Commissioning and Packing Day

ABC Haiti Team 2012

From left to right, this year's team is: Dan and Barb Woolston, Becky Osborn, Cassedy Meade, Carlton Osborn, Phil Wirsing, Dena Jewel, and Tim and Cindy Peterson.

Dan is a NP and is our medical provider. His wife Barb is an RN. They both went last year.

Becky is a teacher from Rochester, and is Carlton's daughter. She is new to the team this year.

Cassedy went last year. She is a student at Avoca Central School, and has a heart for missions.

Carlton was also part of last year's team. He is a truck driver for an agricultural spraying company. Phil is a retired school teacher and army reservist who loves the outdoors. He is very active in the Gideon's ministry.

Dena is an RN and this is her first trip with us. She has been on other mission trips with other groups.

Tim and I are both RN's, returning for our 4th trip to Haiti. We are all excited to see what the Lord has in store for our team.

We had our commissioning service during worship services at Avoca Baptist this morning. It is such a blessing to be prayed for, and over, by God's people. Following morning services, we had a group lunch including our families. We then got down to the task of packing the rest of our supplies and food. Many hands make the work light, and we completed the daunting task in short order. Now we have just the last minute things to add tomorrow.

We are asking you to pray for the totes. That they contain exactly what God intends for us to bring. That they might be waived from baggage fees due to their contents being for a medical mission. That they all arrive safely at our destination intact and complete. That they clear customs without incident.

We also ask for prayers for the team. For health, safety, unity, wisdom, and opportunity to reach out in the name of Christ.

Tim and I are working our regular shifts tomorrow, so the scramble will be on once we get home from work. Final packing, dinner with the family, and an early bedtime in order to be out the door Tuesday morning by 3:30 am. Oy!

Thanks for your support and prayers!!

Cindy and Tim

Packing

Saturday February 18, 2012

Packing and Spraying day.
We have spent today trying to get things organized and ready to go here at home. It always seems that there is more to do than we can ever hope to accomplish. Some of it just has to wait. The good news is that all of our clothes are sprayed and waiting to dry. We just finished packing the last of the med totes. We will be having lunch with the rest of the team tomorrow and packing the food, shoes and other odds and ends that we will be taking along. Our two living rooms look like a tornado has gone thru them with numerous totes and boxes everywhere. We always wonder if we are packing the right things to take. Our home has become a drop off point for everything from tents, and medical supplies to socks, underwear and an entire tote of sewing supplies including fabric and buttons. Unfortunately we can't take it all but always pray that we are taking what is needed for this particular trip. It is always interesting to get there and see how God has directed us to bring exactly what was needed for that trip.

Thru the generosity of a couple of young couples we have some baby formula and jars of baby food to take along with us this time. We were both just commenting on how thankful we were to have it. It always seems like Cindy takes care of alot of babies when we are there. Believe me she is not complaining about that. Her original desire after the quake was to be able to go to Haiti and love on the babies. It did hit both of us that the baby food we were taking was only a drop in a very large barrel of what is needed. But God already knows which babies need it the most.

We will try and post again tomorrow with a team picture and some information about each team member. It is exciting that 4 of those going with us also went last year and of course our "daughter" E'tienne is already there. She has actually been sending us back pictures of a wound that she is working on so that we can try and bring her the correct supplies to heal it up.

This is a picture of a mom and babies that Cindy took care of last time. Mom is 21 and weighed about 80 lbs. Dad had been killed in the earthquake. The babies looked pretty good because mom was taking care of them before herself. Cindy had the oppurtunity to go to her home. There was a small bed, a few clothes and one box of corn flakes. You want to know why we go back. Look no further.

Tim and Cindy

This is Cindy yesterday
This baby is  4 days old. Sorry not time for a lot of info this am. We had a long post last night but it wouldn't upload. We will try and give you a good update tonight. We did see 151 people in a tent city yesterday. Very bad storm here last night so it will be interesting to see what it looks like today. Will also try and get more pictures up soon. We have been very busy and the connection has not been great when we have time. God is working and we have seen some amazing things all ready.
Tim for Everybody.

Haiti Day 1

We arrrived safely in Haiti last evening after 3 uneventful flights. All of our totes made it through intact. Praise the Lord for that. The dental team is missing one of theirs. Hopefully it shows up soon.

Today we got down to business. The constructions guys cleaned and organized the warehouse and started the finish work on the chicken coop. They are expecting the chickens to arrive soon and they will need their house ready to live in before then!

The medical team helped in clinic , sorted the med totes , and packaged meds for the remote clinic we will be doing tomorrow.

We have seen familiar faces, and met a lot of new people also. Things here are changed so much since last May, that it is nearly unrecognizable. A LOT of new buildings are completed or nearly completed. The new dorms are very roomy, and comfortable to sleep in at night thanks to the air conditioning. The bathhouses are almost done. We are using the temporary ones this trip, but look forward to using the new ones next time.

Todays picture is looking out from the current dining hall toward the clinic and offices. It was hot today, but partly cloudy with a good breeze which helps it feel cooler. There were a few rumbles of thunder a bit ago, but no rain so far. We had a few sprinkles last night but not enough to really wet the dust down.

Looking out to the western hills from camp you can see thousands of tent spread over the sides of the mountains. Those weren't there last May when we were here.

Its almost time for dinner. It smells like BBQ chicken. Guess we will find out soon. Lunch was beans and rice with spaghetti sauce. Quite tasty, and filling too. Families, rest assured we are NOT going to go hungry this week! And yes we are drinking our water! The water is clean and pure, but tastes just a little salty.

I'm going to post this while the connection is still good.

Blessings to all!
Cindy (for everyone)

Team ABC Prep day.

Here is the first picture of team ABC. They are from the left Dan Woolston, Etienne York, Barb Woolston, Carlton Osborne, Heather Meade, Mark Randall, Cassedy Meade, Cindy Peterson, Tim Peterson, Mark Eckler, Pastor Bill McFeaters. The 22 totes are pretty much packed and inventoried. Maybe just a few more odds and ends to stick in. We had a commissioning service at Avoca Baptist this morning followed by tote packing and lunch. It was nice for everyone to meet families and get to know each other a little more before we set off. We were reminded that God is in control as a local family deals with a tragedy.

Our flight leaves from Rochester at 6am on Tuesday morning. That means we need to leave Avoca no later than 3:30 am. Some of us seem to think that is a little early.

Satan is busy trying to discourage and disrupt, but our God is greater and preparing great things for us to accomplish, and ALL for HIS glory.

We are having a Valentine's party with the MAPS kids at ABC tonight. We will be getting to know them and they will ge getting to know us. They are a wonderful group of little prayer warriors, and we will be counting on their prayers while we are gone. Of course we count on everyone elses prayers too!

We are looking forward to what God will do through us and in each of us. We will update as internet connectivity allows,(it's spotty in Chambrun) so keep checking!!!

Thanks for all your prayers and support!!

Tim and Cindy for the whole ABC team

Return to Haiti letter.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Tim and Cindy!!!!!!! We were a little busy in December and decided to put our letter off till after the first of the year. What a busy year 2010 was. God had a lot in store that we sure were not aware of. Our family is doing well. Lee now works full time in the ER at FF.Thompson in Canandaigua and per diem at Noyes. We miss seeing him at work but he really likes the ER at FF. Allie is busy keeping up with the boys. AJ is now 10 and Noah is 5. Both are doing well in school and are busy with sports and church activities. Missy works for Steuben County and is busy being a mom as well. Tom works for AL Blades during the summer and does his own construction work during the winter. Coryn is now 2 and VERY busy. On December 29th they welcomed Ty Robert into their family. They are all doing well.


It is appropriate that we are writing this letter today on the 1st anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. So much of our year has revolved around Haiti and the people there. As many of you know God laid Haiti on our hearts shortly after the earthquake. For several days we looked for a way to go and help but seemed to keep coming up against a brick wall. Thru circumstances that could only be His leading we were led to Nehemiah Vision Ministries. This is a Haitian organization with fundraising headquarters here in the states. We both had wondered why God had sent us to India the year before. Now we knew. That experience, allowed us to raise funds, get shots and make travel arrangements all within 10 days. We were so blessed as people donated money for our flights and also over $5000 in medical supplies for us to take.

We flew into the Dominican Republic and then took a bus over the mountains into Haiti. We were immediately struck by the devastation and seeming hopelessness of the people. However, over the next 10 days we were awed by the resilience and hope of the people of Haiti. One of our greatest experiences was to worship in church with several hundred Haitians who had just lost what little they had but were still praising ,worshipping and trusting God. It caused us to take a step back and ask if we could do the same if our faith was put to such a test. During our time there we provided medical care and helped with food distribution.

Upon our return one of the first questions we were asked was are you going back? Our immediate answer was yes. The next question was when and to many peoples surprise the answer was May. God had provided enough that we could make a second medical missions trip in May. We were disappointed upon our return to see still so much devastation but again impressed with the people and their desire to rebuild and start anew.

We have spent the last several months praying about a return once again. We have a real burden for the people of Haiti. Although the country as a whole has been slow to rebuild the Lord has blessed Nehemiah Vision Ministries thru the quake. They had a plan to build a hospital in 5-10 years but because of donations after the quake that building is almost complete. We will be leading a team back to Haiti in February to do construction as well as medical work. We are excited because we are taking 10 very good friends with us. Some of them from Avoca , and others from our hometown of Belmont and friends from Arkport.

 
We would like to ask you pray for us. Specifically for safety ,as we travel and health while we are there. Also for our family back here as they have many activities going on. Also pray that hearts will continue to be open while we are there and as we minister to peoples physical needs we will also have opportunity to minister to their spiritual needs as well. Our goal is to demonstrate the love of Christ in all that we do.

If you feel led we could also use your financial support. It cost about $3000 for the 2 of us to go. We feel very blessed that this is something we can do together and that God has given us the same passion for Haiti. If you would like more info please contact us. We are always happy and willing to come and speak to groups about Haiti and the work that God has called us to their. If you would like more information on Nehemiah Vision Ministries the website is www.nehemiahvisionministries.org. We also have a blog that has information from our past trips and we will be updating it once again. timandcindypeterson.blogspot.com

We are looking forward to hearing from you and sharing what God is doing in our lives. There is so much more.

Tim and Cindy.

___Yes, I’m happy to support ( ) financially with a donation of $_________________. (Make check payable to: First Baptist Church of Avoca; write, Haiti Mission and my name in the memo line. Do not write my name on the check. Funds raised above personal needs will be used for the mission team and/or First Baptist Church of Avoca missions. All donations are tax deductible.) Send to Avoca Baptist Church PO Box Q, Avoca, NY 14809

_____Yes, I would like to be a prayer partner with you on this trip.

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