Not The Normal Trip to Haiti!

'Those who give to the poor will lack nothing,
    but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses'.

Proverbs 28:27

Greetings family and friends,



Loading up the army truck headed to the northwest

Have you ever made plans that you thought were important and then see those plans go right out the window? Well that's just what happened to a group of us on our recent trip to Haiti. What was supposed to be a three day pastors conference, an eight village food distribution, and nightly preaching at various churches turned out quite differently.

Stuck truck loaded with food

I met up with the group of 6 guys from the St Louis, MO area, in Port au Prince on Monday, Oct 17. The men doing the pastors conference were leaving the next morning, while Jerry and I were going to be in Port to meet two trucks and load them up with food. Global Compassion Ministries has a trailer located on the Global Outreach campus and it was pretty full of donated clothes and shoes which needed to be brought up to the north. They weren't really planning on taking it up on this trip because that would mean someone would have to drive the 5 ton army truck. Not the smoothest of rides. But wouldn't you know, Karl raised his hand to volunteer for the job. Little did we know at the time, we would need that 10 wheel drive vehicle to pull people out with!

Group deciding whether to try driving across or not (we didn't)

On Wednesday the group held their first, and what ended up to be, their last day of the pastors conference. That same day, Jerry and I followed the two trucks filled with food (250,000 meals) north. There had been a lot of rain the night before and the roads were washing out and muddy. We just got past Gonaives and were on the dirt road when we met a couple seasoned missionaries we know that live in Haiti. They were headed to Port while we were headed further north. They told us how bad the roads were and how high the water was. He looked at us and our vehicle (a KIA pickup) and said "Are you going up there in THAT"? That was a bit disheartening to hear, but we had no plan B. 

Impassable roads

We got notice that one of the food trucks got stuck on an embankment with rushing water around it. Not good. By the time we got to it, the water had receded but the truck was hung up and stuck pretty bad. The other food truck was able to unload and return but couldn't pull or push this loaded truck out. So we sat with it and called Karl to see if he and the army truck could come and help us out. He was about 2-3 hours away but came and pulled the loaded food truck out without a problem! We weren't the only vehicle Karl and the army truck pulled out, there were a few!

By the time Jerry and I, along with the last food truck, got to Anse Rouge it was raining heavy. We had the truck with food follow us to the Lemuel campus where we were staying. There was no attempt on the truckers part to head back to Port that evening, the rain was heavy and the roads were terrible.

George (far right) gave the gospel message to a group of
people that were unable to cross the water to get
to market. After the gospel message, we handed out food

The next morning (Thursday)the guys quickly found out that they wouldn't be able to make it to the pastors conference. There was a rushing river where there was only a small stream the day before. No getting across it. So back to the Lemuel campus we went.  By around 4 in the afternoon the water receded enough so that the one remaining food truck decided to try to head back to Port au Prince. We got notice later that night that he made it. We were thinking that we would be back on schedule in the morning. Then the rains came.... and came.... and got heavier.....and heavier.

These are two of the three guys that pulled 6 people out of
a car stuck in the raging river. The car was then washed down
stream. They didn't know where it ended up at. Maybe the ocean.

I received a call from Fred Chalker of Living Water Ministries about 5:30 in the morning informing me that there was sever flash flooding during the night and that the village Gail and I had called home for 9 months had been hit really hard. Four children and two adults had lost their lives with many homes completely destroyed. We jumped in the truck and headed out only to find that we could go nowhere. The flash flooding had destroyed our road. It wasn't just washed out, it was gone! We were again stuck. But this time it really hurt knowing that we couldn't help those that really needed help. All we could do Is pray. All the clothes and shoes that Karl brought up in the army truck had been unloaded at the Ti Lagon campus which is near the village. They were handed out to the people that literally lost everything.

It was now Friday and most of the guys were to fly out of Haiti Saturday afternoon. Karl, Dan, and I took the army truck a few different ways out from Lemuel only to be met with roads that even that truck couldn't pass. Back to Lemuel we went. We were left with only one option. Leave the trucks and try to arrange an airplane to fly us out.

Working on the runway!

With the tireless efforts of Judy Dilus (her and her husband have Lemuel Ministries) she was able to get a MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) plane to pick up 5 people. After checking out the runway, it was noticed that one end was pretty soupy. The people at Lemuel quickly took action to try and get it in shape. Guys were hauling rocks and gravel by wheelbarrow and Karl was packing it down with the army truck. It never really got in good condition, but there was enough room for the planes to land. 

That afternoon most of the guys flew out. Jerry and I along with 3 interpreters waited to see if they could come back for us. They were able to make one more trip that day and we decided the interpreters and our luggage should go. We would hope on getting a flight the next day, which we did.

Flying out and looking down at where the road was.

Once Jerry and I were in the plane, I realized that it really cuts down on the anxiety of flying when you know that both ends of the runway are functional. Something I had never been concerned with in the past, until now. we lifted off just moments before hitting the muck!

So all the plans we made didn't happen. But we know that God is in control. The guys got one day of pastors conference and we were able to get 250,000 meals to the northwest that will be distributed as needed.  We will take that as a good day.

Range Community Bible Church Food Packing

KAH trailer from St Peters, MO.

This group packed approx. 24,000 meals!

This past weekend the Kids Against Hunger group, from St Peters, MO drove up to our church in Hurly, WI for the 2nd annual food packing. Last year we packed 20,000 meals. This year, we wanted to increase it to 25,000 meals. With one week remaining until the packing, I asked our congregation for an additional $1,660 in order to accomplish this goal. We received a few hundred dollars and by Wednesday I figured we would pack whatever we could even if we didn't hit that goal. Then I got a call from Pastor Josh of Life Church of Rome, GA. He was one of the three pastors I recently met up with in Haiti. He started out by saying his church wanted to give us $1,000 for food packing! He had no clue we were going to even be packing food this weekend, let alone that we were, well, about $1,000 short! I was floored. God continues to amaze me. And to God goes the glory.

As I prepare to head back to Haiti this Sunday, please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers. There is so much devastation there. The need for food is real. It's worth repeating the word of God in Proverbs 28:27

'Those who give to the poor will lack nothing,
but those who close their eyes to them  receive many curses'.

As we continue moving forward with the work He has for us in Haiti, please consider joining with us prayerfully and financially. We depend on your support. May God bless you and your families!

In His Service,
Chuck & Gail

Contact Information

Chuck & Gail Guerber

% Grace Hill Ministries

P.O. Box 171

Ironwood, MI  49938

USA: 906.285.2500

Haiti:  509.4753.0270