Rony Cuba eating a full meal at the feeding center in Lima

In September, we told you about the children’s feeding centers in Peru that are regularly supported through Heaven’s Family’s Food Fund. This month we’d like to tell you a story that should make you feel good, since you are a part of it due to your gifts to the Food Fund.

Evangeline Cuba has been a widow for two years, and she and her three children were a family without hope. Evangeline’s job as a school janitor brings in about $2 a day, which enables her and her three children to barely survive in the poverty-stricken community where they live. They are not only financially poor, but they were emotionally broken as well. But that was before they met Nelly. Nelly is not only the director of the feeding center that we assist in Lima, but she was the last person to see Evangeline’s husband alive.

Two years ago, Evangeline’s husband was a bread delivery man, and he supplied bread for our feeding center in Lima. One day, after delivering his bread and having a short conversation with Nelly, he walked out to the street to get on to his bicycle rickshaw. He was hit by a speeding vehicle and instantly died.

Evangeline’s daughter Mary

A year after his death, Evangeline and her children found comfort and compassion in the same place where they had lost a provider, husband and father. Like so many of the families in the area, the Cuba family is so poor that the lunches served three times a week at the feeding center are the largest and most nutritious meal they receive.

The free meals are what led Evangeline to begin bringing her children to the feeding center, but what kept them there was the love of Jesus. The Cuba family found that the feeding Center was not only a place that they could eat well, but it was also a place where they could be loved by Jesus in the Christian staff who work there. After ten months, their lives are completely different. The children and their mother spend much of their time there with friends, and they now attend church services whenever they are held by the administrating pastor. Evangeline has been so touched with the work of the feeding center that she now volunteers to help whenever she has a day off or vacation time.

Evangeline and her two sons Rony and Benny

While in Peru we were able to visit the feeding center and meet Evangeline and her children. Evangeline stood up among her friends, and with tears in her eyes thanked us by saying:

We thank you so much for your help. I know that the Lord loves us because he has sent you to provide for us.

Thanks again for making this miracle possible.

For the Kingdom,

CJ McDaniel

Kenyan Pastor Felix Mwambonu and school teacher Robert Luchitio with their new Sawyer water filters

The air was suffocating in our non-air conditioned van as we waited at the ferry crossing in Mombasa, Kenya. We had just begun our drive to a rural village of Mwangaza, which means "light" in Swahili. This very poor and mostly Muslim community has been the focus of several of my mission projects since 1999. With the help of a church I formerly pastored, we had built a Christian school building for a local Pentecostal church. We also supplied its pastor with a motorcycle for him to take the gospel far and wide. But what was needed more than anything was safe drinking water. So we later spent thousands of dollars drilling a borehole that failed to produce. In 2007, I returned to Mwangaza to distribute emergency food supplies and to attempt to treat their drinking water with water-purifying chemicals. The results were less than we hoped for.

This time, however, I had something I knew would work. I had five Sawyer water filters. I also brought more emergency food for the poorest of the poor believers in the village of Mwangaza. When we arrived, I discovered that their only source of water was rainwater collected from their roofs. Since my last visit, they had added several large cement and plastic reservoirs to hold the rainwater. So I rejoiced to know that the Sawyer filters are well suited to make such water safe to use.

After a short training session on hygiene, sanitation, and the proper use of the Sawyer filter, we distributed one filter for their school (400 students and teachers), another for the Pentecostal church (200 members), and three additional filters to families who will share the filters with perhaps 150 other people. They rejoiced to receive, not only those five filters, but also large sacks of corn and beans, made possible by Heaven’s Family’s Food Fund.

At left: one of the village’s rainwater reservoirs. At right: Mwangaza brethren rejoicing for sacks of beans and corn.

It is also important to note that the Pentecostal church school is attended by perhaps 25% Muslim children. The Muslim parents used to object to their children being trained in a Christian program, but they soon realized that this school is the only good local option for furthering their children’s education.

So the Light is indeed getting brighter and brighter in Mwangaza! Thanks for helping through your gifts to the Safe Water Fund and/or Food Fund of Heaven’s Family!

In Christ,

Chuck King
HF International Director

During our visit to Haiti the week of January 18, we took hundreds of photos. We’ve put about 50 of the photos we thought best documented our trip in the slideshow below. Our hope is that these photos will be used by God to increase your love and concern for the people of Haiti and particularly for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering right now.

If you would like to see the photos fullscreen, press the icon in the upper left hand corner.

To contribute securely by credit card from anywhere in the world, click here, or call our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.

To contribute by check in the U.S. or from any country other than the U.K., please write "Disaster Relief" in the memo line and mail it to Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 12854, Pittsburgh, PA, 15241, USA.

To contribute by cheque in the U.K., please make your cheque out to Heaven’s Family and write "Disaster Relief" on the back. You can mail your donation to: Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 3736, Ascot, Berkshire, SL57WR.

One of the children of Mt. Zion Orphanage, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Dear Friends,

I’ve just returned from an exhausting trip to Haiti, via the Dominican Republic, which was the only way we (and multitudes of others) could gain access. HF staff member Jeff Trotter and I witnessed devastation in Port-au-Prince that I can only describe as apocalyptic. As we drove through Haiti’s capital, we were reminded of how fragile life is, and how near eternity can be. 200,000 Haitians rose from their beds on the morning of January 12 never imagining that they had less than twelve hours remaining on this earth.

The needs in Port-au-Prince are staggering. It will require years of effort by agencies and governments around the world to bring Port-au-Prince back up to the depressing place it was before the earthquake. I believe, however, that we have found our places of service. Let me briefly describe what we experienced.

The first stop on our long journey from Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic, to Port-au-Prince was a field hospital on the border, housed at the Good Samaritan Medical Mission compound. Heaven’s Family Latin America Director James Jones is responsible for that field hospital, assigned to his task by the Dominican Republic’s Health Department.

James, a former army medic, has coordinated the convergence of medical personnel and ministries who are treating the injured flown in each day by helicopter. We met many fine doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel who are volunteering their time and skills. Hundreds of injured people are being served. Along with many other fine organizations such as World Vision, Heaven’s Family is providing medical supplies, water filters, and tons of bottled water. Also with our help, three paramedics from Pittsburgh arrived Saturday who will be serving at that field hospital all this week.

L to R: James Jones speaking with a medical staff member at the field hospital, and caring for the injured there.

After a taxing, bottle-necked border crossing into Haiti, we drove to the outskirts of Port-au-Prince to rendezvous with Pastor Preval Meritil, my Haitian friend of thirty years, who oversees hundreds of churches across Haiti. It was so good to see him alive and well.

L to R: Preval Meritil, and congestion at the bottlenecked border crossing

Preval led us to some church property about an hour outside the city where he is resettling about 1,500 Port-au-Prince Christians who lost their homes. When we arrived, children were playing with one another, women were cooking rice and beans in large pots over wood fires, and men were constructing two simple sleeping shelters, one for the men, and the other for women. That camp will be their home into the indefinite future. Many more will likely be joining them.

I entrusted Preval with several thousand dollars I had brought with me to provide for their most immediate food needs. Food is available for those who can afford the increased prices. I was so glad we had made the effort to be there, and that we were able to do something for members of our spiritual family. We also gave them enough Sawyer water filters to purify water for everyone.

Images from the resettlement camp where HF will be serving in the months ahead. Most everyone is living under tarps and sheets, or out in the open.

The Haitian government has announced that 400,000 Port-au-Prince survivors will need to be relocated to resettlement camps around the city. Providing basic services for those multitudes will be a massive and daunting task, and I’m afraid that for many, things will become worse before they get better.

Heaven’s Family will be focusing on caring for those 1,500 brothers and sisters whom we have just begun to help. They need foam mattresses, as they are currently sleeping on the cold, hard ground, as well as blankets, food, shelter, water, toilet facilities, and security from gangs who will be preying on those who have food. (4,000 Port-au-Prince prison inmates escaped after the earthquake.) The logistics to provide for all these needs are being worked out by James Jones and Preval Meritil—all made possible because of your compassion.

From the resettlement camp we journeyed to the other side of Port-au-Prince to visit our orphanage, passing the ruins of many homes, businesses and large government buildings along the way. The stench of decaying bodies still buried under rubble permeated the air. We witnessed a line of people that stretched for at least a mile that terminated at a large iron gate. There was obviously hope of food behind that gate, but it was closed as we passed.

A few of the many scenes of earthquake damage that we witnessed

The concrete house that is used to house the children of Mt. Zion Orphanage was undamaged, with the exception of a block wall that fell on the edge of their small piece of property. None of the children had been injured, but a number of them asked us, through our interpreter, if we would take them with us. They said they were afraid of another earthquake. (Everyone in Port-au-Prince is sleeping out in the open.) I did my best to reassure them that God would protect them.

Safe and sound: The children of Mt. Zion Orphanage in Port-au-Prince, with a few neighbor kids also.

The director, Pastor Widelson Marcellus, and his wife, are also caring for some neighbors. Along with the orphanage children, none had eaten since breakfast that morning, and they were out of money. We arrived late in the afternoon, so I was glad to be able to provide the food they lacked. We gave them a Sawyer water filter, and James treated a few injured people who were there. We will continue to be a lifeline for Mt. Zion orphanage through James and Preval in the months ahead. We are considering relocating all the children to our other orphanage that is five hours outside of Port-au-Prince in a more rural setting.

There is so much more that I want to tell you about our time in Haiti. Please look for an article about earthquake relief in our March magazine that will include a web link to a slideshow that will better tell our story.

Again, thank you to everyone who has helped and continues to help. The media frenzy will soon subside, but we are going to continue serving in Haiti for months and years ahead.

In Christ,
David

David Servant
Director, Heaven’s Family

To contribute securely by credit card from anywhere in the world, click here, or call our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.

To contribute by check in the U.S. or from any country other than the U.K., please write "Disaster Relief" in the memo line and mail it to Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 12854, Pittsburgh, PA, 15241, USA.

To contribute by cheque in the U.K., please make your cheque out to Heaven’s Family and write "Disaster Relief" on the back. You can mail your donation to: Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 3736, Ascot, Berkshire, SL57WR.

A child who was orphaned by the earthquake, after his broken arm was set at a temporary hospital assisted by HF

Dear Friends,

I’m glad that I have some encouraging news to report from Haiti.

He is Alive! Yesterday morning I learned that a dear Haitian friend of thirty years, pastor Preval Meritil, is alive. He is not only alive, he is well. He has been using his old Land Rover to transport believers from Port-au-Prince, where relief efforts are bottlenecked at the airport, to his church compound up in the mountains, several hours away. Residents of Port-au-Prince are streaming from the city to escape scarcity of food and water, the stench of death, continued aftershocks, and the escalating violence.

Safe Water for 10,000: HF International Director Chuck King successfully delivered 100 Sawyer Water filters to our primary representative in the bordering nation of the Dominican Republic ($4,000 worth). Those filters can provide enough safe drinking water for 10,000 people each day. Initially, they are being distributed to several field hospitals where the need is so great.

Food and Meds Delivered: Area representative James Jones traveled overland into Haiti to deliver some of those water filters, as well as food, bottled water and medical supplies provided by Heaven’s Family. He has shipped similar supplies by air. He has also helped set up a MASH unit on Haiti’s border that is treating the injured who are flown in by helicopter. He is bringing in thirty medical interns and ten surgeons from the Dominican Republic.

Our Orphanages: Until I spoke with pastor Preval, the only news we had about our two orphanages in Haiti was an unconfirmed report that eight orphans were found alive in Port-au-Prince. We anxiously waited for more news, but feared the worst. Praise God, however, pastor Preval reported that all the orphans are alive and uninjured, as well as the orphanage directors! He said their greatest need right now is for food. I’ll let you know more details as further news comes in. Please keep praying for them.

Heading to Haiti: I’m currently in London on ministry business, but will arrive home this evening. I’ll be leaving for Haiti early tomorrow morning along with HF staff member Jeff Trotter. We’re hoping to reach our orphanage in Port-au-Prince (although that may be too dangerous at this time), as well as assess where we should focus next. Thanks so very much for your help once again. Your compassion is making a difference.

In Christ,

David

David Servant
Director, Heaven’s Family

To contribute securely by credit card from anywhere in the world, click here, or call our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.

To contribute by check in the U.S. or from any country other than the U.K., please write "Disaster Relief" in the memo line and mail it to Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 12854, Pittsburgh, PA, 15241, USA.

To contribute by cheque in the U.K., please make your cheque out to Heaven’s Family and write “Disaster Relief” on the back. You can mail your donation to: Heaven’s Family, P.O. Box 3736, Ascot, Berkshire, SL57WR.

Dear Friends,

Massive amounts of aid are now beginning to pour into Haiti. The immediate needs are, of course, for the rescue of trapped survivors, water, food, and medical help for the injured. Right now everything is a mass of confusion in Port-au-Prince.

We have not received any word from either our primary contact in Haiti (with whom I spoke by phone just a few days before the earthquake), or from either of our two orphanage directors. Like tens of thousands of other Americans and Canadians who have loved ones in Haiti, we wait with hope. The cell phone of our primary contact sounds as if it is ringing when I call him, but there is no answer. I am facing up to the possibility that Preval Meritil, a dear friend of thirty years and a true Haitian saint, is in heaven.

Our area representative, James Jones of the Dominican Republic, found the Dominican/Haiti border tightly closed in both directions at two locations that he tried. Thankfully, because James is a former army medic, he has been assigned by the Dominican Civil Defense and Secretary of Health to a MASH team, and he will be on the ground in Port-au-Prince on Saturday. His job will be triage, primary rescue, stabilization of the injured, and transfers. James is taking $5,000 worth of bottled water, food, and medical supplies from Heaven’s Family, thanks to all of you.

HF International Director Chuck King is flying to the Dominican Republic tomorrow to personally entrust James Jones with 100 Sawyer Water Filters. James will take them with him to Port-au-Prince where they are so greatly needed right now.

There were massive needs in Haiti before the earthquake, and there will be massive needs for months and years to come there. We intend to do all that the Lord enables us to do to meet immediate and long-term needs.

Our website experienced some technical difficulties yesterday for a while, so if you tried to make a contribution for Haiti Disaster Relief but were not able, please try again today. Everything is working now. And thanks to everyone for your compassion.

In Christ,

David

David Servant
Director, Heaven’s Family

To contribute securely by credit card from anywhere in the world, click here, or call our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.

Dear Friends,

You’ve probably heard the news of the 7.0 earthquake that struck the Caribbean island nation of Haiti late yesterday afternoon. The epicenter was not far from Haiti’s capital, Port-Au-Prince, home to about three million people. We have two orphanages in Haiti. The one in Port-au-Prince cares for twelve children. We have not been able to establish communication with them or with any of our other dear friends in Haiti. As soon as we hear something substantial, I’ll let you know.

Three of the children at our Port-au-Prince orphanage

Homes and other buildings in Port-au-Prince are generally poorly constructed, made of concrete or concrete blocks, and the early news is that there is massive destruction and loss of life. Haiti has very little infrastructure or emergency/disaster services. It is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. In the best of times, life is very difficult for those who live in the hillside shanty towns that surround Port-au-Prince. Food insecurity already affects more than a quarter of Haiti’s population—almost two million people. Please join us in prayer for every survivor.

Yesterday afternoon, just a few hours before the earthquake struck, a few of our staff members were purchasing air tickets to travel to Haiti in a few weeks to visit the two orphanages that we assist through our Orphan’s Tear division. While they must wait until early March, a dear friend, James Jones, who is a former army medic and who lives on the same island as Haiti in the Dominican Republic, is on his way towards Port-au-Prince. He and his team are carrying food, water and medicines. We hope to send funds to James to help him and his team provide relief to survivors in the earthquake region. Currently, however, our Disaster Relief Fund is empty, as we have expended everything we’ve received into that fund in 2009 to rebuild the lives of believers affected by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.

If you would like to help us with relief efforts in Haiti by contributing to Heaven’s Family’s Disaster Relief Fund, you can give securely by credit card through our website by clicking here, or by calling our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826. To contribute by check, see the instructions below. 100% of what is given will be sent to Haiti, as is always our policy.

I also ask that you forward this email to your compassionate friends along with your recommendation of Heaven’s Family, as that might also be a means to meet urgent needs and answer prayers in Haiti.

Sincerely in Christ,

David

David Servant
Director, Heaven’s Family

To contribute securely by credit card from anywhere in the world, click here, or call our office during regular business hours (8:30AM – 5PM EST) at (412) 833-5826.

“How much did you give?” Bienvenu asked each member of his house church as he rifled through his wad of money. Whatever amount each believer replied, Bienvenu plucked out bills totaling twice that figure, and placed those bills in his or her hand. The members were bewildered by what was taking place.

Bienvenu had just collected an offering from each of his four house churches for a pastor’s conference he would conduct in the tiny country of Burundi in East Africa. The materially-poor house church members had sacrificially given $341 to cover the cost of the conference, which would provide sound Biblical teaching, one meal each day, a humble place to sleep, and a copy of David Servant’s book, The Disciple-Making Minister.

When David Servant heard of Bienvenu’s conference plans in Cibitoke province and his desire to duplicate the effort in Bujumbura and Kayanza provinces, Heaven’s Family quickly sent Bienvenu $682, and David instructed Bienvenu to give back to each house church member twice the amount each had given in the first offering. Then David asked Bienvenu to receive another offering in order to help fund his second and third conferences.

Bienvenu did just that and reported back to David; “They gave $410, which is bad because some of them did not have enough faith to give more.” Although he now had enough money to do the second pastor’s conference, he was anxiously anticipating getting all $682 back, and possibly more, to provide for both the second and third conference.

Bienvenu strongly requested David Servant to, “Once again, raise the faith of my people.” David sent Bienvenu funds — this time $820, twice what the house church members gave. Bienvenu repeated the cycle of giving each member twice the amount that each had given in the second offering. This time Bienvenu was happy to report that, “they gave it all.” All $820 was given back in the third and final offering making it possible to do the second and third conferences in neighboring provinces.

Burundian pastors, who were blessed to receive a copy of The Disciple-Making Minister

Brother Bienvenu has distributed 750 copies of The Disciple-Making Minister to pastors in the Kirundi language, of which he did the translation. He is a champion for the cause of Christ, with a burning desire to help equip pastors and help revive their ministry, the same way that The Disciple-Making Minister has helped revive his own ministry.

Thank you for your financial support that is going into all the world to make disciples as our Lord raises up Bienvenus in many nations, tribes, and tongues.

Together in the Master’s Plan,

David Warnock
Director, Books for Pastors Fund

Dear Friends,

This morning (Sunday), our team attended a church service at the missionary training center started by a good friend and missionary supported through our Native Missionary Program. Before I spoke to the student body and other gathered believers, I did a survey to find out how many languages were spoken among them. And I asked each person who spoke a unique language to teach me how to say “I love you” in his or her language. When I was done, we had tallied fifteen ways to say “I love you,” and none bore any resemblance to any other. That was from a group of about thirty people! They sang all their worship songs in English at the service, however, just for us. Our team members short messages were translated into Burmese, which everyone could understand (except us).

After the service we briefly visited a mountain-perch Buddhist temple that overlooks the city. It was so grievous to our hearts to witness kneeling people praying before silent idols. Our native missionary host wanted us to have a taste of the challenges that he faces every day.

From there we hurried back for lunch and then made the one-hour drive back to the airport, from which we flew back to Yangon. We arrived just in time to make a final dinner appointment with one of our beloved orphanage directors and his family.

Tomorrow we begin our long journey home with a morning flight to Bangkok, Thailand, where we will stay overnight, and then on the next day to Tokyo and North America. Those will be relatively uneventful days by comparison to the last two weeks, so I’m going to sign off with this blog entry. Thanks for joining me on this trip via our blog. I hope that next year you can join us in person! Don’t forget to look at today’s photos below. — David

Philip Barker shares at Sunday church

A close up of our native missionary’s cute son

And a close up of our their beautiful daughter

A part of the Buddhist temple we visited

A Christian minority—team member Stephen Servant

A local woman in the Sunday market place

Dear Friends,

Today our team enjoyed some well-deserved rest and relaxation, spending much of the day touring Inle Lake, here in Shan State. Inle Lake covers about 45 square miles, but has an average depth of only about seven feet. From it, thousands of people who reside in villages along its shores earn a living. Most of them live in houses built on stills in the water. When villagers want to travel from their homes, they use boats or canoes.

The people of Inle amazingly grow tomatoes, as well as other fruits and vegetables, on soil that they float on the lake’s surface, supporting it by dried plants underneath. You can actually walk on the soil of those farms and sense that you are walking on land that is floating on water. A few of our team members did.

This is a Buddhist region that has been very resistant to the gospel, but HF is supporting one very strategic native missionary here through our Native Missionary Program. We’ve also been distributing rice to very poor Christians all around this lake through gifts to our Food Fund. Some of those Christians are native missionaries. Today we listened to some very encouraging testimonies regarding the fruit of that ministry.

We stopped to have lunch at lake restaurant on stilts, and met there with a native missionary from India who is planting house churches, and who inadvertently started an orphanage in the process. British team member Philip Barker, who leads Orphan’s Tear U.K., spent some time with that missionary to take preliminary steps that may lead to regular sponsorship of his children, and we left him with some immediate assistance in the form of several hundred dollars.

Below are some photos from today with a little explanation in the captions. — David

Team members Jeff Trotter and Philip and Sandie Barker, with the bow of their tour boat aimed at one of the nicer homes on Inle Lake.

An amazing balancing act: A traditional fisherman on Inle Lake who rows with a leg paddle, leaving his hands free to work his net.

Inle Lake villagers walking a ridge along the shoreline

A young boy baiting his fishing line

An 85-year-old woman whom we met who does not need reading glasses

A visit to a paper umbrella manufacturer, where even the paper itself is manufactured. The handmade and fully-working umbrellas in this photo cost $5 each.

Team members Jeff Trotter and Philip Barker successfully stand on a floating farm.

A typical Inle Lake village scene

Two-hatted tourist and Inle Lake enthusiast, team member David Growden