After breakfast this morning, we got a special treat... Jeff got to drive us to the boys home in the Tap-Tap (Haitian taxi). Before we left, we prayed over him and for the Lord to bless our travels and our days work. And He did.... We arrived safely and even though Jean Alix was out of town, we were able to coninue on... I'm sure that this won't be the last time that Jeff gets to take the drivers seat!
Once we got to the home, we went looking for extra lumber and more supplies for the day. We pulled out all the stored supplies and dug for the new things, but praise the Lord, we found everything that we needed, so we started working and kept it up until 5! In between all of our hard work, there were many play breaks with the kids who were very eager to play. When we left for the day, we had a total of 7 classrooms framed and 5 rafters in the church repaired. When we finished, Jeff drove us back home!
Pray for us to get amazing sleep and rest tonight so that we have the energy to go on tomorrow. Also, pray that we will be able to use what resources we have to do the work that is needed.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday, March 15th
We arrived at the boys home around 8:30 this morning. We started out first thing by sorting all of our materials for the days work. There was a storage room full of roofing metal and boards of random sizes. Once we knew what we had to work with, Jeff and Tommy drew up plans for the temporary classrooms and the church ceiling. When the plans were in place, we started moving the materials to where they needed to be and began our projects.
To our surprise, there were already 3 makeshift tent classrooms set up where the youngest of the classes were going on! Since they were on the basketball court (where we were planning to build) we decided to start on the opposite side of the court. To do this, we first needed to build a trench around that side of the concrete so that water wouldn't seep into the classroom once it was completed. Meanwhile Tommy's team was working tirelessly to get the rafters in the church repaired. After lunch, school let out so we were able to begin building on the open side while our team was digging the trench.
At the end of our day, we had completed the trench, rebuilt a rafter in the church and had 4 schoolrooms framed. We will build 6 more rooms and finish the other 11 rafters as the weeks progress.
Please continue to pray for us as we minister here in Haiti. Pray for the relationships that we form as we are working together with our Haitian friends. Also, pray for the details and logistics of our trip that are to come. We have materials to buy tomorrow to be able to continue our work here, so pray that they will be available for us. Thank you guys for all of your love,supposrt, and prayers!
To our surprise, there were already 3 makeshift tent classrooms set up where the youngest of the classes were going on! Since they were on the basketball court (where we were planning to build) we decided to start on the opposite side of the court. To do this, we first needed to build a trench around that side of the concrete so that water wouldn't seep into the classroom once it was completed. Meanwhile Tommy's team was working tirelessly to get the rafters in the church repaired. After lunch, school let out so we were able to begin building on the open side while our team was digging the trench.
At the end of our day, we had completed the trench, rebuilt a rafter in the church and had 4 schoolrooms framed. We will build 6 more rooms and finish the other 11 rafters as the weeks progress.
Please continue to pray for us as we minister here in Haiti. Pray for the relationships that we form as we are working together with our Haitian friends. Also, pray for the details and logistics of our trip that are to come. We have materials to buy tomorrow to be able to continue our work here, so pray that they will be available for us. Thank you guys for all of your love,supposrt, and prayers!
Sunday, March 14th
After a midnight layover in Miami, we have finally arrived in Haiti!! The original airport was deemed condemned after the earthquake, so now a new airport 'system' has been developed. Instead of walking onto the Tarmac, we got to go through an actual gate..with air conditioning! Once we all filed through customs, which is now located in an adjacent warehouse, we got our bags and headed outside. Once outside, craziness ensued! There were people trying desperately to help us, but we had to look for our specific friends who had come with Jean Alix. When we finally found them, we loaded all 14 checked bags into the back of a tap-tap ( Haitian taxi bus), climbed in, and we were off. We bumped along for a little over an hour as we gazed at the city completely destroyed. We arrived at Jean Alix's home, met his family and kids, and ate a delicious meal together.
Tomorrow, our plan is to head out to Guibert to begin working on repairing the church. Please pray for us as we arrive at the places we are called to minister. Pray that the Lord will put specific people in our path that need to see the Lord's love in their lives.
Tomorrow, our plan is to head out to Guibert to begin working on repairing the church. Please pray for us as we arrive at the places we are called to minister. Pray that the Lord will put specific people in our path that need to see the Lord's love in their lives.
Friday, March 5, 2010
March 5th, 2010
March 5th, 2010
Good morning all. After returning from Haiti last Saturday night (2/27), our Hope family has been scurrying to plan and prepare for our next trip, since we are on a "short clock”. The three primary objectives we needed to accomplish on that trip were: 1) determine the structural stability of all our facilities in Guibert and prioritize repairs to be made; 2) make a final decision regarding the plan for the "tract" houses we will be building in that village and others as we have opportunity and resources; and, 3) finalize plans for our first construction team which will be in Haiti from March14-21. As you might imagine the logistics for arranging travel to and from Haiti at this time are still an enormous challenge. Jen Sutton has been incredibly diligent and relentless in her pursuit of finding flights for the 16 who will be making that trip.
First, with the wonderful aid of a local structural engineer who gave his time to go with us, we discovered that there are some important repair priorities to complete before we move our children back in to the facilities. They are:
#1. Repair damage to the second floor boys’ suite in their home by creating two 18"X18" columns with 12" beams to carry the weight of the concrete roof that is in place. We will be "overbuilding" the structure as a precaution.
#2. The stair well between the first and second floor of the boys’ suite will also be reinforced with the addition of another concrete column and the addition of a 12" beam.
#3. The middle wall on the first floor of the three-story school building will be restructured as a solid concrete wall.
Other projects to be accomplished are the repair of the two of our three 10,000 gallon water cisterns that failed and the strengthening of the truss system on the church roof. The top three priorities should be completed in the next month to six weeks.
Second, final plans were drawn for the tract houses. The houses will be 11'4"X30', about 360 square feet, having three rooms. The walls will have steel reinforcement vertically every 16" and horizontally every two rows of block. The roof will be a shed roof made of roofing metal. All labor will be volunteer, a combination of Haitian homeowners and church members, with American volunteer teams to assist as available. The cost of the materials will be about $7,740.00. I have attached a copy of our cost analysis.
Third, our desire was to build the first house on the first group trip after the earthquake. Transportation and customs challenges as well as building repair priorities have put us in the position of working on the minor (comparatively speaking) building repairs and beginning construction on the first home. We are excited about the construction of the houses because they will be built while sharing a curriculum of what it means to build a home and not just a house.
On Tuesday afternoon (3/2) at about 2:00 PM 12 pallets of emergency relief goods were released to us by Haitian Customs for NO fees or duty! That was the culmination of an eleven-day ordeal during which, at one point, they were demanding $14,000.00 in duty….another miracle has occurred! We also think this may be a hint of future help for us getting essential supplies in.
In the course of all our labors and relief efforts, we are engaging our Haitian leadership and village families in plans regarding long-term financial recovery through micro enterprise and job creation.
Everyday we see results that strengthen our resolve, and demonstrate the Lord’s favor. Thank you all for your faithfulness and your continued encouragement.
BLESSINGS...Dan
Good morning all. After returning from Haiti last Saturday night (2/27), our Hope family has been scurrying to plan and prepare for our next trip, since we are on a "short clock”. The three primary objectives we needed to accomplish on that trip were: 1) determine the structural stability of all our facilities in Guibert and prioritize repairs to be made; 2) make a final decision regarding the plan for the "tract" houses we will be building in that village and others as we have opportunity and resources; and, 3) finalize plans for our first construction team which will be in Haiti from March14-21. As you might imagine the logistics for arranging travel to and from Haiti at this time are still an enormous challenge. Jen Sutton has been incredibly diligent and relentless in her pursuit of finding flights for the 16 who will be making that trip.
First, with the wonderful aid of a local structural engineer who gave his time to go with us, we discovered that there are some important repair priorities to complete before we move our children back in to the facilities. They are:
#1. Repair damage to the second floor boys’ suite in their home by creating two 18"X18" columns with 12" beams to carry the weight of the concrete roof that is in place. We will be "overbuilding" the structure as a precaution.
#2. The stair well between the first and second floor of the boys’ suite will also be reinforced with the addition of another concrete column and the addition of a 12" beam.
#3. The middle wall on the first floor of the three-story school building will be restructured as a solid concrete wall.
Other projects to be accomplished are the repair of the two of our three 10,000 gallon water cisterns that failed and the strengthening of the truss system on the church roof. The top three priorities should be completed in the next month to six weeks.
Second, final plans were drawn for the tract houses. The houses will be 11'4"X30', about 360 square feet, having three rooms. The walls will have steel reinforcement vertically every 16" and horizontally every two rows of block. The roof will be a shed roof made of roofing metal. All labor will be volunteer, a combination of Haitian homeowners and church members, with American volunteer teams to assist as available. The cost of the materials will be about $7,740.00. I have attached a copy of our cost analysis.
Third, our desire was to build the first house on the first group trip after the earthquake. Transportation and customs challenges as well as building repair priorities have put us in the position of working on the minor (comparatively speaking) building repairs and beginning construction on the first home. We are excited about the construction of the houses because they will be built while sharing a curriculum of what it means to build a home and not just a house.
On Tuesday afternoon (3/2) at about 2:00 PM 12 pallets of emergency relief goods were released to us by Haitian Customs for NO fees or duty! That was the culmination of an eleven-day ordeal during which, at one point, they were demanding $14,000.00 in duty….another miracle has occurred! We also think this may be a hint of future help for us getting essential supplies in.
In the course of all our labors and relief efforts, we are engaging our Haitian leadership and village families in plans regarding long-term financial recovery through micro enterprise and job creation.
Everyday we see results that strengthen our resolve, and demonstrate the Lord’s favor. Thank you all for your faithfulness and your continued encouragement.
BLESSINGS...Dan
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Our most recent team, consisting of Dan Kirkley, Tom Popelka, and Jeff Stegall, has been very productive on the ground in Haiti. One of their main goals was to check out the structural integrity of the school and orphanage. They have found three problem areas that are keeping the buildings from being occupied, but the team believes they can be resolved relatively quickly. Also, before they leave, the team needs to solidify details for our future rebuilding teams. We need specifics about project locations, house blueprints, material lists and final costs. Please pray that our team is able to accomplish all they have set out to do.
Another goal of the trip was to investigate any damage to our two cisterns. After inspection, one of them is cracked, but should be fairly simple to fix. The other one, however, may be a total loss. Please pray for the guys as they determine what steps are needed next.
Also, the supplies that we sent down last week (tents, water filters, food, etc) are still sitting in customs. The Haitian government is requiring us to pay a significant amount of money to get our supplies out of their possession. Pastor Jean Alix has been at customs several times over the past few days, trying to work with the authorities to get our supplies out. Please pray that all of these relief supplies will get released with minimum expense, so that they can get to people who desperately need them. Thank you for taking the time to pray for these needs. You are making a difference in people’s lives!
Jen Sutton - Director of Children's Ministries
Our most recent team, consisting of Dan Kirkley, Tom Popelka, and Jeff Stegall, has been very productive on the ground in Haiti. One of their main goals was to check out the structural integrity of the school and orphanage. They have found three problem areas that are keeping the buildings from being occupied, but the team believes they can be resolved relatively quickly. Also, before they leave, the team needs to solidify details for our future rebuilding teams. We need specifics about project locations, house blueprints, material lists and final costs. Please pray that our team is able to accomplish all they have set out to do.
Another goal of the trip was to investigate any damage to our two cisterns. After inspection, one of them is cracked, but should be fairly simple to fix. The other one, however, may be a total loss. Please pray for the guys as they determine what steps are needed next.
Also, the supplies that we sent down last week (tents, water filters, food, etc) are still sitting in customs. The Haitian government is requiring us to pay a significant amount of money to get our supplies out of their possession. Pastor Jean Alix has been at customs several times over the past few days, trying to work with the authorities to get our supplies out. Please pray that all of these relief supplies will get released with minimum expense, so that they can get to people who desperately need them. Thank you for taking the time to pray for these needs. You are making a difference in people’s lives!
Jen Sutton - Director of Children's Ministries
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday February 23rd, 2010
Latest update for our President, Dan Kirkley:
On Monday, February 15th, we packed up and sent 372 tents, 400 water filters and 3600 dehydrated meals to Florida to be Airshipped into Port-au-Prince by Friday. Today, I am going back to Haiti with a structural engineer to check our buildings for structural integrity and to finalize a plan for the "tract" homes we will be building in our village in the future. Our first construction team will go down on March 14th to assist in the building of the first one. Last week 51 churches of different denominations gathered in the Kenscoff area to distribute 40,000 lbs.of food we were given through the Dominican Republic. There was not one fuss or threat the entire two days of the distribution and new relationships were formed to increase cooperation within the Christian community. Outreach to the non-christian community has, also, brought encouraging results, as voodoo seems to be losing the battle regarding genuine care for those in need. Thank you for thinking about the people of Haiti and our children there.........
On February 23, Tom Popelka, a local structural engineer, Jeff Stegall and I will be returning to examine the structure of our boy's home and school and to see if we can salvage the use of two of our three 10,000 gallon water cisterns which have now failed.
On March 13th- March 22nd, a group of 13 UMHB students, Dan Kirkley, and Jen and Jeff Sutton will be heading to Guibert to help with the rebuilding process. As we rebuild homes in our communities, we will be discipling the families through a curriculum we are developing based on the scriptural illustration of building a HOME. The foundation, the roof, windows, doors and walls will be erected with verses corresponding to God's idea of what a HOME should look like.
Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. Pray that the Lord would raise them up from their despair, into a place of indescribable peace that only comes from our Savior.
Dan Kirkley,
President
Hope for the Hungry
On Monday, February 15th, we packed up and sent 372 tents, 400 water filters and 3600 dehydrated meals to Florida to be Airshipped into Port-au-Prince by Friday. Today, I am going back to Haiti with a structural engineer to check our buildings for structural integrity and to finalize a plan for the "tract" homes we will be building in our village in the future. Our first construction team will go down on March 14th to assist in the building of the first one. Last week 51 churches of different denominations gathered in the Kenscoff area to distribute 40,000 lbs.of food we were given through the Dominican Republic. There was not one fuss or threat the entire two days of the distribution and new relationships were formed to increase cooperation within the Christian community. Outreach to the non-christian community has, also, brought encouraging results, as voodoo seems to be losing the battle regarding genuine care for those in need. Thank you for thinking about the people of Haiti and our children there.........
On February 23, Tom Popelka, a local structural engineer, Jeff Stegall and I will be returning to examine the structure of our boy's home and school and to see if we can salvage the use of two of our three 10,000 gallon water cisterns which have now failed.
On March 13th- March 22nd, a group of 13 UMHB students, Dan Kirkley, and Jen and Jeff Sutton will be heading to Guibert to help with the rebuilding process. As we rebuild homes in our communities, we will be discipling the families through a curriculum we are developing based on the scriptural illustration of building a HOME. The foundation, the roof, windows, doors and walls will be erected with verses corresponding to God's idea of what a HOME should look like.
Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. Pray that the Lord would raise them up from their despair, into a place of indescribable peace that only comes from our Savior.
Dan Kirkley,
President
Hope for the Hungry
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Friday, Feb 5, 2010
Here is the latest update from our President, Dan Kirkley, about our most recent trip to Haiti and details about what’s to come. Thank you for your love and support of our ministry.
–Jen Sutton
_______________________________
Friday, February 05, 2010
In the midst of unimaginable tragedy and destruction God has provided miracle after miracle for the Haitian people. During our trip to Haiti, January 24-30, our team of Mike Lawson, Jen Sutton, Lindsey Weaver and I saw His hand at work to bring hope into a hopeless situation. Even our travel was supernaturally scheduled as we found it necessary to go to Port-au-Prince and return to Texas with last-minute arrangements created when normal travel methods failed.The fear in the faces of moms and dads determined not to house their children in dangerous structures was evident as they shared that fear with us, standing next to temporary housing made of bed sheets. The tents we set up for them brought hope and the opportunity to share our real hope. During our stay we gave out twenty tents, 100 water filtration systems medical supplies and 455 boxes of dehydrated food, each box providing up to 600 servings. Additionally, we leased warehouse space for additional five forty-foot containers of food which are to arrive within a week. Eight pallets of tents, food and medical supplies are scheduled to be airlifted within ten days.On February 23, Tom Popelka, a local structural engineer, Jeff Stegall, Chance Riehl and I will be returning to examine the structure of our boy's home and school and to see if we can salvage the use of two of our three 10,000 gallon water cisterns which have now failed.During spring break (mid March), three teams will travel to Haiti to begin construction work on village homes and a new school in Ferrier in North Haiti. These will be the first of our rebuilding groups which will, also, include counseling teams and micro-enterprise teams to assist the villages in returning to normal life as soon as possible.As we rebuild homes in our communities, we will be discipling the families through a curriculum we are developing based on the scriptural illustration of building a HOME. The foundation, the roof, windows, doors and walls will be erected with verses corresponding to God's idea of what a HOME should look like.Over and over again we've seen God work to insure the demonstration of His power, divine love, and mercy. We have, also, seen Him working through the marvelous generosity of His people. Calls continue to pour into our office from brothers and sisters in Christ, ready to sacrifice to give money, supplies, go or send to help in our efforts. Each morning at our devotional time at the office we share a story or two of what we've witnessed, cried or laughed (or both) and asked God to give a special blessing of peace to all who have prayed or given.Join us in our asking our heavenly Father to demonstrate great mercy toward the people of Haiti and to continue to provide His supernatural wisdom to know HIS priorities in our ministry to our children, family and friends in Haiti.
BLESSINGS, BLESSINGS...dan
–Jen Sutton
_______________________________
Friday, February 05, 2010
In the midst of unimaginable tragedy and destruction God has provided miracle after miracle for the Haitian people. During our trip to Haiti, January 24-30, our team of Mike Lawson, Jen Sutton, Lindsey Weaver and I saw His hand at work to bring hope into a hopeless situation. Even our travel was supernaturally scheduled as we found it necessary to go to Port-au-Prince and return to Texas with last-minute arrangements created when normal travel methods failed.The fear in the faces of moms and dads determined not to house their children in dangerous structures was evident as they shared that fear with us, standing next to temporary housing made of bed sheets. The tents we set up for them brought hope and the opportunity to share our real hope. During our stay we gave out twenty tents, 100 water filtration systems medical supplies and 455 boxes of dehydrated food, each box providing up to 600 servings. Additionally, we leased warehouse space for additional five forty-foot containers of food which are to arrive within a week. Eight pallets of tents, food and medical supplies are scheduled to be airlifted within ten days.On February 23, Tom Popelka, a local structural engineer, Jeff Stegall, Chance Riehl and I will be returning to examine the structure of our boy's home and school and to see if we can salvage the use of two of our three 10,000 gallon water cisterns which have now failed.During spring break (mid March), three teams will travel to Haiti to begin construction work on village homes and a new school in Ferrier in North Haiti. These will be the first of our rebuilding groups which will, also, include counseling teams and micro-enterprise teams to assist the villages in returning to normal life as soon as possible.As we rebuild homes in our communities, we will be discipling the families through a curriculum we are developing based on the scriptural illustration of building a HOME. The foundation, the roof, windows, doors and walls will be erected with verses corresponding to God's idea of what a HOME should look like.Over and over again we've seen God work to insure the demonstration of His power, divine love, and mercy. We have, also, seen Him working through the marvelous generosity of His people. Calls continue to pour into our office from brothers and sisters in Christ, ready to sacrifice to give money, supplies, go or send to help in our efforts. Each morning at our devotional time at the office we share a story or two of what we've witnessed, cried or laughed (or both) and asked God to give a special blessing of peace to all who have prayed or given.Join us in our asking our heavenly Father to demonstrate great mercy toward the people of Haiti and to continue to provide His supernatural wisdom to know HIS priorities in our ministry to our children, family and friends in Haiti.
BLESSINGS, BLESSINGS...dan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)