Posted on March 31, 2010 at 6:21pm.
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I’m about four chapters into reading a new book called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide and I’m learning quite a bit to say the least. Fascinating, challenging, sad, frustrating, and encouraging are all appropriate descriptors so far!
Here’s some statistics that came from chapter 4.
* 1/3 of women worldwide are beaten at home.
* Women between the ages of 15 and 44 are more likely to be maimed or die from male violence than from cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war COMBINED!
* Between 30% and 60% of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence by their husband or boyfriend.
* Over 20% of women in South Africa have reported being raped before age 15.
I find this staggering and find myself asking, “Where is the church?” If I’m honest, what I am really asking is ,“Where have I been and how am I going to answer the call?” It seems to me this is a justice issue and our God is a God of justice.
I believe that it was no coincidence that a friend sent me this video today. It’s a little long but worth watching.
Lord, hear our prayers.
God Bless,
RJ
Posted on March 31, 2010 at 8:37am.
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Below you can find a guest blog entry from Craig Jones as he serves in Haiti this week.
Greetings from camp Haiti,
I wanted to share two quick stories about God’s provision. It is very easy to get frustrated here with the lack of speed and efficiency we are accustomed to back home. It is refreshing to see God’s hand in the details.
Sunday at church they served communion. I was stand in the back of the outdoor service with Dave Ralston and a local. As the wine was being distributed, I noticed that cups didn’t look “clean” so i turned to Dave and asked if he was going to take communion. He replied that there went going to be enough to reach us in the back. I was satisfied with that because then I was off the hook from trusting God to keep me healthy after drinking from a used cup. As the usher got within the last 2 rows it appeared that Dave was correct. Somehow the usher made it back to us and wouldn’t you know there were only three cups left for the local, Dave and myself! Needless to say it was a huge reminder that I should be trusting in His provision.
The second story happened just a few hours ago. We are building a 3 stall self-composting toilet building in a community called Marechal.
One of the bigger challenges is getting building materials. Today we were in need of 120 concrete blocks. We bought some from a man in the village the day before and went back to him. He took us about a 1/4 mile to a pile of block and we all instantly agreed there wouldn’t be enough. As we loaded the block we were amazed when the last unbroken block was counted and we had exactly 120! There wasn’t one whole block left… Another small example of our big, faithful God…
Craig
Posted on March 30, 2010 at 7:33am.
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Kevin Donnalley shares with us events from the first work day in Haiti for the CAC team.
We started the day with the goal of building a latrine for the nearby village. Their leaders felt that this was their most pressing need. Currently, the locals use a field that’s open and covered with
debris. Villagers often walk across it and the children play nearby. In addition, many Haitians have no shoes, so the field poses a huge health and safety problem. For these reasons, we knew building a latrine would help the villagers immensely. However, we didn’t know exactly how to do it. We have experienced builders in our group, so it seems like a simple job. However, you have to figure in what supplies and tools you can get. Also, will we be able to get help from the villagers, which is difficult because no one speaks Creole in our group.
Despite our concerns for the project, God had a plan. He provided the necessary tools and supplies. Also, God provided the necessary labor to help on the project. We were able to overcome the language barrier and get the Haitians involved in the project. Several adults pitched in with the building of the concrete foundation. More importantly, about 20 children, some as young as 5 or 6 years old, helped. They helped gather water from the creek for the concrete and they brought concrete blocks from a nearby vendor. In the process, I learned how to carry a concrete block on my head! However, it can’t compare to the huge loads of items Haitians carry on their head, perfectly balanced!
The very best part of the day was interacting with the kids. Bill Deuink brought a soccer ball and a couple of frisbees. We would take breaks from the work to play with the kids. Many of them are amazing athletes. Despite no cleats, shoes, good playing surface or equipment, they had amazing soccer skills! A couple of them had unbelievable footwork.
We didn’t have much of an organized plan, but God brought all these parts together to make it work. We were able to get so much done, despite the many obstacles in our way. Also God helped us overcome the language barrier, so we could begin building more than a new building, but new relationships with the Haitians.
Kevin
Here a couple more pictures-enjoy!
Posted on March 29, 2010 at 11:13am.
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Another update from Bill.
I was our team representative at the meeting with the locals yesterday. We had asked them to form a committee of 10 people for us to work with. About 30 people showed up for our meeting. It was pretty much like a city council meeting in the USA. After multiple long,windy speeches it was finally determined that we would build latrines (that decision may partially reflect their opinion of our construction skills:)). We have asked the community to provide several volunteers so that we can work alongside them. We can’t begin work on a school building because of a lengthy permit process. Today we will primarily be gathering materials and prepping the site. We hope to get the floor slab poured but that appears to be a rather lofty goal. The area we are building the latrines in has several hundred children in the immediate area and they swarm us when we arrive. I’m sure we will play lots of soccer, toss frisbees, etc while waiting on supplies.
Posted on March 28, 2010 at 1:21pm.
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Please read the following update from Bill Deuink in Haiti. Please continue to pray for their trip.
Walked to a baptismal service this morning. The baptism was done in a creek that normally runs about 6-8 inches deep. They had dammed the creek the day before with construction debris and limbs. Right before the service they placed 3 sheets of corrugated tin up against the crude dam to hold back more water. That created an area that was a little more than knee deep for the baptism. About 75 locals in attendance. Approx 25 baptized. We then walked with them to their church. The bldg had been heavily damaged by the earthquake so they had their service outside under some large trees. Approx 250 in attendance. Sang a lot of old familiar hymns in Creole (how long has it been since you heard “Showers of Blessings” We shared communion with them (juice tasted like robitussin). Although we couldn’t understand the message, it was a priviledge to worship with them. Back at the house we feasted on Kevin’s almost famous mac and cheese.
Important meeting taking place late this afternoon with the locals. This meeting will determine our work project(s) for the week. Pray for consensus in the community. Pray that we will reflect the light of Christ as we work alongside the locals.
God Bless,
RJ
PS-I couldn’t resist adding this picture as well. Seems they have good size spiders in Haiti.
