What is Jesus saying here? ~ In what ways are you giving your life for His sake? ~ What does that look like in your daily life? ~Do these words of Jesus cause you to evaluate life decisions? ~ Do you at times find yourself alone in how you think and in how you act as you allow these words of Jesus to penetrate your heart?
INVEST WISELY
I understand that the economy in the U.S. is down and that things are tough; and so you may be looking for an investment that will reap a good return. May I suggest investing in the lives of students from Haiti's infamous slum, Cite Soleil. Check it out by clicking here.
John McHoul
STUDENT SPONSORSHIP CARDS
Heartline continues to move forward in it first Student Sponsorship program. We as you can see from the Heartline Sponsorship ID Cards above have identified 51 students. Whoa, you probably thought that we were starting with 50 students, as did I until this morning. As I today was looking over the cards, I saw one card with the pictures of two children on it. I asked Pierre, who is doing the legwork to start this program, why this card had the pictures of two children on it. He told me that the children are twins and they want to do everything together and if only one got her photo taken, then the other one would be hurt or jealous. So I of course asked if we were sending both of them to school and he told me no. So now I begin trying to figure it out. We have twins who do “all” (watch out for generalizations) things together including having both their pictures on the id card which is only for one student; but we aren’t sending both these the twins, who do “all” things together. Go figure. So obviously this had to be rectified and so we have added one for student, the other twin and at least for now each will have her own Heartline Student Sponsorship ID card. Click here to find out more about the Student Sponsorship Program?
SEWING PROGRAM TEACHERS
Recently Heartline honored its sewing program teachers by taking them (actually I drove them and then came and got them and paid the bill when they called me to let me know they were finished) to a cloth napkin, as opposed to a paper napkin restaurant. We also call this the heavy plate restaurant as the plates are like a set of weights. They asked if I would like to sit and eat with them, but I’m sure that they were just being polite. These ladies are a blessing.
We are working daily to prepare for the next sewing class that starts in September!
John
Less than half of all Haitians can read and write, more than half of the nation's children fail to reach the fifth grade, and only one in five young people reach secondary school, reports Xinhua News Agency (May 20, 1999):
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) provides these figures on Haiti in its report, "The State of the World's Children 1999", the agency's wide-ranging examination of challenges to the right of all children to basic education; According to UNICEF, 58% percent of Haiti's current educational facilities were not built originally to serve as schools. Many classrooms are so overcrowded that only one in four children has a place to sit. And almost two-thirds of all children abandon primary school before completing the six-year course. The vast majority of schools lack trained teachers and less than half the children have access to textbooks
Over 80% of Haiti's people live in abject poverty. Haiti is one of the most impoverished nations in the Western Hemisphere. The unemployment rate is estimated to be around 60 percent; and the literacy rate is approximately 45 percent. Half the population of Haiti earns $60 or less per year. The total expenditure on health per person is $54 (compared to $4,499 in the USA and $483 in Mexico).
Less than 45 percent of all Haitians have access to potable water. The life expectancy rate in Haiti is only 53 years. Seventy-six percent of Haiti's children under the age of five are underweight, or suffer from stunted growth and 63 percent of Haitians are undernourished. Ninety percent of all HIV and AIDS infections in the Caribbean are in Haiti: over 300,000 infected people have been identified and deaths from HIV/AIDS have left 163,000 children orphaned. Tuberculosis remains a major cause of adult mortality; rates are thought to be the highest in the hemisphere. Cases of TB in Haiti are more than ten times as high as those in other Latin American countries. Haiti's infant mortality rate is staggering: 74 deaths per 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality rate is approximately 1400 deaths for every 100,000. Only 1 in every 10,000 Haitians has access to a physician.
The average daily wage is $2, and 80 percent of the roughly 8 million people live below the poverty line. Haiti has just three airports with paved runways. According to the CIA World Factbook, Haiti is a major Caribbean transshipment point for cocaine en route to the US and Europe and the venue for substantial money-laundering activity. Narcotics traffickers favor Haiti for illicit financial transactions, and its proximity to Cuba makes it strategically attractive to non-Haiti interests.
TODAY early this morning Pierre from the Heartline Office left to go to Cite Soleil to pay the registration fee for 46 students. It is seven hours later and he is still not back.
QUESTION: So then John, Heartline has received the support needed to send these children to school? ANSWER: No we have not and I'm not sure when we will reach our goal of having the money to sponsor 50 children, but we are moving forward and will believe God that He will touch the hearts of those who value education and have a heart for those who couldn't possibly attend school with out help.
I am challenging educators and those who have never had to worry about paying for education and those who have been helped by others so you could reach your dream of attending school. We are asking your help to send 50 children to school for the 2010/2011 school year. These will be children that you may never meet face to face but who I can assure you will not squander the opportunity if given to them.
PLEASE help us help others. For more information go to: MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY SPONSORING A CHILD TO GO TO SCHOOL
Port au Prince, Haiti
"The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire."— Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch
"One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested."— E. M. Forster
"Passion is the mob of the man, that commits a riot upon his reason." ~ William Penn
"Never underestimate the power of passion." ~ Eve Sawyer
"Chase your passion, not your pension."— Denis Waitle
"A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position." -- John Maxwell
Stir in Me
By Todd Proctor
Stir in meA fire that the world cannot explainI come to worship YouStir in meA passion that my heart cannot containI come to worship YouHold me, break meMold me and make me more and more like YouI come to worship YouTo Love You, fear YouDraw ever near You as I worship YouI come to worship YouOh, Lord
Philippians 3:8-14
8Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ 9and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. 10All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, 11so that somehow I also may be raised to life. 12I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. 13My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. 14I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.
ASK YOURSELF: Do you have a passion for living? A passion for life ~ A passion for what you do or believe ~ A passion to contribute ~ A passion for God's will.
Beth and I were talking the other day and we both agreed that we could blog more if we weren’t so busy and if we didn’t have so many different things going on.
I do want to take some time to update you about some things are have happened and are happening. Your prayers and support continue to make a huge difference.
AMANDA
We have been working and praying to get Amanda to the States, specifically to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for treatment of the injuries that she suffered when a larger house fell on top of the one room cement house in which she lived and then caused her house to collapse on top of her. She suffered a broken leg and her left arm/shoulder was severely injured requiring special surgery which can not be obtained in Haiti. You have prayed with us and have given to help with Amanda’s non medical costs and now it is my joy and pleasure to tell you that Amanda has been accepted by the Mayo Clinic and last week she received her visa from the American Consulate in Port au Prince, and she will be traveling in about two weeks to the Mayo Clinic. Since receiving the visa, she has had a steady stream of visitors that want to be sure to see her before she travels. Amanda who is usually loud and outgoing has been kind of quiet since receiving news that soon she will be traveling. This will be her first time traveling by air, she will be leaving her family and country and of course there is her concern about her medical condition. She more than once has spoken to me about being discouraged because all the other patients were getting better and leaving but she was still in the hospital and her arm was not better and she still couldn’t use it. I several times assured her that we were working for her and dozens of people were praying and that we would not give up. Thank you for being there with us and please keep on praying.
MARJORIE
Marjorie lost her left hand when the school she was attending collapsed on her where she stay buried under the rubble for three days until she was rescued. Heartline recently put up a house for her as the house that she had lived in was also destroyed during the earthquake.
Marjorie is pictured left with the grandmother of one of our patients and on the right she is standing with some of the patients and friends who joined us as we took Marjorie home. It was an emotional time and a time of uncertainty as Marjorie has been with us for months and now she is must acclimate back into life outside of the Heartline field hospital. but now it will be life with a missing left hand. She and some of the others started crying when just before we left her and prayed as the group began to tell her that they loved her and would miss her.
Praying for Marjorie
SEWING SCHOOL GRADUATION
On August 6th the Heartline Sewing Program held its graduation with 15 ladies graduating. These ladies worked hard and to meet the requirements to graduate. We already have 45 enrolled in the next class which starts in mid September. These ladies are amazing and you can check out some of their work by going to Haitian Creations
STUDENT SPONSORSHIP
After much prayer and work Heartline for the 2010/11 school year will sponsor 50 children from Cite Soleil to attend school. We have been working on this for several weeks and were able to nail down details. Please go to our website for more info.
PURCHASED LAND
Heartline has purchased three acres of land on which we among others things will build a 20 bed clinic. Stay tune for more details.
PRAYER REQUEST
Thank you for joining with us as we endeavor to be the hands of Christ in Haiti.
We met Djenie when baby Kenny was 3 days old, weighed 3 pounds and was very sick. Our big, white truck was doing its rounds in lower Boston, Cite Soleil and found them among several others who were wounded and sick. Kenny needed to be treated and Djenie who was in the midst of post-partum was frightened of us and wanted to go home. She didn't know what to do with this baby and didn't know what to make of us. Our doctors treated Kenny, we worked with her on breast-feeding and sent them home as soon as possible since she was so despondent being with us.Three weeks later they returned on our big white truck. He still weighed 3 pounds and Djenie had a raging breast infection. I was attending to Djenie while nurses took Kenny who was wrapped in a blanket. He was near death. Our medical team jumped into action and life saving measures were taken for this little guy. We sped him to Miami Field hospital where he stayed for several weeks. That first night we were sure he would die. Djenie was sure he was fine and kept wanting to go home. When it finally sunk in that he wasn't fine she wailed with a wail that broke our hearts. God hears.Day after day we brought Djenie to the field hospital to visit. They bonded. Breastfeeding finally took. Love was born - a love that is continually threatened. The odds have always been against her being a successful mom. Her family is violent and there are many of them living in a small shack. The baby's dad died. First we heard he was dead by gunshot and then he in fact died in a fight by a crushing blow by a cement block. Djenie wailed that gut wrenching wail again. He too was a teenager from one of the most violent neighborhoods on earth.Over the months Djenie and Kenny became part of our hospital and lives. We (Beth) kept saying he could be discharged when he weighed five pounds. Then ten. Then fifteen. He's over 16 pounds and they are still with us. He is chubby, breast fed and permanently hooked to his mom's hip. She runs to his every whimper. Parenting skills have been gained. Her teenage responses to his cries have vanished and a real mom has emerged. The mom who wouldn't rouse to feed him now jumps to his every cry. She's grown.Djenie goes home to Cite Soleil every now and again for a few days. Her mom and mom's boyfriend tell her she can live at home but not with a child. They continually advise her to give him to an orphanage. The dad's mother has offered to take Kenny but not Djenie.Orphanages can be wonderful places of refuge for the abandoned child and when a mom dies. We ran a crèche for many years. There are times when this is the best answer. We love adoption and gave many years to making adoptions happen. There are also overcrowded, understaffed orphanages where children do not get the care and parenting that every child should have. Haiti is loaded with these places.Djenie helps us at the women's program. She is a comic and makes us laugh. She is moody, fights with others patients and then comes running to me to bail her out. I always do. One of her jobs is to help with pregnancy tests. We give a lady a cup, tell her to give us a urine sample and then we give her the news. Eager to help Djenie told a woman to go pee in a cup but told her to pee in the yard instead of the bathroom. We all laughed. Djenie giggled. The woman didn't realize what was funny - this is Haiti after all. Bathrooms aren't always available.Yesterday some of our patients took their babies to a local Haitian orphanage for a government vaccination program. I watched them take kids hand in hand down the street to do their motherly duty. They know vaccinations in Haiti are important. They want to be responsible. Djenie carried Kenny and off they went.A few hours later Djenie came to me and said that the woman at the orphanage offered to take Kenny into the orphanage seeing that she was a teenager. Djenie said, "no thank you".Then the woman offered to buy Kenny saying she would give Djenie a lot of money for him. Djenie again said, "no thank you, I have people that are helping me". I listened and told her what a great mom she is and how correct she was not to give Kenny to this woman. I was calm. Inside my blood was boiling as questions raged. Why did this woman want Kenny? Don't they have enough unwanted children? Why was she singling him out and wanting to buy him? Would she turn around and sell him for more money?They are a team - Djenie and Kenny. With help they have made it this far and are well connected. He is healthy - she is growing as a person. She is not our only teen mom at the hospital. Seirgeline and her baby Job live with us as well. We have discharged them over and over by they keep returning. Seirgeline had a broken arm like a pretzel from the earthquake and could not have surgery until she delivered. Jonna and I delivered Job. She had her surgery, healed but never quite made it home. Her mom doesn't want her, baby's dad isn't so interested either.As our hospital winds down we've got to figure out what to do with our teen moms. They are successful but may not continue to be if we send them out on their own. Just building them houses is not the answer. Their lives are complicated - solutions are complicated. Obviously a teen mom program of some sort has to on the agenda. If we don't they will be swallowed up by Cite Soleil and its violence, an over- crowded orphanage, or by a grandma who does not have Djenie's best interest in mind. If we don't help them - who will?
Beth McHoul
Kenny being worked on by the Heartline team
Djenie & Kenny at the Miami Field Hospital
Djenie being prayed for by Heartline folk
Kenney
Kenny and Djenie
Djenie’s home in Cite Soleil
What does God have for us as He has brought these two moms and their children to Heartline? What is His plan? We know that we can not send these girls and children away; and yet what should we do. I wish that I could tell you that we have it all figured out, but we don’t. We are praying and ask that you pray with us as we look to God for His direction in embracing and helping Djenie, Seirgeline, their children and others in the same situation.
john.mchoul@heartlineministries.org
Here we are six months after the earth shook Haiti and our world. Just now we are starting to slow down a little, let go of the adrenaline that has kept us going, and breathe a bit. Crisis mode has past and here we stand in the rubble trying to go forward. Now we have to live.We all put our normal lives on hold. No seeing the grandchildren, no time away from Haiti, no evenings at home reading a book (although John still squeezes book reading in during the night while the rest of us sleep), no down time. Dokte Jen has become the person with the most frequent flier miles known to American Airlines with her trips back and forth. Her love and relationship with the patients is extraordinary. We wait for the return of friends stuck stateside. Here we are at the six month milestone.We are pretty far along in the care of our patients. Prosthetic legs are made and working on fitting well and becoming comfortable. Land is being bought and houses are being built. Long term patients futures are being discussed. What to do about the teen moms who made Heartline Hospital their home and now have no other home to go to? Complicated.What we didn't plan on is that a hospital would become a community, a family, a place of refuge after the healing. Who could have predicted we would love these people who ended up at our trauma center so much?The earthquake was a terrible thing and the clean up will outlast my lifetime I'm sure. It cost many their lives and cost many their lives as they knew them. On my morning runs I check out the clean up of a hotel that fell. Cars smashed in the parking lot. Cement everywhere. I watch as each day the mess takes on a different form. I wonder how this space will ever be cleared. At one point I could smell death again, a reminder to the living that so many bodies are still trapped under the rubble.But here we are privileged to work with the living. The living who lost family members, homes, possessions. I see them laugh at John's antics, argue and banter back and forth with each other. I see the boys tease the girls. I see them love and care for each other in a beautiful way. I see them steal moments alone on the roof top where they must cherish their memories of loved ones lost and let themselves feel the sorrow.Any natural disaster is a terrible thing that seems to change and take life in a random way. Yet, here we are allowed to be part of all this, privileged to be in a place where we can help. Not random at all that we already live here and could step up to the plate and be a little part of what makes Haiti heal.As the adrenaline fades and moments of silence set in I feel enormously privileged to be part of all this. I see heroes every time I walk in the hospital gate. I see the Lord and HIs faithfulness at every turn. Shaken but not broken.
Marjorie lost her hand when she was trapped for three days under the rubble of her collapsed school. When she was finally pulled out, it was clear that her hand was damaged beyond repair and that it had to be amputated. We at Heartline received Marjorie shortly after the amputation of her left hand and she at that time was not the cheerful, easy to laugh young lady that we now know. It took a lot of care by the Heartline medical personnel and community treat her injury, and help her not give in to despair or discouragement. And so now Marjorie is an encouragement to us as she bravely faces the future.
This past week the Heartline crew was privileged to put up a house for Marjorie. This was our first try at actually putting up a house ourselves and instead of taking one day as we were told it should take it took three day. But it was a group effort with several Heartline folks joining with relatives and neighbors of Marjorie to put up this house where once stood a cement house that was destroyed in the earthquake.
HEARTLINE through the funds given by generous donors and by those that supported Paige Porter as she ran a half marathon have so far committed 35 houses to those who lost their homes in the earthquake. We as well have purchased several plots of land for those who were renting and then we can put a house on their own land for them.
Each person who receives a home is personally known by Heartline or by the other ministries that we are privileged to help with homes for those that they are close to. We soon will be putting up more Creole homes manufactured by our friend at Maxima here in Haiti.
Taking the pieces of the house off the truck that we rented to transport it to the job site. Notice how hard Troy is working.
Putting the house together
To those that gave and will give as Heartline provides housing, thank you for allowing people to escape living under tarps or in tents. This could not happen without you. We will continue to help people with housing. Click HERE if you would like to help Heartline help others.
CITE SOLEIL WITH THE GROUP FROM INDIANA WHO PUT TOGETHER OVER 200 BAGS OF FOOD THAT WE SHARED WITH TWO COMMUNITIES
CITE SOLEIL: We continue to slowly make inroads into Cite Soleil. We specifically are working on three things. Having water trucks (3000 gallons per truckload) delivered into the area twice a week. Sponsoring 100 children to go to school for the 2010-2011 school year. We are still working out the details and will keep you informed. Getting Beth and her women’s program into the area to teach the ladies.
CITE SOLEIL: We continue to slowly make inroads into Cite Soleil. We specifically are working on three things.
WOMEN’S PROGRAM: Do we ever have a lot going on here.
FIELD HOSPITAL:
The dome made out of tarps has been taken down as the Heartline Field Hospital now only has a handful of patients. We are working with these patients as some need continued follow up, others need housing, others we are working to get to the States for further treatment and others need a family.
HOUSING: We are working on providing housing for some of our patients and others in need. Just yesterday we reviewed the site where the houses of two of our patients collapsed. We are having them do some prep work that we are paying for and we hope that on Monday or Tuesday that we will have one of the houses put up, so Marjorie, our patient who lost her hand when the earth shook will have a home to go home to.
Paige Porter raised about $52.000 when she recently ran a half marathon. Within the next several days, at least 30 houses will be delivered to people in need.
HEARTLINE GUEST HOUSE:
The Heartline Guest House is a beautiful, peaceful, safe, and secure place that we spent several weeks working on and now we are by and large finished and waiting for you.
You can check out the Guest House by clicking here
LAND: We are in the process of negotiating the purchase of a piece of land on which we can build a clinic, house the various women’s programs, build a simple facility where groups can meet, and more. Your prayers are very much needed as we look to God for His will and direction.
PORT AU PRINCE FELLOWSHIP is our English speaking church of 300 plus people. Our worship is vibrant and lively and it would be great to have you visit is. We are located on the Campus of Quisqueya Christian School at Delmas 75/77 Delmas. Our worship service starts at 9:30 AM but you should get there before 9:00 if you would like to sit inside.
Please pray for our upcoming youth retreat scheduled for July 9-11.
OTHER STUFF
We continue to have the rooftop garden, the hens that lay eggs and the tilapia. If we are able to purchase the land that we are looking at, we then, will have a bigger garden, more hens and more tilapia.
Still looking to God to start a ministry to men.
SAID BY BETH TODAY: Now Beth and I have been married for 35 years and she still doesn;t get it. This morning as I was bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t find shorts to wear, she looked in the drawer and saw several pairs, but I told her that I didn’t want to wear any of those ones and that I wanted to wear the ones that I always wear. She proceeded to find the several pairs that I like to wear and then hold them up for display to show me all the holes. She then said that I should throw them all away because they had lots of holes and she then told me that someone came to church and wanted to know what the homeless man was doing on the platform. Her words don’t bother me as she simply lacks understanding. She doesn’t understand that each hole was well earned and although ratty looking, my clothes are like fellow travelers or partners and it is unthinkable to discard them because of a few holes or tears, or bleach stains. I continue to hope that she someday sees the light.
MARJORIE & AMANDA
Yesterday, I went with several of the patients to check out their houses or what remains of their houses after the earthquake. Three of the patients were severely injured when their houses fell on them and two were injured while at school and their schools collapsed on top of them. We also went to determine if we can put up a wooden house in the place where their cement house once stood. Now when I use the word “house” you perhaps are thinking of a multi room house or apartment similar to what you live in but in the cases of these patients the houses are more typically made of cement with one to two small rooms and no indoor plumbing and with an outhouse located on or near the property.
MARJORIE and AMANDA pictured above actually knew each other before the earthquake and lived in the same neighborhood. These photos taken today are of Marjorie getting ready for English class at our filed hospital and of Amanda shuffling along to get to English class before it begins
Marjorie lost her left hand when the school she was attending fell on her and Amanda suffered seriously injuries when the larger house right next to the little house that she and her cousin rented fell onto their house and destroyed it with Amanda inside.
RUBBLE OF AMANDA’S HOUSE
The Salmon colored walls and the rubble is what remains of the much larger house that collapsed and fell on Amanda’s house. The remains of Amanda’s house are actually under the rubble seen in this picture. Yesterday when I returned from seeing what remained of Amanda’s house, I showed her the pictures and she grew silent and stayed that way for quite a while as she perhaps was reliving the moment when the earth shook and her house fell and her life changed forever.
OTHER HOUSES DAMAGED IN THE AREA
We very much need your ongoing prayers and support as we continue to care for our remaining patients and look to help them with housing, school and their future.
Please continue to pray for Amanda as we endeavor to get her to the Mayo Clinic for needed surgery. We are still waiting for approval.
Today we made another Cite Soleil trip as we continue to make inroads into ministering in the communities of Ba Boston and Tecina.
We were there on Tuesday meeting with a committee that we are trying to work with and we then came back today to give about 377 pairs of Crocs and to meet some more. The Croc distribution, coordinated by the local committee went quite well and it was well organized sort of. We also made the rounds and visited people in their homes. With me on this trip were men from Indiana, Michigan, and Manitoba, Canada. I will be going back on Thursday to do a quickie HIV test on a man and to prayerfully walk around a bit to try to get a feel for what God’s plan is for us in Cite Soleil.
We, this week, will go to some local schools to find out the cost of sending a child to school for the upcoming school year. We are thinking and talking and praying about sponsoring some children to go to school and to give the money directly to the school.
THE GREAT CROC GIVEAWAY
PATRICK
We have been working to get Patrick’s passport so that he can travel to the Shriner’s Hospital in Springfield, Mass where he will receive treatment on his injured leg. It seemed that he was doing well but actually he had a raging infection going on and had some work done on his leg here and an exfix screwed back onto his leg. This 14 year old is a great kid and we are fighting to save his leg. Please fight with us in prayer as we hope that Patrick will soon travel to the States for treatment.
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