Lemuel Ministries: 2010

Friday, December 10, 2010

Road Work, a Clean Well, and more!

My goodness, how time flies! I cannot believe it has been a month since I posted!

Well, here is a bit of what has been going on...

1. Indy and Williamso, two of our teachers, came up with a plan to do a census in the area. This was exciting because not even the government really know how many people really live in this area. They put together a seminar to teach some youth in the area how to do the census as well as other important things like how to share the importance of planting trees and other environmental and hygienic issues.

Youth at the Census Seminar

2. There is a part of the road between us and the nearest town of Anse-Rouge that always causes problems when it rains or when water comes down from the mountains in the ravine. It becomes a deep mud pool and has caused problems for trucks and motorcycles as well as for pedestrians and donkeys. A group of young men from the area decided they were not going to wait any longer for the government or anyone else to fix the road so they got together, borrowed some shovels, pick-axes and wheelbarrows and got started.

We also lent them our dump truck and driver so that they could haul rocks and sand.

Trucks will no longer get stuck in this part of the road!

3. Many years ago a CrossWorld missionary, Bruce Robinson, almost lost his life providing water for the Grand Diable (Plateau) community. Unfortunately the man on whose land the well was dug did not appreciate people and animals traipsing through his garden to get to the well. Finally, he got so angry he filled in in with rocks and dirt and whatever else he could find.

When Lemuel began working on the Plateau in 1999 we looked into cleaning out this well but the man we contacted said it would be easier for him to dig a whole new one and he did.

Through a series of events an organization called Action Against Hunger decided to pay a local man who digs wells by hand to clean out the old well. Manis had considered this option before but didn't feel comfortable with the risk this man would have to take.

The man and his team were AMAZING! I don't know how they dug so fast! This was after just a two or three days.

They got down to where they found the pipes that had fallen in and began to pull them out. Then the pipes got stuck on something and they had to dig deeper. By the end they dug almost to the water. I don't know how deep that is but I know our other well is 200 feet!

They finally got out the piece of pipe that was stuck. They then put the casing back down in and soldered it together again. They dropped a bottle down in on a rope and it came up with water!!!. The hole is now filled in and the well covered. Hopefully soon we will be able to get pipes put in and a pump put on!

4. Praise the LORD! Not all of the harvest was lost! After hurricane Tomas a wind in the other direction stood some of the millet and corn stalks back up! The people still lost a lot but at least they did not lose everything!

Millet stalks almost ready for harvest!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Aftermath of Thomas

Dear Friends,

Thank you for praying. By God's grace Port-au-Prince was spared the strong winds and torrential rains that were forecasted. We praise Him for His hand of protection there.

Unfortunately the Plateau wasn't so fortunate. This morning as Manis took stock of the extent of the damage, young and old alike said they have never witnessed winds so strong - and this is not the first hurricane they have seen. Most of the houses were stripped of their mud, leaving gaping holes in the sides. But more seriously, people lost their livelihoods - their gardens.

Though we did get rain, by God's grace, it was not enough to swell the ravine and wipe out the gardens and the soil, as happened during Ike and Hannah. But this time the wind destroyed almost as much. Almost everything that had begun to grow in the gardens was destroyed. Plantains and unripened corn and millet stalks lay on the ground... the fruit, too young to be eaten, is of no use.

Please continue to pray. The people here are so used to setbacks and difficulties, they just shake their heads sadly and prepare to start over. I know God is in control and we are never out of His gracious grip, but it is hard to fight discouragement. Our own garden that was destroyed in the last hurricanes was finally beginning to bear fruit again. It was just beautiful. Now it has once again been flattened. If I feel such discouragement, when I don't depend on it for food and income, how must so many others feel as they see their months and years of work, their hope for feeding their family and sending their children to school - destroyed.

Though we don't understand why or how, we pray and trust that God will use this, as He does all circumstances, to bring glory to Himself. Please pray with us.

This almond tree was planted almost 5 years ago.

Another almond tree, bent over by the wind.

The men try to save the trees by propping them up. We don't know yet if it will work.

Plantain garden just one week ago...

The same garden this morning.

Uprooted Plantain trees.

A truck load of plantains and bananas was lost in just one garden.

Most of the papaya trees were blown over.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Kicked While Down?

Dear Friends,

Most of you have probably seen on the news already that Hurricane Thomas is due to hit Haiti early tomorrow morning. The thought of a hurricane hitting the many "tent cities" is frightening when people you know and love are in those tents; it is terrifying when you are in them yourself. Such is the case of many of our students in Port-au-Prince.

This tent city is on top of hill that used to be a military fort. It is the center of the slum area where most of our students come from. Can you imagine being in one of these "tents" when torrential rains and 50-80mph winds hit?

This is the family of one of our students who is currently living in one of those tents. With donations given through Extreme Response we are working on helping families like this one rebuild their homes. If Hurricane Thomas hits as hard as forecasted, families who are still trying to rebuild their lives will be kicked down once again.

PLEASE PRAY!!!

Pray for protection for the families under those tents, especially the young children.
Pray that if God wills He will spare Haiti from the hurricane, and if not that He will use this to draw more people to Himself
Pray that we will have wisdom to know how to respond.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Wind Pump and Cistern Team

My dad, brother, and Glen Eitemiller, from Indonesia, arrived last Monday to install a wind pump on the well and build a cistern using techniques that Glen has used in Indonesia. (Mom also came but not for the same reason:))

That same Monday they prepped the area for the cistern.

Gilbert, a local mason and a good friend helped with everything.

While participating in the work, Nathan also translated for Glen so the he could communicate with the local workers.

Since the wind pump had not yet arrived Dad helped with the cistern too.

The team with Nathan and Glen.

The team with Nathan and Dad.

The parts for the wind pump (minus one important part) arrived at 1AM Saturday morning.
By that point the cistern was done so everyone focused on putting it up.

Glen and Gilbert climbed to the top! They were strapped in but it still made me nervous!

There is still work to do to finish the wind pump but they were able to lay all the pipe to the cistern so when everything is installed it will just need to be connected and the water will start pumping into the cistern!