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Servants of All Ministry
P.O. Box 86655
Baton Rouge, La. 70879

Phone 504-913-6985
e-mail: soamhaiti@yahoo.com

SOAM Haiti Earthquake Updates
read all updates below

 

May 2, 2010

We are privileged to have a pastor from the Baton Rouge area Brother Michael Mann staying at our mission. Mike has posted an almost daily blog on his website and will continue to do so until he comes home May 11th. If you need a taste of the Haiti mission field please visit http://chaplainmann.wordpress.com/2010/05/ and you will love the reflections Pastor Mike shares. They are quite beautiful and paint a poignant picture of both the challenges and strengths of the Haitian people now. I really enjoyed the posts and am sure you will to

Thanks Pastor Mike – Our prayers are with you!

 

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A neat story from one of our missionaries that just got back from Haiti
4/1/2010

Bonjue Family and Friends,

Last week I visited one of the handful of small outreach Churches that the Servants of All Ministry (SOAM) tries to support. This one is called the Church of Jesus Christ. It is about an hour to the west of the Orphanage, between Petit Goave and Miraguan, near the top of a small mountain in a very remote and difficult to reach area.

The Pastor's name is Edmond Milvoix. He is a true man of God. Sister Dula, the founder of SOAM, bought this small parcel of land for Pastor Milvoix's Church back in 1996. A Church building has been lashed together using the trunks and limbs of small trees as framing and large leaves and grasses as walls. The roof is not yet finished. What's there is made of corrugated sheet metal that's been scavenged from some other structure and dragged up the mountain. Daylight streams through the nail holes that once held the sheet metal to it's prior home. The rest of the roof is covered by a green plastic tarp, stretched as tightly as possible from side to side. Together, the sheet metal and plastic do a fair job of keeping the hot sun off of those seated inside, however I don't think the roof will offer much protection when the rain comes. The Church is clearly the focal point for this community of Believers. It is about 40' x 15'. Inside there is a small table that serves as the altar. Backless benches are arranged in neat rows. I'm guessing there are between 125–150 people at the Church. They sit in groups – small children, older youth, women, men, choir.

Two smaller one room buildings are situated next to the church. One of these is the the home of Pastor Milvoix, his wife and their six children. The other is for visitors and guests. Both are made of sticks woven together and covered with dried mud – sort of adobe=like. Inside each there is a bed, small table and a few straight backed chairs. Pastor Milvoix's home is simple, warm and welcoming.

Outside, around the Church, are several rows of newly built cloth covered huts, bunched together on the steep hillside. These huts are smaller than the ones I see at SOAM and hardly any of them have a plastic tarp as a roof. Most are no larger than 5' x 5'. None have a mattress inside, so the occupants sleep on cardboard or more rags. Still, the floor of each hut is swept clean and the few trinkets inside are always arranged neatly.

Pastor Milvoix has invited everyone to the Church to greet me and the three boys from the Orphanage who've accompanied me on this trip. He introduces and welcomes us. We give him the gifts we have  brought – boxes of packaged meals from Kids Against Hunger, bottled water, simple medical supplies, and three large plastic tarps. Pastor Milvoix passes out the water and food items as far as they will go. All are received enthusiastically.

Pastor Milvoix invites me to talk to the people and I accept his invitation. I thank Pastor for inviting me and my companions to visit and tell them about my family, how it is that I come to Haiti and how blessed I feel to be able to be here today. I invite their questions and a few ask specific questions about Linda, our children and what I think of Haiti. I tell the people that I will tell my family, friends and Church family in Wisconsin about them and their Church. I tell them we will pray for them and maybe find a way to provide some help to Pastor Milvoix?!

I ask where they get their water from and learn there is a source some distance away that all of the people in the area use. I ask to see it, so most of the kids join with Pastor Milvoix and lead us down the mountain along a steep narrow trail. As we get to the bottom, I'm elated to see a small pool or pond with several people gathered around it. Beside the pool is the biggest tree that I have ever seen in my life. It has to be at least ten or fifteen of me in diameter and it goes up and up and up. Pastor tells me it's called a “Centenary Tree”.  Beneath this giant of a tree is a man-made cement and brick cistern with a metal door that can be opened like the hatch on a submarine. Inside is cool, clear, pristene water. The people drop a small bucket that's attached to a string into the water and then pull it up to fill their buckets or bottles. All is very tranquil and relaxing. People sit and visit with one another.  A short distance away there's a larger pool where a few children play in the water while their mothers do laundry. We sit and talk for a while, watching the interaction. It is a special place and one I hope to visit again.

 

The walk down mountain took only about fifteen minutes, but the trek back to the top was much longer, about a half hour, I think. Back on top, Pastor Milvoix asks me if I would like to rest? I decline, but learn that he would like to rest, so I try to lie down. I feel a bit foolish, so I go and sit on the hillside next to the Church, looking out over the valley below to the mountains across the way. Those mountains are about two or three times higher than this one that I am sitting on. The view is spectacular, though a bit hazy today.

When Pastor Milvoix rises, my good friend, helper and travel companion from the Orpanage, Bernatto and I set about erecting a tent that a good friend from Rice Lake has donated. Tents are badly needed all over HAITI, because the people will live outside for a long time and the rainy season is just weeks away. Since the huts at SOAM (Servants of All Ministry) had received a good supply of plastic tarps just before I returned to Haiti, I decided to hold onto this tent until I saw someone who needed it badly. Along came Pastor Milvoix and his family.
Even though Bernatto and I had practiced setting-up this tent earlier, we still had a hard time getting it right this time. With the help of many who were watching, we finally got the tent erected and presented it to the Pastor and his family. I asked if I could take their picture, but was asked to wait. Ten minutes later, the entire Milvoix family reappeared dressed in their Sunday best and willingly posed for the pictures I wanted. We then prayed for God to bless this new house and make it strong against the wind and rain that will soon come to Haiti.

The rest of the afternoon was spent socializing and taking pictures of the kids and families. Everyone in Haiti loves to have their picture taken. We listened to the Church choir, a group of 13, practice their songs, although they were very self-conscious that we were watching them. Like all the children in Haiti, these kids also love to climb onto a lap and be held. It doesn't matter that they just met you. Trust comes quickly and unconditionally. Not a bad way to spend my time, I think.

Anyway, the sun eventually disappeared and the afternoon sunlight gave way to a peaceful darkness. We sat together and talked while watching for Pastor Gregory's headlights. He was later than expected and I was a little concerned about how Gregory would find his way up the steep, narrow mountain trail and whether our faithful truck would make it? Of course, Pastor Gregory had no problem finding us and the truck again proved its durability and reliability. Everyone thanked us for coming and said goodbye as we climbed aboard.

As we road back to Grand Goave in the darkness, my thoughts were focused solely on Pastor Milvoix and the people living on the mountain. They have so little (materially), yet they have so much (faith).  Will they be able to find enough food, clothing and medical supplies to sustain, cloth and care for them? What will happen when the rain comes? Will they be all right?

By the time we arrived back at the Orphanage, I knew everything would be OK. Pastor Milvoix and the people of the mountain have a deep and abiding faith in God.... Somehow they know He will hear their prayers and provide for their needs....

Hallelujah!   

 

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Servants of All update
3/11/2010 - Glenn Barras - Director
On Thursday March 4th Jeff Southern and I traveled to Servants of All. The first thing we encountered was the change in the airport. Retrieving our luggage took over an hour. The airport was already being remodeled, but the earthquake expedited the process. The area for baggage pickup has no belt so the luggage was hand carried to the pickup area. It was very chaotic.

 

When we finally arrived at SOAM it was dark, so we did not notice much. The next morning when we woke up we noticed more tents than when we were there in February. We were informed by Pastor Gregory that the number of people camped on the property is now over 1,000. We are still receiving donated food to distribute to the people in the camp. Doctors without Borders has left Grand Goave and turned over the water deliveries to an organization called OXFAM. They are delivering 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of potable water per day. Several latrines and showers have been constructed to accommodate the people.

 

Our children are doing well, but Jeff and I were concerned that there was not enough structure in their daily routines since school is not scheduled to begin, by request of the Education Minister, until April 15th. We put together work details that involved cleanup and preparing the fence line to be rebuilt. I am looking forward to Jeff's report on how this is working out. The girls dormitory and bathhouse is being repaired and strengthened and the work is almost complete. The next projects will be completing the boys bathhouse, covering the septic pit, and finishing the electricity in the main building.
Grace Church in Deridder, Louisiana is working on completing our new kitchen and dining hall. Rebuilding our fence will be a huge task, we have approximately 1,500 feet of fence line. We have received estimates that range from $50,000 US for a new brick wall to $100,000 US for a new rock wall. These estimates seem excessive and are definitely out of our budget. We are trying to come up with a better solution to this problem. One of the ideas we have is to bring missionaries over in teams to construct a new fence. We are open to any suggestions you may have.

 

The most exciting part of this recent visit is the spiritual revival that the Haitian people are experiencing. The churches have grown and the people are hungry and crying out to God. Recently the Haitian President Rene Preval cancelled the annual Mardi Gras celebration and called for three days of prayer and fasting. Over one million people attended services in Port-au-Prince alone. The final day events in Grand Goave were held SOAM in our front yard, thousands attended. In Port-au-Prince 101 confirmed conversions of Voodoo Priests were recorded . If you have not seen the video you can go to youtube and see it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5vEntWb7AI, titled: Revival In Haiti - A Call To Fasting And Prayer.

Our church has over 200 hundred new attendees. Services are being held under tarps hung between trees in our back yard. The services are packed and the anointing of God is evident. Prayer meetings can go for hours and people are crying out for God to move in Haiti. Please pray that this desire for God will continue in Haiti and that the United States would have this same hunger.
Wendy and I would like to thank everyone for your faithful prayers and financial support.

 

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March 2nd, 2010
I am asked with some regularity "why chaplains do what they do". Why run into the midst of crisis, emergencies, disasters...into the midst of hell, whether at home or a distance away?

My response is to describe such times as "Kingdom Moments" because people ask questions they won't ask any other time in their self-sufficient life. Questions that have spiritual answers.

The link below will take you to an event that occurred a month after the earthquake in Haiti. You may have seen it...if not, in about 3 1/2 minutes it will explain why we do what we do...Why I and others will be there for a month or longer.

Enjoy...blessings Mike Mann (is a friend of the SOAM family)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5vEntWb7AI

 

 

 

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