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So we had our movie night to bring up different social justice issues and talk about them. I really miss that. So David is preparing to go to Haiti in June for 17 days to work in a medical clinic through the Free Methodist Church (his parents are missionaries in Mexico through the fmc). So the missionaries he is going to be working with posted on their blog some of the current needs of Haitians. It is heartbreaking. And because I like to keep people connected to our broken world I am going to post what they wrote. I find it important to recognize the pain around the world. I am not sure why...I just do. Since David is preparing to go there Haiti has been on our hearts. So I want to put it on yours.
State of Affairs – Haiti
Haiti continues to spiral downward economically and it is hard to think that it could get any lower than what it has been. People are struggling to find enough food to eat and each day the food prices continue to go up. I was just told that a small can of rice, about the size of a can of corn (approximately 2 1/2 cups), costs $6-$10 HA and that a small bag of rice that used to cost $50 HA now costs $190 HA. Spaghetti, a main staple for the Haitian people, went up to $4 HA a package. For a country where there is 80% unemployment and the country’s rice production is exported, this can only mean an increase in hunger. Just today in Port-au-Prince and other areas throughout the country, people were protesting against the high cost of living.
Many of you have read articles about the “dirt cookies” people are eating to fill their stomachs and now we are hearing that the people are using the expression “Clorox” and “battery acid” to describe the level of their misery, meaning that’s all they’ve got left to eat before they die. They’re finished.
Several of our pastors have recently come to Gregg looking for money to buy food to help feed the destitute within their churches. Yesterday, one of our pastors asked for some money to buy some food so he could help his people in a rural community out to the south. The rise in food prices is also affecting our school feeding program. At this point, we can only feed the kids twice a week in some schools and a few times per month in others. Some feel Haiti is on the verge of a nationwide famine, particularly in the rural sectors of the country.
People needing healthcare don’t have the money to go to the hospital and when they do, they are usually very critical and many die. Just this morning we got a call from another pastor in Gonaives asking for $5000 HA to help a lady in his church who needs surgery because her house fell down on her and crushed her feet due to heavy rains. But what do you do when there’s no money to give? The physical and financial needs here are overwhelming and we carry heavy burdens for these people. It all adds to the daily stress we face as missionaries living in this impoverished nation.
I just recently read this statement in a book about the poor. “Who is going to help them if you don’t? Help another human being get by for just one more day with a little more ease than the previous day.” We need your help to help us help them.
State of Affairs – Ennises
If living here isn’t stressful enough, our second quarter appropriations were cut because we only have 35% committed to Haiti Country Shares. This means we have less money for mission operations, conference and hospital ministries.
We are also $11,000 short on commitments to our MSA. We continue to trust the Lord and serve Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength but we are to a point of not knowing what to do except to ask each of you to pray and obey what the Lord lays on your hearts. We will be coming home for a brief home assignment this fall and we hope to see many of you then. | 
