A letter from Don

Note from Karen:
Very seldom does Don feel the need to sit down and share totally what he is feeling. Normally, he gives me the ideas of what to write, and I do it. But God laid a burden on Don's heart and this is his sharing of that burden. I know it's long, but please read it to the end. Thank you.

Greetings,

I have been watching the news on the Internet (when we have electricity), about the severe flooding in Gonaives. There are reports from all over the world, even from the UK and China.

About 4 years ago, when Gonaives was flooded, it was because of a large dam that broke. That dam was never rebuilt, or the situation repaired. The flooding is far worse than last time. Gonaives is over 6 feet below sea level, surrounded by mountains on three sides that have all the trees striped off of them. It's the third larger city in Haiti and Cap Haitien is the second largest.

What you hear is only what is happening in Gonaives and a few other cities. The sad things is, many organizations are using this to get money. Yes, some goes to Goanavies, or other huge areas, but a lot of it doesn't make it here. We have experienced it with a couple of big organizations here. A lot of it goes for their operational costs (offices, vehicles, advertising, etc.). Not a lot goes here, directly to the people. Yes, we do know this first hand. We worked with one that raised $15 to $20 a month per child supported. We received here, at the most, $6 per month, per child, to house, feed, school, and deal with medical expenses. We are not saying all ministries work this way, but when talking with other missionaries here, we are finding that a LOT of them do work that way. But our concern is not about that aspect of things. Our concern right now is helping those who are in desperate need NOW!

There are many places all over Haiti where smaller towns and villages were also flooded and people have lost everything. Their gardens (and that is almost all of Haiti) are flooded and ruined or washed away. It will take a very long time before they can plant a garden again. But what do they do about feeding their families now? We are looking at at least 6 months, or more like a year before they can plant again. And this is only if they have not lost their tools. Then where will they get the seeds to plant? It's a very hard time for the Haitian people.

They have decided to open school 4 weeks later than was scheduled. They said it's because the families don't have the money to send the children. School costs have gone up a lot. For example, I gave one student $30 Haitian to sign up for secondary school. That is like high school in the states. Two weeks before school was to start, she was only the 7th person to sign up, in a school that has hundreds of students. A short note here, the average yearly income in Haiti is $350 US. And with an unemployment rate of 80%, you can see that the vast majority of people earn almost nothing, if anything at all. One dollar Haitian, to a Haitian is like $100 American is to an American.

We have more people coming to us this year for help with food, medicine and doctor bills, and money for their children to go to school. We have many more than we have every had before and it's very hard to try and explain to them why I can't help everyone. Some that I have been helping, I just can't help this year. This means the kids stay home with no hope. To some I was able to give just enough to get them uniforms and enough to get into school, but they need a lot more money, that we simply don't have. We need more support to help the poor that the Lord gave us to help.

The cost of construction materials, food, medicine, doctors and schooling have doubled, and in some cases tripled, in price.

Right now there is no fuel in northern Haiti because four main bridges have been washed out. Nothing can get from Port au Prince to Cap Haitien. You can buy gasoline on the street (in some areas) for $90 to $100 a gallon. It was up to $114, but they brought it down in some places. (That is between $11.54 and $14.62 US a gallon). Two years ago, when we had a little extra money, I bought 2 drums of diesel fuel. I praise God now, when there is no fuel. I am using it for our generator and I also put fuel in a truck to haul material to some of the victims of the storms. A gallon of cooking oil is $90. A cup to a cup and a half of rice is $8 to $10. A large bag of Charcoal is over $100, and on an average it would only last about 2 weeks. Beans, if you can find them, would be about $12 to $14 for about one to one and a half cups. These are all Haitian prices. But to a Haitian it is out of their reach. And these are the staples of this country.

There are times when I get a love offering to help the poor people. One hundred percent of it goes to help the people. If it's for material for their houses, or food, I will try to send a picture of the family with the item. I haul sand and gravel for the people and don't ask for gas money. It averages about $150 to $200 Haitian per day. Most of the time I pay for the sand and gravel, too. I want to do what God has called me to do...HELP THE POOREST OF THE POOR AND SHOW THEM THE LOVE OF JESUS BY ACTIONS AND NOT JUST WORDS.

I have been given some money for the flood victims. People have sent it to me because they know that 100% of what we get goes where it is intended. One family lost their home. There are a few parts standing, but touching it would cause it to fall down. The neighbors took them in. The only problem with that, the neighbor's house has no roof. But they DO have walls. so, we sent someone down to help put some tin on the roof, and to give them some food. This was not in Gonavies, it was north of there in the mountains. Another family had to rush to the mountains above Gonavies to save their lives, and lost everything. They ended up here, in our area, with a family member...there were 32 people in his yard...he had no where for them to sleep. We gave him some money to feed them and try to help them restart their lives. We also gave some money to a Haitian pastor who has had refugees come to his church for help. There were several families the money will help. Those in this area are suffering because there is no produce to purchase. Vegetables were all washed away in the gardens. In essence, their livelihoods washed away with the rains.

I have checked out some sites on the Internet if you are interested in finding out more about what is happening here in Haiti.
www.missionaryflights.org
http://news.google.com/news?hi=en&ned=us&q=haiti&btnG=Search+News

I am sure if you go to your search engine and type in "Haiti+News" you will find even more. I have heard more about Haiti from other countries than I ever find in American news. But that doesn't surprise me too much.

Help has started pouring into Gonavies. The two plants who produce water through reverse osmosis are up and running. (This is the same as Culligan water in the US).
Water is being flown in by helicopter through MAF. There is a US Navy ship with 16 helicopters on it, plus the UN is helping a lot. Canada is there helping also. There are at least 2 large ships hauling food and materials in. The Red Cross was one of them, with 300,000 tons of food and medicines. MFI had been "Standing in the Gap" for many, not only in Haiti, but other islands, too. Check out their web site.

This is great and really needed, but...what about he other areas? Where is their help coming from? From individuals like you and me. Stepping in where needed. We don't have the big ships, the big organizations or any of that help coming to these people. They either have us, or they have nothing. Sad, sad, sad! But true. We need to step in and help where we can with what we can. We need to bring Jesus to them along with physical help. Can you be that help for us? We really are praying God will touch people to help us help those in need.

Thank you for listening and praying for us. God put us here for a purpose. This may only be a small part of that purpose, but helping the poor and needy is our constant mission.

In His Service, in a destitute land...
Don & Karen Davis

The ongoing struggle

Well, another day in a turbulent country. It looks like soon we will have to revert back to the days when we first came to Haiti. No electric, no fuel, food becoming rather scarce after a bit. It sounds depressing, but we have done it before and survived, so we will again. The ship that was supposed to bring fuel for the Cap Haitien area seems to be a dream now. We heard, and this could be rumor, but we've heard it from several sources...they have decided to sell the fuel to the government of Haiti, not to individuals. Well, the gas stations are individuals. And if it goes to the government, it will go to Port au Prince, where it cannot reach Cap Haitien. Somehow, someway, we are praying fuel, aside from black market, will become available. There are still some food supplies coming in. Not sure from where, or how they are getting in here, but we will not complain about it. The only problem now, is the cost. But somehow we will find a way. When God puts a burden on your heart, He will find a way to help you achieve what He wants.

I will be putting another entry on here today. Don wrote a prayer letter and it went out on the plane yesterday. I think most of you know, this was hard for him to do. Normally, he tells me what he'd like, and then has me write it. But this time, he spent a whole day, praying and writing.

We were asked what we put in care packages that we give out. Much of that depends on who and where it is going. But basically, Don puts a gallon zip lock bag of each rice, and corn meal and a quart of beans. Then he puts a container of oil, some spaghetti, and a can of tomato paste. This all goes in a 5 gallon pail, with a cover. These buckets, depending on the size of the family, will last close to a week in most situations. Now we are thinking of making another type (or adding to an existing) bucket. Many of the people have lost everything through these storms. We would like to add to those buckets, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, washcloths, and maybe even some other personal hygiene products. This one is still in the process of working out. Food we can get, these other items may be pretty expensive here. But The Lord can work that out too. So, as you can tell, this is in the planning stages.

Yesterday MFI brought in the part we pray was hit by lightening on our generator. It is expensive, but we need the generator to keep up communications and do some of the important work that needs to be accomplished. Don is working on that this morning.

We are praising God for so many things right now. He has given Don and I a heart for the people, and we rejoice when we can help any of them. We are so thankful for the help we have received thus far in reaching out to those in need. The lines are so long, and the needs so great, but it's like the vision God gave Don a long time ago. He showed Don this long, beautiful beach with unlimited amount of sand. He said, this sand is like the people in Haiti...but I am giving you just a handful of sand (and people) to help. Each handful I give you, I will help you provide for. When looking out over the vast amount of sand, it's overwhelming, but when looking at that handful, and God's provision, it's a reachable goal. Now we are waiting on those God impresses to help meet those needs.

Another praise is Abbie. Each day she comes up with so many different things to lift our spirits. Oh, she has her times when we would like to just put her in a room until she gets her naughtiness out, but that is the smallest part of time. She is something else. I think the Lord put her and her mama with us so we can keep a perspective on the lighter side.

Well, as always lately, we are asking you to pray. Pray for Haiti, pray for the tough situation here, and pray for us to follow God's leading and direction.

Keep smiling, you never know when a camera is about. Makes you want to keep a smile on your face all the time!!!

Need some prayers...

This will be really short... last night we got hit by lightening. Blew out our generator. This means we will MAYBE have power only a couple hours a day, if that. We don't know if it did any other damage yet. Don has been trying to find what exactly is wrong with the generator, so we haven't looked into other things. We thought the inverter was also gone, but thankfully, the surge tripped the circut breaker and shut it off. The power did come through the computer, where I was typing, but didn't touch or ruin the computer, but did connect with me. I had a big circle on my arm, just above the wrist. That hand was not touching the keyboard, either. The red went away, but still have pain from it. I'm sure that will be gone within a day. Don, Vero and Abbie were watching TV. Vero jumped so hard, she fell off the couch. Abbie came running in to me and kept saying, "BIG BOOM, BIG BOOM!!" and she laughed and laughed.

Pray that Don will find the problem, and that we can get a part for it that is not expensive.

Also, pray for the container...we just got word that it will be in Cap on Thursday. That does not mean we will GET it then, but we need prayers for the cost to be reduced and reasonable.

So, pray, pray, pray!!! And thanks for being there for us!!

The saga continues

Another day in a destitute country.
It is SO hard, facing people with so many needs and not have anything to give them. We were given a donation and it went out to help quite a few people. One family has a shell of a house left, but if you touch the wall, the whole thing will collapse. The neighbor said they could move in with them. This was good, except the neighbor has no roof on their house. But, it has walls that are standing. What we gave them put a roof on so they are out of the weather.
Another missionary sent an update from what they are hearing... here is part of it:

Even if they replant now it will take months for something to ripen for harvest. Bananas take a year or more, cassava is a minimum of 6 months. Beans are their quickest crop and this is the season we are entering but all their bean fields are along the river which is still flowing water and all their fields have been moved around, some don’t even exist any more.

This is from an agriculturist. The problem, they have nothing to plant if they could. We have come to the point here where an old saying comes into action. "Give them a cup of corn. Will they plant it or eat it? If they plant it, they will die before it grows, if they eat it, they will die not long after that." What would YOU do in a situation like this? I just don't know what I would do. A LOT of prayers are needed to keep things going in Haiti. It's such a sad, sad situation.

Don spent yesterday composing a letter to send out as soon as we get stamps. His heart is breaking for all those he has to turn away. Keep Don in prayer, too. I know the Bible says the poor will always be with us, but we didn't realize that we would see them, by the dozens, each and every day!! This is a hard place to be right now.

The bright spot? Abbie, of course! We've been having "tea parties". We start out with, "How was your day?" Now when we sit down to eat, SHE wants to pray, and she prays for everyone and everything. Then after "Amen", she looks around, picks a person and say, "Well, grandpa, how was your day today?" She is definitely a very bright spot in a dark time.

We do have other bright spots as well. One family we helped lives not far from here. All of a sudden he had 32 relatives from Gonaives living in his yard. Needless to say, they didn't fit in his home. But he didn't complain, even though he was trying to feed and house them. He said, at least they had a place to go. He is working on getting their home cleaned up and livable again. Not an easy task, but he is trying to lift their spirits as he works with them. He is a strong believer and his faith is showing through. He makes the trip to Gonaives and works, then comes home and works here, but his outlook is great.

Lord, give me a spirit like his and like so many others, who have nothing, yet can see the sunshine through the rain.

Till next time!!! God bless and keep smiling...makes people wonder what you are up to.☺

The Situation is growing worse

Hello to all,
Just a quick update from Haiti. The major problems here have been the flooding and deaths in Gonaives and other cities. But this has expanded and is reaching out to the whole country.
A few examples: Fields and crops were flooded out, even in our area, which means no produce. Fuel prices are outrageous and getting worse. No fuel is coming out way (road and bridges washed out), and what fuel there was is gone. There are always those who horde it for such a time as this, so gasoline is right now, on the street, about $14.10 US a gallon. Diesel is just over $12 US a gallon. So, not much traffic moving, which means no one can get items needed now, unless they walk miles, and miles to get it, and then miles and miles to get home. And with nothing to sell, they have no money to buy things, so it's a huge horrible circle for the people. This disaster will continue to create problems for a long time to come. So, HUGE prayers are needed for the whole country.
My time on the computer will be severely limited due to how much we can run our generator. And then this generator does not run the pump for water, so we have no water. We will be conserving a lot now. We have gone without power in the past, so we know we can survive without it, but to be in this situation so quickly is a mess. My short time on the computer will be for emergency communication and absolute needs only. Our life is changing yet again.
We did hear rumors that a ship load of fuel was coming to Cap. I guess we will believe it when we see it. We don't mean to sound pessimistic, but that is reality here.
Personally, we are fine. We will have to adjust to things, but we can do that. We still know that the Lord is in control and we can depend on Him. We just have to rethink some things and get our priorities in line. This situation will curtail Don's ministry with food and water, too. So many depend on him, but there is no recourse at this time. So, pray for those we serve, too, that they will see we are doing all we can to help.
We always try to find an "upside" to things. and it normally ends up being Abbie. Her and the new puppies keep us smiling. She thinks they are her babies, and carries them around. They, in turn, love her and try to kiss her all the time. We are just praying these puppies aren't stolen, like the others were. It would break Abbie's heart.Another "upside" is that we are praying our son and daughter-in-law's adoption may be making a move to the positive side. No details at this point, but please pray that God is working out a new way for them to finally get their son.
Check out MFI's web site and see what they are doing to help Haiti. They really are "Standing in the Gap" for Haiti right now.
At this point, keep praying and lifting the whole situation up to the Lord. He can make a way where no one else can.

The results of Ike

It's Sunday morning and we have Ike as a visitor. Well, we have his shirt tails, I guess. We are so thankful we didn't get the full brunt of this category 4 hurricane. We have had steady rains since late yesterday afternoon. We did get some heavy downfall, and a few hard gusts, but nothing damaging to our place here. Again, I think our little "red mountain" has kept any winds from us. For those of you who don't know, we live in Morne Rouge (Red Mountain).

But keep praying for Gonaives and the many other areas of Haiti who have been so horribly hit. The pictures on the Internet show some of the horror stories. But you don't see the lives of the people. One of our kids, Cequer, told us his whole family has lost all they owned. The flood water washed everything away...including their home. It's all somewhere out in the ocean now. These people are the ones who desperately need prayers and help. Where do they turn and what do they do now? And this is only one of thousands of stories. We had heard some other stories, too. The overall picture is horrible, but the individual ones are heart breaking.

So, keep praying for Haiti in general but for the people who are suffering so, in particular. Their only hope now is in the Lord. It's hard to see beyond the pain when you are the one suffering, so we need to lift them up to the Lord and ask Him to be with them.

Thanks for caring and keep the prayers coming. Till next time...keep your eyes on Jesus!!

Ike approaches

As Ike approaches, we are keeping a close eye on him. We are thankful we aren't in the eye of this one. It looks so intense. But we are under tropical storm warnings. That means we could have high winds and lots of rain. So, we are praying that we make it through this one with no damage.

If you want to see some pictures of some of the destruction that Hanna caused, go to www.missionaryflights.org. Check on the right side of our blog to go there quickly. They asked missionaries to share their photos with them, and many did. Pray for the people of Gonaives. The destruction there is awful. It's much worse than the storm they had before. And roads from Cap are cut off to the south. We have heard some real horror stories about things down there.

One problem we will have since Hanna dropped her destruction on us is fuel...No trucks can come up from Port with fuel...so we will be sort of stuck. And the food supplies will dwindle. The water purification plants will have to close down with no fuel to run their systems. So, you can see, the needs for prayer are huge. Gardens and livestock have been depleted and the people are suffering. Pray for the Lord to give us strength and to have wisdom in this situation.

During Hanna, Abbie decided the new puppies needs some comfort. So she sat out on the porch, with an umbrella, holding and playing with the puppies. The porch didn't get wet, but she did! She finally had to leave them in their mama's care and come in. She wasn't happy about that.

We did need rain, but for the most part, it soaked in and we are fine here. On the way to the airport yesterday, we noticed the roads soaked up the wet, too. It was dry and dusty all over.

Pray for the people all over Haiti. Not only the storm's destruction, but the way prices are, and now they will raise again...they are suffering a lot more than most people realize.

We will update as soon as Ike takes his leave from here. He really isn't a welcome guest right now. Well, maybe there aren't any hurricanes that would be welcome. Keep praying and keep your eyes on Jesus. He knows what is happening and where the help comes from. Our dependence is on HIM, and HIM alone!!