Praise the Lord, relieft supplies successfully delivered

Yesterday we were able to successfully deliver bottled water, soap and water purification supplies to the 4 areas affected by cholera.  The people were very grateful for the supplies.

Roger, one of our workers who is from one of the affected areas, was able to travel along with the truck and educate people on how to properly purify water.  

Roger, explaining to a pastor how to purify water.

School children looking on as supplies are delivered.

Roger explaining to another pastor and school teacher.

Roger, teaching a pastor how to purify water, with many community members listening in also.

Thankfully receiving the bottled water.

Supplies go out to BHM afflicated churches affected by cholera

This morning a truck load of bottled water, soap and water purification supplies were sent out to 4 areas, Douin, Douette, L'ester and Fresenno.
We are praising God that we were able to get the supplies that they were needing and that they are being delivered today.  Pray for safety as they deliver these supplies and spend some time showing people how to properly purify their water.
We have a volunteer that went along with the truck so check back soon to hear a report and see pictures.

Rebekah Baker checks out the supplies before they go out.

Loading the truck

Cholera affecting BHM affliated churches

Over the weekend we started to receive reports from BHM pastors serving in the Artibonite region.  There are 4 districts that are affected by the cholera outbreak and there have been between 10 and 15 people from BHM affliated churches who have died from cholera already.
The BHM hospital in Duoin, near the center of the affected area is overwhelmed with patients.  The facility is completely full and many patients are laying in the courtyard.  We are thankful that they currently have enough supplies to treat the patients that they are seeing.
The pastors in these affected districts are asking us to help them by sending out water purification materials, soap and bottled water.  We are praying that we will be able to purchase those supplies tomorrow and send them out on Wednesday morning.
Today our hospital administration staff, various pastors and mission leadership gathered together to discuss a plan of how to best meet the current needs that exist in the Artibonite region and what they will do if the outbreak spreads and affects Port-au-Prince.
Please join us in praying that this outbreak of cholera will not spread any further and that those affected by it, receive the treatment that they need.

Meeting to discuss plans of how to deal with the cholera situation

Baptist Haiti Mission Continues to Reach Out to the Community

Over the years, and especially after the earthquake with the influx of donations, Baptist Haiti Mission has and continues to aide the surrounding communities any time the mission is able to do so. A recent example of this occurred on a payday, when BHM was able to hand out cornmeal, cracked wheat, beans, shoes, and various toiletries to approximately 70 people employed by the mission.   BHM also tries to help many other community members that are not employed by the mission in the same fashion.  The below pictures feature some of our BHM workers, most of which have worked for the mission for over 20 and 30 years. We thank God for the opportunity to serve the people of Haiti in such an amazing way! We also give praise for our awesome, dedicated workers!

Madame Baker, with volunteer and grandson, Zach....handing out sacks with food, shoes, and toiletries.

Madame Sauver, a very important woman who helps to keep the mission grounds clean.

Madame Baker, handing Ermilis his gift.

Ermilis, a BHM employee for over 30 years!

Rosemise with her sack; she has also been with the mission for years and years!

Sinette and Antomise, two more very valued workers that have been with BHM for many years.

Andre, a long-time day laborer at BHM, a very important part of the team!

Coordinator Facilitates Teachers’ Training at Fermathe School

Multiple courses for training teachers are being held all over Haiti for Baptist Haiti Mission schools. Recently, a week-long training session was held at the school of Fermathe. Approximately 45 teachers from 12 different schools attended. Some teachers came from far away and stayed in the dorms on the mission all week. Each day the training session would open with prayer and devotion and also conclude with prayer.
The Coordinator of the 12 schools directed and taught the training session. His name is Mr. A. Anilus; he works directly under and reports to Pastor Solect, the Superintendent of Education who works out of the BHM Education office.  Mr. Anilus has a specific schedule he must follow each month; he must visit each school that he is responsible for, take note of how each is functioning, and then report back to Pastor Solect.
Throughout the week, Mr. Anilus covered many topics, but the largest and most in-depth subject this year was disaster preparedness. He discussed the different types of internal and external disasters and what to do in the instance of each one of them occurring. On the same level of importance, there was a lot of discussion about how to deal with and manage the trauma, stress, and physical illness that some of the children continue to experience since the earthquake. Mr. Anilus was determined to give the teachers the best information he could in order to aide these children. As with every teachers’ training, the valuable topics of theology and the social sciences were relayed; each different subject was analyzed for the upcoming school term.
Mr. A. Anilus has been in his current role as Coordinator for 2 years; before that he taught for 4 years. Mr. Anilus is a member of the Baptist Church of Fessard. He says that he “loves being a Coordinator for BHM schools.” As Coordinator, he admits that he enjoys the fact that the job has given him experience in being able to work with a lot of different people. Most importantly, he loves working with the children. Baptist Haiti mission praises God for the wonderful teachers, principals, and coordinators that our schools are blessed with. May we continue to pray for them this upcoming school year!

Mr. A. Anilus, writing about disaster preparedness on the chalkboard.

Mr. Anilus, teaching.

The classroom full of teachers, taking notes.

All the teachers present for the training; Coordinator Anilus is standing.

Very Successful surgery for Little Max

Max had his surgery yesterday and, praise God, came through just fine! The doctors performed a 1 1/2 hour surgery that released his contracted arm and then covered it with a skin graft, using his leg as a donor site. Right after the surgery he was experiencing some tearful pain, but prayerfully, was eating and smiling by early Thursday night. Max had a restful nights sleep and was up, hobbling around on his operated leg Friday. He was all smiles and was giving out many kisses. We are very thankful that his pain has subsided. His family is very thankful for the people who helped to make his surgery happen. Please continue to pray for Max in the coming weeks; that he would stay free of infection, heal, and regain the motion in his arm. We especially pray that Max would continue to see God working in his life!

Sleepy time! Max is sedated before going completely under for his surgery.

The surgery; performed by the wonderful Dr. Bernard and Dr. Duverseau.

Friday! Up and walking around...all smiles. Praise God!

4-C Getting Ready for the New School Year….

    It’s that exciting time of year again! Most children enrolled in school start back this week! A lot of people are aware of BHM’s 4-C Child Sponsorship program. If you don’t, 4-C stands for Christ Centered Child Care. Baptist Haiti Mission has 18 “sponsored” schools. By sponsored we mean that each child in these schools are enrolled in the 4-C program and are eligible to have a person or family sponsor them all the way through elementary school. This is such a blessing to be able to provide this opportunity and a blessing to the child being sponsored! Each of the children in the sponsored schools get: uniforms, books, free medical care, and a hot lunch every day. Donations are also given to a “special event fund” which provides each child with a backpack on their birthday.
    To prepare for the start of a new school term, the 4-C office has been very busy. In a joyous way of course! The office has received several hundred applications of children that are in need of a sponsor. These applications are called Istwa Sosial Elèv; in English this simply means a “case history.” The case history is very extensive with all kinds of information about the child and the child’s family. One of the most valued pieces of information on the case history of the child is the address; this allows for the 4-C office to be able to take the person or family sponsoring the child to visit the child’s home if the donor visits Haiti. So in order to prepare for the upcoming school season all the information from these case histories must be entered into a database; this takes a lot of time and hard work. During this time of year, everyone in the 4-C office becomes a data entry person, while continuing to do their day to day work. The next step will be to visit each sponsored school and take a photo of every child that is up for potential sponsorship and update photos of sponsored children. With the data from the case history and the photo, 4-C constructs a personal story of each child which is given to the person willing to sponsor the little child of God. Another way the 4-C office has been preparing for the start of the new school year is to put together medical kits for each school. Each and every way the volunteers and staff in the office get to serve these schools is a blessing. Elsa Peterson, Sponsorship Coordinator, says that, “Our prayer is that every child that is entered into our database will be blessed with their very own, urgently needed, sponsor.” A big thank you to everyone who already sponsors a child or multiple children! Please consider sponsoring one of our children for under $1 per day and praying faithfully for the 4-C program and for all the schools in Haiti. God bless you!

Elsa, helping to make up medical kits for each school.

Elsa, bagging medical kits with the Haitian 4-C staff; Jean Bernard, Elusmund (Translator & Photography Designer) and Daniel (Translator).

Elsa and Darlene (full-time missionary in Children's Ministries), with the backpacks each child receives on his or her birthday.

 Elsa (Sponsorship Coordinator) with Jean Bernard (Office Manager) looking over a few of the many case histories they have received.

To sponsor a child today or for more information about our sponsorship program click on the following link:    BHM Child Sponsorship Program

Little Max’s Journey and Need for Prayer….

About 7 months ago, shortly after the earthquake, a very young boy named Maxony was rushed to Fermathe Hospital with severe burns to his left arm and trunk. It was from an accident; boiled water fell on him. The situation was a true emergency, but thankfully we had a foreign medical team here with a specialized burn nurse! Max was in critical condition for a short period of time, but we give all praise to God that Max pulled through. Over the past 7 months Max has remained at the hospital on the mission. He received dressing changes until they were not needed anymore and physical therapy a few days a week. Unfortunately, this physical therapy was not enough and Max has been left with some severe contractures of his left arm. In fact, he is barely able to use his arm.
    Max has been seen by an expert Orthopedic doctor and will require an extensive surgery this coming week on Thursday. He needs releasing of some skin, tendons, and joints in his left arm in order to gain some function. He will also need skin grafting. At first, money was a problem; his family was unable to pay for his surgery. But thanks be to our Lord, within minutes of a visiting volunteer team finding out the need for funds, all the money was donated for the surgery. The surgery is paid in full and now Max and his family are just waiting until next Thursday. A lot of you know Max and some of you don’t, but the fact is, this has been a very long journey for this little boy. He has been through massive amounts of physical and emotional pain from these burns. He has had to live in a hospital for over half a year. But today, Max was miraculously still found to be smiling and happy. Over this coming week, can you please lift little Max up in your prayers? Baptist Haiti Mission strongly believes that Jesus Christ is our strength and will be Max’s strength during this difficult time. Pray for Max and his family during the week-long wait, for a safe and successful surgery, and comfort and healing for weeks and months after. And most of all, pray that God would continue to work in this little boy’s heart and that he would grow up to know Jesus as Lord. Thank you!

Max's initial burn.

Burn nurse, Joany, loving and comforting little Max.

Nurses Joany and Anne, performing one of Max's first dressing changes.

A dressing change made "better" by stickers.

Max, coloring during an occupational therapy session. He has made so much progression!

Max, playing with his tools.

Taken Thursday of this week. Waiting with Miss Nicole to see the doctor. Next Thursday...surgery!