Barnabas Task

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!

Haiti is messing me up.  It’s neither comfortable nor part of my daily routine. It won’t go away.  It is already the poorest country in this part of the world.  Unemployment is about 80 per cent.  Average wage is $2.50 an hour.  It lacks the infrastructure and moral compass for turnaround.  And now the earthquake.  It is a catastrophic and epic blind side that woke up the world.

I had other plans and goals.  I had projects and focus.  But the phone rang off the hook at our house.  I was scheduled to already be in Santiago, Dominica Republic.  What could I do?

That’s when friend Paul Allyn called representing more than 200 pastors in Santiago.  He asked if I could teach “Responding to Disaster Relief.”   An organization called Associated Churches which represents more than 150 churches in Fort Wayne, IN called and asked if I could represent them, setting up a possible relief effort in Haiti.  I have been in touch with my missionary friends and colleagues Charlie Finocchiaro and Dave Stone.  I am asking questions.

So I write tonight, the first of my daily posts from the DR. I hope to be in Haiti by Thursday.  I will evaluate, connect, assess, feel and probably weep.    I know what my role is as I go.  People want to help, but where and how will they do so?  Who do they connect to?  I want to be a pointer to help caregivers do what they do.  A Barnabas.

I know we will initially go to the DR/Haiti border to connect there.  Is it feasible to set up a Compassion Station there?  (Tents that serve a greater purpose of assisting an already overstaffed hospital in the area) Evidently, refugees are fleeing Port Au Prince by the thousands.  Will they come to the Dominican border?  If so, what could be done?  One part of Disaster Relief includes finding a niche where no one is and  “set up shop.”  Hear it.  They don’t need me in the capitol city right now.

I will travel as well to Port Au Prince if we can.  It is part of analysis.  Kati is with me. I wanted her to see and feel.  Pray for her.  She has a heart of compassion. I will ask a lot of questions, do whatever I can to serve others and make some connections for future trips.  What can I do from the DR side to serve my fellow man there?   This is what I know:

Immediate Response-A quick 24 response to attend priority needs to save lives.

Second Day Response-Normally to less accessible areas where there is no water, food, shelter, and clothing.  Security is an issue.

Third Day Response-Restoring lifeline systems.

Four to Five day Response-Collaboration of Health Trends.  Health professionals talk.  They look for trends and predictability.  They know before it happens too.  Partnerships are formed.

Short Term Response-One to six months of ongoing compassion.  Depending on the magnitude of a disaster, the first four above markers are functional and fluid.  Many in Haiti will not have been touched for the first time.

Long-term response-Six months to a year introduce construction, new systems of living.  Many NGO’s and relief agencies have left by now. You can’t predict this!  About 7 am in a restaurant recently, one remarked, “it’s going to be a long haul.”

Why outline this for you?  I want you to learn.  I want you to know that giving and praying must not let up, that somehow in this matrix and timeline there are people that will be touched with human compassion.  Somewhere in Haiti tonight, compassion will make a difference for the first time. Someone will die.  Someone will drink his or her last drop of water.   Someone will be saved from rubble.  It is relative.  We must do what we can do and jump in the cycle of giving hope.

I am all messed up.  Would you give to Barnabas Task?  We need your help now more than ever.  We are coming along side, pointing, encouraging, and getting dirty. As this was being written I connected a group of doctors and nurses that will be in Port Au Prince in February.  A doctor called me from Los Angeles to coordinate meeting me in Santiago.

Please know that your giving today is allowing me to do what I am doing.  It is making a difference.

Note:  Today, Kevin Delagrange, Kyle Norwood and Jose Lino (A loyal faithful worker for Barnabas Task) bought lumber and began cutting to make bunk-beds.  We bought mattresses as well. I finally purchased an ORANGE (the company) cell phone. I spoke to more than about 200 leaders in Santiago about Disaster Relief. The city is organizing well and has plans for short and long range plans.  I told them of the need for medical now and other needs later.  From the meeting came an obvious call to keep meeting.  There is a real sense I have of unity amongst the pastors.

Grateful!

When we celebrate the 2010 Christmas there will be a new church in Santiago, Dominican Republic.  I believe that.  For more than two years we have been going to Santiago with medical teams, prayer teams and investigation teams.  Each time the circle of influence there has expanded.

Three things have marked our time there:

Prayer

Fasting

Connecting

God spoke to me about Inside/Out; that He would watch over things and give me direction if I took time with Him and that He would form/create a pattern.

This seems to be working.  A rhythm has brought success that equates to “God works.” Imagine that?!  For the first time I am publicly sharing in writing what God has spoken to me. I have bounced this off of about 15 people whom I respect. What God has spoken is a bold declaration and I speak it humbly.

Vision for Santiago, Dominican Republic

To be people of influence so that others know Christ.

The most effective agent for influence is a vibrant and strategic church, which becomes self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating and self-sending. Secondly, we desire to influence through just relationships (meaning–without agenda) with those that have need and in so doing encourage community development.

1.  Vibrant and Strategic Church*

The location for the church is a middle-upper class area that is notably non-evangelical with a population of about 250,000.  This area was carved out with prayer and fasting, investigative questions, and significant consultation. We will influence this area with the establishment of a vibrant and strategic church.  Long-term strategy includes the development of emerging leadership as they develop others who in turn will be people of influence establishing other leaders and churches.

2. Community Development**

We have brought Health Care teams to the Cien Fuegos neighborhood, considered to be the poorest area of Santiago.  More than 200,000 people live in this area.  There are neither titles to properties nor official representation to the city.  In effect it is a “squatters rights” domain.  After much prayer and reflection, the “best practice” is to encourage the establishment of on-going community development with others in this area, in lieu of establishing a church. Three areas of focus are:

1.  Micro-Finance                                                                                                

2.  Health Education

3.  Clean Water

Six principles of community development and just relationships include:

• Sustainable Solutions–local resources and skills
• Active participation–vision sharing, decision making
• Shared Vision–a dream that is Kingdom minded
• Servant Leadership–listening, learning from each other
• Effective Institutions–opportunities that fit shared vision
• Restoration of the city–people restored to God and each other

*We just had our first Getting to Know Meeting at the Hotel Almirantes in Santiago.  (El Primer Encuentro de Conocer)  What a joy it was to share vision with those who had expressed interest.   (Picture at top left) These meetings are part of the unfolding vision for starting a church in Santiago.  Information and Connection.  I shared three main values for the church.

• Amar a Dios (Love God)
• Amar a los demás (Love Others)
• Servir el mundo (Serve the world)

**I shared these principles with Cien Fuegos community leaders recently.  It was historic in that I was told they had never come together like this in the past.  (Picture to the right) Relational equity and doing good has paved the way for everything that has taken place and will take place.

Health Care Team-Santiago, Dominican Republic from tom hinton on Vimeo.

The medical team that we brought to the Dominican Republic was pretty incredible. We  saw more than 500 patients, many come to Christ, at least three confirmed healings and an awesome expression of love.  Besides the medical team, a group of men replaced a roof and a wall of a home as a “random act of kindness.”  The woman living in the home has six children.

The eternal results of the team cannot be quantified.  A foundation has been set in motion to speak to neighborhood leaders  about community development during the month of December.

I was not supposed to sit next to Hampton on the plane coming back from Santiago, Dominican Republic in June. He wanted to sleep and at the last minute they changed his seat assignment.  We talked during the entire flight to Miami.  He is a creative businessman in Santiago developing a recycling business.  He has come back to his country after being educated in the United States where he graduated with a pre-med degree from the University of Wisconsin.. We talked by email and then were able to meet again in Santiago on this present trip.  I joined him in his journey, wanting to do everything I could to encourage, give ideas etc.

Fast forward to a view of Cien Fuegos where we are bringing the Health Care Team in November.  Cien Fuegos is a group of small hills where squatters find their way.  Close  by is a large garbage dump that is a “life saver” to many.  They find their daily ration there.  There is a humanitarian issue there.  Poor people getting sick for various reasons including lack of education in areas such as hygiene, diabetes and high blood pressure.  Lack of employment leads to malnourishment, social issues as well as a deep frustration of what life is all about.  It reminds me of the  awarding winning Nobel Peace Prize book entitled, “The Colonel has no place to lay his head. ” written by Garcia Marquez.  In the book, Marquez descriptively colors a picture of desperate living, a culture within in a culture.  There is an oppression that settles in leading to “que sera, sera” which means whatever will be will be.  The book deeply affected me when I read it in Spanish, mentored by Spanish professor Luis Solano.  I got it.

My friend Hampton was developing his business.  My friends in Cien Fuegos were living their lives looking for whatever would hold their day together each day. What if Hampton connected to the  church world providing employment for some and in turn developed his business?   In God’s timing we had a meeting with Hampton and Pastor Oswaldo, the pastor of the Cien Fuegos church where we are bringing  the Health Care Team in November.  It was like magic.  It was God.  A connection was made.

There are young people in Cien Fuegos that will be employed soon. Hamptons’  business will continue to grow.  As a matter of fact, a model will be created so that others can be involved.  This was a dream come true, responding to great need that not only included a clear presentation of the Gospel, one of integrity and smothered with love;   but also a compassionate response to a place I knew needed creativity and God’s stamp of favor.  I think the Gospel will be heard!

It was a miracle for Cien Fuegos on a cloudy day.

We also were able to do the necessary measurements and prepare a purchase list for the roof we are going to place on a house in Cien Fuegos as a random act of kindness.

Nancy and I are so grateful to all who give to Barnabas Task.  As we reach out in faith, God is providing through faithful people like yourself.

UPDATE TOMMORROW ABOUT A NEW FREIND STARTING A RECYCLING BUSINESS.

1. The journey to the Dominican Republic continues. I have been here for a few days with Phil Pritichett, a businessman from Seattle, WA. We are talking to a lot of people, walking and discovering. I am asking a lot of quesitons. In Santiago, we went to the location the Health Care Team will go to in November. It is a block from a garbage dump that is basically “squatter” type property, where homes are built with whatever is available.

This is a picture of the house we are going to place a new roof on. There may some limited structural reinforcement needed as well. The roof is a random act of kindness, not asked for, and was an incredible, tearful  surprise when we told the widowed mother of four children what was going to happen.

Phil Pritchett said, “Twenty steps across the street from the church building where we will be in Cien Fuegos lives Yolanda. She and her three children live in a 10 x 20 building that literally is falling apart. It is a shanty. The challenge will be to replace the corroded metal roof and needed additional structure. This random act of kindness is a bridge to this family and to the entire community called Cien Fuegos. As a businessman, I want to do my part to help them have a dry place to sleep. Will you help us as well?”

If you would desire to do so, we are asking for help with this roof. Please give through the Pay Pal, (See Donate). You may call me for more information. Thanks for helping with this project.

The mothers name  is Yolanda. Nancy “discovered” her on a walk in the area. Pastor Oswaldo, a community leader, said it had been his desire to do something for this widow but had no funds to do so. It was raining the day we were there. Literally, water was flowing like a large faucet from about 8 different places in the house.

2. The second set of photos is of Pastor John and Diana Martinez and their week old baby, Sara. What a joy to be in their home and bless their new child. She is so small and pretty. John and Diana are the pastors that will lead the church that we start in 2010. They are gifted and anointed. They are originally from Colombia.

What I am supposed to say to someone that comes out of a barrel some place, “Excuse me, I was not fishing for you!” 

There is nothing quite like walking in a city where you feel it is His purpose to start a church.  To begin the process of finding that specific location (although it may change) to start the church is challenging. To be refused entry to a place, to be laughed at or not be listened to is part of the package.  It has happened to me here in the few days we are investing in this process.  I will be coming back again in August to do the same.  Discovery and Design  is a combination of prayer, writing, journaling, fasting, looking, common sense, consensus, getting counsel, question and answer dialog, patience etc.

There is a merging of information that includes asking what kind of church this will be, who will we strategize to reach, what is our philosophy of ministry, what is God saying etc.  Habakkuk 2:1 says it should be written out.

However significant it is to process this, and we are step by step,  I know that at the end of the day, we will catch fish.    What I am supposed to say to someone that comes out of a barrel some place, “Excuse me, I was not fishing for you!”   I don’t think so.

Thanks for praying as we go through a process of what this will look like ever mindful of what God is saying and what He wants.  We are so grateful for prayer like never before.  

I am going  prayer walking and to a 5 pm prayer meeting in Santiago, Dominican Republic where I will introduce myself as Pastor without a building or a congregation, (except in my heart!)

Everything on this website is accurate and true.  It represents heart, passion and pure desire.  I desperately woud love to help  Neill and Diana Gilbert raise money in Mae Sot, Thailand.  My good friends Jason and April Ruggles are there right now, getting the story on video.  I am dialoguing with Bulgaria, dreaming with leadership there.  We are available to do God’s bidding, wherever He will lead.  Nancy and I have been wrestling with the Lord and wanted clear direction as to what that means; what was our role in His plan?    Some doors open, other doors close.    He was speaking.    

While in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (DR), several months before the Foursquare Convention in Anaheim, CA,   we freely shared  with Foursquare missionaries Charlie and Darla Finocchiaro about what we sensed God was saying. To plant a church in Santiago.  They are incredible people that listened to our hearts.  

Finally, we traveled to Santiago and also shared with Paul and Eileen Allyn, veteran missionaries whom we highly respect.  They are looked to often for counsel and have the respect of missionaries and pastors throughout the DR.  They have given their lives to Bible School education.  They are in agreement as well as to do what we were thinking and planning for.

Totally  independent of our conversation, and after we had left the DR, Charlie and Darla’s youth pastor and his wife had shared their desire to start a church in Santiago.  John and his wife Diana are credentialed Foursquare  ministers from the country of Colombia.   Could it be that God was setting something up?

I went to the convention quite open to whatever God  was saying to us.  How would it all work?  I was asking for another confirmation.  We were not going to jump into something quickly.  With His timing,  God spoke to us in a way that it could not be mistaken.  There were  no words spoken during specific conversations that would have manipulated another. He has given a mandate that has the sensitive affirmation of Pastor Bill Campbell, Life Bridge Church, Fort Wayne, IN,  Life Bridge Missions Council where I am the Missions Pastor and the Barnabas Task Board.  

• While in Anaheim, a Chinese lady spoke to me while standing in line at the Starbucks of the Anaheim Hilton.  We had just talked for about 15 minutes when she turned and asked if she could share a word with me.  ”Focus.  Develop a model.  Build leadership.”
• The very next day, a pastor came up to my while having coffee.  I had never seen him before in my life.  I was minding my own business.  He said, “I see the Fatherheart of God in you….signs and wonders following you and angels protecting you…focus.”  I was shocked, amazed and delighted.
• On Facebook, a friend from the past who I stay in touch with, but not often, simply wrote:  “For the man who sees his future through the eyes of God, there is one road…your focus is clear and your purpose is defined…….”

These  words were spoken to me within 48 hours of each other.  They are the culmination of intense prayer and reflection, waiting.  During this time I was studying the Song of Solomon and was amazed at what I was learning.  I found the Lord to be quite attractive.  I longed for Him.   The Holy Spirit was speaking about some different things.   But who wants to settle for that?  When God speaks, directs, re-directs, it is time to listen and obey.  It is the better way.

These kinds of things do not happen every day.  We were not looking for some sign to come out of the woodwork and say “Do this.” God has given Nancy and I a clear mandate to start a church in Santiago, Dominican Republic (DR).  We are stepping into it, absolutely humbled by His grace and calling.  This second largest  city of  of the Dominican Republic is home to about one million people.  The DR  is about 18,700 square miles,  has 31 provinces and is about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined.  I have planted three churches, all different.  I would say though that I am at the beginning again.  God help us.  Past is prologue.

The goal is to initiate and start a church that will eventually  become self-supporting, self-propagating and self-governing, creating a model and develop leadership.  We do not know everything.  We are broken, humble and we are learners.  We will tenderly discover this with others.  In time, we will turn the church over to a pastor for full leadership and direction.  Our motive is not long term, rather long enough to establish and train someone to take our place and work ourselves out of a job. God knows the timing and our pure desire.

Dominican Republic Health Care team from tom hinton on Vimeo.