Faith & Works

James 2:15-16 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it?

Much of the media and the world have moved on with life, and the problems in Haiti seem to be behind them. But, for the people of Haiti, those problems are still very much a part of every minute of their life right now…and will be for many days and months to come. Thank you to all who have donated to Joy House over the past couple of weeks…God has blessed and Joe was able to return to Haiti this past Thursday with enough money raised to build SIX houses!! God bless those who have given sacrificially to help the people of Haiti. Most of the conversations we have had with Daina and Rita over the past week, it was either raining at that time or there had been rain overnight. These houses are going to get people out of the rain and save lives. Joy House has also just finished building a latrine for the tent city in Gran Savon. This will be a big help in preventing the spread of disease in a small area where there are a lot of people living so closely together.

Two teams – one from Living Hope Baptist in College Station, Texas and the other from Baptist Collegiate Ministries in Oklahoma have spent the past week working at Joy House, and when I say work, I mean WORK! They were able to completely clear away all of the debris from the church and also helped feed people from Jesus Church at Santos, Gran Savon, and Pastor Edie's church. Thank you teams for all your hard work and for accomplishing SO MUCH in such a short time!

Pray for the current team of 23 that is from Northwest Arkansas as they continue the work at Joy House this week. They will continue repairs and construction as well as helping with the doctor's house, which is right next to the compound.
Continue to pray for Norma and Rita as they are both not feeling well and pray also for Daina. Pray for their strength and endurance as they will be providing meals for the team this week.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and gifts…for being a part of what God is doing in Haiti. The passage from James asks the question "what good is it if we talk, but don't do?" Well, so many of you through your prayers and giving have not just had words, but actions behind your words…Thank you. Matthew 25:34-40 describes you well. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.' "Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

Thank you for reaching out to people who have been "overlooked" for a long time.

John & Kay

Thank You Grace Point Teens!

On behalf of the 600,000 homeless people in Haiti, thank you to the Youth Ministry of Grace Point Church. During their annual discipleship weekend (One Weekend), Jn. Claude was able to share his testimony about a friend who gave him $50 to help him with his personal needs because he was in Florida during the earthquake and could not return home to Haiti. He had no source of income and did not have any money at all. Instead of using the money to take care of his own needs, he sent the money to a pastor friend in Haiti to help him meet needs in his church. Jn. Claude later learned the pastor was able to feed 60 people who had nothing to eat following the earthquake!

Following Jn. Claude's testimony, the Holy Spirit laid it on the hearts of the students to take up an offering to help build transitional shelters in Haiti. As a result, they raised over $2,000 which will build 2 shelters for families who desperately need them! Thank you Wade Bryant for being sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. By allowing the students to be obedient to God's call on their lives, He has used them to bless people who are in desperate need!

Following is an email we received from Kay's sister, Daina Kennedy who has been in Haiti for 2 weeks and is currently seeing the overwhelming needs first hand. Please prayerfully consider what she has to say and ask God how he would have you respond to the needs.

John & Kay

NOTE FROM DAINA: The destruction here is massive. The poverty level was great before the earthquake but now it's completely overwhelming. The average Haitian makes $30 a year. We have children that come to the gates of the compound we are staying in and beg for food every day. Food is hard to come by in Haiti, even for us Americans, however because we have money and transportation we are able to drive the many miles it takes to buy some food. We see UN helicopters and transports taking food to the south of us and into Port AU Prince but nothing comes to Gressier. While most of the damage was in Port AU Prince the people living in Gressier have lost their jobs or even businesses in Port AU Prince, which has left them without a source of income. That makes it very difficult for them to buy food.

The ministry that I am working with is Joy House Ministries. It was started in 1996 by Joe and Norma Patterson. They work with teenage orphans, providing shelter, income, and education. Since the earthquake the amount of Haitians that they are housing has more than doubled. For Joe and Norma it is impossible to turn them away. These boys have nowhere to go, so they are working here to help make needed repairs and in turn they are earning a small wage as well as receiving food and shelter each day. For Joy House, feeding these boys is a burden; but not taking care of them is not an option.

While being here I have experienced many aftershocks, plus the rainy season has come early for Haiti. Most, if not all Haitians affected by the quake, are living in tents or tarps. Please for one moment imagine with me what it must be like for a mom and dad living under a tarp with their babies during a rain storm. The other night I laid awake during a storm thinking of the babies that are cuddled by the moms as their dads try endlessly to keep the single 10'x10' tarp from flying away in the storm. Even as I write this, I am having problems trying not to cry. We had a medical team in last week and they saw around 1200 people. Many children were suffering from respiratory problems caused by the rain, cold, and windy nights due to improper or no shelter.

I don't beg people for money; but now that I am in Haiti and have witnessed firsthand the extreme poverty and unthinkable living conditions, I can think of no other way to help the overwhelming amount of people in need. Please, the Haitians need food, shelter, and medicine. Joy House is set up and ready to help with these things but do not have funds. Many organizations have promised large amounts of money to Joy House but have backed out or just have not sent it. Joy House is a non profit (501c3). 100% of the money donated goes to the people of Haiti. None of the money goes to Joe and Norma or for administrative costs.

Please!! go to haitijoyhouse.org...you can make a donation via credit card and pay pal.

Your donation is greatly appreciated and will be put to good use, also I will be here to see the benefits of your generosity.

One person can help and many can make a difference!

Serving God in Haiti,
Daina Kennedy

Travel Day

Please pray for several people who will be traveling today. Joe, Jason & Kerrie will be traveling from Port-au-Prince back to Northwest Arkansas, arriving late this evening. Also, the 11 members of the medical team traveled by bus to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic yesterday and will be flying back to the Birmingham, AL area today. Pray for safe travel for each of them. Also, as they reflect on the past several days, pray that God will continue to work in their hearts and lives helping them to put into words what they have experienced while in Haiti and that He will use them to convey the immense needs to everyone they come in contact with once they've returned home.

Thank you to all of the team members for their hard work over the past several days. Even with wind, rain, hot sun, and significant aftershocks, the medical team was able to treat over 1,100 people during their time in the Gressier area! We have been praying for several years for God to allow us to have a medical team in the area and our prayers have been answered! We are praying other medical teams will be able to come and pick up where this team left off. As a result of the ministries this week, between 30 and 40 people came to know Christ as their Lord and Savior!

Pray for Norma, Daina, Rita, Christopher and the Joy House team as they prepare for a disaster relief team from Oklahoma to arrive today. We received word from Norma that the internet connection is back up and running (very slowly) so we hope to get more frequent updates from them. Once we have more information on what the OK team will be doing, we will pass it on to you.

Norma also reports the people of the area are getting very hungry and no feeding programs have made it into the area surrounding Joy House (village of Santos). Joy House has been approved to help distribute food with one of the feeding programs but have not yet been contacted by them to begin the process. Pray for food to arrive quickly in order to meet the needs of the hungry people of the area.

John & Kay

More than busy

The past two days have been more than busy as the medical clinic set up at Joy House to minister to the people of Gressier. Monday, they were able to treat 340 people, taking the time to pray with many and leading 3 to Christ. Today, they saw people with even more serious needs than yesterday. The medical team, along with Jason, Kerrie, Daina & Rita took some time today to go to House of Hope Orphanage to visit Alice and the kids. As a part of this visit, each child was able to get a check-up...what a blessing to Alice and the kids!!!

Continue to pray for everyone working at Joy House that they will stay healthy and will have strength as they treat so many people with so many different needs. Remember to pray for strength and good health for Norma as she has been in Haiti for several weeks and will stay for several more to come.

Communication has still be difficult, so keep praying for improvements in this area as well.

John & Kay