The Forgotten People

Dameus

I am sorry that it has been awhile since I've written.  My recent trip to Ouanaminthe in July was a flurry of activity that included hosting a group of medical professionals.  Dr. Juan Padilla, a neurosurgeon and friend of ours from the southern tip of Texas brought a group of almost 30 doctors, nurses and volunteers to perform operations on 70 adults.  While he was there, Juan was also able to see our friend, Dameus.

Many of you will remember that Aslan has been working with Hope For Haiti for over a year now to try and help this wonderful 22-year-old man.  From the moment Dameus first showed up on Danita's doorstep at church one Sunday in April of 2008, I was compelled to do something to help him.  When he was a little boy Dameus got a cut on his head.  With polluted water and no antibiotic ointment, this simple cut was left untreated and a fungal infection slowly started as the cut healed over.  Over the years, the infection became worse and resulted in a large lump between his skull and skin.  About three years ago, this now huge growth literally broke open into a gaping, open wound.  His mother took him to Haitian doctors who said there was nothing they could do to help.  By the time he came to Danita's church that day in April of 2008, he was crying himself to sleep every night in excruciating pain.

When we wrote to you about Dameus, many of you responded to help us with this need.  We quickly raised almost $15,000, and Dameus spent several months undergoing radiation and chemotherapy in Santiago, Dominican Republic.  While he was there, his tumor shrank remarkably.  All of our hopes and prayers were that this treatment would heal him.  However, when Joseph and I took Dameus back to the hospital in Santiago a CT Scan confirmed that the cancer had unfortunately spread to other places and through the bone in his skull.  Neither surgery or more radiation and chemo can help him. 

As sad as this is, your gifts were not in vain and it is still not "the rest of the story."  Our friends Karris and Brenda spent time talking to Dameus about his relationship with God.  I had the privilege of seeing him three days after he opened his heart to Jesus' love, and he was literally not the same person.  When I walked in, Dameus had a look of peace and joy on his face that lit up the room!  And we still have enouth money left to continue helping him.  Every day, a nurse travels to the small hut where Dameus lives with his mother and father to wash the gaping wound on his head.  Danita also regularly provides food for him and his family.

Please continue to pray for this dear young man.  Had we not, with your help, stepped in when we did Dameus would have died soon after we first met him.  However long God desires for him to live on this earth, we know that when Dameus dies he will be in the arms of Jesus.  As Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, "It is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."

Thanks to all of you who care so much about Aslan's work in Haiti.

Craig

P.S. Following are pictures of when we first met Dameus and than after he received the treatments in Santiago.  I have included them not to shock you but for one reason only ~ to emphasize how critically important it is for Aslan to build a clinic on our land to serve children who receive no medical care.  Had Dameus been properly treated 15 years ago, this would never have happened. 

 

 
 
 

Our Beautiful Boy

Dear Friends,

 

In the hot summer of 1996 Aslan started down a road that most people in the world would say was a stairway to hell.  To Aslan, we know that it is a stairway to heaven.  Nothing that Lynn Ann and I have ever tried to do has been simple or easy.  And the same was true of both of our wonderful children.  Daniél was an extremely bright young man, who said his first word “kitty” at the age of 7 months.  Thinking she must be delusional, Lynn Ann pointed at the cardboard kitten on the wall and Daniél repeated himself!  By the age of two ~ I do not exaggerate ~ he was holding full conversations with adults.

Daniél always wanted to do something that made a difference.  Although his candle was blown out by the ferocious and evil winds of this world, he made more of a difference in his 28 short years than most people make in their entire lives.  Haiti was his dream ~ born out of six weeks that he spent in Uganda in 1991.  Five years later as a young twenty-year-old, it was his encouragement that caused us to take a leap of faith like none other we’d ever taken.  Fifteen people boarded a plane in Newark, New Jersey, and some four hours later literally entered another world.  From the beginning, it was a great and grand adventure that started a fire in our hearts that will not be extinguished. 

On that first night in Port-au-Prince we stayed at Le Palace, a once beautiful hotel that was now in ruins.  Outside was a stagnant concrete hole, once a swimming pool, filled with green, rotting water.  It was just one more reminder of a country filled with sadness and overwhelming need.  For supper that evening, we walked a few blocks to a small market where we purchased bread, peanut butter and sodas.  One of our team members had fortunately brought some jelly with him, so we feasted on old chairs close to the green water.  Even then we were not at all feeling sorry for ourselves, for each of us saw for the first time in our lives a poverty that was simply beyond words.  Early the next morning we boarded a colorfully painted “tap tap” for a 12-hour ride to Ouanaminthe (pronounced wăh-năh-minth) in the far northeastern corner of Haiti.  Daniél was to take 3 more trips to Haiti before his work schedule no longer allowed it.  Haiti, however, never, ever left his heart.

I could tell you hundreds of stories about my bright, talented, sensitive son, but I will close with this very special one.  It is about John, a wonderful friend Daniél & Dustin had while they were living in San Francisco.  Because of his brokenness, John had lost everything to alcoholism, including a teaching position at a university.  His wife, his children and all his friends had long ago given up on him.  He was left alone, usually spending his nights huddled under a dirty blanket in the small alcove of a storefront close to our boys' apartment building.  [Pictured on the right are Daniél (left) and Dustin (right) at their apartment in San Francisco.]  

One evening when Lynn Ann and I were visiting, Daniél asked us to go down with Dustin and him to meet John.  He had told John that his parents were coming for a visit, and John wanted to meet us.  Daniél told us that he usually gave his friend $5.00 each day to help him.  John also found scraps of canvas to paint on and raise a little money to stay alive, and Daniél suggested that we might want to buy one.  So, down to the streets of San Francisco the four of us went; and there was John sitting at his regular place.  Daniél made all the proper introductions, and John asked us to kindly join him on the curb.  I knew we were in for something special, the moment we sat down next to him.  John went to great lengths to explain to us how much Daniél and Dustin meant to him and how much they helped him.  “They’re my real friends,” he said.  And then he leaned across, looked into our eyes ~ his filled with tears ~ and quietly said “You have such wonderful boys.  You have such wonderful boys.”  He thanked us profusely for buying one of his small paintings ~ which we still have to this day ~ and we headed back to the apartment.

We were now the ones with tears in our eyes, and those tears were not only for our new friend, John.  They were tears of joy mixed with sorrow for our own sweet-hearted boy, Daniél, who loved people like John so very much.  He loved those that so many others could never or would never love. 

 

More than anything else, Daniél died on the night of December 8, 2004, from a broken heart.  The world lost a bright light that cold December evening.  The world needs people who love like Daniél loved.  The world is a lesser place without him.  On his headstone, we borrowed the words from Don McLean’s song, Vincent. 

 

Today, June 25, is Daniél’s birthday.  I want everyone who ever reads this blog and cares about Haiti to know that every good thing that happens there through Aslan Youth Ministries is a star in Daniél’s crown in heaven and also a star in his brother’s.  Until we see our sons again, we will strive with our last ounce of strength to love people with the depth that Daniél and Dustin loved people.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.  Love will last forever . . . . 

 

Happy birthday, Daniél.  And as the poet said so eloquently, “This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.”

Video of our work in Haiti

A Tribute To Dustin

Hi again,

This is my second post for the day and one that I was not sure I could put together.  The more I've thought about it, however, the more I've realized that it is something that I definitely am compelled to do.  Most of you who read this blog know that Lynn Ann and I have tragically lost both of our sons.  Today is Dustin's 28th birthday and Daniel's birthday is on June 25.

When Lynn Ann and I explain to people that, without Dustin & Daniel, we would have no ministry in Haiti, I am not sure most of them truly understand why this is so.  Daniel was 14 years old in 1990, when he rode a bus from New Jersey to Merritt Island, Florida for an adventure with Teen Missions International that would change his life forever.  After 2 weeks of intense training, he spent six weeks (and his 15th birthday) in Uganda.  That is a story in itself that bears telling in much more depth.  But the important thing for everyone to remember is it that Daniel's time in Uganda was the total inspiration for our eventual work in Haiti.

Dustin, so much like his brother, spent the next summer with Junior Teen Missions on an outreach in Indiana.  Although Daniel was only able to make 4 trips with us to Haiti during his lifetime, Dustin made at least 12 trips there.  I say "at least" because he went so many times that I actually lost count.  Haiti became like a second home to Dustin, and he was never happier than among his friends there.  He had such an amazing sense of humor that drew almost everyone to him.  And Dustin's smile, his laughter and his beautiful blue-gray-green eyes could light up the darkest room.

Above all, Dustin loved the children.  His heart hurt for the little ones in such need, and children followed him around wherever he went.  Some of the older kids considered Dustin one of their best friends in the world.  Bob Michel, who was only slightly younger than Dustin, was one of those good friends.  Bob now stays at our mission house in Ouanaminthe, and every time I am there he proudly draws my attention to a picture of Dustin and him together.  When I was there a few weeks ago, large tears welled up in Bob's eyes, as he told me that he cries for his friend, Dustin, almost every night.  

There have been so many times over the 13 years that we've been going to Haiti when it would have been easy to just give up and walk away forever.  Haiti is an extremely difficult part of Aslan's work.  But when the oppressive summer heat makes walking the streets difficult . . . and when the torrential tropical storms make wading through the sludge and mud difficult . . . and when the starving children continually come to our door asking for more, more, more . . . and when the overwhelming realization that I am trying to empty an ocean of need with nothing more than and eye-dropper . . . I think of my sweet-hearted Dustin, who never ceased to care about every child in Haiti whose life crossed his path.

I hope this helps you better understand why Lynn Ann and I try so hard not to give up fighting for our dreams for Haiti.  Sitting in the quiet stillness on our land in L'Acajou and feeling the gentle breeze on my face, I sometimes see clearly that these dreams are worth fighting for.  Dustin's middle name is Ryan, which means "valiant fighter."  Perhaps, someday soon, there will be a missionary training school where we can train missionaries who will be willing to spend their lives helping others ~ as Lynn Ann's and my valiant fighter, Dustin, tried so hard to do.  Although my sweet sons ultimately lost the battle, they won the war.  Jesus said so eloquently that the last will be first and the first will be last.  I know that whereever I am in heaven's queue, I will be far behind Daniel and far behind Dustin.

Till next time,

Craig       

Joseph's House

Hi everyone,

Many of you who read this blog personally know Israel Joseph (our dear friend and right hand man in Haiti).  He is truly a gift to Aslan, and it would be almost impossible for our work to move forward without him.  There isn't a place in the world where visitors from another country are not sometimes taken advantage of.  Because trust is such an important issue, we are very fortunate to have Joseph working for us.  This is true not only because because he is a man of many gifts and talents.  It is equally true because he is such a person of integrity. 

We've been careful over our 13 years in Haiti not to ruin Joseph with money.  When missionaries begin working outside the United States, they often give large amounts of money to people ~ without understanding what a mistake it is to do so.  Giving someone $100 in the more remote areas of Haiti is the equivalent of giving that person about one-third of a year's living expenses.  Because we have used prudence in helping Joseph, he has never developed the demanding attitude that we have sometimes seen in others.  In 2007 we realized that we had to help Joseph build a house for his wife and 5 children.  After raising most of the walls for the new house, a tornado ripped through Ouanaminthe and completely destroyed all of Joseph's work.  With the help of so many of you, we started over and began to rebuild.  The pictures you see at the end of this letter are the fruit of your many gifts.  Joseph, Carline and their 5 beautiful children moved into their house this past December.  We still need to raise some money for a few doors, some beds and a little furniture.  Joseph & Carline are, however, thrilled to be living in their own home now and are so thankful to all of you who have helped make this possible.

A few months ago, Joseph said something that will stay with me forever.  "Pastor" he said, "You and I will still be friends after the money is all gone."  It was his beautiful way of saying that our friendship means more to him than all the things we've done for him.  Please continue to pray for Joseph, pictured above and right with Aslan's Sunday program in L'Acajou, and for Carline and their little ones.  

Till next time,

Craig

P.S. Following are various building stages of Joseph's house, from being destroyed by the tornado to almost completed!

        

Little David Joseph

Hi Everyone,

My recent trip to Haiti from May 10 - May 19 was great.  First and foremost my mission was to take a little 3-year-old boy with a severe heart condition for a battery of tests in Santiago, Dominican Republic.  Joseph Israel's wife, Carline, was also at the top of my list for going.  She's been suffering from extreme abdominal pain for almost 2 years now, and this has meant many sleepless nights for both Carline and for Joseph.  As you know, Joseph is absolutely essential to our work in Haiti.  So finding the cause of Carline's problems was very, very important. 

Half of my time in Haiti was, therefore, spent at Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago (HOMS) in Santiago.  Santiago is a large city of over 200,000 people, and traveling through the busy streets there is always interesting.  There are three rules you have to remember when riding around Santiago.  

1. There are no such things as traffic lanes ~ regardless of any lines you see painted on the asphalt.  There is always room for your taxi to squeeze in between the multiple cars lined up across the road and the huge truck or bus on your left or right. 

2. You absolutely should never travel in a vehicle without a good horn and good brakes.  It doesn't matter whatsoever what the outside of the vehicle looks like :)!

3. A red light usually means to proceed at your normal road speed, while showing a little caution at times for the vehicles coming at you from the left and right. 

Seriously, the Dominican drivers are some of the best I've ever seen in the world.  The same goes with the drivers in Haiti.  If we Americans had to drive for 5 minutes in either country, there would be one huge accident.

But back to why I went.  First off, HOMS is a modern and wonderful hospital with absolutely wonderful doctors.  It is very much like any great hospital you would find in the US, with state of the art equipment and extremely competent personnel.  My Spanish has improved to the point that I was able to communicate and understand most of what was being said.  The operative word here (no pun intended) is "most".  One doctor actually complimented me on how well I spoke Spanish (in spite of my awful verb tenses that force me to always use the present tense)!  Believe me, there is room for a world of improvement, so I refuse to embarrass myself in front of any of you out there who truly speak Spanish well. 

We found out that Carline has gallstones ~ painful, but not life-threatening.  We're researching some natural means to help her pass the stones; and we have a great medical team coming in July that can operate on her if necessary.  Secondly, little David is a very sick boy.  The cardiologist at HOMS says that surgery will doubtlessly save his life.  An EKG and an echo-cardiogram revealed that the right side of his heart is very enlarged and it appears he only has one pulmonary artery.  Upon returning to the US, I sent the full medical results to a renowned hospital in New York City that is considering providing all the costs for surgery and hospitalization for free.  They are doing this in cooperation with Rotary, International's Gift of Life Foundation who will also help with many of the costs.  Please pray with us about this.  I wish that you could meet David and his father, Daniel.  I had the privilege of sharing a hotel room with them for several nights, and they confirmed what I already knew.  David is a very sweet little boy, and Daniel is an absolutely wonderful and caring father. 

We hope to have the "yes" from the NYC hospital within 4 to 6 weeks.  Then I'll have to take David and Daniel to Port-au-Prince for an up to 10 day stay to obtain medical travel visas, etc. through the US Embassy.  This is not a pain-free process, so we'll really need your prayers (and possibly a little financial help) to make this happen.  I'll keep you posted over the next few weeks!

Jenny Patton is the wonderful individual who is the catalyst behind this entire effort on David's behalf.  Without Jenny, none of this would be possible!  Above right Jenny is examining one of our children from L'Acajou.  I know she'll want to kill me for putting in this picture, but it is too cute to resist. Above left Jenny and Mo are assisting another of our little ones.

Till next time,

Craig

Desperate Need

I don't want to use the word "desperate" so many times that it becomes meaningless to those of you who read my blog.  It is difficult, however, to describe Haiti and almost everything you encounter there with any other word than desperate.  The problem is people hear this word and sometimes ask me, "Then why do you bother to go there?  Is anything you're doing there really make a difference?"  Of course it makes a difference.   

For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.  Will you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life?  Of course not!  There is nothing you can give to regain your life.  Jesus (Matthew 16:25-26)

At 2:30 am in the morning I leave for JFK, and at 6 am I'll be on my way to Haiti for about 10 days.  My reason for going is to take two very wonderful people to the hospital in Santiago.  One of them is Carlene Joseph, the wife of Israel Joseph, our best friend in Haiti.  She's been suffering for a long time with a painful but not life-threatening illness.  The other reason is to take David, a precious little 3-year-old boy with a severe heart murmur (which is life-threatening), for some testing.  If all goes as expected, a wonderful hospital in New York City will pay for 100% of all expenses for David to come to New York for surgery that will save his life. 

It is bittersweet and poignant that David's father's name is Daniel (pronounced don-yell in French and Spanish).  Daniel is pictured left holding David in his arms at our recent medical clinic in March on our land in L'Acajou.  Many of you who read this will remember that Daniel is also the name of my wonderful son that Lynn Ann and I lost on December 8, 2004.  Even if my best efforts fail in trying to do the impossible, I know that carrying on this work in Haiti ~ which both my sons loved so much ~ is what I am called to do.  Lynn Ann and I do this  to honor the lives and memory of our sons and to honor Christ in losing our lives for His sake.  

Please pray for Carlene, and especially pray for little David.  Many people would say his life or death on this earth will have little or no impact.  I know they are wrong.  His little damaged heart is as important as any heart that has ever beaten.  Till next time,

Craig        

Wow!  I just spent 28 days in Haiti, which was my longest stay since we began our work there in 1996.  I've become as comfortable there as I am living here in New Jersey, which is a good thing since I'll be spending more and more time there as our dreams for our Missionary Training School, Clinic & Hospital, Orphanage and Village School become a reality.

My good friend, John Lisle, spent 3 weeks with me helping construct another large portion of fencing across the front of our property.  David Cashour, another good friend and Haiti veteran, was with us for 10 days providing excellent manpower making rebar towers for the fence columns and doing other ironwork for the concrete footings.  Can you believe that every block for our fence is handmade right there on our property with one block mold?!  And the water is carried by buckets (or in wheelbarrows) to where the blocks are made?  Such is life in Haiti, where absolutely nothing is easy.  For half of the trip, we were hacksawing through 1/2 inch rebar to cut lengths for each piece.  Then we were able to locate a rebar cutter in Dajabon, Dominican Republic for about $225.00.  Talk about a time saver!  What was taking us so much time, sweat and hard work, now takes almost no effort at all.  We still, of course, have to bend the rebar by hand; and even with a rebar bender we brought from the US it takes a lot of time and muscle.

A group from Tower Hill Presbyterian Church in Red Bank, NJ, joined us for 4 days and helped us bend some iron and pour some concrete footings one day.  Then a group from First Baptist Church in Red Bank, NJ, joined us for another 4 days.  Special thanks to all who came from both groups!  When you look at these cement "bucket brigade" pictures, you'll understand how difficult the simplest project in Haiti truly is!

Let me hear from you!

Craig

 

   

 

 

Sadness In Gonaives

Here goes.  Back in October, Joseph Israel (our trusted and wonderful staff member in Haiti) and I took a tap-tap ride from Ouanaminthe to Port-au-Prince.  Wow was that interesting!  The most interesting part of the ride, however, was our time spent in Gonaives.  I'm sure you remember the hurricanes that devastated Haiti during the late summer and early fall.  Hurricane Ike was the final blow that paralyzed Gonaives (a city of some 200,000 people) on the West coast of Haiti.  Four years ago, a wall of water almost 10 feet high came crashing upon the city in the dead of night, killing an estimated 3,000 people.  This time Hurricane Ike hit during daylight hours, but over 700 lives (according to Haitian news sources) were lost. 

  When you look at these pictures, ask yourself how anyone could live through this horror once, much less twice.  Because of the critical place Gonaives is located, with three rivers converging upon the city from the denuded mountains, this will undoubtedly happen again.  Joseph and I were there five weeks after Ike hit, and the city was still flooded beyond recognition.  Mud (filled with everything from human body parts to every kind of debris imaginable) was still 4 feet high or more in many of the streets.  On the road south of Gonaives toward St. Marc, there were still mud huts abandoned and standing in 3 or 4 feet of water.  Most of the people we saw were still living on their roof tops and baling water and mud out of the bottom part of their houses.  Their few earthly belongings were on top of their roofs, covered in mud.  Layers of grass silt lined all the houses at about the 9 to 10 foot mark ~ a stark and horrible reminder of what had happened some 5 weeks before.

Joseph and I rode with a Haitian friend in a large dump truck through the city streets, waiting in line for front loaders to shovel huge loads of muddy garbage into the truck.  We then drove to a site outside the city where hundreds upon hundreds of loads were dumped.  How sad it was to see a father and 2 sons going searching through this horrible garbage in hopes of finding something valuable enough to keep!

Such is life in Haiti.  It is as though one tragedy does not have time to develop before another comes on top of it.  And yet the Haitian people go on.  They do so not because it is easy and not because they do not want to give up.  They do so because not to do so is to give up and die.  Next time you wonder why someone would chance getting in a leaky boat and brave shark-infested waters to get to the shores of America or Jamaica or Cuba or anywhere, remember to pray for Haiti.

Until next time!

Craig

Back To Haiti

Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry I've been out of the loop for a few weeks.  I realize I have to keep my posts current, if I expect you to read them.  Ou last trip to Haiti in July was wonderful, but both Lynn Ann and I returned sick and have struggled to get well since mid-July.  We had a great group of 20 people in July.  Twelve (four adults and 8 teenagers) came from Sanibel Community Church ~ a great supporter of Aslan's work in Haiti.  One friend came from Illinois, and a fine young man named Adam (whose family we're very close to) came all the way from Montana.  Accompanying Lynn Ann and myself from New Jersey were Anna and Pam (both veteran Haiti travelers).

The most exciting thing we did on this trip was have our first ever day camp for 130 children on our land in Lacajou.  Remember that Lacajou is not even a village.  It's just an area that's named Lacajou (which means mahogany).  So kids were literally walking out of the bush from all directions to come to our camp.  I've included some pictures to give you an idea of how things went.  You'll get a kick out of the picture of the group meeting under the cashew tree.  Yup, we've got cashew, mango, orange and avocado trees on our land.  And we even have a small banana tree (or plant).

Some of the children walked several miles to come to camp each day.  They were treated to music class, arts & crafts, sports and Bible class, and they loved each and every minute of it!  Enjoy the pictures, and I'll try to write another post the second I get back on August 26.  Please keep our current group going in prayer.  We have 5 Aslan teens from our programs here in New Jersy going with us this trip.  It's always a wonderful and eye-opening experience for these young people.

Till next time, na we pita ("see you later" in Creole)!