Pulled from the earthquake rubble by disciples from the Port-au-Prince Church of Christ in Haiti, Yvrose was baptized into Christ on Thursday despite her broken leg.
Wilner and Chantal Cornely, evangelist and women's ministry leader from the Chicago Church of Christ report on their blog about sleeping on cardboard on the ground, serving in a medical clinic and celebrating three baptisms with the church.
God sent Wilner and Chantal Cornely to plant the church in Haiti. Their son was visiting family in Port-au-Prince when the tragic earthquake struck. Fortunately they were all spared. Leading the second HOPE worldwide relief team, Wilner and Chantal are in Port-au-Prince now with their daughter Nickie, Dr. Ricardo Knight and Seth Drew also from the Chicago Church of Christ, Dr. Shawn Bowen of the New York City Church of Christ and another NYCC sister who is a nurse.
Here are some notes form the Cornelys blog during this last week:
Thursday, January 28th Update
Today was a very productive day. We started out with a devotional in the morning and had some great singing and a time of prayer. Then we headed out to Carrefour where the site the farthest away from the city is. We met with the disciples there, had a devotional while another group of us was setting up for clinic afterwards. The disciples there were very encouraged as we helped them set up their site and simultaneously provided well needed medical assistance to 25 people. Nickie's creole improved considerably as she was the nurse assistant/translator for Dr. Bowen.
Then we left for the ocean for the baptism of a woman named Yvrose who had been studying the bible since the earthquake. She was pulled out from under the rubbles where she was trapped and some of our brothers was able to pull her out. She had a broken leg but made it out alive. And her oath from under the rubbles was:" the God, if I made it out alive, I will follow you". Interestingly enough, God sent the brothers to get her out since she lived close to the church building. Her daughter had been a disciple for a while and though she had studied the bible, she never made a decision.
By the power of God, the church in Port-au-Prince had 3 baptisms. Two other men were baptized in carrefour also this week though all the disciple are leaving in the street. God does have a way of encouraging the brokenhearted!
Saturday, January 30th Update
Yesterday was our last day in Port-au-prince and it was so hard to separate ourselves from the disciples there. Christians and non christians alike were teary eyed as we were getting ready to leave. thank you notes were written to all the team members, an overwhelming sense of gratirude was felt from every one. At night, it was a matter of finding a good piece of cardboard to lay down on after a long day of work, yet we have never felt so content in our lives. Our bathroom was a hole in the ground joyfully shared by 110 people on our site and our shower was simply a piece of cardboard and a sheet, yet everyone was able wash up when they can with no grumbling. The warmth, the unity, the gratitude, the love, all of that brought a piece of heaven in the midst of total cahos. It's amazing how we can get by with very little and be happy. We are so inspired by the disciples in Haiti!
We have arrived to DR late night. We will give direction for the next teanm going down and spend some time with the church here and I will preach here tomorrow. God willing, we'll be home on Monday.
Click on these links for more information:
DToday.tv webcast interviews with the HOPE worldwide Haiti relief team.
Donate to Haitian relief through HOPE worldwide
ICOC Hot News video of HOPE worldwide first relief team