July trip and Pastor Exil

Pastor Exil's temporary church

Steve Wilcox and Seth Guin work on benches.

I, Don got to go to Haiti in July with a team from Crossroads Church in Greeley. While I was with Heartline Ministries after the earthquake I got to know Pastor Exil that was injured in the quake and was at the clinic for a while. He from Citi Solay slum area and had a church/school and his home in one building, it collapsed and fortunately he was the only one inside and he only injured his hand and eventually lost one of his fingers.  When Pastor Arnie from Crossroads and I visited him in March they had erected a temporary church with tarps, rebar and scrap tin to hold services in. It in is one of the tent cities and his tent house is on the backside of the church. There were a couple of benches made of scrap wood and a couple more made out of PVC pipe on the ground for kids to sit on.  Being from down in the poorest area of a country that is the 3rd poorest in the world they do not have the means to rebuild or even put benches in their church.

 It was Pastor Arnie's desire to partnership with this church and help them as much as possible. We built church pews and fixed the temporary roof with more tarps and pipe to hold it up. The team also held children's ministry programs in the mornings. We also showed the "Jesus" film one evening to 300+ people in the community there as Pastor Exil and the leaders used it as an evangelistic outreach.

Here are pictures inside the church with the new benches and the "new roof" on the church. It keeps the rain out and the owners of the property will not let anything permanent be built as they fear they will lose their land if they do.

We also took down donated wedding clothes to be worn loaned out to those needing them for their weddings and they promptly scheduled 3 weddings held together for us to attend in the church while we were there.

This is Oriel, a special friend of ours there and security guard and guide for us in this part of Port Au Prince. He is wearing a suit we brought down. Oriel will keep the clothes and be in charge of the loaning program.

Here is a picture just outside of the church, these are individual homes or tents usually made of tarps that have been given out by aid organizations in Haiti.






Aid In Action is now hoping to take a team into Haiti possibly in December and build a new house for Pastor Exil. This will consist of removing the rubble of the old church/school/house and then building a new home on in that space.  We have been looking into the possibility of buying property and building a church in the area there. This would take time, possibly two years, to make sure everything is done legally and to avoid problems in the future. A 100' x 60' metal building with concrete floor, benches and school desks and the land  could cost around $100,000. So many lives could be touched and ministered to in these slums of Haiti that many aid and mission groups avoid going to. Please pray for God's direction on this with us please.

Here is Pastor Arnie and Pastor Exil standing on the collapsed church/school and home.








Pastor Farem, Pastor Exil and his congregation and the are around Citi Solay are what God has laid on our hearts at this time.

Get to know Pastor Farem

Pastor Farem and his family live in Port Au Prince, Haiti or used to. They now live in an open field in a tent shelter with many other families. We have known them since 2000 when I made my first trip to Haiti on a short term mission trip. We have grown to love and care about them very much. Farem is a Mennonite pastor and like most pastors in Haiti he has work to support his family as the church pays him very little. I worked with Farem when we lived in Haiti in 2005 - 2006 drilling water wells and doing construction, he speaks English but his family does not. He and his wife, known as Madam Farem in Haitian culture have two children and also have taken in a nephew that his family can not financially afford to keep. The pictures above were taken last November at their home when they had invited us over to their home for Sunday dinner. He had lost his job and had asked us if there was anyway that we could employ them. I appreiciate them asking for work instead of a hand out. We were  not able to help them with employment but were looking for ways to employ them if we could.

  When the earthquake hit on January 12th the family was at home but all escaped injury as the house did not crumble down but it was damaged beyond repair and unhabitable. The family went to an open lot in the neighborhood and has lived there in tents and shelters since the quake. Through the help of our supporters we have given money to help start the tearing down of the house and start rebuilding. It will probably take around $7000 to rebuild the home to a safer hurricane/earthquake resistant structure.  

As you look at the pictures you can understand why they would not want to sleep inside these homes especially when there are aftershocks that come at any time of day or night and you can never know how much more till the whole house comes down.

  I (Don) will be going to Haiti from July 1 -10 to help lead a construction/childrens ministry team and I plan to help Farem with more finances for his reconstruction. If you want to help this family please let me know or send your gift to:
Aid In Action
P.O. Box 337463
                                                         Greeley, CO. 80633
Please join us in aiding a fellow brother in Christ so he can minister to so many that are struggling in Haiti.

Letter via email to those on our mailing list

Buxman Happinings 5/25/2010
We want to bring you up to date with what the Lord has brought us through and where he has us now. We have been so blessed to have you on our team as we have been through a shake-up in the last several months. I will try to do this in a short but concise way.
We had moved back to Haiti working with Heartline Ministries in October and we were getting settled and getting adjusted to life there. Lisa became very ill around Thanksgiving time with an intestinal infection that required a hospital stay there. We returned to Colorado in mid December to get higher quality care. The infection finally cleared up and with a drastic change in her diet (gluten free and dairy free now) she regained enough strength for us to return the 5th of January. On January 12th at around 4:45 PM, the earthquake struck, lasted around 45 seconds and devastated the country and killed 230,000 + people. Praise the Lord that our home, all of our working partner’s homes and our ministry structures stood with minor damage. We knew that our families, orphans, workers and those we minister to were our first concern and immediately moved the orphans to our home as it was the most secure as their walls had fallen down. With numerous aftershocks, death all around and chaos we decided to get our boys evacuated to the states two days later. Thanks so much to all of you that helped them with so much as they left nearly everything behind when they arrived here.
Within six days after the quake we at Heartline had transformed our women’s center into a clinic, had medical supplies and medical staff from the States up and running. We transported victims from the slum areas to our clinic for treatment and then took them back again. About 1000 patients were seen in the first couple of weeks. On the 20th of January, Lisa was an escort for the orphan children that had gotten humanitarian parole visas to be with their forever families and then came to Colorado to take care of the boys, get them in school and find a home to rent. Don stayed and worked in Haiti until the 18th of February and then came home to family for a few weeks.
The earthquake not only shook the earth but lives and ministries there too. Heartline is running a medical clinic and hospital that it did not have before the quake. There are no orphan children now; the women’s center was shut down for a couple of months before it started operating again.
Our lives took a turn too. We mostly are concerned for our boys as it is scary for them to live there in that house again, also with Shane and Trent in high school it is a critical stage and do not feel good about taking in and out of schools. Home Schooling is difficult in the high school years and even more difficult there with lack of educational resources to do it well. Our boys are settled back in and doing well now.
So here is what we are going to do……..
　
We still have a passion and desire to serve in Haiti and will do it from here. We want to still support the missionaries that we have been involved with there along with the many Haitians that we have come to know well. We plan to do that by starting a non-profit organization with a focus on specific needs of individual Haitians. You will be able to track you donation to a specific project or family and see the results. This organization will be funding source for rebuilding homes in Haiti, supporting projects and organizations and also taking in short term mission teams to do work projects. We want to help people to experience Haiti and have a connection to the place we love so much. We are already helping coordinate two trips this summer and probably two more later in the year. These are focusing on working with existing churches and pastors there and doing construction, evangelization and children’s ministry.
We will not be under the umbrella of Heartline Ministries any more as we would need to be full time to meet their criteria. We do continue to have a good relationship with them and part of what we will be doing will support their ongoing mininistries. Here is the new organization.

Aid In Action
P.O. Box 337463 Greeley, CO. 80634

We already have this registered as a 501(3)c and will have a bank account opened as soon as possible. ALL donations will go toward ministry as we are working to support ourselves while we are stateside. You can also start sending your money to the address above, Heartline Ministries will continue to receive money for a while, and then they will transfer it to the new organization.
We are initially focusing on Pastor Farem and his home. They have been close friends of ours since 2005, everyone in the family escaped injury but the house was mostly destroyed. We have given some money to start the rebuilding and it will take about $5000 to finish his home. We will be connecting with others also and will highlight them later.
At this time, you can access our blog site at http://BuxmanHaiti.blogspot.com to see pictures of Pastor Farem and his home. We soon hope to have a website up and running. We will have an advisory board and if you are interested in serving on it, please contact us, as we would love to have you on the team.
Once again thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you have done and also staying with us during this transition, words cannot say enough. I do believe that one day in eternity you will see the fruits of your giving. Call or write us if you have any questions.
　
Don, Lisa, Shane, Trent and Joey Buxman
970-301-6038 Don’s cell 970-396-3822 Lisa’s cell
Bux8@aol.com

Sorry

Here is the back of the C-17 plane that our military are transporting U.S. citizens out in after they had unloaded supplies. Lisa and the boys flew out on these.

This is a C-17 transport plane from our Air Force that I have been real close to as I pick up supplies from the airport. Awesome plane!!!

Sorry we haven't kept this up to date. Lisa has not had Internet and I (Don) have not taken time. I do write on Facebook at times so if you want to friend me you can see some updates there.

Since the quake we have had between 8 and 18 medical personal and guests here as they help us work the medical clinic. We had seen around 1000 patients in the first two weeks alone. They are from the slum areas that we work in or in our neighborhood. The slums had not had care or attention until last week by any of the big organizations or rescue teams. They generally are the last to get food and water and medical care because many are afraid to be there.

Lisa has been real busy with helping the boys get back into school, setting up a house to live in and trying to bring some normalcy and stability to their lives. They have seen and been through a lot that they need to process.

You have all seen the pictures of the destruction and damage here and I don't want to dwell on that but show and tell of other things, the good things happening. There is a spiritual awakening going on and the Haitians are have 3 days of fasting, praying and repentance for their country. It is rumored that the President of Haiti is making a declaration for this but has not been confirmed. In our make shift hospital there is a girl whose dad is a pastor and comes and leads all of the patients in pray and singing. Try that in the states!!!

God has brought in wonderful medical personal for just the right time for the cases that we will have during their stay. So many miracles that happen each and every day that are only God things. The Haitians are so thankful for all that the Americans are doing for them.

A large percentage are afraid to go back into their homes even if they don't seem to be damaged and are sleeping outside in their yards, at a open field, next to the street or outside of Port of Prince in the mountain villages. Need to get off but will try to do better updating.

My amazing husband

The group from Colorado!

Don doing his'grunt' work! : )

He will tell you that 'he is just the grunt guy' but we all know that he is invaluable! He is hard working and no job he will not do - well he was not real excited about helping a patient go pee ; both of the patients hands were wrapped and really only one could be used.. ya, but Don was helpful anyway, it needed to be done. He has the kindest tone to everyone (well not me sometimes) : )) He is caring a lot of responsibility. I think Don is at his best here in Haiti.

our own tent city

Jan 22 10 days later!

The injured are still coming!

Buxman Bed and NO Breakfast!

I have lost count of how many people are staying in out home. It has become a refuge for many in country to check on their organizations only to find they did not have a safe place to stay. We also have seven Doctors wit us - oh I think a couple of that seven are RN's but they are here helping the wonderful Haitian people we love and we are very grateful.

Last night we had our own 'tent city'. After the second earthquake or after shock what ever you want to call it; not too many wanted to sleep inside. My husband would have but he loves me and was willing to follow me to the great out doors. Dr. Dave came prepared with his mosquito net tent - snazzy set up he has. The other young Dr.'s grabbed our boys mosquito nets off their beds and strung them between the trucks parked in our drive.


This morning my wonderful husband started making coffee for the whole group - he looked at me as said "aren't you going to make breakfast?" How long has this man be married to me??? (almost 30 years) does he not know I do not do breakfast! There is the cereal, the milk, you cannot use the toaster even if we had bread, we have no electricity, there is the oatmeal - Enjoy!
Thanks Don for the coffee! I love having our house full of people but I do not do mornings : ))

Simome Pele

Don has been so busy transporting people back and forth from Simone Pele to the clinic and then back again. When he is at the clinic he is moving people and helping in every way. I am married to the most wonderful guy - able to help in any situation and always stable. I do not see him much since I have been helping with the children and getting them ready to leave, I do miss him and will miss him more when I leave. I hope he will come to Colorado in a few weeks for a brake from all of this and for us to talk/ think/ pray about what is next for us.

The nannies are sad to see the children go - happy that they get to go to their 'forever homes' but sad that they will not see them again. I wonder what is going to be like traveling on a military jet with all these children (and a eleven year old, Danya- who has attached her self to me : )). It will be very exciting! We have long pants for everyone and shoes and socks, those planes are very chilly so we want the children to be comfortable. It would be wonderful to travel at night, I think they would sleep and be less bothered by the trip.

clinic

A new day!

God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in sea storm and earthquake,Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains.

another one

PTSD!

Oh friends. I am so weary. So afraid this second Earth Quake did more damage and caused more deaths. I am sure the clinic is be very busy today. I am trying to gather my self emotionally. Letting those that were not here for the first quake handle things - right now I am no good to anyone.

I was in our room AGAIN.

So the military hospital ship is ONLY taking care of Americans - so why are they here??? Sorry but that ticks me off - that is wrong. From what we are seeing everyday Haitians need medical care big time. Oh the blessings of having an American passport! DO NOT TAKE THAT FOR GRANTED!

200,000 dead already. Many more will die because of infection. So grateful for the Doctors and nurses that have come in to help, they are emotional stronger and so gifted.

Have a house full of people from all over, it is nice to have people here.

This morning during the Earth Quake I jumped out of bed and ran screaming "get out get out" like everyone did not know to do that! "well thank you Lisa for telling us we should get out!" Lol

clinic

Today is our daughters 26th Birthday - I forgot. We wake up with our minds on what we can do to help right here right now, any other thoughts just do not penetrate our minds.

Surgery in an area like a carport.
Seven month pregnant women with a broken pelvis
Children. Old people. Some will not live.
Keeping them over night, some several night.
Just got told two women in labor.
Tomorrow more patients.
I will help escort a group of orphans out to the US on a military flight - this is exciting! Pray all goes through.
numb.
Home is filling up with foreigners , very special community developing.
Love having people in our home.
exhausted.
Don is tired of being Superman - but he still is!
I so appreciate you reading this, please understand we are tired and feeling overwhelmed but we want you involved in what is going on here. Some posts may be better then others.
Don said he will add some pictures. We drove through the worse area's and have lots of pictures, really I just do not want to look at them.
love you all

what is running in my head

I think it is odd when we look at injured people and causally say to each other "he is going to die."
I never thought of ice as a luxury. I do now.
Dr.'s working without drinking water - that is wrong.
I love it when people from different organizations and denominations work lovingly together.
Sight of all the tents and people living outside - becoming a new community - resilient.
I cannot believe I am here in this.
I love that I have an Internet phone and I can call my sister and cry and she will pray for me - love you sister!
Children walking barefooted on all the broken cinder blocks
Children smiling, holding my hand as we walk through the slum they call home.
I love my children.
I am married to superman!

Embassy and Simone Pele slum

Don had to paid $11.00 for one gallon of gas!

Diane Sawyer in our yard, how strange

So grateful for your prayers - Please do not stop. The event in Haiti as far as a news story is concerned is wearing off, but the pain and reality for everyone is just setting in. Shock can carry you a long way - you feel numb and just function. I keep waking every morning hoping it was just a bad dream. I have a home, water, food.

ABC News and Diane Sawyer/ We need DR's

Every day here brings new hopes and despairs.

The children have been returned to the Girls home. It is now ready for them and they are familiar with it. Our home is to quiet.

Slept out side again. Again Larry thought that I was his bed (our huge dog) again I laughed.

Watched large planes cross in the sky - I sobbed knowing that one of those planes had my dear children on it, oh I miss them, but they need to be in the States.

This morning all of us that work with Heartline had a meeting about what is next and how we were going to help.

We will be converting the birth center to a medical/surgical clinic. We will help staff and facilitate taking care of what will soon be one week old injuries. Nasty serious stuff.

We need surgeons, Orthopedic Dr's Anaesthesiologist, RN's You can get in on free flights, we need you soon!

Let me know if you can help

Today Diane Sawyer and her crew were here - I say that as "we lived through a Earth Quake" Every thing is strange so why not have ABC in your yard??

I hope the coverage is good and brings more help to Haiti. I do not know when it will be aired but they are all leaving Haiti today.

Now it feels like a bad dream

Hearing the sound of jet plans over our our house, brings mixed emotions; They sound too close to the roar of the Earth Quake so I have the need to run outside; I wonder if my children are on one of them as they are being evacuated with the American Embassy - that brings tears. I am still not able to think in complete sentences yet, so I need to ramble if any news is to be posted here. I cannot keep the days straight, we all keep asking what today is. I realized that yesterday was our oldest son's 28th birthday Happy Birthday Justin! Love you so! We were so busy just taking care of the children and others I did not have time to think - still do not.
I have not had a shower since Monday morning...ewwwww! Maybe tomorrow. We have to run the generator to pump water ( no electricity since Tuesday night) We are using the generator sparingly so to save the fuel, not sure how we will get more.
Crazy long lines - well lines are relatively speaking. Sort of chaos type of lines at the gas stations. Took us three hours to go the four miles and back to the American Embassy, all because of the panic of people to get fuel.
Still sleeping out side... funny story-- This morning at around 2:00 (oh more planes : )) relief??) anyway , this morning we had one really bad after shock, I flew out of "bed" as did many of the others i.e. nannies other adults and older children, small children and babies sleep right through it, okay anyway several of us are up and I tell my son Shane to move his blanket farther away from the house (never know if just one more ofter shock will send it down) At this point my husband gets up, grabs the metal pipe that he has by him 'for protection' and says as he is ready to fight "what what did you hear?" : )) "oh honey, are you going to beat the Earth Quake to death'? We all had a good laugh.
Laughing last night was therapy - and yes we are all going to need some of that. We have two dogs. Larry a beautiful English Mastiff, and Nora and half Mastiff and half lab. They are both so very happy that we have now decided to join them outside to sleep. So much so that they want to sleep with us, right next to us, on us and lick us and sniff us all night long : )) We love Larry so much he is very sweet dog, but so large and he has no idea of 'personal space' he really is Haitian.
We needed to laugh and we did until we hurt.. Thanks Larry and Nora!

We started out first thing this morning, Don I and Jaeda looking for our dear friend Pastor Firom and his family. They do not live far from us and with cell coverage out we had no idea if they were okay.

We found their home but could tell know one could live there. We asked around and a women took us to them. He and his wife and four children with others were 'living' under a small tree, spending the nights in the bed of their tap tap (pickup) So happy to see us, they ran and gave us big hugs. This is common, we found even strangers ask how are, how our children are- a real since of community, we have survived, we have something in common. We helped them our with some money to buy some food and water. He will have to completely rebuild his home - how will he do that? He has no job that pays, his Church is not able to pay him. Pray for Firom and his family.

Several of the nannies and others that work with Heartline have lost their homes. Several we have not heard back from since the first night, maybe they returned home to so much disaster and pain. maybe they feel they have no where to go. We will look for them and see how we can help.

Next we will start handing out food and water, and accessing what is next. But now it is time to settle down for the night, under the stars and the sky now filled with planes. I love you Jaeda, Shane, Trent and Joey. I hope you are on one of those planes - off to safety. Maybe now I have time for a good cry.

The Earth Moved

Do not have the time or emotions to write much but here are some thought.

Don and I had been in 'town' had intended to drive down in the area that was hit the hardest. I said hey lets take this road - we were having fun being lost. Saved us from being there at the wrong time.
We were going to go out to dinner (our daughter Jaeda is here) We got home about 10 min. before it hit. We did not have time to leave again and be away from home stuck.

Never felt anything like it. The whole house moved. Everything on the floors, broken. We got out side, even thought I had been changing my clothes and had nothing on...grabbed a dress as I ran out - screaming Yes I am a screamer.

The whole city seemed to be in a cry. Dust everywhere.
Then the ofter shocks.
Everyone out of their homes, many singing - praying, many hurt.

Don and I walked to the clinic, but only got to the boys home where every wall was down. all the children were safe.

girls home about the same -everyone safe.

brought everyone to our home - we still had walls, safer.

fed the children crackers and peanut butter, water and layed sheets out on the concrete for beds.
more after shocks.

Trent had a rat stalking him, so he thought, rats are no big deal now.

Of course no electricity.
No running water.

Don is off to see what rebuilding will be like, materials are going to go fast.

Pray for Haiti.