Range Bible Church Food Arrives in Haiti!

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor
    will also cry out and not be answered.

Proverbs 21:13

 

 

Range Bible Church Food Arrives in Haiti!

Two trucks loaded with food

The 'Kids Against Hunger' food that was packed last fall at Range Community Bible Church, Hurley, WI finally arrived in Haiti! Due to a little mix up, the food was delayed in shipping. Eventually, it was combined with other boxes of food to total approx 250,000 meals which the US Air Force shipped over for us.


Doing all I can to help fix the flat!

The food arrived in Port au Prince April 21 and was picked up and stored by an organization called Children's Life Line located about an hour from the airport. Jerry Lantz and I weren't able to get to Haiti to meet the shipment because of a prior commitment which had the two of us going to Lancaster, PA on April 23. An organization called 'Lemuel' www.lemuelministries.org was celebrating their 20th anniversary and invited us to attend.

Rice fields before the desert

A little about Lemuel. Gail and I got to know Judy and Manis Dilus, the directors of Lemuel, while we were living in the northwest. I had heard that there was a couple running a ministry about an hours drive away from us. Not knowing what to expect, I decided to email them and introduce ourselves. They invited us over for lunch which was the start of our ongoing friendship with them.

Broken down truck blocking the road

I would like to share a little about the ministry of Lemeul. They are doing a fantastic work for the Lord in a very remote region of Haiti. It's become our 'go to' place when we are in the northwest. With the help of our Lord, they are changing a village from voodoo to Christianity. The ministry is headed up by a man that was born and raised in that village. He has the respect of the local people and the changes that have taken place are amazing! They believe in giving a 'hand up' and not a 'hand out'. They have many programs in place to help local people help themselves and advance. So it was certainly a privilege to be asked to attend their celebration! Ok, so my plan was to take pictures of the event and put a few up on the blog. Well, wouldn't you know, I forgot my camera back at the hotel in Philadelphia, over an hour's drive away. An attempt was made to use my cell phone camera, but everything I took was blurry at best. So, sorry, no pics.

A village along the way

5 Days, 8 Planes, 7 Which Worked!

Between the Lemuel celebration and getting to Haiti, I spent 5 consecutive days having at least one flight. During those 5 days I was on 8  planes in which 7 actually worked! Ok, so it sounds like I was in a plane crash. I wasn't. On the flight from Miami to Haiti we had just pulled away from the gate and the pilot notice a warning light. They couldn't fix the problem and we ended up switching planes. So we got to experience, yet again, the joy of unloading and reloading a flight to Haiti.

Barefoot children running along side the truck wanting food

Because of the delay, we didn't get to Port au Prince until about 6 in the evening. Knowing that it's not a good idea to drive at night in Haiti, we got lodging in Port au Prince.

Unloading the packaged meals

The next day Jerry and I met up with Simon. He's a Haitian friend of ours that works with Chuck Martindale and 'Truth Ministries' http://truthem.org  in Z'Orange, Haiti. Simon drove us out to get the truck we were going to take to the northwest. But first, we had to purchase two new batteries for it. Once the truck was running, we drove about an hour up the coast to 'Children's Life Line' to meet up with the food shipment. Nothing is easy in Haiti. It took us all day to just purchase batteries, get the truck running, and drive an hour up the road. Due to a bridge collapse, driving in Port au Prince is a nightmare. We thank Simon for his driving abilities!

Dried out fields due to lack of rain

We were up early the next morning for the drive to the northwest. We had two box trucks loaded with food which was driven by Haitian drivers and the 4 door Ford 1 ton which Jerry and I were in. It took us 9 hours just to get to our destination! Only two stops, one for diesel and one for a flat on one of the food trucks. Otherwise, it was just slow going the entire way. This trip can be done in 6 hours, depending on who's driving. But, we were following the food and they drove slow to help save ware and tear on their trucks.

We gave some food to this deaf and mute man along the road

Earlier this year, Jerry Lantz from Global Compassion Ministries, http://globalcompassionministries.com placed a container on the Lemuel campus so we could store food in that area. So on this trip, one truck unloaded there and the other truck went to Ti Lagon where we have 2 food containers. Ti Lagon is where Gail and I lived while in Haiti. The campus was built and is run by Living Water Ministries, http://livingwaterhaiti.org

After the trucks were unloaded, we met up in the village of Ans Rouge just as it was getting dark. As we paid the drivers, we were hit in the back passenger widow with a beer bottle. I guess some guy didn't like where we parked. No damage, but we decided not to hang around and drove a couple blocks away. Things just aren't good after dark!

We dropped off 50 boxes to Ellen's orphange

The next day we visited the area we know as Philadelphia. As in an earlier post, the folks from Global Compassion Ministries did a wonderful job fixing up the church there. We met with people from the village and the pastor who is the leader of that little area. We were blessed to be able to give them food. The villagers will receive some of the food in return for clearing some of the thorny shrubs in the village. The pastor will monitor this.

On Saturday we headed back to Port au Prince. The drive was much faster this time seeing as we weren't following the food trucks. Along the way, we stopped at a Baptist Mission on the coast and met the directors of it. Wonderful facility. We also stopped at Ellen's orphanage to give her 50 boxes of food that was packed by a church specifically for her.

At the bottom of the page is a 29 second video of taking food to Philadelphia. In the future, we hope to be able to provide more and better video shots of our trips. But that will require getting a 'real' video camera!

As we continue to work with and come along side the church and clinic in the village of Boukan Patriyo, we will also be returning to this remote, desert region of Haiti to deliver more food. The area is in a terrible drought and the people living in this region haven't had a good garden for years. I would like to encourage everyone to think about, and pray about, coming along side us in this ministry. We are a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization, so your donations are tax deductible. We are so grateful for your prayers and financial support. Without it, we could not do the work the Lord has called us to do. Thank you and God bless!

In His Service,

Chuck & Gail Guerber

Grace Hill Ministries
P.O. Box 171
Ironwood, MI  49938
USA: 906.285.2500
Haiti: 509.4753.0270

Food Distribution & Clinic Project

“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.”

Proverbs 21:13  



Ken giving the new storage container some TLC

It was a blessing for Ken Challis and me to come alongside the St Charles, MO based ‘Kids Against Hunger’ organization in distributing food in Haiti this past week. There was never a dull moment!

The group consisted of Karl, Jerry, and George from the St Charles, MO area, and Ken, and myself from the frozen northland of WI & MI where we have had 142.5 inches of snow so far this season!

Distributing food from the truck

By late afternoon the second day, we found ourselves on the compound of 'Lemuel', just outside of the village of Anse Rouge, Northwest Haiti. We immediately started working on a storage container that will hold food. It just needed a little TLC in order to get it ready. In the evening, we were able to catch up with the friends at Lemuel that we have gotten to know.

Food Distribution  

Village of Ti Paradise receives food

The following day we headed over to the campus of Living Water Ministries to load the truck up with food from Kids Against Hunger. Global Compassion Ministries has two 20ft shipping containers located there to store Kids Against Hunger meals. There wasn’t much left in them but we were able to load up our truck 3 times and make distributions to two nearby villages, where we were met with great enthusiasm. The next day, two boats representing 3 villages along the coast came and picked up their allotment. We also delivered food to individuals and homes while traveling about the countryside. At one point, we stopped to have a sandwich for lunch, and was joined by a guy riding a motorcycle. He pulled up behind us and we asked if he would like to join us, which he gladly did! Before handing out food, Karl and George would present the gospel to those waiting.

Clinic In Boukan Patriyo

Ken explaining to the pastor and the nurse where the new roof
line will be

Karl and Jerry agreed to take Ken and myself up to the village of Boukan Patriyo, about an hour’s drive from Lemuel, so we could deliver medical supplies, medicine, and crutches to the clinic there and bring the nurse a ‘Smartphone’ so she can now contact the doctors that work with Grace Hill Ministries here in the States. We also needed to put together the final list of supplies for the new clinic roof. Ken and Karl tackled that project. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised anymore to find out that what I had anticipated to be a small, simple project has morphed into something larger than budgeted for. I pray that God will supply!

With that being said, if anyone has a burning and uncontrollable desire to help put this new roof on the clinic, we would enjoy your company! Ken Challis is in charge of the building project and is thinking that we could do this somewhere between the middle of April and the end of May. Final dates have yet to be determined. It may take up to two weeks, but if you can’t stay that long, we would do our best to accommodate whatever length of time you can be there. Just drop me an email.

Philadelphia Church and School 

Pastor in the doorway of his remodeled church

Church before the work was done

We stopped by the church we have come to know as ‘Philadelphia’ to see all the work the Global Compassion Ministries people put into it earlier this year. WOW! They did a lot of work! The church now has a cement floor and a raised area for the preacher. They took out the ‘sticks’ that held the roof on and put in real trusses. Walls were repaired and window shutters were added. There was a lot of work done, and it shows! The pastor is so excited about his fixed up church. He told me that more people are starting to attend service now that they can actually sit on one of the many new benches that were built and not on the few wood rails they had previously. Come to think of it, there was a few times where we saw people just sitting on the dirt and rock floor. But not anymore! He also mentioned that he can now give a funeral service there, something he said he hadn’t been able to do in the past because there was no seating. He would have to ‘borrow’ a church. He is soooo thankful! He gives thanks to the Lord.

Church after the remodeling. New cement floor, shutters
blackboards, trusses, and a lot of benches!

We spoke with the two teachers at the school which is in the church building. They stated that they have 55 children attending but that most weren't in school because they had to help their families haul water. The nearest water is a few miles away. The pastor told us that his family gets up at 3:00am in order to
make the journey to get water, for not only his family, but for the ladies that make a meal for the school children. They have a cistern beside the church, but it hardly ever rains. I’m in the process of seeing if we can have a truck of water hauled to their cistern at least once every 2 weeks to help alleviate this burden. I’m not exactly sure of the cost, but from what I can recall, the cost for about 3,500 gallons of water was US $80.00. Will that last 2 weeks? Don’t know, but we have to start somewhere. These children should be in school. Which leaves us with yet another question, where will we come up with the $160.00 per month for the water? God knows, He just hasn’t shown us yet!

Blind woman and her house

The Need for Food

The need for food is increasing in all of Haiti, and even more so in the Northwest. The missionaries from Lemuel told us that people are starting to come by their compound who are willing to work an entire day just for a meal. It’s sad to see. Below is an excerpt from an article in the New Yorker stressing the need for food in Haiti.

The New Yorker, Feb 17, 2016

Family that digs sand out of the hillside for a meager living

If only the Presidential election were the end of Haiti’s problems. Last week, the U.N. World Food Program (W.F.P.) warned that 1.5 million Haitians are at risk from severe malnutrition; the number has doubled since September, due to a combination of prolonged drought, the climate phenomenon known as El Niño—and, of course, the conditions of extreme poverty in which the vast majority of the population lives. It is Haiti’s worst food crisis in fifteen years. In some parts of the countryside, farmers have experienced crop failures of as much as seventy percent and in one of the worst affected areas scores of children have starved to death. The W.F.P. has launched an appeal for eighty-four million dollars to help stave off the crisis.

We need to continue to do all we can to help alleviate this horrific condition.

In closing, we ask for prayers for workman that will join us in putting a new roof on the clinic. We trust the Lord will provide the workman, equipment and the financial needs for this project.

 

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

 and your plans will succeed.”

Proverbs 16:3

 

Little girl receiving a food packet

 



In His Service,
Chuck & Gail Guerber

Grace Hill Ministries
P.O. Box 171
Ironwood, MI  49938
USA:  906.285.2500
Haiti:  509.4753.0272
guerber11@gmail.com

New Year, New Focus!

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Dear family and friends,

Hut along the road to the northwest

It was with your support and Proverbs 3:5-6 in our hearts that Gail and I went to Haiti the fall of 2014. After nearly 9 months of living in a remote area, we returned to the States. The lessons learned were priceless and sometimes painful! But our Lord kept us in His plan. Relationships were built, lessons were learned, hearts softened, physical conditions eased, and the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached. This wouldn’t have been possible without the prayers and financial support you gave. We give thanks to God for all of you!

Eating after food distribution

 

We now move forward. Grace Hill Ministries, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was established in 2014 as a way for Gail and I to raise support in order to live in Haiti. We have now changed its focus from raising support for us, to being a ‘working’ ministry. The funds raised will be put toward expanding His Kingdom in a variety of ways.

Grace Hill Ministries now has an active board of directors that will guide the ministries direction, finances, and projects. The board currently consists of the following: Gail, myself, Dr Neal and Dr LeaAnn Schroeter, Ken and Mary Challis, Clint and Sidney Mabie.  But please know that this ministry is open to everyone that would like to participate. Your voice is important to us! With experienced medical and construction personal on board, we are looking to come alongside remote and neglected people groups, sharing the compassion of Christ and the message of His salvation.

Clinic that needs a new roof!

To start, we are focusing on 3 objectives in a remote village called Boukan Patriyo, Northwest Haiti. I’ll call them the 3 C’s; Church, Clinic, and Community.

1. Church:  We are researching how to best come alongside a struggling church body. There is a wonderful pastor in place that is looking to retire. The congregation appears to be shrinking and isn’t big enough to pay a wage, so he has gone without pay for years. It’s rather difficult to place a new pastor there with no pay! We are in contact with the leadership of the church to see how best we can help the church body.

Food distribution

Kids on box of 'Kids Against Hunger' food

2. Clinic:  The village has a small, one nurse clinic. Dr’s Neal & LeaAnn have been working with Gracious, the nurse, for the past year. We have been able to bring medical supplies, medicines, testing equipment and procedures, along with ongoing training to help support her and the needs of the community. We are planning to take a smart   phone to her so she will have access to doctors and medical advice here in the States.

The roof on the clinic needs to be replaced. It’s terrible! So our first goal is to raise enough money to replace it. By the grace of God, we have raised enough to purchase the lumber and tin, but we need approximately $4,000 - $4,500 more to purchase screws, nails, tools, plywood, cement, and transportation. Once the funding is in place, we can set a date to go over and make the roof happen! If anyone is interested in joining Ken and me, please let us know. We could use the help! Included with the roof project, we would also like to repair the existing cement cistern alongside the building. It doesn’t hold water. Plus the patchwork gutter system is non functional. We hope to repair these as funds allow.

3. Community:  After meeting with local leaders, it was evident that the number one community need is access to water. There is a small stream at the base of the hill a distance away, but it is dirty and unreliable. We are currently researching economical ways of putting PVC gutters on huts and capturing the rain into either cisterns or barrels. We would like to see a small group go over this summer to work on this. Let us know if you would like to join us!

I plan to continue going to Haiti 6-8+ times per year as the Lord directs and funds allow. There is much to accomplish in His name!  This will also include helping with the quarterly food distribution trips with ‘Kids Against Hunger’. Anyone interested in joining me?

Cistern at the clinic that needs repair

We thank God for the support you have shown us in the past. We pray that you will consider continuing your support going forward. There is much more in the planning stages! To include: the possibilities of working with the Syrian refugees in Turkey, and to help rebuild a remote village in Nepal.  As some of you know, Dr’s Neal & LeaAnn have family sharing the gospel in each of these two locations.

We encourage you to come along side us, whether in prayer, financial support, or joining us on a trip! However the Lord directs. Truly, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”

In His Service,

Chuck & Gail Guerber

Grace Hill Ministries

P.O. Box 171

Pastor (far left) received much needed food for the community

Ironwood, MI  49938

Contact: US:  906.285.2500

Haiti: 590.4753.0270

Email:  guerber11@gmail.com

 

PS. Grace Hill Ministries is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Your financial gifts are tax deductible when giving directly to Grace Hill Ministries. Thank you and God bless!

Medical Supplies to Haiti

Psalm 22:24

 For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.

 

Upon arrival earlier this month at the small terminal in Port au Prince Haiti, where Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is located, Neal, LeaAnn, Christopher and I were met by Christopher's mom and an older brother.  As most of you know, Christopher is Haitian and has lived with Gail and me Stateside the past 3 months. Chris’s mom brought him some ‘real’ Haitian cooking which he quickly devoured!

Emergency room at the hospital in La Point

It was a brief time before we loaded up the 5 seater plane and took off to Port de Paix. From what I was told, Port de Paix is the 3^rd largest city in Haiti and is on the northern coast. The flight took about 40 minutes. To make the trip by car/truck would have taken anywhere from 8-10 hours. The roads are, well, not really what we would classify as roads! They would compare to really bad ATV trails! So the journey by air was our best option for this short trip.

LeaAnn seeing patients in La Point

The runway at Port de Paix proved to be a busy place! As we took a fly over, it looked like a regular busy street! There were people everywhere, motorcycles running up and down it, donkeys carrying their cargo, kids playing. Sure didn’t look like a runway! There was even one man standing just off of center waving his hands indicating that we needed to ‘go to the right’! Come to find out, there was a big hole filled with water he didn’t want the plane to hit. We didn’t hit it, thank you Lord!

It was a short ½ hour ride from the runway at Port de Paix to our destination, the hospital at La Point. We were met there by a hospital representative and taken to our 2 bedroom apartment. Even though we kept hearing rats running in the ceiling, the accommodations were very nice. We even had a lady that came in and cooked 3 meals a day.

Pastor's house at Philadelphia

Neal helped out in the emergency room while LeaAnn worked with women and children. We were impressed that this hospital, which started as a mission years ago, is now fully staffed and run by local Haitians. Although their technology may be way outdated, they seem to function well.

Meeting with the leader of Boukan Patriyo (far right on cement)

After a few days in La Point, we headed to Anse Rouge, a city along the west coast. We were met at the runway by Krishell, a missionary with ‘Lemuel’ ministry. We had a wonderful lunch then headed into the city to purchase water and rice. This city doesn’t have a well, and water is hard to find. We ended up purchasing a bunch of small bags of water that were being sold along the road. It proved enough for the remainder of our journey. 

Working with the nurse and Restocking
 the pharmacy in Boukan Patriyo

We took the rice to an area that Gail and I have been working with called Philadelphia. We think the little dirt/rock floor church they have there is what is called Philadelphia and not the village. We were greeted by the pastor and his family. Great bunch of people! They were so thankful for the rice. This area has a desert like climate, and from what we have been told, hasn’t had a good rain for many years. Their gardens aren’t able to sustain them so they have resorted to making charcoal. But now, there aren’t really any more trees to cut down and they don’t know what they are going to do for food in the future.  

A school room at the church school in Boukan Patriyo
Notice the lact of books. They learn by rote.

We were provided a car to use thanks to Living Water Ministries. What a blessing! Thank you Fred & Pastor Etienne! We took the one hour drive up from the desert into the hillier region of the northwest. There they have trees and plants, but are also suffering from the lack of water. Their only supply is a small stream about a 45 minute walk down the hill. Of course that means that they have to carry the full water pails back up the hill.

Neal and LeaAnn were able to spend time helping to advance the knowledge of the one and only nurse in the area. We were given medical supplies and tests to help assist the nurse. She was supplied and trained in the following tests:

HIV

Malaria
Urinalysis
Pregnancy tests
A glucometer

Children in Boukan Patriyo. Notice the yellow tint on the two
girls hair. That is a sign of malnutrition. 

What a blessing it will be for the people of that area. In the past, people would have to travel long distances to get these.

Our accommodations weren’t as comfortable as in La Point. Here in Boukan Patriyo there is no running water, no electricity, and no bathroom. We did have an outhouse, but you would want to use before it got dark. There were creatures in that place at night! There weren’t beds, so we resorted to sleeping on the cement floor in the clinic... which always proves to be a treat. Thankfully, we did have a small air mattresses that eased some of the pain!

When we arrived, the Pastor at Philadelphia church was listening
 to the solar powered audio bible that we gave him a few months ago.

The clinic in Boukan Patriyo. We have most of the materials
purchased to replace the roof, but are in need of more funding
 for screws and cement for the beam needed to go  around the
top. Please prayerfully consider helping this clinic. It serves
a geographically large area.

We had an opportunity to meet with the leader of the community. We discussed their needs and desires. There number one need is accessible water. I believe this is something we can help with. They capture very little rain water when it does rain. A simple, yet effective, rain gutter system on their huts with a collection barrel would certainly aid in their need. We're doing some research into the best way to build these simple yet effective systems. I’ll be taking a team back there to start installing some of them next year. Not sure when yet, but if you are interested in either financially helping or coming on a trip to help build them, please let me know!

On Sunday, Neal gave a good message to the local church in Boukan Patriyo. After church there was a time of fellowship. This church is in need of prayer for a new pastor. Pastor Voix is needing to retire, but there isn’t a replacement for him. Problem being, there is money to pay a pastor. Pastor Voix hasn’t received a salary for years. This is the only church in the area that preaches the truth! We hope to be able to come alongside it in some way.

We visited a small girls  orphanage in La Point. A doctor from
the hospital we helped out in is seated.
He does what he can to help them.

We returned to ‘Lemuel’ in Anse Rouge the night before our flight back to Port au Prince. The next day we were blessed to eventually make it back to Chicago.

We thank the Lord for His blessings and support during this trip. We also thank those that have given in prayer and finances toward Grace Hill Ministries. This wouldn’t have been possible without it! By the Grace of God, we plan to continue serving His people in Northwest Haiti.

May God bless you and your families!

In His Service,

Chuck & Gail

Contact Info:
Chuck & Gail Guerber
% Grace Hill Ministries, P.O. Box 171
Ironwood, MI  49938
USA:  715.258.2500
Haiti:  509.4753.0270

Thank You ‘Kids Against Hunger’

Psalm 106

Praise the LORD.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

 As the Psalmist states, 'his love endures forever'. Wow! Just think of that for a while! Amazing. We should always be giving thanks to the Lord!
 

Unloading the bulk food

 

Thank You ‘Kids Against Hunger’

Working on one of five food packing lines

We give thanks to the Lord for being able to pack food with ‘Kids Against Hunger’ last Saturday, October 17th. Four couples from the St Louis MO area came all the way up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to make it happen. The Range Community Bible Church raised the money and sponsored the event. There were over 60 people that participated in packing 20,000 meals to be shipped to the Northwest of Haiti. These meals will be shipped along with approx 250,000 other meals. All total, they will fill a 40 ft shipping container. We will be in Haiti to distribute it once it arrives.

All ages helped out!

There was good fellowship along with a joyful attitude during the 2-3 hour event. Everyone just dug in and did whatever needed to be done. It was a surprise to see the Monday morning local newspaper. The packing event was the main story! They had a big picture along with a good story at the top of the front page! Next year, we hope to double the amount of food we can pack and get even more community involvement. We will see what the Lord has in store for us!

Christopher Arrives in the U.S.

Christopher standing in the truck. Now living in the U.S.!

Some of you know Christopher. He has been a good friend and effective translator for a lot of us while in Haiti. Chris got an opportunity to move to the States, so he put what he could in his backpack and made the trip. Gail and I are more than happy to have him live with us. He got a construction job within 3 days of being here! Also, he’s studying for his written drivers test along with going to night classes for his GED. He’s a busy man! We are proud of him.

Coloring on the boxes. (Newspaper reporter
in the background)

Clinic Roof

The ceiling in the clinic at Boukan Patriyo (Haitian Creole spelling) is coming down! Well, that’s on purpose though. Pastor Voix is removing it in order for us to put a new roof on the building. When I say roof, what we hoped to do was to put new tin over the wood that is in place. Like a lot of things in life, it won’t be that easy. We found out that the tin is supported by tree limbs, not lumber. Removing the old tin will more than likely destroy the tree limb framework. Plus, we can’t really put new tin on the existing structure. So, we find ourselves reaching out to you for help. We need an estimated $2,200 more in order to purchase the lumber needed to make the rafters. Please prayerfully consider coming along side us. This clinic serves some of the neediest people living in the Northwest.  

A lot of smiles!

Medical Trip in December

We are in the planning stages of a medical trip from December 1 through December 9 of this year. Doctors Neal and LeaAnn Schroeter along with Christopher and myself will be going to a hospital in La Pointe, which is located along the Northern coast of Haiti. After a few days there we will be headed to the clinic we are working with in Boukan Patriyo.

Jerry Lantz talking to the group after the packing of 20,000 meals!

In His Service,

Chuck & Gail Guerber

% Grace Hill Ministries

P.O. Box 171
Ironwood, MI  49938
USA:  715.258.2500
Haiti:  509.4753.0270

Loading up the packaged food.

This Clinic Needs Help!

           Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 124:8

Greetings!

The clinic in Boucan Patriot that needs a new roof.
(a little paint would be nice, too!)

Gail and I thank the Lord for all of you and the support you have given us for the work He has us doing in Haiti. As Psalm 124:8 states, ‘Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth’.  We have learned that the Lord uses His people to accomplish His will. By letting Christ work through you, you have been a blessing to us and the Haitian people. The glory goes to God! His work through Gail and I is not finished. We ask for your prayers and support to be able to continue serving His people in Haiti.

Gail and Dr. Neal looking at the pharmacy

It’s been a while since I have written and we have a lot to share with everyone. There will be more updates to follow that will explain how He is moving us to continue working with His people in Haiti. This update would get way too long if it was all included here!

Dr. LeaAnn, seeing a patient in the clinic

As we move forward in the Lord, our first priority is in a village called Boucan Patriot. There is a small medical clinic (staffed with one nurse) that is in dire need of a new roof. This roof is beyond repair, it needs replacing. You may recall that this building is where a chicken fell through the roof right where Dr Neal was talking with a patient! We were all thankful it was only a chicken. We really can’t wait until something major happens and it collapses. This building also has plenty of space for not only the clinic but with a little more work, a nice living area for visitors or additional staff.  But the first need is for a roof!

Raymond, patient, Dr. LeaAnn, and Gail. Notice the hole
where the chicken fell through in the backround!

We have an estimate of $3,800 - $4,000 to replace it. Because of all the unsettledness in Haiti, these prices may jump higher. We have an experienced Haitian carpenter and crew ready and waiting to do the work. We feel that it is better, when possible, to use the local talent. With that being said, we need to raise the money in order to accomplish this. Please be in prayer about coming along side us in helping restore this clinic. Many people rely on this facility. Some would say that this clinic is in the middle of nowhere, and they would be right. There just isn’t much of an alternative for the people in this area. With your help, we hope to have a new roof put on before Dr’s Neal and LeaAnn go back the first part of December.

If you feel a desire to help in this project, or in supporting Gail and I in His work, donations can be sent to Grace Hill Ministries and to the address listed below. We are a 501(c)3 organization, so all your donations are tax deductable. Or, you can use the PayPal button and put in the remarks that these funds are for a new clinic roof or for ministry support. We thank you and give God the glory!

Stay tuned, there is much more we want to share with everyone! Our Lord is alive!

God bless,

Chuck & Gail Guerber
Grace Hill Ministries
P.O. Box 171
Ironwood, MI 49938

Phone: 906.285.2500
Haitian Phone:  509.4753.0270

School & Village For The Deaf

'Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
 but whoever is kind to the needy honors God'.

Proverbs 14:31

School and Village for the Deaf
Upon returning to Haiti, Gail and I stopped off for a couple days to stay at the New Life Children’s Home in Port au Prince. It’s a guesthouse alongside an orphanage that takes care of primarily handicapped children. The love and care the children receive there is amazing.

Visiting the school for the deaf
 

While there, we were told of a village for the deaf that is on our way back to the Northwest. We got a contact name and directions and

headed out to see what we would find. We arrived to the area and noticed rows of small but nice block houses. The area was green and for the most part extremely clean! We had a few ‘hit and miss’ attempts at getting to the school, so we parked the car and walked up the hill to where we thought the school was at.  We found our contact person who could speak English very well. He gave us a tour of the school, church, houses, etc. Let me tell you, this place is something else! I will try to explain, as best my memory will permit, about this village.

Walking the streets in the village for the deaf
 

After the earthquake in 2010, there were a large number of deaf children living on the streets. They (not sure of who ‘they’ are) got them together and moved them across the street from a town called City Soleil. It is part of Port au Prince. These children received a lot of aid and help due to their unique situation and the people across the street got very jealous. So much so, that it became dangerous for the children to remain.

In steps a ministry called Mission of Hope. They are a very large ministry and do fantastic work. From what I understand, they were notified of the situation with these children and devised a plan to move them to a large house/orphanage about 45 minutes outside of Port au Prince. Then, they came up with the village concept.

Not far from the orphanage, they built houses, a church and school. The houses are in rows with a lot of vegetation between them. One row of houses have families with deaf children, the next row has hearing families, and so on. This goes on throughout the village. The school consists of two wings, one for the deaf children and one for the hearing children. They eat and play together. The hearing children also learn sign language so that they all can communicate. It’s really something!

Rows of houses. One for deaf, one for hearing, etc.

There are about 500 houses in this program which again is run by Mission of Hope. Hearing neighbors help their deaf neighbors and it seems to be working well. One problem that they have is that they have no electricity and no lights. There were solar panels put in but for some reason they no longer work.  They stated this is a big problem, and something I would have never realized. Not being able to see at night is a huge obstacle. For example; not being able to hear your baby crying and it’s too dark to see them. We pray that somewhere, people will step up and find a solution.

Water and Garden

Water from our faucet

Gail and I got back to the Northwest last Thursday to all the unexpected events that come along with living here. Pastor Etienne arrived with two 20 ft trucks loaded with Feed My Starving Children food a few hours before us. He had pumped water for a couple hours which was a blessing. We had water, but it was not potable. Wow, I never knew there could be so much algae, slime and other indescribable things that could exist in water. The cisterns were dry and the pipes got filled with, well, ‘stuff’. I spent the day trying to get relatively clean water. It was a lengthy process. Three days later, we are still trying to get the water right. It is getting better but not potable yet.

Being gone for 6 weeks posed a bigger problem – the garden. We were counting on others to pump water as needed while we were gone (we not only supply water for what is an expanding garden, we also provide water for a nearby village. They count on it). Anyway, a request was made that the large, 40,000 gallon cistern be filled before they left. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. If that wasn’t bad enough, the valve that controls all the water to the garden had been turned off. It was saddening to see.  About ½ to 2/3 of the garden died. What makes it so frustrating is that after 6 months of working that garden we finally had locals take ownership of it. There were 5 men working in it before it dried up. We ask ourselves why did this happen? We can only speculate, but it takes time, energy, and money to run the pump and maintain a good water level. As far as who turned off the water to the garden? Was it to conserve water? Only God knows. It just adds to the frustration in a place that’s already overflowing with frustration.

The first picture of the garden was taken the day before we left. The picture below was taken of the same area the day we got back.

I met with one of the leaders of the village of Ti Anse, where we supply water, and apologized for the lack of water for them. They were very gracious and waited yet another day so we could get the water level up in the cistern to provide enough water for their village and the campus. Today I met about 30 people walking to the cistern carrying pails and buckets. They were soooo excited to have water again! We give thanks to God for his power and mercy.

The Haitians that have been working in the garden say that they will continue on! Praise God! They haven’t lost the vision that they saw when the garden was lush. As one stated, “you can kill the garden, but you can’t kill our spirit”! They have already begun to replant where needed. If this garden was a hobby, no big deal. But the people of the village started to see the possibilities of growing their own food. With the desert environment and the ever rising cost of food, what a relief that garden will be. We intend to keep the water flowing as long as God provides.

Gail and I ask that you keep us in your prayers as we move forward in the work God has laid out for us.

In His Service,
Chuck & Gail Guerber
Ti Lagon, Haiti