While in Haiti in early February, Norma's daughter Sherry interviewed me regarding the earthquake which had happened just 3 weeks prior. In the hectic pace of things following the earthquake, I had totally forgotten about the interview until browsing the Joy House website a couple of weeks ago. After watching the video, I realized it captured not only my thoughts and feelings related to the disaster, but also one of the many aftershocks. The video can be viewed at: http://joyhousephotos.shutterfly.com/318

Thanks to all who have given toward building transitional homes. To date, enough funds have been received to build 11 structures. If you have been thinking about giving toward this cause and have not yet done so, I encourage you to make a donation as soon as possible. We will continue building these homes every time a team goes to Haiti and we have funds available. Joe will be returning home from Haiti this weekend and we will get an update on the progress made this past week. The goal was to build the remaining 9 homes.

For anyone interested in going with our team from Grace Point this summer, the deadline to register is tomorrow, Sunday April 25th. I will be in the lobby following all 3 services to collect your completed and signed covenant along with your $200 deposit.

John Rodgers

Temporary Home for Jesus Church at Santos

Once the debris from Jesus Church at Santos had been cleared a few weeks ago, the leadership of the church devised a plan to build a temporary facility in order to have a place out of the elements to worship. Attached you will see the structure which the leader of the church, Reginald and some church members built.

Update on Pastor Eddie - He is out of the hospital and is feeling much better. It was confirmed that he had malaria. Matthew also had malaria and is recovering.

Pray for Joe and Norma Patterson - Norma will be traveling to Haiti tomorrow in order to prepare for a team which will arrive late this week to focus on building as many transitional homes as possible with the funds which have been designated for the project to date (last I heard was an additional 6 homes). Joe will be leaving this Friday to travel to Haiti to help the team with building the transitional homes.

Pray for us as we recruit a team from Grace Point to travel to Haiti this summer. Deadline to sign-up is Sunday, April 25th.

John & Kay Rodgers

Homeless Count and Death Toll Increase

The latest estimates of the number of homeless people in Haiti directly due to the massive earthquake have risen from 600,000 to somewhere between 1 million and 1.5 million! In addition, the death toll has now been revised from 240,000 up to 300,000. The rainy season has arrived in full force and reports of diseases such as malaria and typhoid have been increasing significantly! We received news today that Pastor Eddie is in the hospital but we do not know why he was admitted. Matthew is recovering from Malaria and is doing much better. Roland has been ill and is also recovering.

The great news is the first two transitional homes have been built. Zet, one of the cooks for Joy House is a single mom and her home was destroyed in the earthquake. She was the first to receive a new home. The second was built for Pastor Benito who is an interpreter for Joy House and also pastors the Church at Gran Savon. In addition, enough money has been received by Joy House to construct an additional 5 transitional homes! A team is scheduled to arrive in Haiti in just over a week and will hopefully be able to build all 5 homes while there.

Thank you to everyone who has given to this very worthy cause. If you have not yet made a donation for transitional homes and would like to give, please go to haitijoyhouse.org and make a donation through Pay Pal or you can write a check to Joy House Ministries and mail to PO Box 6643, Springdale, AR 72766. Please write "Haiti Transitional Housing" in the memo of the check to be sure it makes it to the correct fund.

Norma Patterson, founder of Joy House along with Daina Kennedy and Rita Robertson returned home from Haiti 10 days ago for some much needed rest. Thank you ladies for giving of your time, talents, and resources to help the people of Haiti as they begin the long recovery process. Norma and her husband Joe will be returning to Haiti in approximately 1 week to make preparations for the next team arriving to build the transitional homes. Please pray for them as they take care of all the details in order to get ready to go back to the country they love so much.

Please pray for us as we begin the process of organizing a team from Grace Point Church to go to Haiti this summer. We have had many people who have been with us on past trips who have shown an interest in going with us this year. In addition, we have had a significant number of people who have never been to Haiti and some who have never been out of the U.S. who are also interested in going. Please pray that God will bring those individuals to us whom he has called and are willing to make themselves available to be used to make a difference in the lives of the people of Haiti.

John & Kay Rodgers