The country is weeping. The lips are the Haitian flag.
A street artist spray painted this on a tree trunk in Port au Prince. Two weeks ago this pic was on a Haitian news site after 325 violent prisoners had a jailbreak.
To those of you who have been asking for an update on the Oriani clinic, I say sorry for my tardiness. But it’s been an eventful last couple months! One of the things that dominated our time and mental energies was the robbery. A couple months ago while we were gone to church someone broke into our house. The only way in was thru a 7and half inch little glass window on top of the door. He broke it and squeezed in, which cut and scraped him up considerably. The thief leaked blood everywhere he went while he ransacked the house. He stole some money and my laptop and a few other minor things. I could write a 4 page article of all the drama that ensued, but the ultra short version is that he was caught a week later and he admitted it all. He was caught when he returned to the area, reportedly with a gun, and was seen walking by our house at midnight one night. Some of the locals wanted us to allow them to beat him with a bicycle chain, but we didn’t get involved, and police were called up to come get him instead. We understand that he is still in prison although there is a question about that because the main prison in Port that held 899 prisoners had a big jailbreak recently and 329 of some of the worst prisoners broke out taking the prison armory with them. So we are all on alert and we ask your prayers for continued safety.
The clinic is still steaming along. Angela Toews, RN, has been here since Feb and is planning on leaving us in October, so we are imploring your help to find another nurse. We feel the vision of good Christian care to these poor sick people is best continued by keeping an American or Canadian nurse on staff all the time. Please pray for this need. All prospective nurses should email us with info on who they are and what conviction they have to serve here. We feel a single female nurse is the best fit at this time… RN or even LPN. Our local missionaries Deacon Todd and Donna Schmidt are a big help when needed, especially for difficult situations. That’s when Todd’s long experience as a RN comes in handy. Donna’s occasional help with computer filing is appreciated, too.
I don’t want to plead for funds because I feel strongly that God has always provided in the past and I trust He will continue, but this I can say… our patient numbers were at an all-time high last month and that means a lot of meds and supplies to purchase to keep things running. And I guess I could let you know too that our funds here are at all time low too. Remember us.
One night there was a bad truck wreck a few miles from our house. The truck was loaded with potato sacks and people way up on top of that. It rolled over and many people rolled under the huge sacks of produce as it spilled its load. One lady died on the road in front of us and another had a broken neck and was paralyzed. We sent a number of them down in the ambulance but one still died later in Port au Prince. About 12 were injured enough to need medical help. That was a busy and dramatic night.
And of what should I say more? For time would fail me to tell of… Boozy, Denise, Jemima, and Kawol. Of healthy babies born, of a mom of 9 who tried to abort her 10th child and then came to the clinic too late and bled to death, of infected DONKEY bites, of sicknesses and infections, of cholera infected children who barely survived but are now healthy, of prayers and victories, and inward cries which feel like defeat, and we have to submit people to the care of a loving Father. But we are happy that even the name of the clinic… “Confidence in God Clinic” lifts up God and that people who come here often are able to get that boost of confidence in God and medicine that many didn’t used to have. We are open 8am-4pm five days a week and 24/7 for emergencies. Seems a lot of the after-hours stuff falls upon us “whites” to look after and that makes for tiring days and evenings, but we find that God gives strength and blessings for it all. Honestly, we love the work here and it is a blessing to us. God has done so much good for our family while here in Haiti that I will never complain about it being too much work. It’s the least we can do in return. Is there any other (young?) family that is interested in filling our place here as administrators if our time would come to go back to Canada? May the Holy Spirit guide us in this.
This has been a very pleasant year as far as weather goes because usually it rains every day in summer, but this year, while comfortable and dry….the crops and cisterns are severely lacking water. If we don’t get rain soon the crops will be failed and the cisterns won’t be full for the long rainless winter months. It is so sad that there is no water available in either wells or rivers here in the mountain top. And if we start the fall/winter season with dry cisterns… wow… it will be very tough. Please pray for rain for Haiti. But not too much rain!!! One time in a three day spell we had 30 inches of water come down!! That was terrible too.
We feel blessed to have a teacher lined up for our 2 school children. April Koehn from Farwell, Texas will be joining our rambunctious household of 8 at the end of this month. She will be coming in time for the wedding of our previous teacher Sallie Mininger, who is marrying Frantzy Dorleus, a fine Haitian brother from Port au Prince on Aug 31. We look forward to this marriage and we think the world of them both. If you will recall… our previous nurse Heather Isaac married here in Haiti as well. To a fine young man named Isaac. (Good thing it isn’t tradition for the man to take the bride’s last name or he would be “Isaac Isaac”.) Frantzy and Sallie, and Isaac and Heather will be close to each other and will all be members of the same church congregation in Cazeau, by Port au Prince. Interesting how this is all working. Our son Trev married a Haitian girl too, named Mirlene, and we love her to death. She very much feels like a daughter to us. In our church in Haiti they say it’s all good now because they have 2 girls who married white boys and now 2 white girls got Haitian boys. These 4 marriages include 2 Canadians and 2 Americans. (Derrick Johnson from KS married Mary Vena, a Haitian girl, several years ago). Due to many Haitian’s prevalent national and racial inferiority complex, it is always interesting and animated when discussing with them that God only created one race… the human race. What color was Adam? They say white. I say we can’t know, but that many scientists who study DNA coding tell us our earlier ancestors were dark and genetics are making us lighter colored. Does God even notice or differentiate how much melanin we have? Seems everyone involved with Ferguson, MO does!
Our interest is piqued with the Ebola outbreak in Liberia and other places in Africa. Wow. Read up on it if you haven’t already. The stories are heartbreaking. It touches me because, even though the death rate here wasn’t as bad… I can relate to some of those Liberia stories because of our cholera experiences a couple years ago. Overwhelmed, under-supplied, and understaffed. Death and panic, and uneducated superstitious people. Let’s continue to pray for the Ebola situation in Africa, especially for the brave doctors and nurses who are literally laying their lives on the line.
God Bless you all, and “over and out” till next time.
Keith Toews
Director - Clinique Confiance en Dieu
Oriani, Haiti
Tel- 011-509-3783-9058