Helping the plight of the Haitian people...

Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. The second largest island of the Greater Antilles, Hispaniola lies west of Puerto Rico and east of Cuba and Jamaica. Its western third is the nation of Haiti, and Eastern two thirds is the nation of the Dominican Republic, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are occupied by two countries.

Haiti is a country caught in a time lapse, being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is the only nation to win its own independence from slavery. Haiti has a violent history with frustrations that surface in the form of violence even today. The education level is between second and third grade. Estimates are that Haitians make from $200 to $400 per family per year, with supplies and food costing as much and more than in the United States. Jobs are very rare, with hundreds of people for each available job. Infant mortality is extremely high, so Haitians have many children, hoping that some will make it to be adults in order to have someone to take care of them in their old age. Tuberculosis, AIDS, Malaria, and Typhoid take the lives of people of all ages. Malnutrition is prevalent with most people

There is an estimate of more than 2,000,000 Haitians of either transient workers or individuals who have settled in the Dominican Republic, looking for work and a better way of life. Generally, they take the basest jobs, doing whatever they are able at a minimum salary, and are employed for the majority of unskilled jobs. Haitians are often mistrusted and live with prejudice. Some live in worse housing conditions that they did in Haiti, trying to make enough money to live and if there is any left over, to send back to family in Haiti. Language barriers due to not speaking Spanish well or due to accent can also contribute to misunderstandings and prejudices. Haitians generally live in communities of Haitians and often live in groups, depending where they came from in Haiti. The Dominican Republic was under Haitian rule at one time, which is a major contributor to prejudices against Haitians in the Dominican Republic.

News Update

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the prayer! We were able to build a barrier out of concrete and block at the entrances to the house, blocked the drainage area into the property, and blocked our own vehicle out of the driveway. The test came yesterday evening when the rains started. We had worked so hard and so fast and God held off the rains until the barricade was finished, then He let it pour. We waded through water, but when we entered the house, the floors were dry. Praise God! We will now have time for the city to take care of whatever the are going to do to address the problem. We can climb over barricades in order to get into a dry house for as long as we need to.

This has turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because we have met quite a few of our neighbors and they have been very supportive. Some have taken up our cause and made calls on our behalf, written letters, and gone to talk to city officials. We pray that these new friendships will lead to lasting friendships and witness opportunities with our neighbors. There will be pictures up on the web site in the near future, so be watching: www.ruralhaititeam.org. Also, there will be a couple of pictures of the storying sessions done by the team from Missouri this week. God is good and His timing is perfect.

Monday, June 15, 2009

To all you rope holders, we really could use a bunch of prayer right now. We are kind of in a pickle. We live at the bottom of a hill where the water drains into a cannel that goes from in front of our house and around and used to go out the other side. Now the new mall that has been being built has blocked off the water drainage. Saturday night we had a flood and the only thing to do was knock a hole in the wall to get the water out of our house. The engineer for the mall called in extra workers for Sunday and put a huge concrete dam just outside our wall. Now, there is nowhere for all the water to drain except for our house. The city will see to it, but they are not in a hurry. In the meantime, we have all our furniture up on concrete blocks in the house, a team arrives in about an hour from now, and the rainclouds are formed. I must admit that I have had less than Christ-like thoughts a few times the past couple of days, but really our only option is that if it starts flooding again like it did Saturday, we will have to get out quick this time. If that happens, pray that we will be able to salvage as much as possible, that we will be able to get a truck, and that we use wisdom in what order we move things. Thankfully we will have the team from Missouri here to help us move, but what a surprise for them! Thank you for your prayers and we will let you know in a few days where we are.

Monday, June 15, 2009

The work here is somewhat confusing about how exactly to get it done. We are working with Haitians, and Haitians and Dominicans don't get along all that well. They don't trust each other. We have been working with the Dominican pastors who said they wanted to reach out to the Haitians, but it appears that maybe they don't want to reach many of them. I'm thinking that there are some pastors who don't mind having one or two, but they don't want to have several. There is power in numbers. They don't like the Haitians speaking Creole to each other. We tried to show an evangelistic film in Creole one night to a bunch of Haitians, then one of the Haitian ladies asked us to move it to another area for the next night, because the Dominicans in the area were making bad comments about what was going on. We fear what we don't understand.

Now, the past few days I have begun to see more and more the comparisons of Mexican workers in the U.S. We need their cheap labor, but we don't want them taking our good jobs. We want them to speak English and its ok if a couple come to our English service, but we don't want to have to share the pews with too many.

I remember one year when our church was having a revival service back in the states. Everyone talked about how we wanted the unsaved to come to the revival. Then the pastor started talking about comfort zones and how we must be willing to give up some of our comfort in order for the throngs of lost to come and be comfortable. We might have to give up our close parking space and walk a bit farther to the front door. We would need to be willing to give up "our" seat in the congregation and be willing to be squished a bit in the pew. Suddenly the idea of people coming in wasn't as inviting, so we had to pray about God helping us be willing to adapt.

Pray that God will help Dominicans and Haitians to be willing to do some give and take, be willing to adapt, be desiring fellowship and be thoughtful of how others see things and think. Pray that Haitians will be able to see alternatives to how to do church when they are not welcome into established church pews and do not own land and can't even pay their own rent. Pray for visions, dreams, open hearts, changed lives, and for God to be glorified. God is certainly at work here - the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Thank you for holding the ropes - God is listening.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

We have two very specific and important prayer requests for this prayer letter.

1. We are having a national day of prayer and fasting for Haitian churches in the Dominican Republic with many leaders gathering to pray together in Santo Domingo on Saturday, May 9th. We will be praying as we vote on leaders to form a Haitian Baptist Convention in the Dominican Republic. We will be praying for the goal of having 40 Haitian churches by 2010, 80 Haitian churches by 2012, and 120 Haitian churches by 2012! These are big goals - way beyond what we can do. These are God sized goals. Please, join us in prayer and fasting. Encourage church members to join with us. Help us get the word out to pray for God to make a difference, for Him to call out leaders, for Him to be glorified.
2. Our son, Jeff, and his family, Heather, Cameron, and Kiley have been serving and living in Albuquerque, and recently Jeff has accepted a call for minister of children at Marcus Pointe Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. They are in the midst of finishing the school year, having garage sales, packing, and trying to figure out each step in this process. This is a quote from a recent e-mail: "The devil is working to make us feel insecure about this move but we recognize that and are praying for calm spirits and that God will continue to bless us in the sale of our home and the preparations for the move." We ask you to keep Jeff and his family lifted in prayer as they prepare for this move: that their house will sell quickly and easily, that they will feel God's hand on each part of this move, that they will be able to make God led choices in housing, finances, friendships, work for Heather, etc. We treasure your prayer support and are expecting miracles. God has started this process and surely He will see it through to the finish.

The Bible tells us that we have not because we ask not. Join us in asking, please. We know that God answers prayer. Thank you!

Sam and Delores York

Monday, April 6, 2009

In March you prayed for four pastors and a Director of Missions from Texas who would be leading a Haitian church leadership conference in Santiago from March 28 through April 3. A week before the conference we didn't know if anyone was coming, but the number in attendance has grown daily. On Tuesday we fed 128 people lunch at the conference.

Because of you, things happened. Surprising things.

We had a ladies meeting where the Haitian leaders all told how they each had similar illnesses, but had not been able to find medical help. Delores called a Dominican pastor who is also a doctor to see if he would come one day to see the ladies at the conference. “Accidentally?” she dialed a wrong number and started talking about the problem. To her total amazement, she had contacted a doctor right in her community near where the conference was being held. He said he would be glad to come do a complete physical on the women free of charge prior to the conference ending and they set up a date to do just that! The missionary and the doctor did not know each other.

That same day one of the missionaries was traveling on a bus and discussing some of the problems Haitians have with the lady who “happened?’ to be sitting next to him. She is a lawyer and has offered to assist the pastors and leaders by giving information on how the Haitians can be in the Dominican Republic legally.

We have been blessed to be able to give out 100 Haitian Creole Bibles to the pastors and leaders, leadership materials, Bible songs, and more so far. There is a hunger to know more and more. These pastors and leaders are eager to start a Haitian Baptist Association in the Dominican Republic!

God heard your prayers and he is responding in amazing ways! Thank you.