“We discussed the fact that our orphanage near Mirebalais, Haiti, was quickly becoming a refugee camp of injured and homeless that were fleeing the dangers of Port au Prince,” says Tim McLean, who has led five missions to Haiti since 2006 as a volunteer team leader for the church. His Haitian friend and contact, Yves Prophete, was begging for immediate medical aid.
After a flurry of phone calls, three seats were secured on a Missions Flights International and the three-person medical team left Wednesday, Jan. 20, and arrive in Haiti on Thursday. Accompanying Guy is his nurse, Anessa Snapp, and an emergency medical technician from Oklahoma, Roger Graham. The group plans to stay about a week.
About 300 pounds of supplies donated by church members were sent with the team. To date, the church has raised more $37,000 for Haiti relief, with offerings being collected at the church again this weekend. Another relief mission is planned for February.
“I felt like a general sending soldiers into battle,” admits McLean who had come up with three game plans for hooking up the local team with Prophete, but was seriously concerned about the team’s safety as well as the poor communications in that country.
Thanks to online tools such as e-mail and Facebook, some communication has been possible.
Here’s a sample of some of the messages from the team during the last few days:
From Steve Guy, Jan. 21
Hello All,
We have arrived safely in Port au Prince. We drove through the devastation of collapsed buildings and smell of death. The sights of human tragedy are overwhelming. We drove to the orphanage in Fejda, near Mirebalais. We are in the central plateau region of Haiti.
The orphanage is a refuge in a world of panic in Port au Prince. There are 50 some kids and 40 refugees here. We are working today in town at a clinic. We will be back in Port au Prince today to pick up more luggage. We have met other teams and we may network with them depending on what happens today. Thanks for all your prayers and let others know how we are doing. We are very safe where we are.
Peace,
Steve
From Roger Graham, Jan. 21
Finally made it to Haiti. Met up with Pastor Yves fairly easy. Spent the rest of the day driving around PAP. It is pretty beat up and the people are probably scarred for life but the environment isn’t hostile. I’m sure that will ease a few of you. A lot of the people really do sleep in the streets (because of) the fear of their house falling. ... This is a (sight) that you really can’t explain. Troops from around the world. Half the city fallen. Keep praying that God is just turning this country around. I’m very excited and can’t wait to tell you more. By the way pray for a generator and power outage problem. I might not have power if goes out and will not be able to update. Love you all and God Bless.
From Roger Graham, Jan. 22
Uh oh!!!! I swear it was like 50 degrees this morning, and I didn’t bring a long sleeve shirt. lol. ... Well I got a good night’s rest and (am) ready to work. looks like we will be setting up a clinic in someone’s house
From Roger Graham, Jan. 23
Yesterday was great!! We set up a little clinic in someone’s home. We were able to treat some major wounds caused from the earthquake. We were also able to treat a variety of other infections and diseases. Today we are doing the same thing, just helping out the same village that is close to the orphanage.
From Roger Graham, Jan. 23
Tomorrow we are supposed to head into Port au Prince and might be working in one of the hospitals there. Please pray for these people. We had several come in yesterday complaining of not being able to sleep and psychological problems. God is the only one who can fully heal these people from the inside out. Love you all and I will keep you updated ...
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