Haiti in Review Video (Christian views on disability)

It’s been just over a week since we got back from Haiti, but we have an incredible video to share with you as we reflect on that trip today. As you watch the video, please reflect on how God has called us to go into all the world, and what Elim’s presence there says about how God values people with disabilities.

YouTube – Haiti – June 2010 HD.

Haiti Day 4: Outreach Update Part II (Christian views on disability)

Our last stop in Haiti was a third trip to Pazapa.  Generous education students from Morraine Valley College donated school supply kits.  In the kits were crayons, pads of paper, and a small game (a puzzle or a deck of cards).  Pazapa directors Marika and Tijo were so excited to receive this useful gift.  The school kits will be distributed to the students before their summer break.  The children will be encouraged to practice their writing over the summer, and the stimulating games will keep them sharp for the next school year!

We were also blessed to see Elim’s HOPE Packs in use at the Calvary Church School.  In Haiti, children are required to wear uniforms to school.  While a free education is mandated for every Haitian child, the high cost of books, school supplies and the uniform combined is often prohibitive for many families.  Elim’s HOPE Packs help eliminate a barrier to Haitian children getting an education.

Many of the children at Calvary Church School live at the orphanages funded through Haitian Support Ministries.  At the New Life Children’s Home, sixty-three children are shown the love of Christ every day.  Elim HOPE Packs school supplies help these orphaned children attend school.

Haiti Day 4: Outreach Update Part I (Christian views on disability)

On Tuesday, June 22^nd, the Elim Haiti team assisted Jean-Claude with a food distribution to members of the Jacmel community.  The well-orchestrated event was truly a testament to how well Calvary Church reaches out to Haiti’s poor.

Haiti Day 3: Outreach Update Part I

Pazapa began operating in 1987.  Since that time, the community of Jacmel has learned more about children with developmental disabilities.  We spoke with Jean Joseph Forgeas, the administrator of Pazapa.  Nicknamed Tijo, he has been involved with the program since 1999.  They began seeking children for the school by asking local churches if they knew of children with disabilities in their congregations.  At first, few families admitted to having children who needed a special education. Some parents would say they had two children, when they actually had a third child at home with disabilities.

At first, if parents came forward to Tijo about a child with disabilities, they would go to his house.  Tijo would then tell the parents to bring their child to Pazapa.  However, many of the parents would not bring their children to Pazapa, as they did not want to be seen going there.

Now, Pazapa has changed the attitude of Jacmel toward people with disabilities!  All people, whether rich or poor, are no longer ashamed to bring their children to Pazapa.  They are excited for what Pazapa has done in their community.

During our visit, the children at Pazapa had their singing time and writing class.  During singing time, the children gathered under a shade tree.

During writing class, the children practiced tracing their vowels.  The teachers had passed out crayons and paper, with examples of the letters written on the board.  We got to sit with the students and show them how we wrote our names.

It was encouraging to see the happy faces of the children in the midst of the hardships we’ve seen during our trip.

-written by Blair Marsh

Haiti Day 2: Part 2

What an exciting afternoon!  Today, the Elim Haiti team visited the Monchile Nutrition Center and had a brief tour of Pazapa.

The Monchile Nutrition Center feeds 70 Haitian “street children” a meal every day.  The food is provided by many organizations, including Elim’s HOPE Packs program!  These Haitian children are among the poorest in the Jacmel area, and many do not have shoes.  While at Monchile, we distributed flip-flops and a few pieces of candy to the grateful children.  After receiving the shoes, each child said “Merci,” the Creole word for “Thank you.”

Next, the Haiti team traveled across Jacmel to Pazapa, a school for children with disabilities.  We were able to tour the facilities, as school was out for the day.  Pazapa was originally located in Port-au-Prince, but its building was destroyed after the earthquake.  Their new facilities in Jacmel have been decorated with murals, created by the children with the help of a mission team.

Tomorrow, we return to Pazapa to meet the children and see the school in action.  We look forward to sharing with you the other exciting things God is doing in Haiti.

Haiti Day 2: Update

Tent city in Port-au-Prince Haiti

In the picture is one of the many tent cities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  Yesterday, Haiti had its first major rain storm since the earthquake on January 12.  Imagine living in those tents, in low lying areas, and having the 4 inches of rain flowing through your home.

Today, we are visiting an organization called Pazapa in Jacmel which serves children with developmental disabilities.  After our visit, Elim’s Haiti Outreach Team will report on what we learn, and hopefully attach a few more pictures!

Day 3: Letting Elim’s Light Shine – Ministry Outreach in Puerto Plata (Christian views on disability)

Thursday was a wonderful day down here in the Dominican Republic. We got reports back from our friends at Templo Del Dios Viviente that the school packs assembled by our adults were well received (thanks again to your support and to church supply drives). In fact, Luis Manon tells us he wants to get a bunch more Elim HOPE Packs down here as soon as possible.

Today, we spent the day pursuing Ministry Outreach opportunities at La Escuela de Educacion Especiales (The School for Special Education). Today was a special day as the teachers and students were finishing up their school year and the kids were getting their final report cards. Sharon and Pam again jumped in, identifying the needs of the children, and the resources and tools at the disposal as they worked alongside the teaching staff.

But just as important as the practical interventions is the context in which these interventions take place. In each setting we’ve visited here in the DR, we have witnessed different capabilities on the part of the staff, different resources available to the organizations, different goals and expectations for the children, and different philosophies about the nature of the care they provide. Those differences play a huge role in the ongoing assessment of how Elim’s Ministry Outreach efforts can be resourced to meet the needs in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

As you watch the video below, you will see a school environment that is comprised largely of students with learning disabilities or milder developmental disabilities. We did not notice many children who required the level of intervention that we often see at Elim. By God’s grace, both Pam and Sharon had plenty of expertise in serving children who function at that level. Take a minute to watch the video now.

In the afternoon, Pam and Sharon were able to share some teaching and intervention techniques that they felt would best equip the teaching staff. While this was the final day of school, all the teaching staff stayed behind to participate in this impromptu special needs seminar, underscoring once again the significant need and hunger that exists for Elim’s special needs expertise.

This is the challenge that the Elim community faces: what does God require of us? In what way is the expertise He has cultivated at Elim best used to support the needs of special needs communities in other countries? Where do we take our next step or steps? As we complete this Ministry Outreach Trip to the Dominican Republic, we return soon to wrestle with these questions that shape the relationship Elim has with communities in the United States and abroad.

By God’s grace, and through your support, Elim has become a light in a world where special needs is often experienced as darkness. As Christians we are not called to hide that light, but to bring it to a place where it can give light to all who need it.

Please keep this trip in your prayers, especially for our safe return on Saturday and more importantly for the continuing relationship we feel God is calling us to in the Dominican Republic.

Day 2: Elim HOPE Packs Distribution in Puerto Plata

We handed out hundreds of Elim HOPE Packs today, but I only have time to share what happened this morning.

We again visited Templo Del Dios Viviente in Puerto Plata. The church hosts a children’s program each day, a sort of Bible time that is largely aimed at socialization, singing, and providing a nutritious meal. We were able to participate in several aspects of the program, but the most meaningful activity came at the end.

This is where it gets exciting for me, as you get to see Mimi, one of Elim’s adult consumers, handing out school packs that she and her friends at Elim assembled. These are the packs that people like you and so many churches helped us assemble through fundraisers and church supply drives. Look at the joy on Mimi’s face as she gets to help people in need.

Now, in this next video, we’ll get a fuller sense of the impact, as you get to see the line of children you’ve helped. After watching the video, please take a minute to offer a prayer of thanks to God. Thank Him for equipping our adults to help not only these 100+ children, but tens of thousands of others through Elim HOPE Packs. It is a real and too rare blessing to personally witness how God can use people with disabilities to minister to others – but you are changing that.

And in our final clip for this update, you get to see Trisha Stingel, adult services staff at Elim, and Elim President Bill Lodewyk discussing what a blessing it is to see the packs getting into the hands of children, thanks to the loving work of our adults and your support.

That’s all for now. Please stay tuned for more updates tomorrow!

Elmhurst Christian Reformed hosting an Elim HOPE Packs supply drive (Christian views on disability)

Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church in Elmhurst, IL, is hosting an Elim HOPE Packs supply drive this summer, in conjunction with their Vacation Bible School program.

Elmhurst CRC.

You can join with Elmhurst CRC and dozens of other churches by hosting a supply drive in your church. Here’s 3 reasons why you should, and here’s a link to a form you can fill out to get started on a supply drive in your church!

Ministry Outreach in the Flesh in the Dominican Republic (Christian views on disability)

One aspect of Elim’s purpose on this Outreach Trip is to actually pursue the Board-approved vision for Ministry Outreach: to share Elim’s expertise and message throughout the world.

Today’s excursions are all about Ministry Outreach, taking the expertise that Elim and its staff have cultivated, and sharing that here in the Dominican (you can learn more about Elim’s vision for ministry outreach by clicking here). Pam Connolly is Elim’s Coordinator of Supportive Educational Services and Sharon Duncan, who teaches at Purdue University, following a few years of teaching at Elim, is currently a consultant on curriculum and learning at Elim. We are further blessed to bring along Elim adult services case manager Trisha Stingel, a Trinity graduate with expertise in services for adults, and – of course – President Bill Lodewyk. Certainly, Elim has brought expertise to share. But this would be meaningless without our ministry partners: Luis and Barb Manon, who call Steger, Illinois their home, though their hearts are with the DR. I will share more about their vision in the days to come.

Our first stop today was at an orphanage outside Puerto Plata, where I witnessed Ministry Outreach come to life. Pam, Sharon, and Trisha jumped right in, working with and exercising most of the 21 children that lived in the special needs orphanage. Within an hour, the director identified a meaningful way for us to partner. In the short time we were there, Pam and Sharon were able to go through the entire roster and identify the needs and opportunities for each child. With these tools, the director believes they can equip future missions teams and staff to more effectively serve those in their care, equipping them, too, to respond to God’s call on their lives.

On the way back to the hotel, the team discussed the challenges of that environment, including the reasons for an orphanage for children with disabilities. While I can’t pinpoint who said what, a few items stood out for me from listening in to that conversation:

1. People with disabilities are included in American society to a much greater degree than in past decades. This can be attributed in part to the overall civil rights movement in America.
2. People with disabilities are too often looked at as a source of shame, not only in developing countries, but our neighbors with disabilities are marginalized in more developed countries as well. This shame, coupled with difficult economic conditions in the DR, make such an orphanage the best option for some parents.
3. While we can focus on human rights issues, or on economic conditions, it is quite clear that success for people with disabilities is directly correlated to the degree with which the community comes into contact with them. It ultimately is not about money, not about rights, not about forcing the issue, but about relationships, that very basic human function for which God created each of us.

We traveled to Templo del Dios Viviente (Temple of the Living God) for a Special Needs Conference that the Manons had arranged to benefit Dominican Republic parents, psychologists, physical therapists, and especially people who worked directly with people who had disabilities. After a short introduction of our team, those present got right into the questions, which were ably handled by members of our team, by God’s grace.

Yet again, Elim’s version of ministry outreach was evident. Led by input from Sharon Duncan and Pam Connolly, we weren’t fishing for our brothers and sisters in the Dominican Republic. We were sharing with them about how we fish, and how we’ve had success with those we serve. Elim is committee to intentional outreach, not just building more “Elims,” but actually sharing the expertise we’ve developed and giving our partners the tools to use that expertise themselves.

On top of that, we were blessed to hear about how some partners have already worked hard to involve the whole community in the life of someone with disabilities, to remove the shame that is so often associated with disability, and how so many of them have already realized the value of coming alongside those with disabilities in true reciprocal relationships.

In fact, Sharon Duncan and Pam Connolly were asked to speak about what people with disabilities meant to them. Sharon’s response is available in the brief video below.

Perhaps this day was best summed up with Bill Lodewyk’s words of encouragement to the conference attendees.

“We believe that God has called us at Elim to challenge the Christian community to be a witness to Jesus Christ by how we include people who are differently-abled, and only when we do that will we know His blessings.”

Tomorrow is a full day, including the distribution of Elim HOPE Packs of school supplies. Please continue to keep this trip in your prayers.