Moments

Susan and I’s first trip to Haiti we worked with Pastor Izidor and Pastor Isaac.  most of you knew Pastor Izidor.  Pastor Isaac lives and serves in Jeremie.  He was in Port au Prince during the earth quake.  Here is his story:

Almost Died

I would like to tell you how God is good.  In the first book of Samuel 2:6, and Deut. 32: 39, it is said: ”The Lord killeth and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.” See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with me: I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.”

That’s why I feel I must share with you my testimony, how God saved me on January 12, 2010 in Port au Prince, Haiti from the deadly hearthquake that devastated the country killing people by the hundreds of thousands, living millions of victims.

That Tuesday, I was attending a workshop on how to care for the orphans.  Sponsored by a nonprofit organization called RACINE, this workshop was supposed to take place from 3:00 to 5:30 PM.  Then, At 6:30 PM , I had a preaching appointment at Evangelical Christian Church led by Pastor Benissoit Pierre in Martissant.  The revival service at that church started at 4:00 PM and had to last till 8:00 PM.  As the guest preacher, I was supposed to arrive at around 6:30 PM.

While still attending the workshop at the University of Hautes Etudes, by 4:30 PM it just came to my mind to leave the place immediately.  I asked my colleagues to allow me to leave, but they didn’t want me to.  Yet, I left anyway, took a taptap (taxi) and headed downtown as fast as possible.  When I arrived at Rue Pavee, just half a block to the Telecommunication building (very tall building indeed), I stopped by a tyre inflater pump open shop, and all of a sudden, I heard a voice urging me to buy a tyre inflater.  I didn’t buy the tyre inflater.  I wasn’t interested in buying one because I didn’t have enough cash in my wallet.  But, for a third time, the same voice commanded me to buy the inflater anyway by saying:  “I command you to buy the inflater immediately!” Well, I had no choice this time.  I obeyed and bought the inflater.  It was about 4:45 PM.  The seller took 7 long minutes to give me the change, enough time set up by the Almighty God to prevent me from getting killed when the Teleco building crumbled.

As soon as I left the open shop and arrived just in front of the Teleco building, I heard another voice saying to me:  STOP!

And all of sudden I started turning around like a drunk person with the earth vibrating under my feet, and I could see the Teleco building and the Nova Scotia hotel shaking and dancing like crazy, and me right in the middle, between both tall buildings that are about to collapse on me.  People in the street ran like crazy taking refuge under the Teleco.  I also thought of taking refuge under the huge building and didn’t have much time to decide when all of a sudden a taptap just stopped in front of me with no passenger on board, and I grabbed the back of the taptap with all my strength so I can stand somehow on the earth trembling under me. While crying:  “Jesus, save me!  Jesus, save me!  Jesus, save me!” unexpectedly I saw a young man dressed in blue pants and white long sleeve shirt who came and grabbed my arm and dragged me in the taptap, sat on the floor and put me between his legs to make sure I am safe.

Then, in less than a second, the Teleco building collapsed and killed instantly all those that took refuge under it.  Please remember it is a huge building!  That building fell also on the back of the taptap and pushed it under the Nova Scotia Hotel (another skyscraper).  A powerline pole fell as well on the back of the taptap making the situation worse for me as the seconds passed by, blood all over my face and my shirt, because a piece of something hit me hard, but not hard enough to kill me  (My God said no!)  During all this time I was bleeding in the taptap, everything was upside down, from bad to worse.  I kept praying:  “Jesus, please keep the hotel from crumbling! Jesus, please keep the hotel from crumbling! Jesus, please keep the hotel from crumbling!” Meanwhile, the whole Port au Prince was covered with dust, debris and dead bodies all over the place.  I couldn’t see anything.  10 minutes later, when I could start seeing somehow, I looked around to thank that guy who put me between his legs, and I never saw him till now.  It was unquestionably God’s angel that came to rescue me.  All those who took refuge under Teleco building perished instantly.  And it was God who sent me to buy the tyre inflater and make the seller take a long time to give me change so I could avoid being killed that day, January 12, 2010.  It was also the Almighty God that urged me to leave the workshop on time, because the building collapsed and killed all my colleagues who were attending.  Also, when I arrived in Martissant where I was supposed to be the guest preacher, I saw the church building flat down killing all those who showed up at 4:00 PM.  Only three people and Pastor Benissoit escaped.  Over 100 people arrived early.  They all perished.  Too bad so sad!

But thank God who saved me 1) from the worshop, 2) from the Teleco building, 3) from the church building that all collapsed and where I almost had a rendez-vous with death.  Thanks be to God! He saved me for a purpose!  To Him be glory, honor and praise!

With a grateful heart,

Pastor Jean Isaac Jacquet

District President of Jeremie, Haiti

One of the new experiences for Lovelie and Wisken is wearing seat belts.  In Haiti, even though they drive wild and crazy, they don’t wear seat belts.  So the kids didn’t want to wear them.  Interestingly enough, we told them it was the law and it was good for them.  That settled it.  Now they get in the car and first thing they do is fasten their seat belts.

Still, I know some who don’t wear them.  This video is a little bit of a new perspective.  I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.flixxy.com/road-safety.htm

The plan had been to drive back to the DR tomorrow and fly out the next day, however they decided to go back a day early to the DR and are stuck an extra day there.  I do not want to waste a day in the DR so Amanda and I are trying to catch a direct flight out from PAP tomorrow and try to move up our flight to KC a day early or just spend the night in Fort Lauderdale.  That sounds much better than wasting a day in the DR. So today is our last day in Haiti.  Bittersweet of course.  Just dropped back at the compound for lunch.  Today is spent checking on the orphanages around town to make sure there are no injured and take inventory of food and water.  They seem to be doing well.  The first orphanage however, had 156 children before the orphanage and lost 55 in the quake and 1 nurse. They were trying to show us pictures of the dead children and babies.  No thank you.
Then we stopped at a tent city just to check and a father dumped an 11 month old in our arms who was half dead. Doc said it looked like measles. Barely responsive, cold and a heart rate of 90 which is way too slow. So we drove him as fast as we could to the hospital.  Hopefully he will do ok. He had been sick for 6 weeks the father said. Amanda and I were both in the back of the truck holding him, trying to keep one hand on his pulse  and crying and praying over him.  Talk about rough.  That was the hardest one we have seen thus far. This afternoon we will go see as many orphanages as we can and try to get in touch with unicef down here to see where they are so we don’t double up.  Anyways, gotta run.

We talked to Sarah this morning.  She was evacuated (the same way we were) by the Air Force at 2:00 this morning.  Everything went grade and she is glad to be back in the U.S.  The last day was the toughest.  A father gave her his boy, who was very ill.  All they could do was take him to the hospital.  She didn’t know if he would make it or not.  Very sad. 

Hopefully she will be able to share here at First Trinity one day.  Thanks for the prayers.

Here is the latest from Sarah:

I am doing very well! Very very safe.  As I said before, Amanda and I are on a team of 6 other guys at least, 3 of which are ex military.  They do a great job looking out for us.  Then once we are back on base, half the camp is the actual military.  We even ran into the 82nd airborne while we were out looking for injured people and the captain/colonel whatever gave us all his personal cell phone numbers and said call me if you ever get in any kind of trouble.  It is kept with my passport on my person at all times. I feel safer here than at home.

Amanda and I have our own personal tent with quite the set up with little chairs as a front porch.  We are doing great. i am currently sitting in a hammock between two trees as I write. Very relaxed.

Garry called and said he wasn’t going to be going to LEs Cayes for ahwile, so instead Jenae and ISraelson came to pick up the voyager today.  It was great to see them. They will move the children to the orphanage on Monday.  I’m sure you probably alredy know.  But they watched you all on TV and saw the kids and they along with the orphans were all excited to see that.

Thanks for your prayers.

Yesterday was pretty much a down day.  Sarah only dealt with one serve trauma.  For me, that is enough.  Amanda seems to be doing better.  Thanks for the prayers.

Amanda and Sarah

Sarah supervising like her dad

The latest news on Sarah, as she serves in Haiti, is that there is sickness going around the camp.  Many of the American relief workers are getting pretty sick, including her friend Amanda that Sarah went with.  Please pray for Amanda to feel better and for Sarah to stay healthy.

Hopefully she will meet with Genet and Israelson today.

Our daughter Sarah, and her friend Amanda, are serving in Haiti as a nurse.  Many of you are praying and we appreciate that.  I thought I would post the latest email we received from her so you know how it is going.

Amanda and I have managed to get in with the best group here!! It is awesome, they are so cool and we have the best doctor working with us. All Christians which is great.  Our doctor tonight was teaching us how to do sutures so we can do them in the field as needed.  Very exciting.  So now I can stitch people up and I was pretty good at it. He just sits back when we see patients, asks us what we think and teaches us.  It is so fun and I’m learning a lot. the rest of our group is 5 EMT/Paramedics from Washington.  They are so nice and helpful as well.  Then we have a Haitian translator.  We started with one group yesterday, went into Courrefour and set up a clinic and saw patients all day.  Nothing exciting, all chronic issues.  So last night we met these EMT’s and they were telling us about what they did and it was really more exciting and alot more trauma.  So we asked if we could join their group, bribed them with beef jerkey and Starbucks Viva and they allowed us to hang with them.  Then we told our Doctor friend, John about it and he begged us to let him come too.  So here we are! Great group.  Turns out all the medical teams here are begging to go with them, but we have a solid group now and are keeping it as is. The Lord is good and we all work well together.  So we basically did recon all day today driving all around PAP, we worked from a police station and the injured were brought to us.  I did a dressing on a little baby, probably about 5-7 mo. She had a terrible wound after a cinderblock fell on her. So sad.  Then we went into about 4 orphanages to check on them around the city, however most of the children had already been moved out or the injured had already been taken to the hospital. Long stories.  I will try not to bore you. We will do more of the same tomorrow.
We are excited that hopefully the military will take us out via helicopter with supplies and drop us into the very remote mountains for a couple days.  They were going to do that today, but obviously didn’t. HOpefully in the next few days if at all.  It would be cool. 
I am learning a lot and having a great time.  Our compound is incredible. I am taking pictures to show you later.
So glad I came and glad we came the way we did.  We are getting great opportunites. We did see the capital building and the palace today.  Rubble.  Tent cities everywhere.  A lot of anxiety and Post traumatic Stress.  People are in the tents, but only some are actually displaced.  The rest are just too afraid to go into their homes.
Oh, and don’t be afraid about the aftershocks. I haven’t even felt any.  I guess there was a four pointer or something maybe the other day.  I felt nothing. We are very safe.  Everyone else is sleeping inside. Amanda and I are in tents outside. We are excited to pretend to be roughing it.  Far from it out here though.  Very nice. The military is taking over our space though! Every day we come back from recon they have more tents closer and closer. They are being very generous though.  Very cool.
Okay, i have to run.  Love you lots and will try to call you one of these days.  Have a good night!
Love,
Sarah

“There’s no place like home.  There’s no place like home.”  That quote makes sense to me.  If you were at church this weekend, you know that when we are on a mission, every night we debrief together.  We answer three questions, “What was a joy?  What was a challenge?  Where did you see God?’  I thought I would answer those questions today.

What was a joy?  There are lots of joys on a mission trip.  It is always a joy to watch the new people experience Haiti.  Every person on this team had a great experience.  All of them said they want to go back.  Another joy is to watch the team unfold.  Because of the quake, this team worked very well together.  They kept people calm.  They entertained the kids, and they witness of their faith.

What was a challenge?  Trying to sleep on rocks.  Feeling responsible for the team.  Sending off the rest of the team and wondering how long before Dale and I get out with the kids.  It was a challenge feeling the hurt and fear of the orphanage and church of Les Cayes.

Where did I see God?  Certainly I saw God’s hand in all that was happening here at First Trinity.  Wow!  This family turned to God and allowed Him to use them.  We could tell.  I saw God as we walked through the hospital, as bad as that was.  And of course, I saw God in Sue S.  She was great.  She took care of the team and made sure everyone was okay.  She communicated with the church and allowed the team to make group decisions.  Of course, I am not sure why she said, “If it comes to it and we can only save so many – Pastor is the weakest link.”  I was hoping for an immunity challenge.

Anyway, I saw God in Dale.  He showed what a real brother is about.  He wouldn’t leave me alone, even though I encouraged him to go.  I am grateful for him.  He kept me calm and prayed when I needed it.  Jon wanted to stay, but I said no.  At least he listens to me.

Actually, all the team demonstrated great faith in a crisis.  We were torn between staying and trying to help, and coming home to be with our families.  But we knew there wasn’t much we could do at this point.  We would be more help for the people of Haiti by coming home and working here.

If you want to help the people of Haiti, one-hundred percent of relief money is going to them.  You can contact me at 716-835-2220.  Also, if you would like to know some specifics, feel free to ask.  I am thinking of writing a “true blog” about what really happened and how I single-handed saved the team and the orphans.  Of course it is a lie, but it is my story.  If you would like to read something like that, I could come up with something.  Just don’t tell the rest of the team.

God is good!  In the midst of chaos and misery, as we turn to Him in trust, He is faithful.  He has promised that all things work together for good for those who love Him.  We know that not all things are good.  We have evidence of that this past week.  But our God is a great God, and He is faithful.  Even now we are seeing how He can work good.  We saw people give their life to Christ.  We have our two beautiful children home.  And we know that many more are on their way.

The sad news is, we have friends who were severely injured.  The orphanage and guest house where we stay were declared unsafe.  The children and caretakers are scrambling to find a new place to stay.  And yet, their hearts are so big, they are looking for a larger place so they can take in the many, many newly orphaned children.

The orphanage we work with in Port au Prince was at least 75 percent destroyed.  While there on Saturday night, they suffered more damage in an after shock.  Fortunately, the injuries there were minimal.

Too many churches were destroyed, some with many people still inside.  The loss of life is unimaginable.  I still struggle to get my mind around it.  There have been many tears.  And yet, our two newest children remind me of the hope we have for Haiti.

In the mean time, we have a plan on sending help.  You can go to Sue’s blog: sweetsoup.wordpress.com. and see how we you can help.

One last comment because this is a little difficult.  Susan and I are so grateful to so many, but especially the family of First Trinity who pulled together and demonstrated just what the Body of Christ can do.  The power or prayer is a wonderful thing, and they prayed like crazy.  They moved to action and didn’t stop until ALL the team was home.  Even now, they continue to demonstrate loving care toward us.  I am fortunate to belong here.

Also, I would give a word of thanks to our wonderful military.  The men and women of our armed forces have been tremendous.  God used them to help us get Lovelie and Wisken home.  Not only did they fly us out of the Haiti and back to U.S. soil, but they helped get us through customs when the Haitians didn’t want to let the kids out.

If you’re here looking for updates about our missionaries in Haiti, go to Sue’s blog. We’re posting all news from the missionaries there. Short story: They’re ok!