It can't be Wednesday already!

Dear friends,

The week is flying by and the team is well aware that there are only a few days left on this mission trip. They are busy with many different projects: construction, painting, putting up tents, organizing storage rooms, working with the children at the orphanage, and sharing the love of Christ.

The Holy Spirit has been at work this week as over 18 salvation decisions have been made! Many of the young Haitian teens at Christian Light Ministries have asked to be baptized and plans are under way to provide additional counseling and a baptism ceremony for them.

Jim preached for the community on Tuesday night and says that the Lord has truly prepared hearts for the harvest there. Please continue to pray that God's presence will be felt in a mighty way and that our team will be able to bring His hope to a discouraged people.

The team continues to work beneath the scorching heat and several are suffering from severe sunburns as there is nowhere to escape the sun. Don't you think Larry and Sue look great with their new cornrow hairstyles!

Here is a panoramic view of the building project on the compound there at Christian Light Ministries. There is a great push to put the roof on the second floor of the school building this week to provide additional shelter from the exteme weather elements. It takes an army of men to create the assembly line needed to pass the buckets of concrete up the ladder to pour the second floor beams. Imagine trying to erect a building with only the most primitive of tools and no safety structures.

Thank you to the many laborers that are working tirelessly to rebuild a safe structure for our work at Christian Light Ministries. Thank you to those who have sent money to purchase the concrete and pay local labor to work alongside our mission teams. For those wishing to send a donation toward this important building project, please send it to Christian Light Foundation at the address listed in the side bar of this blog. Be sure to tag the money to the account of Sherry Fausey or Jim Hambrick/Special Projects.

Please continue to hold our team up in prayer. About now their bodies are weary from the heat, change in diet, and the hard work. Tears flow easily as they are exposed again and again to the great hungers and needs of these precious Haitians .... physically, spiritually, and emotionally. There is not enough resources, time, or money....and each person goes to bed trying to figure out how they can do more to make a difference. Your prayers truly help re-energize them as they serve as the hands and feet of our Lord, making a difference in Haiti in His blessed name.

Thank you for your faithfulness.

In His Love,

Donna

And God said "Not now, Donna......"

Hello dear friends and prayer warriors,

Well, I had planned to be writing you from Haiti right now. My bags were packed and my airline ticket was in hand; the only thing missing was my passport! It is missing from the file where it usually resides.....and despite a frantic search of the many boxes and files still lingering from my recent move, it is nowhere to be found. Therefore, I am still sitting at home trying to adjust my heart and my attitude.

I truly believe that there is a reason I was not supposed to be on this mission trip as planned, I just don't know what it is yet.

When I missed my flight on Sunday, I cried and was pretty lethargic most of the day. I sat outside and read the entire book, The Walk, by Richard Paul Evans which held a timely message for me. When I rose today, I read the entire book of James and consciously decided to keep my heart and mind open so I will see clearly where God wants me to serve Him this week.

Now, to update this blog and keep you posted on the wonderful team that IS in Haiti right now. My brother Jim Hambrick (who planned this trip around my schedule) is there with my friends Rich & Sue White and Jeff & Rhonda Cole (the team that traveled to Haiti with me last year from Palmetto Shores Church). Donnice Moore, John Lemke and Larry Dempsey are also on this trip. The team is staying at Christian Light Ministries with Sherry Fausey and will be doing a variety of activities this week.

It is very hot in Port-au-Prince right now, high 90's, and the men are doing some heavy construction work. Today they loaded 158 bags of concrete before posing for these pictures. The ladies are unloading a huge storage closet of items rescued from the earthquake debris and trying to organize it as best as possible. Rhonda has already used her nursing skills to doctor a young boy's hurt foot.

The team took the children from the orphanage to church yesterday and were celebrating God's faithfulness as 10 people were saved at the worship service. Praise God for answered prayers! It is amazing to watch the joy and gratitude that these beautiful Haitian people exude after experiencing such devastation and loss. As team members wrap up the activities of the day and share their thoughts at evening devotions, they have expressed how overwhelmed they are by the desperate circumstances and beautiful spirits of gratitude of our Haitian friends.

Please keep this team in your prayers as they serve the Lord in Port-au-Prince. Pray for their safety and health. Pray that God will use each of their unique skills to make a difference in His name. Pray that souls will be saved and hope will be restored for those in such great need. Pray that all of our eyes will be opened to just how blessed we really are!

I would also ask that you say a little prayer for me - that I will get out of my own way this week and will be joyous as I accept this change of plans. I can't wait to see what God has in store for all of us this week!

Thank you for standing in the gap with us!

To God Be the Glory!

In His Love,

Donna

Time to Return

Hello dear friends,

It is almost time! I will finally be returning to my beloved Haiti next weekend! I will be traveling with my brother, Jim Hambrick, and my friends Sue & Rich White and Rhonda & Jeff Cole from Palmetto Shores Church in Myrtle Beach, SC, who traveled with me in 2009. Attached is a picture of us on our 2009 trip to Gonaives.


Additionally Larry Dempsey, John Lemke, and Donnice Moore will be joining the team this time. We will be working with Sherrie Fausey at the Christian Light orphanage and school

I will try to keep this blog updated during my trip and ask that you hold our team up in your prayers daily.

Preparing for the journey.

Donna

FOLLOW-UP FROM JIM AND DEB

Dear Prayer Warriors,

We are sorry for the delay in sending this report out. We have been very busy since our return from Haiti and just realized we had not sent out an update.

First, Thank you so much for your prayers! We saw God answering prayers as we made our flight in and back home from Haiti! We had a wonderful trip. We were able to see over 525 patients in the clinics. We did not see near as many open wounds as we did the first time. We did see several patients that we had treated previously. It was good to see them healing and much improved. We are also starting to see pneumonia, bronchitis, malaria, and all the related health problems from sleeping outside on the ground in the rain & mud. Because of the aftershocks, they are still afraid to go inside their homes to sleep.

The construction on Sherrie's school is coming along. We left Steve Dawson in Haiti for 2 months to oversee the project. What a blessing to me and to Sherry for Steve to be willing to serve the Lord in this manner.

We will be going back soon with more aid and medical/work teams. Please pray especially for our missionaries that are so overworked and overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. Thank you so much for praying! God Bless you all!

To see Pictures of the trip go to:

Donnatyson.blogspot.com


Until The Whole World Knows,

Jim & Debbie Hambrick

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.

Psalm 46: 1-2

FEBRUARY 2010 MISSION TEAM

Front Row: Addie Dawson, Debbie Hambrick
Back Row: Jim Hambrick, Dr. Kurt Hubach, Dr. Marty Knott, Steve Dawson

Strong aftershocks

Our team has returned home and are slowly returning to their normal routines.
In Haiti, they have had some very strong . Both of our missionaries in Port-au-Prince,
Sherrie and Dorothy, reported that the quakes woke them during the night and they lay
trembling in fear. Please continue to hold this country and these precious friends up in prayer
during this time of reguilding and fear.

Below is an email I just received from Sherrie Fausey

Hello from Haiti,

I have attached a case statement letter telling about our needs. You might be able to print this and share it with your church or group.

The aftershocks continue. We have had 5 aftershocks in 24 hours. Two of them registered 4,7 which is strong enough to wake you up and both of the strongest ones were at night. It keeps everyone jittery and people don't want to sleep. They are afraid of buildings and houses and it has rained a few times. Please keep Haiti in prayer.
People are still living under sheets in tent cities and now they are dealing with mud.

I am so thankful that I am saved and have assurance that I am in God's will and in God's care. Praise the Lord!!!!!!! I wish everyone was.

We have had medical teams come frequently. Praise the Lord!!!!!!! There seems to be no end of medical needs. Jim Hambrick brought a team, then Dr. Mike Hamm brought a team. They all are needed.

Providence School in Jacksonville sent clothes and shoes. Then Food for the Poor gave us some sneakers. Praise the Lord!!!!!!! This helps so much.
Single Purpose Sunday school class sent their Christmas gift for their children they sponsor late so it arrived after the earthquake so they got new shoes too.Praise the Lord!!!!!!!

We added a couple more girls in the orphanage/boarding school. It keeps growing. We now have almost 50 children sleeping here. We have the girls and little boys inside. The big boys are in an army tent because there is not enough room inside. Thank you Lord for the army tent.

Mike and Steve have redesigned the plan for the building in the back section to include a carport and more classrooms than the oroginal design. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!

Prayer needs:
My little truck is 13 years old = a '97 Isuzu pickup and too small. We need a stronger, bigger truck. World Food Program is limiting the amount of free food to how much we can put in the truck. They had planned to give us much more. We also need a bigger truck to handle construction materials.

Please pray for my health. My breathing is still weak and now I have a cold.
Please pray for other permanent missionaries to be able to come here to take part of the load. The ministry has grown and the earthquake added more. God is calling people.

Below is an article I copied about the aftershocks.

God bless you,
Sherrie

Haiti on edge after steady aftershocks

Reuters
By PAISLEY DODDS Paisley Dodds – 1 hr 51 mins ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haiti was rocked by a second series of aftershocks on Tuesday, toppling some structures damaged in the deadly earthquake last month and raising tensions among Haitians already on edge.
The magnitude-4.7 quake rattled the capital at 1:26 a.m. (0626 GMT), followed some seven minutes later by a smaller aftershock whose magnitude was still unknown, according to Eric Calais, a geophysicist from Purdue University who is studying seismic activity in Haiti.
Another aftershock measuring magnitude 4.7 struck on Monday, and it was followed by two other small tremors. They struck near the epicenter of the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.
The U.S. Geological Survey usually detects Haitian quakes of magnitude 4 and above, but smaller tremors often are not detected due to a lack of seismometers in Haiti.
"It's important that people stay cautious," Calais said. "In the next three months, there's a significant risk that there will be an aftershock larger than 4.7."
Some walls that had toppled in last month's quake spilled on to the street Tuesday and damaged telephone polls split in half. There were no reports of injuries.
"It feels like the Earth is shaking all the time since last month," said Ermithe Josephe, 48, who is still sleeping outside in a tent next to her crumpled house. "We can't sleep with all of these aftershocks and we're too afraid to go to work sometimes."
Last month's earthquake occurred along the east-west Enriquillo Fault, where two pieces of earth's crust slide by each other in opposite directions.
Scientists are still concerned over whether the January earthquake released enough energy along that fault to ease the threat of more major quakes there. They are also concerned about another fault line in the north — the one that caused a 1842 quake that flattened Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second largest city.
That fault runs from northwestern Haiti to the Dominican Republic and onto land in the Dominican city of Santiago, the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic with some 800,000 people.
"It's that fault that's accumulated more strain," said Paul Mann, a geologist from University of Texas who arrived in Haiti on Monday with a team to survey coastal uplifting caused by last month's quake.
More than 56 aftershocks of magnitude 4 or greater have shuddered through Haiti's shattered capital since last month.
On Jan. 26, four people were trapped when a building collapsed on them, and on Feb. 9, a magnitude-4 aftershock shook loose debris at a shattered supermarket, trapping several more.

Sherrie Fausey
Christian Light Foundation


LETS KEEP PRAYING FOR HAITI.

IN HIS LOVE,
Donna

HOMEWARD BOUND

The last day of a mission trip is always a mixture of emotions. Your exhausted body is ready for a hot bath, a big glass of ice tea, and your own bed. You can't wait to hug your loved ones and you wonder how you will ever explain the events of the week to them. Your heart aches each time you think of the work that still needs to be done. You look around and see the faces of the children, the teachers, and the incredible missionaries who are staying behind and you almost feel guilty about leaving. You hold the children close and promise you will be back soon. You make a mental note of the things you need to bring back with you on your next trip. You begin to give away your supplies and even your clothes from the week....no need to carry them back when they can be of such use here. The extra snacks will be a real treat for the teachers and kids.

Our mission team conducted one last medical clinic Saturday morning and then began to pack up the supplies. They will be stored and ready for the next team in - Dr. Karen McCarthy will be returning next week . Jim treated our group to lunch at Epi D'or, a restaurant in Port au Prince that serves some "American food" (i.e. hamburgers and french fries). Believe me, everyone is ready for that about now! Sherrie and Dorothy, our missionaries in Port au Prince joined them for a time of great fellowship and bonding. The team then went to Dorothy's place for the afternoon for a heavy dose of love with her precious children. Dorothy runs an infant rescue home where she cares for severely ill babies and toddlers. It is truly a place of ongoing miracles! For more information on Dorothy's minisitry, Faith Hope Love Infant Rescue, go to http://dorothypearcehaiti.blogspot.com/ After lots of hugs and playtime with the kids, the team headed back to the school to pack their personal belongings. The doctors had to go back to Karen's house to monitor a lady who was in labor. She will have to be taken to the hospital for a caesarean delivery.

One member of the team, Steve Dawson, will be staying in Port au Prince for the next two months. Steve is a great construction and handy man, and his continued work will be a real blessing with the rebuilding of Christian Light Ministries. Please keep Steve and his family in your daily prayers.

One of the highlights of the work at the clinic today was being able to assist an 8 year old girl with cerebral palsy. Her mother had to carry this young girl dangling on her back wherever she went. Before they left the clinic, the team gave this family their very own wheelchair. The nurses strapped the young girl in and then lovingly covered her legs with a beautiful pink blanket that some third graders had made as their love offering for a chld in Haiti. What a privilege to be able to make such a difference in the life of this young girl and her family. One life at a time, one heart at a time, love heals and renews spirits.

There are many real life heroes in Haiti right now, but I would like to recognize and thank two of them at this time. Karen Bultje is from Canada has been living and working in Haiti since 1996. Her humanitarian work focuses on helping handicapped/medical needs children find care. Karen has graciously turned her courtyard into an ongoing medical clinic for our teams since the earthquake and tirelessly tranpsorted both supplies and volunteers. May God bless you richly, Karen, as you make a difference in Haiti. To learn more about Karen's work in Haiti, check out her blog at http://www.haiticoramdeo.blogspot.com/ .

The second person I would like to thank is Kathy Brooks of Much Ministries in Georgia. Kathy's love for Haiti is contagious and she and her husband, Beaver, are largely responsible for the effectivce system of food and supply distribution at Christian Light Ministries. Beaver was one of the first people to get to our missionaries in Haiti after the earthquake (also after the mudslides in Gonaivies in 2008). Kathy followed close behind to relieve Sherrie Fausey in running the Christian Light Ministries school and orphanage so that Sherrie could return to the states for a time of emotional and physical healing. It was under Kathy's watchful eye and leadership that the school property began to operate as a base camp for food, medical and supply distribution. I love the image of our petite Kathy sitting in the cab of a large UN truck leading a convoy of trucks filled with much needed food and supplies to our property for distribution. Thank you Kathy for your can-do attitude and enthusiastic belief that all things are possible with God. To learn more about Kathy and Beaver Brooks ministry, Much Ministries, check out http://muchministries.org/haiti/.

The team will be flying out Sunday morning on a small seven seater plane. Please join me in asking God for traveling mercies for them. I will let you know when they have landed safely.

Have a blessed Sunday.

In His Love,

Donna