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.

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.

Jack and Sarah cleaning up the lot.

Sarah attracting lots of friends.

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.

Pastor Exil always had a great big smile on his face.

The roof trusses going up.

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.

There was always a group of onlookers.

Inside the new church, doing our Saturday kids program.
The benches we built in July 2010. 

Each week the kids get a meal before they leave, in many cases
it is the best meal all week.

This is what the finished house could look like when it is
painted. 

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.

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.

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

Whats happining in Haiti......

 Well, sadly not much has changed. There is still much rubble, some areas seem to not have changed since it crumbled a year ago. The government is still corrupt and in chaos with a presidential election in stalemate and an exiled dictator, Baby Doc, returning to the country to make it even more chaotic. There is more buildings and homes that have been repaired since I was last there in October. The tent cities are still there and some of the tents are taking on the resemblance of a constructed house. I saw some with windows added on the sides and some even have a wooden door into the tent, even semi-truck cabs are being used!

But some things are happening. We have been able to start a Children's Bible Study program in Simon Pele tent city at the church. There are about 70 children coming on Saturdays for singing, Bible stories and then a lesson. These kids are awesome as they sit on the church pews for 3 to 4 hours. Then when the lesson is finished  we have a meal brought in and feed them.

    We need to find curriculum for this program, there is AWANA programs in the country and the leaders can be trained by them.

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:

When I went to Haiti this January I took two used wedding dresses and a suit for Oriol and missionary friends will see that the clothes get altered to fit them both. Aid In Action has also helped them get a house finished so that they have a permenant home to live in. Congratulations to both of them.

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

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.