Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Guatemala! Our next trip to serve, run and experience culture!
You can join us in Guatemala in May of 2012! We are coordinating an adventure, service and culture experience centered around the Lake Altitlan marathon. www.alitlanmarathon.com ADVENTURE, CULTURE, SERVICE
Start small, dream big, change the world.
This is the first of several ‘fact sheets’ about our up coming trip to Guatemala.
We will enjoy the festivities coordinated around the Lake Atitlan marathon.
Then go to Chichicastenango where we will provide a number of services. These could include: building a widows home (or two) providing a external vented cooking and heating stove to needy families, a sports camp for the village children, medical clinic.
This is being coordinated by Don and Lisa Buxman through their non profit AID IN ACTION. Check out the marathon website at www.atitlanmarthon.com and www.hotelchinimaya.com where we will be staying while at the lake.
Approximate expenses are as follows. Flight from Denver to Guatemala City on May 24 or 25 (depending on how many will be running the half marathon on the 26th) $700. Room in Antigua with breakfast $25.00.(one night) Rooms at the lake $30.00 per person, 3 nights. Four more nights in Chichi with food 40.00 per person. Just about $1000. Plus food at the lake, other outings, like the zip line, sight seeing, volcano trek and shopping at the famous market in Chichi.
We would like to have our first planning meeting the first part of January. So if you are even just a little bit interested let us know and we will make sure to let you know about the meeting!
Contact us at bux8@aol.com
970 396 3822 (lisa)
Check out our blog at: www.aidinaction.blogspot.com
Start small, dream big, change the world.
This is the first of several ‘fact sheets’ about our up coming trip to Guatemala.
We will enjoy the festivities coordinated around the Lake Atitlan marathon.
Then go to Chichicastenango where we will provide a number of services. These could include: building a widows home (or two) providing a external vented cooking and heating stove to needy families, a sports camp for the village children, medical clinic.
This is being coordinated by Don and Lisa Buxman through their non profit AID IN ACTION. Check out the marathon website at www.atitlanmarthon.com and www.hotelchinimaya.com where we will be staying while at the lake.
Approximate expenses are as follows. Flight from Denver to Guatemala City on May 24 or 25 (depending on how many will be running the half marathon on the 26th) $700. Room in Antigua with breakfast $25.00.(one night) Rooms at the lake $30.00 per person, 3 nights. Four more nights in Chichi with food 40.00 per person. Just about $1000. Plus food at the lake, other outings, like the zip line, sight seeing, volcano trek and shopping at the famous market in Chichi.
We would like to have our first planning meeting the first part of January. So if you are even just a little bit interested let us know and we will make sure to let you know about the meeting!
Contact us at bux8@aol.com
970 396 3822 (lisa)
Check out our blog at: www.aidinaction.blogspot.com
Sunday, November 13, 2011
November 2011
We have had a very busy summer and fall and now is the time get back on track with keeping this site more current. I (Don) made a trip to Haiti last week to take care of the business of Aid In Action and was very pleased with what is going on with the church, children's programs and the school.
The Churches:
Pastor Exil and the church are doing well. The church is used every day of the week for some sort of pray or worship time. Currently they are having revival meetings each night with great attendance and impact in the community. We purchased a small generator to power the church as the electric supply is untimely with the hours that it is available and weak current when it is on. We also purchased an electric guitar for them to use in services.
I was there on November 1 which is "Day of the Dead" in many cultures, Halloween was not observed. In Haiti there were two extremes that I witnessed. One was groups of people at the cemeteries in dressed up in witches outfits or face paints and dancing and doing things that I did not understand. I was told that most of the activity is based from their VooDoo practices and goes on for two days.
The other group that I noticed were that every church that I passed that day had services going on. Day of the Dead is a national holiday there so most business were closed as well as the government. It was great to walk through the tent city and the town and here the singing going on.
Children's Bible Study Program:
The two Children's Bible Study groups are still going well with about 125 children presently attending once a week. Oriol continues to take care of this and enjoys serving his community and God.
The School:
We are not fully funded to run the school with all the teachers that we need to be open every day but there are about 160 elementary children that come at least two or three days a week to school. Our desire is to pay for the teachers and the children be able to attend school for free. We would require them to pay for their school uniform to have some ownership in their education. Approximately $900 more per month commitment from us would take this to fruition.
Jean Dube who is a Haitian/American living in Port Au Prince will be helping us with oversight on these programs and improving our communication from Haiti to here. He will also help with the groundwork of teams and projects that we will want to do.
February trip:
I am planning a short term mission trip in February or early March to build a new church for the Citi Soley church that Pastor Exil preaches at and one of the Children's Bible Programs is located. Right now it is a rusty tin roof with stick poles holding it together with very little protection from the sun, wind and rain. I plan to have the foundation poured before we arrive and then a team of 6 - 10 can build the rest in less than a week.
If you would have any interest in going on this trip please let us know. Individual cost would be around $1500 and include travel, food and lodging. We need to raise some extra money to pay for materials.
Above is a picture of the Citi Soley Church with Pastor Exil standing in front of it and the picture below is in the Simon/Pele Church with the new generator that we purchased.
The Churches:
Pastor Exil and the church are doing well. The church is used every day of the week for some sort of pray or worship time. Currently they are having revival meetings each night with great attendance and impact in the community. We purchased a small generator to power the church as the electric supply is untimely with the hours that it is available and weak current when it is on. We also purchased an electric guitar for them to use in services.
I was there on November 1 which is "Day of the Dead" in many cultures, Halloween was not observed. In Haiti there were two extremes that I witnessed. One was groups of people at the cemeteries in dressed up in witches outfits or face paints and dancing and doing things that I did not understand. I was told that most of the activity is based from their VooDoo practices and goes on for two days.
The other group that I noticed were that every church that I passed that day had services going on. Day of the Dead is a national holiday there so most business were closed as well as the government. It was great to walk through the tent city and the town and here the singing going on.
Children's Bible Study Program:
The two Children's Bible Study groups are still going well with about 125 children presently attending once a week. Oriol continues to take care of this and enjoys serving his community and God.
The School:
We are not fully funded to run the school with all the teachers that we need to be open every day but there are about 160 elementary children that come at least two or three days a week to school. Our desire is to pay for the teachers and the children be able to attend school for free. We would require them to pay for their school uniform to have some ownership in their education. Approximately $900 more per month commitment from us would take this to fruition.
Jean Dube who is a Haitian/American living in Port Au Prince will be helping us with oversight on these programs and improving our communication from Haiti to here. He will also help with the groundwork of teams and projects that we will want to do.
February trip:
I am planning a short term mission trip in February or early March to build a new church for the Citi Soley church that Pastor Exil preaches at and one of the Children's Bible Programs is located. Right now it is a rusty tin roof with stick poles holding it together with very little protection from the sun, wind and rain. I plan to have the foundation poured before we arrive and then a team of 6 - 10 can build the rest in less than a week.
If you would have any interest in going on this trip please let us know. Individual cost would be around $1500 and include travel, food and lodging. We need to raise some extra money to pay for materials.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
School in Simone/Pele
Here is a list of the projects that Aid In Action is doing on an ongoing basis.
We financially support Pastor Exil monthly--
financially support the children' program with teachers and food, about 75 kids in program--
purchased music instruments, speakers and key board for church--
and just started another children's program in Citi Soley with about 52 kids right now, this area is poorer than where Pastor Exil is now--
paid to rebuild Pastor Farem's home--
assisted in finishing Oriol and Ruth's home, Oriol is the leader for the children's programs and they just got married in February 2011--
and brought medical supplies to Maranatha Children's Home and Brothers of Charity Hospital.
While the new school that the Japanese NGO built is a blessing to the community, it is rarely being used. Families do not have the money to pay for the children to go to school or for school supplies. We can help by paying the teachers and purchasing pencils, paper and supplies. We need 7 teachers and they will have a salary of $90/month. All the children in the community can go to the school for free and it is open to all of them. We expect that there will be around 300+ elementary age children at the school.
Please consider supporting this program by monthly sponsoring a teacher or giving toward school supplies. As soon as we have enough commitments we will open the school for all the community. Basic education is a great way to help an under developed, struggling nation to improve its prospects.
Also consider supporting the Brothers of Charity Hospital in Simon/Pele by being a supporter of Lisa's marathon fundraiser.
We financially support Pastor Exil monthly--
financially support the children' program with teachers and food, about 75 kids in program--
purchased music instruments, speakers and key board for church--
and just started another children's program in Citi Soley with about 52 kids right now, this area is poorer than where Pastor Exil is now--
paid to rebuild Pastor Farem's home--
assisted in finishing Oriol and Ruth's home, Oriol is the leader for the children's programs and they just got married in February 2011--
and brought medical supplies to Maranatha Children's Home and Brothers of Charity Hospital.
While the new school that the Japanese NGO built is a blessing to the community, it is rarely being used. Families do not have the money to pay for the children to go to school or for school supplies. We can help by paying the teachers and purchasing pencils, paper and supplies. We need 7 teachers and they will have a salary of $90/month. All the children in the community can go to the school for free and it is open to all of them. We expect that there will be around 300+ elementary age children at the school.
Please consider supporting this program by monthly sponsoring a teacher or giving toward school supplies. As soon as we have enough commitments we will open the school for all the community. Basic education is a great way to help an under developed, struggling nation to improve its prospects.
Also consider supporting the Brothers of Charity Hospital in Simon/Pele by being a supporter of Lisa's marathon fundraiser.
April update
We are beginning to see some progress in housing in Haiti since I was there in January as more homes are being built outside the city and people are leaving the tent cities to live out there. Although there are many still living in the tent cities there is a great deal of plots of land being sold or given to families if they would move out of the tents.
We got to be a small part of the rebuilding in March when a team of 5 went down from Colorado and built Pastor Exil's home. He now has the nicest home in the community. His home was part church, school and their personal home too and it collapsed in the earthquake. We finally got the lot cleared of the rubble this last January and built a kit home from an organization that provides work for the Haitians at their factory in Port Au Prince. The house cost less than $5000 to build with the additional concrete work needed and paint.
In February a Japanese non-governmental organization (NGO) was able to negotiate with the land owner that the tarp covered church sits on and was able to put up a more permanent structure with plywood walls and tin roof. They also built a 4 room school near the church with school desks and black boards. We had tried to get the landowner to let us do something more permanent than tarps, but they would not let us.
We are so grateful for all of you that helped make this reality for Pastor, thank you so very much. Also thanks to Jack and Sarah Krider, Steve Wilcox and Eli Willcox for coming down and sharing their lives on this trip.
We got to be a small part of the rebuilding in March when a team of 5 went down from Colorado and built Pastor Exil's home. He now has the nicest home in the community. His home was part church, school and their personal home too and it collapsed in the earthquake. We finally got the lot cleared of the rubble this last January and built a kit home from an organization that provides work for the Haitians at their factory in Port Au Prince. The house cost less than $5000 to build with the additional concrete work needed and paint.
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| Jack and Sarah cleaning up the lot. |
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| Sarah attracting lots of friends. |
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| The lady in the middle was one of our patients and came by to see us. She had a severely broken ankle that required surgery and pins. |
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| Pastor Exil always had a great big smile on his face. |
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The roof trusses going up. |
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| This is Kenny, Pastor Exil's father. He is 78 and had to have a part in the construction. He climbed around the roof like a youngster. |
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| There was always a group of onlookers. |
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| Inside the new church, doing our Saturday kids program. The benches we built in July 2010. |
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| Each week the kids get a meal before they leave, in many cases it is the best meal all week. |
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| This is what the finished house could look like when it is painted. |
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View of neighborhood from Pastor's new house. |
In February a Japanese non-governmental organization (NGO) was able to negotiate with the land owner that the tarp covered church sits on and was able to put up a more permanent structure with plywood walls and tin roof. They also built a 4 room school near the church with school desks and black boards. We had tried to get the landowner to let us do something more permanent than tarps, but they would not let us.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Running for the Brothers
RUNNING FOR THE BROTHERS
Of Charity, Simone Pele, Port Au Prince, Haiti.
We first met the Brothers on January 15, three days after the Earth quake. Their clinic court yard was full of injured people, many reaching for you as you walked past, their jester asking for help. The brothers worked tirelessly doing everything they could for the injured. At that time they were out of drinking water and basic medical needs, but they kept on. I knew then that if I ever could I wanted to help them.
On May first I will be running the Colorado Marathon. http://www.ftcollinsmarathon.com/ I am using my efforts to raise awareness for their work and financially assist them. They have been my inspiration during the last five months of training. So I am asking you to help the Brothers by pledging financial support to them. 100% of your tax deductable donation will go to help the Brothers. They are in need of medical supplies as well as basic food items.
You can make your donations by paypay at Aidinaction.blogspot.
com or by check to Aid in action P.O. box 337463 Greeley, Colorado. 80633
'Missionaries of Charity' is a Roman Catholic religious order established in 1950 by Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The Missionaries of Charity Brothers (active Branch) were founded in 1963, and a contemplative branch of the Sisters followed in 1976. In 1984, the Missionaries of Charity Fathers[1] was founded by Mother Teresa with Fr. Joseph Langford, to combine the vocation of the Missionaries of Charity with the ministerial priesthood. Lay Catholics and non-Catholics constitute the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, and the Lay Missionaries of Charity.
With much gratitude! Lisa Buxman
Bux8@aol.com
970 396 3822
Of Charity, Simone Pele, Port Au Prince, Haiti.
We first met the Brothers on January 15, three days after the Earth quake. Their clinic court yard was full of injured people, many reaching for you as you walked past, their jester asking for help. The brothers worked tirelessly doing everything they could for the injured. At that time they were out of drinking water and basic medical needs, but they kept on. I knew then that if I ever could I wanted to help them.
On May first I will be running the Colorado Marathon. http://www.ftcollinsmarathon.com/ I am using my efforts to raise awareness for their work and financially assist them. They have been my inspiration during the last five months of training. So I am asking you to help the Brothers by pledging financial support to them. 100% of your tax deductable donation will go to help the Brothers. They are in need of medical supplies as well as basic food items.
You can make your donations by paypay at Aidinaction.blogspot.
com or by check to Aid in action P.O. box 337463 Greeley, Colorado. 80633
'Missionaries of Charity' is a Roman Catholic religious order established in 1950 by Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The Missionaries of Charity Brothers (active Branch) were founded in 1963, and a contemplative branch of the Sisters followed in 1976. In 1984, the Missionaries of Charity Fathers[1] was founded by Mother Teresa with Fr. Joseph Langford, to combine the vocation of the Missionaries of Charity with the ministerial priesthood. Lay Catholics and non-Catholics constitute the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, and the Lay Missionaries of Charity.
With much gratitude! Lisa Buxman
Bux8@aol.com
970 396 3822
Monday, January 24, 2011
Whats happining in Haiti......
ORIOL AND RUTH
Oriol is a security guard for Heartline Ministries and has become a great help to us at Aid In Action. It was his idea for the Children's Bible Study and he organizes it and teaches the lesson. He has a passion to help his people and find help for them. Oriol is 32 years old and is getting married to Ruth on February 5th. Here they are pictured below:
Monday, January 3, 2011
November newsletter
Buxman Happenings and Aid In Action November 2010
Welcome to first mailed letter in a long time and first ever for all of you for Aid In Action. As most of you know, we have moved back to the United States after the earthquake in Haiti. The boys came home first, then Lisa and Don later in April. There are a couple of reasons with the foremost being stability and education for the boys, realizing that it is not good for them to switch back and forth in schools at this age in their lives. Also, we did not want them to be exposed to so much of the realities of the disaster and while we had ongoing ministry there we could not live in two countries as a family. We have been working and supporting ourselves since then. Haiti and ministry to the underprivileged around the world has continued to be a passion of ours and just because we now live in the USA does not mean we could not be involved. After much prayer, counsel and thought we started a non-profit organization called Aid In Action. It is a registered 501 3c and all contributions are tax deductible.
The mission of Aid In Action will be:
Help meet basic needs of the poor and needy, especially women and the children
Coordinate and lead teams of construction, medical, dental, vision or educational
Help people connect with a different culture
Serve the needs of all people regardless of their beliefs
We helped lead a team from Crossroad Greeley Church in July to the Simone/Pele area, which is a very poor slum area. The team did children’s ministry, built church benches and put a new roof on the tent city church. The pastor was a patient of ours after the earthquake and we have built a relationship with him. His name is Pastor Exil, his church, school and his house collapsed and he was trapped inside. Here is a picture of Pastor Exil and me sharing a cup of coffee in the tent city church.

I returned to Haiti the first of October as a tropical storm had ripped the tarps off the church and damaged the roof structure. They had salvaged some of the tarps and fixed the roof as well as they could and then we purchased tarps so it could be covered again.
With you help and support here is a short list of what Aid In Action was able to do while I was there.
Financially support Pastor Exil and his family for 2 months
Purchased paint for the benches, tarps and pipe for the roof, and speakers and microphone
Financially supported for the next few months the children’s ministry of about 60 children
Gave money for continued rebuilding of Pastor Farem’s house which will finish it
Beginning to assist Oriol with his home, he is one of our Haitian workers there
We are planning a trip to Haiti around December 4th through the 11th to erect a used military tent for the church that will with stand up the weather there, possibly one similar to the one pictured.

In addition, we will be building a house for Pastor Exil and his family. Below is a house that we probably will be using as they are sold in Haiti and come in complete kits.  These are modular kits are made there so that the local Haitians have employment and are helping their own country. This house can be made into 3 or 4 rooms. Materials are pressure treated lumber and a metal roof including a concrete floor.
While on this trip, we possibly could do children’s programs or a medical clinic depending on the members on the team. Please consider joining us on the next scheduled one in February 2011.
We are excited that Aid In Action moving forward as it had its first board meeting in September and here are some of the future goals and ideas that they have come up with:
Purchase property or a building that would become a permanent place for the church and school
Set up a sponsorship program so many more children can attend school
Educational programs and support for women and children
Support for Lisa’s program of training midwives in Guatemala. She will be there November 1st through the 11th and has been asked to help start an educational program for the traditional midwifes in the villages. Once this program is established, will be the pilot program in other countries.
Aid In Action needs you and your continued support to accomplish these goals. We all are giving of our time and no salaries are paid, leaving all money to go to these projects and people. The approximate costs for the projects that we will be doing in December are:
Tents for the church-----$2500 plus $500 shipping and customs.
House for the pastor----$3000 plus $1000 for tile or concrete inside and a patio.
$300 to finish repairing Oriol home
$100 per month for the children’s program
Please send you donations to:
Aid In Action
P.O. Box 337463
Greeley, CO. 80633
Also you can see more pictures and stories on http://buxmanhaiti.blogspot.com
Or contact us at
Don @ 970-301-6038 1900 68th Ave #702
Lisa @ 970-396-3822 Greeley, CO. 80634
Thank you for being part of this and may you be blessed,
Don and Lisa Buxman
Welcome to first mailed letter in a long time and first ever for all of you for Aid In Action. As most of you know, we have moved back to the United States after the earthquake in Haiti. The boys came home first, then Lisa and Don later in April. There are a couple of reasons with the foremost being stability and education for the boys, realizing that it is not good for them to switch back and forth in schools at this age in their lives. Also, we did not want them to be exposed to so much of the realities of the disaster and while we had ongoing ministry there we could not live in two countries as a family. We have been working and supporting ourselves since then. Haiti and ministry to the underprivileged around the world has continued to be a passion of ours and just because we now live in the USA does not mean we could not be involved. After much prayer, counsel and thought we started a non-profit organization called Aid In Action. It is a registered 501 3c and all contributions are tax deductible.
The mission of Aid In Action will be:
Help meet basic needs of the poor and needy, especially women and the children
Coordinate and lead teams of construction, medical, dental, vision or educational
Help people connect with a different culture
Serve the needs of all people regardless of their beliefs
We helped lead a team from Crossroad Greeley Church in July to the Simone/Pele area, which is a very poor slum area. The team did children’s ministry, built church benches and put a new roof on the tent city church. The pastor was a patient of ours after the earthquake and we have built a relationship with him. His name is Pastor Exil, his church, school and his house collapsed and he was trapped inside. Here is a picture of Pastor Exil and me sharing a cup of coffee in the tent city church.

I returned to Haiti the first of October as a tropical storm had ripped the tarps off the church and damaged the roof structure. They had salvaged some of the tarps and fixed the roof as well as they could and then we purchased tarps so it could be covered again.
With you help and support here is a short list of what Aid In Action was able to do while I was there.
Financially support Pastor Exil and his family for 2 months
Purchased paint for the benches, tarps and pipe for the roof, and speakers and microphone
Financially supported for the next few months the children’s ministry of about 60 children
Gave money for continued rebuilding of Pastor Farem’s house which will finish it
Beginning to assist Oriol with his home, he is one of our Haitian workers there
We are planning a trip to Haiti around December 4th through the 11th to erect a used military tent for the church that will with stand up the weather there, possibly one similar to the one pictured.

In addition, we will be building a house for Pastor Exil and his family. Below is a house that we probably will be using as they are sold in Haiti and come in complete kits.  These are modular kits are made there so that the local Haitians have employment and are helping their own country. This house can be made into 3 or 4 rooms. Materials are pressure treated lumber and a metal roof including a concrete floor.
While on this trip, we possibly could do children’s programs or a medical clinic depending on the members on the team. Please consider joining us on the next scheduled one in February 2011.
We are excited that Aid In Action moving forward as it had its first board meeting in September and here are some of the future goals and ideas that they have come up with:
Purchase property or a building that would become a permanent place for the church and school
Set up a sponsorship program so many more children can attend school
Educational programs and support for women and children
Support for Lisa’s program of training midwives in Guatemala. She will be there November 1st through the 11th and has been asked to help start an educational program for the traditional midwifes in the villages. Once this program is established, will be the pilot program in other countries.
Aid In Action needs you and your continued support to accomplish these goals. We all are giving of our time and no salaries are paid, leaving all money to go to these projects and people. The approximate costs for the projects that we will be doing in December are:
Tents for the church-----$2500 plus $500 shipping and customs.
House for the pastor----$3000 plus $1000 for tile or concrete inside and a patio.
$300 to finish repairing Oriol home
$100 per month for the children’s program
Please send you donations to:
Aid In Action
P.O. Box 337463
Greeley, CO. 80633
Also you can see more pictures and stories on http://buxmanhaiti.blogspot.com
Or contact us at
Don @ 970-301-6038 1900 68th Ave #702
Lisa @ 970-396-3822 Greeley, CO. 80634
Thank you for being part of this and may you be blessed,
Don and Lisa Buxman
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