Missions of Love

A Haiti Christian Mission

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January 2012
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A Health Update from Dr. Bob

Posted By on January 26, 2012

Gentlefolk:  One week ago today I awakened with a severe coughing spasm, followed by excruciating chest pain.  I knew at once I was suffering a heart attack.  Betty rushed me to the nearest hospital and I seriously doubted I would get there alive.  But God had other plans for me, and I survived a total occlusion of a major coronary vessel, and miraculously, with no apparent serious damage to the heart muscle.  My cardiologist told me I was unbelievably lucky (Interpreted: unbelievably blessed beyond all measure)!  Clearly, my work here is not finished.  Still, discretion is “the better part of valor”, so I am forced by circumstance to sideline myself for a time.  I have been advised to take a sabbatical from my mission duties for several months, even to the exclusion of conducting business by email and phone.  My coming trip to Jolivert will have to be postponed for the time being, although the group I was to travel with will go in as planned with several goals in mind (installation of our new xray machine, fine-tuning our solar power grid, vehicle repairs among them).

Meanwhile, Betty and our secretary Pat Duarte have valiantly agreed to take up the reins during this time until I can hopefully resume command later this summer.  Pat’s email address is: PandCDuarte@aol.com and her cell phone is: 270-779-4033.  Betty and I share the email address of: drbobmol@bellsouth.net and her cell phone is: 270-315-7489.  Other contact means can be found on our web site at www.missionsoflove.org.  Be assured I will continue to be available for advice and consultation on any important mission decisions and I thank you all for your loyal and unflagging support of our efforts on behalf of the poor and spiritually needy we’ve served in Haiti for all these years.  Thanks for your prayers on my behalf: they’re working!  As for MOL, thanks to our wonderful directors and associates the work goes on…. And with your help and by God’s Grace shall continue to do so.  With love and gratitude, Dr Bob

Category: Director's Reports, Dr Bob and Betty | Comments Off
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A Second Look at Haiti

Posted By on January 18, 2012

My name is Patt Bristow and I want to share some reflections on a recent trip to Haiti. In the summer of 2010 (July 4, to be exact, the heat of the summer), I took a much-anticipated “mission trip” to visit Haiti. I was with a group of about twenty others from my church in San Jose, California, and in the weeks leading up to our departure we had team meetings both to become acquainted and to gain some grace for meshing with a foreign culture. Our destination: Pignon, wherever that was. (Real maps of Haiti can be hard to come by). Near Pignon was the mission work supported by our church and overseen by JeanJean and Kristie Mompremier. Haiti was unlike anything I’d experienced in almost six decades of American life. I hadn’t known that people could live a whole lifetime with almost no material possessions. I wasn’t used to seeing day long backbreaking labor performed without complaint. And I still don’t understand how young women can carry five gallon buckets of water balanced on their heads, uphill and down, every day.  Life was much simpler even if children were being malnourished, education was hard to come by, and even routine medical care was scarce. The two week duration of the trip was so short, I was barely beginning to form impressions of the culture and landscapes around me. But, we had come as a group and had to leave as a group. I asked God, Please, make a way for me to come back. He did! Through a circuitous route I could not have imagined, I was put in contact with Dr. Asa Talbot and his wife, Jean. I was delighted that Asa and Jean did not greet me with an arduous list of qualifications. Rather, Jean said to me, “Patt, we’ve learned over the years that we aren’t really doing the recruiting for this mission. If God brings someone to us, we figure He’s given his approval and means them to go”.

As the trip came together, our departure date was set for October of 2011 (I’m thinking, the cooler fall months this time). Another woman from Washington was included, and the four of us would rendezvous in Miami.

Clearly God had drawn this little group together; we got along marvelously. To my delight, Donah loved adventure as much as I did, so we made the six hour drive to Missions of Love perched on the luggage in the back of a pickup. This second trip was also of two week duration, but I was able to visit/view a much broader swath of life in Haiti. We spent hours crossing through cities and towns on our way to Jolivert. The sights, sounds, and smells of places like Gonaives and Bassin Bleu gave a compelling picture of a nation that is seriously failing. With little or no infrastructure, no government support, and an educational system (for those fortunate enough to attend) that is authoritarian and heavily dependent on rote memory, most citizens, ! observed, seemed resigned to the way of life they’d inherited, with no hope for change. My heart went out to those so caught in hardship yet unable to effect a different path. What could I possibly contribute? Jean and Asa suggested I read a book that had been making the rounds of their colleagues, When Helping Hurts. In this work the authors took a long, hard look at numerous Christian efforts all around the world to alleviate poverty. Reexamined, a lot of “helping” theories are seen for what they really are – giving out meals of seafood instead of helping build sustainable fishing skills.

Now the Haitians aren’t the only ones struggling. I’m still trying to discern what helps and what hinders. Which path is following Jesus to serve the Haitians, and which path is gratifying me? But I want to return to Haiti more than ever. I believe God has clear plans for ministering to people in this island nation, and I want to cooperate with him. God can surely prompt me, or any of you as you read this. I am so grateful that God orchestrated all the details for every part of these travels to Haiti. And now my question to Him is, when can I go back?

I’m not a doctor, or a nurse, or a carpenter. In fact, I’m not a specialist of any kind. At the Missions of Love I saw a number of people whose devotion to God led them to follow Him to a place where even their recognized skills were sometimes inadequate. Still, they followed. They served, they loved, and they trusted God to enable them. I hope to follow their example.

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Asa & Jean’s Update Dec 2011

Posted By on January 18, 2012

” Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds….Let us us encourage one another.” Hebrews 10:24

This verse was carried out during our trip in so many ways and by so many people. God truly has His hand in the work of the mission, from the Haitian staff to the short term workers. The ladies who came with us this time (you may read their reports elsewhere in this web site) were so energetic and enthusiastic that it spread to all around them. They cheerfully worked at all sorts of tasks – cleaning and reorganizing several areas, sorting large amounts of eyeglasses, teaching and preparing refreshments for a group of about 100 children and another group of 100 ladies.

The Eye Clinic is running well and Asa spent time there with further training for Guerby. We also worked out a computer program to keep track of the people seen in the Eye Clinic, particularly those with glaucoma, and order special glasses for those who cannot be fitted with what we have in stock. Dr. Blanc brought a class of his nursing students to the Eye Clinic and Asa instructed them on eye care and testing. He also had the opportunity to teach the anatomy and care of the eye to one of their classes in Port-de-Paix. Asa also repaired a large hole in the eaves of the residence, which had allowed a large red bat to visit us one evening. By way of news, Guerby and his wife now have a little boy, Odin Neemie. All are doing well.

We had a new supply of New Testaments and tracts which we gave to patients in our clinic and had a supply in the pharmacy to be passed out with the medicines. Many were given to the local pastors, and to Pastor Willie, who oversees eight churches in the surrounding mountains – including Marotier.

Jean and the ladies visited the new National School, which is temporarily being held in a local church building while construction on the planned building is being carried out. Miss Yvette, a longtime worker with the Children of God and local teacher, is the principal, and we were pleased to hear that they would be allowed to have instruction in the Bible. We shared some Bible Story books and health education booklets, along with some Bible tracts. There are about 100 children attending at present, many of whom are without uniforms or proper clothing of any kind, or sturdy shoes. We gave them what we could of what we had on hand.

Nancy Bukovnik, a fellow director, was able to be with us and made the journey a joy by taking our short termers to surrounding cities and villages. On one trip they were caught in the rain on motorbikes and returned very wet, but not dampened in spirit. Nancy also labored over consolidating and updating our program of educational assistance.<

We are thankful none of our group had any significant health issues during our trip, However, we did encounter some big glitches in our travel plans. Everyone stayed calm and cheerful and the Lord enabled us to get to Port-au-Prince and connect with an airplane which took us safely back to the United States.

View a few photos from the trip on via this link.

Category: Asa and Jean Talbot, Director's Reports | Comments Off
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Merry Christmas Letter From Christophe in Jolivert

Posted By on December 23, 2011

Dear Directors and Supporters,
In the behalf of all employees at MOL Jolivert,I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope this Christmas season brings you hope,peace,joy and happiness.

At the end of this year,we want to thank you for your efforts and sacrifices you have been made to support our ministries in Jolivert,Haiti. I want to tell you your help touches many and many hopeless people and is really meaningful for them. Praise God,despite of all troubles and difficulties Haiti has been through,our Mighty God is still on our side and enable us and strength us to accomplish our daily and monthly tasks during this year.

This year,about 3000 patients have been treated at clinic Jolivert for different kinds of illness like malaria,Typhoid,intestinal parasites,high blood pressure,skin infections,respiratory diseases and so forth. In the Lab,we have been testing about 700 patients and about 295 among them are positives. Lots of thanks for Malaria Fini who help us to distribute free Chloroquin at jolivert and at the remote mountain and so many people can be relief from Malaria. About 300 patients among the so many testing,has been treated for Typhoid. More than 5000 Albendazol has been distributed. (more…)

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International Action partners with MOL for Deworming Meds

Posted By on December 22, 2011

This is an article from International Action.  MOL partnered with them for the deworming Medicine that Karen Becher and group were able to use during outreach clinics this summer.

Click here for article.

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Work Progressing but Funds are Depleting Quickly

Posted By on November 6, 2011

November 6, 2011

Gentlefolk:
Some of our directors have just returned from some highly-productive trips to our compound at Jolivert. While each of them will make their own reports on our website, I’ll just summarize by saying they were impressed by the great job our Haitian staff continues to do on a daily basis in serving the poor and sick in our area of endeavors. Dr Asa continued his training at the eye clinic as his wife Jean continued her evangelical work with the citizenry. (She also celebrated her 80th birthday while there)! Nancy and her people made outreach trips high into the surrounding mountains and held many meetings and conferences as well, as her adult literacy still grows by leaps and bounds. Yet most of what you hear in the news regarding the post-earthquake recovery in Haiti is not encouraging.

While the world at large is confounded and frustrated at the difficulties and failures suffered in Haiti by many of the larger, more widely-known organizations such as USAID, UNICEF, Red Cross, Food for the Poor, and many others, it is a well-established fact that the greatest successes in both relief work and re-building since the earthquake have been achieved by smaller NGO’s and charitable groups such as MISSIONS OF LOVE. Our accomplishments, by the Grace of God, have been well documented: we’ve fed many thousands of near-starved people (including almost a half-million meals to hungry kids). In Port-au-Prince in the weeks and months following the quake we’ve rebuilt homes, opened schools, provided hundreds of tents for those left homeless by the quake, operated street clinics and provided surgical teams at the epicenter of the quake at the general hospital. In the early days after this devastating disaster, we were among the first to provide drinking water, food, and medicines with direct hands-on supervision by several of our own directors, often at great risk of personal injury from falling buildings from the frequent aftershocks while the bureaucratic boondogglers at the airport just couldn’t start moving these items off the tarmac quickly enough to meet the enormous needs of those tragic early hours.

(more…)

Category: Director's Reports, Dr Bob and Betty, Mission Trip Reports | Comments Off
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Pearls for Haiti

Posted By on November 2, 2011

This January, Pat Duarte and Barbie Porter are holding a Lady’s Conference in Haiti entitled, The Secret Pavilion: Haitian Pearls.

The idea of the conference is that the women are as precious as a rare and beautiful pearl, like Christ himself. Pearls, like Christ, was and still is the most sought after treasure. They would like to give each lady a gift of pearls and need your help.  Any type of jewelry with any sort of pearl (real or faux) would be appreciated: necklaces, bracelets, earrings, pins, rings.

Pat and Barbie need the pearls before they leave on Jan. 15th.  They need 120 gifts and only have around 40 so far.  If you have any pearl items that you would like to donate, you can mail small packages to PO Box 292 Hartford, KY 42347 or via UPS to our street address at 11 Boling Road Utica, KY  42376.

Contact Pat at 270-275-2555 with any questions.

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MOL on Google Maps

Posted By on October 26, 2011

Click here to see the MOL compound in Jolivert on Google Maps – zoom in and you can read MOL on the top of the building!

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