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The Jesus Film at Last and The Final Day     28 June, 2009, 08:31 am
Sorry we were not able to do the update on Saturday morning. Frankly, I'm surprised we had as good communication as we did. It's been a great trip, and everyone has done a wonderful job. We could not pull this project off without the involvement of each person on the team. EPI projects require folks going with us in order to accomplish the task, and that was very evident on this Haiti trip.

On Friday, we were blessed to be able to get in some open-air meetings; one in the market and one film showing at night. The market meeting had about 100 people gathered around us. We don't do crusade type meetings, rather we head to a busy place like a market and find a little open area where a crowd of people is already standing. We then set up a small sound system and our Haitian partners start singing a song or something. This attracts the attention of the people in the area. We had a testimony from one of the team members, and then I got up and preached a brief, clear, simple gospel message. On this occasion we had 50 that responded to the call. It was a great time.

Also on Friday, we had our last VBS with 150 kids. Stephanie Dankert remarked how well behaved the children were on this trip. She does this with children all the time and felt that on this occasion they listened well, were engaged, and interested in the message. We have about a 3 hour program, and they don't want to leave at the end. Steph reported that there were 75 kids who responded to the message.

Finally, that evening, we were able to do our only Jesus Film showing of the project. We didn't have any rain, and the sound system and projector were working! We started the movie around dusk, and the crowd started to gather. People are very interested in the movie and have never seen anything like this before. There were 200 who came and then listened to a gospel message that I preached half way through the movie. At the invitation, 90 of them responded. We have churches in the area to follow up on all these people and a local pastor with us at the end who does some follow up and talk about the fellowship.

On Saturday morning, we were on the road by 7:00am, driving to Port au Prince, and arriving at 11:30. After some lunch, some of us went out shopping in the afternoon. In the evening we all gathered with our Haitian partners to talk about the week. At the end of every EPI Project, we always have a meeting with the team to go over things that went well, and things we can improve on next time. After 20 years of doing this, we are always looking for ways to improve projects for our personnel when we can.

Stephanie Dankert from Maine, who has been on other EPI projects, remarked how "dark" it was in this country...a real spiritual battle. She enjoyed getting to know the Haitian people and working closely with them. She said it was a learning experience for most of the Haitians, but they learned quickly and were eager to do whatever it took to share the gospel effectively.

Tracy Gibbs, from Memphis, who has also been on other EPI projects said that she was just amazed at the open air meetings. People were extremely orderly, and very receptive. It has been an awesome trip for her...unlike any of the other EPI trips she's been on. On this trip, she was particularly reminded how easy it is for her to worship at her church, when you come with a full stomach and a shower. She was struck at how appreciative and happy the Haitian believers were even though they had so little.

All in all it was a great week and I'm very appreciative to everyone who came, all those who got them here, and all the people back home who prayed for us, particularly the parents who allowed their teenagers to come on this trip. While mere numbers do not tell the entire eternal story, nevertheless, they do give an idea of how hard we worked and how receptive the people in the hills of central Haiti were to the preaching of the gospel. So, here are the numerical results of our efforts...

*We showed the Jesus Film once with 200 attending and 90 responding
*We did two open-air meetings with a total of 130 listening and 70 responding
*We did six days of VBS to 950 children with 245 of them responding
*We did two days of medical clinics where we treated a total of 490 people with 8 of them responding to Christ in the counseling time
*We also gave out 260 pairs of reading glasses

At this moment I'm driving to the airport getting ready for our 9:00am flight to Miami. From there, people will head home to California, Tennessee, and Maine. Our Maine team will be back to the EPI office around midnight tonight after driving back from Boston.

Once again, thank you for your prayers and support. Next week, EPI heads to China. Keep up with them on our sites. God Bless.

Posted By: John Pullen in Haiti via phone call to Phil Eyster at EPI in Maine


Saturday     27 June, 2009, 07:41 am
After a long time of trying, I was unable to connect with John Pullen in Haiti this morning. Most likely they were already on their way back to Port au Prince and were in an area without coverage. I will try later today to make contact. The team will be in the capital tonight in preparation for flying out tomorrow.

Posted By: Phil Eyster, EPI in Maine


Winding Down the Ministry in Domonde     26 June, 2009, 08:54 am
Thursday was another good day of ministry as people realized we only have two days to go. We did VBS at a larger church facility but with only 80 kids. We were able to split the kids into smaller groups and spend some time with them in a smaller setting. Three of the kids responded to the message.

As we do each night, we had a team meeting for prayer and share. I encouraged everyone to think about what God had taught them on this project or what He was leading them to do. Some said that they were impressed that it doesn't matter who you are or where you are from, God can use you to affect the lives of others. Some have learned about the leading of God. Letting him take control, and how to have faith in Him.

Some on their first trip have been impressed with our Haitian friends. Even though they don't have much, they are happy and passionate about the Lord. Our friend here, Brother Jeanteau, wants to build a school for kids on the church property where we are staying. He has nothing himself, and he is prepared to sacrifice for those less fortunate than even he is. People like this are a tremendous blessing.

Some of the team went down to help our friend with the house build. They poured the floor and did some other things. They are almost done with this phase down there and our friend will come up to spend the night with our team tonight.

Everyone is doing well, although a bit tired. The heat can really zap you by the end of the afternoon. We have one more day of ministry on Friday, then will head back to Port au Prince very early on Saturday morning. I'll have some of the final figures on here tomorrow morning. God Bless and thanks for all the prayers for our team. They are all blessed to be here.

Posted By: John Pullen from Haiti via phone call with Phil Eyster at EPI in Maine


Two Fuel Trucks and a Hairy Tarantula     25 June, 2009, 09:29 am
Wednesday we had a rough day on the road and ended up at a remote area for VBS. The road to the location was bad. At one point we had to drive through a river and then up a steep bank on the other side. Halfway up there was a fuel truck stuck in the mud and precariously leaning over on its side. We sneaked around it and made our way to the school.

At the VBS we had over 250 kids crammed into a small area. It was, shall we say, "lively". The great news is that 75 of the children responded to the gospel presentation.

On the way back to cross the river, we noticed that the truck had unstuck itself, proceeded 10 feet and then got re-stuck on the other side of the road. So another fuel truck came by and tried to help. The "help" was backing up a few yards and then ramming the stuck truck to try and dislodge it. Quite a show! We all exited our vehicle and Wawa drove around them by balancing on two ruts off the road. We also had the privilege of seeing a big hairy tarantula about 5 inches in diameter. Wawa said they were rare and he'd never seen one before.

Yesterday afternoon, some of us went to help out a friend of EPIs from the US build a house. The story is that our friend adopted a 16 month old baby from Haiti in 1989. A year ago they found his birth mother in Haiti. She was basically homeless with 3 other children. So, on their own initiative, they decided to raise the money and build her a house. The father and adopted son from the US are in Haiti now doing just that. Their trip just happened to overlap with ours, so we offered to help them as they were not that far away.

Last night it actually did not rain! So we went out to do the Jesus Film, however, the equipment did not work...wow. So our presence there attracted a small crowd, and we preached the gospel anyway, with 20 people responding. Jennifer Peralta commented on how amazing it is to see people respond to Christ from a meeting where things went wrong.

Everyone is healthy. We had a full day and even the people from Memphis are remarking at how hot it is. Thanks for your prayers. We have two more days of ministry here and then we head back to Port au Prince on Saturday morning.

Posted By: John Pullen from Haiti via phone call to Phil Eyster at EPI in Maine


Sometimes You Eat...Other Times You Don't     24 June, 2009, 09:14 am
Tuesday was another busy day here in Domonde. We are at the half-way point for the folks here and we are doing well but tired. It's a "good" tired though.

Yesterday morning we had 135 kids in VBS. The team did all of the usual things with them and had 7 children who responded to the message. The team is just continually struck by how appreciative they are. It would appear that even if we just showed up and sat with them, they would be happy with that. Their lives are so difficult and full of despair, that any attention from someone from the outside is such a blessing. They hang on to you and don't want to let you go.

Jennifer brought some kites with her and has been flying them with the kids at dinnertime around our base camp. Abbey and Lauren taught some kids how to play Mancala without knowing any Creole. All of us have the feeling that we'd like to do more for them, but there is only so much we can do. And at least we know that what we are doing is valuable and worthwhile for them.

Ron Bates mentioned an incident yesterday at the VBS. We had bought some juice and crackers for the kids and were handing them out. In the process of dealing with hundreds of kids, invariably one or two might get temporarily overlooked. But if a child didn't get some, they wouldn't say anything. Ron remarked how if that was in the States that the kid would point out the error. But here, the children just accept it as part of life...sometimes you get something to eat and other times you don't. In the end, after we checked, we made sure that all were served, but it was striking to Ron the initial non reaction of the few who might be passed over at first.

The medical clinic on Tuesday went very well. We treated 258 people. Two more responded to the gospel at the clinic today. Each person who comes is not only treated physically, but is prayed for and counseled with on an individual basis. We have given out 200 pairs of reading glasses so far as well.

We have been blessed to have Dr. Jeudy with us for our clinic days. He is a Haitian doctor from Port au Prince. He has a clinic there and he preaches the gospel and leads patients to Christ every morning before he starts work. Yesterday he saw two people with hernias at the clinic. He offered to do the surgery on them for free, making a total of 6 people he has graciously offered to operate on. Wawa is now figuring out how to get the people to his hospital for the operations.

It is still raining at night, so we have not been able to do the film showings. But we are all doing well and are being treated wonderfully. Thank you all for your prayers.

Posted By: John Pullen from Haiti via phone to Phil Eyster at EPI in Maine



A Baby and the Power of Prayer     23 June, 2009, 09:08 am
Monday was a full day for us. We had 200 kids in the VBS and treated 230 at the medical clinic. By the time we got back to the base camp it was 7:30 at night.

This is the first time we have done medical clinics in Haiti and it went very well. As always there are a few kinks to work out from the first day, but all in all it went very well. Stephanie, Gary, and I worked at the clinic in the morning along with Dr. Jeudy (Haiti). Jeudy was a tremendous help. He was born and has lived in Haiti all his life, but even he remarked at the lack of any medical care in the area for the people. If you get sick up where we are, it is doubtful you could get to a doctor or hospital, even if you could afford it.

Stephanie Dankert and Amanda, a young medical student from Port au Prince, staffed the pharmacy all day and did a great job. We also have enough meds to give scripts for 30 days. We are giving out reading glasses to those who need them as well.

The VBS was held in the morning. We worked out some of the kinks from the first day and things went very smoothly. The team consisted of Tracy, Ron, Tonya, Abbey, Lauren, and Jennifer. They had 200 children for 3 hours and 15 of them accepted Christ. The team was very excited. The thing that has impacted them the most has just been the connection with the kids, privilege of serving people, and how humbling that is.

After the VBS they came over to help out with the medical clinic. At one point Lauren and Gary were helping a young lady who came with a baby that was about 2 yrs. old. The baby was so malnourished that it was evident it might not live much longer. At this point, after the medical treatment we gave, there was nothing else we could do other than pray for her. Lauren and Gary did just that. At the evening meeting, Lauren shared how this simple prayer for the woman really effected her. She realized how important and powerful prayer was.

We've still had rain in the evenings and have not been able to do film showings. But the good news is that the vehicles and other logistic items are all running smoothly. We have been ending the day with a team meeting for prayer and share. Usually we are in bed by 10pm. Everyone is healthy and in great spirits. Thanks for your prayers.

Posted By: John Pullen from Haiti via phone call to Phil Eyster at EPI in Maine.

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