Arrival of Pittsburg Medical Team & New Warehouse

We are so excited to yet again have a medical team arrive tonight. These compassionate servants have come down to work for a week in Haiti, a country that is in such dire need of medical attention. According to USAID there is 1 doctor for every 4,000 people in Haiti. We know this team will make a huge impact!

We are also grateful today because we have been able to begin construction on our warehouse! Lifeline has been in dire need of a new warehouse for quite some time now and we've built the foundation but needed help to complete it. God laid this project on the heart of a kind donor and we cannot thank this special person enough! Because of this new warehouse we will be able to help so many more people. Praise the Lord for generous donors who pave the way for Lifeline to be the hands and feet of Jesus!

A Hope for Life!

Last week, one of our 7th grade boys that is 19 years old, Bertho Louis came to Lifeline with his very illl, 15 year old sister that had been living in the mountain with her father. Now first of all I want you to know that Bertho lives by himself after his mother recently died this past year. Bertho makes his living by going and getting small bags of water and selling them in the open market and then taking the money back to the owner and what little surplus he makes extra is his to keep. But Bertho knows how sick his sister is and he is trying to be the responsible one to take care of her. When she came to Lifeline, we immediately had her tested and found that she was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. That is exactly what his mother died from. This girl's name is Madege Louis and is 15 years old and only weighs 64 pounds. I know we can't imagine anything like this for our children, but in Haiti, life is so much more severe. And I am sorry to report to you that this wasn't the worst of the problem. After trying to treat this young lady, she tells us that her brother that is 17 is still in the mountain and that he is much worse than her. My mind went crazy! Now, I am standing here looking at this young lady that in my mind, by the looks of her, may not be alive tomorrow and then she tells me of her brother. So I tell Bertho, go and get him right away and bring him down from the mountain so we can help him before he dies. The next day, Bertho comes with his brother, Rolando Louis and his father. Sure enough Rolando is much more severe than Madege. Being 17, he only weighs 62 pounds and is so weak that he cannot walk.
Bertho is carrying him into lifeline. We immediately seek Dr. Yves help and ask what do we do? The Doctor gave them some medicine and we helped them with food and they went back to the small one room house at Barbancourt where Bertho resides.
Bertho said he would sleep outside while his brother and sister could stay inside the room. However, the father had responsiblities in the mountain of animals and garden, and he did not even pass one night with the children. After the week-end we recieved the news that the boy was not getting any better and there was no time to waste. When we went to get him, he was laying lifeless and I asked where is Bertho and they replied that he had got up very early to go work in someones garden so he could help them. We called for him to come so we could take the two children to the hospital and when he came then I ask him how much he made for working in the garden and he told me fifty gourdes and that is a little over one dollar so I just gave him the money for the day that he would have made because he needed to go with us to take care of his brother and sister. In Haiti every hospital does not accept all patients. So because the two youths had TB we drove to four hospitals and that truly meant a day of driving to finally find one that would accept them in. When we got there the time was after two and they didn't accept patients. BUT, I AM FOR SURE THAT GOD HAD A HAND IN THE PLAN!! because, the gateman allowed us to come in. Bertho carried his brother into the facility and we recieved immediate help for our two patients. Without money to take care of them, I knew that this was truly a LIFE OR DEATH sitauation that had to be taken care of, and I know that God will provide the funds that we need to care for these dear, precious children. Please pray for them and I will keep you posted on their status. ONLY GOD, can move the mountains that the people of Haiti have to endure just to survive each day! WHO could not have compassion on a situation such as this?!

A new table and two chairs for a precious man

One of Lifeline’s elderly men of our La Digue village, after receiving a new house, had one last wish that he could have a small table just to put his plate on and be able to eat. When this request was made, two teachers of Clay City Elementary in Clay City Kentucky stepped up to the plate and eagerly gave the donation for this wish to be granted. We didn’t go out just to purchase any old table but we had one specially made at a wood workshop down our road. This table and two chairs were carefully constructed with loving hands. As you can well see it would be beautiful in anyone’s house. He was so grateful and very happy to receive this much needed gift. Praise God for precious donors who once again have brought undeniable joy to these wonderful people of Haiti!

A New Stove at Lifeline to feed 3,500 kids Monday through Friday!

Anyone that cooks knows how difficult it is when equipment that you use is not working properly. The Lifeline cooks struggled to produce 3,500 meals Monday through Friday with the proper equipment malfunctioning from time to time. Due to the occasional problems it also made it difficult for the cooks to have the food prepared on a timely basis. Although the stoves had been repeatedly repaired and had maintenance done on them, it was time for a new one to be purchased. We were so very grateful for the donor who so compassionately gave the money for a new, updated, version. This new stove now has four rings of burners with each burner having an individual knob to control the heat. This will help prevent scorching of the food because the old burners had to be turned up completely on high in order to heat the huge pans that are necessary to cook the large amount of food. Praise God for the special ones that came forth with the funds so this stove could be purchased for the cooks and the hard jobs they do.

Lifeline won the soccer game 7-4 in their new uniforms!

Last night Lifeline’s football (soccer) team had the night of their life! Lifeline’s team played an exciting game against Barbancourt and won 7-4. Last time Lifeline played Barbancourt they lost, but last night they made sure to win. The game was especially fun because Lifeline had on their brand new uniforms. We are so grateful for the kind donor who gave Lifeline the uniforms that say Lifeline on the front and Haiti on the back along with their number. The also had matching shorts, socks, and white headbands. The team was so proud to wear their uniforms and win the game. Last night was just the beginning of a week-long tournament. We’re looking forward to spending time with people from the community as they come for a great event that enables the people to have some fun. In the midst of the election chaos, inevitable riots, the lingering cholera epidemic, and the normal day to day uncertainty that Haiti brings, it’s nice to come together and have an evening of fun. What a blessing it was to see the team rally together in their uniforms to play and see the crowd of people scream and cheer as their favorite team scored goals. We’re so grateful to have our soccer field for occasions just like this!

Imperial Valley Hope for Haiti teams with Lifeline

This is my second time staying at the Lifeline. If you’ve ever traveled to a developing country and back, you’ll know that when you go home, certain things imprint on your mind, often it’s a face maybe a face of a hungry child or a sick woman. I was here last month and while I was back in the US, the face of a little malnourished girl named Jaline stayed with me and her pictures impacted and inspired new donations and compassionate prayer partners.

When I returned this time I was able to visit the orphanage of Pastor Louissaint where the little girl had stayed and her sister still lives. Lifeline is providing food for the children now so that they receive two meals a day. They have also helped to transfer Jaline to an orphanage in Port au Prince where she can receive special attention and care and she is soon to be adopted to a couple that visits Lifeline. There is nothing more encouraging than to be a part of a place that is making a difference, especially in the lives of those faces you remember. When Lifeline sees a need, they seek to meet that need whether it’s a starving child, discouraged mother or jobless father. They can’t do everything, but for this community, they are a true Lifeline.

I am a part of Imperial Valley Hope for Haiti. We are a small community organization that started shortly after Ryan Rothfleisch, our director, came to Haiti after the earthquake.

He and others have been going back and forth, trying to help and making our community aware of Haiti’s needs. We did not have a place for our ministry to call home or friends to call partners until December when we stayed at the Lifeline. We are now partnering with Lifeline and are building an orphanage in Barbancourt on land adjoined to the Lifeline Barbancourt school. This week a team of four—three farmers and a pastor—are overseeing the rest of the foundations for the support buildings on the sight where they laid our main orphanage building in December.

It is my fourth day today and so much has already been accomplished. The men and their Haitian team of workers have poured four foundations and hope to set more.

I went into town to get prices on all of the items we’ll need to raise funds for from potty-training potties to refrigerators as well as gained invaluable knowledge and experience by spending time with Pat and Carrie at the mission. In just one day here, I saw burns treated, wounds cleaned with Carrie and went with Donald to take a girl to a nearby clinic for a TB test. Things that would take months to learn about in a class happen all in one day here. It had been such a blessing to know that my one week here is not just me seeing something and leaving but I know that while I am gone, Lifeline continues to make a long-term difference in the lives of those in their community and beyond.

Once the orphanage is finished I will be coming down to be the US administrator and I am so thankful that I will have Pat and Donald just down the road and that I will be working in the wonderful community I have begun to build a relationship with. I’m looking forward to being a part of assisting the community in finding solutions and helping volunteers that come be a part of a long-term effort.

-Candice DeGeus

**To follow Jaline's story of adoption, follow their blog at http://www.sixhendos.blogspot.com/.

Water can truly mean LIFE or it can also be DEATH!

After Haiti suffered one of the greatest tragedies in history of its last January 12th earthquake, they also experienced yet another deadly catastrophe, the cholera. Many people died through this terrible epidemic as well. But today at Mission Lifeline the Lord sent a gentleman by the name of Mike Phillips and his team with Hays Pure Water Foundation to share with us a system that is so easily used to purify contaminated water through the use of a small generator and actually make this water safe for us to drink. After being trained to use the system we now can take 2CC of this chlorinated water solution and pour it into a gallon jug of contaminated water and truly make it safe to drink. How amazing!!! God always sends "the right people with the right things" right on time. Now no one else in our village has to die of the cholera due to this very special gift. Our thanks go out to Mike and all of the people that make this Pure Water Foundation possible. We can truly make a difference one drop at a time! To God be the Glory!
That was not the only gift, as if that wasn't enough, that this team brought to us today. We also received a gift of some much needed baby formula from Formula One Life. This is a non-profit organization of flight attendants and volunteers delivering infant formula to third world countries such as Haiti. The mission is accomplished primarily by the flight attendants using their benefits to provide these vital donations to a growing number of orphanages around the world. Many times the mothers of Haiti are malnourished and cannot produce the proper natural milk necessary to nurse a baby. So today this mother of twins was able to receive a portion of this blessing of baby formula for her babies. God continues to place people with us to provide the needs for this country, one step at a time. Praise God!