Possible amputation today, out of food

Here is a picture of the baby Ray delivered at the field hospital in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Her name is Saintos Balkis. Her parents named her Saintos, and gave Ray the honor of giving her the second name. Balkis was the name of the Queen of Sheba in a Kipling poem.

Today Ray may have to do an amputation in Haiti. The latest doctors who arrived at the clinic are leaving and have been prepping Ray for it.  His supervisor here at the hospital in Missouri is finding someone to work Ray’s next two shifts, so that is favor from God. Thank you, Jesus!

We are just taking it day by day for Ray’s arrival here, praying, trusting that God is in full control and that He still has work for Ray to do there. I personally believe that God has Ray there ON PURPOSE for His glory, and that is why he hasn’t been able to get on any planes out of there! God’s ways are not our ways.

Here is the latest update from pastor Jay’s newsletter.  The Haitian people in the tent city have been out of food for nine days now. They need food.  There is also some disease breaking out now.  Please pray protection over Ray and the staff from diseases. Here is what Ray said on his Facebook status: 

“Running low of medical supplies. Several cases of pneumonia now, as well as infectious diarrhea in the children. Saw my first ever case of what I beleive to be Hansen’s disease. The hospital I started the IV in does not even qualify as a treatment facility. Conditions were abominable.”

I am shipping some food to pastor Jay’s Melbourne address in the next day or two. For those of you who want to contribute, contact me at elizabethdjones@gmail.com. You can also donate to SEMSAR at http://www.semsar.org/rescue/Donate/tabid/76/Default.aspx or you can donate directly to pastor Jay at http://www.fomhaiti.org/earthquakerelief.html. The food that Jay mentioned in the update below is already gone!

Pastor Jay’s church downtown was destroyed in the earthquake, so workmen now are pouring concrete and setting up a tent to serve as the new church on the compound grounds, where the offices and the school Morningstar Academy are located in Port-Au-Prince:

“It has been 9 days since our last food distribution. We had tried every angle and every organization, all to no avail. Then on Saturday we got our first bit of food, not enough for a full distribution but at least we got our foot in the door. A young man e-mailed us (not knowing what was going on) and told us God impressed on him to tell us to “give what we had and God would multiply.” We had intentions to do just that and we get the call from our Muslim contacts that they were near with a 45 foot trailer full of food! Once again, God moved on the hearts of men across the globe to provide for His children. The United Arab Emirates sent food by way of the Dominican Republic. Tomorrow we will do our first feeding in 10 days!

Our clinic continues to operate full speed! We are seeing almost 200 people per day. On Friday (2/5/10) we delivered our 4th baby since the quake. Saintos Balkis was born at 11:50PM. Her name means “Saint Balkis.” The parents named her Saintos, but gave our attending paramedic the honor of choosing the second part of her name. Balkis was Kipling’s fictional name of the queen of Sheba. Pray that this little girl matures in Lord as she grow up.

The last of our tents came down on Saturday in our tent city. The people were gracious and understood that we needed the field to bring in our medical clinic trailer, as well as staging of the supplies that will soon hit our property. Every family was issued an ID card that gauruntees access to food, water and continued medical care.

We continue to move forward on preparing the ground for the foundation of the future COTR facilities here at Morningstar. After the slab is poured, we will raise our tent as soon as it arrives, and that will be the next phase of our recovery. The tent is 20,000 square feet and will be home (for the church) for the coming months as we continue to raise funds for the steel of the new building. This weekend we saw almost 3,000 people again show up for Sunday service and morning prayer remains strong every morning with over 1,000 people coming to pray.”

Wow, how exciting!  I believe many testimonies will be coming out of Haiti!

On a personal note, our one car is making a rattling noise under the floorboard now, so please pray about that, as we don’t have the money for a mechanic right now!  I am just driving where necessary in town for now. That is so mild a need compared to the devastation in Haiti, but God cares about all of our requests, big and small.  Did you know that? God hears YOUR prayers, and He wants to help you!

Thank you for your continual prayers for my husband, pastor Jay, and the people of Haiti who are in such need.

To donate to Ray’s medical missions trip in Haiti, click here.

Funny how God works

U.S. Army 82nd Airborne military personnel on ground in Port-A-Prince, Haiti in front of the national palace – sent in for reinforcements for security.

It’s funny how God works.  Last night my husband Ray and his friend Shawn made it safely to Miami, and all their bags with the medical equipment got checked okay,  praise God!  They even had favor with the airline for their heavy bag of medical equipment, which was overweight. The airline employee said to them, ”Hmmm….the scale must be broken!” and let it go, without them having to pay the extra fee (she knew they were going to Haiti for a medical mission!) Then this morning Ray called me from Miami to say that the relief plane scheduled to go out at 1 p.m. today from Miami to Haiti was not going, after all!

Not sure what the deal was, as he couldn’t talk long. He was at the airport, rushed, with him getting on another plane in an hour. It is a jet carrying six people to Haiti who are going to do food distribution there. Through a friend, God brought these people across Ray’s and Shawn’s path after Ray and Shawn found out that the plane they were supposed to leave on had a change in plans and wasn’t going to Haiti at 1 p.m.

I have no doubt that God is up to something good and that this is a divine appointment.  I am praying that Haiti and U.S. officials are not turning this jet away from Haiti and are not re-routing it (the airport has a bottleneck, with relief planes having trouble getting into Haiti to bring food, water, and medical supplies). I’m  expectantly waiting to hear any minute that they are now safely in Haiti. 

For those who have not yet read my blogs on this trip, Ray and Shawn  are doing a medical and security mission to assist pastor Jay Threadgill of Fishers Of Men Interenational.  The situation is just desperate, and the violence is increasing, so please keep them all in your prayers. I am anticipating God to do incredible things on this trip!

For those who would like to give to practical and much needed help to Haiti, the Paypal Donate button is now working on Ray’s SEMSAR website, thanks to our great, computer geek son-in-law Kyle!  This missions trip has been funded out of our own pockets and through SEMSAR.   Here is the link.

I will keep you posted on their trip!  Thanks for all your prayers!