Digging through trash

This lady was seen on the outskirts of Port Au Prince, rummaging through trash in the rubble of a collapsed building. One can't help but wonder what she is looking for.  Was this her home?  Is she looking for something to eat or wear?  Is she looking for treasured keepsakes of a life now gone?  There really is no way to know.  In a city and country where most of the buildings are destroyed and many people dead or missing I assume she is struggling to survive.

Haiti was full of similar scenes of collapsed buildings and desperate people.  People living in tent cities struggling to survive, wondering when their aid would come and worrying about the coming rain and hurricane season.  There were many whose homes were standing, but were damaged and in danger of falling down at any time.

On the bright side, Haiti is served by missionaries and pastors such as Miss Tina, Pastors Maxi, Gerrard, and Roro who are tirelessly serving the people of their communities.  Providing food, shelter, pastoral help and even homes, there is real reason for hope.  While we were there, Miss Tina was providing a home to 14 different children who had lost their parents, or whose parents knew they would starve unless they were able to go with her.

Please pray for Miss Tina, the Pastors and the beautiful people of Haiti.  Pray for me as I sort through how to respond to this experience. Thanks for all of your support!

Jim

Lobster on the beach

Wow, what a meal! We just got done eating fresh lobster on the
beach. We went to a local beach where a lady sets up an outdoor
kitchen and cooks lobster and fish right there. This is one of
those places only locals know about. We had a beautiful clear night
with numerous stars. Temperature cooled down and we had great
conversation and food planning how we might be able to partner with
Tina's mission in the future.

We leave at 5:30 in the morning for our 11:45 flight out of Port Au
Prince. We ultimately expect to arrive in Indianapolis around
midnight. Please pray the flight out of Haiti is on time as our Hotel
driver on the way down said his hotel stayed in business serving the
people who missd their connections coming out of Port Au Prince.

Thanks for the prayers for Dan - he is now doing much better, as is
James, our sick little baby.

Can't wait to see everyone and tell stories!

Jim
www.drjimingram.blogspot.com
www.jamesingrammd.com

Toddlers and French Toast

Today is the last day of work. We've all gotten up and showered a d
are wAiting for the kids to be squared away before we go to the school
to do a clinic.

We've got great entertainment - 6 Haitian todddlers eating French
toast and syrup, mainly with their hands. It looks like the workers
will be doing an extra load of laundry in a tub out on the porch:) Tin
had a washer which is broken, so now the Haitian workers do the
laundry on the porch in a couple of buckets.

Today we go to the school to see some children. We're then going up
to Peredo, where pastor Roro has a church and medical clinic.

He came in late last night and said he had been with Pierre Garsone
from the Colts all week. They are doing relief work together.

Roro told us about the Quake and working round the clock to translate
in three different languages, seeing some truly aweful things. He has
lost many church members, friends, etc. Fortunately he has seen many
people come to Christ, even many Voo Doo priests!

Please pray for Dan as he is still behind on his fluids even after a
couple of liters of IV fluids last night. He is doing better, just
not where we want him to be before we start home early tomorrow morning.

Have a great day!

Jim Ingram
www.drjimingram.blogspot.com
www.jamesingrammd.com

Tent City

Today we went to the tent city and saw 50 little ones.  I think they were almost all less then 2 or 3 years, many infants.  We saw a case of malaria and four Typhoid fever cases.  Tina is very experienced and was a great help.  Tina also offered to take In another child temporarily, so there are now 13 kids here :).  

We got to meet the UN head of the camp and we were filmed in a documentary the residents are doing. They are trying to document what is and is not being done.

When we got back, we found out Dan, our trip leader from Arcadia, has been throwing up and having diarrhea, so I just started an IV and we are running fluids now.  Tina gave him a shot of phenergan as well.

Tomorrow I go to the school and treat kids there.  Hopefully the rest of the team will stay well.  It is so hot here it is easy to get dehydrated and then misery sets in.

Anyway, please pray for the health of our team the next couple of days and specifically for my new friend Dan.  Also pray for our new friends in the tent city and all they are doing to help themselves.  It is really encouraging to see their organization and resourcefulness.

In Christ,

Jim

  

Baby is better

Baby James has really turned around! He is eating well, his fever
gone, and he is playing. His neck swelling is almost gone! Thank God
he will live to enjoy a life with Miss Tina and come to know Jesus.

Gabriella

Building foster homes

Today we started construction. We are Helping build three buildings
which will house the orphan children and their foster parents. Our
job so far is to carry the rock/rubble/bolders for the foundation and
carry the concrete mixed on he ground. Fortunately we are working
with about 10 Haitian men who are laying the rocks and concrete.

Later today we may do some more touring of the mission buildings and
the area.

The sick child is turning the corner today, and I now think he's no
longer at risk of dying from this infection. Whether it's mumps or a
skin infection, it appears to be going away.

Please keep praying for the kids, the team, and the Haitians that need
to know Jesus.

Jim Ingram
www.drjimingram.blogspot.com
www.jamesingrammd.com

Sick Baby

This little guy was 1 of 12 different kids left with Miss Tina after
the quake. Many of them orphans, some of them had lost one parent but
the surviving parent couldn't provide for them.

He has a thick, swollen neck and a fever. He may have an abcess,
mumps, or both. He's getting antibiotics but not turning around real
well. If he isn't better we may be able to take him to see some
surgeons at the hospital to determine if he needs an abscess drained.
Please pray that he gets well over night and none of that is needed.
Please pray this devastated place has the resources needed.

Church in Haiti

Pastor Maxi put on a great service. The place was packed and the
worship joyful. It is so cool to recognize songs in another language
and sing to the Lord with my foreign brothers and sisters.

Easter morning

Haiti is hot. During the day and at night it is just plain hot.
Spiritually dark, as the country predominantly is involved in Voo Doo,
which more or less is Satan worship. Historically the slaves brought
here served French Catholic owners, so there are both influences.

There is also slavery. Many poor parents are approached by wealthy
folks and told that they can give their child a loving home and
education. Given the choice of seeing their child starve or be abused
in their poor community, they allow their child to go. The kids then
find they have been sold into slavery - they work as house servants
cooking, cleaning, anything that is wanted. They may sleep on the
floor and don't recieve education. They become isolated from their
community and isolated educationally - trapped with no way to get out.

Some leave and live on the streets begging or selling their bodies to
survive.

This morning we'll go to the church's Easter service and celebrate the
only solution to this evil - a risen savior Jesus Christ. Jesus can
forgive their sins, cleanse their hearts and provide healing for them
and their nation.

It is apparently a great debate here whether or not the Earthquake was
divinely orchestrated. There really is no way to know, but what we do
know is our Lord and Savior Jesus will use this tragedy to draw people
to him for eternal salvation. Already the Voo Doo is less prominent
as they usually are holding loud parades everywhere celebrating the
death of Jesus, but we only saw one on the long ride here. He'll also
use this tragedy to show mercy and kindness to untold numbers of
Haitians.

Please pray that the battle against evil here will be won, that this
tragedy will be used to draw many to eternal salvation in our Lord
Jesus, and that we can have the wisdom and discernemnt to know what
God is calling us to do in response.

Love you all.

Jim Ingram
www.drjimingram.blogspot.com
www.jamesingrammd.com

Entry to Haiti

Getting through customs and immigration took forever but no problems.
Didn't seem to care at all about what we were bringing in,

Outside the airpot a swarm of beggars and baggage handlers. Kids and
amputees begging for money and food.

City dirty with rubble, trash, and collapsed buildings everywhere.
People scrounging through trash and numerous tent cities.

Now on the way to Jacmel. I hope to send a picture later.

In Christ,

Jim Ingram
www.drjimingram.blogspot.com
www.jamesingrammd.com

Tent city

Project in Haiti

James 1:19-27:

"19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear,
slow to speak, slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and
receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your
souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a
man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he
was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and
perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will
be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but
deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is
this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep
oneself unstained from the world."

It is my prayer that this week will be full of pure undefiled
religion, serving the orphans and widows of Haiti while avoiding stain
from the darkness of this country.

I am told we are probably going to start work on an orphanage for the
school. There were many kids orphaned by the quake in the area and
the missionary has been asked by the mayor to provide a home for them.

As I myself was an orphan, I can think of no better project to work
than this. Please pray we are effective in this call and can be an
encouragement to the missionary.

Thanks for all of the prayers. I Love all of you!

Jim Ingram
www.drjimingram.blogspot.com
www.jamesingrammd.com