Here are the latest updates from our President, Dan Kirkley, about our most recent efforts to aid in the Earthquake Disaster and details about what's to come. If you are interested in joining us on a trip to Haiti, please feel free to email jen@hopeforthehungry.org, or call our offices at 254.939.0124. Thank you for your love and support of our ministry.
-Jen Sutton
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April 19, 2010
Since the Haiti earthquake of January 12, we have witnessed some incredible events there which have encouraged us tremendously. As you know, statistics are still not firm regarding the death and injured totals but the number remains between 220,000 and 300,000 dead and 1,200,000 displaced. With the rainy season upon us, the need for shelter for the homeless has become a top priority. Food remains an issue, but assistance is reaching the neediest in most places. Yesterday, we provided enough food for a month for 400 people camping on an orphanage compound thirty miles Northwest of Port au Prince. I learned of the need while attending a meeting in Dallas last week..Jean Alix had the resources, so we shared. God really has blessed us to be able to assist! As of last week, fifty one Haitian churches of various denominations have joined our fellowship to assist those in need and to pray together for healing of the nation.
While in Haiti over Spring Break, Jeff and Jen Sutton and I took 13 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor students to Haiti where we worked in the village of Guibert, repairing 10 of 12 trusses in the local church roof and building 10 16'X16' temporary classrooms (now housing 330 students) so school could resume the last week of March. Also, we prepared and poured the foundation of the first of the tract homes we will be building in the village of Guibert and in many other villages across the areas where houses were destroyed. (Our village saw about 80% of the homes there rendered unable to be occupied).
I leave again for Haiti on the 19th of April with CJ Rich and five other men including Danny Davis, Emil Studinka, Rusty Russell, Justin Rich and Edwin Robinson. Our task is to complete the roofs on what we believe are tract homes numbers 3, 4 and 5. Rain is now coming daily and work has begun to slow. My hope is to visit some of the organizations we have been able to assist with food, tents, water filters and medications. Additional planning will also be a priority as we see what progress is being made in other areas and ways we can help.
One week after we return (May 4) Jeff and Jen will take another group to complete additional homes. Pray that as they work with Sinclair, their Haitian counterpart, the relationship will grow stronger and stronger and that Sinclair will be encouraged to strengthen his walk with Christ
Please pray that as we go we will be able to encourage the Haitian leadership and provide for them some relief and rest. Jean Alix, Mylene and their staff have been working non-stop to ensure that as many as possible are receiving the help they need along with the opportunity to know Who really is supplying the resources. Pray for us, also, that our Belton based staff will continue to walk in wisdom in managing the resources God and His children have supplied to demonstrate His incredible love to the people of Haiti. Pray that the materials for the tract homes we are building will continue to be available. Yesterday, Jean Alix told me that since the government declared that only "sea sand" can be used for concrete and not the normal mountain calcium based sand, that sand is no longer available. That means costs will rise dramatically (even though our structural engineer tested all our blocks and concrete and found that, without exception everything held the U. S. standard of 3,000 PSI or better. Above all, know that God continues to win the victory in Haiti.
In His Indescribable love.dan
Friday, March 5, 2010
Good morning all. After returning from Haiti last Saturday night (2/27), our Hope family has been scurrying to plan and prepare for our next trip, since we are on a "short clock". The three primary objectives we needed to accomplish on that trip were: 1) determine the structural stability of all our facilities in Guibert and prioritize repairs to be made; 2) make a final decision regarding the plan for the "tract" houses we will be building in that village and others as we have opportunity and resources; and, 3) finalize plans for our first construction team which will be in Haiti from March14-21. As you might imagine the logistics for arranging travel to and from Haiti at this time are still an enormous challenge. Jen Sutton has been incredibly diligent and relentless in her pursuit of finding flights for the 16 who will be making that trip.
First, with the wonderful aid of a local structural engineer who gave his time to go with us, we discovered that there are some important repair priorities to complete before we move our children back in to the facilities. They are:
#1. Repair damage to the second floor boys' suite in their home by creating two 18"X18" columns with 12" beams to carry the weight of the concrete roof that is in place. We will be "overbuilding" the structure as a precaution.
#2. The stair well between the first and second floor of the boys' suite will also be reinforced with the addition of another concrete column and the addition of a 12" beam.
#3. The middle wall on the first floor of the three-story school building will be restructured as a solid concrete wall.
Other projects to be accomplished are the repair of the two of our three 10,000 gallon water cisterns that failed and the strengthening of the truss system on the church roof. The top three priorities should be completed in the next month to six weeks.
Second, final plans were drawn for the tract houses. The houses will be 11'4"X30', about 360 square feet, having three rooms. The walls will have steel reinforcement vertically every 16" and horizontally every two rows of block. The roof will be a shed roof made of roofing metal. All labor will be volunteer, a combination of Haitian homeowners and church members, with American volunteer teams to assist as available. The cost of the materials will be about $7,740.00. I have attached a copy of our cost analysis.
Third, our desire was to build the first house on the first group trip after the earthquake. Transportation and customs challenges as well as building repair priorities have put us in the position of working on the minor (comparatively speaking) building repairs and beginning construction on the first home. We are excited about the construction of the houses because they will be built while sharing a curriculum of what it means to build a home and not just a house.
On Tuesday afternoon (3/2) at about 2:00 PM 12 pallets of emergency relief goods were released to us by Haitian Customs for NO fees or duty! That was the culmination of an eleven-day ordeal during which, at one point, they were demanding $14,000.00 in duty..another miracle has occurred! We also think this may be a hint of future help for us getting essential supplies in.
In the course of all our labors and relief efforts, we are engaging our Haitian leadership and village families in plans regarding long-term financial recovery through micro enterprise and job creation.
Everyday we see results that strengthen our resolve, and demonstrate the Lord's favor. Thank you all for your faithfulness and your continued encouragement.
BLESSINGS...Dan
Friday, February 26, 2010
Our most recent team, consisting of Dan Kirkley, Tom Popelka, and Jeff Stegall, has been very productive on the ground in Haiti. One of their main goals was to check out the structural integrity of the school and orphanage. They have found three problem areas that are keeping the buildings from being occupied, but the team believes they can be resolved relatively quickly. Also, before they leave, the team needs to solidify details for our future rebuilding teams. We need specifics about project locations, house blueprints, material lists and final costs. Please pray that our team is able to accomplish all they have set out to do.
Another goal of the trip was to investigate any damage to our two cisterns. After inspection, one of them is cracked, but should be fairly simple to fix. The other one, however, may be a total loss. Please pray for the guys as they determine what steps are needed next.
Also, the supplies that we sent down last week (tents, water filters, food, etc) are still sitting in customs. The Haitian government is requiring us to pay a significant amount of money to get our supplies out of their possession. Pastor Jean Alix has been at customs several times over the past few days, trying to work with the authorities to get our supplies out. Please pray that all of these relief supplies will get released with minimum expense, so that they can get to people who desperately need them. Thank you for taking the time to pray for these needs. You are making a difference in people's lives!
Jen Sutton Director of Childrens' Ministries
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Tuesday Feburary 23rd, 2010
On Monday, Feburary 15th, we packed up and sent 372 tents, 400 water filters and 3600 dehydrated meals to Florida to be Airshipped into Port-au-Prince by Friday. Today, I am going back to Haiti with a structural engineer to check our buildings for structural integrity and to finalize a plan for the "tract" homes we will be building in our village in the future. Our first construction team will go down on March 14th to assist in the building of the first one. Last week 51 churches of different denominations gathered in the Kenscoff area to distribute 40,000 lbs.of food we were given through the Dominican Republic. There was not one fuss or threat the entire two days of the distribution and new relationships were formed to increase cooperation within the Christian community. Outreach to the non-christian community has, also, brought encouraging results, as voodoo seems to be losing the battle regarding genuine care for those in need. Thank you for thinking about the people of Haiti and our children there.........
On February 23, Tom Popelka, a local structural engineer, Jeff Stegall and I will be returning to examine the structure of our boy's home and school and to see if we can salvage the use of two of our three 10,000 gallon water cisterns which have now failed.
On March 13th- March 22nd, a group of 13 UMHB students, Dan Kirkley, and Jen and Jeff Sutton will be heading to Guibert to help with the rebuilding process. As we rebuild homes in our communities, we will be discipling the families through a curriculum we are developing based on the scriptural illustration of building a HOME. The foundation, the roof, windows, doors and walls will be erected with verses corresponding to God's idea of what a HOME should look like.
Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. Pray that the Lord would raise them up from their despair, into a place of indescribable peace that only comes from our Savior.
Dan Kirkley, President
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Friday, February 05, 2010
In the midst of unimaginable tragedy and destruction God has provided miracle after miracle for the Haitian people. During our trip to Haiti, January 24-30, our team of Mike Lawson, Jen Sutton, Lindsey Weaver and I saw His hand at work to bring hope into a hopeless situation. Even our travel was supernaturally scheduled as we found it necessary to go to Port-au-Prince and return to Texas with last-minute arrangements created when normal travel methods failed.
The fear in the faces of moms and dads determined not to house their children in dangerous structures was evident as they shared that fear with us, standing next to temporary housing made of bed sheets. The tents we set up for them brought hope and the opportunity to share our real hope. During our stay we gave out twenty tents, 100 water filtration systems medical supplies and 455 boxes of dehydrated food, each box providing up to 600 servings. Additionally, we leased warehouse space for additional five forty-foot containers of food which are to arrive within a week. Eight pallets of tents, food and medical supplies are scheduled to be airlifted within ten days.
On February 23, Tom Popelka, a local structural engineer, Jeff Stegall, and I will be returning to examine the structure of our boy's home and school and to see if we can salvage the use of two of our three 10,000 gallon water cisterns which have now failed.
During spring break (mid March), three teams will travel to Haiti to begin construction work on village homes and a new school in Ferrier in North Haiti. These will be the first of our rebuilding groups which will, also, include counseling teams and micro-enterprise teams to assist the villages in returning to normal life as soon as possible.
As we rebuild homes in our communities, we will be discipling the families through a curriculum we are developing based on the scriptural illustration of building a HOME. The foundation, the roof, windows, doors and walls will be erected with verses corresponding to God's idea of what a HOME should look like.
Over and over again we've seen God work to insure the demonstration of His power, divine love, and mercy. We have, also, seen Him working through the marvelous generosity of His people. Calls continue to pour into our office from brothers and sisters in Christ, ready to sacrifice to give money, supplies, go or send to help in our efforts. Each morning at our devotional time at the office we share a story or two of what we've witnessed, cried or laughed (or both) and asked God to give a special blessing of peace to all who have prayed or given.
Join us in our asking our heavenly Father to demonstrate great mercy toward the people of Haiti and to continue to provide His supernatural wisdom to know HIS priorities in our ministry to our children, family and friends in Haiti.
BLESSINGS, BLESSINGS...dan
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Tues Jan 19, 2010
As of Monday morning, American Airlines has once again closed flights into Haiti and will not reopen them until the weekend. We are trying to decide how to rework the trip around this set-back. Please pray for us as we follow the Lord's leading. --Jen
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Sunday Jan 17th, 2010
Thank you for your incredible prayerful consideration for the plight of our precious friends and children in Haiti. I am copying to you notes I have sent to our Hope Board which will give you a bit of an update on our efforts so far. A significant part of our trip this week will be to detail plans for future relief and rebuilding efforts. If anyone feels led to be part of a team effort to Haiti, an e-mail to me deliniating your availability to travel, length of stay, dates available and interests and skills will help. Or reply to this message. Again, Thank you for caring. I will update you as we go along...dan
Saturday, January 16. Hello all. I spoke this morning to Jean Alix and he requested that along with water filters and meds that we would bring any tents we can get our hands on. We are beginning to go get refugees from Carrefour and bring them up the mountain. Obviously, they must be very light peight and simole to assemble. We have talked to American Air and we will be limited to two check-ons of 50lbs each plus a carry-on of 45lbs. We will travel out of our carry ons, filling our check-ons with essential relief supplies. I'm requesting your help in finding tents that will work for us. Please call me if you find something or know where we can buy them. We have 100 water filters that we think will fit in one of our check ons. Thanks for praying!!! Keep it up!
Dan Kirkley
President
Hope for the Hungry
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Haiti Update #2 (Friday Jan 15th, 2010)Greetings on Friday....Early this morning, I spoke to Jean Alix Paul about conditions in Haiti. He confirmed that all our staff, children and facilities were unscathed by the earthquake but that the majority of the homes in the Guibert area were destroyed. He spent yesterday in the Carrefour ("Car-Foo") region assisting in the resacue efforts. The greatest needs right now are for medical supplies and water purification. He has been able to procure fuel and is able to travel with difficulty into Port to help.
He has requested that we come to assist and plan relief efforts as soon as possible so reservations were made this afternoon to travel to Haiti. Those of us going are:
*Jen Sutton...Children's needs coordination and photography
*Lindsey Weaver...Administration and financial needs / budget coordination
*Mike Lawson...Project Planning and Volunteer Team / Travel coordination
*Dan Kirkley....Funding and distribution coordination
We are leaving Wednesday the 20th and returning Wednesday the 27th. We will be ditributing +/- 100 water filtration systems we are purchasing at cost...to be delivered to our office by Tuesday. We will take medical supplies including wound meds, antibiotics, etc. and use those as far as they will go. We will begin planning the long-term efforts, including the medical teams, food distrubution gorups and construction teams.
We are building our team volunteer profiles now, so if you know anyone who would like to go and help, let us know. This is, obviously going to be a lengthy journey, so we will be sending groups on a pretty constant basis.
Pray for the multitude of Haitians who are still alive under the rubble that God will come to their rescue. Pray, also, that many many Haitians will meet Him during this crisis.
Dan Kirkley, President
Hope for the Hungry
(254) 939-2795 ext. 204
(254) 718-1462 cell
PO Box 786
Belton, Texas 76513
http://www.hopeforthehungry.org/
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Wednesday Jan 13th, 2010
At approximately 10:40 PM last night, we were able to get a call through to our leadership in Port-au-Prince. We have found out that our children are safe, our staff and families are safe and that our facilities are principally untouched. Sadly, however, the single-family homes around our Children's homes are about 80% destroyed.
Today, we are searching for survivors and the injured. In the next few days we will be sending teams as transportation permits. Our first priorities are:
#1. Assist the injured
#2. Provide potable water
#3. Provide food
#4. Provide sanitation
#5. Begin rebuilding
Please feel free to call us (254) 939-0124. As details are provided from Haiti, we will keep you informed of the progress being made in our assisting the people of Haiti.
If you would like to partner with us in this effort, go to our Cause site: HOPE FOR THE HUNGRY and click on the fundraising bar, or follow the link:
https://www.causes.com/fb/donations/new?ts=1263419835&campaign_id=83074&cause_id=109803100% of contributions made toward the "Haiti Emergency" fund will be sent to Haiti. (We will use none of those funds administratively in our home office).
Thank you, again, for your interest and prayers. We are asking God to touch Haiti and her people with a new hunger for Him.
In His service,
Dan Kirkley
President
Hope for the Hungry
