This is what one lady said to us, as they welcomed us to their village, destroyed by the 7.2 earthquake that shook southern Haiti, August 14th! Up until now, many of the earthquake victims had felt that they were forgotten… but the Lord had not forgotten them. After spending many days in the heat of sun, moving away debris, and finding nearly everything gone, they finally had “hope!” Because of you, our generous partners, we were able to give tents to areas where the earthquake hit hardest… in areas such as “Petit Trou de Nippes, Lierve, and Lazile and tents are going to many other areas besides these!

We give special thanks to Hubert and his team, who went to each family in each area; first they checked on the families and then gathered information on the need for tents, name of families, how many children and people, the ID number of each family member and cell phone number, etc. So, each “village” had a huge spreadsheet of facts, before the tents arrived!! If it had not been for Hubert, this job would have been “nearly impossible.” Special thanks to Joel who helped with the logistics and how to vet each family.

We were thankful to Jesse, who has been helping Hubert and the team to set everything up ahead of time. And thankful to “Casimi,” our container driver, who made two trips through the most dangerous area in all Haiti… Martissaint!” He blew through that area like a cloud of dust, with our precious cargo of tents!! (I think the Angels were hanging on!!)

Philemond, our own driver, has been with us all the way! Our team got up early each morning and we had “villages” scheduled throughout the day. So far, we have distributed “family-sized tents” to 791 families, spread out in all directions, over dangerous mountain roads! But, we still have more to go. Tomorrow, we will be sharing some precious stories of families who received tents, especially the elderly.

During a disaster like this one, and the earthquake of 2010, the one thing that sticks in our minds that the victims have said, “You didn’t forget about us!” One lady said, “we are not forgotten!” As long as we know “help is on the way,” we can survive!! “You” are the help that God has sent to these people! We thank you with all our hearts, more stories tomorrow, Bobby and Sherry

Look at this big smile from Mackenson!! He just got his hair cut for school! (Well, at least he won’t have to spend a lot of timing combing his hair!!)

Mackenson is now 15 and doing well, despite having a stroke about 8 years ago. He was just sitting in school, fell over, and was taken straight to the hospital! Mackenson went through lots of therapy and still has some problems walking, but he is overcoming the “feelings of not being able to play, like other children.” He is concentrating on his grades and what he wants in his future. So far, it is to be a “Spanish teacher!”

Mackenson laughs and smiles a lot! He is trying hard to look on the good side of life. When we found him, he had severe malnutrition, “Kwashiorkor,” and was dying. He knows God has never left him, nor abandoned him! We are so proud of Mackenson!!

Sherry

Are you the tail or the head? “And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them.” Deuteronomy 28:13

Are you tired of being the tail? The Lord can make us the head, not the tail! We can be above and not beneath!

Bobby Burnette

This morning, while we are praying for Bobby and Sherry, and Jesse, distributing tents to the thousands of families who were left with nothing, deep in the interior of Haiti where the major devastation occurred from the earthquake, I want to share some of the ongoing work at our Agricultural Training Center (ATC). God spared our area of Haiti from the recent earthquake and hurricanes, so we continue to make progress on many projects at our ATC.  We have recently propagated 200 bamboo plants that are valuable for reforestation projects on the steep hillsides, helping to control erosion and as a useful construction material. Soon, these bamboo “starts” will be available to give to other missionary groups needing to establish their own bamboo projects and for nearby reforestation projects.  We also have been working on a large Mahogany tree project. Haiti used to be covered by natural Mahogany trees, but they had been harvested long ago by foreigners eager for the valuable wood. Our ATC has been growing hundreds of Mahogany seedlings to distribute in groups of 4-5 trees in order to reestablish a broad distribution of trees to re-seed as much of the landscape as we can. The mahogany trees provide valuable shade, retain soil and moisture, and of course, yield beautiful valuable wood. This will be an ongoing part of our reforestation projects.

Finally, we have constructed a “Haitian, country-style” chicken coop for demonstration at the ATC. When students come to stay and learn at our ATC for both the 3-week class and the 2-year class, they are always interested in our Poul Mirak chicken project, but that is for more commercial-scale projects. So we recently constructed a small door-yard size coop that most families could work towards providing for themselves. The idea behind this demonstration project is to show visitors how you can raise chickens without the higher costs for the coop, prepared feeds, and equipment as they raise their local “country” chickens in their backyards. This new “Haitian-style” chicken house will work in conjunction with the natural food and forage project that you read about recently where we grew millet for the chickens to “feed themselves.” This demonstration project teaches how simply and affordably families can provide reliable animal protein (eggs and occasionally meat) to their diets by having a few local chickens.

Bobby and Sherry hope to have internet access later today, after their successful, busy day of distributing tents to the families who were hit hard by the earthquake and storms. Be looking for their exciting praise report, with pictures, whenever they can get the news out from the interior of southern Haiti. We thank all our faithful supporters and donors whose generous hearts make all this work possible. Thank you, God Bless you!

Rad Hazelip, Assistant Executive Director

No internet all day until now. Thank you for your prayers. We had a 6-hour drive coming here to Anse-a-Veau. We are here safe.

Pray for Casimi, he leaves before daylight in the morning with our second 40-foot container full of tents. He must drive through the most dangerous place, probably in all of Haiti. Casimi is very brave and has nerves of steel! The angels work overtime with him!

Tomorrow morning, we will give out tents in Petit-Trou-de-Nippes (Ti Two de Nip, in Haitian Creole). The families will be coming in from deep within the mountains. Some of these places we cannot get to. The internet is very limited out here. I don’t know when you may hear from us again. Thank you, our friends, for all your help to make all of this possible. We are working together, showing the love of God.

Bobby and Sherry Burnette

Sherry, Jesse, Philimond, and I left this morning at 6 AM to travel to southern Haiti to meet our crew and help pass out tents. We will also be airing this on TV so you can see firsthand what all is going on. Thank you again to everyone who helped make all of this possible for the Haitian people to have shelter and to get out of the rain. Pray for our safety on this seven-hour trip on the road. Tomorrow, Casimi will be bringing our second semi container full of tents to meet us. Pray for his safety. He must travel through some unbelievably dangerous areas.

Today our third 40-foot container will be leaving the Fort Myers office traveling to Haiti. Thank you to everyone for all your great generosity with these tents for families who have lost everything. God will bless you! Psalms 41:1, 2 & 3  –  Missionary Bobby Burnette

The mothers of Manakou, Haiti understand the pain and toil of abandonment. Many of them, being left by their husbands, are forced to be the sole provider for their families in these destitute areas. Love A Child TV brings you into the lives of two such struggling mothers. Unable to care for their children’s basic needs, they bestow on them all that they have – a faithful reliance on God… and God has a plan. Join us to see what He has in store for these women of profound faith.

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Together, we are changing lives!