BRINGING HEALING TO HAITI
By Barb VanderWoude

Bonswa - Creole for hello in Haiti. Recently I had the privilege of spending a week in Haiti with a medical team. 

It is hard to put into words the mass destruction caused by an earthquake that only lasted approximately 35 seconds on January 12.  The city of Port-au-Prince suffered the most damage due to the high population rate and also due to the buildings being very poorly constructed and unable to withstand very little.  Surrounding villages were less affected since many of their homes are made out of mud and sticks.  The village people rely on their own gardening and farming for food, whereas the people in the city are relying almost completely on relief efforts for all of their food and water.

I went with a team of 5 doctors and 6 nurses.  We worked out of a small clinic/hospital called Double Harvest, located on a 200-acre mission farm owned by a family in South Carolina. The clinic part is open every day and run by Haitian doctors.  Double Harvest also has a 10-bed inpatient hospital with very limited medical care.  There are 2 operating rooms that are available for medical mission teams that come in 4 to 6 times a year.  The hospital was located about 5 miles outside of Port-au-Prince.

Since the earthquake, they have opened up the hospital and operating rooms to be used by teams such as ours to be used full-time. The garages were converted to make room for 24 or more inpatients.  These ward type areas consisted of 3 block walls, a tarp roof and plywood floors with mattresses on the floor.  The clinic was moved outside so more patients could be seen on a daily basis.

While we were there, surgeries were done each day to clean out wounds and repair fractured bones. Due to the poor sanitary conditions, infection rates are very high.  The doctors are also finding healing is very slow on the patients with fractures due to poor nutrition.

The Haitian people were so gracious and very stoic.  Though many of them have lost much, they continued to smile and thank us for what little we offered them.

As I mentioned in church, the week we spent in Haiti we did not make some monumental difference in the country.  What we did accomplish was when the people were thirsty, we gave them a cup of cold water.  When they were hungry, we gave them something to eat.  To some who had nothing left to wear, we gave them clothes.  Many were hurting and we did what we could to ease their pain.  And Jesus simply said to do it for the least of these.  Thank you, all, for your prayers during the week I was away.            ~ BVW

PRAY & ACT
Submitted by the Pray & Act Committee

Dear Prayer Partners,

There are a few serious issues that have come about with the advancement of cellular phones and the technology they provide.  Most of us have surely heard in the news lately about the dangers of texting while driving.  Taking your eyes off the road for a second leads to accidents, which can result in major injuries or even death.  But has anyone heard of the term sexting?  Sexting is the act of a person using a cell phone to take, send and forward photographs and videos of themselves semi-naked, naked, and/or in sexually suggestive poses.  It may shock you to know that 30% of girls, ages 9-15, surveyed admitted to sexting. 

If that isn't disturbing enough, many of those photos get forwarded to other people, a very humiliating situation.  It can happen in minutes.  Imagine you are home, you are making dinner while your spouse is distracted, doing something else, and your teenager is texting on their phone.  Sounds pretty typical so far.  Now the teenager goes into her/his room, lifts their shirt or other clothing and takes a picture of her/himself and sends to someone with a text asking if they like what they see.  Minutes later they are back in the kitchen helping you with dinner as if nothing ever happened.  You never had a thought to them leaving the room, much less that they were sexting someone from the safety of your own home.

You may ask what would make reasonable ‘tweens or teenagers voluntarily send naked pictures of themselves to anyone?  The answer is two-fold: 1st, they are immature and have an inability to foresee their consequences; one bad decision can ruin them for life; 2nd is that young people are often craving for attention, so much so that they don't care if it is negative attention.  ‘Tweens, those aged 9-12 years old, are in a stage of life when they are starting to move beyond their family units and first experience peer pressure.  They start experimenting with taking social risks, a kind of truth or dare thinking.  With 71% of kids aged 12-17 possessing a cell phone, they don't even have to leave the house to experience peer pressure.  Teens who are sexting are focusing on what other people think instead of what they feel about themselves.  They are out of touch with their emotions, which in turn denies them the ability to decide for themselves what they like and value and who they really are as a person.  In extreme cases, overwhelmed teens who have had their picture forwarded to an entire school body or beyond have resorted to committing suicide because of the humiliation.  Teens minds are not wired to understand that not everything that happens to them represents their whole life - it is a chapter from it, but not the whole book.

Another serious problem with sexting is that this is so new to the legal system that the current laws are only meant to protect teens from pornography.  The legal system does not see a difference between a 14-year-old sexting from a pedophile.  This means that if a teen were convicted of sexting she/he would have to register as a sex offender, which will stay with her/him for the rest of her/his lifetime; unless the law is changed to discern between the two.        

The legal system is looking towards the parents to be responsible and involved in their children's lives.  Parents need to evaluate if their ‘tweens and teenagers are
mature enough to use a cell phone properly and be aware of what they may be using it for.  Parents need to periodically check what their youth are sending and getting.  Some phone services allow you to do this on the computer.  Go over rules and consequences for misusing the phone and review the moral behavior of respecting our bodies as well as others because of belonging to God.  Be sure that your young people are receiving appropriate education on sex and related subjects.  In today’s fast-paced world, parents need to be even more vigilant in their teens’ lives. 

The good news?  The trend is that the more our teens learn about the problems of sexting, the less likely they are to hit that send button.  We need to pray for our children and the many dangers they face in our world.  We need to act as responsible parents and extended families to educate and shape these young minds into adult Christians who honor their bodies as a Gift from God.

MATHEW HOUSE MINISTIRIES - APRIL 2010

Dear  Friends in Christ .

As we again celebrated the passion week and the powerful resurrection account, it is always good to reflect on all that Jesus’ death and resurrection means to us as believers in Christ.  Without the cross we would not have the forgiveness of sins and we would live lives completely different –  never having to say we were sorry for wronging someone.  But because of the death of our Savior, we experience complete forgiveness of all of our sins and they are never to be remembered ever. 

So as the spring season is here, we see new life bursting forth from the ground, there is also a spring time in our spiritual lives to remind us of who God created us to be.  The beauty of Christ’s redeeming work is knowing when we make mistakes we have an avenue to approach God the Father to ask for forgiveness.

Shortly after we opened the door of Matthew’s House in January of 2009, we had a couple come through our doors by the names of Dave and Lisa.  They had just moved to the North West side of Grand Rapids and were walking the neighborhood when they came across the ministry.  They were interested in what kind of work we were doing and how they could become involved.  It became clear that we were building a relationship with both Dave and Lisa as they were in search of stability in their lives.  As we talked, it did not take long to see they were looking for spiritual direction for their lives; they had only been married for about three years in which they were struggling with drug addictions.  They shared that they both had three days clean from drug habits and needed help to hold them accountable. 

We were just starting Narcotics Anonymous group meetings, so they started attending on a daily basis and that has helped hold them accountable on the road to recovery. They were also interested in our Tuesday evening Bible study group, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge of scripture which we have been tapping into.  They started stopping by on a daily basis to have conversation about how life was changing for the better and our relationship grew even stronger.

Both Dave and Lisa are participating in a computer class learning the basics of programs, searching the internet and setting up e-mail accounts and learning what a tool God has given us to use for his glory.

Lisa has undergone many surgeries to correct problems from being on steroid medication too long.  She has had both hips replaced in the last year, along with wrist surgery to replaced joints that have deteriorated.  In the process, we have walked along side them, being an encourager and sharing Christ’s love with them.  Lisa has also been involved with a craft group that meets on Tuesday evenings, learning how to knit and sew and whatever craft the women want to teach her.  The light of Christ is shining brighter and brighter in her life as she is leading a women’s Narcotics Anonymous meeting on Saturday mornings, sharing her life’s story with 25 other women in differing stages of recovery.

Dave and I have developed a strong friendship challenging each other to grow closer to Jesus Christ through our walk and talk.  Dave is a searching Jehovah Witness who has asked questions about being a follower of Jesus Christ.  We have many discussions about the likes and dislikes of our faiths.  We have had long car rides learning how to use the scripture to better equip us to do the work God has commanded us to do.  Dave has also introduced me to many of his friends and brought me to a group of men who meet every Thursday at the Wealthy Street theater for Bible study time.  Dave also attends a men’s breakfast at Richmond Reformed Church where we grow together learning what it was like for him to grow up in the ‘hood.  Dave has also taught me how to work with addicts who lie, cheat and steal to get what they need to support their habit.  I am thankful for the way God has brought us together to further his kingdom’s work looking for new avenues to grow and bring lost souls to a personal relationship with our Savior.

Both Dave and Lisa worship faithfully every Sunday morning with us, becoming more and more involved in the work of Christ and sharing also with their neighbors and bringing them to church with them.  It has been good for all involved to watch how God has brought diversity to his kingdom and we are learning how to walk along side our neighbors and friends. Please keep them and the ministry in prayer as we continue to search out what God’s will is for each situation we encounter.

As we move forward in ministry, we have needs that arise that we need to make you aware of.  On a daily basis we have between 35 and 40 people coming to Matthew’s House for some kind of services. We can always use toilet paper, laundry soap, paper towel, and dish soap to restock our inventory.  Used bicycles are always appreciated - they come in handy because people use them for transportation around the city.  Our washers and dryers are used on a daily basis, doing between 80 and 100 loads a month.  The shower is used daily to help with people’s hygiene and is used by both homeless and families whose utilities have been shut off.

The work of ministering to the neighborhood children continues to grow as we look for new ways to impact their lives for Jesus Christ.  We try to have a daily Bible study with different age groups introducing them to Bible stories along with teaching them proper manners.  We also will be sending some of our kids from the neighborhood to camps this summer to show them a different side of life and for some maybe seeing Lake Michigan for the first time.

Pray for our staff as we look for new and creative ways to share Christ’s love with those who are wounded by life choices.  Pray also for the transition going on with the closing of Stocking school which we have worked very closely with. We also need the spirit’s guidance as we look at a building to do children’s ministry in to grow young people who can change patterns in family life; plus a house that may be used for transitional housing. May we never limit what God can do.