Sunday, February 28, 2010

Solo to God

The team attended worship service at Jesus Church at Santos today which is currently meeting under some trees on the Joy House property because their building was flattened in the earthquake. The time of singing is always incredible during church here, but Daina described it as if each person was singing their own "solo to God." Every person has had significant loss in their lives, most of which have lost their homes; but yet, each person sang at the top of their lungs in worship and thanks to God.

The medical team arrived at Joy House today and spent the afternoon getting things ready to start the medical clinic tomorrow. Please pray for them as they minister to the physical and spiritual needs of the people of Gressier.

Yesterday the team visited with Pastor Benito and his family and were able to give him a large eight person tent to help with temporary housing for them. During the rain one night last week, Pastor Benito and his wife slept sitting up in chairs under their tarp to keep from getting wet. They were very thankful for this tent to help them stay dry in the rain.

Please pray for improved communication with the teams staying at Joy House. The internet device we have is with the local provider and relies on cell phone towers to operate. It is a very slow and only works sporadically. Also, the cell phone service over the past several days has been almost non-existent. We are working on possible high speed internet solutions via satellite dish but most options are very costly.

Praise: So far, we have had $2,200 committed toward transitional housing which translates to 2 1/2 structures! Thank you to those who have already responded to the need. Your generosity will make a huge difference in the lives of the families in need.

John & Kay

Friday, February 26, 2010

Team Safely at Joy House

The team of 7 people who left Northwest Arkansas this morning arrived at Joy House this evening, along with all of their bags. Pray for them as they settle in to their tents for the night and hopefully get a good nights sleep (if the rooster can resist the temptation to crow at 3:30 in the morning). Tomorrow will be spent sorting supplies and getting oriented for the task before them.

Over the past week, considerable progress has been made on repairs to Joy House. Several significant aftershocks over the past few days have caused only minor additional damage to the kitchen area ... the rest of the building has shown no signs of additional stress.

Please pray for the medical team who will be arriving at Joy House on Sunday and will begin treating patients next week. We have been praying for a medical team to come to the area for the past few years due to the lack of medical facilities in the immediate area surrounding Joy House. With injuries and illnesses resulting from the earthquake, the need for medical care has been magnified greatly. Pray the team will be able to not only meet the physical needs of those who come but will also be used to bring spiritual healing in the midst of such great human tragedy.

John and Kay Rodgers

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Psalm 33:18-22

18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.

21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.

22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

TRANSITIONAL HOUSING UPDATE: The cost to build a 1 room temporary house approximately 200 sq. ft. will be $875. The size may vary slightly depending on availability of materials. Anyone interested in providing funds to help with this project can make checks payable to: Joy House Ministries and mail to PO Box 6643, Springdale, AR 72766. If you have any questions, you can contact me at johnglenro@cox.net.

TARPS FOR IMMEDIATE SHELTER: Due to the arrival of the rainy season, the need for tarps to provide shelter from the rain is immediate and urgent. Tarps can be purchased in Haiti but are very expensive. If you feel led to help with the need, you can either purchase tarps (10 X 12 or larger) and bring them to the Haiti table at Grace Point or donate funds for us to purchase them. We will take as many as possible with each team who goes to Haiti.

PORT-AU-PRINCE AIRPORT RE-OPENS: The PAP airport re-opened to commercial traffic this past Friday and Wayne Ford was one of the first passengers to fly out. Under Wayne's direction, major headway was made on restoring Joy House to a safe and structurally sound facility which will house hundreds of missionaries over the next several months as they build transitional housing, provide food and clean water, rebuild churches, and share the gospel with the people of Haiti. Wayne, thank you for your obedience to your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for your love of the Haitian people, and for your hard work and dedication. Having the airport open again is a HUGE blessing! Traveling thru the Dominican Republic was very costly and added two days of travel to each trip.

NORMA PATTERSON STILL IN HAITI: Norma remains in Haiti as she prepares for teams to begin coming in. She has been living in a tent for the past 3 weeks in very hot and humid conditions. Norma's love for the Lord is very evident as she continually prays for the people of Haiti, loves on the Joy House team, and tirelessly gives of herself in order to see others come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. She is fondly referred to as "Me maw" by all of the young Haitian men and women who make up the Joy House team. Please pray for Norma as she remains in Haiti for at least the next couple of weeks. Also pray for Joe as he works tirelessly here at home to make sure Norma has everything she needs and coordinates teams to go and help in the relief effort.

TEAM DEPARTING FOR HAITI: This coming Friday, a team of 7 people will be leaving for Haiti. Joe Patterson will be going back in to help for a week. Daina Kennedy and Rita Robertson (Kay's Sister and Mother) will be going to stay for 5 weeks to help Norma and hopefully allow her to come home for a couple weeks of much needed rest. Jason and Kerrie Bollinger from Grace Point will be going for a week to help with a medical team who will be set-up at Joy House to provide medical care to the people of Gressier. In addition, two other men will be going to develop plans for an upcoming construction team and to help with the rebuilding of Joy House.

GRAN SAVON CHURCH RE-OPENS: On Thursday of this past week, Wayne was able to go with Pastor Benito to his Church at Gran Savon and temporarily repair the roof. During the earthquake, two of the steel roof trusses were damaged and they were able to jack the roof up and place temporary supports underneath. Concrete columns will be added later as a permanent repair. The plan was for the church family to resume services inside the building today. Praise the Lord!

WELCOME JN CLAUDE: One of the young men on the Joy House team which Grace Point has worked with on the past several trips was in Florida when the earthquake struck. He was unable to return to Haiti so he decided to come and spend some time with his friends in Northwest Arkansas. He arrived yesterday and will be attending Grace Point next Sunday, February 28th. Please join us in welcoming him to Grace Point and Northwest Arkansas.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

God's "Healing Rain" falls on Haiti

On Thursday of last week, we began to hear the people of Haiti talk about three days of Prayer and Fasting to begin Friday morning and go through this evening (Sunday). In their own words, the purpose was to thank God for bringing them through the earthquake and ask Him to help them as they rebuild their lives and look toward the future. While driving through Port-au-prince on our way back to the Dominican Republic early Friday morning, thousands upon thousands of people were gathering in tent cities, open areas and in or near churches and were singing and praising God.

When I arrived in Miami yesterday morning, I was very disappointed to hear the media refer to what was taking place in Haiti as a "National Day of Mourning". Of course the people are sad for all they have lost but are focusing on their future. They are humbling themselves before God and asking him to heal their hearts and their land. Believers have been gathering for early morning and late evening worship services since immediately after the quake and thousands of people have been giving their lives to Christ as a result. Pastors have been preaching in the streets and meeting the physical needs of others instead of focusing on their own need for food, shelter and water.

After having the privilege of meeting Michael W. Smith last Thursday on the streets of Port-au-Prince, the words of his song "Healing Rain" began to flood through my thoughts and prayers for the people of Haiti. God is moving in a mighty way to touch the hearts and lives of the people not only in the quake zone, but all over the entire country. The churches are not relying on missionaries to come in and preach the Gospel, but are doing what they know God would have THEM do.

As I write this from my living room here at home, I think of the hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti who have no shelter from the upcoming rainy season. As the first rain came several nights ago, many people including some families of the Joy House team, were exposed to the elements due to only having bed sheets for shelter, if anything at all! With the help of the visiting missions pastors, we were able to purchase some tarps to help with the immediate need but are looking for a more long term solution.

We plan to begin building transitional housing (1 room made of 2X4's, plywood and corrugated tin) for families of the Joy House team and expand out from there. By early next week we will have a cost estimate to build one of these homes and will be asking people to help us with funds to begin the process.

After spending two weeks in Haiti, the vast devastation is overwhelming. It feels as if anything we do is only a drop of water in a desert. However, with the entire world working together and with God's help and guidance, we can and will make a difference in the lives of the millions of people who have suffered for so long.

John

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Almost home

Just wanted to let everyone know that John made it to Miami and is getting ready to board his next plane to Dallas. Thanks for praying...he's almost home. He is still scheduled to arrive at 5:15, I'll try to get word out if there are any delays in his arrival.
Kay

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Rain

It has been exactly one month since the quake and remarkably there has been no rain…until today. The first rain came this morning at about 3am. With people sleeping and living under makeshift tents, it was a rough night for so many. This caused the group at Joy House to realize that just as much as people need food, water and medical attention, they need shelter too. The past two days have been busy with a lot of visits to different places. They visited with Alice at House of Hope orphanage and she gave constant praise to God that He has protected them and how He has provided food for them everyday. The repairs at their compound are already underway. They also visited the compound where Sue used to house the children at the Lamb's Center. It was sad to see the building completely demolished, but also grateful that nobody was living there when the quake hit. It was even harder visiting the homes of some of the Joy House staff – like the house where Matthew, Reginald and Daniel had been living the second floor had now become the first floor. With so many people without homes, many have been taking refuge within the courtyard of the Lifeline orphanage in Carrefour (where we visited this past summer) and it is estimated that as many as 1,500 people are sleeping within these walls because they feel safe here. The struggles are many, but God keeps sending the blessings. Today the group traveled into Port au Prince and stopped at the palace to view the damage. As they walked around at the palace they ran into Michael W. Smith who was there working with Samaritan's Purse. He was very gracious and visited with John and the others asking them about their work in Haiti. Michael shared his heart with them about how great the needs are and that it is going to take everyone working together to help the people of Haiti. Samaritan's Purse has been doing many different things to help in Haiti and one of those things has been distributing tarps to help with the shelter needs. Pastor Benito has one of these tarps to provide shelter for his family. Thank you Michael W. Smith and Samaritan's Purse for all you are doing to help so many people in need.
Please be in prayer throughout the day Friday as John and the four pastors spend the day traveling back to the Dominican Republic and then Saturday fly back to the states. Don't forget to keep Norma and Wayne and the Joy House staff in your prayers as they continue to work at Joy House over the next week.
Kay

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Living out Acts 2:46

We are so excited about what God is doing in Gran Savon through Pastor Benito's church. Not only have they been meeting at 5am on Sunday, but they have been having worship services EVERYDAY AT 5AM! He said that they have been gathering each morning and evening for preaching, teaching and singing. They are truly living out Acts 2:46 - Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. Pray for Benito and the other pastors as they are reaching out to the people in the community each day and as they disciple the new Christians there. Pray that they will be encouraged and rely on God's strength. About 25 men from the Gran Savon community met to discuss a plan to go to the UN and let them know that there are many people in their area who desperately need food. They did just that and were able to get much needed food from the UN for their community. Praise the Lord!
Anyone who has been to Joy House knows how big the compound is and the thought of rebuilding 80% of the wall is a huge task. As I have talked to John each day, he would say that they were making great progress on the wall, but I never really asked for details of what that meant. As I talked to him today, he said that they have about a 40 foot section left and the wall will be complete and the compound will be secure. WOW! These guys have been working hard to accomplish something of this magnitude in such a short time. And this isn't just a shortened version of the wall like they initially anticipated doing…THIS IS THE WHOLE WALL! Progress on the house has been coming along also, but not as quickly due to struggles in getting the exact materials needed and the job of repairing a foundation being a little more complicated. Over the past week, several Southern Baptist Disaster Relief workers have been at Joy House assessing the needs in the area and discussing plans for bringing teams in to work at Joy House. Today, four mission pastors from Alabama and Florida arrived at Joy House to determine how their churches will be able to help with disaster relief in Haiti. Pray as they work with Norma, Wayne and John over the next few days to develop a strategy that will bring the most help to the people of Haiti. There are so many needs right now, so pray that God will give them wisdom in planning. John will be returning to Santo Domingo with these pastors on Friday and then fly home to Arkansas on Saturday arriving at 5:15PM. Norma and Wayne will be staying a little longer, so pray for them as they continue the work at Joy House next week.
Kay

Sunday, February 7, 2010

See the Marvels of God

God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains...God lives here, the streets are safe, God at your service from crack of dawn...Attention, all! See the marvels of God! Psalm 46:1-8 (Message) I know so many people have been praying and all those prayers have been the lifeline of hope in Haiti. We may not be able to physically see what God has been doing, but I hope that these reports are an encouragement to you to keep praying because THESE ARE THE MARVELS OF GOD! Joe, Sherry, Doug and others had a safe trip across Haiti and the Dominican on Friday and then made it back to the states Saturday. Norma, Wayne & John have continued the work at Joy House along with the Joy House staff. They were able to find a bigger and better generator for a little less than they anticipated, so they have been able to make great progress on the wall and the foundation of the building. Wayne was able to run extension cords to their tents, so they could have fans running while they sleep…Although Wayne decided to put one of the big fans in his tent and John said the fan was so big compared to the tent that they were afraid they would find Wayne gliding across the bay by morning. The fans were a big blessing and helped them get a good night's sleep. Jesus Church at Santos met today under the trees outside Joy House with about 70 in attendance. Daniel played his guitar and sang a song and Reginald preached a moving sermon with two women accepting Christ at the end of the service – SEE THE MARVELS OF GOD! One of the women said that God had spared her whole family and because of that she needed to give her life totally to Him. This afternoon they went out to Benito's church and he said that they have been meeting out in an open field because of the fear of being in buildings, and that this morning they met from 5AM – 7AM in order to avoid the heat of the sun. Now that is dedication to have worship service at 5AM! The aftershocks have been fewer today and they were seeing signs of city power being restored in different parts of the area this evening. Keep on praying because we are seeing the marvels of God everyday. 2 Corinthians 1:10-11 (NIV) On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Kay

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Urgent Prayer Request

Apparently the generator did suffer some significant damage from its tumble down the stairs because it quit working today. They worked on it, but were unable to get it running again. They found another generator that they could borrow, but it is not working anymore either. The generator has been a vital part of the work right now and without it they will not be able to pump water needed not only for personal use for the team, but also for mixing cement for construction. Without the generator they cannot run any of the power tools needed for repairs on the building. They estimate that it could take as much as $5,800 to purchase a new generator. PRAY that God will provide this much needed resource in order to continue the work on the compound. This is a major setback in the rebuilding process, but we know that with all of your prayers, God will provide and take care of this need. The team made a trip out to Christianville today and many of the buildings there are destroyed or heavily damaged. They also went to Gran Savon to see Pastor Benito's church and the church building did have some damage, but can be repaired. So many people are homeless or afraid to go into buildings because of the aftershocks...and they did have several aftershocks today. They were able to take some food out to Gran Savon to distribute because very little food aid has made it to this area. The team was also able to talk to Gerda, the former voodoo priestess who accepted Christ this past summer. She is doing well and was praising God the whole time for His protection over her. Continue praying for everyone, some of the team will be returning to the states this weekend, but Norma, Wayne and John will be staying through the next week. They need our continued prayer because with each day, new and tougher challenges come their way.
Kay

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Hard work

The team is doing well and has been working hard on repairs at Joy House. They were able to get the kitchen functioning and Norma cooked their first hot meal yesterday…beans and rice and I think I remember hearing something about spam too. They have made a lot of progress on the wall thanks to a lot of hard work from the Joy House team – they are the best, we couldn't make it without them! Several of them spent the day pulling blocks from the rubble of the church, cleaning them off and getting them ready to reuse in the wall around the compound. The repairs on the foundation of the building are coming along as well. There have been a few aftershocks felt, but nothing major so far. Some of the team went to Alice's orphanage to check on them, and found that the compound had only minor damage…the building looked stable and strong and there were only a few places in their wall that had fallen. Alice and all of the children are doing well; God has definitely had His hand on them. The members of Jesus Church at Santos are continuing strong in their faith. Most of them lost their homes and they have lost their church building, but that has not stopped them from meeting to worship. Sunday, they had their worship service under the trees in front of Joy House. This church has had many homes over the past several years…kind of like GPC…and they are a living example of the fact that a building is not the church, the PEOPLE are the CHURCH. Pray that they will continue strong in their faith.
Kay

Monday, February 1, 2010

Great news...

Great news...Daniel is OK!!!! John said he came walking onto the Joy House compound today and everyone showered him with hugs. He and his family are all ok, but he did lose some very close friends, so be praying God's hand of comfort on him. Today was a busy day and they were able to get a lot done. The well is working and the more water they pump, the clearer it gets - Praise the Lord! The cistern is also in good condition as well as the water tank on top of Joy House. They were able to get water pipes fixed enough to get water to the kitchen and to one bathroom. The generator did take a ride down the stairs during the quake, but it is working fine. They were also able to place some steel braces on parts of the foundation and they hope to get cement support pillars poured soon. So many great things and a lot accomplished in one day...but not without many challenges, so keep praying. Oh, they did get a decent night of sleep last night - the rooster was quiet for at least the first half of the night, or more.
Kay