Barnabas Task

It has been 18 months since we first rented the apartment in Santiago. The purpose has been to be people of influence with a two fold strategy.

One, we wanted to do all we could to influence the starting of a church. Actually, everything we were doing from the beginning had that purpose. We built relationships with some incredible people throughout Santiago. I count them as dear friends, people you would love. We put relationship before anything else and believe all know who we are and what we stand for. The church has started. Cántico Nuevo is a reality. John and Diana Martinez were named pastors of the church at the Foursquare Convention in Santo Domingo on April 9. These connections we have made have become a bridge of friendship to John and Diana. The story continues. We were greatly blessed with a team of six young adults that came from Nashville, TN. We lived together, worked together and prayed together. My life is changed because of them! My hats off to their church, New Song, and the leadership/parents there. They did a fine job in preparing this great team for an incredible missions experience. They added such great value to the birthing of the church. I can’t say enough about them.

We facilitated Noche de Damas where about 200 ladies attended, hearing a message on Breast Cancer, Women’s rights, and the story of one who has been violated.  We also facilitated two back to back Healing Seminars, collaborating with Wind of the Spirit Ministries from Silverdale, WA.  We saw healings, deliverance and lives changed with more than 100 pastors in attendance.  More than 1000 people attended our final night of healing.

Second, we wanted to serve some way in Cien Fuegos, an area that is infested with crime, sex abuse, drugs etc. Many there do not have title to property let alone a birth certificate. We have established the Barnabas Project. (Proyecto Bernabé) The focus is three fold:
• Clean Water-The station has been built and equipment will be installed next week. 5000 people, 12,000 gallons a day. We are working with Water for the Children.
• Health Education-For three years we have brought medical teams to Cien Fuegos. After the second year, we made a decision for long-term influence. In that context, we are working with Indiana-Purdue University (IPFW) and Pontifica Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) to develop on-going health care attention in this area of more than 300,000 people. It is an historic first. We are connected to 160 barrios throughout Cien Fuegos but we will focus initially on about 5000 people with health care and clean water.
• Micro-Finance-Our goal of influence was the development of a cooperativa (credit union, loan institution) that is in the name of a Catholic priest, Father Ramón Dubert. Father Dubert was a well-known priest that died as a man of compassion. We found his initial paper work that he was developing before he died. After careful planning and hard work it is now registered in the country. I am very proud of the Dominican team that has put this in order.

We will receive a tremendous team from Life Pacific College, San Dimas, California. There is a program called IGNITE. We will work with this team of 15 for 2 ½ weeks through May 21. I am expecting great things. Thanks in advance to those that are sending them.

I close with one more thing. We feel we have been obedient to the Lord. Nancy and I have traveled back and forth for a season of our lives while she finishes her Nurse Practioner degree with emphasis in reaching the poor and deprived. We will close out our apartment May 25. Our mission here in Santiago has become bigger than what we ever dreamed and therefore we can easily say it is His cause and He gets the glory for all that has taken place.

After various speaking engagements that we have, the goal is to wait and listen to what God has next for us. I know that may sound trite. We feel that the Lord has given us this clear mandate for now. We will read, study, pray and exercise for a season. Nancy will continue her studies. We will still be connected to the DR, traveling there to encourage, meet with Health Education personnel, Water Station personnel and bring nurture to the new church; but for short strategic trips only.

Support for what we are doing and what we will do is needed more than ever. You can send offerings to Barnabas Task, 10917 Summer Chase Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46818 or use the PAYPAL available on this website. Your gifts are tax-deductible.

He has broken me

In the course of several months I have read three biographies/memoirs. George Bush (Decision Points), Karl Rowe (Courage and Consequence), and Donald Rumsfeld (Known and Unknown). All three were at the White House at the same time.  All three experienced the political process, the economic meltdown, 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanámo Bay, etc. from different lenses.  All three were correct in some fashion or another.  They quote and mis-quote each other. They agree and disagree. Lens. Perspective.  Paradigm.  They saw differently, remembered differently.  In that context though, government policy was directed and developed accordingly.

The books have humbled me actually.  As I reflect I have been wrong on occasion.  I have been mistaken and perhaps have not read or seen through proper lens, perspective and paradigm.  To whoever reads my post, please forgive me if that human inadequacy has touched you in any way. I ask forgiveness for my shortcomings and for any lack of consideration for you.

Water station ready for equipment

Planting a church in Santiago and serving the people of Cien Fuegos have brought me to this place of humble brokenness.  I am a different person, I believe, and the preface for this report must be the love of God.  He loves me so deeply that he has broken me, changed me, and caused me to reflect much.  I am not my own.  I am at a good place.

We taught more than 100 pastors

We hosted two healing seminars with Larry and Audrey Eddings and their team from Washington state. They did a fantastic job teaching the healing power of God, providing ample time in small groups for application and process.  In our second seminar we had more than 1000 people in attendance the final night.  More than 100 pastors received this clear simple teaching, taking it back to their churches.  It was a multi-denominational event.

The Water Station is built. Installation of the purification equipment begins on April 2. When completed, this gift to the squatters’ rights community of Cien Fuegos will deliver 12,000 gallons of water for approximately 5,000 people. A solid group of some extraordinary Dominican friends now regulate the station.

The church Cántico Nuevo is a reality.  A group of people meet weekly, while potential exists for a separate group to form soon.

John and Diana Martinez

Developing emerging leaders meet weekly.  John and Diana Martinez, the pastors of the church, are leading with grace and wonderful wisdom.  Continue to pray for them. They also need financial support.  What an investment.

Finally, a new network has been established between the Catholic University in Santiago and

Compassionate medical care

Indiana/Purdue University (IPFW) in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  The goal with this network is to establish ongoing health education for the community of Cien Fuegos and subsequent medical, training, and teaching teams on a quarterly basis.  Why not dream that these Dominicans can have medical care like they have never had before? I believe it can happen.

If I am a fool, I am a fool for Christ.  I believe that change and increased influence come through daring to believe and due diligence coupled with a clear proclamation that   mercy can re-write lives. God planned it that way, and Nancy and I have set out to follow this plan.  We are fulfilling what we set out to do.

Water for kids

In his book, The Principle of the Path, , Andy Stanley, writes “Direction…not intention…determines our destination.”   We all need a clear pathway.

More than  one year ago a pathway, a clear-cut direction was created for the Barnabas Project in Cien Fuegos, Dominican Republic.   In that context I wrote on one page the idea of serving a very  poor community of 300,000 people with Micro-Finance, Clean Water and  Health Education.

The goal from the beginning has been to foster on-going community development through strong just relationships.  We have worked from six principles:

1. Sustainable solutions
2. Active participation
3. Shared Vision
4. Servant Leadership
5. Effective Institutions
6. Restoration of Cien Fuegos

Our success story has been anchored to the direction we established in the very beginning.

Barnabas Task is attempting to establish three churches and develop the Barnabas Project.  This article is about  Clean Water, part of the broader based Barnabas Project, our attempt to influence a community.

Clean Water

I know that clean water is so very important.  Lack of clean water and simple hygiene/sanitation skills are the  cause of a large

Clean water means improved health

percentage of deaths worldwide each year.   Imagine the vulnerability of children who helplessly fight against diarrhea,  dysentery and other life threatning diseases.

It is a huge issue in Cien Fuegos.  I have asked the insane question, “What could I do?”  “What could we do?”  “What if….?”

“What if” is becoming a reality.  After more than one year, a piece of land right next to the canal that borders one side of Cien Fuegos has been given for the express purpose of the Barnabas Task Water Project.  (Proyecto Bernabe)

Relationships and Ownership

We are working closely with local businessmen and church leaders so this project does not become a failed attempt to help.  That is, there is community involvement and commitment.  The local Businessmen’s Association has adopted the Barnabas Project.  There is agreement from the Cien Fuegos Pastoral Association. These groups will lead.  Calendar plans include health care teams, hygiene/life training teams, smaller  community health fares etc., all which connect to the direction we have taken.

Our goal is community involvement in every area.  Perhaps that is why the Clean Water Project has taken so long.  When I start hearing what “we can do” from local pastors and business people, I feel like dancing.

Collaboration

What do I know about clean water?  I understand the concept and the need  for community involvement.  However Pete Connor is the one that will provide the expertise and skill to place the first Water Station that will bring clean water to more than 1200 homes, full time, all the time, for life.  Pete is the founder of Water for the Children.  (http://www.waterforthechildren.com)   I am so grateful for

On cleared land-Pete Connor and I

his heart and willingness to bring his engineering skills to the DR transforming dirty canal water  to drinking water,  utilizing  ozone technology.

Collaboration is huge. This is the cornerstone for change in countries around the world.  We must work together.  The connect of local churches, local business people, Water for the Children, Barnabas Task, the wonderful people that live in Cien Fuegos and countless people that contribute through prayer and giving make the journey what it is.

Direction…not intentions…determines our destination.

Here’s the takeaway:

Before the Water Station is even built I have walked amongst the poor in Cien Fuegos by the canal.  I have developed friendships.  I have mourned with these friends who have lost loved ones. Trust is established.  Health Education has been taught in homes.  This connects to other homes and all of a sudden there is a network of people that are hearing  about a Water Station and good health habits.  Volunteers come forward  to help anyway they can.  When we cleared the land for the future site, it was a

Unity is coming to Cien Fuegos

community event.  As I spoke to community people about a faith in God, they responded because I knew them, would see them again and again.

Community leaders, business people and church people are sitting for the first time together, talking about a hope and a difference that can be made in an area of the world that is all about “squatters right,” violence, rape, abuse, human trafficking and desperateness where the rising of the sun is the only known quantity or allegiance they have.

Clean Water, the Water Project,  is bringing unity.  The destination is more than I ever dreamed.

Please give to Barnabas Task today.

Please give to Water For the Children today.

We can transform dirty water to awesome drinking water

Nobel Peace Prize writer Garcia Marquez wrote in detail about the plight of the poor in Central and South America. He describes poor people as waiting for a letter that would never come, sitting in the dark talking of “distant” hope

I talk to my friends every time I go to a canal on the west side of Cien Fuegos, a “squatters rights” area and part of Santiago, Dominican Republic. What was once a novel thing, an American in Cien Fuegos, is now a common occurrence. I know families, kids, their dogs and cats. Cien Fuegos is an undesignated piece of land that has been chosen by the poor and destitute. It is a violent place. Human suffering, unjust acts against women, a subtle mark for human trafficking, constant corruption, theft and a seemingly inability to “look up” defines the area.

What about clean water that is drinkable? Water does exist in Santiago but you can’t drink it. Clean Water is part of three-tiered approach to this community. (Micro-Finance, Clean Water and Health Education)

Cold clean water for kids is the goal

I have watched children pull water from the canal where I have gained new relationships. The water is used to wash clothes, drink and cook. The canal is a nasty, infested cesspool that is used for bathing, as bathroom and drinking besides a “collect all” for anything you can think of.

Clean water means healthy kids. It is part of the big picture of Health Education. Will you help me fulfill a promise I gave to these new friends? I want kids to have a chance in life that includes a glass of cold clean water.

I explained to my friends we would bring clean water that they could drink some day. I thought of what Garcia Marquez wrote. They wouldn’t be waiting for a “distant” hope while in the dark, never to hold a glass of clean cold water. Some day isn’t soon enough for me.

1. You can contribute direct through Pay Pal on this website. Mark your contribution Barnabas Task Water Project.

2. You can participate in the outstanding golf tournament being planned for Sept. 18. It will be held at the beautiful Chestnut Hills Golf Course. The golf fee of $100 pays for your cart, two meals and 18 holes of golf.

Email or call Barnabas Task today to sign up with your foursome:
btwaterproject@gmail.com
260 466-3522

Help us bring clean water so kids have an opportunity for better health!

Checks payable to Barnabas Task Project-Water. After all expenses 100 per cent of all monies raised will go directly to the Barnabas Task Water Project. Not even a dime will be used for personal use or other project expenses.

Support Tom and Nancy. There, I said it! Up to this point I have never used our names in asking for financial support.  Barnabas Task has been promoted.  Who wants to promote self?  We sure don’t!  At the same time, without promoting what we do there is no way people can give intelligently.  We feel that God is receiving the glory for what we are doing.  Humbly, we place before you our need.

As Missions Pastor at Life Bridge Church in Fort Wayne, IN, we have walked with integrity, not asking people for pledges or cash offerings.   We are so grateful for the monthly support from Life Bridge. However, we need help from others as I write this post. We need a miracle.  In preparation for what lies ahead I have resigned as  Missions Pastor, a non-paid position.   We served with honor for three years.  Our sails are set.

Recently, someone suggested that church leaders were tired of missionaries calling them, asking for financial help.  It is a catch-22 isn’t it?  On one hand, we walked in obedience and have stretched ourselves  to respond to Haiti’s needs.  At the same time we have traveled to the Dominican Republic for one year now, laying the foundation.  Many doors have opened.

We have done this by faith, at great personal sacrifice.  Without investment there, we would not be able to give a clarion call to what our need is. Here’s the deal: This is not a job to us.  It is a calling that is beyond us. We are without doubt called to do what we are doing.

Although we have complete, written blessing from Foursquare Missions International as a denomination, we do not have one dime promised to us from them. Let me be clear.  I speak  without any rancor or disrespect.   Just the facts.  We understood that going into this.  Could it be that we are pioneering a new way for Foursquare and others?  I have been stripped of any dependence on anyone.

It is Him and Him alone. This is where we have come to.  For us to do what God has called us to, there needed to be an absolute dependence on Him.  What we see is the price that must be paid if we are to accomplish God’s purposes.  It is not a lesson to be learned once;  rather a lifestyle that must be lived.

The foundation has been layed in Santiago to initially plant two churches: one, a Haitian church and two, a church in the middle/upper class area of Santiago.  We are also developing  strong relationships with our friends in Cien Fuegos, a population of about 300,000 people, to develop Clean Water, Micro-Finance and Health Education.   With God’s help, we will start a Monday through Friday 6 am to 7 am radio program some time in July on a secular radio station.

Humbly, we ask you to consider giving to a calling that is making impact.  There are three ways you can partner with us.

1.  Barnabas Task: 10917 Summer Chase Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46818

2.  FMI: PO Box 26776, Los Angeles, CA.  90026

ATTN: Tom Hinton/Santiago church plant.

3.  Pay Pal:  using the link that is on this page.



You will receive a tax-deductible receipt after receiving your contribution

Franklin is a Red Sox fan!

Franklin is a Red Sox fan.  He knows what is happening every day with his team!  He wears Red Sox shirts, has a Red Sox hat and I call him, “Big Papi,” named after Dominican baseball player David Ortiz.  By the way, I am a die-hard Red Sox fan.  It is fun to talk with someone who knows the score even before I do.

I love my new Haitian friend

He is the head guard at the apartment complex we have rented in Santiago, Dominica Republic.  He greets me each day as I leave or come back.  He serves everybody.

Franklin is from Haiti.  He knows I have  been to Haiti three times now. We talk about small things.

The apartment complex where we live  has never had “teams” come and stay there. Imagine, young adults, adults and students going up and down steps, yelling from the sixth floor, slapping “fives,” hanging, singing…playing.  Our street, E Leon Jimenez,  will never be the same.

Imagine for a man like Franklin, he has never had so much attention and love.  Teams that have been with me have made impact.  They left “relational equity” that I am able to connect to.

I invited Franklin to my apartment when the Michigan team was with me.  He was surprised that I did so.  It is not common nor  part of the cultural context.  We talked, laughed and shared.  For Franklin, this was new.  He was from Haiti.  He had another role in the apartment complex.  Tonight he was amongst friends.

I gently shared the love of God with him.  He lives in the Dominican Republic and supports his family in Haiti.  Franklin accepted Christ as Saviour on this night. We agreed to share this with his Haitian friends that live close by.  I will speak in Spanish and he will speak in French.  Haiti Bible Study.  So love this.

One of my new freinds in Cien Fuegos

As we make our way to start full time in Santiago, I have made a commitment to start a church amongst Haitians as well.

Who knows?  Franklin could very well become the pastor of this church.

Thanks for praying for us!

More than ever, we need prayer and financial support.  Thanks for your investment.  Please consider investing today in this incredible dream that God is unfolding.

Translating for Nic Mihailoff. We spoke to 60 businessmen.

Hosting a team from Ignite Foursquare was a delight this past week.  Laughter, connection and God’s amazing grace put it all in perspective.   Pastor Todd Sywrus, Nic Mihailoff, Tom Gordon, Doug Wilson and Robb Malcolmson added value to what we are doing here.  Great insight. Dude, can they eat!

Pastor Todd Sywrus spoke twice in Cien Fuegos.

We attended Parroquia San Ramon Nonato on Sunday morning.  The team from Michigan was with me.  We separated inside the church as to not be too obvious.  The team is doing what I would do here if by myself.  I am on a learning track, feeling, observing and discerning.  This would be the type of church I would love to see built here.  What a powerful influence it would be.

What a beautiful facility it was.  I was impressed with its cleanliness and open doors and windows.  People that attend this church seem to have consistent well paying jobs but there was a mix of others present who were distant.   What would happen if the prostitute walked in?

Meeting with businessmen in Cien Fuegos was a delight.  We spoke to 60 businessmen about growth in their  business. A commission has been formed to develop Micro-Finance.  Huge.  It has taken a year to birth this.

Todd Syruws preached twice in Cien Fuegos.  He did a wonderful job and was received well.

Through a significant relationship the right person was identified to contact for a piece of property to place a Water Station.

We met an EMT in Haiti from a Foursquare church in Gresham, Oregon.

Travel to Haiti was a fun trip with Nic Mihailoff and Phil Pritchett, both businessmen traveling with me.  Never a dull moment. Nic is a mentor of new developing business projects working with the University of Michighan.  Phil has been with me  on four trips and has been trained to take a Barnabas Task  team anywhere in the world.

Clean water is an issue in our world. This little guy had an empty water bottle. Broke my heart.

Haiti is tough to process.  I don’t have easy answers.  Planning for the medical team in May was a lot of listening at first.  Several times I pulled away just to process.  There are so many factors.  At the end of the day, we decided to place the May medical clinic close to the street, beneath a large covering provided by USAID. I had a brief conversation with the Director of Norwegian Church AID.  They will come to the clinic when we have it to observe.

We left Haiti with a sense of sincere desperateness.  It has happened before to me.  Who? What?  When?  Where? And How? seem to be trumped so many times it is hard to find the beginning.

We drove to Bonao to meet with John and Diana Martinez.  They are a wonderful Colombian couple that are  raising their own support to be here.  Foursquare Flint Ignite invested $500 in a new Micro-Finance business the Marinez’ are establishing to help raise the support they need to live here.  It would be patterned after a “Tent maker” philosophy with a strong edge for development and planning upfront so that it would be successful. They sell jewelry, cards, and other proto-types that will have their personal signature.  We are committed to this.

John and Diana Martinez will move to Santiago in November to join us in the church plant.

Supporting Barnabas Task is supporting what you have read.  We are grateful.  Plowing continues.  I have a vision that is clearly written on one page.

Habakkuk 2:2 says  ”For the revelation awaits an appointed time;  it speaks of the end and will not be false. Though it linger, wait for it;  it will certainly come and not delay.”

Habakkuk was forward thinking.  This vision was not about him.  It was for others.  They would carry the message.  It was other-people centered.   Others will benefit from what we are doing.  This is not my gig.

I understand this.  We are living in tremendous times.

Last night, we drank coffee and pondered the future with a young adult named Andy Martinez.  He expressed the need for relevance coupled with intercession.  He said, “what you are  attempting to do here in Santiago, Dominican Republic is noted.  People are hungry for what you offer.”  The vision tarries.  We are in place for the greatest move of God in our life time.  To Him be the glory and Honor.

I am writing a short post today.  I just arrived back in Fort Wayne with Kati.  She is back at school.  I am seeing a doctor in a short while.  I need to get my knee (leg) checked out.  It is wierd being back here. Contrast is defined as difference between two ideas or objects. Because of contrast between “here and there” there is a nagging in my soul for three reasons.

1.  Haiti-We must do something more.  We are placing emphasis on a Compassion Station on the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.  We are also organizing and collaborating with Associated Churches in Fort Wayne, IN to bring a team to Port Au Prince, Haiti, April 13-22.  As I write, there are other teams being coordinated to go to Haiti.  I will have dates soon.  If you are a doctor, physicians assistant, nurse practioner or nurse…. come help us bring hope to Haiti.  Make the call and do it!

2.  Project Bernabe (barnabas)-We have undertaken a huge project in Cien Fuegos, a “squatters rights” area of Santiago.  I spoke there last week.  I love those people and want to help in a way that is the best practice of what I can offer.  We are developing 1. Clean Water  2.  Micro Finance  and   3.  Health Education. A team of people are being formed.  Soon I will introduce them to you.  I am not and cannot do this alone.  Others are coming alongside the vision.

3.  Church Plant-Cántico Nuevo-We have a name for the church now.  Cántico Nuevo. (New Song) I am meeting and connecting with some incredible people that want to see something happen, a strong stamp of God’s grace and agreement.  We are sowing good seed and seeing it return. Every time I am there I meet with people and share the vision of what the church will be like. We have now rented an apartment in Santiago.  It is so well located I have to pinch myself when I think about it.  It was His choice.  The location is a center point of activity.  The street address is E. Leon Jimenez, known by everyone.

We will keep meeting with people, expanding our circle of influence.  Secondly, we will continue to have Encuentros de Conocer  (Get to Know Meetings) that are very relational.  Finally, we will soon begin Convivencias.  (Restaurant setting meetings where a meal is shared and a story of the Gospel is the topic of conversation.)

Kevin Delagrange and Kyle Norwood came from Fort Wayne to build bunk-beds for us.  They did a fantastic job. I wanted to be able to receive teams of people.   I am grateful to three churches;  Life Bridge in Fort Wayne, Grace Community in Kokomo, IN and Ignite Church in Flint, MI. They provided the funds for this. Mission accomplished except for three mattresses.

I have layed out a vision that is our pathway by faith.

Restless for the world that is mine.

Grateful!

(Note: Pictures taken by Kati who traveled me on this trip.  She was a great companion.  My hearts desire for her was to expand her world view through exposure.  More to come.)

I can’t predict the future!  Can you?  We were on our way to Jimani yesterday and stopped in Santo Domingo to connect with Foursquare missionary Charlie Finocchiarro who was leading a caravan of California Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s) going to work with Convoy of Hope.  We stopped at a tollbooth to connect, exchange a few words and waiting for one more truck to come through the tollbooth.

I asked an Emergency doctor about my right knee that has caused discomfort before this trip.   The doctor examined my knee, looked in my eyes and said, “This has the feel of a blood clot.  If I were you, I would go to the emergency room or a clinic right away.” I guess I looked at him with unbelief because he repeated it.

I did not enter Haiti today.  Kati did. I entrusted her with some great men that I have become acquainted with.  Relationships that are being carved out here cross new barriers when you say, “I trust you with her.” Kati arrived in Jimani late last night, had a Malaria shot early this morning and is there now as I write.

I will go to Haiti but it was not in the “cards” for me right now.  Can I give you a perspective?  The apostle wanted to go to Asia but was forbidden.  I don’t know his reason for being forbidden.  (Acts 16)  I do know I did everything I possibly could to go but was forbidden for now.  I have a peace, not upset about it.  This is God’s thing.  Not mine.  Feels good.

Update: I went to a clinic in Santo Domingo.  The doctors’ prognosis was thrombosis of the vein.  He recommended 5 days in bed plus meds.  I opted to go back to Santiago, with my leg positioned straight.  Kevin Delagrange and Kyle Norwood drove me back to Santiago.  I needed them for this. Kevin drove on the most dangerous highway in the Dominican Republic. Last night, late; I went to a clinic in Santiago. A cardiologist gave me a shot in the stomach and said I would rest better at the apartment, which I loved to hear.  This morning, I went to the clinic and spent the day going from station to station getting x-rays and blood tests.  I wondered about Health Care here.  I needed the tests and needed to have my leg straight.  Oh well.  The bottom-line is that no thrombosis was found in the testing!  In all of this was a caring loving wife who just happens to be a heart nurse.  Nancy was my second opinion, on the money!

Kati will have an experience that not many her age will have.  She will see first hand and will give the initial report on Barnabas Task. I won’t.  But isn’t that the way it is supposed to be?  I love this.

Would you pray for the people of Haiti tonight? The Relief effort is going well, never fast enough for some “Grande, non-fat, vanilla latte” executive who writes from afar.  Our virtual “get it now” world is meeting the reality of an unstructured, geographic location let alone a country that has been pulverized by an earthquake.

Let’s pray for relief workers who are doing all they can in the Haitian capitol and in every other area they may be.  I know what they pray at night.  “God I did what I could do.  I rest in that.”  And sometimes they weep in private because of what they have seen or heard in public.

Kevin Delagrange and Kyle Norwood have been a great blessing.  Every morning they have devotions.  They are journaling and contributing in every discussion.  Love them.  They are bro’s.  Anyone that knows me would recognize that calling someone a “bro” means they are family and I would go to the wall for them.  I feel the same from them.

The bunk beds are completed.  Today, Kyle and Kevin brought the extra lumber to the home and back yard of Jose Lino, a faithful worker with Barnabas Task.  Jose lives in Cien Fuegos where a young adult team will be pouring cement in March.  The lumber will be used to support the walls as the cement is being poured (by hand.)  Pretty cool huh?

Spoke through Skype with the Board of Associated churches early this morning.  How cool is that?  Loved meeting people for the first time through Skype.

That’s the way it is!

Grateful!

“When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion

for  them, because they were weary and scattered,

like sheep having no shepherd” Matthew 9:36

We had a tremor about 6:30 this morning.  I have never danced at 6:30 in the morning, but I did today.  In another room, Kati slept like a baby.  What a wake-up call. It’s been quite a day.  I have talked to the right people in Jimani, a border town that has become the passageway for many Health Care workers attempting to get into Port Au Prince, Haiti.  The Port Au Prince airport is “open” and then “closed.”  Eventually it will open.   I have talked briefly with my friend Charlie Finocchiarro about his recent trip to Port Au Prince.  The city is jammed with workers.  Thus, Jimani has become a center-point for workers and for Haitians fleeing from their homes looking for a better place to rest their heads. The guys are progressing with the bunk beds.  I am so grateful for their sacrifice in being here.  Soon, we will have a place to house teams. The first step in Disaster Relief is the collection of information.  It is fluid and ever changing.  Some organizations and denominations do not do relief work but rather collaborate with others.  Yet again, there are other organizations that are Disaster Relief oriented and somehow the joint efforts surge forward together.  Information collecting eventually becomes information you can count on.  There is no exact formula but there are some significant principles in the process of determining what to do and when:

1.   Information This is primarily gathering information to the following questions: Who? What? Where? Why? How? When?

2.   Analysis What are the physical and medical needs?  Is the in-country medical system functioning?  In the case for Haiti, it was quite weak before the earthquake.  There are factors that hinder accurate response:

1.  Logistical-communications and transportation

2.  Organizational-Leadership is not in place or are not informed.

3.  Technical-Individuals with skills or expertise are not available.

3.  Diagnosis To be arrived at jointly between local leadership on the ground, national leadership, Regional Representatives and emergency relief providers utilizing both the information and the analysis provided above. Information + Analysis = Diagnosis This part of the process is significant because it helps discover the precise need: although it may be obvious.  It is like a doctor who collects information, gives analysis and finally gives a diagnosis.  Final diagnosis includes:

1. Type of injuries-number of persons involved, severity
2. Survivors in need-age, sex, psychological stress.
3. Environmental Health-water supply, sanitation.

4.   Strategy What plan works for Haiti?  The strategy will need to target a specific segment or area as any organization can’t possibly be the solution to all nor be in all places at the same time.

Today, I made plans for a team to come to Santiago in March.  It is a young adult team from a Wesleyan church.  Perhaps going to Jimani, the border town, would make sense in the big plan.  Don’t know.  I made transportation arrangements today for the team.  I checked in with Penelope Bravo, a follower of Christ, the new Foursquare church we are establishing in Santiago.

Kati and I also had lunch with 28-year veteran missionaries Paul and Eileen Allyn.  They have a wealth of information to draw from.  It’s fun when Paul and I drink coffee together or have lunch.  Our phones are constantly ringing. Kati says I am in meetings all day!  I have been in a few.  The payoff though is good information.  Here’s the deal.  We leave today (Thursday) for Jimani, Dominican Republic.  It is a five-hour drive.  We have some great contacts there where we will be received well.  We will access Jimani as a potential Compassion Station.

There are a band of brothers there from various churches and denominations in Jimani.  We will stay in an Episcopal church there, sleeping on the floor.  We will leave early Friday morning for Port Au Prince.  We will “look and see” and then go to an exact target location where Barnabas Task is going to put its’ emphasis.  Our first team there will be from Associated Churches in Fort Wayne, IN from April 13-22.  I am sure the door will be open for other teams.  We need doctors, nurses, construction workers and caregivers.  Father Dan Layden, an Episcopalian priest, will lead the team.  He will do a terrific job. By 10 pm, Friday, we will be back in Santiago.  I am taking Kevin Delagrange and Kyle Norwood with Kati.

Grateful!