Friday, October 28, 2011

Piña Coladas!!


Shea whipped up some delicious piña coladas for us. There is nothing like fresh pineapple, coconut milk, ice:), whipped cream and a maranschino cherry on the top!!


Any of you recognize these 2 old ladies??:)



Nothing like chilling out on a warm haiti evening with a cold drink & great friends!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Bits and pieces...

I spent my last weekend on Hispaniola in Dominican with my dear friends
Tom & Laurie and Bill Jones and his family.
When Laurie found out I never saw the Aqua ducts
she suggested we go spend some time there, that is where I took this picture.
I am glad we went, it was lovely.

Just after we drove out of customs from crossing from Haiti to Dominican Republic
our truck started to sputter and in short order it stalled and we coasted to a complete stop.
What will we do? We do not have tools to fix this machine.
After a few minutes Keko determined that we were out of gas, so everybody got out and
we had a man powered F150!
Praise the Lord we could see the gas station from where we were
and the road was totally flat so us five men could push the truck by ourselves.
This was a good last memory for me before I headed for USA in a few days.

This picture is one I took in PAP.
I realize there is nothing significant about this picture but it makes me think
about Haiti and everything I have seen and learned while living there.

Thank you to each individual who mad my time in Haiti
a great time of learning and growing.
Although I had many hard and unexpected tests, I can truly say
God intended all this for my good.

Time to talk

For those of you who aren't familiar with Digicel, let me explain :-) Practically everyone in our town has a cell phone and you can use any old phone and just buy phone cards as you need them. Lots of places sell the phone cards. As it happens, I needed to call Mike but had no phone card, so I went up the street to "quick" buy a phone card. The first place I go to has no cards, so I head up the road to check another place. I see a lady with a Digicel apron, so I ask her, but sorry to say she's out too. I check another place and still no phone card, but the lady tells me where I can find one, so I head in the direction she tells me. A girl walks along with me and shows me the store. I thank her and go inside. Yep, she's right, the only problem is that I didn't bring enough for a 100 gourd card, I only have enough money for a 50 gourd card!!! So, I turn around and head back in the opposite direction. I pass some of the same ladies I had talked to earlier and as I passed there were 2 or 3 ladies that called out to inquire if I got my phone card. I told them what happened and that I would check somewhere else. Happy to say, I did find a phone card and made it back to call Mike. It just struck me again that the Haitians are interested in people's lives. It doesn't cost anything to be a friend and to be interested in the lives of others, even if it is just buying an ole' phone card :-)

Friday, October 14, 2011

Changes

Never choose to be a worker for God,
but once God placed His call on you,
woe be to you if you
"turn aside to the right hand or to the left".
Quote by: Oswald Chambers
From: My Utmost For His Highest


It was a cold day in February, 2011 when I received a call from an unfamiliar
phone number, I was at work but I decided to quickly answered the call
and see who wanted to talk with me.

I was greeted by a business man who introduced himself as Merv Sommers,
with International Faith Missions.
He went on to explain that somebody gave him my name and phone number
and suggested he call me to find out if I would be interested in moving to Haiti.

I was speechless.
I had been praying and seeking Gods will for my life but I was planning on going to college
for medical training, not moving to Haiti.
By the end of our conversation I agreed for him to mail an application to me.

I had a trip planned in a few weeks so while traveling I filled out the application
and dropped it in the US Mail in San Diego California.

It was easy to see things were changing in my life,
by this time I knew if my application was excepted I would move to Haiti.
As time went on I began preparing to make a huge move in my life,
and I committed to move too Haiti.

The move was not easy but God gave me strength
for every minute, of every day.
He never left me sit alone, He always carried me over the rough ground.

It is only eight short months since I received the first phone call from IFM
and here I am making plans to leave Haiti and move to Michigan
to work in our USA office.

Living in Haiti has been a wonderful time of growing for me
and learning to trust God even in the smallest things of life.

Please pray for me as I work in our USA office.

~Keith Martin

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Nidel and family sick with cholera

This is Nidel. He is 6 years old. He just arrived in the World Vision Cholera ambulance from a mountain town 2 hours away. Nidel's 9 year old brother died yesterday from cholera. Nidel would have died within a few hours, if he did not arrive at the cholera treatment center. His severe dehydration makes him very tired. He is extremely lethargic.
Below: The mother of 6 is caring for her three sick children.

Below: Nidel's younger sister Naika (4 years old) looks good. She came in yesterday. As you can see, she is well hydrated again, although she shows signs of malnutrition.


Friday, October 7, 2011

Cholera Update.

This evening when I was in the Cholera Center I was forced to realize
there is a lot more Cholera around then I would like to admit.
I believe there was a person on every bed and there were people laying
on the floor beside there family members.

The nurses were busy putting iv's in and taking and recording the patients
blood pressure and tempature.

Please pray that God would provide funds to keep the Cholera Center opened,
our contract with World Vision will expire in a few days
and like anything else it takes funds to keep a Cholera Treatment Center in operation.

Thank you for interceding in prayer on behalf of the Haitian people
who are experiencing this dreadful infection. (Cholera)

Thank you Jesus!

Dadou had her check up visit for her leg this week.
We are thrilled with the results and a praising God
for answering our prayer and healing her leg.

The doctor took an X-ray of her leg and said everything was great,
she doesn't need to use her crutches any more
and there was an American team of Doctors at the hospital this week
so they could release her from the treatment program,
she doesn't have to go back in December.

Thank you to every body who has being praying for Dadou.
Most of all, thank you to our Heavenly Father
who was fit to heal our dear friends leg!