Holly and Micah Wakefield came down and helped us paint the caretakers house.
Month: January 2010
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Dear Friends in Christ,
We talked with Micah this morning. He was excited and upset, which has been a first since he has been in Haiti that we have known about. He said to please pray for the team, especially for John as he is working so diligently to try to get as many of the children out of Haiti as possible.
Yesterday the team found an orphanage in downtown PAP which has received no help, no supplies, medical food or water. About 56 children died in the 7.0 earthquake and there are 76 children alive there. The team brought them diapers and formula for the children. They have begun gathering supplies and taking them to the orphanage. They are trying to get word out about the tremendous needs in this orphanage. Micah says that the media stays pretty close to the airport because of military security and there are so many needs outside which are not being met. There are tons of supplies, medical, food, etc. at the airport, but they only allow approved organizations or themselves to dispense the materials. They are too busy apparently to go away from the airport to check out this giant need. It is so sad when the government is handling things, because where the needs truly are, supplies are not getting out. Please pray for the team, for this orphanage and the ever present lack of organization in Haiti.
If anyone would like to donate, the greatest need is funds to purchase food, water and supplies. Please send your donations to:
Only a Servant Ministries, Inc.
P.O. Box 700155
San Antonio, TX 78270
(830) 980-9609
This following link is to a very short video about the orphanage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgNem1QtBdw -
Dear Friends in Christ,
We were able to get though to Haiti by phone, Sunday afternoon. It was so good to talk to Lussade and Laura Birdy a R.N. They were busy working, but Laura spent a few minutes updating me about the team.
She said that Carrefour area which is east of Port au Prince, is very bad. Lots of flattened buildings and homes. They met the Smoker family who are missionaries in Carrefour and learned that there were about 25 people killed at their home when the 7.0 earthquake hit. Mrs. Smoker was able to escape through an open upstairs window.
There are thousands of relief workers in the PAP area. Saturday one relief organization distributed 4 million meals to the Haitian people. Since there are so many workers in the PAP area, the medical team is praying about moving to the outlying areas such as Jacmel and Leogone. As the TV news reports, there is a mass exodus of people out of PAP. The news media stays at the airport area which is secured by military and the fighting that is seen on TV is pretty much isolated to that area because of the media attention. Laura and Micah reported that they have not seen violence anywhere. Tent cities are set up for the homeless everywhere. There is a very large U.S. military presence.
The team is working at relief hospitals and seeing a large number of amputations and fractures. They are helping clean wounds and changing dressings after surgeries. They have gone to several areas where they were told help was needed only to find there were lots of medical people already there meeting the needs. It’s been frustrating as they want to help where the needs are greatest and of course there is no organized way to find out where these places are located.
Not really knowing why, Laura said there seems to be more devastation in Carrefour Sunday than on their first visit there. This is most likely because the strong aftershocks continue.
John and Micah have spent a great deal of time working on paperwork to try and get as many of the children from Haiti Children’s Relief Mission, orphanage to the U.S. as they can. Each day that passes, more restrictions are being set up to prevent the children from leaving. According to Laura, there are 40 families in San Antonio alone who have completed home studies and are ready to receive children. The more the government gets involved, the slower the adoption process becomes. Please pray that the Lord would open doors so that some or all the children could get to the safety of Christian homes soon.
Tonight we got through to talk with Micah and he said that he has now experienced a 4.3 and a 4.4 earthquake. He said they happen so quickly that by the time he stood up from his chair it was over. He also mentioned that up on the mountain they are eating as usual and there is water available, praise the Lord.
Things sound chaotic and unorganized which is our experience in normal Haiti. Pray that the team can plug in where they can minister the most. We are grateful for your continued prayers and concern for the people of Haiti and this team.
Blessings in Christ,
The Kennedy Family
Only a Servant Ministries, Inc.
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Last night I talked to Lussade and the team arrived safely, praise the Lord. This morning I had a short phone conversation with Micah. He said that flying in was very interesting. There were several U.S. ships and an aircraft carrier in the Port-au-Prince Bay, which has always been almost empty except for a couple of sunken ships. There were lots of helicopters going in and out from the airport. Then they landed, there were no customs to go through. There was more than normal confusion outside the airport, it took a while to find Pastor Jean Fritz who was there to pick them up.
There is a square downtown that we always pass leaving the airport. He said it was full of people living there. As he drove through PAP the streets were full of people as usual and lots of homes and buildings were destroyed. There was a very obvious smell of death, which was sad and unnerving. As they drove further and went up the mountain, they saw many homes that had fallen on top of each other.
Today they plan to do medical clinic in Carrefour, which was the epicenter of the main earthquake. There is much destruction there. Pastor Jean Fritz has a church there and they will possibly work out of it. This is also the area where Pastor Marc’s school is located. We hope to get some word on his school children.
The group has lots of medical supplies, and more waiting to be sent down. They will need funds to purchase other supplies such as fuel, etc., which are available on a limited basis. Jean Fritz runs an orphanage (Haiti Children’s Rescue Mission) up on the mountain, which is close to Lussade’s home and where we used to live. The group will be staying at Lussade’s home and the orphanage, which were relatively unharmed. We appreciate your prayer for Micah and the medical team.
