Haiti Partners for Christ

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Comment by Bryan Cloyd on March 15, 2010 at 8:59am

Please download the newsletter for a summary of activities through February 2010. March 2010 Color Newsletter.pdf

Comment by Bryan Cloyd on February 12, 2010 at 2:33pm

Churches throughout Haiti are conducting special worship services for three days, February 12-14, from 6AM to 12PM. Emmanuel Berno of Legliz Baptist Cange writes that "the goal is to solicit God's grace, pity and forgiveness for everyone in the country. It's beautiful. Most people of the community were there. We had not enough place for them (inside the church); they were obliged to stay all around the church and worship."

Comment by Karen Grubb Gilbert on February 12, 2010 at 9:36am

Hope you will take time to read this moving story from Steve James!

We Will Name Him "Moses"
by Stephen James


Christianville Clinic Journal


1/21/10


Treating the wounded under the trees, in between the frequent after shocks of the earthquake, we cared for little 3 year-old, Rivaldy. His leg had been crushed by his destroyed home and now the leg, not only broken, was now covered in the blisters and swelling of infection. He cried as we cleaned, bandaged, splinted his broken leg, and gave him pain medicines and a shot of antibiotics. We consoled him and his father, Simeon, and told him he needed to bring Rivaldy every day to us under the trees so we could assess his leg, change the dressings, and give him more antibiotics.


The next day and every day Simeon brought Rivaldy. We could see that the blisters and swelling were resolving. Saved from the clinic rubble, the Christianville x-ray machine was now working. Rivaldy had a minimally displaced fracture of the mid-tibia and fibula. We were able to successfully align and splint Rivaldy’s broken leg, thanks to our Bruderhof volunteer, Roy Durgin’s skills in splint making with wood, cardboard, and Duct-Tape.

On the third day of Rivaldy’s care, Simeon, tall, handsome father with cap and dreadlocks, looked at me strangely. “Dr. Steve, mwé vlé palé avèk ou”, speaking in Creole, “I have something to share with you,” he said. “I have heard of Jesus. I don’t know who he is or really anything about him.” Simeon looked at me with a burning intense stare. “Though I don’t know Jesus or anything about him, I know, without a doubt, it was Jesus who saved our 18 day-old baby boy, and only Jesus. When the earthquake struck, our cement home collapsed. My wife was just stepping out of our home for a moment but our baby was inside the house. My wife was only injured slightly, but our whole home collapsed upon our newborn baby and buried him in the rubble. We were sure the baby would be found dead or severely injured at best. Instead, we found, miraculously, our little baby boy without even a scratch upon him!”


Simeon went on, “I don’t know who Jesus is and I am afraid to give my whole self to him, as I have heard it is dangerous to believe only in Jesus. But I know it was Jesus who saved our baby. Can you help me to find Jesus?” “He loves you very much,” I said. “Would you like me to pray to Him with you?” I asked. “Yes, please do.” Through our tears, we prayed together, asking the Lord to strengthen our faith in Him, “We believe in you, Lord, help our faith to grow. Come to Simeon, now, into his heart, help us, Oh, Lord, our Lord. We want you to live in us and we want to live in you. Protect and help Simeon to live for you only. Help Simeon, Lord.” Simeon began his walk with Jesus that day. I shared Simeon’s new walk with the Lord with the faith community at Christianville. They promised to pray for Simeon and to help disciple him in his new life in Christ.


The next day, Simeon and his wife came with Rivaldy and asked a favor. Would I name their baby boy, who they had not yet named? I reflected, and said, “Your little one reminds me of a baby boy in the Bible saved from death, named “Moses”. He became a great leader for God. What about Moses?” I asked. “We will name him, “Moses”, they said, smiling with joy-filled faces.

Our Lord has a great plan for each one of us. He longs for us all to be his “Moses” in our own unique way, place, and time, for his kingdom of nonviolent love and justice on earth as it is in heaven.

We thank God for each of you who have loved, prayed and cared for the suffering ones of Haiti and the world. I want to share these words as an inspiring encouragement to you, words that came to me as I struggle to stay on His path of servant love:

“Humanity must turn around. What good are all its religious practices, what good are all its church services, what point is there in all its devout singing if God’s will is not done and hands remain steeped in blood? What does people’s faith mean if injustice is done to the poor as casually as one drinks a glass of water? What good is it to profess the divine if not even a little finger is lifted when countless children and poor people die?” (Eberhard Arnold, Words to Live By, 2008, Plough Publishing, Rifton, NY)

In His Shepherding Love,




Steve and Nancy James

Comment by Bryan Cloyd on February 8, 2010 at 8:23pm

The shipment of food described in my comment 23 January finally arrived in Cange on Friday, 5 February. Here are some pictures of food being unloaded at Legliz Baptist Cange's camp for earthquake refugees.

Comment by Karen Grubb Gilbert on February 8, 2010 at 5:09pm

This is a report from Steve James who is on the field working with victims of the earthquake. Read this article entitled, "Too Broken, Too Little, Too Late" to see what he has to say.

Field Journal
Christianville, Haiti

January 17, 2010


“My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” Psalm 22:1

Too broken, too little, too late. We had not been at the earthquake-destroyed Christianville clinic consulting injured people under the trees more than two hours, when a woman approached us with a one-year-old child in her arms. We found a gravely injured little child lapsing in an out of consciousness. Clinically, we diagnosed the likelihood of a fractured pelvis that had perforated the bladder or urethra and probably the bowel as well. The baby needed immediate IV resuscitation and emergency surgery.


This was now the fourth day after the earthquake and the baby had not passed urine since his rescue from under his crushed home. Even with surgery, the risk of death would be significant. The staff at the clinic was struggling just to survive and could not care for such a gravely ill child at that moment. All medical supplies were still in the destroyed clinic. We had just sent our truck back to the north for supplies and truck repair. We had no way to transport this baby with IV fluids to a surgical hospital. No one even knew for sure at that moment where a surgical hospital was in the area that was working. We had heard rumors that surgical hospitals were being set up around the Port-au-Prince airport, an hour or longer drive from us.


Here we had come to help as doctors and nurses and we had no way to help this little child. We prayed for him but were unable to help this child here at this moment. We had no surgical facility here. We shared with the woman (a relative, not his mother) what the child’s diagnosis and treatment needs were, and urged her to try immediately to find someone with a motorcycle to take her to the airport area to find a surgeon. We gave her a medical letter for the surgeon, if she could find one. As we watched her leave, our sinking hearts wondered if she would find her way to a hospital through the damaged city and the desperate crowds, or would she resign herself, give up and not even try, taking him back to the rubble called “home” to die?


Somehow, writing about this little child’s desperate plight consoles a bit the inner wounding of our helplessness, perhaps only in making him and all the other desperate and despairing un-helped little ones not be forgotten by us.

“Sa ki vlé, pa ka fé. Sa ki ka fé, pa vlé.” (“Those who want to help, can’t. Those who could help, won’t.”) - Dr. William Hodges

Oh, Lord, have mercy on us all!

In His merciful love,

Steve James

Comment by Karen Grubb Gilbert on February 4, 2010 at 5:10pm

This is a situation update from the CBF staff responding to the disaster in Haiti.



As the disaster in Haiti begins to fade from the news, we are beginning to get a handle on a solid plan to help rebuild the poorest country in the western hemisphere. The most asked question to the CBF team is, “When can I go?” The answer is simply, “Not yet.”

One of our CBF field personnel, Scott Hunter, now on the ground in Haiti, reports that the greatest need at this time is for medical supplies, equipment and secure structures in which to set up clinics. At the moment, there is no shortage of doctors, but more nurses are needed for post-operative, ambulatory care. Scott also concludes that CBF’s supply chain must remain self-contained because there is a growing competition among larger non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) for supplies pouring into Port-au-Prince. As we continue to tighten security within our own supply chain, we will incur added costs to ensure that CBF-donated supplies do indeed reach our CBF medical teams.

The past two weeks have been a series of small victories for us in working to establish supply lines both by air and water. Nevertheless, any one of these can change in a moment’s notice. Currently we have one flight a day that can take a very limited number of passengers and supplies. We hope to begin sea shipments within two weeks. That will allow us to send in hard tents, showers and possibly a food canteen. We have authorized the purchase of a vehicle(s) that is badly needed; however, nothing is available.

CBF has expanded it’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Fuller Center for Housing to begin building new homes as soon as materials can be shipped. On Monday we are meeting with another of our fine partners, Volunteers of America Southeast, with the expectation of building one, or more, clinics and orphanages.

Everything we anticipate doing in Haiti will be expensive. We need you to continue giving and praying. This will be a long road. I remind you that CBF is still changing lives along the U.S. Gulf Coast after Katrina. This task is bigger. Help us.

For up to date information see www.thefellowship.info/blog. You can also complete an application to become a responder when the need arises at www.thefellowship.info/Disaster-Response-Application.

Charles Ray, U.S. Disaster Response Coordinator

Reid Doster, Associate U.S. Disaster Response Coordinator

Comment by Karen Grubb Gilbert on February 1, 2010 at 5:45pm

This update is further information from the James' -

Haitien’s helping Haitien’s
by Stephen James and Nancy James

Jan 31, 2010
[This is a continuation of Yesterday's journal entry]

Almost a week after the earthquake Myrianne’s husband, Max, was able to travel to Port Au Prince and bring Myrianne home to Limbe to their daughter, Maxianne, age 7, who had been waiting anxiously for her mother. Their small home is now housing nine of their extended family from Port Au Prince. As the population of Port-au-Prince seeks to leave the devastated city, families all over Haiti have now taken in family members and friends.
Last Sunday as we gathered together at the Seminary Baptist Church here in Haut Limbe, where hundreds gathered to worship together, the pastor urged people to take to heart the words of Jesus in Matt. 25: 35-36 “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. I was without clothes and you gave me something to wear. I was sick and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me….I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.” Pastor Manno urged the congregation to visit those who have been injured, help pay for their medical bills, pray with them and take care of the needs of those around you. Those words were great challenge for them and for all of us as we seek to be the hands and feet

of Jesus.

Other signs of God working through His people in Haiti;

-A Haitian psychologist forming a therapy group of earthquake survivors for on-going counseling.

-A Haitian doctor in the slums of Port Au Prince working by himself long hours with few supplies

-A Haitian nurse friend of Mme Cherlie Desir in Dabon caring for wounded with few supplies next to demolished clinic a few miles from the epicenter

- Groups of Haitian people in cities near Port-au-Prince handing out free drinking water to busloads of thirsty people arriving from the capital

- The mayor of the second largest city in Haiti, Cap Haitian, sending buses to Port-au-Prince to pick up people wanting to relocate to Cap Haitian

- The Cap Haitian Gymnasium has been converted to a homeless shelter presently housing over 300 people where local citizens and church groups are bringing food, water, and clothing

These examples and more come to our attention each day as we share in what is happening since the earthquake. It has been deeply moving to us to witness the compassion and sacrificial service of some of the poorest of God’s people reaching out to their fellow countrymen in their distress. Please continue to pray and support Haiti at this time, and may God in Christ continue to bless you.

Love, in Him,

Nancy and Steve James

If you would like to give the the Haiti earthquake relief work please go to this link give


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Comment by Karen Grubb Gilbert on February 1, 2010 at 5:41pm

This is an update on response in Haiti.


The Untold Stories
by Stephen James and Nancy James

Dear Friends, January 29, 2010

Stories have been pouring in and I know you have all heard many from TV and radio of aid coming in from all over the world for Haiti in this time of great crisis after the earthquake on Jan 12. The outpouring of love and concern from all over the world has been amazing and inspiring. But what you might not hear are the stories of Haitians helping each other in countless sacrificial ways.

A few of these stories we want to pass on to you. Our neighbor and friend, and the UCNH campus nurse, Myrianne Petite Papa traveled to Port Au Prince just a few hours before the earthquake, to visit her family. Within hours after her arrival the destruction began, crumbling everything around her. She had just arrived at the street where her family lived when the tumultuous shaking began. She ran towards the apartment not knowing what she would find at home. Thankfully all the family had managed to rush out of the apartment before it fell. Her young nieces and a high schooler just home from school were safe, and her elderly Mother in-law and cousins, safe! Many who lived around them were lost. They didn’t know if Myrianne’s sister in law, a nurse mid-wife was alive as she was still at work at the hospital located down town, which had collapsed. All the cell-phone connections were down due to the violent upheaval of the earth. No one could contact friends or family for nearly two weeks after the earthquake. Several hours later, her sister-in-law nurse and some friends managed to walk home, reuniting with her relieved family in the street. There was no sleep in the streets that night. They huddled together bracing themselves during the many after-shocks that happened that night (the after shocks continue as of this writing). No one knew what to expect next. The next morning they walked together to the hospital where the nurse-midwife and Myrianne worked, offering their services as nurses to the hundreds that were injured and in need of medical care. The courtyard of the hospital at Carrefour was swarming with frightened people. Many were with their families trying to find a safe place to be. The remaining medical staff that survived worked night and day to care for the injured. The night after the earthquake people brought what little they had carried with them and set up places to sleep on the ground all along the street. They made make-shift tents with pieces of cloth or clothes or sheets. They shared what food they could find with their neighbors, and took turns being a watch through the night. They sang hymns and prayed together, a community of sanity and sanctuary brought a few minutes of rest from the nightmarish experiences they had all been through. Myrianne said the week they were there at Carrefour, they received no food or aid from the outside, just Haitians helping Haitians. Somehow through the grace of God they brought hope to one another through sharing what they had, “loaves and fishes”, songs of hope and prayers bringing encouragement to one another, feeling God’s love together.

Love in Him,
Nancy and Steve James
Check back tomorrow for more of the story.

Comment by Karen Grubb Gilbert on January 26, 2010 at 10:57am

This is a note from Steve James for the update for today, Tuesday, Jan. 26!


Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you for all the love, prayers and support you have showered to all of us in Haiti at this time. I, with our medical team of six, returned last night from Port-au-Prince to the UCNH campus, our home in North Haiti. I had felt Jesus asking me to organize a medical response team to go to the earthquake area and felt Him lead us step by step to where He wanted us to go. Coming back from a national pastor’s conference in Florida where I had shared on the ministry of the church to people either with or at risk for HIV, we learned of the earthquake in Haiti. We were to return to Haiti in 2 days. I prayed and asked Jesus, “How can Nancy and I, as two people be of any help in such an overwhelming disaster?” What came to my mind in response was the 5 loaves and 2 fishes in the Bible. “Go. Start. I will lead and multiply.” Key people began to contact us. Nancy and I returned to north Haiti on 1/14. Our medical team drove to Port-au-Prince the next day with Nancy staying in our home at the university to be the communication liaison for us with all of you. We drove around P-au-P, helping those who had come down with us in the truck to find lost relatives as we handed out water to thirsty people. We started working medically on 1/16 at the Haiti Health Ministries Christianville Clinic, outside of Port-au-Prince, 4 to 5 miles from the epicenter. Christianville missionary doctor Jim Wilkens and his wife Sandy and their staff had worked 30 hours non-stop through the night of the earthquake giving primary medical care to hundreds of injured people that appeared in the front yard. They were still recovering when we arrived four days later. Their homes and the clinic were destroyed. Our medical team consisted of family physician volunteer Dr. Arch Woodard, Haitian nurse, Cherlie Desir, Bruderhof volunteer Roy Durgin, driver and mechanic, Miller Jean-Jacques, and me. We took over care of the wounded that continued to come every day, freeing Dr. Jim and his staff to organize, salvage and move medical supplies and equipment out of the damaged clinic and set up a makeshift clinic in a nearby undamaged school building. We cared for the wounded under the trees the first three days. We were averaging over 5 after-shocks per day. The shocks were continuing to bring down buildings and crack roads even as we left. So many have lost so much. Yet only in the wisdom of God and the love of Jesus can glimpses of meaning be found in the midst of all this suffering. We felt the power of the tiny acts of Jesus’ love coming through all of us, sometimes even so small as a smile, or a touch on the shoulder, a brief prayer, a word of encouragement, in the midst of such pain and grief, especially through those who have suffered so greatly, revealed to us the great power of Jesus to heal. Working as a team, with every injured one who came to us, we felt the presence and person of Jesus in each suffering one. The wounded and grieving ones ministered to us as they shared their faith, their suffering and their gratitude, while we set their broken bones, cleaned and bandaged their wounds, gave medicines to relieve their pain, prayed with them, sang with them, encouraged them, in some we helped introduce them to Jesus and His salvation life for them. Together our faith in our healing and loving Lord grew deeper. We were so inspired to see so many Haitian people including doctors and nurses sacrificially helping their brothers and sisters with so little resources available. We left the disaster area 8 days later, encouraged to see the outpouring of help from the world. As the physical wounds are healing, we now enter the time for the second wave of servanthood in Christ, the wave of Jesus healing the emotional cries and wounds, which run deep and long, as this wave seeks to find shelter, clothing, food, safe water and sanitation, as well as ongoing medical care for the needs of broken communities.
May the Lord bless each of you. Keep the love and prayers coming for all our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

All our love in Jesus,

Steve for Nancy and the team

Comment by Bryan Cloyd on January 23, 2010 at 7:24pm

Photos of the camp established for refugees on the grounds of La Pleiade School by Legliz Baptist Cange.

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