Mission Emanuel

At 5:00 pm on January 12, the alarm bell went off in my head. Without being too melodramatic, I believe God, once again, wanted me front and center to respond to the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Within minutes, I made sure all of our staff in Santo Domingo was OK. Their response. . . “What earthquake?” Within hours, thousands of dollars was being sent in for us to launch a full frontal attack from a perfectly situated position in neighboring Santo Domingo at our Cielo campus.
Within 3 days, the first shipment of 5,000 bottles of water was delivered by ministry partner, Youth with a Mission, directed by Kent Norrell. On Day Four we sent a convoy of trucks with food, water, and medicine to Port au Prince. This trip was led by Javier de la Cruz and Mission Emanuel veteran David Rankin, Medical Center director Anna Bianco, Pastor Jean from our Haitian church, and others.

Two days later, we established a new ministry division led by me and Emmanuel Corsino called the “Haitian Care Team”. We went to the border town of Jimani to establish partnership with the Good Samaritan Hospital where we would have a field base of operation to send more water, food, medicine, and teams from Orlando and Winston-Salem. My heart was breaking as 375 trauma cases arrived by helicopter. Some sights I will never forget.

Kent and I established a coalition of Christian relief organizations that would work in concert to ensure a seamless network of goods procurement, delivery and distribution to the neediest areas. Groups participating were Youth with a Mission, Mission Emanuel, Baptist World Relief, World Servants, Interaction and Adventures in Missions. Mission Discovery and Operation Mobilization were added later. We (Mission Emanuel) established a resource center in Cielo where we would produce and provide water from Divinely Inspired Water purification plant. Little did we know when we built the plant to help our local communities of Cielo and Nazaret, that we would become the major supplier of pure water for groups going into Haiti from the DR (now 50,000 and growing).

The first team from Orlando, led by Brett Kreider and Randy Rex, came on Sunday and arrived in Jimani on Monday. They served over 3,000 meals in 3 days. They also carried stretchers, visited and prayed with patients, and helped in numerous other ways.

As I write this, our second team has arrived, led by Steve Rowell, along with a group from First Presbyterian, Winston-Salem, facilitated by Mary Childers who sent her husband, Forrest, and son, John. They assisted the seemingly hopeless Haitians with food, drink, love and prayer.

In the midst of all this was our annual Women’s Trip. It was an incredible week with 15 women
from North Carolina and a group of 40 Dominicans and Haitians from Cielo and Nazaret. For the
first time, the group invited Haitian women to be a part of the classes. It was powerful seeing the 3 cultures working together and getting to know each other, sharing their stories and praising God. Thanks to the ladies who blessed the women in our communities!

At home, we are gearing up to install a new prosthetics lab to address and help the thousands of Haitian children who lost hands, feet and arms in the earthquake.

We are also starting a feeding program for the Haitian families who are arriving in our community to join the 2,000 illegal Haitian refugees already here. We will work through and with Pastor Jean, and with his leadership, find ways to help the homeless in our area.

Our newest God-sighting was the addition of Anna Bolton to my Haitian Care Team as Community Coordinator. Anna is a veteran of Mission Emanuel summer staff, fluent in Spanish, and happened to be in the DR looking for a job. All coincidence. . . ! . . . ? She also has a big heart, great passion for serving God and His children, and lights up any room she enters. What a literal God-send!

Thanks for all your prayers and financial help during this crisis. Please continue to pray and give as you are able as we respond in the Name of Christ.

For more pictures and updates, go to our Haiti Relief page.

With great thanks,

Jack Larson
Director, Mission Emanuel

The October project was so filled with powerful memories and experiences! It would take a book to record everything, but for this letter, I’ll select a few of my favorites.

Dr. Mark and Heather Johnson made great use of our new, beautifully equipped 2 room dental office. Mark and Heather were familiar with the equipment as all of it had come from their office in King, North Carolina. The need for dental care is great in this poor community. People literally die from abscessed teeth. A young girl named Kersy came to see Dr. Mark. She had to have ALL 25 of her teeth removed. Eight teeth were abscessed and the rest couldn’t be saved. She was brave throughout the whole terrifying ordeal, but her sister cried enough for both of them. Later at lunch, our team was challenged to pay for Kersy’s new dental plates. As always, the generosity of the Americans met the need.

One very special memory was after our prayer of dedication of the dental center by Dr. Mark and our DR dentist, Jose Manuel. The 40+ Dominicans and Americans that had crowded into the facility closed our dedication by singing “How Great Thou Art” at the top of their lungs in both languages. What a wonderful memory to carry with me always.
George Wetherill, age 82, was a vital part of our fall teams for 3 years. Last year, after the project, George remarked to Pastor Lee Zehmer that he would be coming back till he died. Last June, George transferred his residence to Heaven. He was a memorable character. He always had a story, a joke, a big smile, an encouraging word, or all of the above. He was deeply loved by all his Dominican and American friends. George never tired of telling everyone he met about the DR and Mission Emanuel. His last wish was to have some of his ashes placed on our hilltop in Cielo, the scene of many fond memories for him near Club Bamboo. His daughter, Megan, came down for the special memorial service led by Pastor Lee. Many, including me, gave fond tribute to this great loving man.

In the audience were many Dominican friends including Juan and Raphael whose families now live in the homes that George helped to build. His memory will not soon be forgotten!

The other highlight was to see Anna Harper’s dream come true. Her vision has been to see a large state-of-the-art physical therapy center built in the new Mission Emanuel Children’s Medical Center. Finally, her faithful planning, work, and collecting all the equipment came to be a reality. Anna was relentless in making this happen by involving almost everyone she knew to give money or buy all the necessary parts and pieces needed to complete the therapy center. It is probably the best equipped and certainly the most beautiful center in the Dominican Republic. Anna brought Deanna, another pediatric therapist, and they treated all of our 19 special needs children, and trained Aquilino, our staff therapist, to continue with their treatment. Anna also brought Lindsey, an artist, who painted a mural and decorated the center.

The quote, “Build it and they will come” is a reality here. A man from San Matas de Forfan, a 3 ½ hour drive, came to us to see if we had a walker for his 6-year old son who was now learning how to walk. This man had just heard of a young girl that we had helped the same way just 2 days before!

Our medical center still needs a lot of furnishings. If you would consider this and our continuous needs for medicine, prayerfully as we reach out in this poor area of this equally poor country, to extend the Good News of Christ along with mercy and love to “the least and the lost.”

God bless you as you extend your gratefulness to God during this Thanksgiving season and say a special prayer as we continue partnering with you in this ministry that is touching so many lives.

With great thanks,

Jack Larson
Director, Mission Emanuel

One of the great things about this long term relational ministry is that you get to be a part of their lives – the good and the bad . . . “ the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” This relational call is for us to stand by them no matter what, and they stand by us.

I remember when Juliana had her terrible accident. Everybody in the community, the church, the staff, and even the hotel where I stay asked often how I was and how Juliana was doing. Literally hundreds of people reminded me (and still remind me) that they’re praying for her and want the latest report. You have no idea how this touched me to my soul. What a gift! But it has been a reciprocal gift that we’ve given each other. I’ve been there through births and deaths, marriages and helping single moms cope with a deserting husband and no money. I’ve been there for infant dedications, baptisms, and praying with people as they enter the Kingdom spiritually and sometimes physically. We’ve built over 40 houses for them and a house of worship to grow in Christ. We provide pure water physically and spiritually. I love this ministry that God has called us to. What a privilege!

Now, two of our closest, long-term families are facing huge challenges that I feel God wants to respond to. For years we have had a special fund called The John 3:16 Fund that one of our supporters set up. It is for emergency food or drugs up to $100. Over that amount, we have had to request the larger amount of money from others. This is often a difficult and time-consuming task.

Because of these two great needs, I have set up a separate fund for larger, special medical needs called the “Healing from Heaven” Fund or in Spanish, “Sanidad Del Cielo.” We hope you would prayerfully consider helping us minister to these two special families.

Most of our short-term missionaries have contact with one or both of families.

First is Tony and Rosa and their family of five children. We built their home nine years ago. Their children go to our school and Rosa is part of our Women’s Co-op. The family is part of our Cielo Church. Tony works hard at his job as a motorcycle taxi service, but does not earn enough to feed his family. Rosa has Stage 3 breast cancer and now requires chemo and radiation and is facing a probable double mastectomy. I was part of a group recently that sat with her, talked with her, and laid hands on her praying for her healing.

Tears flowed as her biggest concern was her family. “Who will take care of them?” she wonders. She is the family glue that holds everything together and it is a huge challenge.

Second is Braulio and Reyna and their family of four children. Braulio has served on our staff and is a close friend to all our staff and many, many more friends from
the US. He has had a brain aneurysm and has occasional seizures. Because of this, he can’t work and his medicine (which we provide) is expensive. Food is scarce, even with Reyna trying to work part-time. Their youngest daughter, Brenda (8 years old) has some major heart problems and faces surgery in a few weeks. Some of our staff are giving blood but more is needed. The cost of the surgery is significant by DR standards – at least several thousand dollars. (Brenda is the little girl with the beautiful smile wearing red & black.)

I believe God has called us to step up and stand with these two families. First, please pray for them, by name, especially Brenda and Rosa as they both face major surgery. Second, please consider a special gift to help us help them with these huge medical bills. I know this is a tough time for a lot of people, as it is for us at Mission Emanuel. But God always provides! We have promised to stand with these families.

WILL YOU STAND WITH US?

One of the great parts of the Mission Emanuel ministry is interwoven partnership between U.S. short-term missionaries, sponsorship, full-time day to day ministry, clinics, water system, schools, co-op, etc. What happens with one area effects the others; sometimes with dramatic effect.

June and the first part of July was when over 300 short-term missionaries came and participated in the Christ centered, relationship driven ministry. Yes, we built 5 houses and worked on numerous other projects, did VBS and a Fun-Fair. But the best part is when God orchestrates something that blesses so many people at the same time.

Carol Hafer, Mission Director for First Presbyterian Church-Orlando, was down with the Orlando family trip (that will have a whole letter of its own next month). I was showing her our new Medical Center which her church was the primary funder. As we walked into the exam room, Dr. Maria looked perplexed. In front of her were a young girl and mom, both near tears.

Dr. Maria related that Dileny just came from having her hearing tested and was almost completely deaf in both ears. She gave us the test and a letter from the audiologist’s prescription for hearing aids, which would cost her over $2,000 US dollars (a sum which they wouldn’t earn in a year). In other words, barring a miracle, this little girl would never hear. Carol, Dr. Maria, and I had no present resources or ideas of how to meet the desperate need, so we laid hands on them both and turned it over to Christ. But frankly, I wasn’t filled with excitement and anticipation of turning the impossible over to a God who would pull off this miracle. I knew He could, but I just didn’t know that He would. With heavy hearts we sent them away but asked that they check back with us, which she did. Day after day I had to report to Fidelina that so far the answer was “not yet”. Discouraging!

Two weeks went by with Fidelina and Dileny’s walking the almost 2 mile trek each way and getting the same report. During the last trip, the group from Faith Community Church, Janesville, Wisconsin, came and brought suitcases of medical supplies to help meet the prescription need in our clinic. Dr. Maria was unpacking and arranging all of the supplies, when she found a small box. She opened the box and shrieked “Glori a Dios” (Praise God)…a near new set of premium hearing aids with the name brand, and I’m not making this up: “Miracle Ear”.

Sheila Edwardson from the church group related to me that weeks before Dileny had ever come to our attention, the mother of a friend of hers had recently passed away. She had paid $7,000 for her Miracle Ears and had used them briefly before she passed. So they were as good as new. Her friend asked “do you think anybody could use these down there?” Sheila responded, “I don’t know but I could at least throw them in with the rest of the stuff and who knows? God did! That’s who. Who else could have orchestrated this?

The next day, Fidlina and Dileny came and sat in front of 60 gringos and received the “Miracle Ears”. As you can imagine, not a dry eye among us. I related to them, as I do to all our “Miracle Home Recipients” Miracle School scholarships, etc., that this is not some gift from the Americans, but a direct response to their prayers and was delivered as an expression of His love and to instill the hope that Jesus is alive and involves we fortunate Americans to be instruments of delivering this hope.

What a privilege to be used by God in such a miraculous way. To come and build, bring meds, provide scholarships and touch the lives of our Dominican Republic brothers and sisters, what could be better that that???? Thanks for all you do to partner with us to bring God hope through expressions of His and our love.

PS. Here is the e-mail I received from Sheila…

“…I want to personally thank you for all you are doing in the DR. Not only are you changing hearts and lives in DR, but also the lives of all who come down there to serve. What an awesome trip we had. We had so many God sightings this trip. Nobody wanted to leave. God certainly took me from my comfort zone this trip and I am so thankful for that. Thanks Jack for the amazing story of the “miracle ear” hearing aids. I feel so blessed to have met with Dileny and Fedelina. They will continue to be in my prayers. I look forward to serving at Mission Emanuel again.”

It was only a quick glimpse, a brief encounter, but it has a profound impact on me.

After completing our first successful week with 50 short term missionaries from Frazer UMC in Montgomery, Alabama, Ron Selin and I were driving downtown for dinner. In Old Santo Domingo, the streets which were carved out 500 years ago are very narrow, barely enough room for one lane of cars down the center of the cobblestone streets. In my usual impatient haste, when traffic stopped because of a fruit cart in the way, I honked my horn like any good Dominican would. As we passed the fruit vendor, I noticed that his cart was total junk, his tricycle’s back wheel was totally wobbly and bent, and had no tire. His front wheels also had no tires either. His cart was full of mangos that he must have found on the ground, badly bruised and ugly. The man was straining to push his cart as hard as his 60+ year old body could manage. He wore rags, his hair was wild and wooly, his skin was wrinkled and weather-beaten. Even at the first glance, I could tell this was a man who lived a tough life and had seen a lot of miles.

I instantly felt guilty about my impatience manifesting itself in a honked “get out of the way.” Ron and I were both stunned by our brief look, and I said, “Wow. That’s one sad sight. If I had an extra thousand pesos, I’d give it to him so he could at least buy some tires.” Then, I drove on.

Before I drove 50 feet, God spoke almost audibly to me, “Jack, you dummy (He calls me that when I am being dumb), you DO have 1000 pesos, because I gave it to you.” I instantly told Ron, “Uh, I do have a thousand pesos.” He responded with, “Yes you do.” So I instantly parked and got out and waited until he reached us.

I said hello and asked his name and he responded Simone Pedro (Simon Peter). Wow! I immediately had a bowling ball in my throat, tears in my eyes, and choked, “Tell me about yourself.” He shared he lived 30 miles away where he collects mangos and pushes his cart all the way to Santo Domingo where he stays on the street (sometimes for many days). He then returns home and starts over again. Wow! I whine because I walk with a limp. Think about this guys life!

I asked, “Do you know Jesus?”

Simone Pedro replied strongly, “Absolutely. I am a man of faith.”

I said, “Great, because He told me to stop and give you some money for new tires.”

His eyes teared up and he bowed his head and said, “Gracias a Dios. Gracias a Dios. Gracias a Dios (Thank you, God).”

I said, “I know your life is very hard but remember, we are only here a short time, and then we can go spend eternity with God.”

“Gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios.”

I then laid hands on him and blessed him and prayed for him.

“Gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios.”

I thank God for this God moment where my faith, Ron’s faith, and Simone Pedro’s faith was strengthened in a 10 minute encounter that I will never forget.

I thank God for you, your prayers, and your financial support, and your partnership in the Gospel with us as we seek to serve His children, young and old.

Con gratitud a Dios,

Jack

Our April Men’s Mission Trip is always a favorite with me because I feel as much a participant as a leader. This year, 40 Hombres del Maestro (The Master’s Men) came and had a life changing experience once again. Each day held special memorable moments. From Sunday worship – to early morning prayer times with Kent Sterchi – to evening praise and sharing times with music led by Freddie Langston and Rick Richbourg . . . it was powerful!

After a hard day of construction on a house and working on the wheelchair ramp for the new Medical Center, we had a US vs DR men’s softball game. Some of us played, the rest of us cheered, and of course, we lost! But we got to eat Cuban sandwiches and howl like bleacher bums.

Tuesday evening we had a men’s banquet at the hotel. Over 40 male Mission Emanuel staff members paired with the American men. There was great food, great music, and a wonderful message by Kent Sterchi, ending with a great time of prayer for each other.

Our morning devotion time was the best ever. It was led by Pastor Jim McNaull. He brought us fresh, outrageous, chilling insights that none of us will ever forget.

Best of all was the amazing relationships that are built between the participants in the Men’s trip. They are at a level deeper than most have ever known.

January was a whirlwind. The first week brought a great teen group from Rockford Christian School led by Keith and Karen Christenson.

Major Highlights:

• A Christmas Party for all the patients at the leprosarium with a puppet show, presents, hugs and songs. Fabulous!
• A desperately needed house completed, furnished and dedicated for Juan and Elizabeth and their 4 kids and mom. Heart-warming!
• A Christmas Party for all of our special needs kids and their families. Touching!

Throw in some chaotic and fun Vacation Bible Schools; playing a Dominican Basketball game with the kids at our world-class playground; memorable worship services; working in our water bottling factory; and so much more . . . and you’ve got a lifetime of memorable experiences. We all hope this was the first of many trips from Rockford Christian School.

The second week brought 13 men led by David Shaw from Orlando to install the air-conditioning in our new Medical Center. I’ve never seen a group work harder then they did! They finished the 1000 square foot physical therapy center and laid out the remainder of the first phase opening. They will be partitioning the therapy room with dividers till the rest is finished.

Special thanks also to David Rankin for laying out and installing the electrical system. And thanks to Bob “Happy” Heimall for his comic relief and the hundred ways he helps me run a project.

The final week brought our annual Women’s Mission Trip, led by Gayle Edwards and Yolanda Holmes.

Major Highlights:

• Training the women in our co-op new skills and making new projects to sell.
• Afternoon outreach to 35 women neighborhood women for crafts, Bible study, and lots of laughs and tears, while building and strengthening relationships.
• 6th Annual Staff Appreciation Dinner Celebration organized by Minerva Fox.
• A visit to the leprosarium.
• Lots of wonderful time expressing love in the community with children and adults.

PHEW! I’m worn out just writing about it! God blessed and used each of the 50+ participants in unique and powerful ways that ministered profoundly to our Dominican brothers and sisters. In return, no one came home quite the same. Their view of God was enlarged and their sense of His call on each of their lives was strengthened as they partnered with Christ in this part of His creation.

What a privilege it is to lead this ministry. I’m humbled and gratified that God would allow me to participate in His healing and touching work which is bringing hope to so many.

Thanks to all of you who make this ministry happen with your prayers and financial gifts. Believe me, I know many of you are sacrificing to help Mission Emanuel continue, and I pray His richest blessing on your lives.

What an incredible year we have had at Mission Emanuel in the Dominican Republic. It is hard to believe that 2008 is coming to a close. Throughout the past year, we have received countless blessings and seen many miracles. Our schools have over 500 students ranging from preschool to high school age. The water purification plant, Provision del Cielo, has provided clean water to hundreds of families in Cielo, Nazaret, and Bayona. The Mary Lynch Budd Children’s Clinic and our dental clinic have helped many patients receive free health care and medications. The Women’s Cooperative has sold over 1,800 Christmas ornaments and other items locally and in the US. We constructed or made improvements on a number of homes and made significant headway on the Medical Center opening in 2009.

This year also brought us over 400 short-term missionaries who spent one week or more serving in the community. Many of you participated on one of those trips and we were delighted to have you using your gifts and sharing Christ’s love with our Dominican and Haitian friends.

None of the successes we have seen this year would have been possible without your continued prayer and financial support. To those who sponsor children through our sponsorship program or given donations toward our medical center, women’s co-op, and housing projects, we say THANK YOU. We wish that you had the opportunity as we do to see the impact you have on so many lives.

{Sponsors, you should have received this letter with pictures of your sponsor child in addition to their classmates and teachers.} When I was in the DR a few weeks ago, the children had a parade from Nazaret to Cielo and performed a program at the Cielo school. It was so wonderful to see them celebrating with each other and reveling in the Christmas season.

May you have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-Jack & the Mission Emanuel staff

Recently, I had the great honor of addressing 1000+ people and receiving an award in Holland.  They were celebrating the 20th anniversary of World Servants Europe, a ministry we founded.  We started World Servants US two years earlier in 1986.  They both have grown tremendously and have taken over 30,000 short-term missionaries to 30+ different countries; have built 300+ each of churches, schools, and clinics; have built thousands of homes and other facilities; and numerous water systems.  Over one-half million children are attending these schools.  Over one million patients have visited these clinics and the Lord only knows how many are attending the churches or have become Christians as a result of lives touched through multiple types of outreaches.  Amazing! But, as many people as this ministry has touched, the lives of these short-term missionaries are the ones who have been affected the most.  As they have gone and served in Christ’s Name, they returned strengthened in their faith and have seen first-hand that God has called and equipped each of them to serve and love others. At the fiesta in Holland, a five-minute video was shown.  It was powerful!  Following are some statements made:

DID YOU KNOW . . .

• One of five children in the world can’t go to school,
• World Servants Europe has built 116 schools using 1,224,500 bricks,
• 397,500 kids attend these schools.

DID YOU KNOW . . .

• One of 26 women die in childbirth,
• World Servants Europe has built 32 clinics and has served 134,000 patients,
• Over 5 million people die each year from drinking impure water,
• Together we’ve laid over 70 miles of water pipes, working 844,480 hours so that 2200 people now have pure water.

ONE RAINDROP HAS BECOME MANY RAINDROPS WHICH HAS BECOME A MIGHTY STREAM PROVIDING HOPE FOR COUNTLESS PEOPLE.

It is amazing what God can do through imperfect people (us) when they give their loaves and fishes to Jesus, and He then takes them and meets the needs of the multitudes. I’m humbled that God would choose to use me in this way but I’m also glad He did!

During the last week of our June project, we had a group from Winston-Salem, NC who came to work on the medical center.  Four of the 60 group members were the Sechrest family.  Tim, Dawn, Elizabeth and Will.  They have a powerful testimony as to God’s provision and faithfulness through the years.  I asked Dawn to write about their experience as a family, which I am glad to share with you below.

“Part of what Tim and I were able to do in the Dominican Republic was to be a part of a program reaching out to the families of children with special needs. In the DR, children with special needs are not often allowed to live. It is a whole culture of people just trying to survive. They need each family member to contribute financially, physically and in every other way.

Mission Emanuel has identified twelve families in the community who have children with special needs, some with cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, and others with rare disorders or syndromes. Jack Larson planned a special celebration for these families and asked Tim and me to speak and tell our story, and introduce our nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who has Down syndrome.

It was an incredible experience to look out in the audience of people who attended the program and to see the families there, the moms, and in some cases the dads, with their children. Those moms and dads were no different than those I see in the United States at the physical therapy or occupational therapy office — they love their children every bit as much as we love our children, and they’re there advocating for their children against great odds.

It was also an inspiring experience to see the ways Mission Emanuel has reached out to these families. Jack spoke with love and compassion to the families, and it was very obvious there was great need. There was a lot of emotion shown among the parents and a need to connect with each other, as well as a need to be provided with many services that would not otherwise be available to them.

An extension of this for us was the opportunity to be a part, with our brothers and sisters in Christ, of laying the foundation for the medical/physical therapy clinic where these and other families will be served. As is the custom at Mission Emanuel, we prayed in each room of the clinic for God’s blessings on the people and the work there. As a family, we shared in a powerful experience seeing the body of Christ at work.”

In July, we lost one of the special needs children in our community.  Deysi Reveca suffered from heart problems and high blood pressure.  She was two years old.  Many of our other children, like Deysi, are in need of medical care that is beyond their means.  Some patients require over $200 USD per month to cover their costs.  Our clinic does the best job we can of helping the children and families, but we need your help.   If you would like to make a contribution, please contact us.