We continue to get updates from our friends in Haiti, which is just so wonderful. The news is hard at times, but it’s also so clear that the Isidor family is making a difference, one life at a time.
- We got an email from Yelline Isidor Gelin saying that Gregory and Stephane are in Florida and will be for a while. They are with Yelline and Israelson’s brother Ezechias and Genet, their dad, is with them. She mentioned that she would never have imagined they would travel to the states in similar circumstances as 2010 (for one year, the boys stayed with FT family, the Jaenecke’s). Genet is with them, for now. She is sad as a mom to be away from her kids, but, she said, “Once again, my community needs me, and Leonie as well”. Picture of Genet and the boys is below . I will put their mailing address in Florida at the end of this post in case you (or your kids) want to send some encouragement. (COMING SOON)
- I mentioned about Israelson, Dilano, and Kerbens heading out to Itanie’s place the other day. Itanie is retired from CIO as a caretaker. Click HERE to see a video of Itanie greeting Israelson and the guys. The words she uses over and over are “Fanmi” (“family”) and “Zanmi” (friend). Click HERE to see a video of Israelson telling some of Itanie’s story. Her little house sustained quite a bit of damage and she has not slept there, since the quake. She is traumatized. Booo.
- Yesterday, Israelson was able to deliver medical supplies brought by the LCMS folks last week to Dr. Joseph Jean Pierre who is located in Les Cayes and does Community Health for Frager (the Vetiver Plant).
- Work has begun on rebuilding the church at Carre four du clu. This is one of the three churches that LCMS World Relief is going to rebuild and that Israelson is the project manager for. They started by removing the roof of the current building and the next step will be tearing down the walls. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to tear down and a time to build.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3) We did just now get word that today one of their workers fell off the roof and is badly injured. Israelson is asking for prayers.
- He’s also wondering if we might be able to find tents like the one in the picture below. They could use them for many things: medical clinics, churches, etc.
- There was a food distribution by USAID in the courtyard at the church in Les Cayes. Israelson shared some pictures from his security camera (he is in Torbeck at CIO, now) that show hundreds of desperate people trying to get food. He said the tensions are very high.
Please continue to pray, friends. One thing I am aware of is that Haiti has fallen off the news cycle, for the most part. If you have friends who are asking, please share how hard it is and if they want to give financially, they can be sure their money goes directly to people who are in Haiti who are trustworthy. In a nutshell (as if you can put anything about Haiti in a nutshell): Yelline and Genet and Leonie are leading the orphanage, feeding people (about 100 a day), providing some shelter, and doing medical clinics. Israelson is doing work with churches and pastors and supplies and water filters.
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