Hey everyone! Mike and I made it safely back to Haiti yesterday morning. We had a nice break in the states and got some much needed rest. We are ready to get back to work here in Haiti and have big plans for the future. We want to update you all on our goals, plans, and vision for the future of ReachHaiti Ministry. While in the states, we spent a lot of time planning and preparing goals and the vision God has given us. First of all, we have already scheduled several trips in the next six months. You may view the trip dates already planned by visiting our website, www.ReachHaiti.com. If your church would like to plan a group trip, please email us at ReachHaiti@gmail.com. With each trip, we want to accomplish rebuilding the orphanage as well as several houses for friends and staff to our ministry. We would also like to continue offering medical relief with each team. We had a team of 16 men who stayed 10 days with us back in February. We were able to accomplish a lot during their time. They were able to rebuild one of our pastor’s houses, repair a roof on a church, and have a roadside medical clinic where over 1,300 were treated in only a week. Through evangelism, we also saw over 400 people come to repentance and salvation in Jesus Christ! The team worked very hard to get all this done but there is still so much to do. We need your help to partner with us to see Haiti turnaround for Jesus and start over.

We want to share the vision the Lord has given us with all of you. We are hoping to close on the property within the next week. A special thanks to New Hope Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee for providing most of the funds to buy this land. We are purchasing a beautiful piece that is around 1.5 acres with 4 large mango trees. The first phase of the building will be dorms for the kids, our staff, and teams. The second phase will be a mission house where Mike and I will also stay. The third phase will consist of a school, an internet cafe, and a small medical clinic. The school will be not only for our kids but also for the kids in our community who can’t afford private school. We will continue the ISOM Bible training school and also want to begin a vocational training school to help teach business skills and trades to help people find jobs or start businesses. We will continue the feeding program and hope to expand it to the whole community everyday in stead of just Sunday’s. We want to continue to take in children and expand the orphanage to house up to 300 kids in the future. We have hired some new staff members to help us get organized and to make all these plans happen. We also have several interns scheduled to come down over the next few months to help us reach these goals and experience real life on the mission field.  We just received our first license in Haiti recognizing us as a ministry and an orphanage and are working on our second license now. Again, none of this will be possible without your continued monthly support of the ministry.
While in Tennessee, the Lord blessed us to buy a suburban. It is large enough to haul our supplies and teams. It is 4-wheel-drive, diesel, and has air conditioning. We also put large mud tires on it to prepare for the rainy season. We should be able to go anywhere in Haiti without any problems. We drove it to Miami last week to get it on a boat for shipping After a week of running around and making phone calls, we finally got to the office of who ships the truck. We were told it would cost around $2,000 US to ship it and then customs taxes on top of that. We sat down in her office, and the lady told us the company was waiving all their fees and were shipping the truck for free. We were speechless. The vice president of the company reviewed our case and said they wanted to help us. We are also planning to ship containers through them with supplies very soon. The truck will be on the boat Monday, and we should hopefully have it out of customs by next Thursday. We also have a friend who knows the customs procedures very well who may be able to get it through customs with little to no charge. Please continue to pray for all this to happen easily and quickly.

As tragic and devastating as this earthquake was, we have seen God open some big doors for us here. Rene Preval, the current president of Haiti, just recently publicly announced his repentance and salvation in Jesus Christ. This is a huge turning point for Haiti and a historical moment. This is also a major opportunity for the Gospel. People who were once hard-hearted and calloused are now open to hearing and receiving salvation and the love of Jesus. We will continue to preach the Gospel and do evangelism everywhere we can. We want to go where others aren’t going so all may hear. After reading several missionary books, I have noticed a pattern. Through tragedy and natural disasters, God uses them to advance the Gospel quickly and get glory. We have heard story after story of people testifying to God’s grace through all this and His miracles that are being seen all over Port au Prince.

After being in the states a few weeks and taking a break, the devastation we still see here in Haiti is beyond words. We went to visit Marilyn this morning in the children’s hospital. They just confirmed our fears that she has Tuberculosis but is actually doing much better. All of her swelling and edema have gone down, and she is gaining weight and strength back everyday. They have also started treatment on her club foot to try and fix it. However, with TB, they are going to keep her at the hospital for the next 6 months. She is in an infant’s ward with several other babies and young kids. My heart was broken for all these babies. Most are either orphaned or abandoned now due to the earthquake. Many are very sick or are recovering from surgeries and procedures. I was reminded of how great the need is here to help these children now more than ever. They are without families, without homes, and without love. I held the baby next to Marilyn named Jessica for most of the time I was there. She couldn’t be more than a couple months old and weighs under 10 pounds. She is so tiny but she just kept looking at me and smiling. I kept thinking, “Where is she going to go when she’s released? Is any of her family still alive? How can I help?” As you all know, I half a weakness for children already, but this is simply heartbreaking. These kids need us. If we don’t help, who will? We are already seeing the relief groups leave Haiti and also know this will continue. It is going to take years to rebuild this land, but these children need us now. They can’t wait years. We want to help every one that we can. By partnering with us each month, you can help change a child’s life forever.

So, we are asking for your help. For those of you who don’t already support us monthly, we are asking for you to partner with us now and commit to a twelve month sponsorship for the ministry. Although these goals are very big, we know we serve a BIG God and NOTHING is impossible with Him! If you would like to commit to a one-year monthly support sponsorship for the ministry, please visit our website, www.ReachHaiti.com and enter the amount for monthly support at the right of the home page. We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support throughout our ministry. Without you, we wouldn’t be here. We also hope you will all pray and consider coming down to visit us one day in Haiti. We want to say a special thanks to those of you who had me come and share about Haiti while I was in Tennessee: New Hope Baptist Church, Monte Vista Baptist Church, Asbury Assisted Living, the 9th Grade Academy at William Blount, Nile’s Ferry Baptist Church, and Lifepoint Christian Fellowship. We also want to thank Middlesettlements United Methodist Church and Los Amigos Restaurant for their fundraisers. God bless you all!
Love, Andrea and Mike

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