A Lament for a Broken Land

The sound of gunshots was getting closer. Safety protocols had to be followed, and the difficult decision was made. It was time to evacuate out of Haiti.

Sitting in her living room and discussing the situation, MAF missionary Angie Sutton felt unsettled. She didn’t want to leave the home and people she loved. She knew there were dangers, but still it was unthinkable that they would leave … again.

With thoughts like these swirling in her head, Angie left the discussion and sat down at her piano. As she began to play and sing worship songs to the Lord, a sense of peace came over her. And not only her, but her four young daughters, as well, as they all were experiencing the turmoil of a country in crisis.

Months later, she would write a lament for Haiti, capturing her deep feelings for her beloved adopted home.

Angie and her husband, Andrew, and their daughters were among the MAF families that evacuated Haiti in 2021, then again in fall of 2022, due to increasing insecurity and instability.

While her husband continued to do rotations of three weeks in Haiti, and two weeks in the U.S. along with other pilots, mechanics, and support staff, Angie cared for her girls in their home base of New York.

She struggled with the disappointment of watching her husband continue to have an active part in the ministry, while she waited at home, at times fraught with worry over his safety, and deeply concerned for their Haitian friends.

“Lord, the country is in so much need and utter despair.
The people are exhausted and weary.
They are tired of all the suffering.
Bitterness is their portion.
There is a massive sense of hopelessness.
Wave after wave of destruction, devastation, and loss.
Earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes, hunger, famine, no
government to lead the people, gang wars, so much
bloodshed, such violence day after day.
There is no justice.”

In January of this year, the entire U.S.-based Haiti team gathered for a family conference in Florida. It was a time to reconnect, debrief, and process the traumatic events and grief they had collectively and individually experienced.

Afterwards, the decision was made to cease all flight operations in Haiti as of April 1.

Angie struggled with feelings of guilt—as if they were abandoning the missionaries and organizations in Haiti that depended on their flights to carry out their work.

“Lord, when will it end? I know You’re not unaware,
but it seems that You have forgotten them.
Have You abandoned them? Do You see their pain?
Won’t You step in? Lord, would You intervene in a
mighty and powerful way?”

But during church service in New York, a former missionary got up and shared a word from the Lord. She had an image of a person carrying a backpack of heavy rocks. She said, “The Lord is telling you, ‘Take them out, let them go. That’s not your burden to carry. Let me hold those for you.’”

Weeping, Angie knew those words were for her, a reassurance that God had not abandoned those left behind in Haiti.

“You are all-powerful, You are able.
Would you move in big ways? You parted the Red Sea
for Your people, You sent manna from heaven. You
are able to do what we can’t even fathom.
You are a wonder-working God.
Strengthen and restore Your people. Protect the
children. Provide for their needs: their physical,
emotional, and spiritual needs.
You intricately and intimately know each of them.
You are Jehovah Jireh—we trust You.”

In late spring, most of the Haiti families relocated to Idaho, where they are currently living in apartments on MAF’s campus. Together in community, they are working on a plan for the future of the Haiti program. Angie said as a team they have described this time of waiting and planning as a “wilderness”—like the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years.

Part of the process for Angie has been to go freely to the Lord, through the medium of lament, with her questions and cries. She longs to return to the home they left behind. Physically she and the rest of the team are in Idaho, but their hearts are in Haiti.

“And yet, EVEN if nothing changes in Haiti, we will
continue to praise You. We will worship You because
You are faithful and good. You are the same God of
Jacob, of Abraham, Moses, and David. We remember
Your faithfulness to them and are trusting in You now
with our fellow brothers and sisters in Haiti. Even
when we don’t see You working, we will trust You and
Your sovereign plan. Increase our faith. Help us in our
unbelief. May we cling to You and Your promises.
We love you, Lord.”

During a recent chapel service at MAF headquarters, the Haiti team shared about God’s faithfulness, through song—with Angie at the piano—and through testimony. In the midst of the uncertainty, they are trusting God’s timing and leading.

This story ran in the November (Vol. 4) 2023 issue of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

The post Longing for Haiti appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Story by Jennifer Wolf
Photos by Hungry for Life International unless otherwise noted

The prophet Elisha’s servant woke early, went outside, and saw an army of horses and chariots surrounding the city. He cried out to Elisha, “This is hopeless, my master!”

Over two millennia later and more than 6,000 miles away, the people of Haiti feel the same despair.

Gasoline $50 a gallon. A hamburger for $20. An economy paralyzed. Gangs blocking the seaports and the main fuel terminal—no more fuel shipments or food coming in. Hospitals, banks, and stores closing or rationing power. Violent protests. Reports of cholera.

The situation in Haiti is dire.

But, just as God opened the servant’s eyes to see the horses and chariots of fire He had sent to protect them, so God has given MAF and its partners incredible glimpses of the work He has been doing in Haiti.

Zoom out with me, and let’s take a look.

Jehovah-Jireh*

In April 2022, an MAF Caravan carried a group to Anse Rouge, Haiti, a dry, drought-stricken valley sometimes referred to as Platon Gran Dyab (the Devil’s Plateau). On board was a former MAF Haiti pilot, Jason Krul, who now serves with Hungry for Life International (HFLI). He was traveling with a group of donors on a vision trip of sorts to check in on compassion development projects they’d been supporting. It had been two years since they’d been able to visit Haiti, due to COVID and increasing instability within the country.

“I booked these flights quite a long ways in advance because the whole trip hinged on whether I could get an airplane or not,” Jason said. “Being able to rely on a ministry like MAF … that reliability, dependability, but also knowing and trusting the pilots are trained, the airplanes are maintained to a standard … We wouldn’t have done the trip if we didn’t have MAF flights.”

The group was visiting Lemuel Ministries, whose focus is on combatting poverty through holistic development—land and water reclamation, micro business, Christian education, and discipleship training. HFL supports a good portion of Lemuel’s kindergarten and elementary school, and a key donor was among the HFL visitors. 

It was Easter weekend. Every week the church in Anse Rouge prays for rain. It had been six months since they’d had any, and their watering holes were completely empty. Crops were dying, wells were going dry. During the community’s Easter service, the people prayed fervently.

“They prayed like I’ve never seen them pray before for rain,” Jason said.

After lunch, Jason and the HFL team went to tour the micro development project they support. There was a dark, ominous cloud over the mountains, which is common—it rains there but not in the valley. Suddenly the group heard people yelling from the top of the mountain. It had rained so much up there that water was gushing down through natural ravines, following its natural course to the ocean.

Lemuel and community members had built canals to divert water from the ravines to several collection ponds.

“We jumped and ran because we were across where the water would come,” Jason said. “We were able to stand up on a hill and watch water rushing through these canals and filling up massive watering pools. That will provide water for six to eight months again.”

A few minutes later, Jason and his team were talking to Manis and Judy Dilus, the couple behind Lemuel Ministries. Judy commented that the only thing that could possibly be better would be for it to actually rain there, in the valley.

The words were barely out of her mouth when the skies opened up and it started pouring; it rained all night.

These remarkable gifts of water amazed the visitors. “We were genuinely impacted by God’s provision and just the timing of us being there to be able to experience that,” Jason said.

Jehovah-Nissi**

After the HFL team had spent a few days with Lemuel Ministries, MAF picked up the group and flew them from the driest part of the country to the lushest.

To go from Anse Rouge to Jeremie is almost the longest distance you can go across Haiti. But with MAF, it’s just a short flight between the two.

“And when you take the plane, you see it immediately: The ministries that are working there are all different, but they all have the same goal,” Jason added. “It’s an awesome part about partnering with different ministries, like MAF does as well, being able to see the variety of ministry happening.”

Jason had done that flight to Jeremie many times in his former MAF pilot role to serve another long-time MAF partner, and friend, Mark Stockeland, founder of Haiti Bible Mission (HBM).

While in Jeremie, the HFL team saw vivid examples of how God was transforming lives. The group was in a meeting with Mark and some of HBM’s pastors and leaders, when a “prodigal son” returned.

The young man had been part of HBM’s leadership program for 10 years; they’d helped him start a business. Then he began hanging out with the wrong people, squandered everything, and abandoned HBM for a year.

During the meeting, he came knocking on the gate, tearfully begging Mark and his team to take him back and asking for forgiveness. Mark then read the story of the prodigal, and—as he later described it—“we cried and loved on him! Welcomed him back to our family.”

The HFL group also met another young man who’d been helped by Mark’s mission. Houston had been demon possessed and so violent that his family had to chain him to the ground. Mark and his team had prayed over him, and the next day he’d begun to improve. Several days later, Houston had asked for Mark’s team to come and pray for him again so he could ask Jesus into his heart.

“He’s been helping lead a discipleship group and getting involved in the church we helped build,” Mark said.

Jason and the HFL donors had been supporting the new church plant in Houston’s area, and they were excited to meet Houston.

“The guy is 100% normal—complete transformation!” Jason said. “To see a guy that’s gone from complete demon possessed to being on fire for this new church … You just go, wow, God is still working and moving in these communities.”

Arms Lifted

It’s not often that donors get to visit the projects they’ve funded and see the impact of their giving and how lives are being changed. These trips allow them to come alongside the ministries they support, learn what their needs are, and be an encouraging presence.  

Mark Stockeland said, “It’s always a blessing to have teams come and help serve. But it’s even better when it’s a close friend like Jason, who comes and encourages us and helps lift our arms. He knows what it’s like on the mission field, so he gets what we deal with on a daily basis.”

Jason and his team had the unique opportunity to see firsthand how Lemuel Ministries and HBM are striving to meet the needs of the Haitian people while sharing the life-changing love of Christ. Your support for MAF carried them safely to the right place at the right time, so God could show them the wondrous works He was doing.

May you be encouraged by these reports and have eyes to see the “chariots of fire”—God’s provision and protection—in your own life.

*The Lord who provides
**The Lord is my banner 

See page 12 of the “Prayer at Work” section in the full FlightWatch issue below to learn how the Haiti team was affected at the time of this writing.

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On a Sunday in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Zacharie François got a call from one of the MAF pilots at the hangar. The starter generator on the Cessna Caravan was smoking.

Zacharie, the first Haitian to graduate from the School of Missionary Aviation Technology (SMAT) in Michigan (2019), was then working as a maintenance specialist with MAF Haiti. In fact, at this time he was serving as the interim director of maintenance.

“They shouldn’t smoke,” Zacharie explained. “If it smoked, something arced inside. Given that the starter-generator is connected to the engine’s compressor shaft, a current may have made its way through there and welded the bearings, thus seizing up the engine; and that is not good.”

“We’re going to ground the aircraft,” Zacharie told MAF pilot Eric Fagerland. “I’m going to come in at six. We’re going to take this thing apart…”

What did Zacharie find when he took apart the starter-generator? First things first: How did Zacharie come to be serving with MAF in Haiti?

The Road to MAF

“Due to my parents’ work, I grew up around MAF families. And because of that, I’ve known about MAF my entire life,” Zacharie said to a crowd of donors and guests at a special event at MAF headquarters in September 2021.

“I was never really interested in becoming a pilot or mechanic for them,” he continued. “But all that was going to change after my first flight.”

In May of 2013, close family friend and MAF pilot Will White prepared to take Zacharie on a flight. The sun was just rising and God was painting a glorious white-orange sky as Zacharie boarded the small MAF airplane. He was about to gain a new perspective.

Up until that point, Zacharie’s view of Haiti had been limited to the capital of Port-au-Prince—a city of 2.7 million people—where he’d lived his entire life. Then, as 16-year-old Zacharie peered at the rural parts of his country from the air, he experienced a rush of emotions.

Two things struck him on the way to a remote village:

“One: I realized how poor my country was, but I knew the potential that exists within the land of Haiti,” Zacharie told the guests. “And two: I realized that mission aviation can make a difference. It can actually change the ending for so many isolated people.”

After that flight, Zacharie’s heart was moved to want to become a missionary aviator—he had his doubts, though. On his own, he couldn’t see a way to make that happen. But after he graduated from high school, God nudged Christine Harms, one of the MAF wives, to approach him—a friendship was formed, which eventually led to him becoming an aircraft mechanic apprentice with MAF.

In this role, he had opportunities to ride along on some flights. On one medical flight in particular, he and the pilot waited at the airstrip for the paramedics to return from transferring a patient to the local hospital. In the meantime, the local children had come out to see the airplane. They had a lot of questions, which Zacharie happily answered. But one six-year-old boy said something that broke his heart.

“Haitians can’t fly this thing,” the boy said. “They can’t work on this.”

Zacharie tried to tell him there were Haitian pilots and mechanics.

“Not Haitian, can’t be,” the boy replied, and the other kids around him echoed in agreement.

That six-year-old’s comment stuck with Zacharie and served to cement his calling to become a missionary pilot/mechanic. He began to see how God could use his upbringing.

“I grew up in a Christian home, and I was able to hang out with missionaries from different countries,” Zacharie continued. “But I also lived with the struggles that other Haitians were living with—my parents are from a poor family.

“Our heavenly Father allowed me to grow up in this environment, so he could use my story to inspire others to seek a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Him.” 

An Extra Pair of Wings

“We have some big butterflies in Haiti,” Zacharie laughed as he shared in an interview with MAF staff what he had found when he opened up the starter-generator of the Cessna Caravan.

Somehow a large butterfly had made it through a little hole located behind the propeller, through a spinning fin, all the way to the back of the engine and the starter.

Zacharie knew he would need to explain to Nampa (HQ) that a butterfly had destroyed this very expensive part and could have potentially destroyed MAF Haiti’s turbine engine—a half-million-dollar engine.

So he took a photo of the butterfly. And because of Zacharie’s discovery, butterflies are now “a thing”—something that’s covered during MAF’s maintenance standardization classes.

“Upon further inspection, it was determined that no damage had occurred to the engine, Zacharie added. “We praise God for such protection and give thanks that we had the funds to buy another starter-generator.”

Nothing Impossible

Zacharie was much like that butterfly that found itself in a seemingly impossible place. But as you know, nothing is impossible with God, and Zacharie was proof of that as he shared with the crowd at MAF headquarters in 2021 about the milestone he had just reached.

“Two weeks ago, I started my flight training at SMAT,” Zacharie said as he began to tear up.

The crowd cheered and clapped, then he concluded: “And yesterday I had my first flight as a student pilot.”

##

At the time of this posting, Zacharie is finishing up his last quarter of flight training. He is the first foreign student to be admitted to SMAT’s flight program and expects to graduate this August. From there, he will return to Haiti and continue serving as an MAF mechanic while adding to his flight hours before he  goes through MAF’s technical evaluation and flight standardization; once he passes those he will be accepted as an MAF Pilot.   

The post Flight Path to Possibilities appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Natalie Holsten

Just over a week after a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked southwestern Haiti, MAF pilot Eric Fagerland landed in the town of Jérémie with a load of relief supplies.

As Eric prepared to unload the plane, Mark Stockeland of Haiti Bible Mission grabbed him by the shoulder and pointed to a group of injured people waiting nearby. Mark, a frequent user and close friend of MAF, was coordinating relief efforts in the area.

“They’ve been lying there for hours,” said Mark. “They just don’t have a way to get out. Can you do something about that?” Eric recalled.

Eric looked at the patients, some wearing rudimentary bandages and makeshift splints. He hadn’t prepared to do a medical evacuation flight that day, but after making a call to another partner organization in Port-au-Prince that agreed to accept the patients, Eric made the necessary adjustments to transport the patients to the hospital.

“It stands out as a neat example of being there and available to get these people out,” Eric shared later.

In the midst of challenging times in the Caribbean nation, MAF continues to make a difference in Haiti with flights like these.

Mounting Challenges

The August 14 earthquake, which caused the death of over 2,200 people, came on the heels of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, political instability, and widespread criminal gang activity. “It was like a pressure cooker,” Eric said.

Historically, Haiti has been a go-to destination for short-term mission groups. Its proximity to the U.S. and abundant need has made Haiti an ideal location for those looking to be involved in overseas ministry.

MAF Haiti country director David Carwell said MAF has traditionally flown numerous short-term mission groups, but with the current instability, many of those workers aren’t coming.

“For those who do come, flying is essential for their safety. The main road connecting the capital to the southern peninsula has been very treacherous or essentially cut off at times because of kidnappings taking place in gang territory. Because of that, we have begun to fly for some ministries that in the past always went by road.”

Many of the mission organizations that have stayed in Haiti are able to do so only because MAF is providing flights for them now that land travel in many parts of the country is not possible due to gang activity.

This “air bridge” service is vital, and it’s not just missionaries that are using MAF, but also Haitians seeking to find a safe way over gang territory.

“We have made connections with more Haitian diaspora that are visiting Haiti to visit family, and many appreciate our service to help make their visit possible,” David said.

Even with the increased demand for flights, MAF leadership faced the ever-constant need to evaluate the security situation, which limited mobility within the capital where MAF staff live, and was compounded by a fuel crisis.

Eventually, as conditions in Haiti continued to deteriorate last fall, MAF leadership made the decision to move spouses and children back to the U.S. while a rotation of pilots, mechanics, and other staff allowed MAF to keep providing its flight services.

Serving in Hard Places

Like many MAF missionaries around the world, Eric and his wife, Lynette, have had to grapple with serving in a volatile place. To an outsider, it may seem like foolishness to send families to countries where there are external threats.

But according to MAF’s global disaster and security response director (name withheld for security reasons), a love for Jesus and desire to see others come to know Him compels the ministry to serve in difficult places. “The question, ‘Is it safe for our staff?’ is balanced with the organizational call and mission to bringing help, hope, and healing in hard places,” he said.

Eric and Lynette believe MAF equipped them well for these uncertain times, with classes on security and helping them develop a theology of risk. “MAF does an amazing job of prepping us for what we’re going into,” Lynette said. “We are well-trained, well-prepared.”

Eric and Lynette face an additional challenge of having a young adult daughter, Erika, who has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder, which has made her transition to life apart from her parents difficult.

“The idea of risk is not new to us,” Eric shared. “We go into this ministry prayerfully, with open hands, and also with the situation with Erika and how she’s going to get established in the U.S. You walk forward, you pray, you keep your hands open. And we say, if we’re being stupid, God, show us, close doors.

“But for now, in our personal lives with Erika and in the program with Haiti, it doesn’t appear that God’s moving in a different direction. The need is still there and it’s something that we can still meet.”

Eric is currently in Haiti, with the hopes that this spring, Erika will be well enough established that Lynette can join him on a more permanent basis. They are hopeful about the coming months and look forward to settling into their home to Haiti again, along with the rest of their team that has been uprooted.

For Eric and Lynette, as they move forward into the uncertainty of 2022, they are excited to see how God will work. “I come up with these themes each year,” Lynette said. “Our latest theme is ‘setbacks are set-ups for God to do the miraculous.’ And that’s what I keep coming back to because in our lives, every time I say, it’s impossible, God has made a way.”

An Opportunity for Growth

David Carwell also sees that while the instability in Haiti and exit of some mission and aid groups have left numerous Haitian ministries without international support, it presents the national church with the opportunity to grow in leadership capacity.

“While many programs are suffering or not the same as before, it has given nationals the opportunity to step up and take more leadership and ownership,” David said. “I feel like we have a ton of potential, in terms of MAF specifically, but also the church in Haiti. I think that we need an increased call to prayer, committing our program to Him, and as we delight in Him, we can fully trust Him with the results.”

Would you join us in prayer for Haiti? Pray for the protection of our staff, the ministry of MAF, and the growth of the Haitian church.

This story appeared in the Vol. 2 2022 edition of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

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MAF Haiti usually doesn’t fly on Sunday unless it’s a life-threatening situation. This time, two lives hung in the balance: a woman in critical condition following a stroke, and a young boy with a high fever and shakes. HERO, a medical organization, called MAF’s after-hours phone number requesting Sunday medical evacuations from Cap Haitian to Port-au-Prince.

A number of “coincidences” happened to line up that day so the patients could receive the urgent care they needed:

• Because it wasn’t known if the boy was contagious, two airplanes were needed so the stroke patient would not be exposed to the unknown illness.
• Two airplanes had just enough flight time available to make the flights before they would have to come off the line for an inspection.
• These two airplanes were scheduled for flights of the same length on Monday, so they were already fueled and ready to go.
• One had a flat tire repaired on Saturday, instead of Monday, because a pilot decided to take care of it when he stopped by the hangar to work on a few things.
• HERO sent two paramedics on each airplane so they could attend to each patient during their flight.

That last bullet point turned out to be extremely important, as the pilots realized when they landed in Cap Haitian. “It was immediately apparent that the stroke victim was not doing well,” said Dan Wanvig, one of the MAF pilots that day. “It was an all-hands-on-deck situation to get her stabilized and intubated in preparation for the flight.”

Because there were four paramedics, three of them were able to work on the stroke victim, while the fourth tended to the boy.

“I don’t know how they would have managed with any fewer paramedics,” Dan said.

So two medical evacuations at the same location, on the same day, plus four paramedics, and two MAF pilots and aircraft that were available on a Sunday adds up to one big God who was overseeing all the details.

Both patients were safely delivered to Port-au-Prince, where they were loaded into an ambulance and whisked away to the hospital.

HERO paramedics stabilize a stroke patient prior to an MAF flight in Haiti. Photo courtesy of Dan Wanvig.

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As most of you have heard, on August 14, devastation struck Haiti in the form of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that has leveled hospitals, homes, and businesses.

Over 2,200 people have died with many thousands of families left homeless. With the assassination of the Haitian president in July, a new government is attempting to deal with this tragedy.

MAF has been bringing the hope of Jesus and help for physical needs to the people of Haiti since 1986. When a massive earthquake struck in 2010, and Hurricane Matthew hit the island in 2016, MAF responded with their airplanes, partnering with many to help people in need.

MAF airplanes once again took to the sky the day the earthquake struck, delivering medical teams and supplies where major damage was experienced. Return flights have evacuated the injured to Port-au-Prince. Even nine days later, some of the injured finally made it to an airstrip from the countryside, with injuries that included a broken back, broken arms, head trauma, and broken legs. Some had newer injuries from unsafe structures collapsing on them.

While MAF continues to serve the needs of the Haitian people with compassion and the love of Jesus, we need your help. Will you please pray?

• Pray that shelter, food, water, and medical care reaches those who need it most.
• Lift up our staff who are putting in long hours with difficult decisions to make. Pray that they may be strengthened so they can continue to help those in need.
• Pray for the Haitian survivors as they deal with their trauma and daily needs.

Thank you for partnering with us through prayer.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

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Dan and Stephanie Kramer are getting ready to serve with MAF in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where they will operate the MAF guesthouse and Dan will handle facilities maintenance. What’s interesting is that these two actually met in Port-au-Prince over 20 years ago. Dan was working with an organization that ran short-term missions in the area, and Stephanie was an art teacher at the Quisqueya Christian School.

Dan interacted with MAF quite a bit back then, and one time he and MAF country director David Carwell went to a going-away party for someone in the mission community. Stephanie’s host family had invited her to the same party, on her first day in country. And that’s when she and Dan met.

They’re excited to return—this time with their five children, ages 7–17.

Dan and Stephanie both have a missions’ mindset, fueled by the impact earlier mission trips had on their lives. Since their marriage, they’ve lived very intentionally with as little debt as possible, so they could “go” if the opportunity arose. And they’ve raised their children to have similar values.

“We taught them to love the nations, to love the Lord, and to realize that we’re called to that as a family,” said Dan.

“Something we tried to keep in the forefront of our minds was to invite people in, whether it was for a meal or for somebody passing through,” added Stephanie.

That focus on hospitality will come in handy as Stephanie cares for the guests at the MAF guesthouse. And Dan’s administrative and management experience through his work in automotive maintenance, business, and agriculture will serve him well as he takes care of the base facilities there.

Together, the Kramers will be a great help to the Haiti team that is short-staffed and trying to keep up with all the demands of a busy program.

Dan and Stephanie Kramer need prayer and financial partners! Learn how you can be a vital part of their team at maf.org/dkramer.

A shorter version of this story appeared in the spring 2021 edition of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

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Mason Murawski noticed a young boy with Down Syndrome wasn’t wearing a colorful bracelet, meaning he wasn’t going to participate. Mason was part of a short-term team from the U.S. that was putting on a vacation Bible school (VBS) for children in a remote area of northwest Haiti.

Since Mason could speak Haitian Creole, he asked the local leaders if the boy could participate with the other children. His teammates knew how to work with special needs kids and felt comfortable incorporating him into the activities.

Throughout that week, Mason, his mom, Sandi, and other members of the Denbigh United Presbyterian Church in Virginia loved on Haitian children as they led VBS at two separate churches west of the Port-de-Paix area. That young boy ended up learning the dance movements and some of the worship song lyrics, in both English and Creole. He was not shy about dancing and singing with the entire group.

The Denbigh church has been sending teams almost every year since 2008. They started with building projects and then began doing VBS. “Providing Bible lessons, crafts, recreation, scripture, love, food, and relationships are all reasons we go,” says Sandi.

The group also pays for a generator and brings a portable printer so they can print out photos of the children. A professional photographer, Mason takes a photo of each child, and then the kids make a picture frame during craft time so they can display their photo at home.

This past summer, the team was surprised when they held up each photo and waited for the appropriate child to claim it. No one responded. Turns out they had never seen their own reflections because they don’t have mirrors in their homes. Having one is a luxury their families can’t afford.

But while the kids had never seen themselves, God sees them, and knows each one by name. At every VBS He was calling more to be His own. This past summer some 30 children were added to God’s forever family.

Roadblocks to Grace

This last trip could have been cancelled because the country was assigned a “Level Four” warning by the U.S. State Department—the highest warning level. The Embassy was basically saying, don’t come.

Exorbitantly high prices for food and gas are putting Haitians in desperate situations. A gang had shut down the road between Port-au-Prince and Port-de-Paix, making travel by road impossible.

“You need to be sure that you are called by God to come,” said longtime Crossworld missionary Bruce Robinson to the Denbigh church team. “And if you do come, the only way in and out is with MAF.”

Bruce is the connection to the Denbigh church. He grew up in that church. So it makes sense that they would adopt and engage with his ministry. Bruce and his wife, Deb, have lived in Haiti since 1983, coming alongside local pastors and building schools and churches and the infrastructure to support them: latrines, long-gravity drinking water systems, cisterns, irrigation systems, and wells. These serve an area of more than 100,000 people.

This area is one of the poorest in this impoverished country. The people survive by farming—when there’s rain, that is. Haiti is currently experiencing severe drought. The fact that children who come to VBS are fed breakfast and lunch is a big deal.

Every year the Robinsons rely on MAF to bring in short-term teams to help with building or water projects, and to run VBSs and sports camps. Typically, it’s 10 teams per year, or 60 to 100 people who come. A 45-minute flight replaces a grueling 10-hour road trip that can be dangerous, if not impossible.

“In a country where things aren’t all coming together yet, [MAF] it’s the only way you can get to where we live,” said Bruce.

Reflecting Results

MAF has been key to Bruce and Deb weathering other difficult periods in Haiti, like the 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew.

When Bruce thinks of MAF and its supporters, he says, “They don’t see the direct results of their ministry—the people coming to Christ, the people that get water, the people that are able to grow food for themselves. But they need to know that we can’t do that very well unless we have the backup of MAF, making it possible for us to logistically do all of this. So MAF’s donors and staff are basically doing this thing on faith, knowing what they’re doing is a really good thing, but they don’t get to see the results. I get to see the results.”

And visiting teams like the one from the Denbigh church can also see a reflection of God’s transforming love.

This year Sandi caught a glimpse: “When you see children eating part of their lunch and then walking to the fence and giving the rest to the kids who didn’t get to come, you know they have the love of the Lord in their hearts.”

Story originally appeared in the January 2020 issue of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

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In this episode, we talk with John Woodberry & Rick Emenaker, members of MAF’s Disaster Response (DR) Team, about how MAF is able to quickly and efficiently respond to a natural disaster or crisis—and be the hands and feet of Jesus to comfort those who are suffering.  We also talk to James McDowell about the partnership MedAir has with MAF, and what it’s like to work together in a disaster response situation.

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One out of every 14 Haitian children won’t live to see their fifth birthday due to malnutrition and related complications, like anemia.

But Danita’s Children—a Christian organization serving in Haiti—is working to change that. Danita’s Children launched a new program that brings mobile malnutrition clinics to rural areas of Haiti.

“We’re finding the ones who can’t get to us,” said Brittany Hilker, the malnutrition program director for Danita’s Children. “These are kids who maybe would have never made it.”

One area Brittany and her team are focusing on is Baie d’Orange, a beautiful and extremely remote area in the mountains of Belle Anse, Haiti. About 14,000 people live here, and there are no health facilities or doctors.

“The people are very poor and most all of them live off the land to survive,” said Brittany. “The need is greater than I’ve seen anywhere else in Haiti, especially regarding child malnutrition.”

On one of their visits, the team saw 167 children in one day, 20 of whom were found to be severely malnourished—like baby Kenold.

At eight months old, Kenold was a mere eight pounds. He and his loving, attentive mom, 18-year-old Monique, received an emergency MAF flight back to the main Danita’s Children medical center in Ouanaminthe. Several other children were medivaced as well. Kenold was treated there for six weeks and weighed 12 pounds when he was released.

MAF flights are taking the Danita’s Children malnutrition team partway to Baie d’Orange—to the closest airstrip—two or three times a year. The airplanes also carry boxes of a peanut-based therapeutic food, Plumpy Nut or Plumpy Sup.

In October the team was able to stock a pharmacy with a year’s worth of medicines and nutritional supplements, train two partner nurses, plant moringa trees, fund the construction of latrines, and share the gospel with the community.

Brittany sent a report to the MAF Haiti team and thanked them: “Since they are a vital part of getting us there and back, I would love for the pilots and those in the office to see what they are a part of. We are not only going and flying sick kids back, we are helping the people of Baie d’Orange have their own permanent malnutrition program to combat the epidemic in their area. Thanks for all your help!”

Story appeared in the spring 2019 issue of FlightWatch.

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