Mission Lifeline

Final Posting from Adam & Amber

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:01:00 +0000

To our friends,
Due to unexpected circumstances, this is our last posting on this blog. (We wanted to let you know so that you don't think something is just wrong with your computer or our internet!)
We love you guys and have enjoyed sharing our experiences in Haiti with you. Thank you for being a part of this amazing journey with us.
God bless,
Adam & Amber White

Our current email address is aawhite04@yahoo.com

Christmas Break

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:27:00 +0000

Hey, everyone. Adam and I are in the States now, enjoying family, friends, and food. We just got to Ohio today. There will not be any new posts on here until we return to Haiti after Christmas.
Take care and have a beautiful, blessed Christmas holiday.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. -Luke 2:14

Noah

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Noah is a precious guy. He lives in a country in which life is just plain difficult and he also deals with being different from the people around him. Noah has a disorder that, along with other health issues, causes his skin to appear very light.

The kids in Haiti aren't much different than the kids in the US in the fact that they can mercilessly tease their peers. Noah is used to this and has adjusted. He is a complete sweetheart, but can be a tough guy when he needs to stand up for himself.

Somehow many of our American visitors are drawn to him. He steals your heart as an adorable, "different" kid, before you even learn about his extremely poor family and terribly hard life.

Noah attends our church often and the mission's new high school. Apparently he is a whizz in school, especially English. His teacher said he liked having him as a student from day one because he already knew so much of the language.

I asked him to say a few words to all of you reading this, so here is a note written by Noah himself:

Good morning my friend, it is with a happy heart to give some pieces of information about me.
My name is Noah I live in Digue Matheux with my family. My family has 11 people, I am the fourth one the family. I am fourteen and in seventh grade. I was born in a very poor family. They don’t have a job, they like to work but they don’t have any work to do. For that reason my brothers and sisters and I often go hungry and we always pray God to change our way of life. For the rent we have a lot of problems, nine of us are living in one small room where the owner of the house is always cursing for money of the rent but we never forget to pray God. I always pray God for him to keep my school going because I would like to become a pastor to be witness of the word of God. Sometimes, when my family and I go to church people criticize us by saying “those people never change clothes.” We tell them “be careful, one day you will be amazed to see the marvel of God.” Even though I am living a miserable life, I am always praying because I know God won’t forget His servant.
Thank you my friend, may God bless you!

Is it just me, or is it impossible to not fall in love with him?

So maybe say a prayer for God's comfort and direction for Noah today. He is an amazing, intelligent, hard-working kid in a very tough situation.

We love you, Noah!

A Note from Robenson

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

By: Robenson
Hello,
I am very happy in this moment to give some information about the mission and me. I am Robenson Marcellus, the Lifeline translator and the update administrator. I was born in Digue Matheux where the Mission is located. I grew up in this area and I am still living here. I have been working for the Lord in this Mission for 6 years and it is privilege for me to tell you how important the Mission is in this area. When I was a boy, there was no school in the place where Lifeline is, the land was not good for any thing, but when God sent Lifeline to Haiti, things changed completely. Now the area has a primary school and a high school, a trade school which is helpful to our community. The church for the people to meet God, to worship Him and to give Him glory. Jobless people have gotten jobs. The most important thing for the kids is the feeding station. They were all suffering and struggling with hunger. Now they have food and a good education which they needed.
For the ones who have been here in Haiti before you know the experience and your support is very important to this mission. For the ones who haven’t been here, please come to see yourselves. Even though you give your support, to come down here will be good. Everyone would like to meet you.
Your friend,
Robenson

Coming Right Along

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:57:00 +0000

The eager workers are making progress on the soccer field. It is taking shape and looks like they are about half-way finished with flattening the land. We have a good group of men from the community (overseen by Pastor Rony) who are doing an excellent job! Keep up the good work, guys!

Meet Delude

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:37:00 +0000

Delude is a beautiful, tiny, 24-year-old young lady who was very sick about 4 years ago. This illness went into her brain and caused paralysis in parts of her body. She has problems moving her one of her arms and both of her legs in certain ways so it makes walking extremely difficult. She uses a crutch to get around. For months now Adam has picked her up (and often her mother) for church and taken her home, along with Madeline. Delude is so sweet; she occasionally brings us passion fruit from a tree her family owns to show us her appreciation.
Dr. Ken has examined her twice now. He gave the diagnosis above. He instructed her to eat plenty of food and although it is painful, get as much exercise as possible. The mission's benevolent fund provides her with medicine and we give her KAH food when she needs it. Dr. Ken said ongoing physical therapy would also be great for her, but the problem is - where could she possibly get it around here? Well, God never fails to surprise us! Dr. Yves' wife is moving here from the States very soon; she has a medical background and will be working at the clinic along with him.... and she is a massage therapist. Her training and knowledge of kinesthetics will greatly benefit Delude. Isn't God cool?
Delude is blessed to live so close to a mission that will help her and to a clinic that will soon be able to even better take care of her, but she has a tough life. She is in a great deal of pain and doubts she will ever marry or have children due to her condition. She doesn't see a "normal life" in her future. This weighs on her and is greatly discouraging. Even lately, she has been tempted to resort to Voodoo because she gets overwhelmed with it all. I've got to admit, it seems so unfair to me - I can't imagine how she deals with this everyday. So please join with us in remembering her in prayer. Pray for her healing, but that she would also stay a strong, faithful woman and servant of God.

Return to Bradom

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:53:00 +0000

By Adam
On Sunday morning, Pastor Rony, Merilien, and I went back to the beautiful mountain village of Bradom. We went to encourage the saints and hold a short medical clinic.
We were up and on the trail by the time the sun was lighting the edge of the mountains. We reached the village a little after 8:00am and were greeted by the pastor and his wife who had prepared breakfast for us. It was a colorful and tasty meal of fresh avocados, lettuce, bananas, boiled eggs, buttered bread, and fresh-squeezed lemon juice. I thought I used a lot of ketchup! These guys doused everything but the bread in tons of ketchup. They must be from Alabama too. ha ha
After breakfast we had just enough time to get cleaned up and head off to the morning worship service where close to 100 people crammed into the tiny mountain church. They demonstrated such beautiful singing and devotion to their Creator. Merilien delivered the Sunday morning message.
The service wrapped up at about 11:00 and I started the clinic about 15 minutes after. I saw about 60 patients that afternoon with problems ranging from simple headache and fever to bad infections. After the clinic was finished, the pastor called us back to his house for lunch before our return trip home. I appreciate the hospitality there.
We had a good time of work and fellowship with them. I am thankful were able to help these mountain people physically and encourage them spiritually.

Healthy Competition

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:50:00 +0000

Tonight was the first in a series of Sunday night youth games. The young people from 4 local churches (the mission church and 3 others down our road) have come up with their own Bible trivia questions and are using them in a contest. Each church has a team of 5 young people to represent it (a few adults are taking part too). Each week the competition is held at a different participating church. The teenagers/early 20's sing first, then take turns asking and answering each other's questions.

They study all week to get ready for it. This event is a neat time of fellowship and a fun way to learn about things in the Bible.

Guess What?

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:49:00 +0000

A Haitian woman just asked me to be the God Mother of her child! That is a very big deal in this country. I politely declined, but WOW, what an honor! (I just had to share that with ya’ll!)

Patients

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:43:00 +0000

During the clinics held at the beginning of the week I saw several people come in that we know pretty well. I want to share three quick stories with you.

A women who came to the prenatal classes held at the beginning of the summer stopped me in the hall. She wanted me to see her beautiful baby boy and was excited to tell me that she was breastfeeding. (The importance and benefits of breastfeeding was stressed over and over again in the prenatal classes.) The 28-day-old tike was premature, born several weeks early, but quite healthy! He and mom looked great.

A precious lady who attends the mission church often was also waiting to have her sick child seen by the doctors. We noticed that her daughter had a symbolic necklace around her neck. It was nothing more than a torn rag with a key as the charm, but it has mystic value to someone who believes and practices Voodoo. I explained to her what the Bible says about only serving one master and that the power is in the blood of Jesus Christ, not anything that Voodoo has to offer. She immediately took the necklace off of her little girl as we were talking. I emphasized to only remove it because that is what she wants to do in her heart for God, not to please me. She assured me it was not and that she hadn’t looked at it like that before now. I love sweet this woman and want to see her live completely for Christ. I trust the Holy Spirit moved in her and will complete His perfect work.

The last thing I want to share with you is about a woman from the nursing program this spring. She came over to me one of the days to say hi and invited me to meet her new baby. She was quite pregnant when she was here for the nursing classes. (This was when Deana and Troy Brooks were here.) Deana and I told her one day that if she has a girl, she should name it "Deana" and if she has a boy, she should name it "Troy". Well, let me introduce you to BABY TROY! How cute! She really did it. That is not a common name in Haiti, but Troy is now this little guy's official, given name.

Minor Surgeries

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:38:00 +0000

The medical team flew out yesterday. Bye, guys, thank you for being a tremendous blessing to us and the Haitians. See you again soon!Their final day in the clinic consisted of a couple of surgeries. This completely grosses me out so I was not in attendance for the events.... so Adam is going to tell you about it. He was there and actually helped.

By Adam
What an eventful day in the clinic. We started off with your everyday, normal clinic patients and then the good stuff started happening. (I'm not even going to pretend this wasn't gross.)
The first guy scheduled for surgery had about a 2 inch cyst on his face. Dr. Ken lanced, drained, and then packed it with a sterilized wick covered in triple antibiotic ointment.
The second patient was totally different. He came in to our clinic with a cyst that was approx 3 inches in diameter, located at the top of his forehead.
His surgery took about 45 minutes to complete. I was able to assist Dr. Ken in the removal the mass. After we finished, the man sat up and thanked up for relieving the pressure in his head.
Thank the Lord for the learning experience I was able to take part in and that we had another successful day in the clinic.

Afternoon trip to Petit Bwa

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:16:00 +0000

By Guest Blogger: Sandy Kimmel
Father Mark, Rick, and I hiked the mountain after clinic yesterday to Petit Bwa, a small village at the top. We took Mark, a 16-year-old Haitian boy, as our guide. His friend, Kevinson, went with us too. They were wonderful guides and took excellent care of us. Kevinson was so sweet and attentive - every time he thought I might slip, he held my arm to steady me.
The hike was difficult; the path more a washed out goat path that a trail - lots of rocks, shale, loose dirt, and washed out ditches.
The views were amazing! The beautiful mountain range blanked by the ocean behind us, the Haitian ladies carrying bundles on their heads, and caravans of donkeys being herded back up the mountain. It was surreal.The Haitian people have an amazing ability to trek up that mountain faster than us, carrying much more than us (balancing it on their heads no less), wearing a pair of warn sandals, and often even in the dark! The people we met on the trail always said hello to us and had such pleasant smiles too.
It took 1 1/2 hours to make it to the top and then we toured the village, church, and school. By the time we left the village, I had several girls on each hand and we had dozens of children in tow. Their joyful giggles were a delight. Everyone in Petit Bwa was kind and friendly.The trek down was tricky, but we all made it safely, except my camera. The hike was an awesome experience.
I feel a new sense of awe for Haiti - among the poverty, illness, and struggle is a culture of beautiful scenery and people of welcoming love and pride and a yearning for the Lord. It's a step back in time that feels my heart with wonder and awe. God surely is in this place.

Last Day of Clinic

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:00:00 +0000

By Guest Blogger: Mary Ann Riggs
Today was the final day we worked in the clinic. We had a steady, productive day. Dr. Ken VanAntwerp performed two minor surgeries. Near the end of the day a ten-year-old boy stumbled into the clinic with his mother and several relatives. I was taken back at him emaciated appearance. His lower lip was swollen, cracked, scabbed, and bleeding. He groaned with each step he took. He was running a high fever. My heart ached at the sight of this boy. My mind raced home to thoughts of our three healthy grandchildren: when they got sick they were able to get the best medical care. Dr. VanAntwerp was unable to give a firm diagnosis other than a wasting disease and infection in his lungs. He was hooked up to IV's at the clinic. The family stayed by his bedside. We came back to the clinic to check on him before dinner. He was still running a high fever. I tried to squirt infant Motrin drops into his mouth. He groaned, gagged, and spit it out. I took cold compresses and laid it on his head. We locked eyes. I felt genuine love for this little fellow and didn't even know his name. When the IV was finished, I unhooked and flushed and the family went outside where his dad was waiting. Again we locked eyes; I hugged him. Carol and I prayed for him. He struggled to get in the car. I waved goodbye.
I prayed that he would get the recommended chest x-ray.
I prayed that they would get a firm diagnosis.
I prayed that he would live.

Power

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:01:00 +0000

We have steady power again (and the lights, fans, and internet to go with it!). Adam and the guys had a productive trip to Port-Au-Prince yesterday and got the electricity up and running last night.
The three men working on this with him have been an awesome help - I don't know how it would have gotten fixed without them. Rick, Bill, and Mark have also done some repairs to the well and generator. Adam and I were BLESSED to have them here this week!
We all remarked last night how the Lord orchestrated even small incidences to work it all out for us to have electricity once again. Praise His name!

Today is surgery day in the clinic so there will be clinic stories to come!

Lights Out

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Well, since yesterday morning, we have had all sorts of problems with the electricity. I don’t know all the many details, but I do know that nearly every step of the process has given out at some point: the generator, the batteries, and the inverter. I think currently the problem is that the inverter will not receive the charge from the batteries.

While discussing this yesterday afternoon the ladies agreed that if we had to choose, we would rather have running water than electricity. Adam, Rick, Bill, and Mark were able to get that going (showers, yeah!), but not the electricity.

These guys worked on this from sun up to sun down. They tinkered with the inverter, they tried switching to the inverter from the other house, they even prayed for the original inverter before reattaching it. Sadly though, everything has failed to work and we were left with no power once the sun started to set.
So last night we had a beautiful candle lit dinner and our time of devotion and worship by candles and flashlights.
*The flash on the camera makes the pictures look so light, but don't let the camera fool you - it was dark!

Adam and the men who have been working on the inverter went to Port-Au-Prince this morning to get it repaired.

The solar panels are providing electricity now that the sun is up, but it goes off about every 20 minutes and has to be restarted. (It is taking forever to post the blogs today because I have to write and load pictures between the blackouts!)

The clinic continues through it all. The tough Americans volunteering in the clinic are pressing through. It actually doesn’t faze them a bit. They said that even without electricity, this is still a better set up than some of the clinics they’ve held on other trips they’ve taken to Haiti – no dirt floors and no chickens running around the exam area!

In the past year and a half the electricity has never completely gone out all over the mission like this before, especially not to this degree. We hate to have the people on the team have to deal with this inconvenience too, but it is fantastic to have help to fix it. They have been great sports about it though. I even heard one of them comment last night that doing the things by candle light was fun. This group didn’t come here for a vacation, but to work for the Lord, whatever that entails.

November Team

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:41:00 +0000

A group of seven, a primarily medical team, arrived at the mission early Saturday afternoon and oh, the eventful time we have had since then! Saturday was pretty standard arrival day, then Sunday we went to a church in a nearby village that they have been visiting for years. They were singing when we arrived and it was a pretty moving experience for some of the team. It was an honor for Adam and I to share that with them.After the church service they held a clinic in the second floor of the church. It was supposed to last a couple of hours, just for the church members and their families. How amazing it was to see how that church membership multiplied! By the end of the evening, the team had seen at least 180 patients!Doctor Ken, 2 nurses: Carol & Mary Ann, and the pharmacist: Sandy began working at the mission clinic yesterday. We will share more stories later, but I witnessed a pretty humorous event with a little girl who had an ironic phobia. Apparently she was afraid of white people. She walked around the corner to visit the nurse, realized the nurse was white, and ran off screaming. I mean seriously screaming her head off. Everybody in there couldn't help but laugh at it. They finally got her settled down with a piece of gum. Bless her heart for being afraid, but it was still funny.

another success story

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:19:00 +0000

A young lady named Bernadette is the latest to receive the sewing machine that she earned through the sewing class. Adam picked it up in Port-Au-Prince for her this week and we delivered it to her this morning.
Prior to the sewing class, Bernadette's only form of income was selling candy and cookies by the side of the dirt road. This didn't offer her much hope or chances for changing her future. She enrolled in the trade school and put forth the effort to educate herself and work towards a better life.
Bernadette graduated this summer, but did not have enough money at the time to purchase her machine. It took a little while for her to learn the trade, but she has gotten better and better. She is an exceptional seamstress now. I love the work she does; her purses are neatly stitched and have creative designs.
I gave her an extended contract to work through the summer, then another contract that went through yesterday. With these extra opportunities she was able to still use our machines and supplies and have her bags sold through the mission. That worked out great for her. She sold more than enough to buy her sewing machine with about $40 remaining in her account to buy fabric and sewing notions. She is now ready to get her business started.
I am so proud of her! She is another beautiful success story of what God is doing through Lifeline in Haiti.

Talking with American students

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:15:00 +0000

Yesterday was a new experience for some students in La Digue. They were given the opportunity to have a conversation with some children at an elementary school in South Carolina via web cam. Carol Claypool contacted me about having her students in a club called Hands to Haiti talk with Mark and a few students at our school. This was a great opportunity for the Haitian students chosen so Saintil, the mission school director, used it as a way to reward a student from 4th, 5th, and 6th grades at the top of their class.
From the time these 4 kids first walked in our home, they were excited. They had not ever been on a computer and were amazed at being able to see a live feed of people. There were a whole group of American children, a thousand miles away and they were having a conversation with them! The children came up with their own questions to ask in order to learn about a very different culture. Mark did most of the talking and translated between the American and Haitian students. It was cute for Mark to try and explain tap-taps and taking a bath in the river. The American kids (and myself) playfully laughed when he asked if they ride to school on a horse. They wanted to hear him speak Creole and asked about Haitian food, their typical day, and their country.It was a neat learning experience for everyone and I am so glad we could be a part of it!

Soccer Field

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:12:00 +0000

This morning several guys from the village started working on the piece of ground directly opposite the driveway from our house. The plan is to have a soccer field there someday. The soccer field will be a place where children and others can come to play and fellowship and it will be flat ground that can be used for services during the spring conventions. The Indiana team from this summer had the burden to help more people living in La Digue and donated the money to pay new workers from the community. This is perfect because the men who desire to work and support their families (but have no opportunity) are given the chance to earn money themselves. It is hard work excavating land with a pick and shovel. The ground has little hills, contains shrubs, roots, and rocks, and it is a vast area to work by hand. Adam has tried to get some heavy machinery in here for the project, but has not been able to find any that will come all the way out here. So we offered the project to some men in La Digue and they jumped on it. They don't care that it is strenuous work out in the sun. They are thankful to actually have a job and get paid pretty good for it. We are happy because the project is progressing and we are not simply giving the guys a handout, but are providing a way for them to help themselves.

Church

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:19:00 +0000

The mission church is doing really well. It is crazy to think that we have seen the church nearly triple in size over the past 16 months!
We are impressed with Pastor Rony's leadership and burden for his congregation and the community. The church has many things going on besides the traditional 3 services a week. There are Bible studies, singing practice, and devotions in different homes nearly every day of the week.
Pastor Rony thanks us all the time for doing the prayer walks with him and helping, but he is the leader of the church and the one who is working so hard to see it improve. Adam and I are just supporting him and the work as they flourish as the body of Christ. God has been blessing the work in this church and we are so excited to be any part of it at all! Please pray for the church here and Pastor Rony. It is not easy, but progress is being made - praise the Lord!

the Cross

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:19:00 +0000

Having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. -Col. 1:20

Prayer Walk

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:56:00 +0000

We first went to see the brand new baby girl of Sano, our evening gate keeper. She is only a couple of days old and is so tiny! Her mom came to the prenatal classes this summer so I really got to know her better then. The little girl is healthy and sweet, but they haven't decided on a name for her yet. They requested that we pray for God's anointing on her new life.
We also visited Okson. His adult daughter passed away just a few weeks ago and then his mother died soon after. It is a very sad time for him, but he testified in church Sunday of how the Lord is helping him through it. We prayed peace and comfort for him and his family during this trying time.
Later we had prayer for another lady from church. We don't know all the details, but she is having some fairly serious health problems and is headed to the hospital today. She was in pretty good spirits though and appreciated our visit.
There were several little ones around her house that were absolutely delightful. We might have been encouraging the adults we visited, but these little guys were a blessing to us. They had precious giggles and contagious laughter. And of course they loved for us to take their pictures.

Literacy Class

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:36:00 +0000

We've got another literacy class going right now. It is a 3 month course for adults to learn to read and write. This year there are 37 people taking the class. Pastor Rony and Renel teach it here in one of the mission classroom on Mondays and Fridays.
Renel is a man in his twenties who has recently started working with us. He has worked in the church since we've been here and came to us a month or two ago to ask for a job. Here is the heart-wrenching letter he gave us.The literacy class is another way Lifeline is helping adults as well as children. What a blessing for them to be able to have the opportunity to improve their level of understanding and certainly even their quality of life. A huge part of this is teaching them to read the Word of God. We are proud of the students for making the effort to come and learn.

Back to America

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:03:00 +0000

The team left early this morning. We enjoyed the little time we actually got to spend with them.
To hear about their experiences this week, please check out more of Anthony's posts at thoughtsofapastor.blogspot.com.

October's Team

noreply@blogger.com (awhite) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:13:00 +0000

A team of 8 has been at the mission since Wednesday. We were pretty much hidden out the first few days of their trip because we felt so bad, but now we are out and around and getting to know them a little better. They are a mixed group from Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. One of the men, Anthony, has his own blog (thoughtsofapastor.blogspot.com) and has graciously shared some of his postings of their mission trip.
By Guest Blogger: Anthony Molihan
After a long day we arrived at the mission just before sun down and just ahead of a very refreshing rain. From the time we stepped off the plain in Port au Prince till we arrived at the mission is was one adventure after the other. I have always thought that my wife had a interesting driving style but it is nothing like I witnessed in Pot au Prince. The rules of the road is that there is no rules. We rode in back of a pick-up truck with cattle rails on it and to say the least it rode nothing like my father-in-law's Caddy. After dinner 5 of us took a walk to the place that is tenderly called the cross. It is a 30 ft. tall concrete cross that is standing on the highest point in the mission and it is painted with florescent paint so at night it glows for the whole community to see. It sure was a beautiful sight from the cross. As we stood there in the darkness with only the lighting from the passing storm to light the sky, we could hear in the distance the chants and screams of voodoo worship. While we were standing on that peaceful rock it was made evident to me that no matter how close to the cross of Christ I may get, there is always going to be wickedness off in the distance, and that thought just about broke my heart. But then I remembered as long as I stay close to the cross the wicked world can't harm me. And that thought my my heart and soul sing for joy. May God bless us this week as we labor for his Kingdom.