In Awe of Matthew

When thou passest through the water, I will be with thee:  and the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:  when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; 

neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 

Isaiah 43:2

We returned to Bonne Fin on Oct 9th.  As we made our way from the airport in Port-Au-Prince to Hopital Lumiere and our home on the hospital campus, we saw a slow progression of the intensity of Hurricane Matthew.  We saw the most destruction as we made our way slowly up our mountain road.  As we rounded a corner near the Digicel phone tower, we were able to see the hillside where Bonne Fin is nestled.  Before the storm, we could see some buildings amid the trees and thick foliage.  The scene in the above picture literally took my breath away.  While the concrete structures are intact, many are missing a roof and the tree and greenery is gone.  It looks like Winter in a place that is tropical and usually 80 degrees.  I am in awe of the power of this storm and at the same time, praise God for the buildings that are still standing and provided some protection.  We are not hearing of much loss of life in our area and for that fact, we thank God for His protection.  

In an earlier post, we mentioned that a bridge was washed away in the Ti Gwav (Petit Goave).  Using some large excavators, the river bed was built up enough to allow traffic to pass in this spot.  Continued rains could cause problems in this spot again and block our route to Port-Au-Prince.  

These are banana tree stubs.  It may be some time before we have figs (bananas) and bannanns (plantains) again in our area.  As well, most other tree fruits and crops were blown or washed away.  As a typical supply and demand relationship, the prices of available food has gone up and the people of the area are struggling to feed their families.  

These pictures are typical of the homes in the area.  Most people tell us Tet Kay Mwen Ale (my roof is gone) or Kay Mwen Kraze Net (my house is broken and a total loss)

The fortunate few that had stronger structures that were not destroyed by the hurricane are giving shelter to their extended family and friends.  

Those of you that have visited Bonne Fin may remember the market area in the river bed within the community of Gwo Marin.  Most of the market was washed away and water is still running in the river bed.  We have continued to get some rain each day (October is the raining season) and the river continues to flow.  Fortunately, it is passable in our 4 wheel drive vehicles.  

This is a close-up of the MEBSH church and school in Bonne Fin.  The school is long lower building that lost all of it's roof.  The church lost a large section of it's roof. Despite a big hole in the roof and water still pooling on the floor, services continue in the church. 

This is one of the metal pole that supported power lines to our home.  It is bowed down to the force of Matthew.

Our yard man worked very hard to have our yard mostly cleaned up before our return, even though his own home no longer has a roof.  This large tree has been cut into pieces in this picture, but the top of it was originally on our roof.   Overall, our home received very little damage.  Two ceiling fans on our front gallery (porch) are rather mangled from the wind, but that is about the only damage that was sustained.  

These large trees came down to make a natural fence in front of the home where Bob and Sue Beebe are currently living.  

Most of the missionary homes had minimal damage with some having a few broken panes and some water to clean up.  The home that was occupied by the Klopfenstein family until the end of July sustained the most damage.  This home sits up on a hill and faces ocean.  It was exposed to the full force of the storm.  The picture window above lost all of it's panes and the frame came off the wall.  There was debris and water all over the home.  Fortunately, no one is living in this home currently.  

In addition to trees being broken off, many were uprooted.  This large tree sits in the courtyard of the hospital.


In the week since our return, power has been restored to all of campus and lots of the trees and debris has been cleaned up.  There is still much work to do, but we can see tremendous progress.  We are thankful to be able to give some of the men in the community work and a way to fund repair and rebuilding of their homes.

It is simply amazing what 15 Haitian men with machetes can do.  These men truly know the meaning of hard work.

This week, our children returned to Haiti and we are enjoying being a family again.  We want to thank all of those who helped support our family during the last two weeks with prayers, emails, phone calls, surprise visits during our short time in Kansas, play dates with the kids, providing fall clothing for Krae & Selah, financial help with our unexpected stay in PAP and plane tickets back to Kansas and the many other things that I am forgetting.  Your love and support has been overwhelming!

It is good to be back into our routine with kids going to school and our normal work continuing.  We celebrated Selah's 5th birthday with some chocolate cupcakes after church on Wednesday evening.  It wasn't a big party, but we all enjoyed celebrating something and seeing the smile of a 5 year old on her birthday.  

Even while our lives seem to be normalizing, so many of our Haitian brothers and sisters are in need.  Most have lost crops, animals and household belongings.  Most still don't have adequate shelter as their homes have missing or damaged roofs.  Since it is the rainy season, we are having rain almost every day.  This evening, a cool rain is falling and my heart breaks for those that don't have a roof.  

We have been working to find relief supplies such as tarps and food, but the needs are great and it is very difficult to help all of the people in our area.  By working with some of our Haitian staff, 7 communities that surround the hospital campus have been identified. A leader in each community has been asked to compile a list of the families in need.  A committee of Haitian people has been established to distribute any supplies that can be acquired from aid organizations already in country.  This group has compiled a list of about 700 families that make up about 2500 people that are within walking distance of the hospital.  Please join us in praying that this group can successfully distribute to their communities without problems or interference from thieves.  Please pray that we will be able to acquire needed supplies to help the communities provide for their families.  

Many of you have asked how you can help.  We have listed ways to help below.  Also, the HarvestCall website has updates and information on work teams that may be forming to aid in recovery and rebuilding.

Ways to Donate Financially to Hospital Lumiere – Bonne Fin, Haiti

1.        Online Donations of funds through our website (both addresses get you there),

a.       http://www.harvestcall.org/donate

b.       https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=acwr&id=2

You can select Haiti - Hospital Lumiere OR Disaster General Fund from the drop down.

2.       Send check by mail to Rich Bertschi payable to “Hospital Lumiere”.  Address is:

Hospital Lumiere

P.O. Box 227

Eureka, IL 61530

3.       Medical materials or other materials, need to contact Rick Wuethrich with HarvestCall Hurricane Matthew Disaster Response.  Rick is at (219) 863-4163  rick@wuethrichfarms.com 

As always your prayer support is valuable and needed.  

I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim, I water my couch with my tears.  Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.  Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity, for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.  The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer. Psalm 6:6-9