A difficult update

I sent out an email yesterday that I thought I'd also share on here. I will give a short update at the bottom of some more news.

Greetings,
This update is a hard one for me. First, let me share that at this point, we have no real news on Rose Shirley. Oliane, mama, has been in the hospital with her since she went in well over a week and a half ago. Others have gone up and tried to get her to go and rest, but she will not leave Rose Shirley's side. Consequently, she is not sleeping, and is not in good shape. I don't think any of us would do any different. She simply cannot leave her baby's side. They have put IV's in little Rose, many times. Her hand, her arm, her leg, her foot, her head...and each time, these spots swelled up and they had to remove it. They now have it in her neck and it seems to be doing okay. With the IV in, she does a little better. When they remove it, she fails quickly. She will not eat, she is becoming very lethargic. Please pray for both Rose Shirley and for Oliane. They both need the touch of the Lord at this time.

Second, Vero and Abbie went for their visa appointment. They were refused. She even asked them to call me and check the information out with me. They refused. We had followed every step they told us to take. I sent all the information 2 weeks ahead, like I was told. They could have simply checked with the other offices in the consulate to verify the fact that we do work with them. They would not. I have told them to remove our name from the wardens list. I do not want to work with people who promise on thing and then do another. I also told them, if we weren't Christians, we could have gone the way many others have, and simply paid money on the street and gotten the visa that way. But we wanted everything to be done right and legal. Needless to say, I am VERY upset with the consulate. Now we need to pray and find a way to have Abbie taken care of while we are stateside. This will be a very difficult thing for Vero, since the problems with her husband are so prevalent. Her fear for Abbie is foremost in her mind now. So, please pray for her, for Abbie and for protection for both of them over the next two months.

Third, Dr. Steve was here to check out my leg. He put me on yet another medicine. He is not happy with the way my ankle looks. He said if this medicine doesn't work by Monday, he will put me on another one for something serious. Please pray with me that this med works and clears up the problem. I still am sitting in a chair with my leg up. I can't get anything done this way and it's very frustrating for me. Especially since we have a team here right now. They have been fantastic with all the work they have accomplished. I mean these people are working fools...they are like a whirlwind with all they have already accomplished and they have only worked for 2 days. The dorm is very definitely becoming the "Haiti Hilton". And they have also worked with another mission. This is ten people working like a crew of 30. It is astonishing how quickly and efficiently and awesome they have done things. They have kept Don hopping, and he is so happy doing it. And they have been a blessing to me, too. In amongst their whirlwind work, they have taken time to sit and talk with me. Some of this small team are teens, and wow, what a blessing they are. I praise God for the great homes these kids come from. Their parents must be so proud of such Godly, wonderful children they have raised. (And hey, the adults aren't bad either!!)

Now on the last sad thing to share with you. I received a call from Dick Snook (MFI's president) last night. Yesterday, the founder and inspiration of MFI passed away. Here is part of what Dick wrote last night:

Today, April 23, 2009, Rev. Don Bedlin, the founder of Missionary Flights International, went to be with the Lord that he has served for all of his adult life. Don was 81 years old. Don's wife, Jo, passed away a year ago. Don and Jo have two adult daughters and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Please pray for the family over the next few days.

So, I have given you a LONG, HARD list of things to pray for. On top of all of this, two missionary women are facing breast cancer. Monica Compere and Myriam Lawson both need your prayers. Although Mike and Myriam have left Haiti, they will still be working in missions, and need our prayers. So, please, keep all of these things on your prayer list and add them to any prayer chain you have.

Our God is able and our God is in charge. We know nothing happens that He does not allow, even when we don't understand things. So, we are grasping His hands and praying He will give us peace.

In His Name and Service,
Don and Karen

This afternoon Vero and Abbie returned home. Vero said the consulate said since I have legal custody of Abbie, I had to be the one to go down for her visa. That was why she was refused, I guess. I have written them and asked for some direction as to what I can do to get this visa. Pray I will get a positive response very soon.

So, for now, God bless you all, and may you walk in the light of His word!!

A hard and very difficult time...

This is not an easy blog to post. It's been a difficult few weeks, but we wanted to keep everyone updated and let you know how to pray. I am simply going to copy the email I just sent out to our prayer warriors.

Following is a letter describing what went on in the US, concerning all of these struggles for little Rose Shirley. Please keep Carolyn in prayer along with all of us here.

To all of you who have been praying for and inquiring about our little Haitian baby, Rose Shirley, who was born with an enlarged heart, we have sad news. She is terminally ill, and there is nothing the doctors can do for her. She has been in the hospital in Haiti since this past Monday. Her condition is declining daily.

After weeks of emails, phone calls, Internet searching, etc., I had finally found the Rotary International "Gift of Life" program. They accepted Rose Shirley's case, and guaranteed that the Cardiac Center at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, and their doctors, would provide open heart surgery and treatment free of charge. The hospital was prepared to send their trauma team by jet ambulance down to Haiti to pick her up and bring her to the states. Karen and I had been simultaneously working on obtaining all the papers and documentation necessary to get a visa for her. I was prepared to assume guardianship of, and full financial and physical responsibility for Rose Shirley while she was in the states. Everything was falling into place. I was looking forward to really "loving up" on her like a grandma, and helping her through this.

However, last week, Dr. Kak-Chen Chan, the pediatric cardiologist, and Dr. Richard Perryman, cardiovascular surgeon a the hospital diagnosed Rose Shirley with dilated cardiomyopathy with complications. Dr. Chan was very kind, sympathetic and sincerely apologetic that this was out of their hands, as experienced as they are. He said there was no point in bringing her to the states. I appreciated his straight-forwardness with me and willingness to answer all my questions.

Karen had the difficult task of telling Oliane and Roudley, Rose Shirley's parents, the sad news. I will let her tell you what has happened after that.

Thanks for all of your faithful prayers and concern. Please continue to pray for this family. We worship a mighty God, the Great Physician, who still has the power to heal this broken little heart,

In His Service,
Carolyn Smith

This has been a long, hard struggle. both Carolyn and I have been doing all in our power to get little Rose Shirley to the US for treatment. I think it broke both of our hearts when Carolyn received the final call from the hospital.

The hardest part for me was telling mama that there was no hope for her baby. I have NEVER done something so hard in my life. I had Vero come home from work to be with me when I told her.

The first reaction was shock...then such a hopeless look. That broke my heart as much as having to tell her. I was crying, Vero was crying, but mama didn't. She simply stared at the wall. Haitians tend to hold in their feelings and hide them.

Since that awful day, Oliane has brought Rose Shirley here to see us several times. She is such a sweet baby. The Saturday before Easter she came and Stan was here. I got some great pictures, even though I was sitting in this dumb chair. She was SO responsive. Then on Easter Sunday, she developed a high fever and looked really bad. Monday, they took her to the hospital. She has been there ever since. The doctor did tests and said, no hope. Oliane has been there with her. Many of the EBAC older kids have gone and sat with her. Each day, Little Rose Shirley gets worse. She has a terrible time breathing. She has the fever off and on, often quite high.

We have prayed and prayed for a miracle, for God to heal that little heart and make her whole. But we have come to the conclusion that we need to pray for God's will to be done. Not ours, but His. And if it is to take her home to be with Him, then we pray it will be soon. That little child and mama are both suffering so much. Pray with us that the Lord will step in and either heal her totally, or take her home to be with Him, and then she will be whole.

It's a hard time for all here, so please keep everyone in prayer. Thank you...
Karen

Here are two pictures of our precious Rose Shirley...the first on Saturday before Easter, and then on Easter Sunday. Such a drastic difference.

HAPPY EASTER

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Rejoice in the Risen Lord!! We have a beautiful day here in Haiti, today. Well, as far as I can tell anyway. I had hoped to be able to at least hear part of the sunrise service since it's in the next yard over, but speaker was turned the wrong way. Everyone said it was an excellent service and message. I pray there was a salvation message sent out at all the churches this morning, and that there were ears that heard, and hearts that broke for the Lord. What a great day for those who do not know the Lord to come into His presence and His family.

Doc stopped after service. I'll be down for at least another 2 days, possibly up to 5 days. It's REALLY hard to just sit here when I'm feeling fine. There is so much that needs to be done and here I sit. Oh well...God knows about that.

I hope your Easter is a fantastic day with family and friends and that you are celebrating the risen Savior's victory!! He really DOES live.

Read over the resurrection story and rejoice with all of us for what the Lord has done for each and every one of us. I remember the song, (not sure of the name or the singer) but it says, "While He was on the cross, I was on His mind." WOW...what an awesome thought. And I do praise Him for what He did for ME. I hope you feel the same.

Have a great day in HIM!!!

A down time for us

Hello to all,

It's been a tough two weeks. I'm writing from my laptop, so can't get photos or some of the messages I wanted to put on here. The only thing I'll share with you today is why I'm sitting in the living room, frustrated and upset. The rest I will leave until I can get back into the computer room...maybe 4 or 5 days.

On Tuesday, I woke up shaking really bad. I was SOOOOO cold. I could not stop shaking. So, I did not go to the airport. By noon, I was feeling really bad. By mid afternoon the high fever and throwing up started. Have you ever wished God would simply take you home? I sure did for the next two days. At first, I figured 24 hour flu....wrong. By Wednesday evening I noticed my left leg was beet red. Previous to that, when I first got sick, it felt like someone had hit me with a baseball bat on that leg in three places. So, then I got a bit concerned. Called some friends who are in the medical field and asked what to do. The throwing up had stopped, and the fever was off and on by that time. But I felt like a wet rag. None of our American doctors were around, but two of our nurses were. The first thing mentioned was a blood clot, but that was ruled out almost immediately. Then it was a number of things. Decision was made to use ice for the night and see if it took the swelling down. Okay, we are at miserable day 3. That morning our friends Ray and Bonnie and Belle (a nurse) came. Bonnie and Belle were going to stay with me while Don and Ray went to the airport. Now, here is where God stepped in for the first time. Belle said I needed some blood work. I could NOT walk more than maybe 15 or 20 feet, so that ruled out going somewhere for that work. Well, one of the gals we put in school....to be a lab tec...agreed to come to the house to draw the blood and agreed to work it up quickly for us. To make this already long story shorter, saw a Haitian doctor, who came here to see me. He said it was a cellulitis variety called erysipelas. Nope, I have no idea what it meant. But he told me I needed antibiotics. Okay anyone who knows me knows I have allergies to antibiotics (except a few). Another American nurse, Pat, had sent her husband out here with that for me. AND praise the Lord, our American doctor (Steve) returned from the Dominican. So, I'm off my feet, except for bathroom privilages. YES they are privilages!! But I am stuck here sitting in a chair, or laying in bed. I am not a happy camper about this, but have no choice.

Okay, NOW, add to this, yesterday (Thursday) we had a team of 18 come in. Now, I feel TOTALLY rotten. I can do nothing to help out at all. Everything, from caring for what I need, to daily routines, to team care has fallen on Don. He is SO overworked right now. Please, please keep him in prayer. Vero has helped out tremendously, and I'm so thankful for that. Being Easter weekend, she has a couple of free days. So, Abbie's care is not a problem. And the team has taken pity on us and is helping with food. Don is a good cook, but it was all a strain on him.

Well, now you know the reason I'm frustrated. But in this, as in all things, we have to know that God is in control and He can do things we can't.

The sad thing is, I'll miss Easter Sunrise Service here. I really look forward to that. But, I'll survive that too.

On a closing note....HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE. Keep the risen Savior on your mind, not only on Easter, but on every day of the year!!!

Prayer needed

We seem to be coming to you often lately with prayer requests. They are needed and I know a lot of you out there have been praying. I guess I'll just list them and let you pray as the Lord leads you.

First is for little Rose Shirley. We have prayed and prayed for the Lord to be with us in this difficult time for her. It's a very classic case of moving forward and then back again. We have gotten her passport now, which is a huge praise. Now we are waiting on a hospital to step in and offer to do the surgery pro-bono. We have some things in place both in the US through the hard work of Carolyn...but waiting on the Lord to help with a lot more, and here in Haiti, that we are praying will work for us. We have found a lawyer who is very experienced in helping these types of cases. We hope to meet with him this coming week. He knows what is needed, where to go for each process, etc. So, right now we are still in the "seeking the Lord" phase. We really do need Him to step in and show us the right way to go and how to go about it all. We also know there will be expenses involved, so we will have to depend on Him to fill those needs also. Carolyn is acting as our accountant with that situation. I guess the frustrating part of this is, a little child needs a life saving surgery and we have to depend on bureaucracy and jumping through hoops to satisfy everyone. That is so hard to understand. But again, we have to let the Lord control it all.

As I have mentioned before, we are planning a trip to the US. We have our travel dates set now, but have an added prayer request with this. We have already had several churches request Vero come along and speak to their churches about the IDADEE orphanage. We are really praying about this, but it will take the Lord to make it happen. We need official letters from the churches asking her to come. But we would also have to bring Abbie with us, since there is no family or place for her to stay here if Vero goes with us. We will be gone from April 30th to June 30th. So we would have to request a 2 month visa, at the least, for both of them. They would travel with us, and be with us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can see the whole situation will need to be saturated in prayer before it can take place, and then covered totally in prayer when they go to the embassy for the visa appointment. We do not have the appointment at this point, since we need to have letters in hand from those who would like Vero to speak. Another huge ordeal that needs a lot of prayer. We are not even planning our itinerary until we know what is happening. So, keep Vero, Abbie and our trip in your prayers as we wait on the Lord as to what to do.

And again, we lift up the situation with rain here in Haiti. When we think it may have stopped, we get another deluge. These rains have held up many work projects for not only us, but for many other missions and nationals. And again, gardens that were just getting started are facing problems with too much rain.

Now on to the praise items. We have pretty much delivered all of the food and most of the scriptures from the container. So many needs here!! And what a joy to see so many truly thankful people when they receive this food!!! And God's word is reaching out further and further in this poor country. A small book of John and Romans has far reaching effects for the eternal lives of so many.

On that note, I'll leave you all and again, ask you to pray urgently for those things listed above. God hears, and we wait for His answer.

March Newsletter

We just finished printing, folding, stuffing and getting our newsletter for March ready. It won't go out until Tuesday's plane but thought I'd put most of it on here. I did put some pictures on it, and some of those are already on the blog here, so I'll add only what I didn't already put here. I'll start with those.

The first three pictures are the same ones that were in the newsletter. These are from when we distributed the Christmas Bags. Before the kids get the bag, they are given a booklet of John and Romans, and a Scripture coloring book. Someone goes through the whole coloring book with them to make sure they understand what it is all about. This first one is the kids reading that coloring book. It has the whole plan of salvation in it and it's very easy to understand. Then the next two are from when they were given the bags. They all had to wait and open them at the same time. You can see in the one picture, two little boys who just HAD to peek inside and see what was in there. To see what is in each of them, you can go to www.ChristmasBagsforHaiti.com. Or simply click on it on the right side of this message. There is a lot of work put into these bags by Stan and Gloria. They are determined to see the word of the Lord spread far and wide, and because of their efforts, it is. These next two pictures are of...who else??? Abbie. The first is what she normally looks like with her hair braided by Mommy. The next one is Abbie in MY mother's wig, from when she had cancer. Abbie loves the wig. I DIDN'T put the one in here of Don with the wig on. Abbie had a ball putting it on him. Hard to recognize him with hair, so didn't want to confuse you.
Okay, now on to the newsletter... have a super great day in the Lord!!!! (PS, the newsletter was bordered by umbrellas).

Davis' In Haiti!
March 2009

Why the umbrellas? Well, we have had RAIN, and more rain. This is NOT our rainy season, yet it keeps pouring down. I had put some photos of the results of the rain on our blog. Our MFI plane was sitting on dry land and overnight, it was in a quagmire. We have one photo from the plane of what looks like a lake...it's not. It's an area of many homes and they are simply sitting in what looks like a lake. The ground here is totally saturated. Pray for the people who are suffering so in this over saturation.

Since our last newsletter in December, many things have happened. We finally received our December 3rd container the end of January. That was the Christmas Bag container. So, again this year, Christmas for the kids was delayed. They were just as happy as if they had gotten them in December, but such a disappointment for us. Then we received the next container just this week. (This was the one that was to be here the first of January.) As difficult as it is for us to comprehend, we are praising God we have the Scriptures, food, and supplies now on hand. And they are going out quickly. With the Christmas Bags, as well as the food, we put the scriptures with them. So, God's word is reaching out to many. All of the extras on the containers were a blessing, too. Many missionaries and national pastors utilize what God has supplied.

We have had many teams since our last newsletter. What a joy and what a lot of work has been accomplished through them. We really rejoice that so many people have such open hearts for helping the people here. And it's been amazing how many different things have been accomplished by these teams. We praise God that they have been willing to change plans when things like rain and availability of materials hamper things. The teams have been really good and we have been blessed by them.

We are in the midst of planning a trip to the US. It will probably be the end of April to the end of June, not positive on the dates at this point. We felt we needed to touch base with many of you who have been so important in our ministry here. We would love to stop and see you, so let us know if you'd like us to come. We have a team until April 28th, so we will work on leaving soon after that.

An added note here: If you would like us to include you on our email list, please let us know via email and we will add you. I try to update our blog often, and send out email updates as I can do it. We have some on our list that come back to us, so maybe you were on it, and aren't now because of an address change. Or it may be that we can't get through to you because when we send out our email, some servers consider it spam...since we send to many people. You would have to open it up and get ours if that is the case.

We are still working with the people who have been displaced by the flooding in Gonaives. We thank those of you who have been helping with that project. and also with the school tuition's. What a blessing for us and for them.

As always, pray for MFI and all the work they do for so many. And, keep us and all of our projects in your prayers. I have also included a few pictures for you. Just a bit of an inkling of what is going on.

In His Love and Service,
Don and Karen Davis

Support: Don & Karen Davis #10
World Outreach Ministries
PO Box "B"
Marietta, GA 30061

Letters: Don & Karen Davis
Unit 1019 ~ WOMI
3170 Airmans Drive
Ft. Pierce, FL 34946

Email: HH5DAD@starband.net

I would like to add a note here with some prayer requests. We mentioned Rose Shirley, the little baby with the heart problem. Please keep her and the whole situation in prayer. Carolyn, in the US, and us, here, are working feverishly to find a way to get her the help she needs. We don't know the cost yet, or even if the Lord will work things out, but put that on your list to pray for. The other prayer request is for another missionary here. Monica is married to a Haitian pastor (who is also on the committee for the IDADEE orphanage) and they have 10 children. Not biological, but heart babies. Monica found a lump in her breast. She and Jean Claude went to the states to seek medical help. We just received an email today that they have confirmed cancer. So, please, uplift both Monica and Jean Claude in prayer, for God's healing touch and for His peace to be present with them. And also for the children left here in Haiti with some willing workers from the US.

Again, God bless and keep you. Keep your eyes on Him, at all times.

The container has arrived

We are in the praise mode for sure. We finally have the container here and it's unloaded. And aside from the mess up with the paperwork, the cost was not as high. Because of that paperwork, the cost was right up where it had been, but the actual duty was not as high. So we can rejoice that we have it and deliveries are being made.

I will put some of the pictures here so you can see some of the work that went on. And to see some of the fun, too. We had a big crew to help unload again. They worked hard and quickly unloaded it. In a little over 2 hours they had emptied the 40 foot truck. They were great. I'm glad we have a good group of young men who know what they are doing. They did a super job. When they finish, they have their meal of hot dogs, mac & cheese, chips, brownies and coke. The one time we didn't have a meal, we had paid them more. The response was, we'd rather have that meal, we really like it. So we make sure they have it now. The first two pictures are the guys unloading boxes upon boxes of food, scriptures and various things.This is some of the boxes going to other missions and pastors. This was just a small amount of them. A lot more were put into the dorm for those who could not come that day.
Here you can see the "Feed My Starving Children" boxes of food. These containers are 20 foot ones, so you know there is a lot of food there. But that has already gone way down. Many have come and picked up boxes to distribute. And within the next few days a lot of this will be gone.
When we took a break half way through, the guys were a little goofy. Here is one of the fellows with Abbie's fun glasses. I think over half of them had to try them on...and ask me to take pictures of them. We had a lot of fun with the fellows. They really are a great bunch of guys.
We have had some unseasonal rains the last month or so. It's been really bad. But the heaviest has stopped. We still have rain at night, and sometimes it's hard rains, but at least it's not all day long. So many, many places are under water now. From an aerial view, you see what looks like lakes with houses scattered in it. Pray for those who are suffering from all of this rain.

We are in the midst of planning our trip to the states. We hope to leave the end of April and be stateside for 2 months. We want to visit some of those who have been so faithful in helping us out here. We'll keep you posted on how that is going.

For now, keep praising the Lord and keep your eyes on Him. He has done so much for us, and we thank Him daily for his care and provision. Till next time, PRAISE THE LORD!!