Haiti 2010 Air Mobile Ministries

Who loves Coffee?

It is no secret that Joe and I are coffee lovers, especially Joe. In fact, I once asked him if he had to choose between me and coffee which would it be? He replied, "You don't want to hear the answer."

Actually coffee is a gift from God. And for the Haitian people, now more than ever.
Did you know that Haitian coffee is some of the richest and best tasting coffee in the world? You may have heard of Jamaican Bleu (which sells for $35.00 per pound and up). Haitian coffee rivals that. Basically, same tropical mountain growing conditions.

During one of my late nights up thinking and praying for ways to help Haiti, I realized that if coffee drinkers bought our Haitian coffee, then they would be helping to save lives in Haiti without adding any more expense to their already strained budgets.

Furthermore, if we could present this idea to businesses, small cafe's and churches who already make and serve coffee on a regular basis, all the more help for Haiti.
Thus began our launch of Haitian Coffee sales.

Please visit our online store (elevationscafe.com) and try some! We highly recommend the St. Marc blend. This coffee makes it easy to get out of bed in the morning. So here is the win-win-win. The coffee tastes great. Its price is comparable to any good coffee you may buy at the grocery store. Proceeds made from the sale of the coffee support our mission projects. Money goes back into the Haitian economy to help rebuild that nation. Haitians are employed several times in the production chain. God smiles.

Thanks for visiting! Let me know how you enjoy your coffee.
God Bless,
Cindy Hurston
"serving a thirsty world"

Why I can't sleep...

During our time in Haiti, we met so many families in need; really basic needs, food, water, shelter, clothes. We walked among them, touched them, prayed with them, held them, looked into their eyes. Each person had a story, lost homes, lost family, lost opportunity.

I am struggling with how to help people understand the needs of the Haitian people. We have about 6,500 people on our hearts right now that are in trouble in Haiti and whose condition is keeping me awake at night. That is 5,500 in the tent city Canaan II, 500 in the middle of the road in Carrefour, and another 500 living in tents in the courtyard of the abandonned Michelle Bennet Hospital.

Since arriving home I find myself just sitting at the computer at home thinking, how can I get some help for these people? We are working on our websites, newsletter, blogs, facebook, twitter and youtube! These are the tools that we have available. We are planning events at the Cafe to raise money and awareness. We are collecting small plastic toys (cars and trucks for boys and dolls for girls). We can't take them in until we have at least 1,000.


We need money to help re-locate the people in the middle. Then we want to try to start some micro-businesses to help them sustain themselves. I don't want to re-invent the wheel. I know that there are people doing these kinds of things, but it is difficult to break into the mega agencies. So we are taking Haiti in bite sized pieces (6,500 people at a time is a big bite!)


Most of all, I am trying to remember to cast my cares on Jesus. His arms are much better able to carry this burden than mine. But still, my heart aches, and I lie awake at night...

The People In the Middle

We (Joe, Cindy, Shaun and Austin) got up early this morning and met two friends from the village of Neply, Ti Blanc and Guinel.Then we actually visited the families who live in the makeshift tentlike structures that they call home since January 13th. The people live in the middle of the road in Carrefour,Haiti, on a narrow median.

We were received with joy and gratitude. We were so glad to have acquired the disaster relief kits (from N.E.W Missions) and the food (from Kids against Hunger). We spoke to mothers and fathers and many children. One lady told me she and her children had not eaten in three days. They have not been getting any help at all. "Well Mama", I said, " Start cooking! You will eat well tonight."

We met the12 day old baby of a 19 year old woman. She had delivered by Cesarean and then took her newborn to the middle of the road. Another baby, that was born on that fateful earthquake day, January 12th was given he name "Catastrophe".

Surprisingly, many of the people were young twenty something adults, most with one small child. And there were a lot more families living in the middle than we had estimated. Some of the dwellings were only as wide as a single bed; no room to stand. The heat was intense. There no sources of water or proper places to go to the bathroom.

We were told that a couple of children have died already, after being struck by passing vehicles.

By the end of four hours we had distributed 360 food packs (each serves 6) and about 100 disaster kits. As we went "house to house", we prayed for each family and tried to encourage them; told them they were not forgotten, that God loves them, that we would try to find more help for them.

Sadly, we ran out of supplies 90 dwellings short. We told them that we would return to help them soon. I felt myself starting to cry. The need is so great. We are so little. I know I am not done crying...

"With you wherever you go"

I am so glad that Jesus promised to go with us wherever we go. Get it? He will never leave us. It's not up to us to get it perfectly. We never could. What a relief that the Lord goes with us; never leaves us. This is the kind of promise that gives us the strength to make trips into the hurting places of the world knowing we are not alone.

My husband Joe and I will fly into Port au Prince soon for an amazing mission of mercy to help displaced people who are either living in makeshift tent cities or (believe it or not) in the middle of the road in Carrefour Haiti. The median of the road is less than 10 feet wide. Huge trucks, cars and motorcycles trudge by all day and night causing dust storms and spewing exhaust. The people are living in structures constructed of pieces of tin roof, sheets, and tarps. If the children take 3 steps from their bed, they could be hit by traffic! It is unimaginable. We plan to walk the entire community, speak to every family and listen to their stories. Then we will distribute 2,000 meals and other gifts we have gathered for this group. We will report back when we return.

This is what Elevations International Cafe is all about. Please read more at:

http://www.elevationscafe.com/

http://www.airmobile.org/

with love from Cindy Hurston

Elevations international Cafe

"serving a thirsty world"