Quake up dates

1/16/2010

I have seen many people turning to prayer as their last and only option--it should be a first choice and best choice. It does change things. I'll give you an example. My family has been sharing about more and more of their experiences. You can't tell about all the trials in a disaster like this at one time. Things keep coming out as time goes by. That first night after the quake, it was supposed to rain. The forecasts all predicted it and the Haitians said that the temperature and sky all indicated that it should have rained. Can you imagine if that would have happened? There were so many buried but still alive, the dust everywhere, and even the ones saved were sleeping outside and still in shock. It is cold for Haiti right now and rain would have killed many more people. My family said that their whole neighborhood who was outside that night prayed and prayed for the clouds to go away--as I'm sure many, many others did. It started to sprinkle just a little and everyone lifted their hands and shouted praises and supplications--and it didn't rain at all in Port that night or any other night since then. My sister, lifting up her hands as she recounted this, said that the clouds opened up and the stars showed over the whole sky. Amazing! God is good.

My nephew Louine, that was buried under his school, still suffers from the shakes. He can't sleep through the night. But, his story is a story of grace. He was on the second story of a 3-story building. His class room faced the street. He was sitting in his desk when he felt the earthquake start. He stood up immediately. It didn't take long for the building to collapse. He fell onto his desk instead of being crushed in it like others of his classmates were. But, when the quake ended his head was resting on the folding chair and one arm was under his desk and the ceiling of the 3rd floor was less than a foot above his head. He couldn't even sit up or turn his body at all. For a long time, the students didn't even know that it was a earthquake, they thought that only their building had fallen. But, after a lot of time had passed and no one arrived to help, they believed it had to be a quake and the whole city was affected. They knew they had to help themselves. It was already dark by this time and they only had the light from their phones. They couldn't call anyone. The ones that were still living encouraged each other not to cry or loose hope. They touched hands or feet or any part of the body, if possible, and sang hymns to keep their courage up. At around 9:00 PM, their professor, who was talking up to that point, passed away. He was 'sitting' right behind Louine. Then the students nearest the door were able to move the broken chalkboard to clear a hole near the doorway. It took a lot of painstaking work with their bare hands to clear even a small space. As each person was freed, it opened a small route to reach the others. Louine was one of the last. He is a tall young man and the hole wasn't big enough for him. He had to take the rubble and make the hole larger. By this time, there were people that were helping from the outside. And he made it out. One of the things that struck me the most is when he talks about the period of time when he was waiting for the others to get out. The cement ceiling was less than a foot away but it kept descending. Louine says that he kept passing his hand over his head to see how close the ceiling was to him. When his turn came, the ceiling was resting on his forehead. When he got out, the first people he saw were his dad and our cousin. They had arrived at the same moment that Louine left the building. Praise the Lord! Louine attributes his class being saved because they prayed together. The class next to his had many who survived the initial collapse but they panicked. Louine said his class mates tried to help them to be calm and pray and not to scream but they couldn't seem to stop. After a couple of hours, these students succumbed to shock and their injuries. No one was able to leave. Louine also prays that his professor was able to turn to God in his last moments because he cursed and mocked his students efforts to pray. But, Louine emphasizes that God can change hearts, even at the last moment. When one of his fellow classmates broke down, the rest of the class was able to sing and pray for them. In this way, they were able to stay encouraged and united. Louine thinks that 12-13 students were able to walk out of the rubble and 8-9 had to carried out of the building. Three students died instantly and the professor died after several hours. In all the classes, Louine's had the most survivors. Again, he attributes it to God's grace. The earthquake was at 4:45PM and Louine left the building at 10:30PM. Others followed him until into the early morning hours. Louine didn't leave the scene right away. He knew how the shock left so many tremendously thirsty. He and others went to find water and lowered it to the trapped students below. He believes that saved many others.

Louine wants me to say this to you: I want to tell my story because I didn't know for a long time whether I would die or not. I checked the time on my phone often so as to know the time of my death. But, there came a moment when God spoke to me. He said, 'You will not die, I want to show you my greatness.' Louine says it is for this reason that he not only wants to tell his story, but is able. I can attest to that as he is sitting beside me shaking. I pray that remembering God's grace and love in the midst of all the horror will heal him as nothing else can. He pleads with you to never stop praying because God does not allow anything to happen for nothing. God gives VICTORY.

God bless you, Kristie

P.S. I just got back from youth group. The kids are going to go and pray and visit with as many families who have lost sons or daughters as they can. They are going to offer to wash clothes or clean the yard or whatever. They are also taking up an offering themselves. Many of them will be lucky to offer $.25 but it will be a beautiful and rich offering in God's sight.

1/19/2010

Dear friends;

Thank you so much for all the prayers, letters, support, and donations that you have been giving us. We appreciate it very much.

Right now, we have over 24 staying with us. That is in addition to the family that we have living with us all the time. Sometimes it is hard to be responsible for so many but we are so thankful that these people are not in Port anymore. People still have to sleep in the street because of the instability of the houses. Just yesterday, there was another aftershock. Unfortunately, there are many thieves in the streets of Port-au-Prince. We are very glad that our house is full and that there are 24 people that have a roof and food to eat. We are happy that the Lord can use us in this way. We will take in more, if need be.

JeanJean has been busy organizing the community leaders into a response committee. Our relief efforts are basically the same as we had envisioned at the onset of this disaster. With the community, UCI will be continuing to send trucks into Port to evacuate people. We will not only be retrieving people from our area but also offering the trucks to take people to other parts of the country where their family is. We had taken 5 young women out of Port on Sunday. We didn't know where they were from and they were scared that they wouldn't get a ride if they said they were from Ranquitte--a community behind our own mountains. People are desperate to get out of Port, and they will get on any truck they can, no matter where its destination. They don't bring anything with them except the clothes on their back. They just want to get out. We thought that we would be taking in these 5 girls into our house. However, when they got to our place, were fed and given a place to sleep, they felt comfortable enough to tell us the real story. Luckily, they had family only an hour away from us. We found transportation for them and got them to loved ones. We would like to offer that to others. UCI's board met together this afternoon and decided to make every effort to reunite families. Pray for the 3 trucks that will travel to Port to transport more refugees.

Another area that UCI's relief funds will go to is to supply food for the families that are receiving people. There are families that have taken in as many as we have. These families will give and give, but sooner or later, their stores will be depleted. We are glad that we are able to help this way. We hope to offer money to people in the near future so they can get back on their feet. Most of them have viable skills and just need help to start over. We don't want to be caught giving food indefinitely and never letting the families take control of their own lives. The Mompremier family has land on the mountain that can be worked and we will offer this as well to the families that have no land.

It has been wonderful to see how the community is banding together and giving generously. So many people have offered food, money, and their homes. They may only have a space on the ground to offer someone, but it is so much better than sleeping in the streets. Our youth group prayed with the families who lost sons or daughters today. They sang, read the Bible and prayed with the families. Then we gave an offering that we gathered and soap for the family to wash their clothes. Lastly, the youth offered to come and do laundry or help in their yards. I was really proud of the group. Jacqueline and Rosenie did a great job of leading the youth and it was a privilege to be with them.

It has also been a busy afternoon for me with my nursing skills. I have sent a lot of supplies to our local doctor but I also have been seeing a lot of people myself. There are many cuts, bruises, sprains, and other external problems. But, more often, we see many people that are still in shock. A young man came to me that just left Port this morning. He is from our area but was living in Port, making sandals for a living. His good friends were the young men from our area that died. He spent days trying to find the bodies. He has slept out on the streets every night since last Tuesday--which means he hardly slept at all. He is a young man but he looked old and he had no strength left. He kept talking about the aftershocks and how each one made him relive the earthquake. His problem is the same for many. In our house, every single night someone screams in their sleep. Each one that I talk to has said that it is still hard to sleep at night and eat during the day.

Keep your prayers coming!! Pray for JeanJean as he counsels many that suffer from the shock. They were still pulling people out of the rubble yesterday! Praise the Lord! There are still many good people helping their fellow man. There are so many stories of God's grace.

1/25/2010

Dear friends;

In the last couple of days, 2 planes came in from FL with supplies and money for us to distribute to refugees. The community has a committee in place that has identified the families that have opened their houses to people from Port-au-Prince. They have been dividing the supplies and delivering money. The money is given to the families so that they can start to participate in taking care of their families. The committee has a list of 887 people that our area has received! And every day the list gets longer. It is wonderful to have the community band together. From our experience, people of the community have given of their own stores. We have received cabbages, oranges, sugar cane, coconuts, etc--whatever people have to share, they are sharing. UCI has also been able to hand out a lot of food to families in need.

Since the response from you has been so great, we are going to be able to expand our area of influence. JeanJean has been in contact with all of the pastors that are associated with UCI. Each community is in a similar situation to ours. We will be able to send money and food to these churches as the need is assessed.

Today, one of the pastors that we know in Port came back for a funeral and stopped at our place on his way back to Port. He has been in the city with his church members since the quake. He gave us a report of his church today. Their church is barely standing and no one dares to enter. But, Pastor Tessechrist has opened up the yard. He has about 200 church members sleeping on the ground. He says that they pray every night that it doesn't rain. The eat day-to-day. Many people go long distances to stand in lines waiting to be handed some food. Then they have to take it back to the church and try to find charcoal to cook it. And then they have to divide the food up between everyone that is there. We thank you so much that we are able to send them food from the relief money.

In one of my newsletters, I wrote about a young man that came back from Port with severe shock. He has since gotten some treatment at the hospital. He was released yesterday to return to his parent's home. He sent a message to us saying that he wanted to pray with us to receive Jesus. We traveled to his home this evening. He is living with 18 other people in a little 12' x 12' house with dirt floors and a roof that leaks. All of the adults of the house came to listen as we read the Bible, sang songs, and prayed with this young man. When JeanJean asked the young man, Jean Renel, if he wanted to pray; 6 people in the house committed their lives to Christ! Please pray for this family, the Saintils, who still have to deal with sickness, the trauma of surviving the quake, poverty, and a father who believes in voodoo. While we were there, we felt another aftershock. But, it didn't cause the people that survived the quake in Port to become scared--rather they felt that God was displaying His grace.

UCI has been trying to continue with their project of putting in cement floors for people that have been sleeping on the dirt. One of the houses that we are cementing is for the family that lost a 24-year old son in the earthquake. Besides UCI's help, they also had a huge outpouring of community support to help them. Actually, the community decided to gather rocks for them in their time of need. Their house is small and one wall is crumbling. So, as a sign of how much the community loved this family, they decided to dig all the rocks and gravel and sand and cut the wood needed. This family will be getting a whole new house!

We have 35 people in our house and probably more coming but God has sent us such great people. Everyone wants to help out. I haven't washed a dish since all this happened! Everyone is family already. But, keep praying as we just don't know what the long term looks like. But, it is always good for all of us to trust our tomorrow's to God.

I wish I had a photo of the Wed. morning prayer and fasting and our Friday early morning service. There are so many people turning to God at this time! People that haven't set foot in church are desperate for Him. People that have let their faith slip are convicted to give all of their lives to Jesus. People are praying and believing in prayer. I wish it didn't have to take an earthquake for this to happen, but I know that God is in total control and that He loves us all.

Thank you again for all your support.

God bless you,

Kristie and JeanJean Mompremier

January 30, 2010

Dear friends;

On Friday, we had a day of prayer with the pastors and ladies that are in UCI's association. The focus was on the people that are suffering in Haiti and how to counsel them in their grief. The theme of the day was Romans 8:28. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." We also took a lot of encouragement from verses 35-39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?..." God does not do anything that is bad. The pastors and women had been feeling overwhelmed with all the needs in their community but left encouraged. It is such a comfort to know that we aren't alone in all this turmoil. We hope to meet often to share the burdens and help each other to deal with the demands. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter!

UCI was able to give money to help these pastors. The money will be used to buy food to help families that have welcomed refugees into their homes. Because of the many people that have donated so generously, we are able to expand our sphere of influence. On behalf of the many, many people that are able to eat, find housing, and have clothes and other necessary items, we want to say thank you! Thank you for your prayers. Many people are able to see God's grace through all of this.

Please pray for UCI's future relief efforts. We will be building 2 houses for families that want to stay together as a family but who have no space. The houses are in 2 different communities very close to us. These are families that took in people from Port even though they didn't have any place for them. They are sleeping on the dirt and are just overloaded. They are willing to work hard and contribute labor, rocks, water, and what they can to build a better house. We praise God that we are able to help them.

We are also going to employ some of the teachers that left Port. They will be holding classes for the preschool and lower elementary classes. There are many children that have no where to go to school. The UCI board identified this as a major concern for parents. We are providing books and materials for kids in the upper grades to study. The worship center has 2 big rooms in the front that will be used for this purpose. These kids will also be added to the feeding center.

We also continue to send food and charcoal to people living under sheets in Port. We have listened to people that lived in Port for a while after the quake. They said that many times they were able to receive food but had no way to cook it. There is no electricity or gas in many parts of the city. Wood and charcoal are the only ways to cook, but there are few trees in the city. We are sending down another truck load of charcoal to the churches.

Continue to pray for the emotional/spiritual health of the refugees. A kind of sad/funny story happened Thursday. We have a lot of airplanes flying overhead since the quake. On Thursday, 2 Ospreys flew overhead at a very low altitude. I hope I'm naming this plane correctly. It is the plane that can take off and land like a helicopter but can cruise like a DC-3. It is big military plane that has a distinctive, loud sound. We had never heard it before. When it went over our house, all the Port-au-Prince people came running out of the house in a panic. One poor girl even peed in her pants! Everyone was scared that it was another earthquake. From what people tell me, the noise of the quakes and aftershocks, or at least the noise of the houses cracking, crumbling, disassembling, was almost as bad as the shaking. When the people heard the Ospreys, they thought another quake was coming. When I say all of the people, I mean every single one of them, at least at our house, ran out of the house and they looked down at the earth and didn't even think to look above. Everyone laughed afterwards, even the girl with the wet undies, but it is still sobering to know how affected they were.

But, God is good--all the time--and He knows and loves His people. Our 4 weekly services continue to have high attendance of people looking for their answers and comfort from God. People are experiencing His peace that is beyond our understanding.

February 10, 2010

Dear friends,

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2: 9-11

In all of Haiti's history, there has always been Carnival. Haiti is known for its Mardi Gras celebration that last days, costs the government lots of money, and harms many people. The news will glorify the festival, saying that it is a cultural celebration. But, they don't understand the devastation that Carnival leaves in its wake. Carnival is a voudoo service--it is worshipping Satan. In the act of worship, practitioners will spend their last dime, harm themselves, or willingly let possession take place. There are always people that die and many others are injured. But, the news will only show the dancing and singing and partying. People come from all over the world to celebrate Carnival in Haiti. Carnival was to be this week.

But, for the first time, Haiti's government has cancelled Carnival. Instead, the president has called for 3 days of national prayer. That is a miracle, my friends. That is what we have been praying for since coming to serve in Haiti. What an opportunity this will be to stand up for the name of Jesus. The nation of Haiti will be spending Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in fasting and prayer. For our community, we will be uniting the local churches to pray and fast together. The community chose to use our worship center as its meeting place. They chose our facility without us knowing about the decision. We are so glad that we are able to provide the setting for the services. Pray that JeanJean and the other leaders will be able to guide people to Christ for their comfort. Our prayer has always been that God would fill up the worship center with people who are looking for Him. The community is encouraging those who go to church and those that don't to join together to pray. We hope that many new people will be exposed to the gospel and that people's faith will be strengthened. May the whole nation be as the jailer in Acts 16:30 that experienced the earthquake in the prison and called out to Paul, "...what must I do to be saved?" I have been convicted that God can use a major disaster to become a major turning point for Haiti. Please consider praying and fasting yourselves on these days. Haiti is still desperately in need of your prayers.

We have been sending money and supplies to the churches of Pastor TessiChrist, Smith, and Raynold in Port-au-Prince. They are so grateful for all the help that has been given to their congregations. We will be sending another load of charcoal on Sunday as that is still a big need. The pastors do ask for people to pray for the sicknesses that are spreading. Many, many people suffer from GI problems such as diarrhea due to the lack of good water. People suffer respiratory problems as well from the stench and dust that still hovers in Port. Also, the flies and rats are becoming major problems, as well. The government is not allowing construction to begin since the clean-up is far from over and codes and regulations need to be instigated.

Many of you have told us how you are praying for our full house. We appreciate that so much. One of the little girls at our house turned 4 today and had her first birthday party. Many people here don't keep track of birthdays as it is difficult to get presents and to celebrate. But, Tana and Kerri and their friends made a cake, decorated the house, and wrapped up some presents for Judiana. I don't know if she'll settle down to sleep after all the excitement! I can't say enough how blessed we are to have such good people with us. We have sent several of 'our people' to Port so that they can salvage what they can from the rubble of their houses. Many refugees in our area are seriously considering building here. UCI may have a lot of opportunities to help with construction in the near future.

JeanJean, along with the Haitian board, have been praying diligently about how to transition from relief to development. They have several ideas on how to help find work for those who have been displaced. They have been considering training people in agriculture and microfinance along with training on the Bible. Please pray for these decisions. We want to be good stewards of the relief money that you have so graciously given.

The pastors from other communities that received relief monies from UCI last week returned with their reports. I haven't added up all the families that benefitted but I know that it touched hundreds of people in far-off communities that are often forgotten.

I don't want to make this update too long but I need to let you know that UCI's on-going ministries are doing well. Without our board, we would not have been able to do both the regular ministries and relief. We are so grateful for the men of the board. We have been able to start 2 new nutrition centers which brings the total to seven places where kids are nourished physically and spiritually. I have a couple of pictures to share:

I told you in a previous update that our youth group went and prayed with the families who lost sons in the quake. They brought an offering as well. From seeing how blessed the people were, the youth group has decided to try to raise money by selling coffee. They have made 30 lbs. already. They hope to use this money to bless others who are unable to help themselves. The group also spent all day Saturday helping a family that lost a son in the quake to rebuild their house. We are also up to 54 houses that have received cement floors. Saul, our agricultural specialist, is planning on training 10-20 men/refugees on how to raise crops to make a good profit.

There are so many other things to report but we'll leave you there. God bless you!

JeanJean, Kristie, Tana and Kerri Mompremier

February 12, 2010

Dear friends;

Wow!! The first day of the prayer and fasting service was wonderful. It was one of the best experiences of my life. There was such a spirit of unity and praise. The pictures can't even begin to show how many people were packed into the worship center. Actually, my camera died after these pictures. More and more people came as the day progressed. I have no idea how many people were there. Our worship center is a big, open building and there was no walking area at all. People spilled out into the lawns. All the churches united to give the service. Justin, JeanJean's brother, told the assembly that this was a glimpse of the universal church that we will see in heaven. There was a lot of singing and praising; prayers of confession, adoration, supplication, and thanksgiving; testimonies that would make you cry, and many good Biblical messages from local pastors. JeanJean taught on the reason for fasting and prayer from Isaiah 58:1-12. He encouraged the people to rejoice that the president of Haiti, Renee Preval, has cancelled Carnival and given Christians the chance to make a new Haiti. That was a common theme among the pastors--let us look forward to a brand new Haiti that will look to God for their leadership and not look to Satan as their leader. I wish these pictures and this poor attempt of mine to describe the service could be better. I wish you could have all been there in person to experience the joy and faith of the brothers and sisters in the service. There was not a sense of discouragement or hopelessness like the world might expect. No, God gave His people a peace that is beyond understanding. The people prayed for you, too! They prayed for all the people that prayed, cried, donated so much, who just remembered them. And one more thing that was prayed for was for the future government. The presidential election will be coming up--pray for a godly leader. We have 2 more days of prayer to look forward to. I'm going to try to send you a link to a youtube video that I attempted to upload. I'm not the best at this, but hopefully you'll get it in a later email. God bless you!!!