Team Updates

This past month has been another month of advances and a couple of smaller setbacks for our team in Haiti. The Helping for Christ orphanage is now known as the Helping for Christ Victory Center and is reaching out to the local community to spread the gospel by holding weekly church services at the Center. HFC Victory Center

During August Pastor Dicksent and his team were able to get their passports and visas that will now allow them to travel to the Dominican Republic without having to be subject to the shake downs that Haitians without passports and visas must face. The team is traveling to the Dominican Republic to coordinate with the Non Government Originations (NGOs) there and to visit the remainder of the people from Camp Victory who were not able to move into the Helping for Christ Victory Center. Coordination with other NGOs is very important for obtaining some of the items needed for the school that we don't have the funding to purchase and that we are unable to ship. We have shipped items on another NGOs 40 foot shipping container but at this point the container is stuck in customs. We are hoping at some point the items will clear customs but we don't know how long that will take. Therefore, our team's ability to travel to the Dominican Republic will significantly help to meet the needs of the children at the Center.

Earlier this month, we had over 30 of our children plus several of our staff members become severally ill due to a contaminated water shipment. We purchase water on a weekly basis and it is brought to us by a water truck that fills our cistern. Ideally this water gets filtered but that is not always the case. At this juncture, we are working to raise the funds needed to purchase an adequate water filtration system. This will ensure all the water received is filtered at the Center so it is known to be safe for the children to drink.

We are very grateful to Courtney Morphet, her dad Dan Morphet, the Leroy Rotary and many others for holding a pasta dinner fundraiser to benefit the children of Helping for Christ Victory Center. This fundraiser has allowed us to purchase additional bunk beds so all our children have their own bed to sleep on each night. For many of these kids, it is the first time in their life that they have slept in their own bed. We are also going to use some of the monies to improve the security of the Center and repair Pastor Dicksent's vehicle which is currently their only mode of transportation.

Our children have been through a lot in the last seven months. God has done amazing things during this period of time and has placed these children in our care. Overall things are very much getting into a rhythm and at this point we are looking for monthly sponsors to ensure we can continue to support this group of children and teachers. We have broken down the cost to support one child to about $1.50 per day or $45 per month. We are trying to get 74 monthly sponsors of $45 each, enough for each child at the Center. If you or anyone you know might be willing to become a monthly sponsor, please contact Julie at jyoung@heartofgodinternational.org.

Thank you to all of you for your continued support! Without you, none of this would be possible.

David & Julie Young
Heart of God Haiti

We are thrilled to share with all of you the wonderful progress that has been made during the past two months with our team in Haiti. We were able to move Pastor Dicksent, 7 other adults and 51children into a secure compound in Port au Prince. We're pleased to learn that 19 of the 23 children who have been receiving medical care for the past three months in Guadeloupe joined the others at the compound on July 3^rd bringing the total number at the compound to 74 children and 12 adults. The remaining 4 children continue their stay at Guadeloupe as they are not yet well enough to travel. We are now certified as an orphanage rather than a children's school. However, all the children living at the compound will continue to receive daily lessons and regular schooling.

We have been able to secure a contract with World Vision and Food for the Poor to provide enough food for everyone at the compound for one year. What a tremendous blessing this is! There is now enough food for the children to eat three meals a day – something they have not had for quite some time. The regular meals are helping the children to quickly regain their strength.

Our monthly budget provides water for everyone living at the compound ($450/month) as well as salaries for the 9 teachers, 2 security guards and a doctor caring for the children ($1,025/month). In addition we cover the cost of electricity and internet service for the compound as well as cell phone fees so we can maintain communications with our team ($200/month). Additional food supplies will be needed for the children from Guadeloupe that have recently joined the compound. This will average about $400/month going forward. We are looking for individuals who would be willing to provide monthly support to help us meet these needs.

Life is slowly returning to normal for these children as their physical needs for food, water and a safe place to live are now being met. The change is evident in the messages we receive from Pastor Dicksent. The "old" (pre-earthquake) Pastor Dicksent has finally returned. The desperation and fatigue that was always present in his emails and phone calls since the earthquake has been replaced with joy and praise. We wanted to share with you some of his most recent emails so you can read his uplifting messages. (We have not edited the emails for grammar or spelling.)

Thank you to all of you for your continued support! Without you, none of this would be possible.

David & Julie Young

God loves you, brother and sisters
Things are going great for us at the compound ,all the children are happy now, cause there are away from certain things and they are not worry for food ,medicine or what ever, one more time I say :PRAISE THE LORD
Include the 23 children that are coming on the 22nd  ,we have more girls than boys, we have 39 girls and 34 boys they start from 3 years old to 17 years( a girl is 17),we have a lot of :3 ,5 ,9 ,11 in both sexes we have a little rain this morning and the state will soon be finish to repair the electricity, but today they could not work because of the rain
God bless you

Pastor Dicksent – June 15^th, 2010

Hi , brother and sisters
God always makes things happen the way He wants it too, after the earthquake, HFC, was worry about his survival, we were lost and now, we can say ,1 st) thanks to God and thanks to heart of God ,Dave ,Julie, Jan, and the donors, cause, our staff and children are feeling great
God bless you

Pastor Dicksent – June 20, 2010

Hi ,brother and sisters
I am so happy ,cause the HFC family is almost complete, except for the amputated children that they keep in Guadeloupe for observation and for adaptation with their new lives…

Saturday-it was a big party at the compound ,every body was happy to see the other, now we have more mouths to fed at the compound, my wife over do it ,she is an Angel, she found place for everybody and make sure that everybody feels good, we need some more sheets ,pillows and towels, forks, knives, plates, spoons, for the new people
Sunday- Great day at church, we need some bibles ,a speaker, and a microphone, we do not have church only for the people at the compound, we have a lot of people from the neighbor who are coming also
God bless you

Pastor Dicksent – July 4, 2010

(Note – 4 of the 23 children have remained in Guadeloupe for additional care. The other 19 returned on Saturday of this week.)

Praise the Lord ,Brother and sisters
I am so happy,1st ,Angel had accepted Jesus Christ as his Personal savior
2 ND) I am Invited at a Bible seminary for 2 days in DR with Pastor Jonas, Angel made us find that present and also ,he will be the one to take care of the fees, we will leave tomorrow at 9 AM and come Back on Wednesday the 14th July in the after-noon

Pastor Dicksent – July 11, 2010

(Note – Angel is the man from the Dominican Republic that has been helping Dicksent secure food and supplies for his people since the earthquake occurred back in January. We are thrilled to hear that Angel has accepted Christ!)

We have made much progress these past few weeks with our team in Haiti. Pastor D., 7 other adults and 51 of the children have moved into the compound and are settling into a more normal routine. The 23 children that were previously sent to Guadeloupe for medical care will be returning to Haiti in three weeks and they will join the others at the compound.

We have been able to secure a one-year commitment from World Vision and Food for the Poor to provide beans and rice for all the adults and children living at the compound. They will be providing enough to feed everyone three meals a day. In the past our people have only eaten once a day so this is a tremendous blessing. The children will be able to regain their strength much more quickly since they will now be getting the proper amounts of food that their growing bodies need.

Going forward our monthly budget will average $2,000 to $2,500 per month. The majority of our budget consists of salaries for the staff at the compound, medical care, and food to supplement the beans and rice. Water continues to be a large expense. We will need to purchase a "truckload" of water each week for about $90. Other expenses include electricity for the compound and internet and cell phone service so we can continue to communicate with our team on a regular basis. As resources allow, we will also provide funds for toiletries, school supplies and other household items that our team will need.

We are planning for at least two more trips down before the end of the year to check on the status of our team. We also plan on visiting the camp where 70 of the children from Camp Victory who could not fit in the compound are now living. Pastor D. has continued to watch over and minister to these children while they are at the camp. We want to ensure that the living conditions at the camp are adequate and the needs of these children are being met.

Please continue to keep Pastor D., his team and the children in your prayers. They still have much healing to do emotionally as they all try to come to terms with the horrific events of the past five months. Thank you so much for your continued support. We couldn't do this without your help!

Dave & Julie Young

We have spent the last two weeks sorting through all of the information gathered during our recent mission trip to plan the best course of action for our people of Helping for Christ. The situation continues to change on almost a daily basis but we believe God has given us a clear direction for the future.

Many things became evident as a result of David's trip down. The greatest of these is the fact that the task of caring for the daily needs of 300 people in a camp is too much to continue to ask of Pastor D. and the Helping for Christ pastoral team. Their desire to help their people is great but their energy is limited, especially given all they have been through. They have all lost their homes, the Helping for Christ school, their possessions and they have buried many of the schoolchildren as well as friends and family members. Pastor D. especially displayed signs of extreme exhaustion while David and the team were down there.

In addition, we needed to find a better location for our people. The area they were in was not adequate to withstand the upcoming hurricane season and there was no security. As soon as it was surmised that you had somehow acquired more "stuff" than the people in the surrounding camps, you were attacked and the things you had were taken from you. If you recall, all the tents we had purchased for the group were stolen as were the portable toilets and other personal items Pastor D. had purchased for the members of Camp Victory. In order to continue to move forward, we needed to find a more secure location and make the work of caring for these people more manageable for Pastor D. and his pastoral team.

To that end, we have leased the property that David and the team located while they were on their trip. The property is large enough to house Pastor D. and his wife as well as nine other Helping for Christ staff members and 51 children from Camp Victory. Pastor D. will take with him the weakest and most vulnerable of the children including the girl we have in our camp that has Down's Syndrome as well as another girl who suffered severe brain damage as a result of a head injury during the earthquake. Pastor D. and his team are in the process of relocating the other children and adults from the camp to other locations where they will be safer and be able to have their basic needs met. A camp/orphanage in the Dominican Republic that is operated by a Baptist church has been located that may be willing to take in and care for the 70 other children at the camp. Pastor D. and his pastoral team are doing all they can to ensure these children will be well-cared for and safe. Other camps have been located that can take in the other members from Camp Victory.

The compound we are leasing has a large backyard in which Pastor D. plans to set up a tent and continue operating the school for the children living at the compound. As things become more settled and depending on how much room they have, Pastor D. may open the school to other children in the area. The teachers who are not living at the compound will travel to the compound on a daily basis in order to hold classes.

It will take Pastor D. and his pastoral team a few days to get the compound ready and get moved in. Once they are settled we are hoping that life will be a little more "normal" for them and they will be able to finish the healing process they must all go through after suffering the tremendous loss of these past few months.

Please continue to pray for our people in Haiti – for their continued safety, that their day-to-day needs for food and water will continue to be met and that God will continue to give all of us wisdom to make the best decisions for them and the future of Helping for Christ.

Dave & Julie Young

We heard from Pastor D. yesterday and today and the work started by the team last week is continuing and progress is being made. Pastor D. was able to work with the members of the other camp in the area to get the water purification system up and running. The solar generator that was donated and shipped to the camp is being used to keep the battery on the water purification system charged. By working together the camps are now able to obtain safe drinking for much less money. Previously Pastor D. had to purchase bottled water to have safe drinking water for the members of Camp Victory. Now they are able to purchase water from the water trucks and use the water purification system to make the water drinkable for those in Camp Victory as well as the other two camps.

World Vision also arrived at Camp Victory yesterday with a huge tent that they had promised they would bring. The tent is large enough to use for the school or for several families to use to live in. World Vision is also working to arrange food for the camp through the World Food Program. This will still take a couple more weeks but we are praying that the World Food Program will agree to provide food for the children at the school as well as all the adults in the camp. Please keep this in your prayers as it would be a tremendous blessing! The food they can provide is more nutritious than the food Pastor D. has been able to buy for the children. This will provide the children with the nourishment they need to heal and regain their strength.

We have also been tremendously blessed in that Pastor D. has found a very large house for rent. The house is big enough to house Pastor D., his team and 40 of the children from the camp. Renting the house will provide us with a headquarters building that can be used by Pastor D. and his team, better living conditions for the 40 smallest and most vulnerable of the children and also a place to stay on future trips to Haiti which will save on travel costs. The school will continue to be located at Camp Victory and Pastor D. and the teachers will still travel there to teach each day. Some children from the other two camps in the area have been attending the school in addition to the children at Camp Victory so we want to continue to provide an opportunity for all the children to attend for as long as possible.

We still face many challenges as we continue to move forward. Of the 210 children at the camp, we have 120 orphans so we need to be sure that these children especially are being cared for properly. In addition, the majority of the adults in the camp are women and elderly which makes them more vulnerable than other camps with a larger population of young men. Pastor D. will be hiring a security guard for the camp to help alleviate some of these safety concerns. While much progress was made last week, there is still so much to do. Please join us is praying that God will continue to provide the resources to take care of these people who have already been through so much. Thank you!

Julie Young

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

David and his team arrived safely home earlier today. It was a long trip as both their flights were delayed. They left the Dominican Republic at 4 am and arrived in Rochester about 1 pm this afternoon. All were very tired as they had not slept in over 30 hours.

All the members of the team were amazed at everything God did during their trip. David said his faith was certainly strengthened by seeing God work in such amazing ways during this past week. They all have many stories to share.

The team collected a tremendous amount of information that will need to be organized and discussed in order to determine the next steps for Camp Victory and its people. We will be working on this over the next several days. David will also be following up with many of the contacts he made during the trip to ensure the work the team began this past week does not come to a halt. David is working with World Vision to provide food for the children that are attending the Helping for Christ school at the camp. In addition to Pastor D. and the 300 people at Camp Victory, there are two other camps in the same area where another 500 or so people are living. The children at these other camps are also attending school at the Helping for Christ school. David is working with World Vision to secure food for all the children at the school. World Vision has also said they can offer assistance with applying to the World Food Program to get food for the adults at Camp Victory.

Please pray for wisdom and guidance as we begin the process of making plans for the future care of Pastor D. and everyone at Camp Victory. Thank you so much for all of your support. We truly appreciate it. Please know that all the donations we have received since the earthquake struck have, without a doubt, helped saved the lives of the people in Camp Victory. Thank you again for your support.

Julie Young

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

David said the team had another productive day today. They continued with the medical clinic and were able to treat many more of the people. In addition, they connected with another organization that donated and dropped off about $2,000 of medical supplies at the camp for the team to use.

The team was also able to set up the solar generator at the camp today. It is now up and running. Dave discovered that a camp located near Camp Victory has a water purifier but it runs on a battery that needs to be recharged. He is going to try and coordinate with the other camp today to see if they can provide the water purifier if Camp Victory provides the power from the solar generator to keep the battery charged. This would help significantly with the water issue at the camp. Please pray that the members of both camps will be able to work together so that everyone in both camps can benefit from having clean water to drink.

While many in the team continued with the medical clinic, David and others continued to meet with other organizations to try and secure additional aid for the people at the camp. A long meeting was held with people from World Vision and they are going to try and provide the camp with a large tent to be used for the school as well as family tents to replace the ones that were stolen. They also told the team they would work with the World Food Program to try and provide food for the children. David said it is not an overnight process as there is paperwork and applications to be completed in order to receive food from the World Food Program. We need to pray that these meetings will bear much fruit for the people of Camp Victory. The team is finding there are resources already in the country that can benefit our people but they just need to be sought out and applied for. David also spent some time with Missionary Flights International. He is not sure if they will be able to help us or not but, if they could, it would make it much easier to travel to the country as well as ship items to Pastor D. and the others.

Dave traveled into Port Au Prince today to hold some of these meetings and he was overwhelmed at the destruction he saw. He said the devastation was unfathomable. He said it is hard to believe how bad it is. On a positive note, he feels that the Port Au Prince airport and travel from there to the camp is safe at this point which will make future trips down a little easier as he will be able to fly directly into Port Au Prince.

As the team works with Pastor D., it is becoming more apparent that he is overwhelmed by the current situation. He is a man who has lost everything – his home, his possessions, his work, 40 of his students- and he almost lost his wife when she became ill and needed surgery after the earthquake. The stress and toll this is all taking on him is apparent. It would be ideal if we had a missionary on the ground at Camp Victory full-time to oversee the administration of the camp. It is true that an American missionary will receive a more positive response from an aid organization than a Haitian. However since a full-time missionary is not an option at this point in time, Dave is meeting with other members of Helping for Christ today to see what can be done to delegate some of the work that Pastor D. is doing now to others in the group. Please pray that God will lead others at Camp Victory to step forward and take on additional responsibility to continue the work that our team has started during this past week. Also pray that Pastor D. will see the wisdom of delegating some tasks to others so he is not under so much stress. We all know from personal experience that sometimes it is hard to let go of something we feel is our job and, having already lost so much, Pastor D. may be reluctant to let go of some of the tasks he has been doing for the camp since the earthquake happened.

We are so very grateful for your continued prayers for the members of our team and all the people at Camp Victory.

Julie Young

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

David called tonight and the team had another very busy day. They definitely feel they are making progress. A large part of the day was spent in Barahona, Dominican Republic purchasing supplies for the camp. They were able to purchase portable urinals, deworming medication, mosquito netting and spray, sheets, cooking supplies and other medical supplies.

Tomorrow the medical clinic will be up and running and the documenting of all the people in the camp will be started. These were planned for today but the team ran into some issues getting to Barahona to purchase the supplies so the start was delayed for one day. The pastor in the team will continue to preach to the people at Camp Victory tomorrow and the gifts that the team brought with them will be distributed.

There are a couple meetings scheduled with other NGOs who will be visiting Camp Victory tomorrow. Some meetings were held today and the other NGOs have offered advice to our team and potentially some assistance to the members of Camp Victory. We should know more tomorrow after they visit the camp. Both NGOs visiting tomorrow are other Christian organizations that are helping with the relief effort in Haiti.

Other good news from today is the possibility that a house has been located to rent that can be used for a headquarters. This would enable better communication with Pastor D. and other members of Camp Victory as well as provide a place for teams to stay when they go down on future missions trips. The team has also found a post office that could be used as a mailing address when we need to ship smaller items down to the team. Before the earthquake we shipped "care packages" on a monthly basis for Pastor D. and his family but we have been unable to do that since December.

David said the doors that God is opening are amazing. He said today it was almost as if every time he verbalized a need for the Camp, someone showed up and provided a way to meet that need. The task of caring for these 300 people continues to be overwhelming but I believe God is definitely leading David and the team while they are down there. Please pray that doors will continue to be opened and assistance for our people will begin to flow in.

Julie Young

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

After a long and difficult drive, our team arrived at Camp Victory early this afternoon. David described his first impression of the camp as "shocking." He and the team were overwhelmed at the rough living conditions. The camp is located on what appears to be an old soccer field – mostly dirt with some grass. Everyone has tents for sleeping and there is a large tent that is being used as the classroom for the students but there are no bathroom facilities/portable toilets available. (You may recall that the portable toilets we previously purchased for the camp were stolen and they have not been able to replace them.) The physician with the team says it is likely that everyone in the camp has worms and many need some other form of medical care. Water is of primary concern. They are currently paying between $60 and $120 per day for water for the 300 people in the camp.

The team will be going back tomorrow and has a full day planned. The preacher with our team will be preaching to all those at the camp and the surrounding camps. The physicians will be conducting a medical clinic, completing an exam on everyone at the camp and dispensing necessary medications, especially medication for worms. This will most likely take more than one day to complete. Others in the team will be recording information on everyone living in the camp, taking photographs and personal information as well as documenting exactly how many family groups and orphans we have at the camp. The team will also be showing those in the camp how to dig a trench line so there is a better sanitation system in place to mitigate the spread of disease. Dave and another team member will be contacting other NGOs in Port au Prince who may be able to offer additional assistance to the members of the camp.

Tonight our team is staying at a hotel in Jimani. They have no internet access so they are unable to send photos. Electricity is only occasional at best. There are no screens on the hotel windows and David says there are lots of mosquitoes. The team needs your prayers that they will all stay healthy while in Haiti. Although they are all on anti-malarial medicine, there is no immunization or medication for dengue fever, the other disease that is spread by the mosquitoes.

David says Pastor D. is tired and overwhelmed. All the people of the camp are looking to Pastor D. as their leader, depending on him to take care of them. In turn, Pastor D. is looking to us to provide him with what he needs for his people as he has no other source of help. David said looking into the eyes of the people at the camp, you could see the expectations they have of us—miraculous expectations that will be impossible to meet in our own strength. We will need to depend completely on God to help us meet the needs of these people. There will be no other way. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Julie Young

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. 1Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

This is the bible verse David selected to share with his team as they prepared to leave for Haiti early on the morning of April 19th. Although he has been to the country before, David knew this trip to Haiti was going to be different as uncertainty grew about what exactly he would find when he finally arrived with his team in this country devastated by the January 12^th earthquake.

The team arrived at the Rochester airport at 4:00am to ensure ample time to board their 6:00 am flight to Santo Domingo. Camp Victory is located close to the Dominican border and it was decided it would be easier and safer to fly into the Dominican Republic and then cross the border by car into Haiti. We have received word that the entire team has arrived safely in Santo Domingo and was greeted by Pastor D. and two other senior pastors from Camp Victory. The afternoon today was spent in long discussions with Pastor D. and the senior pastors so the team could get a clear picture of the situation at Camp Victory and what the on-going needs of the people are going to be. However, Pastor D. said the team will not completely understand the situation until they arrive at Camp Victory tomorrow morning.

We have had 73 children in the Dominican Republic receiving medical care and 23 of them, including the 7 amputees, were flown out of Haiti to a mission in Guadeloupe today. Unfortunately, they flew out of another airport and the team was not able to see them before they left. Pastor D. has been working on these arrangements for the past few weeks. The children will remain in Guadeloupe for 3 months receiving the medical care they need that cannot be currently obtained in Haiti or the Dominican Republic. Two of the pastors from Camp Victory accompanied the children and will remain with them for the three months to ensure their safety and care.

Pastor D. informed the team that the current location of Camp Victory is state land that the Haitian government is allowing people to stay on free of charge. That is good news as it allows us to use our resources for other life-sustaining needs. The bad news is that there is no good water source on the land. This is an issue that the team is planning to address while they are there this week to see if a viable solution can be found.

The team will be leaving for Haiti early tomorrow and will arrive at Camp Victory in the late morning. They will be handing out the various items they were able to bring with them including medical supplies and clothing. Please continue to keep the team in your prayers. Please pray for their safety as they cross the border into Haiti. Please pray for their strength as the extent of the devastation caused by the earthquake is seen first-hand. Please pray for their wisdom that they will be able to find solutions to meet the needs of the people at Camp Victory, especially the need for potable water. Please pray that their arrival at Camp Victory will renew a hope in the people there that will lead others to seek out the love and mercy of our Savior, Jesus Christ.