Churches Helping Churches

50 pallets. 50,942 lbs. $1,705,561 of aid.

Those are the stats behind the latest medical aid we are sending into Haiti.

Where it’s going: New Missions has been planting churches that provide education and medical care in Haiti for the last 27 years. Their medical clinics, staffed 100% with Haitian leadership that New Missions has trained, are able to serve over 1,000 patients each month.

How it happened: After sharing about needed medicine, CHC contacted our partner, International Aid. Within 2 days, International Aid was able to secure a boatload (literally) of product.

I’ve been involved in many good business deals in my time, but I’m still scratching my head over this one. At a cost of $16,800 to CHC to procure and ship, we are able to bring over $1.7 million in aid to Haiti. I guess when God is in the equation, the numbers don’t have to add up.

-Tom

Follow us on Facebook & Twitter to stay up to date as we continue to roll out phase one of our response plan for Haiti.

Photos taken by Kenny Nakai.  You can view more pictures from this trip at his blog.

Uriel is a first year student at STEP, a well-respected seminary in Port-au-Prince. His bright-white dress shirt was soaked in sweat as he dropped his schedule and rushed across town to meet with us. He is soft-spoken, gentle, and unassuming – carrying a rare blend of humility and conviction.

You can barely hear his voice over the background noise on our video footage, but I didn’t want you to miss out on Uriel’s story. So the transcript of our meeting is below.

Uriel: The earthquake hit everybody, so my home is completely destroyed. But nobody died. My family is ok. We didn’t go to a tent city because we setup our own tents in the yard of our house.

Tom: Who’s staying there right now?

Uriel: My mom, my brothers and sisters, and my grandma.

Tom: I understand you’ve been doing Bible studies with them?

Uriel: Right now, I study the Bible everyday with my family like we used to do for family devotions. And I have many people who came after the earthquake to my yard. They were talking about God, many in the wrong way. So I decided to study the Bible with them and tell them about the plan of God for the world.

Tom: So this Bible study is not just your family anymore?

Uriel: We have three groups: my family, a group of 10, and a group of 30.

Tom: (Laughing in astonishment) So you started a family Bible study, and God gave you a lot more.

Uriel: When I came to STEP, this was my plan. To go to my community and transform the community for the glory of Christ. And this is what I’m doing.

Tom: It reminds me of David, who took care of sheep. Later, God gave him a much bigger flock – the nation of Israel. He who is faithful will little will be given more.

Uriel: Thank you. May God do as He pleases.

Tom: The people in your small groups right now. Were most of them Christians before?

Uriel: The group of 10 some of them went to church before. But the group of 30 – they did not go to church before the earthquake. I’m working with them and going to introduce them to my church. My church currently worships in the yard.

Tom: What was it that made the people want to come to these studies?

Uriel: When people who are confronted with difficult situations, even those who say, “There is no God” realize, “Maybe there is a God”. When they saw the earthquake, they thought, “Maybe I’m going to die.” I heard them say many things, and I knew that was not the plan of God, so I decided to tell them the truth.

Tom: Did you invite them?

Uriel: The first day, they just came to me. (Laughing) It’s like I had my own tent city. God is sovereign. He does everything the way he wants. God brought them to me. And as a Christian, I have to use every opportunity to present the gospel.

Tom: What kind of Bible studies are you doing?

Uriel: I have a book from Theological Education by Extension called “Beginning the Christian Life”. And I also do something else with those who are more mature.

Tom: What kinds of lessons are you teaching them?

Uriel: I have one group that I am focusing on more because I know they were Muslims. So I study Jesus Christ, the Spirit, and angels.

Tom: Currently, you’re a first year student at STEP. Why are you studying here?

Uriel: I always wanted to study at STEP. Because before I studied at STEP, I went to Theological Study by Extension. I was in a seminar on missions, and after the seminar, I was very interested in missions.

Tom: So you want to be a missionary?

Uriel: Yes.

Tom: It sounds like you already are one.

Uriel: I’m searching for my gift. When God gives it, you know that it’s there.

Tom: You have the gift. Uriel, God bless you!

In another conversation, Uriel mentioned that although the people are open and coming, he needs help and guidance. CHC is seeking to encourage and equip pastors and layworkers like Uriel to reach their communities. You and your church can support the mission by getting involved here.

This article first appeared on the Washington Post.

I was in Haiti less than a week after the earthquake. I went with Churches Helping Churches on a aid-delivering and fact-finding mission to help the country and it’s churches. What follows is an excerpt of my journal from the trip. Amidst the chaos I captured what I saw the best I could and am including pictures from our trip that help tell the story. Video from our trip and the individual stories from Haiti can be found here and here.

Snaking through the city on back streets, we started to get a glimpse of the scope of damage away from the earthquake’s epicenter. As we passed the waterfront we could see that all the docks had sunk and that no ships could bring supplies to the shore, thereby crippling any aid effort by water. As we got deeper into the slums, the devastation became more massive and overwhelming. Buildings were folded up like pieces of paper. Entire blocks were rubble. There was no food or water or any sign of any store in business anywhere. Children were wandering everywhere. Garbage filled the streets. Small fires were burning. Bodies lay on the roadside. Every inch of seemingly every block of the city had people simply sitting on blankets as their temporary homes both day and night. And no one was crying. Thousands upon thousands of people were walking around emotionless and seemingly in shock.

Finding the seminary was difficult because many buildings in the city do not have addresses, and with the city in ruins, even using landmarks as navigation points was impossible. We ended up in front of a large church that was empty and chained shut. Our hearts sank as the one lead we thought we had to get interviews with Christians and an understanding of the plight of the church seemed to have been a dead end. Then, an elderly woman with a wonderful smile approached us. Realizing we could not understand her Creole, she sweetly touched my face with her wrinkled hand, smiled warmly, took my hand and kindly led us to a large metal gate down the street, which was opened by the men standing guard upon her request. Passing through the gate, we were on the large grounds of the seminary.

We followed a steep winding path up a hillside to reach the main building on campus. Once there, we immediately noticed that the walls on two sides of the building had collapsed and were rubble. An American man approached us to explain that the school had been there roughly seventy-five years and that he was a third-generation servant of Christ there serving under the leadership of Haitian nationals. He told us that, when the earthquake hit, classes had just let out and students were headed to chapel, and had it occurred a few minutes later, they could have lost most of their 160 students studying for pastoral and church planting ministry. Nonetheless, one student did die, and five more were pulled from the rubble by fellow students and faculty. The president of the seminary later told us, with tears in his eyes and quivering in his voice, that he personally had lost at least a hundred Christian friends and fellow church leaders in the city.

Looking around the campus, it was obvious the school was no longer functioning. Instead, it had become something of a refugee camp, with upwards of perhaps five thousand people sleeping all over the grounds at night. But, unlike the rest of the city, there was a joy among these people. Tensions were low and it seemed God’s peace rested there to comfort the afflicted. Many children, some among the roughly eight hundred who attended the Christian elementary school on site, were playing games, singing, dancing, and making toys out of empty water bottles, using the caps as wheels.

To be continued…

You can’t spend a week in Haiti without experiencing sensory overload. Trying to absorb the sights, sounds, smells, and stories is like drinking from a fire hose. There’s just too much that happened and too much that is happening to take it all in. And if you try, you’re going to get hurt.

Take a look at this picture. It says a lot about the current condition of Haiti. What were once impressive displays of architecture and engineering are now unstable piles of rubble, just waiting to buckle if you breathe too hard. In Port-au-Prince, you can’t turn your head away from that scene. Nothing was exempt, not even the Presidential Palace pictured here.

But if you look at the base of the flagpole, you’ll notice two men. They may not have caught your eye at first, and therein lies the problem. The massive, imposing piles of rubble overshadow the people. As I talked with and lived with the people last week, I realized the greatest damage caused by the earthquake was not to the buildings, but to the hearts and minds of those who are still alive.

That might sound very ethereal, but that’s coming from a former engineer with a just-fix-it attitude. Why do I say that? There are plenty of unscathed buildings. Not a single crack. Even after structural engineers deem a home structurally sound, it remains empty as families choose to live in their tents. Even if we build new buildings, the people won’t go in.

Fortunately, churches have a Ph.D. in offering hope and peace that can be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is a ripe hour for the local churches in Haiti. This is a time when believers can provide a kind of relief work that no other human beings in the world can.

Progress Update: I’m thrilled at last week’s meetings with Haitian churches and organizations. We discussed how Churches Helping Churches can get behind and support them. I’ve worked with many church and business leaders in the past, and I have never seen this degree of unity and humility. So many groups are putting aside their own agendas, and saying, “We just want to help.” One of those plans is coming together very fast. After a few more details are ironed out, I’ll be the first to share with you.

Tom Kim, Executive Director of CHC

Acts 20:24

(Photos on this trip were taken by Kenny Nakai)

I was in Haiti less than a week after the earthquake. I went with Churches Helping Churches on a aid-delivering and fact-finding mission to help the country and it’s churches. What follows is an excerpt of my journal from the trip. Amidst the chaos I captured what I saw the best I could and am including pictures from our trip that help tell the story. Video from our trip and the individual stories from Haiti can be found here and here.

Upon departing the plane, the first thing the soldier said to me was, “You will now see a crisis of biblical proportions.” Looking around the tarmac, it was surprising how little aid we saw being unloaded and how few supplies were on the ground.

After helping unload medical supplies from our plane, we needed to secure two vehicles, a driver, and a translator. Our security specialist had come into the country to help mobilize peacekeeping efforts and within minutes he had two vehicles and a security detail from a private security firm, and we were on our way.

God had pulled off another miracle to get us around Haiti.

We carried our backpacks, loaded with minimal supplies along with a few days' worth of water and food, through the airport, which was so damaged that water covered the floor where ticketing had been and the power was out. As we pressed through a small crowd toward the airport exit, we saw a mob wanting to get to the food and water supplies that were being unloaded under US military protection. A soldier told us that if we exited the airport we could not return, as they would not open the door for us. Admittedly nervous, we exited the airport, pressed through the mob, met up with our local security detail, and jumped into our vehicles.

The scene surrounding the airport was complete chaos. Like in the rest of Port-au-Prince, there was not a street light or sign to be found. Thousands and thousands of young men were literally just standing on the roadside. People were walking everywhere. The roads were completely jammed with cars and there was no sign of anything to keep order, such as a traffic light, a traffic sign, or any police presence. Our goal was to get to the Port-au-Prince Evangelical Seminary that was roughly six miles away. We had heard that thousands of people were taking refuge there, although our information was merely speculative, since nearly all forms of communication were down across the city. If this lead came up dead we had no backup plan and trusted Jesus to figure it out for us.

Snaking through the city on back streets, we started to get a glimpse of the scope of damage away from the earthquake's epicenter. As we passed the waterfront we could see that all the docks had sunk and that no ships could bring supplies to the shore, thereby crippling any aid effort by water. As we got deeper into the slums, the devastation became more massive and overwhelming. Buildings were folded up like pieces of paper. Entire blocks were rubble. There was no food or water or any sign of any store in business anywhere. Children were wandering everywhere. Garbage filled the streets. Small fires were burning. Bodies lay on the roadside. Every inch of seemingly every block of the city had people simply sitting on blankets as their temporary homes both day and night. And no one was crying. Thousands upon thousands of people were walking around emotionless and seemingly in shock.

To be continued…

This article originally appeared at The Washington Post.

I was in Haiti less than a week after the earthquake. I went with Churches Helping Churches on a aid-delivering and fact-finding mission to help the country and it’s churches. What follows is an excerpt of my journal from the trip. Amidst the chaos I captured what I saw the best I could and am including pictures from our trip that help tell the story. Video from our trip and the individual stories from Haiti can be found here and here.

It’s approaching 2 a.m. and I cannot sleep. The images of what I have seen today in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, keep haunting me. And I cannot get the taste of decomposing bodies out of my mouth.

The adventure I am on started a mere five days ago with an early morning call from Pastor James MacDonald. We had met through mutual friends and an organization called The Gospel Coalition. He called to discuss how we might mobilize churches from the US and world to help the Haitian churches following a massively devastating earthquake and powerful aftershocks. After that initial conversation, our day was spent texting, calling, emailing, and strategizing, ultimately culminating in a plan to visit Haiti to witness the need firsthand.

On Friday I prerecorded a sermon to be played at Mars Hill Church on Sunday, on Saturday morning my renewed passport showed up just hours before my flight, and after some time with my family celebrating the birthday of my four-year-old son Gideon, my wife and five children dropped me off at the airport with tears. The Mars Hill team and I arrived in Chicago Saturday night, worshiped at Harvest Bible Chapel on Sunday morning, got our vaccinations, debriefed for the trip with a tactical team, and drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan, with our crew that had grown to include a seasoned security specialist, a two-man film crew, an award-winning combat photographer, the creative director of John Piper’s Desiring God Ministries, and a senior staff member of a relief organization.

After a few hours of sleep, we drove to our small plane that was packed with medical supplies and doctors who traveled with us. Our flight left the US around 3 a.m. and by sunrise we were circling over Haiti, which looked like a battlefield from the air. Unsure if we could land because of the numerous reports of planes that had been denied landing privileges, we prayed and waited. Before long we were on the ground in Haiti, a mere four days after my first conversation with Pastor MacDonald and less than a week after the earthquake hit. I turned on my iPhone to discover multiple messages from international aid workers who were unable to enter the country asking how we did it. We did not do it.

God had pulled off a miracle to get us into Haiti.

Upon departing the plane, the first thing the soldier said to me was, “You will now see a crisis of biblical proportions.” Looking around the tarmac, it was surprising how little aid we saw being unloaded and how few supplies were on the ground.

To be continued….

STEP (Evangelical Seminary of Theology in Port-au-Prince) is one of the most prominent seminaries in Port-au-Prince.  Twice in the past, when crises hit the local community due to gang violence, people came knocking on the doors of STEP to find temporary refuge.  Within minutes of the earthquake on January 12, it once again became a trusted safe-haven.  Currently, STEP cares for 2,500 people on campus.  All of STEP’s normal classroom operations are on-hold, but the students and faculty minister to this “tent city” throughout the week.

After a series of meetings today in Port-au-Prince, I drove into the campus and heard the sound of music in the distance.  I continued up the hill, turned the corner, and there it was: everywhere, the shadows of Haitians joyfully bouncing to the rhythm of music.  Though I can’t understand Creole, this song was loud and clear: “Hosanna!”  Again and again, with hands in the air, the people sang “Hosanna!”

So far, the faculty estimates that 300 people have made decisions for Christ.

STEP is proving to be a key partner with Churches Helping Churches in helping the local churches.  Many of their alumni and current students are pastors who have lost church members and buildings. Also, today’s meetings in Port-au-Prince were charged with Spirit-filled like-mindedness and conviction.  Thanks to all who have been praying.  More to come!

Thomas Kim
Executive Director of CHC
Currently in Haiti

Chile

Churches Helping Churches is prayerfully reviewing how and when we can best help the areas affected by the Chile earthquake. Since this development is so recent, we still don’t know what the damage is yet. Therefore, we are postponing any type of benevolence offering at this moment. Meanwhile, we continue to remain focused and committed to the efforts that we have begun in Haiti.

Haiti

I’ve come across the word “Haiti” at least 1,000 times in the past week – in the news and on the radio, in conversations and in prayers, in articles and in emails. Most of the time, I hear awful stories and statistics. True confession: I don’t even bother putting myself in their shoes anymore. It’s just too painful. But this blog post isn’t about that. I want to tell you what I hear about the other half of the time.

Relief organizations have flooded Port Au Prince. In some areas, so much aid has reached the people that bags of food are being returned to the distribution centers. So many foreign aid workers have responded to crisis that some are looking for work to do. The job is nowhere near finished, but I am absolutely blown away by the generosity and service of the international community. If you’ve given to some of these agencies, it’s showing.

Furthermore, I am blown away by the generosity and service of God’s people that gave birth to Churches Helping Churches. Here are a few updates for you:

Haiti Trip

I am leaving for Haiti tomorrow with very specific objectives in mind.

• First, I am meeting key Christian leaders within Haiti to refine a church planting strategy into the tent cities. FYI, the tent cities are exactly what they sound like. People who are homeless or afraid to enter their buildings are living in large communities of temporary tents. We are exploring how we can bring the church to them.
• Second, we are partnering with Calvary Chapel, who is launching a holistic care base camp. This project is in full swing! The goal is to provide for all of the needs of those who are displaced, from food to medicine to counseling, even VBS for children. We will bring back pictures!
• Third, remember Jacques? He and STEP Seminary are still housing 2,500 people. The wall to the seminary has been rebuilt to provide protection from the violence outside. Many of these pastors-to-be have had their dreams crushed. We hope to get them back on track, so they can someday lead churches that serve the local community.

In these efforts, we are coming alongside existing churches and organizations that were already in Haiti pre-earthquake. Please pray that this trip would be fruitful and accerate our efforts.

T-shirts

T-shirts are for sale. Proceeds from your purchase will go to Churches Helping Churches. Buying this shirt helps support a church. Wearing this shirt helps promote awareness. You can’t go wrong on this on fellas! =)

Thomas Hurst

Thomas is a Pulitzer Prize-finalist photojournalist who currently serves on staff at Mars Hill Church and was part of a team that traveled to Haiti on behalf of Churches Helping Churches. Check his posts in coming weeks as he shares his thoughts on particular images he took and moments he and the team experienced in their 32 hours on the ground in earthquake-ravaged Port-Au-Prince.

Volunteers

Let me echo James’ statement: We hear you! We have ALL of your requests on file. Thank you for your willingness to serve and your patience with us. We’ve identified the key needs at this moment and have contacted those best suited to help. As soon as more needs or possibly even trip opportunities surface, we will contact you.

Thank you for your partnership!

For a new Haiti,
Tom
Acts 20:24

Hey, Mark Driscoll and I are on the phone almost every day putting together the plan to strategically utilize the funds that have been flowing into Churches Helping Churches. Keep in mind that our long term goal is 10,000 churches in America taking up a ‘love offering’ for any war torn, or disaster devastated area the Sunday following the event itself. Beyond that we hope to locate healthy churches reaching into these areas and assist them in their work. (that makes us “churches helping churches helping churches” : )

We know that our impact upon the church in Haiti has to be powerful and lasting for people to continue to trust us with their relief giving. To that end I have the following updates:

1) Introducing Thomas Kim

I want to introduce you to Thomas Kim, the new Executive Director of Churches Helping Churches. He has great passion for the church. Thomas is a former pastor in a Presbyterian church. He has also delivered expository sermons, given practical seminars, and trained pastors in Cambodia, China, Kenya, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. Thomas also scouted church and NGO partnership opportunities internationally. Resulting projects include Bible delivery to the Chinese underground church, North Korean refugee care, and a hope and healing conference for Cambodian youth. In addition to being a pastor, Thomas also formerly worked with Crossing Borders (North Korean refugee shelter) and Joshua Generation (youth workers resource and empowerment).

In addition to ministry, Thomas also brings extensive business experience to this new position. He holds an Engineering degree from the University of Illinois, is an MBA candidate at University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business Administration, and has completed coursework at Fuller Theological Seminary in Organizational Dynamics and International Leadership. His business career has focused on manufacturing engineering and supply chain strategy. And in addition to speaking English, he also has a basic knowledge of Korean and Spanish. We believe that he is God’s provision to lead Churches Helping Churches.

Thomas’ focus in the first 30 days will be to:

• Assess the most urgent church needs in Haiti that CHC can start addressing for immediate impact
• Start working closely with our man on the ground in Haiti, Pastor Jacques
• Develop a response pipeline for the increasing number of request for help and offers for assistance
• Identify initial strategic partnerships within North America
• Determine the organizational requirements needed to grow CHC effectively, efficiently

2) Partnership with Calvary Chapel in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Bob Coy, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel in Ft. Lauderdale (CCFL), was one of the pastors that encouraged me to pursue this vision for CHC from the beginning. He has more than 20 years of experience working with churches in Haiti. We plan to use some CHC funds to match the gifts that have already made to CCFL for Haiti. These combined funds will be put to use to rebuild a church and an orphanage outside Port-au-Prince. More details of this work and photos will be coming soon.

3) Increased Media Coverage

Now that the focus in Haiti is shifting to rebuilding the country, interest in Churches Helping Churches increases daily. For a more complete look at the media outlets covering this story, check out the Media page on this Web site.

4) Amazing Response to Volunteer

We hear you! And we are sorry if you have sent an e-mail or not heard back from us about how you can serve with CHC. We are deluged with responses. We are trying to focus on the relief opportunities already in front of us and determining where we can make the most impact. So, I want to ask for your patience with us—and pray for the people and the churches of Haiti. Now that the new Executive Director, Thomas Kim, is on board, you can expect to hear back from us as soon as a plan begins to take shape.

5) Church Planting in Haiti

We are in contact with a number of church planting organizations that want to partner with us to see churches planted in the areas where the Haitian refugees are being relocated to.

Keep us in your prayers, more updates to follow very soon.

James

By Mark Driscoll

When Pastor James MacDonald secured our transportation into and around Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the earthquake, he informed me that I could bring three other men with me to capture the footage in video and photo formats. In God’s providence, we had just the man. Thomas Hurst is the senior administrative deacon at Mars Hill Bellevue. Thomas is a Pulitzer Prize finalist photographer who has covered events in Kosovo, Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Rwanda while working for Time magazine, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe. Ten years ago he actually spent a few months as a photojournalist in Haiti.

I first met Thomas when he was assigned to shadow me for a story in The Seattle Times. We got along great and I deeply enjoyed his company. Eventually both he and his wife became Christians and started to rise up as leaders in our church. I love and appreciate this man and his family very much.

On the trip we all loved having Thomas with us. The thousands of photos he took are simply stunning. To help the cause in Haiti, we have decided to simply give away all his work. Feel free to use these photos for God’s glory and Haiti’s good. Individuals, churches, relief organizations, and others are welcome to use these images. If you would like to make a donation, please do so at www.churcheshelpingchurches.com. Lastly, I want to thank Angela Hurst for sending her husband into harm’s way for Jesus, and thank Thomas for volunteering his time to do such a fantastic job.

Free Haiti Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/churcheshelpingchurches/sets/72157623183233883/