Article in La Costa Latina Newspaper

Many thanks to GMSM supporter David Triana for including us in his article about Haiti.

Here is a copy of the article that was printed in the March edition of their paper:

Local Groups Active in Haiti Relief Efforts

By David Triana 

Even before January 12, 2010, Haiti was a hard place to live for the majority of its citizens.  As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, it has had a traumatic history filled with corruption and dictators abusing its populace. 

On the evening of 12 January, its capital of Port Au Prince was struck by one of the modern world’s worst natural disasters in the form of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.  It is estimated that the earthquake destroyed 70% of the buildings in the capital and 90% of the buildings in towns close to the epicenter!

More than 200,000 people are believed to have been killed with more than 194,000 injured and over 1 million were left homeless.
Some of the first responders to the earthquake were Air Force personnel from Hurlburt Field.  Additionally, dozens of Christian organizations that have been operating in Haiti for many years were also critical to the initial response.

“The devastation is incredible and hard to describe, Haiti was a hard place to live before, now it is even worse!” said Kenny Phillips, Founder/Director of Give Me Shelter Ministries (GMSM).  GMSM’s mission is to “provide help and hope in the name of Jesus Christ, sharing the Word of God and promise of Eternal Shelter, to those most in need anywhere in the world.”

Kenny had been to Haiti several times before.  After the earthquake, he accompanied members of Truth Evangelistic Ministries (TEM), another local organization, to deliver aid and monetary donations to Christian churches.  

“GMSM is in need of funds to help with the expenses of our upcoming trip in March.  We are proud to say that all monies raised go towards our relief efforts.  We totally depend on God’s grace and mercy to meet our needs” added Kenny.

GMSM has also been serving orphanages and the poor of Nuevo Laredo, México for eight years delivering food, medical supplies and building homes.
Some unofficial estimates fear the number of new orphans may be upwards of 700,000 as a direct result of the earthquake!  Christian ministries also serve many orphanages in Haiti.  Another agency doing great work there is the American Red Cross. 

It will be many years before Haiti recovers from the aftermath of this latest tragedy!  Long after news of the earthquake has disappeared from the front pages of newspapers, thousands of people will still be living in tents or temporary housing.  Even more tragic, the children left homeless and orphaned will still need the support of caring human beings to provide food, education and shelter for them.  

Want to help Haiti?  Do so by attending the upcoming NAACP4HAITI concert scheduled for 14 March, 12pm – 6pm at Fort Walton Beach’s Landing Park (downtown FWB).  La Costa Latina is one of the sponsors of the concert and several Latino performers were invited to participate.  For more info, see ad in this edition. 




For more information on how to donate towards Haiti relief, please go to:  
      http://www.givemeshelterministries.org/    (contact #:  850-496-7398)

            http://truthem.org/                                       (contact #:  850-582-1458)

  http://www.redcross.org/haiti                     (1-800-842-2200)

Returning to Haiti Monday

Thanks to you all who have contributed to this next trip to Haiti.  Kenny leaves Monday and will be reporting here on the blog daily.  Please keep Kenny, his family and all other missionaries in your prayers for this trip.

Leaving Haiti

Travel day is always a day of reflection especially when it is the return home part of the mission trip. We had to be at the PAP Int’l Airport at 6.00 a.m. in hopes that we had a seat on the hopper from Port to Santo Domingo D.R. As we sat on the tarmac of the make shift air terminal I could not help but notice how under control this airstrip was. The U.S. Air Force was really doing a great job and running a smooth operation. We ran across so many dysfunctional organizations it made feel good knowing that without our guys being there the airport would be total chaos. Thanks dudes and ladies.

God was so good during the last two weeks. He allowed us to minister and meet many needs. He truly continues to grow and show me direction in Haiti. I feel He is leading GMSM in directions that can multiply the cause and expand His kingdom. The need is great and will continue to be great. Pray that God will continue to use us for His glory and will. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.




Kenny

GMSM

Haitian Orphanage

I make no excuse for my time lapse for reporting on the last day. I was extremely tired which seems to not even mean anything considering all that the beautiful people of Haiti are having to deal with. I really feel that God will allow me to make a turn around trip back in a couple of weeks or so. I am needed there and your support through Give Me Shelter Ministries is needed there.

Our last day was spent driving all over Port trying to find food supplies for an orphanage that someone from back home asked Chuck to check on. In all the chaos of the streets, vendors and traffic we were able to get the supplies. We were not able to make the connection we were hoping for though we did reach a friend of Pastor Harry who is a pastor and also helps with an orphanage. Harry went to seminary with this dude and they are very tight.

His name is Pastor Alexander and has a church near Harry’s church. He also helps out at Coats Little Angels Orphanage. Coats is apparently the name of someone state side who started this place. I do not know the story or circumstances behind this particular orphanage but it almost seems like it has been forgotten. Not a pretty sight but I have not seen an orphanage in Haiti that was a pretty sight to see. Seems like children are used as pawns to serve as a means of bettering one's self. I am not saying that this is the case but it does make me wonder. It would not take a lot to make a difference here and we did what we could do on a temporary basis. We were able to supply them with food that would sustain them for a couple of weeks. There are thirty children in all, fifteen boys and fifteen girls. I do trust this pastor especially with the backing of Harry. Harry would never lead us astray. The rest of the day was spent out at Harry’s church kind of just chillin. We had to get back to the guest house to start preparation for the return trip back to our families. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny
GMSM

Finding Food, Delivering.

We were on the go all day today. Chuck went one way and Dale and I took off in the other direction. I know it takes pressure off Chuck with me being able to deal with a lot of the daily grind. It allows us to get so much accomplished when we can split up and meet back in the middle.

We went in search of rice, beans and oil while Chuck and our new friend Dr. Meriwether went in search of pasta, fish and sauce. We were gathering more supplies for Z,Orange. There is such a need up there and it’s just best at this time to get them about 3 to 4 weeks worth of food supplies.

We bought 30 bags of rice but for some reason there must be a run on beans. We searched in three different towns and could not find any. We also had a difficult time finding the oil but we finally found some in this out of the way market. Harry was taking us all over the place. Sometimes you really have to keep your head on a swivel because things can go south quickly especially when you are purchasing the high volume of stuff that we are. There is a lot of money changing hands even though we try to be as discreet as possible, the eyes are always watching. God has sure put a hedge of protection around us so far. We need it.

It is desperate here. I hope people will start buying more food stuff in country versus shipping it in. That way the local economy can maybe reap some benefit from this tragedy. I feel like I will be coming back soon. There is so much we can do and need to continue to do. Not sure what the world is seeing now that the newness of the earthquake has worn off. I have been too busy with day to day work and then at night being a slave to the website to check on any news. Anyway, we got all the food supplies on up the mountain and as usual all were very stoked. God is so good. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Micah 6:8 tells us how we are to treat Gods people. Tomorrow will be a good day.
Kenny
GMSM

A Great Day in Haiti!

From Haiti, February 1, 2010

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Today was one of those days that do not come along very often in Haiti. God allowed us to accomplish so much. Chuck went in search for documents that could not be obtained and ended up with new tires on the van. While all that was going down Dale and I met up with Harry and his friend Martinez.

We took a tap tap out to Harry’s church in Croix-des-Bouquets. Along the way we stopped at a rice place and purchased 24 bags of rice and 6 cases of oil. Today was a food distribution day for the church and community. This was all done at the church property with Harry and the elders of the church overseeing the distribution duties. Harry does such a good job and the people really respect him. He truly loves his people.

We made enough bags of food with rice, beans and oil to feed over 850 people. It is so cool to watch and be a part of all this. People are so grateful and it really does humble you. Smiles all over the place and the children are so beautiful. We wrapped all that up and it was time to head back in town and hook up with Chuck. We are stating to get larger amounts of food into the hands of more pastors. This allows them to distribute it without the chaos and to get it to the communities around their church. Tomorrow we will take a load up to Z’Orange.

Chuck got all kinds of things done to the van today. He even got the A/C fixed in the van. He’s a stylin missionary now. What a great day with lots of stuff accomplished. Yesterday was my youngest daughter’s birthday. The night before I left I told Lydia I would not be home on her birthday. She told me that she would rather me be here in Haiti helping the little children on her birthday. It really made me pause and just say thank you God for her heart. Jesus tells us a lot about children in the scripture. They grow up fast. Tomorrow should be another good day.

A Day of Praise and Rest

Yeah! Today is church day. We took off to Z’Orange to go to church at Jerusalem I and to visit with our friends. The church was completely packed today. Probably at least 800 people were in Gods house today. I was told that they had folks from all four Jerusalem churches. It was a beautiful site. As always I love the worship and love the passion the Haitian people have for their Lord and Savior.

I had a chance to visit with Pastor Fani’s wife and talked with her for a little while. I did leave her some money to help with bills, food, water etc. I also talked to his 10 year old son Cado. I told him that he is the man of the house now and he had to take care of his mother. I also told him that his father was very proud of him.

After church Pastor Dorleon’s family made us a great Haitian meal that consisted of goat, rice and beans, onion gravy, fried plantains and pickle.

Came back down to Dottie’s and chilled for the rest of the evening. Three female P.A.’s showed up tonight. They are from Montana and on one of the ladies had great interesting stories. She and her husband own a big ranch. It sounded like they were cowboys and cowgirls. She does medical stuff all over the place. Good stuff. We really enjoyed talking to her. Tomorrow will be a very busy day. Praise God that we had a much needed break today.

Kenny
GMSM