Hurricane News: Assessing the damage.

Praise that our leaders have arrived in Jeremie!  With the help of our friends at Mission Aviation Fellowship, Mark Stockeland and Marc Donald Germeil were able to land in Jeremie.  Through several brief calls, we have gotten word of the devastation in Jeremie.  A large percentage of the houses are gone, and even our sturdy structure has underwent severe damage.  

The new roof on our gallery is gone and trees have fallen over like matchsticks on the ground.  Our staff is feeding 40-50 people and are without sleep due to the lack of the security on the compound because of broken perimeter fences.  Please pray for these great men and women and for our leaders assessing the damage and deciding what first steps to be done.  We would also like to share a praise that Mark Stockeland's father, David Stockeland has weathered the storm in Jeremie and is fine.

One of our biggest immediate needs are funds for shipping new solar panels to Agape Flights, as our compound has no gas, water or electricity, this is one of our most pressing needs.

What can you do to help?

• Pray. Please continue to pray for the relief efforts and for the other organizations partnering together such as Agape Flights, Mission Aviation Fellowship and HaitiOne.
• Donate. You can donate to the relief effort by clicking here choosing the donate button and choosing "Hurricane Matthew Relief" from the donation menu to help us in the relief effort.
• We ask that you continue to desist contacting Haitian staff and our leaders who just arrived in Haiti.  It is imperative that any communication they have is with other HBM staff to coordinate relief efforts.  Anyone with questions or requests can email us at info@haitibiblemission.org.
• We are interested in putting together a team of specialized, skilled volunteers (electricians and carpenters) who would be willing to lead the charge next week in Haiti to help rebuild.  Please contact us at info@haitibiblemission.org if you are an electrician or carpenter, and have the ability to come. 

““Let us acknowledge the Lord: let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear...””

— Hosea 6:3a

Hurricane News at HBM: We have contact.

Thank you all for the outpouring of support that you have shown over the past few days.  Praise the Lord we were finally able to make contact with our Haitian staff briefly today.  Our good friend with the UN went to visit and used his satellite phone while there for our staff to talk to our leaders in the States.  Our mission compound has sustained major damage including lost solar panels, fence, water collection system, destroyed group kitchen and gallery and all windows.  But there is a big praise here that all of the staff on our compound are healthy!  God is working big miracles here!

Our churches and school have all lost roofs and sustained similar damage, along with the rest of the city of Jeremie.  Our leaders, Mark and Marc Donald are in Port au Prince to go to Jeremie in the morning and begin assessing the damage and seeing our staff.  The phone lines continue to be down as well as all means of communication except for satellite phone.  We will be able to get short updates from there only through these means.

What can you do?

• Pray. Please continue to pray for the safety of our staff, students and the people of Jeremie. Pray for the travel and relief coordination efforts of our leaders.
• Donate. You can donate to the relief effort by clicking here choosing the donate button and choosing "Hurricane Matthew Relief" from the donation menu to help us in the relief effort.
• We ask that you continue to desist contacting Haitian staff and our leaders who just arrived in Haiti.  It is imperative that any communication they have is with other HBM staff to coordinate relief efforts.  Anyone with questions or requests can email us at info@haitibiblemission.org.
• We are interested in putting together a team of specialized, skilled volunteers (electricians and carpenters) who would be willing to lead the charge next week in Haiti to help rebuild.  Please contact us at info@haitibiblemission.org if you are an electrician or carpenter, and have the ability to come. (Photo credit for picture on the right, Tim Schandorff at Mission Aviation Fellowship)

Hurricane Matthew: October 5, 2016

Firstly, we would like to thank all for your prayers and support at this time for Jeremie and our relief efforts.  They are so appreciated, and have already helped tremendously.  Mark and Marc Donald have joined friends in Florida today to buy relief supplies.  These supplies were then taken to our partner in ministry, Agape Flights, who will fly them to Haiti as soon as possible.  

Lord-willing, Mark and Marc Donald will fly to Haiti tomorrow and get to Jeremie to join with our staff on the ground and begin to assess the damage.  This is critical, as we have not been able to regain communications with our staff and friends.  

What can you do to help?

• Pray. Please continue to pray for the safety of our staff, students and the people of Jeremie. Pray that we will regain connection with our team in Haiti. Pray for the travel and relief coordination efforts of our leaders.
• Donate. You can donate to the relief effort by clicking here choosing the donate button and choosing "Hurricane Matthew Relief" from the donation menu to help us in the relief effort.
• Do not contact our Haitian staff at this time. Though we know many have a personal connection with many Haitian staff, the calls and messages distract them and others from safety measures and prevent us from staying in contact with them ourselves.

Hurricane Matthew Update - October 4, 2016

We would like to take this opportunity to give a short update on the situation in Jeremie Haiti, in regards to Hurricane Matthew. Our team stateside lost contact with our staff in Haiti just after 7:00 am. Before that loss in contact, we heard of damage sustained at the mission compound including our fence, water collection system and satellite. We have also heard from Pastor Eldet Tine that his home was destroyed, and they have moved in with neighbors. Mark Stockeland and Marc Donald Germeil will be traveling to Florida tomorrow in order to begin purchasing supplies to send down to Haiti for the relief effort through Agape Flights, our partner in ministry that enables us to send supplies to Haiti. See below for ways that you can help!

What can you do to help?

• Pray. Please pray for the safety of our staff, students and the people of Jeremie. Pray that we will regain connection with our team in Haiti. Pray for the storm to pass over the people of Haiti with no further damage.
• Donate. You can donate to the relief effort by clicking here choose the donate button and choosing "Hurricane Matthew Relief" from the donation menu to help us in the relief effort.
• Do not contact our Haitian staff at this time. Though we know many have a personal connection with many Haitian staff, the calls and messages distract them and others from safety measures and prevent us from staying in contact with them ourselves.

Pastor Eldet & family

Hurricane Matthew Update

As the storm is already reaching the southern parts of Haiti, it is creating lots of big waves and causing the sea level to rise significantly.  As Matthew is headed straight for Jeremie, we wanted to share with you a few things that will be important as the storm moves through.

How can you help? 

Prayer is of course the first and most important way to help; asking God for his favor on the country and these precious people. 

Apart from prayer, the best and most far-reaching way to help will be to donate monetarily to allow HBM to meet the areas with the most need. Anyone wanting to help can go online and make a donation on our website by clicking here, which will allow us to buy what we need and minster to the city of Jeremie along with the HBM staff and their families.

We have a team of 7-8 people in place ready to join Mark Stockeland on a trip after the storm passes to help with the aftermath of the storm.  The team will be taking what they can for supplies with them.  Agape flights is planning a emergency flight with supplies for the missionaries which includes HBM.  We will be buying tarps, food, water purification systems and tablets along with several first aid kits for Agape to bring over.