our adoption agency needs help

Dearest Friends:

We write this with a heavy heart. As most of you know, we are in the process of adopting two children from Haiti through an organization called Heartline Haiti http://heartlineministries.org/default.aspx . The devastation in Haiti is beyond anything we can comprehend and they are in enormous need for prayer and support. Many of you have contacted us to see how you can help and we are humbled that our two little Haitians have touched your hearts to bring about such compassion.

If you are interested in knowing more about the need and how you can help, please follow the developments via the Heartline web-site or the blog http://jmchoul.spaces.live.com/blog/. The greatest way to help right now is through financing. There are so many needs: food, water, diesel and gasoline to run the generators, rebuilding of the walls (we need to have the orphanage under 24/7 armed protection and now since the walls protecting the houses are destroyed we are greatly concerned for their safety) especially with the danger of theft. Many of the families of the nannies have been severely impacted, losing loved ones, homes, jobs, etc. Heartline believes it is their call to help and support them in any way possible, so the ripple effect of those impacted in our ministry reaches more than 100 people not including the kids.

If you feel so compelled, we have included the direct link to the ministry for this support www.haiti-relief.com . The wonderful thing is every dollar given goes immediately to supporting the needs from this devastation (Heartline has been serving Haiti for over 20 years and is a 501C Non-profit with a Board that is made up of adoptive parents serving as lay ministry so all monies will go directly to Haiti. Also know that all of your contributions are recognized as a tax-deductible contribution).

We all covet your prayers for God’s mercy, protection, provision, grace, strength, wisdom and peace. Please forward this to as many people as you can.

Banding together for the cause,
John, Jennifer and Jacob Bettin
http://thebettinbuzz.blogspot.com/



Heartline MinistriesEarthquake Update


Below are updates John and others have provided via their blogs. Communication is difficult and they do not cell phone usage and the internet is only working occasionally. The number one need is money. Not only do we need to rebuild walls, but many of our employees (we employee approximately 100 people in various capacities) are now homeless and will need massive help rebuilding. Please donate at www.haiti-relief.com or www.heartlineministries.org. Materials are very difficult to find and everything that is needed is going to take money that we simply did not have yesterday. If you have specific questions please realize that John is not able to respond. You can contact tom.white@heartlineministries.org if you need specific information.

We have had lots of inquiries about traveling to Haiti to help. This is the only comment we have received on visitors: If you don't speak Creole/Kreyol and don't have the ability to work with injured people - you should NOT come. We cannot feed you and we don't have a place to house you.

See http://jmchoul.spaces.live.com/blog/ for John's blog. Most recent entries are below.


John's Updates

January 14th, 2010
I have just returned from seeing the man who was trapped inside his house when it collapsed. Please pray that they are able to get out of here through the Dominican Republic as his wife's foot and leg is in serious condition.
Bodies are starting to be placed on the street and at times covered with sheet.
Almost all the store are still closed and we are now facing the issue of a lack of diesel and gasoline to be able to use the vehicles and generators.I am starting to get reports from our workers of how some have lost their houses and are living on the streets. We, I believe, must help them.We, last night, had 12 people at my house and as they didn't feel safe to be at their homes or on the streets.One of our nannies just told me that her brother has been seriously injured and that other people in the same house have died. She asked for a couple of days off, and I said, "Of course, take as much as you need." She replied, "The children need me here at the home, I won't be gone long."This is the quality of nannies that we have at Maranatha Children's Home.
Today's struggle is to provide water and food for the kids and to keep ourselves strong and not allow fear of discouragement to creep in.
Wednesday January 13, 2010
8:30 PM
It has been several hours since we have had internet access and our cell phones still are not working. The last time I posted I said that I was going to hop on the motorcycle and try to find the father of one of our daughter Morgan's friends.
I drove to what was once his house and saw nothing but a pile of rubble with a roof on it. The house had fallen and he was still in it. By the time I arrived he had been trapped for almost 18 hours and several men with a hammer and chisel had made a hole in the cement roof and so when I arrived I could see Patrick still trapped as he could not remove his arm as it was trapped by the cement and steel holding it in place. But the men continued to work on it and after 18 hours he was freed. His arm was quite swollen and now looks as if it has been severely burned.
He spent several hours at my house where the medical people with us cared for him and we fed him as he hadn't eaten since being trapped in the rubble of his house.

His wife had as well been injured and it seems had seen a doctor at a clinic. I just returned from bringing Patrick to see his wife where she is staying at a mission about 30 minutes from us. It was a joyous reunion. She it appears has seriously injured her foot and they are talking about how to get to the States in face of the airport here being closed. They may have someone take them to the Dominican Republic and try to fly out of Santo Domingo.
Getting to the mission was a bit of a challenge as the bridge is out and we had to take what may be loosely called a road, which also took us across a river. We along the way on the so called road were stopped by several men who demanded money to let us pass. I choose to run their roadblock and did so with the men chasing after me on foot and waving their sticks.
Please pray for Patrick and his wife Barb. As I was driving him to see his wife, I couldn't help but consider how much he had lost and gone through and how little we have been impacted by the loss of several walls. See pictures of Patricks rescue at
http://jmchoul.spaces.live.com/blog/

PLEASE PRAY:
We have several people in our church that work at the UN Headquarters, which is in an old hotel which was partially destroyed. It has been reported that perhaps several dozen people may have lost their lives as part of the hotel collapsed. One of those that work there came by my house today to let me know that he was okay. He said that he was in a meeting with others and some did not get out in time and were killed. I asked him about the others that I know that work there but he didn't have any information.
Now I have never been in an earthquake before and I am taken back by the enormous amount of damage in the areas that I have traveled. It is stunning to see what was just yesterday a large functional building and now to see it in ruins.
So many lives lost, so much suffering, so much devastation, so much that is hard to understand.
Yet in my 20 years in Haiti, I have learned that the Haitian people are resilient and although they have not seen this kind of destruction before they will rise above it.
UPDATE
We today started cleanup at the crèches and the women's center. Our problem is that things aren't functioning yet and we are not able to have the rubbles hauled away and can not get the blocks, sand, rocks, cement, and steel on site to rebuild our fallen walls. And we simply do not have money on hand and do not know when we can get money as the stores and places where we change money have not reopened. The store where we often change money has in fact been leveled.
The kids and nannies are again sleeping in the yard of the Buxmans' house as they are afraid of aftershocks of which we just had one as I sit here typing.
The Heartline people are pulling together to do whatever we have to do to see our way through this difficult time.
I do not know when I can post this as I have not been able to find a working internet connection.
Today's struggle is to provide water and food for the kids and to keep ourselves strong and not allow fear of discouragement to creep in.