To learn more about the first trip from Aug 7-14, click here: Haiti Brochure August 7-14

To learn more about the second trip from Aug 1-21, click here: Haiti Brochure August 14-21

Details about location of the event will follow.  Also look for an email if you are on the medical ministry distro list.

Chris

Jesus had his leg amputated in Haiti, and I am more in love with him than ever. Thatʼs basically what I learned on our medical mission trip after an earthquake leveled Port au Prince and killed 200,000 people.

I was sitting with our team of doctors and nurses in a school bus in sweltering heat, eating lunch. We were on a mission to the villages around our medical clinic to find people who werenʼt able to make it to us. The reason we stayed on that oven of a bus was because our translator cautioned us against eating outside in front of the starving people. We didnʼt have enough food for everyone and maybe there would be some kind of a riot or something?

Callous. I mean looking back at that moment we all were just so pathetically callous. All except the one guy who wasnʼt eating. The rest of us were joking about the taste of our military meals-ready-to-eat and having fun cooking them with that weird chemical heating pad they all have. Just imagine the scene: a bunch of rich Christian doctors and nurses on a rescue mission to the desperately poor and supposedly voodoo loving people of Haiti, chowing down and laughing it up on a hot school bus while surrounded by a crowd of hungry Haitian villagers after an earthquake had taken the last vestiges of hope from their lives.

“Whatʼs wrong, Kurt? Donʼt like MREs?” we joked. –“No.” “What are you fasting or something?” –“No.”

Then a few minutes later Kurt gently brought up the glaringly obvious irony of a team of American medical professionals choosing to eat their lunch on a hot bus in order to avoid the discomfort of filling their well-padded bellies face-to-face with a bunch of skinny Haitian kids.

Thatʼs when I was reminded I was the one who needed a savior. Later as we walked around the villages and I stewed over my massive moral failure, I thought about the Gospel story again, and how Jesus emptied himself of his divine rights and privileges and entered our world as a man, a poor man well acquainted with grief, who was betrayed and beaten and mocked and spit on and then nailed to a piece of wood in shame. And I thought about how he did all of that in order to bear the sins of our bus- load of callous American doctors, and how he did all of that for me, a guy who at some points in my life pronounced God a fake and Jesus a joke.

Richard Dawkins thinks itʼs next to insanity to believe in such an intricate and complex God-story. Of course when you approach it like Richard does, as a computer would, it has to be incomprehensible. But when you see it bursting forth like I did that day, with Jesus Christ as the fountainhead of true love in contrast to my trickle of sin-tainted altruism, itʼs like slamming into the self-authenticating Ultimate Reality. Renee Descartes thought the only thing he could know for sure was that he thought. But I think the only thing I can know for sure is that God is love and his name is Jesus Christ.

So what I mean when I say that Jesus had his leg amputated in Haiti is that when he entered our world and lived and died in it, he experienced the full brunt of the evil it has to offer. So part of the Gospel story that Christians get so excited about is that Jesus fully identifies with us. Jesus had his leg amputated in Haiti, and he was sexually abused by a pedophiliac in Texas, and he got cut into pieces by a machete in Rwanda. This is the thing that Christopher Hitchens doesnʼt understand when he sees poor people celebrating about Jesus after some tragedy destroys their already pathetic existence, and he questions why this supposedly loving Jesus didn’t stop the disaster in the first place. Itʼs not that the poor are blind to that irony, but that the almost palpable presence of Jesus in their tragedy over-rides what is so troubling to Christopher. If you really believe that the King of the Universe stooped down into your pathetic world and went through everything you are going through (and worse), it raises your confidence in his character as you become arrested by the manifestation of love in his willing identification with you. Hope dawns, if dimly. The story of Jesus is just so good and his love is so powerful it resonates with the heart in strange and beautiful ways, until the downtrodden soul can proclaim in agreement with the Roman soldier who watched the crucifixion, “Surely this is the Son of God.” Thatʼs what I meant when I said I slammed into Ultimate Reality.

But we canʼt ignore Christopherʼs criticism forever. There is a time after the sweet comfort of Jesusʼ presence gives way to contemplation, and we are bound to wonder why our loving God lets all of those horrible events happen. The answer is ugly, but necessary to hear – humanity deserves it. Pat Roberston was rightly ridiculed for claiming God was punishing the Haitians. But the problem isnʼt with Patʼs indictment of the Haitians, itʼs with his stunning blindness to his own nationʼs sin. So the real question Christopher Hitchens should be asking is how in the world a just God could tolerate humanity for even a moment. There should be earthquakes every day, everywhere.

Thatʼs basically what was going on in my head on a personal level when I said I realized that I needed a savior. The question, Mr. Hitchens, isnʼt why did this happen to the Haitians, but why didnʼt it happen to me? It should have happened, and it still might, but after being bathed in the love of Christ it doesnʼt really matter anymore since death has lost its sting, love has come, and hope for new life has dawned in the Resurrection.

That is the glorious and life re-defining truth that we like to call the good news, which if itʼs true has got to be the understatement of the last two millennia. I guess the good news is what I was getting in sync with when I was contemplating the love of Christ versus my pathetic and self-serving altruism. I was experiencing the real driver of the Universe, the true force to rule all forces: Christ-Love, which stands over against the modern claustrophobic version of reality that reduces everything to meaningless patterns and natural laws. Oh how Iʼm glad I donʼt believe in that coffin of a worldview. Weʼre not just talking about some mere intelligent designer behind this Universe, but a God-King who so recklessly loves that he is willing to die for us even though we deserve eternal punishment. That is something to make your heart sing, like how it made the Haitians sing praise to Jesus as their legs were getting cut off (yeah, I saw that). Love never fails, after all; and God is love, and his name is Jesus Christ. I saw that more truly than ever when I was in Haiti, and Iʼll joyfully and boldly continue to follow him and proclaim his excellencies.

Chris Berry

Haiti Medical Mission Update Watermark

After our initial trip to Haiti in January and with some time to process our experience, I wanted to give you all an update regarding where we are talking about heading…

Mission of Hope (http://www.missionofhopehaiti.org/content), the mission we worked with in Haiti, is looking for long term partners.  They have a very well run and Christ-centered mission, including an outpatient clinic, orphanage, school, and a planned hospital.  They are about 10 miles outside of Port au Prince, and well positioned to be a strategic location as the city rebuilds.

Hill Country Bible Church in Austin has a long term partnership with Mission of Hope.  They coordinated the first trip that we were a part of, and have continued to coordinate multiple follow on trips.

Both Mission of Hope and Hill Country Bible are good long term partners, and we believe it is likely we can continue to work with them to bring medical teams to Haiti.

For those of you who are called to go in the near term, I recommend you contact Hill Country Bible at go@hcbc.com , as they continue to plan and send medical teams for week-long trips.  There is a need for surgical and medical skills, at all levels of skill from nursing to physician.  Also there is a growing need for physical therapy and wound care skills.

In the longer term, we are looking at a program to train and disciple young Haitians to be community health workers, initially with a focus on wound care, physical therapy, and use of prosthetics; and later training them in preventative health.  There would be opportunities for many short term trips over several years, with the vision of raising up the next generation of Haitian medical leaders.

I encourage you all to be in prayer over your involvement in these efforts.  Personally my short trip to Haiti has had a profound effect on my understanding of the Gospel and increased the depth of my love for Christ.  In the process of trying to follow Christ, I realized both my shortcomings, Christ’s incredible holiness, and my need for his grace.  I went to bring Christ to Haiti, and realized he was already there in very profound and significant ways; and what a joy it is to join him in his work.

As more plans come together, we will keep you all informed.

Our medical team members came in two waves and partnered with an orthopedic surgery team from Austin that was sponsored by Hill Country Bible Church.  We worked on the ground at a ministry called “Mission of Hope”, that was located about 10 miles outside Port au Prince.  The surgeons set up an operating room at the mission and cared for a large variety of orthopedic cases from the surrounding areas.  As word got out, the General Hospital in Port au Prince also started to helicopter in patients from downtown.  To Handle the extensive post op care, our team also helped to create and staff a post-op ward.  Also we helped to triage and care for many non-surgical cases that happened on the clinic, at one point essentially running a small ICU.  Needless to say we were all stretched in our skills and had to lean heavily on the strength of God.

The Haitian people demonstrated a deep faith and enduring hope, ministering to us as much as we did to them.  At one point when two women were having leg amputations done under spinal anesthesia, they broke out in Gospel song to each other.  In the post op ward, Haitian families of the patients were diligent nurses aids, changing bed pans and feeding their loved ones while also singing and encouraging all of us.  There were also some stories of Haitian conversions to Christ-followers, and we all celebrated them greatly.

Todd Wagner and Jeff Ward also visited Haiti and will be working through how Watermark can best get involved in both relief and long term development.  In accord with Watermark’s mission to be and make disciples, the long-term strategy in Haiti will ultimately also be about offering opportunities for our members to be Christ’s disciples while we help to make disciples in Haiti.

As we work to see the specific next steps in Haiti for our medical ministry, we will keep you all informed.  Right now there is not a specific follow up trip to Haiti through Watermark, though I do expect that to come together soon.  If you would rather not wait for the next trip, please let me know, and I will help connect you to other groups that are going.

Chris Berry,

cristoforo.berry@gmail.com

In an effort to respond to the crisis in Haiti, we are trying to provide medical support staff to assist with medical ministries already on the ground over the next few months.  In order to best coordinate the ministry needs with your availability, we’d appreciate each of you who has an interest to answer the questions below so we can compile a complete list. Please reply to Tyler Whann at twhann@sbcglobal.net and answer ALL of the below questions. In addition, if there is anyone we left off this email who is a medical provider and member at Watermark, please feel free to forward this to them. Thanks for your heart to serve in this capacity!

First Name:

Last Name:

Specialty:

Primary Language:

Secondary Language(s):

Trauma Experience(Y/N):

Best Contact #:

Alternate #:

Email Address:

Date Ranges Available:

For now, the most urgent need from our partners on the ground, World Vision and World Relief, is for orthopedists and trauma surgeons; however the needs are quickly changing, and one organization just asked about the availability of trauma counselors.

One of our partners, World Relief, has developed an internet site to volunteer.  Once you sign up, you will be able to receive specific updates on requests for volunteers.   This will aid us in developing a coordinated response.  Please visit www.causeup.org to sign up.  Be sure to put “Watermark, Texas” as your local church on sign up.

We do not have a specific trip planned yet besides the possibility of sending a few of the requested surgeons, but I consider us “on call” for when we are asked by one of our partner groups on the ground to go.

I have also told World Vision that we are in this for the long haul, since the needs will be extensive for a long time.

See the following CDC website for specific info about preparation for Haiti for medical personnel, including vaccinations and what to bring.

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/news-announcements/relief-workers-haiti.aspx

The link above takes you to a radio interview of Pastor John Piper on NPR after the Tsunami of 2005.  The interviewer asks him to give the Christian understanding of the problem of evil as it relates to natural disasters.  His answer is meaty and profound, offering a solid Biblical ground to stand on in the midst of massive human tragedy like what is currently happening in Haiti.  In this interview, Piper leans heavily on Luke 13:4-5, where Jesus is speaking and says, “Those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”  This is a crucial verse to understand whenever tragedy strikes.  The real question is not why did God allow Haiti to happen, but why hasn’t it happened to the rest of the world?

No doubt many of you are eager to help.   We are awaiting a further assessment of what kinds of medical skills are most necessary, but for sure orthopedics, emergency medicine, and general practice skills are needed at all levels of care from doctor to PA/NP to nurse.  To be part of the initial team I would encourage only those with mission experience and who are ready to deal with the harsh and dangerous conditions on the ground.   However, the devastation is so massive, there will no doubt be a need for medical relief for a long time, affording many opportunities to be a part of the effort.

We will keep you updated as more is known.  Stay in prayer for the people of Haiti and for our hearts to be appropriately stirred to manifest the love of God.