Thank you ALL for your interest, care and support of these children and making what we do possible!!!

On Tuesday, we told the children to come to school early – at noon instead of 1:30 – because a bus was going to pick them up (squeals of delight erupted just at the mention of riding in a bus) to take them to Cielo, they were going to eat with the visitors from the US, and then there was going to be a special surprise. Almost every child pulled me (Anna) aside individually to confirm the details – and many guaranteed me that they would be there before noon so “they wouldn’t be late.”

I was down at the school building at 10:00 on Thursday when Yumia walked in ready to go! Other kids started trickling in around 11:00 – hardly able to contain their excitement. I returned at noon to shouts of joy from all 36 of the children waiting. I quickly calmed them down and asked them to line up because the bus was on its way. On their own – without any specific instructions – the kids lined up boys in one line and girls in the other, in height order and stood silently waiting for the bus. When the bus pulled up squeals were muffled but the look of joy on the kids’ faces said everything. We loaded onto the bus and headed up to Cielo where we were greeted by smiling students and adults – each of whom paired up with one of the students as we went together to eat.

We all circled up to pray, with a powerful prayer lead by Sammy who thanked the Lord for the day and the opportunity to be there, for blessings on the food, the health and strength of the Americans so they could continue to do His work. It was a joyful unifying of the Lord’s kingdom as the beaming Americans and Haitians ate and shared with one another … the young children completely content and unaware of what was coming next ….

After lunch, I explained the (free!) market to the children and I was sure they were going to explode with the excitement that they were trying to hold in as they were trying so hard to be on their best behavior. The children got together with the other children in their family to pick out things for themselves as well as for the other people living in their home. Everyone had a joyful experience as the kids went through the market trying on clothes and loading up their new backpacks with new items. Several Americans commented on the big hearts of the children– many were more concerned about getting items for siblings and parents than for themselves. They were polite, respectful and thankful as they passed through the market with their new American friend.

After a tearful goodbye, I loaded the kids back on the bus – their faces were a mixture of joy and shock as they still couldn’t believe the incredible afternoon they had just had. We had a tranquil ride back with 36 kids clutching their loaded book bags and smiling ear to ear. But once they got off the bus, and into the school room where their teachers were waiting, the shock wore off and all the contained excitement burst out of them as they pulled their items out of their bags and began trying them on to show off. There were countless picture requests – too many cute ones to put in the blog – so click here to see all the pics.

I spent the following couple of days thrilled about the event and wishing for more days like Thursday. On Saturday morning, I read the May 1 entry in My Utmost for His Highest that seemed to be written just for me … Oswald Chambers wrote: “If we try to re-introduce the rare moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. …. Never live for the rare moments, they are surprises. God will give us touches of inspiration when He sees we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never make our moments of inspiration our standard; our standard is our duty.”

Mission Emanuel has donated thousand bottles of water to Mision Rescate since the earthquake, and Omyra, the director, called last week to let us know they were running out of water. On Saturday morning, the two of us loaded into a truck filled with water to head towards Port-au-Prince. We crossed the border without any problems thanks to assistance from International Missions Board, one of the organizations that we have been partnering with, and arrived to Mision Rescate’s base by the afternoon.

We stayed there through Tuesday and felt so blessed to have the opportunity to witness the great work of Mision Rescate serving in the middle of a country in such need. Each patient, each volunteer, each CIMO team member, each person seeking assistance was carefully and thoughtfully treated as Jesus would have treated them. We remind ourselves, we don’t have to be in Haiti to do this. We must be intentional about doing this in Haiti, US, DR … wherever we go. Philippians 2:1-11 says:

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Pictured is part of the YWAM caravan heading to Haiti — the red truck is loaded up with Provisiones del Cielo water provided by Mission Emanuel.

Immediately after the earthquake, YWAM organized a team to work in Port-au-Prince and they have had YWAM groups from all around the world volunteering in their clinic and feeding center. The are located on the campus of a police station that is directly across from the collapsed presidential palace as well as a “tent city.”

This picture was taken from the roof of the police station where YWAM is working — part of the “tent city” that YWAM is serving is in the foreground and the presidential palace in the background. The work that YWAM is doing and has been doing is impressive and is clearly making an impact in the distressed city. The clinic is set up inside of the police station, and is currently seeing about 500 patients a day. This number has decreased from 5,000 a day that they were seeing right after the earthquake. YWAM also fills and distributes daily 800 bags of dry food for families to cook.
They have a big tent stocked with food and water that has been donated from around the world, and it was in this tent that we met some very neat boys that were helping out.

We only spent a couple hours with (left to right) Pierre, John, Steevenson and Livenson but we haven’t been able to stop talking about how much fun we had with the boys. We communicated in a hilarious mixture of Creole, Spanish, English and resorted to a lot of pointing and hand gestures. It was amazing how much we were able to understand each other and despite the language difference, their enthusiasm and joy for life were incredible. They proudly sang a couple renditions of popular American songs into our cameras – we thought they were singing in Creole, but later figured out that they were singing what they thought were the English words. Livenson then sang a song by himself in Creole – we had no idea what he was singing but were impressed by the passion and emotion he put into his song. When we got back to Santo Domingo, we showed the video to the young man who is teaching us Creole and asked him what he was singing. Richard got a sad smile on his face, as he translated the song:
“Ala kontan ma va kontan tou si Ayiti chanje. Ala kontan ma va kontan ……”
“I would be so happy if Haiti changed. I would be so happy …….”

As we reflect on our time with Livenson and his friends, we find ourselves thinking, what can be done to make Livenson happy? What can we do to make Livenson happy?

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” – Hebrews 12:14

This Sunday was the 4th anniversary of the first service at La Iglesia de Dios Evangelicia . They have been celebrating through worship services every night this week and this is the verse that the has been the focus of their services.
The colaboration of the different groups who came together this week was a striking example of God’s Kingdom being united in His name. Americans from the bitter ACC rivals Wake and UNC, Americans from different states, Dominican and Haitian children, youth and adults from diverse backgrounds. We were constantly overwhelmed as we watched the Lord work through each individual and bring these groups toogether as one.

On Thursday night, the students attended the worship service at the Haitian church. The church was filled beyond capacity but worship was moving as we praised the Lord together. A group of Wake and UNC students decided that same afternoon to perform a song and dance at the service. Carey Gates – one of the dancers – told us that the dance was originally coriographed for a dance program at Wake Forest so they had done it before; but now they feel as if the dance was finally performed for who it was meant for. The beautiful production was a powerful form of worship that crossed generations and nations to allow us all to stand in awe of the Lord. And if anyone has pictures of it, can you please get them to one of us so we can post them!?

On Monday and Tuesday, a group did a Vacation Bible School program for the children who are in the feeding program. The previous week, we told each of the children to bring a friend, so there were about 70 kids there singing, and dancing and playing and having a blast with the group.

On Friday afternoon, right before leaving Bayona, all 60 college students went over to the feeding program to pray with the children before school started. Each student in the program sat down with a few college students and we asked them to pray for one another – that the college students pray for the young learners and that the children pray for their visiting friends. Looking around the room at the small groups holding hands, kids with their eyes tightly shut and mouths moving in prayer, and hearing those prayers go up in different languages reminded us of the incredible power of God to unite us all in His name and reveal Himself to us. Each interaction this week was a constant reminder to viv ak ke poze ak tout moun …
pou ka we seye-a. Live in peace with all men … to see the Lord.

-post by Anna

- post written by HCT

When we are open to seeing how God makes connections and uses our experiences, we allow ourselves to be blessed, and even delighted. This week’s delight came on Tuesday when the Haitian children in our feeding and literacy program opened the gifts they had received from children in the US. Eager faces burst with delight as each child, clutching a photo of a North Carolina pen pal, opened a package with his or her name on it. Inside was an outfit of clothing selected for that child along with a Spanish language beginner level reading book. Yokasta just couldn’t wait and had to put the lime green dress on right over her school uniform!

Because Mission Emanuel has so many generous supporters in the US this scenario hardly seems worth mentioning, except that in this case the donors are Latino families who have immigrated to Winston-Salem NC and are members of the El Buen Pastor mission church there. These are families who have been hit hard by the economic downturn in the US, families who struggle to feed their children and send money back home to parents in Mexico, El Salvador, or Puerto Rico. These are families who understand what it is to be in a strange land in desperate circumstances, and they are families who understand God’s economy. Immediately after the Haitian earthquake these folks began asking their pastor how they could help, and they responded with enthusiasm to Anna’s request for pen pals and clothing for the Haitian immigrants in Bayona. Their generosity was only limited by the airline’s weight limit, as the mamis packed two suitcases full for Anna’s parents, Jon and Mary Bolton, to bring us. Mary is the Director of El Buen Pastor Latino Community Services, and Anna is well-known by the families there – the result of many hours of tutoring, teaching Sunday school, and hanging out there during her time in Winston-Salem.

As Mary and Jon return to North Carolina with cards of thanks and photos of the children here receiving their gifts, we are left with our hearts warmed by the generous out-pouring from one immigrant group to another, knowing that the givers shared not only from their limited material resources, but also from their wealth of hope…the hope that their children will have a positive and secure future. Isn’t God’s economy beautiful?

2 Corinthians 9:10-15: Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Almost a month has gone by, and God has continued working and we know that he will continue to with the knowledge that we have that his faithfulness is forever.

Two weeks ago, when we went to the feeding program at the Haitian church, we saw a young Haitian man sitting at the entrance hall with crutches behind his chair as if he was waiting for something. In greeting him, we saw that his face wasn’t a happy one – he had an expression that reflected a trace of sadness. It was evident that he did not speak Spanish or English, so we continued on to set up for the feeding program. The following day, we got there at the same time and the same man was in the same chair, in the same spot, with the same expression. As we were leaving, one of the church leaders aside and explained to us this man’s situation — after the earthquake, he had been brought in an ambulance from Port-au-Prince to a Santo Domingo hospital. This week he had been discharged. We talked to him for a moment as one of the church members translated from Creole to Spanish.

The thing is, to be finally discharged from the hospital should be great news for someone who has been there for almost a month. But the situation that this man found himself in was not an easy one. All he had were a couple bags and a prosthetic attached to his left leg. This was interesting … we noticed that he had a prosthetic and only 3 or 4 weeks had gone by since the earthquake. We didn’t say anything, but we know that it takes much longer for a wound to heal before it is ready for a prosthetic. We responded that we needed to talk with our directors to see how we were able to help him …. it was then that he told us all he wanted was to return to his country. We thank God that the church had taken this man in. But his only concern was returning to his home.

That night Anna told some of our staff about this young man, and they questioned the validity of the story when they heard about the prosthetic, because so little time had passed since the earthquake.
If we stop and think, we know that in all of our lives, there have been moments when it has been difficult to trust a person, and the hard part is to help someone when we are not sure if the person in really needs help or is taking advantage of us, but ….. what does God ask of us? I can only think of Micah 6:8. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” What is most powerful to me is “love mercy”– it’s something that we often forget. But it’s never too late to start over again and to humble ourselves in God’s presence.

We decided to take him to a bus station that travels to Haiti and buy his ticket for him. The day after the meeting, we returned to talk with the man and began to call different bus companies to confirm the fee and schedule. We were very worried when we were told that to travel he needed a passport because we know that many Haitians are here illegally and enter the Dominican Republic without proper documents. When we returned to speak with him, we told him that we wanted to help but he would need a passport. His saddened face changed like a darkened room when the light is switched on.

It is impossible to explain in words the expression on his face — imagine a shining face reflecting happiness, joy and hope of returning home … a mix of all these emotions in one single expression. He quickly looked in the plastic shopping bag that he had and he took something out as he came closer to us speaking rapidly in Creole as if we could understand what he was trying to tell us. When he realized that we didn’t understand he quickly began to mix Creole, Spanish and English saying: “Oui!! I HAVE PASAPORTE!”

At 8:00 the following morning, Emmanuel met up with the young man in front of the Haitian church. In his hands he held a small suitcase that some Hatian church members had bought to replace the shopping bag. We left for the bus station, and I must say that I was still restless to know about the prosthetic, so with the small amount of Spanish that he knew, he began to tell me about his experience in the earthquake. This was my great surprise — he had lost his leg in a motorcycle accident over a year ago — he already had the prosthetic when the earthquake hit. He told me that he was at his house with some friends, and just a minute after telling them goodbye, as he was leaving the house, part of a wall fell on his right leg, making it impossible for him to walk or even support his own weight with the prosthetic. Because of this, he was brought to the emergency room in Santo Domingo, where they wanted to amputate his good leg. Thanks be to God and His care, that the doctors decided it was not necessary and that he would stay in the facility while his injured leg healed.

Finally, we arrived to the bus station and it was great to see his behavior in the waiting room. He sat down as if he was at home – of course there were many other Haitians there who were also returning to their country, and since the Port-au-Prince airport is still not running at full capacity, the only way to arrive to Haiti is on land. There were Haitians who had come from different parts of the USA and different Dominican cities – all of them talking about what had happened in their country and our friend did not lose time in joining in the conversation. I left with peacefulness in my heart and excited about the hope that this man never lost.

Matthew 25:31-40
31″When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34″Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37″Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40″The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

There is always someone who we can help, there is always something that we can do, there is always a way that we can serve.

Another week has gone by and it is amazing to listen to the prayers of these kids. Every day before they eat lunch they have a moment of prayer, one of them prays and the others repeat out loud. There are three things these kids always ask God for:

1. God, help us to learn how to read
2. God, help us to learn how to write
3. God, bless these people and this lunch

This is something they normally do, pray before classes start. We will always remember the first prayer that we heard. Samy, a little boy around 7 or 8 years old stood up to pray and this was his prayer: “Lord Jesus, thank you because you allow us to be here. God, bless these people who have brought this food. God, help us to learn how to read. God, help us to learn how to write. Lord give us wisdom. In the sweet name of Jesus… Amen!

Now we think to ourselves… What were we asking for when we were that age?? For a new bicycle? Or probably for a new toy that we really wanted?? This kid is asking for WISDOM! Even at this age… What do we ask God for as adults, as young people, as teenagers? I know that God has a plan with these kids and God does wonderful things with those who seek him. The Bible says in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” And it also says in James 3:17, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” Our God who is in heaven will give generously if we believe and do not doubt.

-written by Emmanuel Corsino