Road Work!!

Although this short clip of may seem like just another road anywhere in the world, for us it is extraordinary.  This road, near our home, was a bombed-out wreck of two-track goat path for the entirety of our last seven years living in this neighborhood.  In fact, the road was so bad that a few weeks ago the local population piled a bunch of tires together, lit them on fire, and threw rocks at police in protest of the road's deplorable condition.  The demonstration lasted most of one morning until the tear-gas finally made the protesters flee.  Someone must have heard their complaint, because within weeks, this unbelievably terrible two-track is a nicely-paved road.

Segaar-King January Update

Dear Friends and Family:

Last week Zach preached on 1 Peter 5:1-11 at a Haitian church. This is a text that speaks to three groups: church leaders, young people, and all believers. Peter’s message for all three is that God himself will make a suffering church stand firmly in its faith. Verse ten stands out: “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” This comforting message is applicable to the Haitian church, which, though not persecuted, has to endure great physical hardship. It has been an encouragement to us as well since we have been troubled by a number of health related issues of late. We hope that it will be an encouragement to you too as you face the challenges of life!

Please join us in giving thanks for:
-A number of successful ministry events. In January, Zach went to Belladere to visit four very isolated CRC of Haiti churches with two board members of Christian Reformed World Missions. The churches seem to be doing well. We also met with leaders of Haitian organizations that have benefited from World Renew’s earthquake relief programs in January. It was a blessing to see how the programs gave these organizations an opportunity to show the love of Christ to suffering communities.
-Training of 16 church leaders in Jean-Rabel (in the northern part of Haiti) by two members of our Timothy Leadership Training Coordination Committee. The week was a success!
-The Haitian government is paving a road near our house that was absolutely terrible and caused billows of dust in our neighborhood and a lot of damage to our cars. What a blessing!

Please pray for:
-Healing: Zach has damage to his cornea (left eye) causing some temporary (we hope!) loss of vision after an infection, Sharon has been struggling with asthma (January is extremely windy and dusty) and now pneumonia. Our kids are doing pretty well!
-Construction at Jacquet church which will begin again on February 4.
-Theological training in February. We will be “Training the trainers” from Timothy Leadership on Feb. 8. On Feb. 18-21 we will be teaching ethics and the Minor Prophets to our group of ministry students.

 Zachary, Sharon, Hannah, Isaiah, Vivian and Esther Segaar-King
Missionaries to Haiti
Christian Reformed World Missions

Ready to Restart

Dear Friends and Family: You may know that since last September (2012) we have been working on our most ambitious construction project yet with the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti.  We are trying to construct a new worship space for the Jacquet CRC of Haiti congregation which has been meeting in a very small rented worship space for the last twenty years.  The project, which is being funded by Trinity CRC of Goderich, ON and SONBEAM International of Jamestown (MI), has been a challenging one.  The rocky "soil" (probably better described as an "outcrop") made it difficult to dig the foundation.  The 3/4 in rebar used to strengthen the structure against future earthquakes has been expensive and unwieldy, and the designs are much more complex since the church will be much larger and will be two stories (the sanctuary will be on the upper level).  Because of challenges in raising funds, Jacquet CRC had to suspend work in December and January (Jacquet is also raising $9,000 USD to complete payments for the land purchase while paying for labor as well).  Work is slated to restart on February 4, Lord willing.  The first task will be the pouring of the large beams that will connect the exterior and interior columns you see in the photo above.  It will require scaffolding and a lot of patience.  After the beams are finished, work will begin on the poured-cement roof which will be bristling with rebar for strength in the event of another earthquake in Haiti. We give thanks for how far the project has come already.  Please pray for Pastor Eli (sitting on the right in the picture above), the foreman, and Edouarnis (sitting on the left), the project manager.  This project is the answer to a 20-year-long prayer by the members of Jacquet CRC!

January 12, 2013--The Anniversary

Dear Friends and Family:

Today is the anniversary of the January 12, 2010 earthquake that shook Port-au-Prince and its surrounding communes, killing hundreds of thousands and causing an untold number of injuries and massive loss of economic resources.  For us it is a milestone, because we survived the earthquake which struck at 4:53 pm as we were eating an early supper on a Tuesday afternoon.  Though our home didn't collapse and bury us, we were terrified and a little cut-up from all the broken glass and falling furniture.  After the earthquake came a month of almost constant activity and physical deprivation as there was little to no access to food and water and a overwhelming need to provide what basic food supplies that could be located to those who were in a far worse situation than ourselves.
No doubt the question on your mind is, "What are things like today?"  Things have changed a great deal.  The debris of the majority of the collapsed buildings have been removed and many urban properties sit empty as a testament the tragedy that befell them.  Some properties have been rebuilt, but not to the same degree.  In places where four or five-story concrete structures once stood, now a small wood and tin-roofed structure takes its place.  The international community has invested a lot in developing the hospitality sector in Haiti.  If you visit Port-au-Prince today, you will find several four and five-star hotels to choose from (with per night prices rivaling those of New York and London)!  The United States has funded a massive factory project in northern Haiti where, today, only several organizations are operating because international businesses are afraid to invest.  Many of the myriads of international aid organizations have departed Haiti or drastically scaled back operations.  The Internaitonal Disaster Response organization that is part of World Renew has recently closed relief operations (at the end of December) after constructing over 3000 transitional houses in the Leogane area, assisting in debris removal, digging wells and other kinds of assistance.  In its place there is a long-term "livelihoods" program (helping earthquake survivors develop economic projects in agriculture and business).  Many have noted that residents of the Leogane area have better quality housing than before the earthquake.
The greatest weakness of earthquake response is that the majority of the secular and even many of the religious relief organizations did not address the cultural and socio-religious reasons why Haiti was so vulnerable to a natural disaster and why it struggles economically to this day.  The predominant model of leadership in Haiti is one of dominance and self-aggrandizement, not the concept of leadership as service.  This means that relief and economic development projects flounder as local leaders absorb resources that were destined for beneficiaries.  Distrust and mismanagment are pressing challenges and local populations react violently when projects are delayed and/or abandoned.  What does Haiti need to truly recover from the earthquake?  It needs Godly leaders who understand that they have been chosen to serve and not be served.  And it needs a population which will demand a different model of leadership for its government and community.  While other philosphies contain parts of these important teachings, no others encapsulate them as well as biblical Christianity.  We will continue to develop this kind of leadership in our work here, no matter how long it takes!  Please pray for God's grace and patience.

Happy New Year

Dear Friends and Family: Happy New Year! We hope that 2013 is off to a good start for you and that you are experiencing God's blessings. We had a nice break between the holidays. Zach got a chance to make a dent in his to-do-list by painting the bottom level of our rented house. It looks a lot better.  Sharon led the children Quisqueya Chapel, our church home in Haiti, in a Christmas pageant which was very well received.  We did some gardening and spent time with the kids as well (who got pretty board without having to go to school for two weeks). We also took a trip to Jacmel and spent two days at a beach hotel. This was a great opportunity to relax and we went out to the Cayes Jacmel beach, which is a nice strip of sandy beach just east of Jacmel.  We have a prayer request to mention as well. Zachary has been having a lot of problems with his left eye and has developed a condition called anterior uveitis which is inflammation of the iris and surrounding tissue. This can be a serious condition that can cause permanent loss of vision. We don't know why this has happened, but it could be a infection that Zach developed in December that, though long since disappeared, has caused the inflammation. Please pray that the course of treatment prescribed by the ophthalmologist here will be effective (high doses of steroids to lessen the inflammation response).  Also, pray for patience as the quality of Zach's vision has been degraded considerably and it is difficult to even write this blog, read and do other work-related activities!  Thanks for your prayers.