Haiti Team 4 - Day 2 Post

Good morning from Haiti,

Eddie Tucker is HERE! His story is a long ,sad, and fuuny . But I knew right away Eddie was going to fit right in. As I was giving him a tour of the hospital , a Haitian came up to me to ask a question. When I turned back around Eddie was holding a little 1 yr old girl, smiling for pictures and laughing with her parents.

1 Corinthians 2:2
- Bill

March 28 Haiti Update from Team 3

Last night we enjoyed a dinner at the UN compound in celebration of our work here shortly coming to an end. The special treat was commandeering a TV and seeing the Vols win a close game over Ohio State.

We are preparing today for the new team, team 4, which is coming in on Sunday.

Please continue to pray for the Hatians and for our team and the entire group working here with many needs and also safe travel for those coming and going home.

Photos are included below. Thank You.

- Gail Hudgens

Family members waiting to go home with Jerry Legg

Young girl amputee

Infant child with encephalitis

Young mother with preemie

Surgery on infant

Supply yard

Young Haitian girl

Doc Vince, CEO of the hospital and support

March 26 Update from Haiti

Today, which is Friday, March 26th, a small group of our team members went with a police officer from the US Embassy in a crowded car for a what was to be a brief tour of near town. The officer also operates an orphanage for 35 children. The tour became longer when we were stuck in traffic as people lined up to get US donated rice.. Big American flag on each and the folks struggled to take them home. We saw the Presidential Palace which was in ruins as was probably half the housing. Many different tent cities around the area and people walking and many street side vendors selling everything. The drivers here operate by the horn and push their way system and you hold your breath each time.

Prayers were answered when we received baby and adult diapers, which still are in great demand. Hospital still full and more coming from early morning till closed. Pray for the Doctors and nurses as they work 12 hours on and 12 hours off under tough conditions.

Please continue to pray for our team.

- Gail Hudgens

Team 3 Haiti Update

Day 5

This is a good day, we are half way through the day and we are locking in very well in supplying the needs to the hospital. We are re-organizing and re-stocking the supplies daily and that is a dirty hot job - but we have received many blessings.

In yesterday's blog we asked for Creole and French Bibles - God answered that prayer and we received French Bibles and new testaments. Praise the Lord!

Today we visited the children's hospital and as soon as we went in an Haitian, named Jocelyn, came up to us and asked us for a English Bible - all we had were the French Bibles. (We are in need of English Bibles)

Today at the hospital we were asked to pray for two (2) preemie babies - they are very ill - please remember these babies in your prayers as well as the other sick and dying.

We lost 2 yesterday - One preemie baby and an older man - remember their families in your prayers.

Team 4 members:

Roger Mason and Don Kohansky are doing a tremendous job organizing supplies out in the supply yard - the temperature is 97 in the supply yard.

Bill Stokley is working hard on helping organizing the supplies coming into the warehouse - he also helps in the children's hospital.

Doug Duncan is doing a great job in pharmaceuticals - he is organizing the medical supplies. He is also helping to keep us all health - he is the team pharmacist.

Sherry Pratt is medical authority of our team - she does a great job in directing all of us.

David Pratt is Sherry's husband and he does a tremendous job in organizing the supplies and providing us with the location of the supplies when needed.

Roxy is a nurse from New York city and she helps all of us when we are tired and need to rest - she keeps us on our toes! (she is from New York)!

Jerry Legg is the backbone of this team and provides all of us plus the Haitians with Spiritual guidance - he keeps us all grounded.

Last but not least we have a fine team of Haitians who help us everyday to lift and carry heavy boxes and to help us in anyway that is needed - they also translate for the Haitians that speak little or no English.

Please remember team 4 in your prayers and pray especially for me.

God Bless,
Gail Hudgens

Team 3 - Day 3 Report from Haiti

Team 3 TN Baptist Disaster Relief Group

Day 3 Weather is wonderful - hot with a southerly breeze. ha! Please tell the next team they do need mosquito nets, they need to bring gatorade it is necessity of life, also if they are prone to cramps from dehydration they need potassium supplement tablets.

Monday night we had a Haitian vendor come to our camp and they sold hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken burgers and real Coke products. (It was a blessing to eat real food)

Tuesday I went with Jerry to the children's hospital - and it was something I will remember for the rest of my life - there were 3 premie babies in an incubator - they were so small and helpless. There were children that were so sick they could hardly hold their heads up. There was an American Woman that came through the hospital with a dog for the older children to pet - it was a hit with most of the children but for some it did not matter they were so sick.

Last night sitting under the community tarp it was like camping - everyone was so happy and talking about the events of the day. At the bottom of our camp site there is a field and people were getting their hair cut and enjoying 2 young Haitian play soccer- it was a wonderful thing to see in all of this suffering.

A lot of the Haitian say they have received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior - some want to know more about salvation- Jerry asked if someone could bring Bibles that are in Creole or French.

Please pray for the children who are orphaned that they may receive placement - and please pray for our team.

Our team members David and Sherry Pratt's daughter Crystal fell yesterday and shattered her knee and is having surgery today (Wednesday) please pray for her that she is ok and also pray for Sherry and David that they may receive peace of mind that Crystal is ok.

God Bless Everyone!

- Gail Hudgens

Special Thanks to TN Baptist Disaster Relief Workers!!!

Dear Blog Readers,
The letter below was forwarded to David Acres, TN Disaster Relief Director and finally on to the remaining 5 crew members of the TN Disaster Relief Team, Crew 1. It's with great joy I share this letter with you and hope that it will inspire all who read it Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement to TN Disaster Relief.

- Don Owen
Nolachucky Association Disaster Relief Director
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My name is Dell Ezell. I am a registered nurse at Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tennessee. I recently returned from Haiti. Three other medical personnel from Paris accompanied me there from March 6th through March 13th to the tent hospital complex that has been established at the Port Au Prince airport by the University of Miami Global Initiative project. Some of the finest human beings I have ever come into contact with were there.

I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of the gentlemen that were in charge of the supply tent. They all had on t-shirts that read "Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief". These good old boys from my home state of Tennessee had built an incredible array of shelving with their own hands and had organized all of the donated medical supplies throughout this network on a computerized database that enabled all of the nurses and doctors to find what they needed to treat the patients. Whenever I needed anything for any of my patients in the intensive care unit, all I had to do was walk in and they got everything I needed and more.

All of the patients in this field hospital were on simple cots. Many of them, such as those that I had on ventilators, needed to have the head of their cots elevated. The volunteers from the Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief took on this project and made wedges out of cardboard to not only accommodate all of the ICU cots, but all of the cots in the whole hospital. They worked longer hours than I did ( and I worked 12 to 14 hour days while I was there ). Not one time did I ever hear one complaint - instead, all they ever wanted to know was what else could they do to help get any job done.

The temperature in the big tent that they operated in exceeded 100 degrees most days that I was there, but I never saw any of them sitting down. It has taken me a week to get around to writing this letter, but I just wanted someone on this end to know what an invaluable service those guys provided and how proud I am of those guys. I am a member of the First Baptist Church in Huntingdon, Tennessee and I plan to share with Fred Ward, the pastor how proud I am of the life changing and life saving services that are being administered through the Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief team there at the airport hospital in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Please pass on my heart felt thanks to all those guys that worked in the supply tent there. They are the greatest.

Sincerely,
James (Dell) Ezell, RN

Final blog team #2

As of 11:00 PM, Monday, March 22 most of the members of the team are still en route home. Part of the team was delayed leaving Port-au-Prince airport due to the arrival of Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The airport was shut down, causing them to miss connecting flights in Miami, which will put them arriving home Tuesday morning.

For the members that went through Ft. Lauderdale, they were delayed due to mechanical problems several times and eventually Spirit Airlines told them they could not get the team members on a flight till Tuesday night, March 23. As a last result, they rented a car in Ft. Lauderdale and drove to TN. As of 5:00 AM Tuesday they were driving through Gainesville, FL headed north on I-75.

Word of advice for future travelers: stay away from Spirit airlines, even if they are the cheapest ticket into Haiti.

I will share a few remaining stories with you and then conclude with thoughts from the team members.

When medical staff or other volunteers leave for home they wait for their ride in a central location on the grounds of Project Medishare www.medishare.org.

It is very obvious when team members are coming and leaving. John, who is a Physical Therapist, came up when our team started to leave and spoke to Mark Partin thanking us for our work over the past week. John became very emotional as he shared his story.

John is in his mid twenties and he grew up in a Southern Baptist Church. He shared that his heart was very hard toward organized religion and the church. He shared that he was turned off by all the people that said they believed one thing on Sunday and did something different Monday - Saturday. He did not want to have anything to do with the church and people who were not authentic in their faith.

He continued to weep and thank our team for being authentic in our faith and willing to love others in the name of Jesus. He shared he had been watching us carefully and with a critical eye. As the week went on, he knew we were real and that our ministry had challenged him to rethink his critical spirit and spiritual condition.

John represents most of the staff in the clinics of Project Medishare. They are here to serve hurting humanity and they do it with passion and energy. They are young adults who have grown up in good homes, received a good education and now they are using their gifts by helping a devastated country. Also the staff comes from all over America and they are a portrait of the spiritual condition of America, a lost people that is in need of a relationship with Jesus Christ.

John represents a group in America who grew up in a good home, received a good education and his parents took him to church. Now he has turned against the church and we now pray God has put a flame in his heart to return and walk with Jesus.

The platform God has given TBDR has served not only the Haitian people but the numerous doctors, nurses and other specialists that have come to work in the clinic.

Project Medishare for Haiti, Inc. was founded in 1994 by doctors Barth Green and Arthur Fournier, who assembled a team of faculty from the University of Miami Schools of Medicine and Nursing to assess the health care situation in Haiti and explore ways in which they could help improve the health conditions there.

Many of the workers here are grateful for the blue shirts and yellow hats of our Disaster Relief workers. They also need encouragement and a continuous flow of Tennessee Baptists to assist them.

If you are going to Haiti in the future, please reach out to the medical staff, say hello to them by name, smile at them, ask them how are things going and share Jesus with them. Walk the walk and talk the talk. People are watching your every step.

In a previous posting I introduced you to Sunzi, he is the little boy on the bike seen in a picture which was posted on March 19. As I shared his story I left out that Sunzi was found in a dump. He was left for dead, but he was found and now he has life, a new mom, getting ready to leave for Alberta to his new home and a new bike. Pray that Sunzi will one day find Jesus.

On my last day I spent time talking with each team member asking him to share the impact this trip was having in his life. Here are some quotes from the other team:

“What stood out the most for me was how the Haitian people continued to live their lives against a backdrop of disaster and devastation. Outsiders marvel, pity and take pictures while they simply keep going, accomplishing as much as they can with brooms, shovels and wheelbarrows. Amazing.”

“Makes we realize how much stuff I have.” “This is beyond anyone’s imagination.” “All the babies and adults still losing life.” “We will continue to see the results of this earthquake for decades.” “The thing they think they need the least in the thing they need the most.”

“Mixed emotions, one minute you are praying with someone that has lost a baby then you step to another cot and you pray for a boy that needs to eat.” “Everywhere you see a Haitian helping another Haitian.” “You see a 13 year old boy helping to clean his dad who lost a mother and wife.” “Humanity is not totally bad a lot of good exist in those who do not know Christ.”

“I am a spoiled American.” “I am growing closer to realization of how blessed I am to have a walk with Jesus to know him when others have never heard his name.” “This country is trying to survive.” “Spiritually we have to count on the Lord everyday as if we don’t have anything.”

Final thoughts, when we arrived in Haiti we went straight to hospital/tents and took a tour of the facility. After that, we got to work.

March 14, we walked in the tent that was designated to house medical supplies. It was about 95 degrees plus high humidity, dusty and full of aisles with shelves made of plywood. There was a lot of stuff on the shelves and just as much stuff in boxes that lined each aisle, and lots of hot sweaty people waiting for us to come in there and straighten things out. We were game. That’s what we’d come to do.

For those that served as Chaplains or in the Medical Supply tent there were the people, patients and doctors who were upbeat, in spite of the circumstance. They were leading the way.

On Saturday afternoon, a few of us broke away from our task and went on a tour of the downtown area. Unbelievable devastation - and that was 40 miles away from the epicenter! But people have moved on with their lives. No one seems to be dwelling on the disaster. They are real survivors. I saw it with my own eyes. People cleaning up the streets, rebuilding their homes and businesses in a way that is slow and tedious that you and I would wonder, “Why bother?” But they are bothering. They're working, building, selling, buying, going to church, everything they were doing before the earthquake. Some have returned to their homes in the day time, but at night, they sleep in tents because they’re afraid of another earthquake.

We all are concerned about the rainy season coming in April, but they're concerned about today, this moment, this time. Every day, they do more, and for the Haitians it doesn’t matter whether they see any progress or not. They’re not trying to impress anyone. They are trying to survive.

It was an experience of a lifetime. Seeing it first-hand is the only thing that allows you fully comprehend what happened, what’s needed and why they have such a long journey ahead of them.

So many people, like us, want to do something, but you have to make sure not only that what you’re doing counts, but that it counts for Jesus. And what counts for Jesus............ is the best thing at the time.

People of faith, get ready, and let’s be there ready to go.

Phil Taylor
Director of Missions
Cleveland, TN

Incredible neonatal nurses.

A final good-bye.

One of the many tent cities. A tent city in downtown Port-au-Princes houses 67,000 people. Men, women and children all bathe on street side walks.

Monday, March 22 Report from Haiti DR Team #3

Dear Friends,

Hello. I am sending you information regarding Haiti DR - team #3 members are:

Jerry Legg, Team leder - 1st Baptist- Dyer, Tennessee
Roger Mason - Hermitage Hills Baptist Church

Don Kohonski - Hermitage Hills Baptist Church

1st Day - arrived 2:30 pm - hot and windy - met with the previous DR team - informed us of what to expect - Jack was right - if you need to lose weight -come to Haiti. Worked picking up garbage off the floor of the medical warehouse. It had rained 2 days ago and the cardboard had disintegrated into the mud and the tarp that they had placed on the dirt floor to keep from wading in mud.

Everything is dusty and dirty - boxes of medical supplies are protected by just a tarp that makes up the sides of the warehouse. They have had to put a deterent (barbed wire in rolls) to prevent Haitians from stealing the supplies.

Let me tell you that cold shower sure was a God send - I felt like a million dollars for about 1 hour. Ha ha!!! I did eat a meal from the food mobile and it was ok - I think it was spaghetti and I hope the meat was chicken - but who knows.

There was a breeze last night - it is hard to sleep when airplanes are coming in and out of the airport all night - the doctors and nurses have a place they can relieve some of their tensions of the day and guess what, it is outside my tent. (but that is ok) I know why they have such stress. I saw it first hand today (2nd Day) at the hospital the Haitians are in a tent - no dividers and you see amputees, people with AIDS, tuberculosis and one young girl had a broken back - she could not move her legs. Jerry and I stopped to talk with a lady whose mother was in the hospital and she shook our hands and said God Bless you for coming to help us. Very few could speak English - there were interpreters to help. Jerry prayed and I shook hands and hugged those that were sitting with their families in the hosptial. Jerry said that one Haitian had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior yesterday. That Gentleman was All Smiles Today!!

We are down to 1 meal a day - but the other team members said that we could go to the UN to purchase real food - I might try that one day when I am not so tired. (the heat will zap you)!

I will send more information in 2 days - please continue to pray for all of us here - and especially for the Haitians.

Pray that God will send these supplies - they are in great demand:

• Ensure
• heel warmers
• diaper scale to weigh premies
• white foam for KCI Vacs
• Y Connectors for KCI Vacs
• Pediatric feeding tubes SFR 8FR
• Adult Diapers.

Well that's all for now -

God Bless All of You,

Gail Hudgens

Prayer Request

Here are a few prayer request:
1. Pray for Lawrence and Travis, they will be preaching in two churches this morning.
2. Pray for the new believers and for those that are seeking a deeper walk with Jesus.
3. Pray for Team 3 as they are traveling to Port-au-Prince.
4. Pray for Team 2 as they bring closure to their work. It has been a very productive week both physically and spiritually.
5. Pray for the new medical staff that arrived yesterday. They will adjust quickly and see the valuable partners they have with the DR guys.

I feel like Radar in the last episode of MASH when he is on the intercom telling everyone it's over for now. Till Jesus comes it's never over. AMEN!!

Take care I trust you have a great Lord's day.

Phil

These young girls were brought over from an orphanage and they quickly found Lawrence Cotton secret pocket full of sweets. They came for shots.

Travis Webb has each day helping to disciple Lilio. He has been one of our best workers around the supply tent. Lilio took Andy and Lawrence to his tent home in one of the many tent cities. It was a ten minute walk from the Medishare tents. After a visit in their homes they took two of the workers to the UN for dinner.

Twelve year old Anderson on the right has a new friend Vincent who you have read about in previous post. The doctors tell us because of the prayers and love from our team Vincent has put on 8 lbs this week. He still has along way to go.

Phil saying good bye to one of the little girls being

discharged Sunday morning. She had surgery on her leg this past Tuesday.

March 20, 2010 Saturday Evening

This will be my last blog til I get back to Cleveland, TN late Sunday night. I will try and wrap my part up on Monday morning. Thank you for reading and letting me share our small part of representing Tennessee Baptists here at Medishare Clinic Port-au-Prince. Please pray for all of Team 2 as two members travel home on Sunday and the rest of the team leaves Monday. Team 3 arrives tomorrow.

Pastor Mark Partin headed out this morning so he could return to his church responsibilities for Sunday morning, and Phil leaves Sunday morning so he can get back and finish preparations for www.heartcry southeast.com.

Weather wise, we have been spared the rain for the past 24 hours, but not the humidity.

Last night was a change of menu for us as we took the one mile walk down the busy street to have dinner at the UN restaurant. We heard all about the restaurant from the previous team and other staff so it was our turn to try it out, and it was worth the walk. After the chicken and rice all week it was a great change to our diet. The atmosphere will be one to remember. My best description would be a scene from Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart. One thing we hope was communicated to the other patrons is believers in Jesus can have fun, laugh and have a good time even when you drink a cold Diet Coke with ice.

The clinic has been like a three ring circus with new medical staff coming in and some of the veterans leaving. We have said our goodbyes to those that have left and hello to the newbies. I think these young ambitious doctors and nurses are trying to figure out these guys in the Blue Shirts from Tennessee. They will soon come to appreciate the help they will receive with the medical supplies. We have welcomed all the stuffed animals they have brought with them and some of the other needed medical supplies that the clinic has run out of.

Prior to the arrival of the new medical staff Dr. Barth Green, founder of Project Medishare who TBDR is partnering with made a house call with a large contingency of public relations personnel. He was overheard saying as he walked into the Medical supply tent “this is the heart of the operation.” Well, I agree Dr. Green. We thank you for the compliment and we thank you for the opportunity to partner with you on this platform.

Some of the different sights in both the children and adult wards have been empty cots. Several of the cots are empty because of discharges, but some have been because of deaths. Last night seven little ones were added to our world and three adults took their last breath. When I went around to the other team members and asked each of them, what are you taking away from your time here in Port-au-Prince? Several of them replied “the massive amount of death that still ravages this nation”.

Yes, it is real. But just as real as death is life. Eternal life through having a relationship with Jesus Christ and the new life that God gives through all these new babies. Some of you may be thinking that thousands of people are lined up for adoptions. Well, I have been told that is not the case. These little gifts of life cannot stay here at this clinic while they wait on a long process for adoptions. Talking with the Haitian pastors, I get the impression that extended family members will show up claiming a child when in reality this little gift of life will end up in the hands of dishonest people who do not have the best interest of these little babies.

Today was the day when orphan boys were dropped off for care. Over the past week several orphan children have been dropped off after being picked up from the street for care. Two young boys by the name of Anderson and McKenzie became favorites of the DR staff. Both of these young boys are 12 years old with infections and wounds from life on the street.

Anderson is a bright young boy who seems to have been raised in a hard working family who was able to provide dental care and food. The story that we see over and over is Anderson’s mom and dad were killed in the earthquake and he has no other family. He was an only child. After getting treated in the clinic, Lawrence and Andy have spent time with him learning more about him and giving him some responsibilities around the supply tent. He has a great smile and wonderful spirit of enthusiasm.

We have not seen much of McKenzie. It is our fear that someone from the witchcraft community has come and picked him up. The Haitians tell us that the witchcraft doctors get these young boys for slave work and other dishonest activity. It is very real that the strong take over the weak. The young boys will have a hard time existing in a culture where the younger men will push them out when food and nutrition is available.

In a previous picture posting you saw a little boy on a bicycle with a nurse. I did not have the time to tell you the story.

His name is Sunzin and a worker from Alberta is adopting him. Tamara who was only planning to stay for a couple of weeks until she met Sunzin. She will be extending her stay while the paper work is being rushed for Sunzin to go to his new home in Alberta. Can you just image how that little boy is going to feel when he gets off the plane in the cold air of Alberta? I do not think that will matter because Sunzin has a new mother that will keep that little fellow warm.

One other thought before I quit for tonight and pick this up Monday morning hopefully.

I made my last round in both the clinics and said my good-byes to the ones that have been here since Team 2 arrived. I had time to throw the football one last time with Nick and Robert and I had some extended goodbyes in the pediatric ward. I got to hold, feed and burp a lot of little babies this week and I was able to help one more time.

It was an honor to hang out with an incredible staff of doctors and nurses. Words cannot describe the commitment that these individuals have. Many of them had no idea what they were getting into just like us. We all have strived to serve without complaining, serve faithfully and with perseverance.

Thank you for your prayers again for all the guys on Team 2 Thank you for letting me share these stories.

Phil Taylor, Cleveland, TN

Emergency Care waiting area. The tent cover was put up on Wednesday.
Lawrence Cotton with 12 year old Anderson.
Sure looks like Lawrence Cotton about 35 years ago.

Haitian man being released since the earthquake.

One last photo of the adult ward.

In the back left corner is our football field.

The only neonatal care center in Haiti.

It was a honor to serve along with these great doctors and nurses.

March 20 Saturday Morning

Phil's last day in the pediatric ward is today, this little girl was born early this morning. So many mother's of these precious children do not stay around after the birth.

It will be a tough good-bye late tonight.

L-R Phil Taylor, Lawrence Cotton, Andy Wallace, Mark Partin

veterans of Tsunami Relief work in Sri Lanka and now Haiti.

Message for future teams be sure and bring small cans of beans and weenie's.

Reminds me of my college dorm room. Tent 39!!

Thank you Ruritan International for providing these Box Shelter tents.

Ruritan International has provided thousands of
Shelter Box tents across Haiti. Millions are still needed.

Mark Partin welcomes this gentleman from United Shikh's who flew in

with a private donation of pedialyte for the children. We were without pedialyte

for several days before this guys showed up from no where.

Friday March 19, 2010

We were introduced last night to a sample of what the rainy season is going to be like here in Haiti in just a matter of weeks. It started around 7:00 PM Thursday night and it did not let up till around 10:00 AM Friday. We are talking about heavy rain, lightning and thunder. Everything is flooded around the clinic area and especially around the supply tent. A new appreciation for boots and waterproof foot wear.

We can understand the urgency to move fast and get people a dependable cover for their sleep.

Most of what has been seen on the American news channels are the tent cities that the UN and other groups such as Rotary International have provided. The news channels are not showing the makeshift privacy units the Haitian people have put up with bed sheets tied to a stick but still no covers over heads. In the rain last night those precious Haitian people were in the open rain. I will try and upload a picture. We have discovered that food and covering has still not made it out to several areas in less than a 20 minute drive from our location here at the airport.

Four members of our team went out to an orphanage on Wednesday to assist with some construction work and survey the damage that affected several children’s dorms. The orphanage is recognized by the Haitian government but yet they still have not received any of the food that has been sent from other nations for relief. The children are living in tents that an agency from Israel has provided. The tents have been a city of refuge for the children since they are still fearful of returning to the buildings. We discovered when we arrived at the orphanage that the couple who manage the facility is from Maryville, TN. We were glad to give a Volunteer hand.

The ministry by the chaplains has really taken off to the level that Phil and Lawrence are now on 24 hour call. We are sad to learn that no chaplains will be with team coming in to relieve us.

We were told by previous volunteers from another state, the medical staff did not have time to talk. Lawrence and Phil have found that is completely the opposite from what we have found. The approach of leaving the medical staff alone did not sound right. Our approach has been to take every opportunity to share with everyone, pray with everyone and be an encourager to everyone.

The medical staff have responded with open arms and great friendships have been made. Simply asking a doctor or nurse how they are dealing with things has opened many doors for sharing Christ. As you can image we have found staff from all over America with a variety of backgrounds. Many have stood in amazement when we share how we got here and what we do back home. It is a great blessing to be able to share with a young nurse that our relationship with Jesus passionately drives us to serve humanity.

Around 5:30 AM Friday morning the charge nurse for the adult ward came to Phil’s tent and asked him to come and minister to a family that had gathered around a father that was near death. This was the first call out like this and we feel it is a great affirmation of what God is doing all around us every minute and every hour of the day.

My prayer is that God will take these words and press them on other DR Chaplains and send you over here while the door is wide open to tell people about Jesus. Alongside of Phil and Lawrence other DR Team members have been kneeling by the cots of both of many, praying and sharing about Jesus. They have been a great help and it is a break for them outside of the medical supply tent.

Thank you for your prayers

Team 2 Front Row L to R
Phil Taylor, Andy Wallace, Travis Webb, Mark Walter and Tom Hite
Second Row L to R
Jeff Taylor, Don Ross, Terry Webb (Our Team Leader), Mark Partin and Lawrence Cotton

Terry Webb, Don Ross and Mark Walter from FBC Concord
Jeff Taylor and Tom Hite from Alpha Baptist, Morristown
Pastor Mark Partin and Andy Wallace, Indiana Ave. Baptist Church, LaFollette,TN
Travis Webb, Lebanon Baptist, Talbott
Bradey County Association: Phil Taylor, Lawrence Cotton

Mark Walter getting some help from Terry as the team

sorts through a shipment that came in from a group of Firemen in USA.

Tom Hite helping our team leader Terry with medical supply list.

The results of an all night rain for the guys in medical supply tent.

Pictures from around the Clinic Friday March 19

Under our tents and under tarp expect to find tarantula (big honking hairy spider).

Mark Partin gets ready to cut tarp for distribution to patients

that are being discharged with no home or family.

Our American troops still playing a critical role.
A typical scene for emergency arrival at the clinic.

All hands on the deck for the arrival of ten patients.

Precision and dedication is important 24 hours a day.

This is little bike was found in the middle of all the boxes in the supply yard and one of the team members assembled it for this young Haitian boy recovering in rehab.

Tom Hite taken care of himself. It is always amazing to see how God puts together a team like this with guys from various backgrounds in ministry and business.

Thursday March 18, 2010

For the past two nights we have had rain during the night and when we say rain, it has been a good old down pour. You can say the rain is a mixed blessing, and with the rain there is higher humidity, but the rain also helps keep the dust down.

You read earlier about the young boy that ate for the first time since the earthquake, his name is Vincent. Lawrence and Vincent are lunch buddies and they are the topic of discussion around the clinic. The Doctor that has been working with Vincent called on Phil and Lawrence to pray through a similar case with a young girl. The Doctor said our prayers were needed more for the mother so she would be as willing to fight the battle like Vincent’s mom. We’ve had a great opportunity to witness to the Doctor through this case and we have talked with him about having a relationship with Jesus so he could pray for his patients like we have prayed for Vincent and the other patients. Keep us in your prayers --God is working.

On a sad note let me share with you how difficult the food situation is around here. You would think with all the military around the airport MRE’s would be plentiful, but that’s not the case, they are hard to find. We found one last night stored in a box and we were saving it for Vincent. Well, tragically, the MRE was also discovered by one of the Haitian workers and he was caught sitting in front of all the others enjoying himself like it was his last supper.

All of us were disappointed in what happened , but the opportunity was taken to teach this young Haitian about serving the least of those among us. Lawrence took all the Haitian workers over to the children’s ward and introduced them all to Vincent. The lesson quickly got across. Protecting your food and other possessions is a challenge and we stay on guard.

Tom, Jeff, Mark, Andy, Don and Travis have been busy with the supplies trying to consolidate all the supplies still under the tarps outside the Medical Supply tent. It has been a hot and dirty job for them. It is hard for anyone to image the normality of their task but it would be like going into Sam’s Club or Costco and finding the peanut butter stacked with motor oil. Travis has been helpful with the fork lift, moving the pilots around that are stacked with different items of medical supplies. We are hoping by our departure all the pilots will be stacked with the same items.

Phil and Lawrence were seen playing football in the adult ward with two young men who are paralyzed waist down, Nick is 24 and Robert 19. Both of these young men were rescued by US Task Force workers and they are adjusting well to the therapy. They will never walk again. When Nick was healthy he was 6’8" and a great athlete. It is amazing to see how everyone gives up individual space so two grown men can stand in for Physical Therapy time. All the patients lay very close to one another, so if could image standing in the mall on Christmas Eve when everyone is running from store to store and you are standing in the middle of everyone throwing a football.

At the end of the day a joyful noise comes out from the adult ward. A brief time is given for a joyful noise. The Haitian translators that work tirelessly with the medical staff and with us lead all the patients in a time of singing praise to our Savior. The room is filled with a blessed sound and tearful eyes. Once again we all know that some did not make it and others were released to join with family or with no place to go.

The internet speed is very slow and it takes a long time to upload pictures. Thank you for your patience. Sorry we can not upload more pictures.

Also please keep in mind that the stories we share are just a small sample of what happens in the daily life TBDR work here at the Port-au-Prince Medical Clinic. Our greatest joy is exalting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Andy Wallace finds a wheel chair in all the medical supplies outside the tent just in time before for this young boy is discharged.

This is Casimir she was born last night one of triplets, her brother and sister did not make it. This little preemie is 71/2 months.

Phil Taylor and Lawrence Cotton's football pals. Nick is on the left and Robert is on the left.

Lawrence Cotton helping feeding Vincent for the first time since the earthquake.

Jeff Taylor is directing the fork lift in medical supply yard.

Team 1's Final Report - From Haiti to Tennessee!

The following is Team 1's final post to this blog. Thank you SO much for praying for this group of men.

Please continue to pray for the TN Baptist Disaster Relief Team 2 that is currently in Haiti. Their first blog post can be found below this one. Continue to visit the blog to stay updated with the experiences and reports from Team 2 in Haiti.

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This last Report from Jack was to come out on Monday night of the 15^th; however we didn’t get home until after midnight, so I’m getting it out on Tuesday evening. It’s also a catch up from the weekend as we wound down our stay in Haiti.

It was great to see the 10 new men from TN Baptist Disaster Relief show up at the hospital compound on Sunday! By then our group had pretty well “shut down” as we were mentally and physically spent. We did show them all the procedures and what we had been doing and what changes had taken place in the last couple of days as the doctors and nurses had shared with us how they wanted to re-organize the shelves to meet subject needs, etc. At any rate, by the end of the day on Sunday we were happy to turn over the computer, printer and phone and go started packing our belongings to head home.

By 6 a.m. on Monday we were basically up and packed for the trip home. It had rained most of the night and the steam was already making it muggy. I don’t think any of us had any breakfast. I tried a tiny cup of coffee, but it was so strong my spoon would stand up in it, so Ken and Jim passed on the coffee. Around 7:30 a.m. they started loading our luggage in an old truck and we started scrambling into Toyota vans like canned sardines.

We arrived at the airport and then stood in long lines about 4 or 5 people wide trying to get into the terminal. We finally got through the Haiti customs and out to the other side of the terminal where the planes came in. Charley found a man selling cold fruit drinks and bought us all a treat and that helped us to withstand the heat for so long. We sat out in the sun from about 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. before starting to load. It was wonderful when we entered the plane and remembered what air-conditioning felt like!

As the plane landed in Miami there was a great applause from the crowd! It truly felt great to be back on American soil! David commented that if he could find soil instead of concrete he might just get down and kiss the ground! Of course we then faced American customs, but by then we really didn’t mind so much. We got through that and headed to Chili’s for an American meal. We had hoped David could eat with us, but his flight was at the far end of the airport, so he decided to not try to come down to our end for a meal. We all four pigged out on big burgers, etc. (I’ve paid dearly for it all day to day…enough said!) We made it to Atlanta, and RUSHED to get to our plane to Knoxville…only to find it was being delayed for about an hour and a half. That gave us time to eat a late supper and still be ready for the flight.

The best part of the trip was landing in Knoxville and seeing a crowd of people holding “Welcome Home and Thank you for serving our Lord” type signs and waving at us. It was a surprise and a real treat! We knew our wives were coming down with Don and Nonnie Owen on the bus, but didn’t know Jim’s daughters and granddaughters would be there too, so it was quite a celebration for a few minutes. Charley slipped off home with his wife during our celebration and a picture or two. Charley, you were “the man” and we appreciated getting to know you better and would go anywhere to work with you again. We know why David Acres loves you like Visa, and “doesn’t want to leave home without you.” It was just a little after midnight when we got home safe and sound.

I can’t speak for the rest of the men, but I slept in the next morning…until 5:55 a.m. and then my body knew it was time to get up and go to work, so I woke right up. Luckily I realized I was home and in my own bed and I was able to roll over and go back to sleep!

In summary, as we looked back and discussed our time in Haiti, we pondered various aspects of the experience and concluded that the work wasn’t so hard that we couldn’t do it; but the environment was a strain on us beyond what any of us had ever experienced. If God had not sent us and been with us, I don’t think we could have survived the trip as well as we did. We were all so thankful that nothing major happened to any of us and that God provided for us daily even though we sometimes wondered how it would happen. As we thought about returning to the comforts of home it also made us think about all the wonderful Haitian friends we were leaving behind and all the people that were just trying any way they could find to survive from day to day. Our hearts will go out to these people for a long time as we remember them in our prayers. We also want to take this one last time to say THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for all of your daily love, prayer and support that we felt while serving there. It truly meant a lot to each of us.

Please remember the other 10 men serving in Haiti this week and continue your prayers on their behalf.. I understand they will continue on with a Blog report. We thank Don Owen and Allison Young for helping us with our Blog as it wasn’t always easy or practical to get one out, but they were faithful to follow through on our behalf and we take this opportunity to publicly say “thank you” to both of them for all they did to assist us on this trip. I’ll attach a few last pictures of our return adventures.

- Jack

Welcome Home scene that greeted us!

The survivors on the last day

Note the cracks in the airport walls!

Mass jam trying to get into the airport

Ken asks a local to be his wife, she turned him down!

Jim packs for home!

I can't eat another bite of rice!

David meets with the new team members

David makes Gatorade

6 AM Monday - headed home!