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

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

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.

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

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