It was Thursday on the island of LaGonave– very early in the morning.  The very faint crow of a far-away friend urged me into the quietness and total darkness of the guest quarter’s breezeway. I watched the whole thing -  A new day came alive. Over the wide span of the Caribbean Sea in the distance, the wonder of sunrise spread its awesome blessing. Followed by sounds of footsteps in the gravel, more roosters, the turn of a key, the clink of a chain, conversations, then the village wake-up call from the church bell, and workers heading for the construction site, words from Isaiah came to me, See, I am doing a new thing! . . . I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

With our family, Jim and I served in Haiti for eight years with GP. We made a visit ten years ago; then a son and daughter returned to help in the earthquake aftermath. Now, as Pastors to Missionaries, we stepped again onto Haiti’s dusty soil, with our focus on them – God’s servants who have been called to use their gifts in this underprivileged nation.  The missionary families, couples, singles, are amazing! Altogether on the LaGonave compound where we were, they were like moving targets.

• The Ortlip Ministry Center at Montrouis that serves national church meetings, and serves as a guesthouse as well. The restful atmosphere is a huge blessing – certainly saves wear and tear on God’s servants. We thank God for Dan and Joy Irvine who live there and direct the Wesleyan work in Haiti. Carl & Maya Gilleswork from the lovely guesthouse in Port-au-Prince where we spent night two.

• Greg & Heidi Edmonds function with racing spirits and passion for seeing God’s work go forward. Work teams still flood into the country to help. Bigger projects are happening – a new guest house, a library for the island, new hospital, an orphanage across the way. Up the ladder they go with Greg leading the way: Caleb, Peter, and the Haitian workers hammering their way to completion. Julian is on the ground with his crew directing the hospital ground work. Heidi and Merlene (Caleb’s wife) make sure there is nourishing food and lots of drinks ready at meal times.

• Nurse Beth Gould took us through the hospital where a nonstop flow of people still come for medical care. It was wonderful to visit with patients, pray with them, and see Beth pour into each one from her heart.

• Barry Gould and Rod Geizler keep the place “abuzz” looking after water, lights, generators, vehicles, the grounds, plus more.

• Michelle (Geizler) was looking after the care of a WISH dental team, as well as being the headmistress for the MK schooling. Responsible for the education of six kids, all at their own level. Kate Marshall, Go-Net Volunteer, has immersed herself in her teaching roll alongside Michelle.

• We reacquainted ourselves with Larry and Marty Grimes who just arrived to start computer and English classes.

• One Sunday service was all our schedule would allow to attend a national church. Differences included livelier music, the use of drums and other instruments, and the sermon was very short. Very sweet were the conversations we had with people we knew from years ago, like Met Rousvel who has worked with the hospital for all these years, some hospital workers, cooks from “our day.” It was really neat when young adults would express to us that they remember us from when they were just “ti moun” (small children).

The comparison of then and now is a mélange of sameness and newness.

• Airport entry and going through customs was a breeze – compared to “survival” in yester years. Airport departure – very comfortable. Amazing the number of evident work teams – we waited in air-conditioning with them. Very nice.

• Poverty still dominates the population. The people appear as industrious as ever – the lines for employment, though, are still long.

• The reddened hair and signs of malnourishment among the children was less among children we saw. No doubt it is more evident in the city streets or more remote areas.  More orphanages seem to be up and running.

• Bumpy roads and hair-raising squeezes with maybe one-half inch of wiggle room describe travel. Yet, there are many more vehicles going places.

• Less “top-tops.” Big Mac trucks – at least they seem like “macs.”

• Flying on MAF to the island is an option rather than by boat.

• Common use of Cell Phones – unbelievable! No “radio” contact from mission station to mission station.

What has NOT changed: Urgency! Passion! Jim spoke in the church service for the missionary family from Mark 6. “There’s still much to be done in the city” was sung with commitment to the task, allowing the heartbeat of Jesus to be the driving force

We will never forget all that God has done in Haiti, but we rejoice for all the new things He is doing, the new ways He is working, and the new team appointed to build His kingdom there. It’s a wonderful NEW DAY!

Jeanette Vermilya

In our pilot village of Fontina, where God has been changing lives and is making a healthier community, lives a godly man named Sekay. He is a leader in his community and has taken every lesson taught and embraced it for his family and the needs of his people. Village Health Haiti would not be moving around the island like it is without the help of this man. God worked a life saving miracle for him by sending our team to Fontina. When we agree to work in an area, each family receives the health book that was written by our own Dr Kris Theade; she has been a missionary in Haiti for many years.

Sekay was using his machete in the field and it slipped and hit him in the leg; where he lives in the mountains is over an hour away from our Wesleyan Hospital and with the amount of blood being lost he would surely bleed to death before reaching it. Sekay remembered reading about how to stop bleeding in the health book, after hurrying to make a tourniquet he was able to travel to the hospital and receive stitches.

Sekay says that the health book saved his life. He wanted us to thank Dr Kris and each one who is making Village Health possible. We also thank you for saving the life of a great leader in the mountains of La Gonave.

The rattling of the concrete mixer is announcement to all within earshot that yet another milestone is being reached with the construction of the new guesthouse. A work team from Canada made great progress last week on setting the t-bars; this week, their Haitian co-workers are continuing the work. Those in the know are speaking of a completion date in weeks now instead of months! What a great day that will be!

Soon, we will have a new building for housing our visiting teams when they come to serve on La Gonave. The public gathering areas will better serve our volunteers with more ample dining and meeting areas; the dorm rooms are larger with better ventilation; and, the larger kitchen where those yummy Haitian dishes will be prepared will serve our Haitian cooks well. Thank the Lord for His provisions!

With progress comes challenge … naturally!

With the increased size of the guesthouse comes the need for more linens: sheets, pillowcases, mattress covers, bed coverlets, towels and washcloths. We are looking at a fun blue and aqua theme in the spirit of the Caribbean.

Would you like to help make this happen? How about throwing an e-shower to help us acquire these items? If you or your group would like to participate, just open this web page and click here: WISH LIST. Our selected items can be found under first name, La Gonave, and last name, Guest House. Before ordering, please contact Heidi Edmonds at heidiedmonds@yahoo.com for the correct shipping address. Visiting teams have volunteered to bring items in with them to save shipping costs and customs fees.

Your purchase will be mightily appreciated!

And, how about coming on down to experience this new guest house firsthand? We will be delighted to welcome you!

It may be a small word but it’s filled with meaning and emotion.  Our Haitian brothers and sisters experienced unspeakable tragedy on January 12, 2010.  Like much of Haitian Creole, this work is close to its French cousin, “merci”. It was Francis Assisi who said, “Mercy has many arms.”  Thank you-mesi-for being the arms of God’s mercy in the midst of this catastrophe.  Dozens of teams, hundreds of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been invested in raising up the name of Jesus by providing places of worship as beacons of light for these affected communities.  Our hats are off and our hearts are uplifted by the sacrificial efforts offered by our global Wesleyan tribe in response to this need.  On behalf of L’Eglise Wesleyuenne d’Haiti, Dan Irvine (Global Partners Caribe Atlantic area director) and all those impacted by your praying, giving and going for the Rebuilding Haiti project, we simply say…mèsi!

Two Job opportunites have recently opened up on the Wesleyan Mission Station on LaGonave.

1) The Wesleyan Mission on LaGonave is currently looking for a full-time elementary education teacher. This teacher’s primary responsibility would be providing schooling for the children of missionary families on the station.

2) The Wesleyan Mission on LaGonave is also seeking a full-time ESL teacher and an ESL director. The director would be over four levels of adult ESL students, and would be expected to teach. Another full-time ESL teacher is needed to teach at least 2 levels of the adult ESL classes.

For more information on either of these positions, contact Dan and Joy Irvine (GP Carbe-Atlantic Area Directors) at dnjirvine@gmail.com and Tim Hibschman (GP Mobilizer) at hibschmant@wesleyan.org.

Ground clearing work has begun on the site of the future Wesleyan Guesthouse in Anses-a-Galets. Foundations for this project, a prerequisite to the hospital rebuild, will be laid in March. By the end of the summer of 2011, we hope to begin housing guests in this facility.

The new 44 bed guesthouse will be able to accommodate the influx of construction teams during the hospital rebuild project. Further down the road, this additional capacity will also allow the mission to pursue several of their long-term dreams. For example, additional housing could be used for visiting surgical teams and medical specialists. These specialists and surgeons will not only be able to provide treatment for people here, but they could provide Continuing Medical Education to the current hospital staff.

With its unique features, this guesthouse also has potential as a micro-enterprise project. It will incorporate an innovative ventilation system and rain water recovery. It will also offer improved kitchen facilities and will include a few two-person rooms. The new design also contains several break-out areas, where guests will be able to socialize and relax outside. These special features will not only provide a more comfortable atmosphere fore established friends of the Wesleyan mission, but it will set this guesthouse above the rest and draw business from anyone seeking accommodations in the area.

Because of the way this guesthouse will enable us to fulfill our vision and expand our capacity, we are excited to be a part of its inception and eagerly awaiting its completion. Thank you to all of you in North America and around the world who have generously given of your time and resources to help with this project. We send a special thanks to Justin Dowds and those working with Lemon Aid in the UK who have invested hours pouring over plans and working out the practical details that have made this project possible.

Over the next few months, we will need several construction teams to carry out these plans. If you are interested in bringing a construction team to LaGonave to help with the new guesthouse, please contact Greg Edmonds at gpedmonds@juno.com.

Click on the links below to view plans for the guesthouse.

Guesthouse
Guesthouse 2

Since its launch in July of 2010, the Wesleyan Rebuild project has opened 12 constructions sites in various parts of Haiti. Of these 12 sites, all of them have completed the first building stage, the erection of poles and a roof. Additionally, all of the schools at these locations are functioning. In many of the areas, the newly constructed Wesleyan church was the first building to go up after the quake. And in this way the Wesleyan Church has very tangibly served as a beacon of hope for this country in a time of crisis.

To find more information on Rebuild Updates, check out the reconstruction page. Progress Updates have been added to a number of the churches and pages will be updated periodically as teams continue to work at these sites. Follow this link for this week’s featured update: Mais Gate. (http://gpcaribeatlantic.com/reconstruction/mais-gate/)

Except for the sound of worshipers singing and people mourning, the streets were silent Wednesday, January 12th 2011 as all of Haiti remembered the events of last year. In Anses-a-Galets, stores closed and workers stayed home as others attended services to pray for their families and remember their loved ones. The sound of people praising God continued well into the night.

Across the water, in Port-Au-Prince, the scene was similar. GP missionaries Carl and Maya Gilles reported, “On the streets, people are singing, dancing and praising God. Others are crying, whaling remembering what they’ve lost.” It was a day of mixed emotions, as people thanked God for sparing their lives and cried again for those who are gone.

In the center of Port-Au-Prince, just outside the palace Haiti for Christ Ministries in partnership with several other evangelical churches hosted a Transformation Crusade. Buses transported thousands from tent cities to the crusade, and, according to Joel Trimble from Haiti for Christ, with the broken down palace as a backdrop, a reported 100,000 Haitians came together to worship our God.

This crusade on the 12th was preceded by a festival hosted by the Billy Graham Association on Sunday, where thousands more worshipped. In their latest newsletter, Carl and Maya Gilles exclaim, “We have heard that over 5000 churches and organizations have been working in unity to put together” this Transformation Crusade.

And their work was not in vain. As Dan and Joy Irvine, directors of Global Partners in Haiti explained, “For the past year the population of Port-au-Prince has focused on survival,” but the 12th was an opportunity for everyone to focus on something greater. Joel Trimble reports that as a result of the crusade, “Thousands committed their lives to Christ and received book of John follow-up materials.” Continue to pray with us that lives in Haiti are transformed as our God continues to make all things new in this grieving nation.

by: Justine Iskat