A time to celebrate!!!

It was about 3 years ago since the S.A.L.T Program, (Shared Accountability Lending and Teaching) started here in Allegre, and has had amazing success over the past few years. The program has also spread into a lot of other areas in Haiti.

Yesterday Davin Seibel, who is currently running the program, came back here to Allegre for a 3 year anniversary celebrations, the Haitian people love gatherings like that, all the people that are part of the program gave a little bit of money for Darv to buy drinks and all the food.

 They had some speeches and testimonies by different speakers who are in charge of the program and people who have signed up for it, telling others how it has helped them.

We figured there were around 400 people that showed up for the celebration. They thanked all the people that payed back on time and put confidence in Americans to support the program, also that it could spread further and further out into different areas of Haiti.

 

Some of the people attending, it was packed full. (Notice the decorations? They're were left hanging after a wedding this past Saturday)

Pastor Levy is translating for Darv.



This is Marcelle, he is the the Police Chief of this area, he also had a speech.



This is Tyson, he is a lawyer, but he is also one of the 2 Haitians in charge of the S.A.L.T Program.

You all might remember Fre. Direk, he works in the clinic, he also had a speech. He is the area judge.



Couple of the sisters preparing and barbecuing chicken



Salads being prepared.



And this "was" good!!!!



Got to eat with the "officials" and the "blahs" or "strangers",
(white men) as they call us.

"Revamping"

   This is the re-vamping project some of the Haitian workers have been doing the last couple days, where we first tried drilling a well at the mission.
    I was amazed at the speed and preciseness of their work, and especially watching them chip just the right piece and shape off a rock to wedge in between two main rocks to fill a gap.

This Calest, he is placing the bigger rocks,
 notice they even have a string to keep things decently straight.

Jackson, here he is chipping pieces of rock as fillers.

Looks a lot better now. Ready to plant a garden again.

Don Weaver brought a load of medical supplies back to the mission from
where they were stored in Laogone, where he currently lives. We unloaded
them in the depot.

Well Project

   The last well that was drilled was a success. By late Friday afternoon the casing was put in without a problem and Saturday morning, Ivan and Michael put the rock down around the casing and cleaned the well out, folded up the rig and moved it to the next site which is up where the orphanage is.
   As of now the project is at a stand still, Ivan had to return home again, and is potentially going to come back at a later date.

"Each Day"-Each Minute"

  Some pictures of everyday things that we do around the mission to keep things running smoothly. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

"Pretty tough question to answer," eh, Steve?

Shana is of to market with a friend and the children to do some shopping, and.....
"To buy a pig"

Delwyn washing the Gator

Someone doing some office work!!

Sherry just can't quite figure out why it don't start!

Scrubbing greasy, muddy clothes. Thanks a lot!

"Still Chugging"

   Just a quick update on the well digging project. Yesterday was a very good day again, the rig had no break downs at all.

   The ground has been totally different there, it's more of a sticky white stuff, and I believe it acts as a good sealer to.

   They drilled down to about 320 feet yesterday and there was signs of water there, and they wanted to go another 20 feet for sure to make sure there is some room to play with, but this morning they had gone all the way to 380 feet and they had started to bring up more rock and sandy type stuff.

   I haven't heard yet if they got the casing down or not so I will let you know as soon as I get that information.

Next try!

We got the truck all set up at the next well site. It's a few miles towards town. The place is pronounced "Gra fo", There is another mission starting there so it's next on the list.
We are hoping and praying that God would grant us a well there that will work in the end.

Community well not a success.

We have exhausted all ideas and avenues to try and make this community well to work and we weren't able to. So this morning we pulled it all down and are moving it to the next site.

"Always Within Grasp"

   Last night the well work stopped at around 9PM, tired out and in need of rest the guys came home to have supper and get some rest, I mentioned yesterday that if things work out they will be able to put the casing down.
   The first casing pipe only went in 5 feet, so they shut down, this morning they went back up there and cleaned out the hole again to about 55, 60 feet, pulled the rods and noticed that just below the surface it was collapsed and there was a big hole, about 3 feet in diameter and about 8 feet deep, so they came to the shop and took some sheet metal and rolled it into a 1 foot diameter circle and pushed it into the ground, That was supposed to keep that part from collapsing again, and it worked.
   Then they pushed all the rods down again to clean out the well and things seemed to be looking up, but when they tried to put the casing back down it wouldn't go past the 50 and 60 foot mark, so they started re drilling everything and I just heard on the radio that they are ready to start putting the casing down again.

Can you notice how close to the ground everything is???

  

Still Digging!!!

   It's been a few days since I updated this blog now, so I will try to let you know what has been happening with this second well since Saturday. It's harder to keep posting as often with the rig being of the yard and having less people so I get to help now to at times.

      Saturday morning at 6 most of the guys went up to the orphanage to hand load a load of red clay and then came back and shoveled the hole full, 60 feet deep, so they mixed some bentonite and super gel and started drilling again to try and seal of the well so the water won't seep away, but then almost right away they hit solid rock and shortly after they lost the well again, sounded like there were crevices that sucked the water up. So the only other option was to keep drilling, but with air, so Ivan started drilling more rods in and today, (Monday) they are almost at the 200 foot mark again, we are pretty sure there is water to be had if we can get all the casing in no problem, it is totally unpredictable it seems and all we can do is try every avenue and hope one of them works.

   As I write this they are finishing with the last rod and the next step is to bring all the rods up, and try and put the casing down, if it works then it will take a little while to put the rock down that surrounds the casing and also put the piping in to blow out and clean the well.

    I will try to keep you posted as much as possible and we want to thank and also keep reminding all of you to pray as we continue, especially that the community as a whole will be blessed with pure water.

 

 

Harvey, Ivan, and Glenden.

                                   

Loading water and casing and a couple more drill rods.

 

Second well

We moved the rig safely to the next well sight yesterday morning. Had pretty well everything set up by mid afternoon.
Were able to punch 3 rods down (60) feet in around 1 hour, hardly any rock, we found water though but because of dirt we couldn't seal it. Our water was just disappearing. So this morning most of the guys left at 6 to go up the mountain to hand load another load of red dirt, we are really hoping to seal everything of with it. Please pray for everything to go well and for safety.

Excited



   I have to admit to you all that I have repeatedly tried posting updates on this blog and it just hasn't worked out at all, because it seems everything went so fast that what I wanted to send was long outdated by the time it would have gotten through to you.
   Nevertheless, here we are on the 7th of March and we Praise God for our first well here in Allegre.
   On a previous post I mentioned that we hit solid rock after only 3 feet of drilling and it was pretty well like that the whole way down. Some rods took over 2 hours and some took just over an hour, but everything went OK at all times, no breakdowns, except very slow progress.
   This time it was harder to tell if we have found water because of the solid rock and also because we were drilling with water and bentonite. Around the 190 foot mark we noticed pockets where the bit drilled through quite fast, that meant we were hitting spots between rock that weren't solid and had water, reason we know there was water is that Ivan was watching the rock come out of the hole and noticed tiny pieces of roots coming out, so there must be some kind of life down there. So we kept drilling to 220 feet this morning and then we started pulling out the rods, things went very well and by noon they had all the casing in.
   Next step was to fill the outside of the casing up with rock and as I write this they are lowering the pipe that will eventually bring up the water.
   What more can say, except to thank God for his blessings that he lets loose from heaven, because we pray. He knows whats best.
   Next step is to clean the rig of a bit, fold up everything and move it about half to three quarter mile up the mountain towards the church and school building, that is going to be a well for the community here, its all ready for the rig, we need to get some tanks set up there and haul water, it won't be as user friendly in the area of having everything at our finger tips. This well used more or less 2500 gallons of water.
   Thanks for praying for the project, may we humbly ask you to continue to do so.
   I will try my best to keep you all up to date on the progress as we continue drilling.



This is the last little bit of rod going down, close to 220 feet.

Here you can see the casing being put it.

Guys are hauling gravel to pour in around the well casing.

   I would like to take this opportunity to write on behalf of all the staff serving here at the moment in Allegre, to thank you all for all the prayers that have been ascending to God the last while for this well project, we have all felt that although some days we get up and there seems to be a huge amount of work and when can we ever find time to do it all? But at the end of each day it seems we're caught up, and there is still a song in our hearts. Praise God for answering the prayers. I personally feel a constant uplifting in my soul.
   We do ask for continued support in anyway that God lays it on your heart, He has a full warehouse of everything we need, I believe He often waits for people to respond to the call to help distribute the goods. Let us rise to the challenge. Thank you all so much again. We are delighted to know that you will continue in prayer. God is good.

Second/First Well !!!

   We had a very good day with the drilling yesterday, started shortly after breakfast and by around 7 or 7:30 at shut down we had nearly 5 rods (20 Feet) drilled, it hit solid rock about 3 feet into start up and we haven't had nothing but solid rock after that, some rods have taken up to 2 hours to punch through, but Ivan is very hopeful that things are going as they should, he is taking it slightly easier on pushing and we are drilling with water as you can see below.
   This morning we had a good start up and things seem to being going as good as yesterday, we are really hoping for faster drilling as we get deeper down and even get the casing in by tonight!

The rig on this wet morning, sun is shining brightly.

 

God is "THE MOST POWERFUL"

   I am unbelievably encouraged and excited to be able to share this amazing yet sad story with you today, amazing to be able to be so close to the work of God in such a powerful way yet sad because we are surrounded everywhere with the darkness of the devil. I often wondered why someone would love and even be a slave to someone that doesn't love back, or only has evil intentions for him.
   Sunday morning dawned bright and early here in Allegre, it found me sick in bed with a reoccurring virus, but shortly after breakfast most of the staff here either drove or walked up the mountain to the church building, the church service started like usual and after some singing and preaching it was time for prayer.
   As everybody joined in prayer, suddenly a shout rang out and with that a huge commotion followed as 5 strong men were seen trying to hold down and move this lady who is tiny and petite, around 110 pounds out of the church building through the door behind the pulpit, it took quite some effort and incredible strength to accomplish the feat, all the while the praying went on and the shouts of the demon possessed kept piercing the ears of all who could hear.
   Pastor Levy then walked out to where they were holding the lady and were singing and praying with her, he asked the demon where he came from and he very clearly and audibly replied that he came from Larafi, (the area where she lives) also that he comes from the dirt.
   Pastor Levy then said, "in the Name of JESUS, leave" the demon then cried out that he will not leave till he has killed her, and then went on to say why, he said that he is the same demon that killed her sister around a year and a half ago and he will not leave till he has killed her. He also told Pastor Levy the reason he entered her, her dad is a devil worshipper and every year they are required to sacrifice to the devil, he was asked to sacrifice a cow, which he didn't own, so he asked his son-in-law to buy one and give it to him, the son-in-law said he cannot and will not do it, and now because they wouldn't supply the cow the dad told the devil to mount Palveret, (son-in-law's name) but demon came and said that Palveret is to strong, so then he entered his wife instead.
   Note: she has had a rough life the last year, her sister had TB and died, the family found out they all had TB and then she also had a miscarriage, she is physically and spiritually very low, and is very discouraged, mental problems etc. Also, this couple lives right next door to her dad. And we heard that his wife had recently been converted. Palveret is one of the gate guards here at the mission, so it all hits close to home.
   Pastor Levy then said to the Demon again, "In the Name of JESUS leave", the demon replied immediately that he will not leave, and that he's staying. That is when Pastor Levy said, "in the Name of JESUS I call fire down to burn you" (she was shaking and trembling on the ground) and immediately the demon cried out "mwa boule, mwa boule" ("I'm burning, I'm burning") "I'll leave, I'll leave", and with that he was gone, she immediately stopped trembling and calmed down all peaceful, and within a half hour she was sitting inside again, in her right mind.
   Shana noticed that this couples 4 little boys were sitting right behind them as this all happened, they weren't scared but their looks showed they were very puzzled, lift those dear souls up to Jesus, that they not be harmed.
   This morning there was a church service here just outside the mission gate, at Pastor Claudner's house, this lady was here and when prayer started she started shaking and shouting, Pastor Levy again asked the demon question, he refused to talk and so again in the Name of JESUS he was commanded to leave and with incredibly shouting and screaming he left, Praise the Lord she was peaceful again.
   They are deciding what they can do for her, the Bible talks about the demons persisting and now we need to find someone that lives in their area to go help her with everyday things, and most of all encourage her and pray with her throughout the day, so that she will become strong and a mighty woman of faith, that the devil cannot go into her again, remember the devil bows to God, and in His Name it cannot enter her again. Who will put this lady on the top of their prayer list???? I would encourage everybody to.
   Here we see a fight going on in a more real way then I have ever seen before in my life, between the Heavenly forces and the devil. I also want to add that the same devil is in America, and it seems there he has rock and roll, romance books, contemporary christian music, 99 percent good movies, cars, and lots, lots, more of those grey areas to hide in and we don't realize there is a demonic force behind it all, and it seems that the main stream "christianity" has adopted all of it as the gospel, how many people could be clothed and put in their right mind that live in mental homes all over Canada and the USA??? Let us deny ourselves and take up the Cross and follow Him, if we do choose that exciting path we might as well go the whole way.
  
  

"Try Again" !!!!!!!

We are just now getting the truck ready to start drilling at another location. This time it's on the east side of the property.
We ask that you all join in prayer as we start digging this well. We will be drilling with water and gel right of the get go.

Being Thankful "always"!!!

   Yes, its been a great week, here are some of the areas we are thankful for, we are thankful that God gave us safety and health so far this week, thankful for safety as different ones of the staff traveled, and most of all for protection and the safe arrival of the well digger.
   Thankful for the constant prayers that we sensed and still sense even now for us and the project's going on. Thankful for clear minds and hearts to be able to work and get along with each other although at times different personalities could crash.
   There are many more areas I could mention but I would like to lift up Jesus, because He is the One that makes things possible, He is the One that brings peace, love, joy, strength and much much more.
   And yes, He is the One that we can thank even though the well has been officially deemed unsucessful and cannot be sealed of and kept from collapsing.
   So although it's a bit harder to find words for this post, the above, is what is on my heart as I think of the situation, and I am confident in God's special plan, we bow our hearts to Him.
   We did find water from 140 to 200 feet, but we exhausted pretty well all ideas the last few days to try and seal of the well walls and keep it from caving in. So the truck is all cleaned up, and folded up and we will be resting and spend some time deciding where we will give it another try. Also the truck is in need of maintanance and some of the parts are coming in on Monday night, so we will spend Monday getting the truck fixed and ready for another try.
  

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  

Another Glimpse

   Here's a bit of what is happening with the well digging, yesterday we decided that it keeps caving in on us and so a bag of pig feed was bought and we thought it would work to thicken the water into a gupe like substance also a bunch of guys went up the mountain to the orphanage and hand loaded Don Weaver's dump truck with red clay, wow, talk about hard work, they brought it back down and filled the hole full of it, then we decided its to late to start up re drilling and sealing the walls of the well so we shut down.
   This morning however we noticed we couldn't get the pig feed to work well enough and so after a few phone calls we found that Water for Life had their rig sitting out near Ti-Goave and that they had lots of the real stuff to mix the water with, so a couple guys took of to get that, they made it back safely and as I'm typing this I'm looking out of the window and see a couple guys into the tank half way to their elbows mixing water and super gel (Bentonite). We are really hoping that this will help seal the well walls and stop the collapsing.
    I would just ask for continued prayer for the project and for protection especially as the "RND" (research and development)!!!!!!!! continues and we are finding out how everything works, each well will be different because of the different formation of the rock below the surface.