The staff are excited when we bring doctors along on our visits as there always seems to be extra hard and trying cases needing special attention. This trip we were accompanied by Dr. Luke Channer, Dr. Dylan Nugent, and Dr. Pierre Schwab. Dr. Luke, a general surgeon in Hamilton, MT, is on our CSL board. Dr. Dylan is an orthopedic surgeon from Springfield, MO, and this was his third trip to Haiti, his first being right after the earthquake in August 2021. This was Dr. Pierre’s first trip. He is a resident in an orthopedic program and has worked with Dr. Dylan in the past. Dr. Pierre immigrated to America from France some years ago, and his ability to speak French helped him make quick connections with staff and patients. We hope this is the first of many trips for him. We are so thankful for these doctor’s willingness to spend their time and money to come and minister to the Haitian people. As those of you who have gone to Haiti know, being presented with a tote (to keep belongings in for future trips) and your own set of hospital keys is done in ceremony fashion. I wish we could have presented Dr. Dylan with his keys and Dr. Pierre with his tote in true ceremony fashion this trip, but time robbed us of the custom.
We had a couple of special cases this trip. A gentleman showed up in the emergency room one morning with a severely broken leg from a not so uncommon scooter accident. Thankfully for him, we had just delayed an orthopedic surgery, had an opening in the schedule, and operated on him within a couple of hours. He now sports a rod in his leg and was a very happy man when he walked out of the hospital the next day. We never know what the Lord has in store for us from day to day. We also operated on a 6-year old little boy who had broken his leg 3 weeks before he came to the hospital. I wasn’t able to get a great picture of him, but the before and after pictures show the extent of his injury.
When thinking about this ministry – it’s past, present, and future – I realized that we have devoted much time planning and working on projects that needed to be done and provided what tools we could to aid our staff. Our present outlook has shifted to walking beside and working with our people. Our staff work in less than ideal conditions every day, in a country where it is hard just to live. They care for people who only come to them when they are having a bad day, and it’s hard to always exhibit care and compassion under these circumstances. They have kept on through hurricanes and an earthquake, while violence is always close by. In appreciation for what they do, we hosted a special evening for our staff – a nice dinner with a band from the local church. It was a refreshing night and everyone really enjoyed themselves.
After Hurricane Matthew in 2016, over 30 of our staff’s homes were damaged – some completely destroyed, others needing major repairs, and many roofs basically gone. We put our team of Haitian workers that we hire for special projects to work and they replaced about 30 roofs, mostly with donated material we shipped over from the US. We had done about all that we could when the earthquake hit in 2021. Since then we have been doing repairs once more, but getting material to Haiti has become difficult. We have given money to purchase local materials where it made sense and progress is being made, albeit slowly. Duane was out in the field every day this trip giving directions for these repairs and lining up work to be done while we are gone. This is hard work and takes up a lot of his time both in Haiti and at home. I was made aware this trip of one of our guards who is still living in a tent with his wife and two children. The need is still great. If you would like to designate a gift for staff housing, please make a note on your donation. As with all of your gifts, 100% of the money goes directly to Haiti. We cover all administration costs.
Our OBGYN program continues to be an area of major growth. We have started to interview doctors for this program, and have identified a few pieces of equipment we need to send on the next container. Please pray for wisdom as we cautiously expand in this area.
Lest I forget, none of this would be possible without your support. You are the Lord’s means of sustaining this ministry. Some of you give your time, some your talents, some your resources, and a lot of you pray for us and those who come to the hospital. We continue to be encouraged by the response to our Chaplain’s ministries; every month we see 50-75 patients give their lives to the Lord. They are then introduced to a church near to them that walk alongside them in their new journey. This is the reason for our ministry – to glorify God in our work and see Christ’s name exalted.
Thank you,
Dan and Duane