The shipment of relief supplies is on the way to Port-de-Paix, Haiti.  More than four tons of rice, beans, oatmeal, flour, sugar, corn meal and other food items, 75 mattresses, numerous plastic containers of medical supplies, personal care items, clothes and even toys are on a ship headed to the HOLD the children Home in LaVaud, Haiti.  These items are desperately needed as occupancy of the HOLD orphanage grows.  We started with eleven children in January; now we have twenty-three and it is expected the number will continue to grow.  As it does, we will need to make more regular shipments of supplies to provide care for the children.

Thanks to all who contributed toward this shipment, including those who contributed financially to help pay the cost of shipping all these things ot Haiti.  A special thanks to Kirah Rahill and Gary Stannis who helped coordinate the shipment in Miami. 

If you want information on the next shipment to Haiti, you can email me at richard@missiondiscovery.org.  Things to consider as you contemplate helping our friends in Haiti. 

1. Food items are easier and less costly to buy in bulk from food wholesaler in Florida.  We ask that you make monetary contributions in lieu of sending food items to Miami. 
2. Do not send clothes, shoes, toys or other items that are worn out or unusable.  The cost of shipping these items to Haiti is very expensive.  We don't want to pay to ship items that won't be used.
3. All items shipped to Haiti Transport in Miami must be properly marked.  Before shipping, please contact me to get this information.
4. Finally, you must record how many pieces you have to ship and the contents of each.  This is necessary for customs and duty charges.

Please continue to watch our website for information on the next shipment to Haiti.

Pastor Bazile called yesterday, February 16th to inform us that a school in Cap Haitian collapsed caused by the recent heavy rains.  He only knew that some children had been killed but did not know how many. He wanted us to know that the school is not those sposnred by HOLD the children.  The Htc school is in Limonade, about 3 kilometes from the center of Cap Haitian. 

Cap Haitian was undamaged by the earthquake that leveled Port-au-Prince on January 12th.  Many refugees are now relocating to the cities of Cap Haitian and Port-de-Paix in search of shelter and food.

Below is the story of the school that collapsedfrom Fox News.

A Red Cross official says a school has collapsed in northern Haiti, killing three children. Red Cross spokesman Pericles Jean-Baptiste says the children were in the school when a wall collapsed at about noon Monday in the city of Cap-Haitien, about 80 miles north of the country's quake-shattered capital.

Officials say the area saw heavy rains and a small earthquake overnight, though the cause of the collapse is not immediately clear. The quake was not recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey."

A shipment of relief supplies and provisions for the HOLD the children (Htc) Home is planned to leave Miami on February 15th.  Materials and supplies are being donated from friends and churches around the country.  These items will be shipped to a port in Miami then be forwarded to PPX.  The shipment will include mattresses and bunk bed materials for the orphanage and personal / health items for the resisdents and we will purchasing a large supply of food from a food whoelsaler in Miami.  These supplies are needed to accommodate the influx of orphans and refugees that have been displaced by the Port-au-Prince earthquake.

If anyone wants to contribute toward the cost of shipping these supplies to Port-de-Paix, please go to www.missiondiscovery.org and donate toward "Haiti Releif." Contributions can also me made by sending checks to Mission Discovery, 1509 Hunt Club Blvd; Gallatin, TN 37066.  Write Haiti Releif on the memo line of your check.

We will establish regular shipments to the HOLD the children Home.  Please notify me at richard@missiondiscovery.org if you or your church are interested in participating in these shipments.  Watch this site for indication of items needed.  Cash contributions will be used to provide food and care for the residents of the HOLD orphanage.   

Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti and for the Mission Discovery teams as they travel in and out of Haiti.

Mission Discovery

HOLD the children

Sponsor Letter, February 2010

Haiti Rocked By Earthquake

Dear Child Sponsor,

            On January 12^th Haiti was rocked by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.  The capital city of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding communities and cities to the south and south west were devastated.  I was in Port-au-Prince two weeks after the quake with Maury Buchanan, Mission Discovery’s president, Jimmy Rivera, Mission Discovery’s vice-president, and Dr. Cherelus Exanté, President of New Haitian Mission Baptist Association.  What we saw with our own eyes was hard to believe – devastation everywhere – heartache and pain in every eye.  Yet, hope in God and his love was present.

            Mission Discovery is committed to helping our brothers and sisters in Haiti recover.  We have been working in Haiti since 1999.  We have a history and a future there.  Please continue to pray for our Haitian brothers and sisters and give as you can to the recovery.

            HOLD the children Schools Haiti and HOLD the children Home were not damaged by the quake.  We are shipping extra beds and supplies from Miami to Port-de-Paix in order to help children orphaned and displaced by the quake.  Our HOLD the children school in Jamaica, the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf, has graciously given from their school budget to help the children in Haiti. “Action expresses priorities” (M.G.).

            Thank you for your continued support and prayers for your child.  It means so much – especially at this time of extreme difficulty in Haiti.  

In His HOLD,

Don Schreier

HOLD the children, Director

Mission Discovery has a small team of nine on the ground in Port-au-Prince.  Yesterday they served the needy at Pastor Timothy’s church.  A nurse is on the team so a small clinic was set-up.  There is a musician on the team so worship team led us to God’s throne room while we stood in rubble in ashes.  There are prayer warriors who covered us all in whispers from their hearts to God’s heart.

We learned more stories on this day.  Pastor Timothy’s house collapsed in the quake.  There is an old, broken down delivery truck up on blocks beside his church – it is now his home.  There are sheets hanging on a frame around the truck bed to give his family privacy.  A woman came to the church.  She told us her house collapsed and her 17 year daughter perished.  What can you say to that?  We encouraged, prayed, and gave her some of the relief funds we brought along.  All around this church there are tents and tarps pitched in the dusty streets.  People are afraid to go under another cement roof.  What they thought would cover them in safety has crush them and brought insecurity.  And the aftershocks continue to frighten us all.

At the domestic airport we check to make sure we are on the evening flight to Santo Domingo.  The airport is a zoo – chaotic – crowded – noisy – and hot.  A lone police officer stands in his sharply pressed uniform.  He has a solemn face.  After two hours of frustration, we finally secure our arrangements with Tortug Air. We find the police officer and ask him his story – it gushes out of him.  He was at the airport on duty when the quake hit.  Not one of his superiors ever checked on him or his duty station.  When he went home he learned he lost everything.  The only thing he now possessed were the clothes on his back – the sharply pressed uniform of the Haiti National Police.  He was hurt and angered that no one cared about him – that his superiors showed no concern.  We were concerned and we listened.  He told us he slept outside – somewhere near the airport, his duty post.  We placed our hands on him, prayed and he bowed his head.  We then gave him some of the relief dollars we brought with us.  He took the money and thanked us.  In my heart I thanked the donors back home.  They were helping desperate people survive another day.