Cyclone Isaac

Cyclone Isaac

We did not know what it was when it arrived here. It wasn’t going to be too strong just a TROPICAL DEPRESSION! It was actually a tropical storm. We had retired Friday night after a great time in the Word of God with our youth, followed by a video and the treat of no-bake cookies made by Elizabeth McCormick and Samantha Drowley.

Not too far into the night we woke up with the wind blowing real hard, pictures broken on the floor. The lamp blew off the piano. Elizabeth started sweeping up the glass while I quickly closed the windows. The wind continued to BLOW. We went back to bed but couldn’t sleep. Then things crashed and banged on the back porch. The Lord whispered in my spirit, “The Lord will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him.” We went out with our flash lights and found that the three-burner gas plate had blown off a barrel along with other things. I quickly picked it up and put it under something to hold it down. When we looked up, the refrigerator had turned around and ended up about 4’ away. At about the same time, I was picking up something before it blew away and smelled gas. While still holding onto it, I found the gas can had been blown over, so picked it up. Dad was up and had gone downstairs checking on things. Then I found him sitting in his chair praying with his face in his hands. The roof sounded like it would lift off. You could hear the galvanized sheeting lift and then slam back down. When the winds were so strong, I opened my Bible while praying for strength. I could hardly believe what my eyes fell on. NIV – Luke 6:48b, “The torrent struck the house but could not shake it, because it was well built” Glory!! Whenever fear would try and shake me, I would think on these verses and find perfect peace. God is so very good to us.

In the morning we woke up to many fallen trees in the yard. One uprooted by our bedroom window that Ruben had planted a long while ago and it was so very beautiful. Dad and I had just been talking about how it shielded us from the road and the houses across the street. Two cherry trees down. Frangipanis (Genus Plumeria) up-rooted - it produced the most beautiful yellow and white flowers. Along with many other trees that are down--some are trees that were here when we first came over 40 yr. ago. They are big trees with big roots and now with the tree down, the roots are sticking straight up in the air. Two Mango trees, two neem trees, and other ones are leaning at about a 45 degree angle.

Ken is repairing the chain saw to cut up the downed trees and branches. This adds to the work already waiting ahead of us. We are praising God that He kept everyone safe here, with only damage to one of the buildings.

After the very strong winds and rain with hurricane Isaac this past week, many houses are down here in Dessalines. We have lost count of those asking for help. While the damage in the compound was limited to downed limbs and debris, many are homeless and we feel so helpless.

Our Security guard had to take off work the day after the storm to clean up what was left of his house (along with helping others). While he was talking to us this morning, he asked us for a little sustenance. He said "I found a place to live--it is in someone’s upstairs". I told him we had plenty of wood and maybe he could cook food in the yard –“but there isn’t any yard. It’s not like here," he said. We are truly blessed, in many ways. We have been able to give out the Manna Pack Rice boxes. We are thankful we had some on hand.

What hurts is to hear about people who see someone that needs help, who pick up the galvanized sheeting, taking out the nails etc for them, AND THEN, stealing it right out from underneath them. It is so sad!

Also, because we were not able to have the School roof put on the wing of the second floor yet, we were obliged to enroll our four 9th graders in another school where the tuition is much more expensive than ours. Also this is the time to buy school books and uniform material so we can hire them made. All of this along with wanting to help others in desperate need.

We are not complaining--God was so good to spare EGO from storm damage--just making folks aware of the needs.

Thank you for your prayers and support.



Don and Doris

Greetings again to all our Friends and Loved Ones,

We have had such a blessed time while in the States! We believe the highlights of this trip were the times we were so blessed visiting different churches as well as the wealth of messages coming through the air-waves. We just sat and drank in all the truths. The messages we watched on television were so uplifting and encouraging. Thank you JESUS! Thanks to our families and friends also for taking such good care of us.

Matthew

We are now in Haiti….when we drove in the yard all we could see were all the little ones jumping up and down. What a sight! They were right there as we got out of the car and showered us with hugs and kisses. It was good to be home again!

The same day we arrived, nurse Elizabeth came to visit us from Iowa. We love her and she has been such a great help--what a sweetheart! A week later our grandson Matthew, Brian & Heidi’s son, and nurse Aunt Rachel came. We had a great time. What unity. Wow, how blessed we are.

Then the surprise golf cart that Lowell sent! We had asked the mission that gets containers out of customs for us if they would be so kind as to keep it in their yard until we returned from the States to keep it a surprise for Dad. They were very obliging.

Last Saturday the boys picked it up. After they put it in the Shop, I called Dad to walk over with me. He wanted to know what was wrong. I just kept on walking. When we arrived he just stood in the doorway, then threw up both his arms in amazement. It was a dream come true. After using it for a few days, he said, “It sure helps my knees!” Thank you Jesus!

There was plenty to do when we returned! The most important thing was butchering the big bull. After a couple of days gathering the two quart jars and setting up makeshift tables with plywood that Dad had prepared and sharpening knives, the bull was taken to the tree. The pictures tell the rest of the story! (See below) Afterwards, the meat was cut up and put in two-quart jars, over 100 of them, and processed. Dad stayed and watched the pressure cooker. That’s a job that lasts all day and into the night!

This past week Pastor Milo and Pastor John held a revival in the Tabernacle. Praise God lives are being changed.

Special Dates--Rachelle will be getting married Oct. 20th and Ruth, her triplet sister, will be getting married Dec. 8th. Of course Ruben, the third triplet, was married March 6^th of 2011, and now they are expecting a baby! All three of them are looking forward to something special this year. Now that takes us back a ways. Thirty-seven years ago April 28^th, they were born weighing 3 & 4 lbs. each and eight days later they were brought to our gate. Their mother had died in child birth and the father was in the hospital. They were carried all the way from Saint Michel way back in the mountains by their Aunt's. They were unable to care for them so we gladly took them in. At that time our girls had not gone back to the States, for which we were so very grateful! We took turns caring for them and every third night was able to sleep. At that time Don was just building the baby dorm and the only place we had to put them was in our living room. We were still living down stairs. I have thought many times, “what if …?” For sure, things would not be the same at the orphanage without them! But God in all His mercy knew what was ahead. They have been such a great help and a source of encouragement to us. Never do they complain.

Social Affairs, with the help of unicef, are being very strict about the orphanages in Haiti. This is good because there are some orphanages where the children are not being cared for properly. This is what they are asking of us:

1. The security house needs finished.

2. Security lights and cameras in the yard.

3. Kitchen renovated with gas stoves.

4. Closets built in the dorms.

5. Toilets and showers installed (attached to the dorms, instead of the free-standing ones now in use).

These are all projects that will be undertaken as funds and labor are available. Some have already contributed to specific projects, and you can be sure your gift is held for that particular designation. Others have been asking how they can help. We simply rely on the goodness of God and His people.

You will never see the righteous forsaken or His seed begging for Bread!

Again we thank you for your prayers and support. May God richly bless you.

In Christ’s Service – still standing in the gap,
Don & Doris

PS--Last evening a well driller drove in our yard and wanted to drill a well at the school!!!

We stood there shocked! This is what the Government has asked of us! Favor? Yes, favor with God and man! This morning they have already started drilling. Praise the Lord! He is so very good to us. Thanks again for your prayers.

                                 *Some very important editor’s notes*

Our email address was "hacked" and we lost all the addresses on our email database. We now have a new email account and are trying to rebuild the database. This is our new email: ego2haiti@gmail.com.

Butchering Day

They separate the meat from the skin by blowing air into the bull,  so it is easier to skin.   As they pump air into the bull they hit it with sticks to disperse the air throughout the body

The bull is tied up and killed with a mallet to the head and then the jugular artery is cut to drain blood.

The inside is rinsed with water once organs are removed

Meat is cut into small pieces so that it can fit into canning jars.

Every part of the bull with be used. The bulk of the meat is canned. Praise God we got over 100 quarts!!

Today everyone went to bed with very full bellies!