Friday, September 05, 2008

what it feels like to have a hurricane in the poorest country in this hemisphere

we have to act now





HANDS & FEET PROJECT IN HAITI DEVASTATED!

Hurricane Fay, Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna Wreak Devastation As Josephina Threatens Haiti Again


Hands & Feet Project’s depot, garage, supply house and apartment are pictured, destroyed by hurricane Gustav. In the middle of the photo is the roof of a large truck buried by the tons of rock that poured down from the mountainside.

(Nashville, Tenn.) Sept. 5, 2008 – The Hands & Feet Project, a children’s village in Jacmel, Haiti that was started by GRAMMY-winning band Audio Adrenaline in 2004, has suffered severe damage from the latest hurricane to hit the area. To make a donation online to help Hands & Feet Project, go to www.handsandfeetproject.org. Contributions via mail can be sent to Gustav Relief, c/o Hands & Feet Project, PO Box 682105, Franklin, TN 37068.

Following the destruction from hurricane Fay, hurricane Gustav buried the village in several feet of rock that came tumbling down the mountain during the storm. Although the overwhelming process of restoration has begun, tropical storm Hanna that hit this week again devastated the village and relegated the children and staff, 48 people in all, to live in one second-story room.

“We are in need of much prayer and financial support right now,” says Drex Stuart, a lifetime missionary who has previously served in Haiti and heads up the Hands & Feet Project with his wife, Jo. “Thank God all of our children and staff are safe. However, we have had major damage to our property, even worse than when [tropical storm] Noel hit last November.

“With our property completely buried in approximately four to five feet of mountain rock, we are doing the best we can to begin the clean-up process,” continues Drex. “Much of our supplies, food, clothes, diapers, formula, etc., have been destroyed and two of the houses where the kids lived were flooded with four feet of water and are currently unlivable. All 36 kids are living in the main house with the nannies.”

After Gustav hit Haiti, Audio Adrenaline frontman Mark Stuart and his father, Drex, who happened to be on a break in the US, flew into Haiti with a civil engineer to assess the damage and come up with a plan to protect the village. Following the assessment, the cleanup process began, but after four days of clearing rock and piling them up to make an earthen dam that would eventually be a 12-15 foot high concrete retaining wall with re-enforced steel for protection, tropical storm Hanna came through this week and washed all the progress away.

“Our property is about 50 feet wide, but we are also going to help our neighbors finish their walls, because otherwise ours will be ineffective,” says Joel Griffith, Hands & Feet project managing director based in Franklin, TN. “In total we will build a 200-foot retaining wall covering a Christian school that has 850 kids, the homes and property of five neighboring families representing 50 people and our property housing 36 orphans and 12 staff.”

“We had major damage to two of our children's houses and we lost most of our property walls, the foundation for our new cafeteria/kitchen. With the retaining wall and purchasing a backhoe to keep it up, we are looking at an estimated immediate need of $100,000- $150,000,” continues Griffith. “Although at this time we cannot handle supplies because of shipping costs, we are asking for monetary donations through our website, www.handsandfeetproject.org.”

As hurricanes Ike and Josephina threaten Haiti yet again, Mark Stuart also urges people to help: “Pray for Haiti, it’s a country that is often overlooked by the news channels when hurricanes happen because there are really no tourist areas. No reason to really pay attention, but it’s a place that really could use our help.”

For more information about this story, including photos, video storm footage, a video plea from Mark Stuart and more, go to www.handsandfeetproject.org.

The Hands & Feet Project, a 501c3 non-profit organization, is a children’s village in Haiti started in 2004 by Audio Adrenaline. It welcomed its first child in 2005 and currently has 36 children ranging in age from 2 months to 9 years old. The goal of the Hands & Feet Project is to provide a caring and loving environment for orphaned children in Haiti. The need is great and Hands & Feet Project is committed to saving the lives of orphaned children, giving them life more abundantly with a home, food, education, love and acceptance.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

im reading a great book

the most amazing book i have read in a long time is called "the present future" by reggie mcneal. go read this book. i have so much to say about this book but i am not sure where to start. you can find it on amazon or your local lifeway bookstore.
if you want to be moved then read this book. if you are tired of sitting in church and being a club member then read this book. if you are a church leader and struggling with church then read this book. if you are asking the question of why we are doing church the way we do then read this book. if you are more interested in transforming your community than being a club member then read this book.

"the present future", the best book i have read in a long time

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

great show in tennessee

we did a show tonight in smyrna tn. it was a great show. there was a big crowd tonight. there were even some evacuees from new orleans who were bussed over to watch the show. we saw God move and many were saved. i love seeing what i saw tonight.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

PLEASE PRAY FOR HAITI

i just got a message from mark stuart and he is desperate for prayer right now. hurricane gustav wrecked the place really bad. the orphanage was almost completely ruined by a huge rock slide. they have about 8 feet of rock covering the place right now. on top of that hurricane hanna is now beating down on haiti. mark said they need prayers so that the rain will stop. they need relief or there will be nothing left. you can see the the pictures here

or go to www.myspace.com/handsandfeetproject


happy superhero day

august doesnt have a holiday so we invented one. its called, make your own superhero day. we decided to invent a superhero and dress the part and go out for lunch. after lunch we loaded up on the flatbed trailer and had a parade thru downtown franklin. people thought we were crazy and they laughed and smiled as we threw candy out to everyone.

i loved some of these costumes. jacob and stephanie were the best. they were cupcake man and cupcake woman. they spent some serious time making these costumes. their superpower was something about making cupcakes appear and if you eat the cupcake it gave you the power to be invisible or whatever.

i won the costume contest for the boys and lindsey little won the girls. i was chocolate rain-man. i was kind of a mix of chocolate rain singer and rainman, chocolate rain-man. i could heal your problems thru the power of chocolate. obviously, right?

enjoy the pictures. tomorrow we will have more video for ya

superheroes at a mexican restaurant

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Saturday, August 30, 2008

gustav hits haiti

my friends have an orphanage in haiti. it is called "hands and feet" and it is an amazing mission. i got word today that they were hit pretty hard by the hurricane. they had a big rock slide that hit the buildings and knocked down walls and buried much of the place. my friend mark is headed down there tomorrow to try and help dig them out. they said that God protected them. if it had been at night many would have been killed. pray for haiti

storm coming

its been 3 years since katrina and rita hit the coasts of louisiana. there has been much talk about those 2 storms that have forever changed parts of the south. believe it or not they are still cleaning up many areas. now there seems to be a storm coming that has louisiana in its sight. i just saw on the news that evacuations are in full swing. they will begin contraflow on all of the interstates at 6am sunday morning. if anyone plans to be traveling on the interstate in this area you should know that there will not be a southbound lane or east bound lane. all traffic will be going the opposite direction. most of my family said that, after staying thru the last hurricane, they would leave this time. i havent been able to get my parents on the phone because the lines are congested but i am sure that they are packing up and getting the heck outta there before they get stuck. this hurricane is probably not going to be the big one but it is still something to watch out for.
to all my friends and family in south louisiana, if you havent heard the news, a storm is coming. its time to play follow the leader. get in the car and follow the traffic. fill up the gas tanks and take a book. this is gonna be fun.

and uh, call me when its over. i wanna hear about all of the fun times

Thursday, August 28, 2008

my wife is a keeper

i have the best wife in the world. not only has she been showing us some great pictures this week on her blog but she bakes great cookies. today she made a huge bowl of cookies(woulda been bigger but i ate half of the dough). after the cookies were made she took them to a place in nashville that feeds homeless people. she hung out with homeless people and prayed for them and served them for about 2 hours. her friend lindsey little went with her and they had a blast. auny has a special way of doing ministry.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

esta noche es muy bonita

today we went to lunch for a meeting and ate at a great mexican place in franklin called "sol". its a great little place. i had ceviche with avocado. after lunch i had another meeting with my manager. we ended it right about 6pm and it was time for dinner. for dinner we met some people at another mexican place for some fajitas.

i think i am becoming a mexican. i think i would be a good mexican. i dont mind hard work. i am nice. i love to eat fajitas. i love spanish. i know how to play soccer. yep i think i would be a great mexican.
maybe i will try and become a mexican. i tried to become the worlds tallest midget one time but someone else beat me to it. so maybe i will just eat my way to mexicanism

sky high fees

we have to fly alot obviously. depending on where we go it is still cheaper to fly than it is to drive. the problem is this. the fees are so high right now for everything. i know that in a year or two we will not even think about it. we will just pay the fees and reminisce about the good old days. the last 4 flights we have had to change the flight for one reason or another. we have had to pay a hefty fee each time. sometimes our plans get changed and we change the flight time but it is never easy. today auny had to change the flight and american airlines charged us a fee of $170 per ticket just to make a change. thats $340 to adjust the plane ticket. somebody please explain how this is legal.
i have spent so much money lately on stupid fees. when i check in i pay $50 each way for our luggage. when i get to security i throw away my bottle of water. when i get thru security i buy more bottled water. when i land i pick up my now broken luggage and contents and go to my destination. it has become regular everyday life.

i guess it beats walking.