1/23/10 Haiti Mission Update

Dear Friends of ORH,

Thank you for praying for Operation Renewed Hope and our project called Haiti Hope.
As a result of starting Air Hope as a part of Operation Renewed Hope, we have formed a coalition of pilots to support "Haiti Hope." Here is an extended update, including our plans for this next week.

As the Lord has answered your prayers, He has enabled us to make some tremendous progress in Haiti. As you can see from the news reports, the quake zone is still a dangerous area. By God’s Grace, we have been able to contact Bible-believing Christians who will help us in Gospel-centered disaster relief. Please pray, first and foremost, that the Gospel can be made plain to everyone we meet. Our highest goal is that everyone would be delivered from eternal miseries by the finished work of Jesus Christ, as we help them with physical needs (John 3:16, Matthew 5:16).

With the Lord’s help, we have been able to make indirect contact with Pastor Dieupie Cherubin, pastor of the Hosanna Baptist Church in Jacmel, Haiti. He has been in contact with Pastor Yadin Rodriguez of the Iglesia Bautista Christiana in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (on the other side of the large island of Hispaniola). Pastor Cherubin is the president of an association of Bible-believing pastors in southeast Haiti. He is also working with the man who is responsible for the Jacmel airport. That will allow us to distribute supplies quickly when our flights are cleared for Jacmel!

Pastor Rodriguez writes, “Because the help from the government has not really gotten to Jacmel, due to the roads being blocked, the pastors in the area are planning to settle a camp for the families that have lost their homes. Pastor Cherubin told me that their most urgent need is for tents right now, preferably some big tents for administrative work and then some smaller tents to put people by families. Pastor Cherubin is willing to help in any way possible and is very thankful for the help you could provide.”

We are so grateful to the Lord for the help of Pastor Rodriguez and the believers in Santo Domingo at the Iglesia Bautista Christiana (Christian Baptist Church). They have cleared the way for Operation Renewed Hope to position planes at the Santo Domingo airport. A grocer in the church has also agreed to allow us to purchase supplies at a very low cost. While food is available there, this will allow us to purchase available food in Santo Domingo and fly it across the island to Les Cayes and Jacmel.

Here is the plan of action for the next few days. You can see a map of the flight plan here for the planes of Air Hope coalition :
(http://orhnews.blogspot.com/2010/01/orhs-haiti-hope-action-map.html )

Sat/Sun January 23-24: We will position our planes at the airport in Opa-Locka, FL and load them with food and supplies.


Monday, January 25: The four planes of Air Hope will depart from Opa Locka and travel to the north coast of Haiti to Cap-Haïtien to go through customs. These flights will be carrying approximately 3200 lbs. of food. Mr. Greg Rife and Mrs. Valerie Stancil will also travel with these planes. After the planes clear customs, they will fly to Les Cayes (on the southwestern shore of Haiti). There the food will be divided between two children’s homes. One of these children’s homes is led by Connie Anderson of Macedonia World Baptist Missions (http://www.mwbm.org/connieanderson.htm ). The other home is also within reach of Les Cayes. From Les Cayes, Greg Rife will evaluate the conditions for rebuilding the MWBM children’s home and nearby church buildings. Mrs. Stancil, who speaks the language fluently will help with interpretation and evaluate the ministry needs in the area on Monday and Tuesday. Please pray for these folks as they attempt to reach the MWBM children’s home. This is will involve a six hour round trip into mountain terrain via roadways that have been damaged by the quake and frequent aftershocks. The planes will fly on to the Dominican Republic.

Tuesday, January 26: On Tuesday morning they will register and go through orientation to purchase food and prepare to transport it to Haiti. In the afternoon they will attempt to extract Greg and Valerie. If they unsuccessful they will do it on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday, January 27: The planes will fly back from Santo Domingo to Les Cayes, carrying more food for the Children’s Homes. They will also pick up Mr. Rife and Mrs. Stancil if still necessary and fly from Les Cayes to Jacmel, to meet Pastor Dieupie Cherubin, pastor of the Hosanna Baptist Church. In Jacmel, they will begin to evaluate the best approach to help the churches and children’s homes. (None of the planes are large enough to carry the large “circus” tents that will be needed, but a plane will be available through Wings as Eagles on February 15.) At present, it appears that Jacmel will be our main base of operation in Haiti. We have excellent contacts with many churches and children’s homes through the leadership of Pastor Cherubin. On Wednesday evening, the planes will travel back to Santo Domingo. Mrs. Stancil will fly home on Wednesday.

Thursday, January 28: All four planes will be used to fly two round trips to Jacmel carrying food and water. Please pray for these food purchases in Santo Domingo, the pilots and the distribution in Jacmel. Pray also for Mr. Rife as he works with Pastor Cherubin to begin to organize the work of ORH in this devastated region. If arrangements can be made, Greg will also go into Port au Prince.

Friday, January 29: Planned maintenance day. The planes will return to Santo Domingo. Pilot Dave Spangler will fly Greg Rife back to Florida.

The pilots in Santo Domingo plan to continue to purchase food and fuel as long as we have the funds to do so. They will also pick up a medical mission team, led by Mark Rose on Sunday, January 31. This team will be flown from Santo Domingo to Jacmel to help with the urgent medical needs in that area. On Thursday, February 15, the team from Wings as Eagles will fly as many tents as possible into Haiti for use in Jacmel. The poles for these tents are 8-9 feet long, so we must use the larger planes for this phase of the project.

Please pray for funds

Would you please pray with us about this Air Hope coalition project? Pray for Haiti Hope, we need to raise $50,000 immediately to fly an initial twenty missions to supply churches missionaries and children’s homes through the Air Hope coalition. Our planes can each carry about 1000 lbs per trip. We would be able to send 30,000 lbs of relief supplies if you can help us.

Pray for Dave Spangler. He must go back and replace his engine which quit in mid-air last week. Pray for Dave the engine cost is around $25000.00. Pray he can get back to the coalition as soon as possible. His plane can carry 1500 lbs per flight. We need this capability.

Sincerely,

Jan Milton

Operation Renewed Hope
4928 Necessary Ct.
Blue Springs, MO 64015
910-987-5072
orhus@aol.com
www.operationrenewedhope.org