Our Mission Is Possible

2010 Haiti Earthquake News

What Can I Do for Haiti? MP in the Media

February 8 - Report from Haiti February 3 - Report from the DR

January 18-28 - Medical Mission Team Video

Eye Witness Haiti - Julie Bishop Eye Witness DR - Joyce Dora

July 2010

The following is from the report “Haiti At A Crossroads” presented to the United States Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations on June 22, 2010:

“The earthquake destroyed an estimated 4,228 schools as well as the Ministry of Education building itself, leading to the deaths of around 38,000 students, 1,347 teachers, and 180 education personnel. One of the principal challenges in the education sector in Haiti is that 85% of the schools are private and unregulated, with little or no oversight by the Government of Haiti. The vast majority of schools are ineffective, have no money to pay for teachers, few teaching materials and an unstructured curriculum. Approximately 80-90% of university facilities in Haiti were demolished by the earthquake. The lack of higher education, vocational, and professional training is a huge and widening gap for Haiti.”

We are happy to report Mission Possible is part of the solution in Haitian education. One of our six schools was destroyed, but a temporary structure was erected to finish out the year and we plan to rebuild the school soon. Our schools are certified by the Haitian government and we are paying our teachers every month. Our vocational school is operating normally and we are on schedule to add additional programs this fall (nursing and cooking). Thank you for helping us continue our mission during difficult times.

June 2010

Five months after the big earthquake, things are slowly returning to “normal” for many Haitians. For tens of thousands more, their homes are destroyed, they are living under a tarp, they are depending on others for food and water, and “normal” is far away.

After the earthquake, Mission Possible committed to feed and look after the medical needs of 110 displaced refugees. After several months they left our camp to re-establish a “normal” life. Unfortunately, 6 boys, most around 5-10 years old, did not leave. We found out they were true orphans, with both parents deceased.

Pastor Herve has purchased a 3-room house for the boys and is rotating church members to stay with and care for them. Other orphans have been identified and we’re now up to 22 boys.

I ask you to pray that God will show us the best plan for the boys and how their lives can become “normal” again.

May 2010

At a time when Haiti and the Dominican Republic desperately need good leaders, Mission Possible is coming through.

Out of the misery of the January earthquake, the hearts of many Haitians have been open to the gospel message. The Mission Possible staff and student leaders have been trained and are in place for “such a time as this”. In February and April our leaders organized and conducted three local crusades with over 16,000 people in attendance. By the grace of God, we thankfully announce 596 decisions for Jesus at the first event, 100 at the second, and 35 at the third. We believe these and other souls will be with us in heaven someday because of equipped and ready leaders with hearts for their people.

Evangelism. Discipleship. Bible School. Vocational School. Each of these Mission Possible programs are developing and equipping leaders and are helping us realize such great results.

March 12, 2010

In Haiti, Mission Possible is feeding about 110 earthquake refugees twice per day. They are staying at a government school that is not too far from our MPCA school. Our school nurse is treating them weekly for medical issues. Mission Possible is giving some of the refugees some money to rent houses and we are also helping two families to construct their own homes. We are helping to fund the rebuilding of a church in Port au Prince. The church's pastor, Pastor Metellus, is a spiritual advisor to Pastor Herve and to Mission Possible.

Four of our schools have re-opened. Unfortunately, two of them (MPCA and Lahatte) are in the Port au Prince school district and the government has not allowed us to re-open them. The calendar for the school year has been adjusted and the schools will go all summer (through August) to make up the lost time.

March 10, 2010

In 2009, many pastors have been invited to Haiti's National Palace (like America's White House) on a certain day each week to pray for the country. Pastor Herve Pierre (Mission Possible's leader) has been there to pray. In November 2009, President Preval told the pastors there was no more time for prayer, so he cancelled the prayer program. But, he started inviting the witch doctors to do voodoo things instead. Two months later, the earthquake destroyed the city, and the National Palace, along with virtually all government buildings.

President Preval then cancelled the 3-day voodoo event known as Carnival (similar to our Mardi Gras) and instead told his country to pray to God. Herve took the opportunity to organize 300 pastors in his community (Montrouis) to call all their people for the same 3 days (February 12-14) to fast, pray, confess, and ask God to heal their land. They fasted from 6am to 6pm each day. Herve's staff counted over 16,000 people attended on the 3rd day (besides those who came the first two days), and 596 accepted Jesus! Many people came for all 3 days and refused to go home at night.

There is a real sense that this earthquake may be just the thing needed to turn the Haitian people away from their problems and back to God. Keep praying for Haiti and especially for its leadership.

February 11, 2010

Be sure to check out the reports from Haiti and the DR above. Your leaders are there, doing everything possible. They want you to know what is happening.

February 1, 2010

Pastor Herve Pierre, Mission Possible's Haiti Spiritual Director, is organizing all the pastors in the Montrouis area for a city-wide event for 3 days of prayer and fasting on February 12, 13, and 14. All the pastors plan to participate. They plan prayers of repentance and confession for their country. They have arranged to use a new roofed marketplace for the event and are expecting between 10,000 - 12,000 people to attend. They want something good to come from this earthquake tragedy.

There are still refugees coming through our area, but the pace has slowed somewhat.

The Mission Possible leadership is planning to construct a temporary coconut tree branch structure so the kids at LaHatte (2 school buildings destroyed) can finish the school year.

The Bible School is in session now. The Vocational School is on the same schedule as the regular academic schools which are not in session right now due to the crisis. We expect to hear from the Haitian government to re-open the schools within a week or two. Of course, there is no way the schools in Port au Prince will be able to open anytime soon.

January 28, 2010

The medical trauma team has arrived safely in the United States after a private plane picked them up at the Port au Prince airport.

The medical team indicated that upon closer inspection, more of our buildings were damaged than originally thought due to the continued after-shocks during the two weeks after the earthquake. We anticipate needing a structural engineer to inspect all our buildings.

Pastor Herve reports:

Hello Kurt,

I'm doing OK. I had a meeting with all the school principals. They are fine and they confirmed that their teachers are alright also. But, some of the principals and teachers lost cousins and nephews and friends. As for the students, I don't think they have problems because the biggest problem was in Port-au-Prince. Again, all the Mission Possible buildings are alright except Lahatte [2 buildings heavily damaged]. In MPCA [Mission Possible Christian Academy] we have one guard who lost her only daughter and one cook lost two daughters. Their daughters were at a Port-au-Prince school.

I will have a meeting next Saturday with all the Pastors in the area to get ideas and see how to continue to help. I will have a representative from a big Christian radio station called Radio Lumiere from Port au Prince, please pray.

Thanks lots for your prayers.

God bless

Herve

January 22, 2:53 p.m. EST:

Here is an update from the Haiti medical trauma team:

The level of desperation is as high as ever . . . I think the only real difference is that in Port au Prince, people are trying desperately to get out and most struggle to find a way. Indeed, most have no way.

Days with amputations (Howard did one on a 2 year old yesterday, for example); consistent screaming throughout the [hospital] for the procedures that are performed with NO anesthesia, or for
grief related to the loss of loved ones; concerns about aftershocks (many people run out of buildings or jump through windows when they occur); natural fears for one's safety; my going into the ill working stench filled morgue and seeing bodies stacked like cord wood...3 and 4 high; the faces of hope when carefully walking amongst the living laying on any spare piece of space on the floors or hospital grounds...

This is life, or more appropriately, a primal attempt of the Haitian people to stay alive and our feeble but sincere attempt to help them meet that goal.

Haitians now speak of January 12th much in the way we in the U.S. spoke of 9/11. A day that will forever be etched in the Haitian peoples minds. For Haitians, amongst other things, it will be a day that rendered countless numbers into the realm of life as an amputee, a day to start life over again because of the loss of all their possessions, and a day when it is now essentially unheard of to identify an individual who did not lose a friend or family member to the quake.

Moving forward, the situation is more bleak that ever. The airport is a loss, the one place with jobs and technology (Port au Prince) is a disaster area, and the few with resources or an education are fleeing the country for the US (round the clock US military flights out of PAP)...likely never to return. And, lets not forget that the threat of infectious disease like Cholera and Dengue fever loom like a storm on the horizon.

Thankfully, God has given our relief team much in the way of strength and an amazing ability (that can only be explained by Him) to move forward. People like those on this team have, and always will remain, true heroes in my life.

I am a blessed man!

That, and despite of all of the above, there is no place, NO place in the world I would rather be on this day, than in Haiti.

Please continue to remember us, and the Haitians, in your thoughts and prayers.

January 20, 3:17 p.m. EST:

The medical trauma team was shaken out of bed this morning by the 6.1 after-shock. There were no injuries and they are currently working at the hospital. Compassion International has requested to partner with Mission Possible by using one of our facilities as a food distribution point for local communities. Of course, we think it's a great idea. We are looking at additional opportunities for bringing in food by water and also aircraft parachute drop. All the schools in Haiti are closed. All the banks (as far as we know) in Haiti are also closed, creating additional difficulties.

The Mission Possible church in the DR (Ebenezer) is doing everything it can to assist Haitian refugees. We are hearing reports of our scholarship students giving up their personal clothes and all their scholarship money to help out the Haitians. More information to follow soon.

January 19, 4:56 p.m. EST:

Great news: the medical trauma team found an armed escort from the airport and is en-route to the hospital where they will work alongside the Haitian doctors and nurses. This team has its own anesthesia machines and upwards of 1,000 pounds of equipment and supplies. One concern is several pallets of supplies that are still un-accounted for. We're not sure if they are still in Florida or are somewhere in Haiti. The hospital is treating hundreds of Haitians who have left the capital in search of medical care which is unavailable in Port au Prince. Please keep the whole situation, as well as their safety, in prayer.

January 18, 4:42 p.m. EST:

The medical trauma team is stuck at the Port au Prince airport. The security situation has reportedly deteriorated and the U.N. is discouraging them from travel to the assigned hospital. The promised armed escort has been diverted. They are also waiting for the last of their supplies and equipment to arrive by plane. They are sleeping on the loud tarmac, in one of the news media tents and have sufficient food, water, and earplugs. For a short while they were able to email from the customs area in the airport which was flooded with sewer water and very muggy.

January 16, 8:12 p.m. EST:

All our short-term mission team members have arrived in the U.S safely.

The medical relief team is working hard to get to Haiti. They had been promised a special flight into Port au Prince through FEMA, but the doctors and nurses were apparently bumped so members of the US State Department could go to Haiti. It's very frustrating. They have two complete portable surgical units and staffing ready to go and help, but can't get there.

We have identified areas where we as North Americans, and we as a mission, can help. Hundreds and hundreds of refugees are flooding out of Port au Prince, many in desperate need of medical care. In Haiti and the DR, when you go to the hospital, your family is expected to bring bedding, clothing, food, water, and medicines for you. The hospital does not provide those things. Now, refugees are needing those things more than ever. Many do not have family with them. Children are being dropped off at hospitals with no family along. The Mission Possible churches are recognizing that this is their ministry: helping the refugees.

In the DR, our church members and older students speak both Creole and Spanish. They are helping translate for the refugees and getting them needed items. In Haiti, our churches are doing what they can for those coming through our area. The problem is, those churches are poor and don't have the funding or material resources either. This is where we can really help. We can raise the money and partner with them to serve those most affected. We can act out Matthew 25:35-36: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Here is team member Nancy Rook, a nurse, in the hospital with a Haitian refugee.

The anguished look on Nancy's face says it all. Photo by team member Terri Vruggink.

Another woman who agreed to have her picture taken. Photo by team member Terri Vruggink.

Mission Possible's Lahatte school. Both buildings will need to be rebuilt due to the extensive cracking of the structures. They are obviously not safe for students.

When you give to Mission Possible's Disaster Relief, your money will be going to an organization you can trust with 30 year's experience in Haiti. 100% of it will go to help those directly affected: helping the refugees, rebuilding the school, and making sure the students continue to get fed when food prices rise. See the Donate link at the bottom of this page, or contact us today.

January 14, 2010 - 9:05 p.m. EST:

The mission team spent today driving across Haiti to the Dominican Republic. Julie reported they passed by Port au Price, saw the fires, saw the crushed buildings, saw the refugees. Fortunately they were able to cross the Dominican border without incident. Tomorrow they will spend the day at the Mission Possible school in Barahona, DR. On Saturday they will return to the U.S. via flights from Santo Domingo, DR. We praise God for presenting a safe path home.

The medical relief team is still pressing hard in order to leave for Haiti on Saturday. Travel options and medical supplies are being finalized. Pray for the success of this planning. A team of this scope normally takes 4-6 months to plan; this one needs to be pulled off in 48 hours, with flights to Haiti becoming impossible.

Although the mission team is safe, please continue to remember our Haitian leadership. Their friends and families are affected and their work has only just begun...

January 14, 2010 - 4:28 p.m. EST:

Some good news. We've received word that Ruth Sam is safe. All her family and all Moise's family are safe. Renald's family (Ebenezer teacher) are all alive although their housing was destroyed in Port au Prince.

January 14, 2010 - 10:14 a.m. EST:

Several nurses from the mission team went to the St. Marc hospital to donate all our medical supplies for the relief effort. Refugees are flooding into St. Marc for treatment. Here is a report from Julie Bishop, team leader:

"The St Marc hospital had NOTHING for supplies when Herve and our nurses arrived last night with the supply room stuff. They had already used up EVERYTHING they had."

Our current team in Haiti is not set up to do the kind of relief medicine needed right now. We have a plan to return them to the US in the coming days. As I write this, a medical relief team is being organized to go in to Haiti and help. Logistics and transportation are going to be difficult if not impossible. Only God knows if we can get people in right now.

Many of you know Moise Sam, MP's field leader in the DR, who is from Haiti. His wife Ruth was in Port au Prince when the earthquake struck and she happened to be speaking with Moise at the time. She told him the neighbor's house just collapsed and she needed to leave. Then, the phone went dead. We presume the cell call was dropped because the cell tower ceased to function. However, her safety is unknown at this time. Moise reports many Haitians living in the DR are returning to Port au Prince to find information of family and to help the living. Moise understands his family members' houses have been destroyed in Port au Prince.

At this time, we have received no reports of any of our students being injured. The school buildings at MPCA, Lanzac, Dupin, and Degeance appear to be in good shape. One of the two school buildings at LaHatte has collapsed (no injuries). We have not received any word on the school or students at Chardene. The Vocational School, the Bible School, and the Mission Center are OK.

People are contacting our office and asking what they can do to help. Our Haiti field leadership is focused on getting our mission team out, getting a medical team in, and finishing the assessment of our damages and needs. At that point we will let you know how you can help.

Please, pray for those who are suffering right now.

January 13, 2010 - 7:14 p.m. EST:

Please bear with us as we work hard to get accurate information to report. As you have seen on the news, things are very difficult in Haiti right now.

Latest word received from the school Principal indicates one of Mission Possible's two school buildings at LaHatte has collapsed. LaHatte is a remote mountain village and we serve about 130 students at that location. The report suggested no related injuries.

Our short-term team is still working on a plan for a safe return.

Ruth Sam, wife of Moise Sam (Pastor and field leader of the Ebenezer church and school in the Dominican Republic) is believed to still be in Port au Prince. Moise received a call from Ruth immediately after the earthquake and she was safe at that time. We are eagerly awaiting further word of her safe return from Port au Prince.

To donate towards the relief and rebuilding efforts, see the link below.

January 13, 2010 - 11:45 a.m. EST:

According to news reports, Haiti’s capital, Port au Prince, has apparently suffered the worst of the earthquake damage.

Mission Possible’s Mission Center and six schools are located about 40 miles north of Port au Prince. Although phone, cell service, and other forms of communication are down in Haiti, we have ongoing email contact through a satellite uplink.

Mission Possible currently has a short-term mission team of 12 in Haiti. The team, composed of members from Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana, intended to be in Haiti for 1 week. Its purpose is to take school pictures of the 2,500 Mission Possible students for their North American sponsors, construction work at the Vocational School, and conduct women’s health seminars for community women and older girls at the six Mission Possible schools.

The team members report being rattled by the quake, but no injuries or damage to the Mission Center or our main school have been identified. Their spirits are high and they are determined to do what they can to help the local people.

Today, the team is venturing out to two of the Mission Possible school communities in order to help with medical needs, assess the damage, and make decisions on relief efforts.

We appreciate your prayers, not only for the Haitian people, but for our team’s effective ministry & medical assistance, safety, and for God to present a safe path to return home.

To donate for the relief effort, see the link below.

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Disaster Relief

100% of the donations to Disaster Relief will be used for relief or rebuilding efforts.

For online donations from Canada click here.

Send donations via postal mail to these addresses.

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