A Big Message For A T-Shirt

The guys over at Spend Yourself (also linked on the right) asked me to write some stuff for their newest shirt (you can also find this post on their website).  All of the proceeds from this shirt go to NWHCM.  For more info check out their site, or this link to the NWHCM site as well.  As another endorsement I must say that I am a guy that loves a good t-shirt and the Spend Yourself shirt that I have is probably the most comfortable one I own.  Chris literally gave it to me off his own back.

Here is a sample image of the shirt they came up with.

I first met Chris (from Spend Yourself) when he came to Haiti last summer.  He came with Zack, who I already knew from college.  Their trip was short and hectic, as we flew and drove all over the Northwest department of Haiti.  Luckily, within the few days of the trip we had several moments to sit and discuss some of the things that they saw and experienced.

We ate Dominoes under the awning of the Coconut Hotel in Port au Prince, and discussed everything from inner city ministry to social justice, church politics to t-shirts, and sweatshops to college basketball.  The problems of Haiti were a recurring topic.

They asked me my opinion on Haiti’s most pressing needs, specifically in the area in which NWHCM works.  My response was the lack of trees/erosion along with access to clean water.  In many ways the two topics are interwoven.  Trees and water go hand in hand, and I think this idea is portrayed in the shirt that they put together (pictured above).  Without trees desertification of arable land becomes an issue.  Without trees, erosion will pollute not only drinking water sources, but also the ocean, driving off fish that are an essential part of the Haitian economy and diet.  Polluted water sources, or the lack of water sources in general, cause a myriad of diseases and other health issues.  In a country where children die from the dehydration caused by diarrhea, clean sources of water are not things to be taken lightly.  The lack of drinking water also hits the Haitian home economically.  Many people are forced to buy clean water by the jug or bucket; others pay expensive medical bills at government hospitals for illnesses that could have been prevented by access to a clean source of water.  These are just some of the problems caused by a lack of clean water and trees.

If one dug deep enough would they find that there are other underlying factors that contribute to the lack of clean water and trees in Haiti?  Most likely, and so a holistic ministry that teaches responsibility and respect is crucial in this work to help Haiti.  We have yet to see the long-term results from the disastrous earthquakes that hit Haiti earlier this month, but one can almost guarantee that they will affect every aspect of Haiti life, including access to clean water as well as food production.

The folks over at Spend Yourself have put together a shirt the proceeds of which all go to support NWHCM.  They have already raised a large amount of money for the purpose of buying equipment to drill wells for some of the remote areas in the Northwest.  Since the earthquake they had to call an audible at the line and are now diverting some of the funds from the shirts towards earthquake relief as well.  This has been a long process that started with a trip to Haiti and some great conversations between the people at Spend Yourself and the staff and leadership from NWHCM.  Where the story ends is another question.

The word on the shirt “espere” is the Creole verb for “hope.”  The implications/interpretations of the word in reference to the shirt seem limitless.  As an organization we hope that Haiti can pull through this disaster.  We hope for a Haiti in which all people have access to clean water.  We hope for a Haiti that reflects the natural beauty and fertile mountainsides that it was once known for.  We hope for a Haiti in which people are treated fairly and with respect by citizens within the country and the global community.  We hope for a Haiti that will continue to see growth in the body of believers, one in which the global body will show solidarity with, not as all-mighty, benevolent Americans or members of the first world, but as the body of Christ being the body of Christ (I think I stole that phrase from someone).

Essentially, we hope for Haiti the same things that we hope for our own lives and those around us.  We can no longer ignore the people living from the margins, living in the parts of the world that are only discussed during times of war and natural disaster.  The reality is that these people not only live the moments that we periodically see on CNN but they also live in the expanse of years between the disasters that make it on the news, and sometimes those normal days are harder than the ones that garner international attention and aid.

It is a big message for a t-shirt right?  Nevertheless it is a message that we cannot afford to forget, not for Haiti or for any other group of people as well.

Short-Term Missions

My cousin continues her streak of sending extremely interesting and relevant articles and the like.  The most recent is an interview about short-term missions, and I love the information given here.  Click this link The Future of Short-Term Missions for the file and feel free to discuss it in the comments section

Buy Trees, Help The Mission *Updated*

It would be impossible for us to link to all of the organizations, companies, and churches that are trying to put together resources for the relief effort, but this one is particularly interesting.  Marc came on a trip to NWHCM last year and he works for Fast Growing Trees.  They are donating the proceeds from certain tree purchases to NWHCM.  So not only will you have a tree in your yard, but you will also have donated money to help the relief effort.  Here is the link.

Planting trees and other plants with the kids in town. Photo by Andy Olsen

Update: There was an article written about this in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.  They got some of their facts wrong, I am not from Nashville, which is mind boggling because we did an email interview and so all the info was in front of him.  Anyways, the general article is a good one and explains the partnership that we are trying to set up to plant trees in Haiti.  Here is the link.

Contacting Loved Ones

We are getting many emails and comments from those trying to contact loved ones in Haiti.  Unfortunately, my phone does not work right now.  People can call us, but we cannot make outgoing calls yet.  When this changes, I would be happy to call as many people as possible.  If you want us to contact loved ones, email us or comment below with names and phone numbers.  You are in our prayers.

The Earthquake

First of all, everyone in La Baie is safe, our experience here was nothing compared to what happened in and around Port au Prince.  Secondly, we would like to thank all of the people who have been sending us emails and checking on us (we have even been contacted by the BBC and other news outlets), Haiti needs us right now and we ask that you do everything that you possibly can.

We have had a group in from Rockford, Ill over the past few days.  Yesterday we were carrying gravel for the construction of the orphanage when the earthquake hit.  It was a rather large shake considering our distance from the epicenter.  It took me a while to realize what had happened but when I did I immediately ran on top of a building to look at the ocean, which went completely flat.  There were three construction workers inside the orphanage and they burst out of the door as the walls wobbled.  I think Elet said it best when he said (in Creole) that, “the walls were dancing.”  Several group members mentioned that they thought it was going to fall.  Luckily, it did not and I immediately went down the hill to the campus below to check on Danielle.  All of the kids were talking about loud noises from the house, a few things fell off shelves and a large pot with water fell off the stove, but everything was alright.

It had never occurred to us that we were at the periphery of something bigger until we looked at the internet and saw the size of the quake.  Shortly after we saw two words “Tsunami Warning” and we immediately told the group to grab some necessary items and head up the hill.  We knew that a Tsunami would be unlikely in our location but we did not want to take the chance.  After a while a few of us went back down the hill and read that the tsunami warning had lifted.  We have felt countless aftershocks since then, even as recent as a few hours ago.

Our story is nothing, there are many people in Port au Prince suffering right now.  We have staff in the city and many other people on staff have friends and family there.  Northwest Haiti Christian Mission is doing everything possible to meet the needs in Port au Prince.  A medical team was sent today from St. Louis.  Anyone looking to help can go to this link to the mission’s website.

Please pray.

“Its Been A Long December”

“And there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.”

Well it has been a month, about thirty pounds (for Curtis), two holidays, 14 Kentucky basketball wins, and lots of visits with family and friends since we left Haiti.  We are more than ready to get back and there are a ton of exciting projects that we are looking forward to accomplishing over the next months.  We would like to take the time to thank everyone that has supported us, financially, as well as prayerfully in our ministry over the past year.  Our first year in Haiti was a little rough, the second year much better, and we really feel that the third is going to be the best so far.

Our new campus will be up and running shortly and there are a number of projects in La Baie that we will tell you about in the coming months, along with the growth of the “Neighbors Project” throughout all of the towns in which the mission works.  We are also very excited to announce that we will have a vehicle this year.  There was a huge response to this need over the past twelve months and we have raised more than enough money to pay for the vehicle and have it shipped.  Hopefully, it will be parked in front of our house in Haiti during the first half of 2010.

Northwest Haiti Christian Mission has grown exponentially over the past year and we are excited to be a small part in that growth.  Please make sure to check out the mission website (new this year as well) to see the great work the Lord is allowing us to do in Northwest Haiti along with our Haitian brothers and sisters.  The website offers much more information than in the past and also allows people to financially support the ministry in a much more efficient and user-friendly way.  It would be impossible for us to sum-up everything that has happened in the past year and so we encourage everyone to not only browse the posts on this blog over the past year, but also check out the blogs of the other people working with NWHCM, and again the mission website itself.

Again, we are so thankful for many things this year especially for all the people who have supported NWHCM.  We are also thankful that Haiti did not see a hurricane this year, and we ask that you continue to pray for the people of Haiti in general and specifically for the people in our seaside town.  There is great potential in La Baie and we pray that the Lord will help us to not only realize our own potential, but also that of the people that we work for and with.

In many ways, we feel that the first two years in Haiti have not been as productive as we would have liked.  We are constantly reminded that we have to trust God with everything that we do and that working in any foreign country can be very difficult.  With that in mind we continue to learn as much as we can about Haiti and the work that God has for us so that we can use every moment for Him.

We will be back in Haiti next week and the groups start from day one and because of that it may be difficult to update this site as much as we would like.  However, we will try to keep everyone abreast of the things that are happening in Haiti when we can.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen the ocean, I guess I should”

(quotes from the Counting Crows song “A Long December”)

All Dustin Really Wants for Christmas

Dustin and the boat building crew pose inside the frame of a boat.

Dustin is a good friend from Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Ill (linked on the right). He, and the church have been a big part of the ministry in La Baie. Earlier this year, Dustin raised money to build a fishing boat as a sort of stimulus package for the fishermen in La Baie after the hurricanes. The program also involves the people who receive the boats, as the first person who received a boat will be required to assist both financially and by helping work on the next one. Well Dustin is at it again and he is looking for help. Follow this link to his site where you can help him raise money to build more boats.

Haiti and the Environment

There may not be another country in the world in which the decline of the environment is more obvious than in Haiti.  As one flies over the landscape it is quickly evident that deforestation and the resulting erosion have caused many problems for the people and the country of Haiti.

The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Cobb, Charles E. 1987. “Haiti: Against All Odds.” National Geographic, Vol. 172, No. 5: 645-670. Photo by James Blair

The same view from NASA. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center - Scientific Visualization Studio

There also may not be a more debated issue than that of climate change. Honestly, it makes no difference to us what a person believes about climate change. However, we believe that people are to be concerned with the environment and how it is treated, if for no other reason than self preservation, although there are many other reasons. It is with these two ideas in mind that we link the following articles.

This one is a report from Oxfam about the problems of climate change and how they affect impoverished countries in general and Haiti specifically.

The second is a six part series about Haiti and its environmental problems (for some reason I can only find the first five installments of the article, if you find the sixth please let me know)

I would be willing to state that the degradation of the environment in Haiti is the number one problem that the country faces. Environmental degradation leads to poor farmland which lowers productivity and makes Haiti more dependent upon food imports. Environmental degradation pollutes water sources, making clean water a hard commodity to obtain. Environmental degradation causes health problems and in Haiti, a country with an extremely limited medical infrastructure, small health problems become huge problems quickly. Environmental degradation also causes/compounds the problems of natural disasters. Mudslides are the result of treeless mountains. Long periods of drought can be attributed to once lush sections of country turned to treeless scrublands. As the fifth installment of the above article notes, erosion has even caused problems for Haiti’s coral reefs, the restoration of which could lead to an increase in tourism, an integral part to the reestablishment of the Haitian economy.

In short, environmental problems pose the most immediate and serious threats to those who already live on the margins, those who toe the line of subsistence every day. The poor of countries like Haiti will be the first to be displaced/starved/killed by the degradation of the environment and the least capable to deal with it. We are concerned with these issues in Haiti and we are striving to play a part in, not only the restoration of the environment in Haiti, but also an understanding that it is the reponsibility of Christians to care for the resources that God has entrusted to us.

Again, From The BBC

Here is a link to a page with a four part story on Haiti, the titles are, “One year on,” (about last year’s hurricanes) “Shunned lives,” (children with disabilities) “Child slaves,” and “Haiti’s slums.”

Photo Essay

The BBC put together a small photo essay about hunger in Haiti.  Here is the link.