March 1-8

Friday 12:30 p.m.
We made it...well at least some of us did.
The rest will be coming along later in the day.
Gene counted up that in the 10 days some of us
made twenty take-offs and landings.
"We are blessed to be a blessing."
What a tremendous mission. It's hard to put
into words how we were all blessed. Many of you
know that missions are about helping others but
in the process you end up on the blessed side.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support
while we were away. And thank you for your prayers
and support for the people of Haiti. Our small part in b
uilding forty three desks (only 500 plus to go) was a labor of
love, and to see the smiles on the faces of the children was t
hanks enough. Those of you that have been there ( and I found
out over three hundred from our church and others from the area
have volunteered for a Haiti mission), I would tell you the people
of Haiti are still a strong and resilent group, a loving, caring group
of people, that as you know struggle in their day-to-day existence.
Nothing is easy for them. They walk miles to till a garden, go to a
well for water, or to school. Many only eat once or twice a day, but
still you can feel God's spirit strong in their presence. They whistle
and sing while they work and they appear happier than many we see on
the streets of town here in the U.S.

Please check out the pictures included in this e-mail. They will give
you a sense of the work that was done and a flavor for the Hatian people.

As I (George) get the privilege to wrap up our trip I
would like to thank Pastor Jim, Arlan, Gene, Gary, Paul
, Anna, LuAnn, Chris, Chip, and of course Virg and Dorothy
for all the hard work and fellowship during our week with t
he Hatian people. Virg said he was worried whether the work
would get done, but I told him I knew it would get done after that f
irst day when I saw the face of Jesus in each one of you. Proverbs
says, "as iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another." W
hat a great sharpening from a bunch of iron people.

A la'm koontan Jezu renmen mwen ( I am happy Jesus loves me...and you)
The Haiti Desk Team

Spencer IA

Hope Reform Church Spencer IA

Spencer, Iowa returns for seventh year.

Hope Reformed Church in Spencer, IA first sent a team to Pignon, Haiti,
in conjunction with a team from Sunnybrook Church in Sioux City, IA.
That was 2006. We have had a team in Pignon in conjunction with
Promise For Haiti every year since and twice a couple years. Wow!
Noticeable positive changes grace the area via street paving,
more electricity, cell phones, motorcycle taxis, school additions,
and a new beautiful town central park. With all of that said, much
of Pignon is the same as seven years ago. Beautiful sunrises and
sunsets, the wondrous beauty of the stars in the night's sky, water
pumped from city wells or carried from the river, open gar
bage heaps and scattered everywhere, animals wandering and
scavenging, children's huge smiles and laughs, dogs and chickens
that do not understand my sleep schedule, the daily morning odor
of burning refuse, and the constant daily reality of the struggle for life.
The hospital continues to reach out to the hurting. A new cholera
clinic last year saved many lives but was unplanned causing budget
stress. Two years ago Many Hands for Haiti began and continues to
support a lunch program for the patients. That is huge! Supporting
nd helping serve meals was another positive new experience for us.
We spent many evenings visiting patients and singing to them. Many
young Haitian men joined us and even sang a special song for us. A
surgeon in scrubs and mask joined us as well as almost everyone did
when singing Ala'm Kontan!
With the direction of Dean VanRoekel (Sioux City Sunnybrook interim
volunteer coordinator for Many Hands for Haiti) our team built, varnished
and assembled new desks for Guimby School. We loaded them on
TapTaps and made the mountainous trip for the delivery and also held
a VBS for the older students while there. Hope Church started and has
supported a hot lunch program for Guimby since 2007. Watching kids
eat a nourishing meal reinforced the need to continue our support. The
kids looked healthier due partly to the lunch program and partly due to the
health and hygiene being taught to the Haitians. Smiles, songs, and the love
of Jesus was everywhere.
The love of Jesus was also present at a Family Life Conference presented to
100 women and their husbands. With the support of Pastor Francios and
the use of his church, Philadelphia Baptist, our team witnessed to the
women during a morning session. Their husbands were invited to join
them for a lunch and the afternoon session. We gave each couple a
Creole Bible, sewing bags with notions and Bible verse inscribed folding
fans to the women and crank flashlight/radios to the men; we taught Bible
stories, sang and sang and sang, learned Bible verses, and challenged them
to be strong and loving couples and families. Some surprises, laughs, hugs,
and commitments were the day!
Visiting the poorest of the poor, we shared a bit of the gospel as well as a
bag of rice to help get them by. We realize again how blessed we are and
how our small gestures are so welcomed. We are the hands and feet of
God's love and the supporters back home. We wish they could all experience this!
We had the privilege to visit Bill and Jennifer Campbell and the kids at Haiti
Home of Hope orphanage. These people and this orphanage are awesome!
Painting nails seemed to thrill the girls as the guys played guy games.
Everyone loved the chalk drawings. This visit is always a blessing and
reacquainting is always fun.

We worshipped on Sunday at the UCI Worship Center, toured irrigated
fields due to new pumps, checked out the new Bible college and
dormitory construction site, visited the elementary school, and had
lunch with JeanJean and Kristi Mompremier. We have observed God's
blessings at UCI over the years and are proud to be a small part.
Our theme has been "Hope Touching Haiti Touching Hope". The
more we visit Haiti, the more we are blessed. This trip was just that!

Mike Schmillen

Hope Church, Spencer,IA

Bryan Nikkel

Bryan Nikkel with the Pella Christian group in Pignon, Haiti

I just wanted to write to you about an experience we had today (Sunday).
Towards the end of the day, after a 4 hour church service, a walk about
town and a visit to the orphanage, we were on our way back to the hospital
complex. As we were driving on the dirt and stone road (gravel would
be a generous term) we saw an old woman sitting along the side of the
road and scooting herself along as though she could not walk. There were
many people around and as far as I could see, none of them were paying
her any attention. Tim immediately stopped and said “We need to
help this lady.” We managed to find out from her that she was going
home which was just across the street and down a hundred feet or so.
At the rate she was traveling it would have taken her 20 or 30 minutes
to cover the distance. So we picked her up and brought her home.
Her home was a typical Haitian home – a single room cinder block
house with a concrete and dirt floor. What was different was that
she had no door and hardly any belongings inside. She had no bed,
she slept on the concrete floor. It was very dark but we could make
out a small folded blanket and a very few other items around.
Evidence that she had made a small fire next to where she slept
still remained. It wasn't clear if this might have been for cooking
some meager amount of food she may have had or just to keep her
warm. Some of the group were discussing how she could benefit from
a P.E.T (a three wheeled vehicle the rider can propel by “pedaling” with
their arms instead of their legs). About that time, some other members of
the group announced that she actually has a P.E.T. but she can't use it because
it's a child sized version and the pedals hit her knees. A quick assessment
determined that we could make it work for her if we moved the seat back.
So we loaded up the P.E.T in the back of the truck and headed for the Iowa
House where all the tools are stored. It only took a few minutes to make
the adjustments and test it out to make sure it was still stable with it's new
configuration. While we were doing that some other team members gathered
up some food for her and as we left we grabbed a mattress from storage and
added it to the load in the back of the truck. When we got back to her home
and brought the things to her, she was overwhelmed. Tim got her on the P.E.T
and gave her a training run – out her door, through the yard and out into the
street. A large gathering of spectators had come to see what all these white
people were doing with this old lady who was an outcast in their world. Tim
and some team members brought her back into her home and offered to pray
for her. She excitedly said yes and got tears in her eyes as they prayed over her.
One of the Haitian boys traveling around with us who acted as an interpreter for
us said the unfortunate thing was that someone would probably steal the mattress
we brought for her by morning. For that reason we also could not give her very
much food because it would just be stolen. We resolved to check in with her again
in the morning and see what else we can do for her. What an extreme opportunity
God gave us to be the hands and feet of Jesus for this woman and all those who
witnessed our work. To God be the Glory!!!
There is much more to this story - please ask us about it when we get back.

Blessings from Haiti,

Bryan Nikkel


THERES MORE: Some of the members of the group went out to this lady's
house and picked her up in the truck Wednesday afternoon and brought
her to the hospital and bathed her, washed her hair, gave her a fresh set o
f clothes and took her back home. This lady smelled SO BAD people were
backing away from her as they carried her in- but the love and compassion
this group showed for here was so amazing to see. I'm sure she hadn't been
bathed in months maybe years, her hair was matted and full of scabs............s
he was truly an outcast and had no one to care for her. This is truly what
showing God's love is all about! Thank you to all in this group who were
the love and light of Jesus to this woman.