Lunch at the Lutheran House in Haiti

The Haiti Mission Team from Faith Lutheran in Sarasota enjoys lunch at the Lutheran House in Haiti.

New Blog for VOH!

Debbie Berquist, Interim Director of the Village of Hope in Haiti, is now posting updates on a dedicated blog site:

http://villageofhopeupdates.blogspot.com/

We'll keep a link to it under "Blogs We Recommend", but we invite you to add it your own blog list. Kudos to Marni Maree for setting this up on behalf of the Lazarus Project!

The Boys from St. Joseph'’s

The Boys from St. Joseph's are coming to dance in Florida! Michael, Maya, Bill and 9 boys from the Resurrection Dance Theatre of Haiti are coming for three dates in Florida at the end of their “Resurrection from the Rubble” tour. They will be staying overnight in the new facility at Faith Sarasota on March 25th and 26th before they travel to Longwood for their last date. Your chances to see them are;

Faith Lutheran Church, Sarasota, Thursday March 25th at 7pm
Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Venice, Friday March 26th at 7pm
St Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Longwood, Saturday March 27th at 4pm ( I think)

You'’ve seen them. You know how special it is to see them and have them here. Please share the news and help us publicize this special event.

Pastor Steve Winemiller

Update from VOH

For the latest reports from the Village of Hope (VOH), follow the weekly reports from Debbie Berquist, VOH Director on the Lazarus Project Website.

Here is Debbie's report for Saturday, March 6, 2010:

Hello all: It has been another gray and overcast day and for some of us with tropical blood..even a little chilly. It also has been a relatively quiet one since seeing The "D" team (les disributeurs extraordinaires) off at the airport mid morning. Wilner arrived just before they were leaving so at least he got to see everyone and they him. I got last minute information from some of the gents about tools, breaker panels and even a quick lesson on power point.

The team did not let down at all the name of the church they represented.which was Joyful Spirit Lutheran Church. For the returning members of the group, they sure demonstrated their joy of returning to Haiti and the people they have come to know love. The newcomers showed it in the manner they took to everything here and especially the bonds they made with the children at Little Children of Jesus. To me it was simply a "joy" to be with them for the week.

The afternoon was spent getting the depot straightened out, watching as the two vets that came to see Hopie did their work and making sure the dump truck put his load in the right spot of the yard. A load of rocks arrived today as a beginning step to getting work started on completing the new depot which has been on standstill since November. Back to Hopie for a minute as I know so will be wondering.....she is the Hope House dog and we called my friendly vet Dr Keith to come and have a look at her as she has been coughing, off her food and lost some weight. Keith was busy so sent two lovely ladies in his stead to take care of her. Luckily it is nothing serious..a mild cold and have some medicines I have to give her over the next few days.

For the last hour and a half I have actually been stretched out on the couch getting my nose into one of the books that the team so graciously provided for me. Wilner is snoozing away and Joel in his room listening to music.

I am going to take tomorrow "off" from reporting so my next communique will come Monday evening after I pick up Pastor Ron at the airport. I look forward to my meetings and time with him. We both made up "to talk about" lists and it was pretty amazing the number of items we have in common on our lists.

Wishing you all a good weekend.

Pictures:
Hopie getting attended to
Joyful spirit group
People will do anything to get a good photo..that's Jaimie up the ladder taking a shot of his group

Blessings to one and all
Debbie

News from Pastor Lauvanus

Port-au-Prince has now become a desolate place with no sign of activities. The buildings that are still standing are potential problems for both those who have their tents near them and the pedestrians. The government now is trying to smash down all the buildings that have cracks and cannot be used anymore. The aftershocks are still prominent in Port-au-prince. Some buildings keep falling with the slight shake, and the slight noise or movement can move a crowd of thousands of people in a matter of seconds because people are still under shock and are greatly affected by post traumatic stress associated with the earthquake. Most of the roads in Port-au-Prince are occupied by people who use them to erect their tent or to put a bed sheet as a shelter. They do that not only for safety, but also to be seen by the humanitarian organizations. Everybody sleeps outside in case the earthquake strikes again, even those whose house was not destroy by the first earthquake.

People are wondering if there will be something good that could come out of this gruesome nightmare that hunts their life daily. It does not matter which social class one is from, they all on the same ground, the same tent and circumstances. Now, because there is nothing in Port- au-Prince and the people cannot get any help, there is an exodus of people who leaves their devastated area to go to one of the country sides, a place that is not affected by the earthquake. Some people go to places where they don't have anybody, just wandering for a better living situation. Therefore, this exodus makes the unaffected area prone to famine now. The churches' yards in Haiti are the best shelter place one can find. As a result, they are all crowded with people who come from everywhere.

On the other hand, People who stay in Port-au-Prince are still in great need for food. Some of them have to wait hours before finally get anything to carry home. Some people even fainted in the long line they have to wait for many hours until they can finally get something, if they are lucky. The effort of feeding the people is moving slowly in most places. Other places are still complaining about the fact that they don't get anything yet. Until now, none of the place that has a Lutheran church has been served in term of food, water or sanitation.

Tents are the best alternative to concrete housing that are now considered being dangerous to people. It does not matter what they use to build the tent, they just want something that can shade the sun or even to shelter them from the rain which if it comes would be another disaster now. Last night, it was raining, thousands of people all over Haiti were soaking wet because most of them don't have a proper shelter. People are crying out now to see if the humanitarian or the philanthropic organizations can listen to their plight.

Blackout is another enemy of the situation. Some people profit it for their wrong doings. Women and children are the most vulnerable to the black out. That's why it is recommended that every camp have a generator to solve that problem. Sanitation is another problem that needs to be solved. Most of the places that the people put up their camps were not design for that purpose; consequently, it makes it hard to get proper sanitation. A lot of people now are getting diarrhea. The group that is mostly touched is the children. The food that they get somehow contributes to the diarrhea, because their stomach was not accustomed to eating that kind of food, which makes it difficult to digest.

The biggest problem for now is what would happen to the children who are left without a parent or a loved one. People are deprived from the very basics needs of survival. It¹s already hard for the people to feed themselves and to provide shelter for themselves; therefore sheltering a child who is not their own would be very hard. In case some people might adopt some of them, we are skeptical for them not to put them into 'Restavek' which is a Creole name for child slavery. Thus, we are trying to raise our voice to those who are concerned to try to find a way to help the orphans. Now in the Dominican Republic, there are a lot of children who have been sent there for care, which afterward wandering in Jimani (DR) because they don't have anybody to take care of them. When we talk about children now, there are other aspects of the reality that are involved: a place to shelter them, people to take care of them, school etcŠThe Dominican Republic is also affected by the problem because there is also a prominent number of people after receiving their first aid went to the DR for further assistance. These people are now having a lot of trouble because there is no one to help them there. Most of them are women and children. It is crucial to bring assistance to them there.

Everybody, Christians and non-Christians have considered the church as their refuge. Even though all the churches in Port-au-Prince are affected by the earthquake, but those that have a front or a back yard is a refuge for many. The Lutheran church in Carrefour for instance is the one among all our churches that has been badly damage by the earthquake. People use the back yard to erect their tents and wait on pastor Eniel to say something to them because until now nothing has been said by the authorities. It is not only the members of the church who are waiting on Pastor Eniel to help, but also all the people in the surrounding area. Consequently, the other churches we have in the country, even though they were not affected as badly as the ones in the city, they still have a lot of mouth to feed.

What does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy?

This tragedy is questioning our call as being the body of Christ in this world. It also questions the way we help those who cannot help themselves, and to bring them the assistance needed so that the help they can get can be consistent to their well being. Thus, our response is completely different from the way other organizations work to help alleviate the crisis. Our 'vocatio' which is the call that was extended to us, gives us the ability to go beyond what others see and think to come up with the right remedy. We are facing an unimaginable situation in Haiti now. The problem is so great; most people don't know where to begin. Thus far, the best way to begin is to give these people the basic way to survive and at the same time trying to come
with a long time plan that can help people to become self sufficient. This kind of help is different from the 'band aid' type of mentality which is to put a band aid on the wound and leave, and after sometimes that wound will get infected. That is why the starting point of any substantial plan is to help people to help themselves as they will work toward complete recovery.

As we are reaching out to those who are living in distress, we request your prayers and continuing support to share God's love, grace and compassion to our brothers and sister who are currently undergoing one of the worst times of their life. Your generosity can make a big difference in both alleviating and providing proper care to them. As the body of Christ it is our very nature to step up and to make a difference in this great human sufferings and chaos. Haiti is desperate and she needs your help now.

Rev. Joseph Livenson Lauvanus