived a day late altering our plans to attend a church we had yet to visit and the luxury of time to unpack, sort supplies, and prepare for our first clinic.

Monday morning we set out early to Pastor Pierre’s church in the Kenscoff Mountains. We packed 3 totes of medications and supplies, 2  5 gallon water bottles, food, camping supplies, and personal bags.

Patients sometimes travel two days to get to the clinic site. The travel can take our teams 2-3 hours to get on site prior to even seeing a patient and we have to cut the day short in order to make it back home.  We have left without being able to see everyone in the past. This trip was going to be different. We planned to see patients Monday, spend the night in the church, and then hold a second clinic Tuesday.

The team was able to see over 190 patients over the two days on the mountain. 4 accepted Christ. The experience was amazing. We left home with the temperature at 5 degrees Fahrenheit so the 50+ degrees felt great but our Haitian translators found it to be quite cold.

Wednesday and Thursday we held clinic in Delmas 31. We rounded our our patient total to 475 for the 4 days of clinic. 5 people accepted Christ in total. 1524+ prescriptions were filled.

The team was able to cover the cost of a mom in labor who had come to the clinic with hopes of having her baby their. She was sent to the closest woman’s hospital and her delivery became complicated. She may have died if she delivered at home.  We learned that she delivered a baby girl the Sunday we departed.  We were also able to help pay for 2 club foot surgeries and a young girl needing a growth removed from her nose.

Praise God for putting such a team together, the hundreds of prayers, the locals that enabled us to serve, the patients that accepted Christ, the ministries providing the medicines and gospel tools, and the Haitian people.

The next trip is scheduled for July!

Our thanks to Pastor Pierre and his church, Karen Bultje of Coram Deo and her extended Haitian family, Village Ministries, Fellowship Tract League, Brother’s Brother, Kingsway Charities, our donors, and our prayers warriors.