‘O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!’ – Psalm 68:35
Dr. Luke, his daughter Maddie, Tabitha, Beth Newton, and Duane & Ruth arrived at the hospital on Saturday, October 9. Upon arrival, we were informed of the fuel shortage and the fear of getting fuel trucks across the country. The fuel that we ordered still has not come. As of today, we only have enough fuel for 12 days if we conserve. Currently, our hospital is the only hospital that is not functioning at a limited capacity. Please pray that the fuel truck will be able to deliver soon. The lack of fuel is not allowing Haitians to even get out of their villages and as a result the hospital is seeing only foot traffic. Situations like these further confirm our need for solar power and we are reminded of God’s rich provisions with the support from of you that have made solar possible.
During the first week, Dr. Luke and Maddie spent time in the OR, as well as joining Tabitha and Beth in administrative meetings each morning with Dr. Moise (our interim administrator) and Dr. William, discussing how to move forward in the wake of Welser’s death. We had the privilege of attending Welser’s funeral service on Saturday, October 16. Duane shared a few words representing our appreciation to God for the work of his servant Welser – 25 years of faithful service to God at CSL. Welser lived the words of Micah 6:8: ‘He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?’
Tabitha did an outstanding job of organizing the hospital storage rooms, which will be an immense help in determining what is on hand or in need of ordering. This kept her busy, but she was happy to get this project completed. We are blessed to have her on board!
We were joined the second week by Evert and Kitty Bek while Dr. Luke, Maddie, Tabitha, & Beth returned to the states. We were planning on unloading the container and starting work on getting set up for the fall/winter solar project teams. The Lord had different plans as the container did not arrive – it is in port but the roads are closed due to roadblocks; there is much conflict in Haiti right now and kidnappings are occurring daily. Kitty and Ruth finished sorting and cleaning the upper storage area – a big job that needed attention. Evert is very gifted in electrical and can pretty much repair anything you ask him to.
Duane met each morning with Dr. William & Dr. Moise, as well as meeting with other department heads to make some changes, encourage them, and ensure them of our care and concern.
It is an answer to prayer that we are finally seeing a tapering off of patients with earthquake related injuries and have returned to our normal routine. Through your support, we were able to build up the poor fund and will make of use of these funds for any more earthquake victims that may still come. In the course of the earthquake relief, our hospital completed 237 major orthopedic surgeries – this does not begin to include the more ‘minor’ injuries that we cared for.
We are quickly approaching the Christmas season and are once again receiving donations for the Rice and Goats project (a project began by Dr. Bill that gifts rice and a goat to each staff member). We are thankful to our supporters who graciously help provide for our staff as they struggle to feed their families. If you wish to make a donation to this, please designate ‘Rice and Goats’ in the memo and mail your check to:
Centre de Sante Lumiere
2632 28th St. SW
Wyoming, MI 49519
The Lord’s blessings continue to abound amidst the trials that we face. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!
‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…’ – Ephesians 3:20
In Christ