Haiti Happenings

The New Year

2012-01-12T06:20:00.000-08:00

We are now into 2012. We thank the Lord for bringing us through another year. We have been truly blessed in many ways this past year. We had some good family time as my daughter spent Christmas and the New Year with us.

I am writing this on the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake that killed so many people and brought such destruction. The government has planned special events all week. Yet, what is most encouraging is the special services that are taking place through out Haiti today. The church is testifying of God's grace and spending much time in prayer for the country of Haiti. The earthquake brought many to Christ and rejuvenated the faith of many. I pray that this be the year when God pours out His Spirit in a mighty way in Haiti.

There is much hope in Haiti today. Most people are pleased with the new government that was elected this year. They seem to be moving Haiti in the right direction. More than 50% of the rubble has been removed, over 100,000 people are back in homes, and 6 tent cities and there people have been relocated. This month they are to begin re-locating those in the biggest tent city which is located in the middle of the city next to the presidential palace. There are over 900,000 children going to school for free in the country through the education program of the government. Yet, there is still so much more that needs to be done because the needs are so many and so great.

We as New Life Mission of Haiti have our challenges ahead of this year. Our biggest challenge is completing the re-building of our mother church. Another challenge is that we are in a legal battle over one of our church properties. Then there is the daily demands of our neighbors, churches, schools, feeding program, and co-workers in Christ.

We thank God for all those who support us through their prayers and gifts of love.

Haiti and Its Challenges

2011-08-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

It is great to back home in Haiti after our visit to the states. Yet, Haiti is a land of many challenges. The first day after getting back, we had to clean the house from top to bottom. There was a layer of dust over everything about an inch thick. The house was locked and not in use for two months, but no glass in the windows. We live in a house open to the elements. Yes, there is no air conditioning.

We came back to find mice living in our photocopier in the Bible school, which as you can imagine, is not a good scenario. Then soon after we found a rat in a cupboard on our porch. Then the following week, we found a rat in our guest house. When I chased it with a stick and cornered him on the back porch, he leaped off the porch, only to land on his feet two floors down in the yard and run away.

We have been gearing up for the school year. I have been preaching in Haitian churches, and publicizing the Bible School since being back in hopes of a good group of first year students. Margaret has been overseeing a three day seminar for our elementary school teachers.

Yesterday, I was talking to the pastor of New Life Church of Demier and asking him how construction of the church and school are coming. We had left a Haitian team to work on it while we were gone. If you remember, this is the church that takes two hours by car and a three hour walk to arrive there from where we live. He gave a good report on the progress being made. We have erected two school buildings, in the process of building a bathroom, and half way done with re-building the church which will also be used for two classes during the week.

Yet, with progress, there is always challenges. The challenge we are facing now is that because of the large tin roofs the water is washing away the land around the school. You must understand that the church and school are on the very top of a mountain. To combat this problem, there are two things we can and must do: first build a water tank to collect the water off the roofs, but it will not be able to hold all the water; second, build a graded retaining wall to stop the erosion. Of course this all requires money which we don't have at this time.

Be in prayer for the Bible school, our elementary school, and the on going construction of the Demier church location.

We thank all those who remember us in prayer and give towards the work here.

State Side

2011-07-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

We wanted to update you in what were are doing. We are presently in the states visiting family, friends and churches. We are outside of Rochester, New York. Western New York is sure beautiful. We are keeping our supporters abreast of what we are doing and getting some needed rest. We will be returning to Haiti on August 2nd. Pray for our health as we are dealing with several health issues. We thank all those who pray for us and financially support us.

Up-date June 1st

2011-06-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

This past month has been very busy.
I went out to one of our country churches,pastored by Ylophane Dieuseul, in a mountain area called, L'azile. God is doing a great work out there. The congregation has grown and we have built a new school building where over 250 children attend and get a free hot lunch everyday.
We had a two fold mission as I went to visit this church. The first was to take 11 goats up in the back of our double cab pick-up truck over rough roads. It's a three hour trip. We did this to begin a goat project for the church and community. These are a special kind of goat that is relatively new to Haiti and much larger than the native goats. We gave ten families, one female goat each and the church keeps the other goat which is a male for breading with the females. The person who receives a goat does not pay for it but is required to give two kids (baby goats) back to the program. One will be given to another family and the other goes to the church to help it financially. The second reason for going was to hold a leadership seminar which went very well.
The other thing we did this month was coordinating and getting all the material into our Demier church for two classrooms and the church we are rebuilding in that area. This is no small feat when you consider hauling in everything you need on your head and by mule over mountains and through rivers for 3 hours. We have already carried in 100 sack of cement, 90 - 2x4's, 1,400 concrete blocks, 3 truck load of sand, 40 sheets of corrugated tin roofing, 40 bars of steel, food for two weeks to feed 15 people, and many other misc. items. These figures do not include all the material we hauled in for the first two classrooms we have already built for the school.
Last but not least, we had our Bible school graduation where 20 men and women graduated. They completed their three year Biblical and Theological study. It is always a joy to send equipped and trained laborers into the harvest field. We now have graduated over 370 students. This was our 21st graduating class, to God be the glory!
We want to thank you all for your prayers and financial support of God's work in Haiti. We could not do this without you and God's gracious favor.

Pastor Homes

2011-04-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

Another group has come and gone. This time it was a joint group from Corner Stone Christian Fellowship and Zion Fellowship. There main focus was finishing a pastors house that Zion Fellowship financed. They were a great group and a real blessing. We thank God for the ladies on the group. They reupholstered all our furniture which was a big task to tackle in a short amount of time. It looks like a new place around here.

We are still working on our mother church at Croix des Mission. The next group will put a bond beam on all the walls. The following team will put the roof on which will be very exciting. Also, we are digging in for the long haul at our church in Demier which will involve re-building the church parsonage, church building, and school. Pray that God supplies for all these buildings. We know that he will.

God bless all who pray and give to our ministry.

Reflections

2011-01-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Family in the Lord!
As I reflect on this past year, it has been a year of surprises, challenges, and blessings.
This year we have seen a devestating earthquake that took the lives of over 200,000 people and the homes of millions. We have seen a hurricane that devestated the crops of many farmers. We have seen a Cholera epidemic which is still upon us that has infected over 150,000 people and taken the lives of 3,000 people. We have seen politcal upheaval that brought riots and destruction of property.
This year has been a challenge for us and the Haitian people. Once again we have seen the resiliance of this people in the midst of great suffering. Suffering that few of us have ever experienced. It has been a challenge for us because we have had to add to our ministry responsabilities the task of meeting the physical needs of the Haitian people. Yet, the greatest burden we bear is to continually look upon the plight of the Haiti. Our hearts do weep for Haiti.
This year we have distributed water, tarps, tents, food, clothing, hygiene kits, and water filtration systems. We have re-built 5 homes, and are in the process of re-building two churches and one school. Among these things we have managed to operate our Bible school, oversee our churches, teach on the radio, do Bible seminars, host 20 teams, and keep up with a mirad of correspondence and bookkeeping.
This year Margaret's mother died which was a great loss to us all. Yet, we will always remember the bright example of this faithful, fearless, and loving servant of the Lord who touched the lives of every person she met. Now she is enjoying the fruits of her labor as she basks in God's presence.
Amongst all this suffering God has richly blessed us. He has kept us healthy and safe. He has supplied our every need abundantly. He provided for Rachel's colllege, the on going needs of the mission, a 14 foot truck, and a double cab pick-up truck. Yet, the greatest blessing of all is that he spared our home and Bible school building from being destroyed. We thank God daily for this as we look around and see thousands of people under tarps, in tents and the 10 ft. by 10 ft. temporary wooden structures they call home.
Also, we can not forget another great blessing this year. It is you, our supporters, who have diligently prayed for us and given generously to us and the needs of the Haitian people. We could not have made it through this year without you and definately not without the Lord.
Be blessed in 2011.

Roger & Margaret Clark

Great Progress

2010-12-03T04:13:00.000-08:00

We want to first of all thank all those who have given to Haiti and our work these past ten months since the January 12th earthquake. Without your prayers and financial support we would not been able to do all that we have done.

We have now built three pastors homes and partially completed another. The latest one that we finished was for pastor Nelson Espere who is a pastor in our mission.

Also, we have come a long way on our mother church which is pastored by Jeanty Osnac. We thank the Lord for the last group that came down and spent over a week with us. The group is part of an organization called ACWAM which stands for Active Christians with a Mission and are from Ontario, Canada. They did a tremendous amount of work on our church in Croix des Mission and were a real blessing. The pastor and people were greatly encouraged by the progress they made. They built a storeroom which is needed for our tools and supplies. It will be used later as a church storeroom. They poured 6 columns, multiple footings, and multiple mid-beams for the walls that were laid by our Haitian workers. Hats off to ACWAM and John Wicks.

While ACWAM was here we received the container that they shipped and have begun distributing the supplies. Also, they held several clinics. They took two days to go out observe the needs of our church in Demier which was encouragement to them and gave them hope. The Demier church and school were destroyed. They are meeting under a brush arbor at this time.

On top of the devastating earthquake that has rocked this country, we have a cholera epidemic on our hands. Over 1,600 have already died from it and an expected 200,000 will have had it in three months time. Pray for our protection, and the protection of the Haitian people.

On November 28th they held elections for President, and Parliament leaders. Twelve of the eighteen presidential candidates have declared fraud, and asked for the elections to be annulled. Pray for calm and wisdom during this time. There haves been many protests throughout the country and some have been violent. In all this, we know that we are more than victorious in Christ Jesus. God is still on His throne.

Be blessed in Jesus name!
Roger & Margaret Clark

Building Homes

2010-11-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

We are in the midst of re-building homes for pastors in our mission who lost them during the earthquake. We have built pastor Jeanty's home, partially built pastor Sauveur's home and practically finished with pastor Jose's home. Attached you will find pictures of pastor Jose's home with his family in front of it. We are presently building pastor Nelson's home.

Pastor Dody's Shelter

The next home we want to build is for pastor Dody Duverseau. When his home collapsed, he and his wife barely made it out alive. Their whole household is still under the rubble, and unsalvageable. He had two foster children, one of them died in the earthquake and the other lost her arm. It is heart breaking to hear their story.

We have five more pastor homes we want to build. I ask you to put yourselves in their shoes. Imagine being in a tent or make shift shelter 10 ft by 10ft covered with tarps for 10 months with what little worldly possessions you have left. Imagine being in there with temperatures over 100 degrees; imagine at night when it rains, water comes through the cracks or runs across your floor and you have to stand up all night; imagine no kitchen, no bathroom, no shower; imagine basically living outside and doing everything outside, going inside only to sleep.

We can build a home for one of these pastors for $12,000. We are unable to continue building homes without your help. What better Christmas present could we give our fellow laborers in Christ who give their lives daily caring for God's flock? Won’t you help us give these pastors a home for Christmas?

Perhaps you can only do a portion of a house. Perhaps only a few blocks, or a door, or a few pieces of tin for the roof. Don’t think that you have to do it all by yourself. In Haiti we have a saying, “Anpil men, chay pa lou.” (With many hands the load is not heavy.) If we each give a portion we can achieve much for the Lord and in the lives of these pastors.

Yours in Christ,

Roger & Margaret Clark

You may send your gifts to Elim Fellowship, 1703 Dalton Road, Lima, NY 14485. Please mark them "preferred for Roger Clark - Pastor's homes".

In the Thick of Things

2010-10-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings in the name of our Lord!

We are still in the thick of things. We had a group recently from Virginia who worked on one of our pastors houses. Pictures of this house will soon be coming. Today, we have sent our Haitian foreman to begin building another home for another pastor in our mission. There are still 1.5 million people homeless. With your help we will build one home at a time. It doesn't seem like much in the scheme of things, but it means a lot to those who now are out from under their tent. I can't imagine living in a tent for 9 months.

Our Bible school is open and going full speed ahead. We have over a hundred students attending. Please pray that God supplies for their schooling. You could help us provide a scholarship for a student by giving $25 a month or a one time donation of $300.

Pray that God continues to give us strength and wisdom as we serve the Haitian people. Pray for the elections that will take place on November 28th.

August Update 2010

2010-08-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends, Family, and Ministry Partners,
We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! We thank God for you all, and pray that He will bless you in every way.
We thank the Lord for the group that came from Abbeville. LA. Their church is part of WME. They truly had servant’s hearts and were a blessing to many. Most of the people on the group were very skilled. They accomplished more than we thought they would on our church building. Lord willing the next group will do the remaining pillars and begin on the walls.
This week we received some food aid for our churches and will be distributing it in the weeks to come. So many people are desperate. Still about 1.5 million people are displaced and living in tents and shelters covered with tarps. Yesterday, we had a hard rain and high winds. Many of the tarps and tents were torn.
We have built two homes and one room of a house for one of our pastors so that he can get out of his tent and the rain. As funds come in we will continue on this pastor’s house. We hope by the end of the year to have built 8 homes.
We continue to make minor repairs on our home and Bible school building. Bible school will open on September 6th; pray that God sends many students who are zealous for Him.
There will be Presidential and Parliament elections in November. Pray that God raises Daniel's and Nehemiah's to lead this nation in the way of the Lord. Haiti needs a strong Godly leader who will not miss manage all the aid being given for Haiti 's reconstruction.
Thanks once again for your prayers and financial support of our ministry.

Yours in Christ,Roger & Margaret Clark

Update July 24th 2010

2010-07-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

We want to thank you all for your prayers and support of us and the Lord's ministry.

Soon after we got back to Haiti we began to prepare for our next work team which arrived on July 8th. It was a group of 12 Full Gospel Community Church in Warsaw NY. They worked very hard on our New Life Church in Croix des Mission and accomplished much despite the 100 plus degree temperatures. We thank the Lord for their service to His kingdom.

The past twelve days have been tough for Margaret and I. Margaret had a relapse with her back and has been in bed all day except for short intervals where she walks around the house with the help of a walker. On top of this, our missionary chiropractor has left for a month vacation. Yet, God is helping us. He sent a visiting chiropractor just a couple of days ago who gave her one treatment. Also, a missionary friend has loaned us a portable traction table which we are using daily to decompress Margaret's back. With this and prayer she is improving. Believe together with us for Margaret's complete healing. Pray as well for me, as I have a lot of aches and pains in my legs and knees.

We have been working on making repairs and improvements on our home and Bible School building. We thank the Lord for our engineer (construction manager) who comes to supervise all our construction teams.

Besides, our church reconstruction. We are in the process of rebuilding one of our pastors homes. We hope he will be able to move in within a couple of weeks.

Pray for the many Haitians who are still living in tents and make shift homes. It has been raining almost every night and hurricane season is fast approaching. Pray that God gives the Haitian government and international community wisdom in rebuilding this nation. We know that God is on the throne and He will do great and mighty things for this nation.
Yours in Christ,

Roger & Margaret Clark

Home

2010-07-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

We are glad to be back home in Haiti. It has been a good 25 years. Wow!

We came back. Hoping to see some improvements, but sadly there is very little change. The Haitian and international governments seems to be doing very little. If it wasn't for the non-profit organisations and mission groups and all those who have been coming for almost six months now, things would be much worse. There is still rubble everywhere, no large housing projects to get people out of the tent cities, and very little construction. Those who are building are doing it without permits because the government is still unwilling to give any permits. In some cases they are stopping people from re-building their homes and businesses.

We have a team coming from Warsaw, New York to help us continue building the mother church of our mission (New Life Church of Croix des Mission) that is pastored by Jeanty Osnac. We know that they will be a blessing. Also, in the near future we will begin to re-build two other churches in our mission.

After they leave, we will continue to re-build peoples homes. We have already re-built two complete homes and helped others repair their homes.

Pray that God gives us wisdom and strength. We thank all those who have been praying for us and giving towards us and the Haitian people. We will not be dismayed because our help and hope are in the Lord.

Update - June 12th,2010

2010-06-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

For those who are following this blog, we wanted to give you a little up-date. We left Haiti May 6th to Florida where we spent a few days and picked up our daughter at South Eastern University. We then went from there to Plano, Texas to spend some time with my family. We spent a week there and then returned to Florida and sent our daughter off to Burkina Faso, Africa. From there we went up to Lima,NY.

Margaret and I have been in New York for several weeks now. We have been visiting freinds and churches. Also, we attended the Elim leadership conference. The first day of conference, Margaret's back went out so she could not attend the rest of it. She has been seeing a Chairopractor and improving with prayer.

Now some say, have you had any rest. Yes! We have believe it or not. We are enjoying the missionary apartment that Elim provides for the mission.

We will be returning on June 26th to Haiti.

Haiti Update April 25th

2010-04-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is still on the throne.

Haiti is slowly on the way to recovery. Many of the primary and secondary schools have opened. Most of them are meeting under tents or in temporary wooden shelters. Even those which have not sustained any damage are not meeting in their building because parents are unwilling to send their children to a school that has a concrete roof out of fear that another quake will come.

Once again this month we had two groups simultaneously here with us, 9 from New York, and 6 from Mexico. Originally the one from Mexico was going to go out to our country church to begin building, but we were unable to get the materials on location before they arrived. Therefore, we put them together with the other group to work at our New Life church in Port-au-Prince. This is the second team that has put their efforts to this important task. The first team put in the footers (the base for the pillar). The second team which just left Thursday prepared forms for five pillars and poured three. This is very hard work in temperatures of 100 degrees and high humidity.

The Mexican team was God ordained. We had been wondering how we were going to open our school in Demier because the building was destroyed in the earthquake. A few days before the team came; we were given a 40 by 60 ft. tent for the school. We wandered how we would get up to Demier, and who would put it up since we had never done anything like this. When the Mexican team came, we found out that one of them put tents up for a living. Wow! God has everything in control. Therefore, we sent three of them up with the tent to install it. You must realize, this is no easy feat. The tent was large and had to be transported in our new long bed truck. This required three hours on mountain roads, one of these were over very bad roads. When we arrived at the end of the road, we dropped off the tent tarps, and poles which had to be carried in on foot for 3 hours. The church people met the group of three visitors, and hauled the tent in. The tarps were so big and heavy that it was carried by two men who had a pole on each shoulder and the tarp on the posts between them. The team of three Mexicans went in one day, set up the tent and walked back out the following day, talk about intense physical exertion. Praise the Lord! The school is now opening and functioning under the tent.

We want to thank all those who have come since the earthquake. They have been a blessing to many and made a great difference. Also, we could not do what we are doing without the prayers and support of the saints.

We will be leaving for the States on May 5th for a much neede break and a time of visiting family, friends and churches.

Haiti Update - March 27th

2010-03-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Greeting in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
We trust all is well with you. We want to thank you once again for your financial contributions and prayers for us and the people of Haiti.
Much is still the same. They are continually clearing rubble and working slowly on establishing refugee camps (glorified tent cities). It rained hard last night which was a mixed blessing. The country needed the rain, but many thousands of people were soaked.
We thank the Lord that we have already rebuilt one of our pastors homes and his family is out of the rain. Yet, we are sad knowing that two of our other pastors in New Life Mission are still camping out in tents.
For one week we have had three teams staying with us, a total of 25 people. Several pitched tents on our flat concrete roof. The city stopped piping water into our house over a week ago, as a result our water tank went dry and the team was without water for three days. We had to do a bucket brigade each day from a neighbors home who still had water in his tank. We eventually got a truck load of water that we had ordered two day previous to this.
The teams have been great! They have done food distribution, evangelized in the tent cities, preached in our churches, and blessed our people with many needed things. Also, they worked very hard on the foundation of New Life Church of Croix des Mission which is pastored by Jeanty Osnac. This was the first church that we planted in the mission.
Part of the team worked on pastor Sauveur's house that was severely damaged in hopes that they could repair it. In the end they realized that it could not be resurrected and resigned themselves to the fact that the two story structure had to be torn completely down.
Pray for safety for all our brothers and sisters in the Lord as crime is on the rise due to the destitute situation in the country. Pray for the hundreds of thousands of people who are still homeless. The need all around us is overwhelming, but we take one step and one day at a time as God allows us to help the people of Haiti. We could not do this without your continued prayers and support.
May God richly bless you in every way!

Roger & Margaret Clark

Haiti Update - Feb. 26th

2010-02-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has brought renewed fears. Sunday night it rained about 11PM, so many or our neighbors decided they could sleep inside. We had not had any major aftershocks in at least 2 weeks. Then at 4:30AM we had a 4.7 aftershock that shook the country. Everyone who was inside ran for the doors! There was crashing and screaming as people were very afraid.

We have had several hard aftershocks this week. Everyone is sleeping outside again. The news, rumors and stories on the radio are keeping everyone in fear. Some are perhaps true and many are not true. But people in fear will believe many things. Please pray for God's peace to come over this nation. He is the only One who can calm our fears.

Roger & I took 3 days 'off' and went to a beach in the south of Haiti. It is our 'favorite getaway' that we have been to several times before. We were not sure if we would find it standing or not, so we packed a tent just in case we had to sleep on the beach. We were very happy when we saw that not only was the hotel standing, but it had no cracks or damage whatsoever! We enjoyed the peace and calm of the ocean and returned well rested.

We have a team of 9 with us from Trinidad & Tobago this weekend. They did some work around our house today and gave out 2000 meals and 30 tarps in our neighborhood. Tomorrow they will minister in a local church and set up a prayer ministry tent in a needy area. We are glad they are here with us.

As we heard the news of the earthquake in Chile today, our hearts were touched. We can surely relate to their state of mind and the disaster they are experiencing. We have prayed much for them today and ask that you also hold them in prayer.

We appreciate each of you. Your prayers and support mean so much to us. We would not be able to stand without your help in the area of prayer. We are extremely blessed to have such a large group of prayer warriors standing with us. Thank you.

Serving Him day by day,
Roger & Margaret Clark

January 20th Up-date

2010-02-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry that we are posting this late.

Greetings in the Name of our Lord,

Another week has gone by and we are still serving those in need as best that we are able.

Or new long bed truck has been a real blessing and a money saver. We have already delivered over 120 12 ft. sheets of corrugated tin, 120 - 1x4x16's, and 80 - 2x4's. Also, we have used it all week picking up food supplies at a warehouse, bringing it to our depot and delivering it to the 8 churches in our mission.

The topper for our truck is complete. You will find an attached picture of our new truck with the topper on it. You will see that we have tarps down on all sides of it so that people will not see what we are carrying. People are desperate and if they see you delivering food they could hold you up and take all that you have. This week as I was carrying a load of food to be distributed to the needy, I saw a truck in front of me that was being robbed of sacks of food as the truck was still in motion. I had to dodge six people as they toppled off the truck in front of me with 50 pound sacks of powder milk in their hands. I was truly thankful that our truck was closed in, locked and covered up.

We are still giving away tents and tarps. Because we don't have very many we try to give to those who need them the most. Today a friend of ours brought a man to me whose home was totally destroyed. He was sleeping on the ground with a sheet draped over a few sticks. He told me that he was desperate because his wife was almost nine months pregnant and would be delivering any day now. Another person who was living under a sheet shelter on the street came to us and said he needed a tent because he had a wife, a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a 3 month old, and they were getting wet every time it rained. It rains now most every night and many thousands of people stand in the rain all night or seek shelter under some half destroyed building.

We have now gathered a complete report on the 8 churches that are under our ministry.
1) 3 churches were destroyed.
2) 3 pastor homes were destroyed.
3) 73 church members homes were destroyed.
4) 156 church members houses were damaged.

As far as Bible School teachers and staff, we have 3 who had their homes destroyed and 6 damaged out of 16 people. We still have not been able to locate all of our students at this time. We will not be reopening the Bible school until September.

We thank you all for your prayers and generous gifts, and for continuing to stand with us as we stand in God's grace. Pray that God gives us the strength and wisdom we need.

Yours in Christ,
Roger & Margaret Clark

Mixed Blessings

2010-02-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends & Family,

It rained last night...

In the wee hours of the morning, while everyone was sound asleep, the rain came. It wasn't hard and only lasted about an hour. But thousands of people are still sleeping in "tents" made of sticks and bed sheets. The water flowed down the steets soaking people from underneath as well as from above. I awoke to the sound of the rain, cried and prayed for the people. Continue to pray that some decent camps can be set up for the thousands of displaced, homeless people.

We have had several blessings this week.

1. Pastor Eric Scott's work team did a great job on Pastor Jeanty's house. Roger is delivering the tin & wood for the roof today. They will be in their home by next week. That makes 1 house, now on to number 2.

2. We received a dump truck full of food supplies to distribute to those in need. There was rice, beans, dry soup mix, canned meat, protien bars, oil, tents and sleeping bags. We will distribute it in our neighborhood and through our 8 churches. It will provide about 40,000 meals in all. We hope to be receiving more soon.

3. As I am writing this update...we just got our city power restored!!!!! Yeah!!! We have been without city power since Jan 12. We have been able to find fuel to run the generator and for that we are thankful. But city power is better. It is also a sign of progress and restoration in the city. Praise God for POWER!!!

Tomorrow marks the one month anniversary of the earthquake. The President of Haiti, Rene Preval, has called for a day of mourning for those lost. He has asked us to fast and pray for Haiti. Many churches across Haiti are extending this for 3 days to include the entire weekend. Won't you consider joining us in fasting and prayer for restoration and revival in Haiti?

We are thankful for those who have given and continue to give of their prayers, time and finances. Haiti is on a long road to recovery and we need you to stand with us in it.

Serving in His strength,

Roger & Margaret

Pictures Speak a Thousand Words

2010-02-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

This last week we had a construction team re-building one of our pastors homes.

Our new truck was very helpful in this matter. It is a Daihatsu 3 ton deseil flatbed truck.

This truck will be used for hauling people and material as well as aid to those who were struck by the earthquake.

We thank all those who made this possible.

Struck Down but not Destroyed

2010-01-30T18:55:00.000-08:00

Looking at a Tent City of 8000 People

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior!

We want to thank all of you for your prayers and gracious support of our ministry and the people of Haiti.

We are presently between teams. We have been trying to get a little rest, but it is somewhat difficult. It is hard not to be stressed and very saddened by what we see, but God is giving us strength for each day.

Most recently, we have been helping one of our pastors rebuild his home, Jeanty Osnac. They are in the process of re-doing and strengthening the foundation.Pastor Jeanty is the pastor under us who overseas the spiritual needs of our pastors and churches. He and his wife are powerful ministers of the Gospel. They are founders of our mother church which runs around 500 people every Sunday. At present, their church has been destroyed and they are meeting in an open area under the elements of God's creation, yet, we know God will meet their needs according to His riches in glory. We have a church coming in this week to put up the walls and roof of his home.

The devastation here is great, but God is greater. Many pastors and Christians have lost their homes and our hearts weep for them. Yet, we know God will bring good out of this seemingly hopeless situation.

We thank the Lord we have not had any considerable quakes now for four days in our area. As result, we are sleeping with more ease in our home. Yet, every night most of our neighbors sleep in the street, fearing to go in their homes even though they are undamaged. Fear still grips many here.

As of today, many of the victims have not received the basics of life like shelter, food, and water. There is a Christian organization here who tells us they have many supplies available, but are not able to get them out of the ports and customs. They will give us some of it when they are able to obtain them. This is frustrating and heart wrenching as we know of many personally who are in great need.

A verse that comes to mind is 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 -

^"7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

P.S. - I am attaching some articles that might help you see the picture more clearly.

Yours in Christ,

Roger & Margaret Clark

Medical Team

2010-01-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

We are all fine. We have has several other quakes this week, some quite strong, but we are still standing.

Since Wednesday, we have had a medical team with us, Mission of Mercy. They have been a blessing to many. One day they held an outdoor clinic. The day after that they went into the tent cities ministering to the needy. Another day, they worked at a hospital that was very under staffed and lacked medical supplies. They saw three hundred patients that day. Also, they did a children program for those in our area.

We keep providing for our neighborhood by giving pure water, power for charging their cell phones which is their only mode of communication, and food to the neediest.

We are planning with teams who want to come, and are thankful for all those who are wanting to help.

Clarification

2010-01-18T18:19:00.000-08:00

Several have been asking just how to designate their gifts that they are sending to us through Elim Fellowship.

At the moment there are 2 accounts set up for Haiti.

1. called "Haiti Relief" is a general account that will be disbursed by the directors at Elim. Some of this may come to us and some may go to other aid organizations that Elim partners with. Giving to this account is fine, but we will not hear about your specific gift and will be unable to personally thank you.

2. OUR ACCOUNT - is called, "Roger Clark - Haiti Relief". Funds designated this way will be placed in our project account for us to disburse as we see the needs here in Haiti. We will be given a listing of all gifts to this account.

So, just keep this in mind when you are sending your gifts and designate them accordingly.

We do thank each of you for your kind generosity to the Haitian people in this time of great need. You are precious in the sight of the Lord and I know He hears your prayers.

Standing under his wings.

Roger & Margaret Clark

Remember - you can mail your properly designated gifts to:

Elim Fellowship, 1703 Dalton Road, Lima, NY 14485

Helping an Orphanage and Churches

2010-01-18T18:12:00.001-08:00

Update – Haiti Jan 18 PM

Well, I haven’t felt any aftershocks for 24 hours, although Roger felt a small one when he was about an hour from here this afternoon.

The picture here is of our food distribution team.

The morning started with searching out fuel. The diesel Roger had gotten on the street was really clogging up the generator. But, Praise God, there was one gas station open in our area today. It was mobbed with people wanting to fill gallons with fuel. There was no way a car could even get close. Thankfully, Roger ran into an old friend, who we hadn’t seen in years. We used to live in the same house, about 20 years ago!!! He was able to help Roger get to the front and buy 5 gallons of diesel and 5 gallons of gasoline, at the regular prices!!! Don’t’ ever take your friends for granted, you never know when you will need their help! Praise God for fuel and friends. All this took until about noon.

After a quick peanut butter & jelly sandwich, Roger was off again to deliver food and visit 2 of our pastors. He was able to deliver food to an orphanage close by that had been without food for 2 days. We heard about them through someone in the States who wrote by email. They will now have food for several days.

Roger then continued out of town in the direction of the worst of the disaster to visit Pastor Augustin and Pastor Sauveur. These men both pastor churches under our ministry. Pastor Augustin’s church sustained very little damage. It was an unfinished building and a few parts of walls fell down, but most is sound. His house also had some minimal damage, but is livable.

Pastor Sauveur’s church is fine, but their newly built kitchen and bathrooms are beyond repair. His house also was damaged pretty good. It will need some major work. Both of the pastors and their families are unharmed and in good spirits. Roger gave each of them some food to distribute to those in greatest need in their congregations and neighborhoods.

We just got word that we may be hosting a medical team starting on Wednesday. These Doctors would be coming to us through Mission of Hope and would work in several different areas. Pray that we can work out all the logistics of this.

WE ARE THANKFUL:

- that our 4 story building did not fall

- that it has not rained since the earthquake as everyone is sleeping outside

- that in 2 of our churches yesterday over 300 people made a profession of faith for the first time. Folks are turning to God.

- That all of you are praying

- That aid is starting to arrive where it is needed

Aiding the Needy

2010-01-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

We have been busy since sun up. Roger helped organize removing debris at the end of the road where the building fell so vehicles could pass. He had lots of local help and they had made a path in a couple of hours...all by hand, with picks and one wheelbarrow. We then gave out rice, beans and water.

I visited the Doctors without boarders clinic near us to inquire as to their needs. It was full and busy. I was impressed with their organization and Drs. At the moment they are full to capcity, have the staff they need and had just gotten a delivery of medical supplies. I have never see so many broken limbs. One lady in particular had t broken legs and a broken arm. Many are awaiting surgery.

Around noon we received 50 boxes of food from Mission of Hope. They will make over 7000 meals. Then we took some up to our church in Fond Branche and the church in Bizoton. We also stopped by to see Lilian, a friend, in Fontamara, and an orphanage in Fontamara that someone was inquiring about. Went to OMS,a guesthouse near us, they are all well, were glad to see us. Their only damage was the wall by the street fell down. We also went by the church in Bizoton, which is still standing, but not sound...lots of cracks and one wall is only being held up by the building next to it, which is very close.

Also, in between all this we have been answering emails, planning for teams that are coming soon, etc. We are very tired today and will be in bed soon...out in the street again. Had some good aftershocks about 10am and also later this afternoon.

The diesel Roger bought for the generator off the street has 'stuff' in it and makes the generator choke and hiccup. The car has less than 1/.4 tank. Prices are rising...today diesel was $6 USD per gallon and gasoline is $12 USD!!! There is no place open to cash a check, so we are being careful with our cash. We have enough for now...but don't know when things will change.

Continue to pray for security. As people get more desperate, the security breaks down. There are so many aspects of this crisis to consider, not only the medical needs, but food, water, cash, security when everyone is living outside, transportation, & communication (our phones are still not working). Also, where will people live when the tremors finally stop? So far every house I have seen has cracks in it! Are they sound? Can we live in our houses? Only time will tell.

Donations: Send to -
Elim Fellowship
1703 Dalton Rd.
Lima, Ny 14485
w/ a note stating: "For Roger Clark - Haiti Relief"

Pray, pray, pray. I know you are and we are thankful for each of you.
Roger & Margaret Clark

Haiti Earthquake

2010-01-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

We are sorry that this has been so long in coming. We have been swamped with e-mails. We are alive and our building is standing without much damage. Praise the Lord!

As you all know already the earthquake has devastated Haiti. What we have seen cannot be explained and it is hard to even imagine the horror of it all.

We are still trying to find out who is alive in our mission - teachers, pastors, church members, etc. Many we have not heard from due to cell phones being down most the time, and transportation is very difficult plus people are trying to survive where they are at and not going far from home.

As of today, we know of two pastors homes in New Life Mission (our mission) that have been destroyed and their church buildings. Also, many of their member homes have been destroyed. We know that one of our Bible school teachers lost his home, mother and nephew. Also, we have two other people who work in our mission who have lost homes, and one has lost family members.

Those that have been saved from certain disaster have great testimonies of God's deliverance. All who are alive don't care a great deal about what they lost at this time, but are only thankful that they are still alive. One of our pastors was in the church when it fell down on his head. What saved him was the wooden pulpit that he crouched near. The wooden beam fell against it keeping him from the blows and providing a small space for him. He said the destruction took less than five seconds. The mountain the church was on split wide open. I could tell you many stories of devastation, and I can tell you many stories of God's grace and mercy.

At this very moment, we are working on coordinating peoples efforts to help those devastated in the earthquake. We should begin distribution of some humanitary aid in the next couple of days. Mission of Hope will be sending us some meal packets to distribute to the needy.

If you want to make a financial contribution, you can send your gift to "Elim Fellowship" 1703 Dalton Road, Lima, NY 14485. Please send a note stating for "Roger Clark, Haiti Relief". We thank each of you in advance for your assistance in this time of distress.

Pray for security as tension is rising over fear of starvation and shear desperation. Pray that God gives us wisdom as we seek to bring help to the needy. Pray that God gives us peace and safety as there are still strong after shocks everyday. Pray that God gives us the grace to bear the burden of the hurting.

Pray for Bible School Students

2009-12-27T12:36:00.000-08:00

The school year started off with a real bang, over 55 first year students as well as returning students made about 150 students, and might be one of our highest enrollments since 1982. We were not only pleased with the quantity, but the quality of students as well. They all seem hungry for God and His Word. It is always a joy to teach those who searching for greater understanding.

Yet, as we closed out the first semester of the school year, we saw that there was trouble a brewing. Almost half of our student body were not able to finish paying their school bill. I believe this is the first time we have had so many who could not pay. It tells the story how difficult things are here in Haiti. You must know that in Haiti there are no financial aid programs or student loans available. Everyone has to pay cash for their schooling. I guess if it was this way in the States, most of those who are presently in college would not be there. Thankfully, it is not quite as expensive here in Haiti.

We do not know if these 60 plus students will be returning in January if God doesn't intervene on their behalf. As you can see we need a miracle. Pray with us that God delivers us from this difficult situation.

Transformer Installation

2009-12-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is a great day for us! Yesterday, we had our private transformer installed in front of our house after three months of no city power due to an area transformer going bad. We want to thank all of you who contributed to this. It ended up costing a total of $ 4200.00. The city power came on last night and we have now had 18 hours of electricity. The city power just went out this afternoon. This is the most unbroken power we have had in the past several years. Before the area transformer burnt out, we were getting 6 hours of electricity a day. I think the difference is that they connected us to a high priority line.

These are several pictures of the installation of our own private transformer. As you can see everything was done manually, from the digging of the hole to the raising of the post and transformer. It was quite amazing to see.

God is so goood!

God's Blessings

2009-11-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hello,
Things are buzzing around here as usual. The Bible school is going real well. I have been teaching a class on mission and a class on the Holy Spirit. This week we got to pray for those who haven't received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Out of the 35 students we prayed for, only one received the baptism of the H.S.. This is not unusual. There is spiritual and mental resistance to it. The church of Haiti needs a break through in this area.

We are glad to have some friends of ours from the states, Sam and Karen Knapp. They have ministered to our Bible school students several times and have blessed one of our elementary schools with food to feed the children for a month. Tomorrow we are going to one of our churches out in the country, about five hours away over rough roads. They will be ministering their. It is our l"Azile church.

We thank God for a copier that we were able to purchase for our mission and Bible school. It has been a long waited item. We are now waiting on the Lord for funds to purchase a multimedia projector.

God bless all those who support us through their prayers and giving.

New School Year

2009-10-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

We are rejoicing in God's faithfulness. Our New Life Bible school has started with a bang. We have 51 first year students and a total enrollment of 141 students. Praise the Lord! This is amazing when you consider the very oppressed economy of Haiti. Some Bible schools have closed and others are struggling to stay open. These are hard times.

We ask that you pray for the students in our New Life Bible school. Pray that God provides for their schooling and their families. Our students pay $110 a semester, this does not include their $75 entrance fees. This is a considerable amount from them when you consider the average daily wage in Haiti is only $2.00. Many would not be coming if it wasn't for those more fortunate in their families paying their schooling. Also, we thank all of you who sponsor Bible school students. You need to realize their is no financial aid available or loans for students going to school in this country. It all has to be paid in hard earned cash.

Yet, amazingly enough, God seems to provide for our students. Yes, there are those who drop out because they are unable to pay and many others who never come because they can't afford it. If it wasn't for the destitute situation that many believers face in this country, I believe we would have twice as many students in New Life Bible school. There is a real hunger here for God's Word.

Know the Truth

2009-09-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week for Margaret and I. We have a group with us called, "Know the Truth". Most of them are from Mt. Gilead church in Virginia. We want to thank bishop Robertson for letting them come. Also, we thank Gerald Robinson for leading them. They have been a real blessing to us and New Life Mission of Haiti.

They went out to Fond de Blanc where there is one of our churches. It is a difficult trip. It takes 4 hours and 30 minutes each way. Two and a half of these hours are on very rough roads. We had some challenges with one of the rental cars that didn't like going up mountains. It stalled almost every time, especially on long hills. It did well on the flat and going down hills. It had something to with the fuel and angle of the vehicle. The only way we could go up the last long hill was backwards. This was my idea after trying to go up several times forward without success.

We had two services, and two seminars up at our New Life church. The group did a great job ministering to the people there. The last night, God moved mightily in the service and touched the hearts of the people. There were two key women in the church who had a falling out, and would not speak with each other. Over six months the pastor counseled them and tried bring reconciliation without any success. After the last service, the Holy Spirit dealt with one of the ladies to go reconcile with the other lady at one o clock in the morning. She said that God's Spirit was so strong on her in the last service the group led. Praise the Lord! The pastor glorified God because this was heavy on his heart and hindrance to the work of God in the church.

God is mighty in tearing down the strong holds of the enemy. Great is the Lord.

Patrick Laventure Michel

2009-09-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Another school year has started, and we thank God for all the new Bible school students we have. Pray that God transforms their lives. Pray that God provides for their schooling. It is very difficult for everyone now.

Also, I want to thank God for Patrick Laventure Michel who has worked with us for more than twenty years. He wears several hats in our ministry. He is the Haitian representative for New Life Mission of Haiti. This is required by the government. He is the one who does all our legal work in the mission. Also, he is assistant director of our mission. Finally, he is vice president of our New Life Bible Seminary. As you can see he is an essential part of our ministry.

Pray with us that God would provide a very much needed vehicle for him. He has many responsibilities that would be more easily fulfilled if he had a vehicle. Also, do to some health issues, he struggles more when he walks, which he does everyday from his house to the missions headquarters. This requires walking 60 minutes every day to get to work and back home. Of course this doesn't include all the other walking he may have to do on a given day.

Pray that God provide the $5000 he needs for a dependable vehicle. God is good and we thank God for all those who support our ministry.

Demier Church Parsonage

2009-09-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

We rejoice in God's faithfulness. He always supplies our every need. Also, we thank God for the $2000 donation given towards the parsonage for our Demier mission church. For Margaret and I to get to this church, it requires us driving for two hours and hiking in three hours.

We ask you to pray with us that God provides the remaining $5,700 for the pastors home which is falling down around him literally. The wood is rotting and the tin roof is completely rusted out. We are wanting to build a concrete structure that will be strong against the hurricanes that come through Haiti, and stand the test ot time.

We thank God for the sacrifices pastor Nelson Espere and his wife are making for the Gospel in Demier, Haiti.

School Opening

2009-09-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

This Monday schools are to open all over Haiti. Yet, there is much talk of trouble during the first week of school which is a common occurrence in Haiti. Those groups who want to protest to the government about something, always do it on the first day of school. Often the schools are unable to open on time because of this.

Our Bible School is to open this Saturday. We presently have over 40 students registered for the first year class, and expect more. We usually leave registration open during the first couple weeks of school to allow the stragglers in.

Haitians are late about doing most things. A big frustration for many foreigners here is how everything moves so slow and everyone is late to everything. Typically church services and other kinds of meetings start 30 minutes late. Weddings start normally an hour late. One thing there always on time for an even early for is a handout or a good deal.

Preaching in Churches

2009-08-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

This summer I have been preaching in many Haitian churches. It is exciting to see God working among his people. Several of the churches I spoke at had over 1000 in attendance. One of these was raising money to purchase a vehicle for their pastor, another one dedicated 12 babies in one service. It was great to see these proud parents bringing their children before the Lord. I was sorry that I had not brought my camera. It was a great sight to behold, all the parents lined up in a row with their babies.

One of the reasons, I have visited these churches is to promote I Bible school. Praise the Lord we have 27 who have registered already, and expect many more before school opens on September 7th.

2009-08-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

In Haiti, all children wear uniforms to school. If they do not have a school uniform they will not be allowed to attend classes. This can be a hardship on the parents.

This week Margaret hired some lady friends of ours to cut fabric that we bought for our elementary children uniforms. We do this every year for the sponsored children. Then we give the cloth to the parents and they take it to a seamstress to get their children's uniform made.

Time of Conflict

2009-08-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

When it rains it pours! We are now facing another crisis. We have been in the midst of a legal battle with one of our elementary school teachers in our mission for more than a month. Mainly due to a poor lawyer and poor courts.
The new crisis is with another one of our elementary schools which meets in one of our churches. They are demanding the school to leave their facilities and have given one week notice. This is not legal, and definitely not Christian but their whole board is in favor of it. As result, we are on the verge of another expensive legal battle if God doesn't intervene.
There is never a dull moment in serving Christ, especially in Haiti.

Legal Battle

2009-07-30T06:18:00.000-07:00

There is always new challenges and surprises as we serve the Lord in Haiti. We ask you to pray for our mission as we are presently in a legal battle with on of our school teachers that we had to fire. He has taken us to court claiming that we did not pay him his severance pay. Also, he has threatened the family of our school director. We have recently found out that he is part of a gang near the school. Tomorrow they are to be appearing before the judge for the third time. As always legal battles are costly.

Camp

2009-07-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

Our daughter Rachel has been helping at a camp all this week. She is really enjoying it. She is one of the group leaders. Everday they have a different group of kids, about one hundred each day.
We are already missing her, and looking forward to seeing her again.

Under Construction

2009-07-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

This blog has just been created so be patient. We have never done this before. We are looking forward to keeping you up-dated on Haiti Happenings.