Here is another story from Philip in Haiti.
What a crazy couple of days. We received word that Samaritan’s Purse would be setting up a staging area at the mission compound where our other eye clinic is being established. So we spent the morning planning what we needed to do in the next week and then went to the compound about half way to Port Au Prince to see if Samaritan’s Purse had arrived. We still have little to no cell phone service which makes things so much more complicated. We found out that a group of the inmates that escaped when the prison wall collapsed was hijacking vehicles in that area and that Samaritan’s Purse was not there. Due to issues with communication, we do not know when they will get there. Our plan is to partner with them and be involved in their water treatment program and distributions and medical clinics.
Right now Port Au Prince has not been secured enough to let most humanitarian aid teams in. The UN is working but there are still so many dead bodies and everyone is still sleeping in the streets. The situation is extremely desperate and thousands of people that lost everything in their collapsed homes are trying to escape the city and go stay with loved ones and friends in the outlying provinces. We are working on getting a food distribution system in place to meet the needs of the refugees and the families that are receiving them. We want to be able to provide food as well as clothing and clean water. Most of the people we have become friends with have taken in family members and are trying to help them deal with the trauma and fear from their experience in the quake. We want to be able to meet their physical needs but also the emotional and spiritual trauma from such a devastating event. The people are so traumatized from the event itself that they have not even really begun the process of mourning for their lost loved ones. Pray God will give us the chance to minister mercy and grace to as many as possible.
We sent a search party consisting of a big truck with 3 motorcycles on back into the city again this afternoon to look for Dago- one of our close friends’- brother and for Julie Wirries. We praise the Lord that just after the team reached the city we received word that Julie’s son had already received communication that Julie was safe. PRAISE the Lord! We do not know anything more than that at the moment.
We had a prayer time with Dago and the team as we were sending them out and it really was a sweet time as God met with us and they saw how much we loved them and were concerned for their safety.
I will let everyone know how things develop. We will be working north of Port Au Prince until we see the opportunity to partner with some groups establishing sites of ministry once the city is secured in the next day or two. Once most of the bodies have been removed and the houses that are still livable are reoccupied, things will be much easier. Then the long and arduous process of rebuilding and dealing with the homeless and hungry and sick begins. The airborn diseases and contaminated water supplies are a definite concern.
There are constantly bodies being brought through our area in open trucks being taken to morgues and graves north of the city. Every passing body is a reminder of the extent of the event. We would love to set up a food and clothes distribution center here in Montrouis. As food and fuel becomes more scarce, the prices are going to continue to rise and make it even harder for the average Haitian to support their normal household, much less the extra people they are bringing in.
Please pray for the people of Haiti. They are so afraid right now and hurting. We hate it. To see people you love so desperate is heart wrenching. We still don’t have cell service to call our family and internet is limited but know we love you and miss you and praise God you are alive and safe there. Seeing so many people lose children and parents and siblings helps us have a new perspective of how blessed we really are. Mom and Dad and Megan and Luke we miss you. We love you. We wish you were here to help us. Know we will be careful and yet not shy away from the opportunity to go wherever God leads us.
Blessings,
Philip Causey
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