Ironman
August 24, 2010: Henry Williams completed the Hope Force Reservist Training in Nashville and shortly afterward was called upon to help with the flood response in Central Tennessee. Having become a regular fixture around the office, Hope Force recognized his energy and organizational abilities and recruited him for the Haiti Shelter Team in August. Henry turned out to be a veritable Ironman, outpacing several junior teammates and making a grand impression on those with whom he worked...
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Joseph - Hard Work and a Common Goal
August 17, 2010: Joseph Jean Charles sits amongst the rubble of what once had been his family home. He is the Community Leader of Sous Savanne, a village of 346 families in the foothills of Haiti’s La Selle mountain range. All four block walls of his house crumbled to the ground in January’s earthquake. “My wife and I were on the way to an appointment with our four children when the earthquake hit. I know that we could have died if we had not been away because we all would have been in the house...”
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A New Home for Stephanie
August 13, 2010: “The earthquake completely destroyed our house,” remembers Stephanie, a young lady from Sous Savanne, as she stands near the ruins of what had once been her family’s house. “When the earthquake hit, we were scared. My heart was beating so loud. All of us ran out of the house as quickly as we could. Thankfully, nobody was hurt.” Now the cement floor is the only thing that remains of the home. The broken cinder blocks and pieces of mortar are strewn around the foundation...
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Going to War
July 27, 2010: This summer, Pastor Ron Neff brought a missions team from Grace Covenant Church in PA to bolster the efforts of Hope Force in West Virginia. The city of War – population 657 – is the location of the initiative underway to help bring hope and a better future to the “hidden poor” here in our own nation. "Going to War was an interesting experience. McDowell County is a beautiful place, rich in scenery, nestled deep in the Appalachian Mountains. The people are warm and friendly, hard-working, and good-hearted, but the need is great..."
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So Little... So Much
June 30, 2010: Hope Force sent medical personnel to Haiti shortly after January’s devastating earthquake and continues to place Reservists with other aid agencies reaching out to Haiti’s people. Lilian Linder spent time in Port-au-Prince recently contributing her skills as a surgeon and reflects on her time there in an interview with Arianna Linder...
Arianna N. Linder |
Debbie Jamison - Home Safe!
June 2, 2010: I started out in Athens, Georgia on Saturday May 1 with no idea what a horrific day it would turn out to be. I was leaving my daughter, Mary at a dance competition in Georgia and planned to come home to see my other daughter Julia, in a dance recital at Brentwood Academy near Nashville. About 30 minutes from my destination, however, the weather became treacherous with rain and tornado warnings. Little did I know that it was the start of what would become two days of continuous rain and the worst flooding central Tennessee had seen in centuries...
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The Hands and Feet of Christ
May 25, 2010: Taylor Morris never imagined he would see his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee overcome with flood waters following the torrential rains of May 2010. “Our office was closed on Monday during the critical flood stages in the area but then our staff all gathered at the office on Tuesday,” he recalls. “I explained that I had recently completed disaster response training with Hope Force and they were looking for volunteers to help. Next thing I knew, I was heading out for some in-service training from Hope Force, whose staff were already hard at work...”
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Living in the Middle of Disaster
May 14, 2010: On a cool Friday night in Nashville, Hope Force staffers Chuck and Sue Duby enjoyed a barbeque on the back of their lovely home. By Sunday night, their rain gauge topped out at over 15 inches following a 36-hour downpour! “Since then, life has taken on a new perspective,” they said. “We're actually living in the middle of one of those disasters that we've trained for all these months and years...”
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Floods Damage Christian School and Church
May 8, 2010: The Christian school and church attended by one of our Hope Force Reservists, Melissa Thomas sustained major damage during the Nashville floods. This dramatic footage was taken at the height of the storm showing one of the main buildings from the school being swept away down the highway. “My husband was near the school helping stranded motorists get off the road as it was flooding and did not see the building float away,” Melissa explains. “I saw the drama unfolding on television and called him...
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Record-Breaking Floods Ravage Tennessee
May 2, 2010: The call came at 11:30 Saturday night from the Salvation Army officer: “Can you send staff to the Nashville Emergency Operations Center first thing tomorrow morning?” Chuck and Sue Duby, long-term Hope Force staff members, had seen nearly a dozen inches of rain at their house in just one day as the region’s worst storms in a generation wreaked havoc, forcing rivers to flood stage and beyond. They were ready and waiting to assist...
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Remarkable Resilience
April 28, 2010: John Welcome knows the meaning of service. Germany was his home while serving in the US armed forces. He currently serves as Chaplain with his local fire department and volunteers with Hospice. He has participated in countless Hope Force disaster response operations across the country and most recently in Haiti. “I’ve seen carnage before,” John says, reflecting on his recent trip to Haiti. “As a volunteer fireman we see all sorts of automobile wrecks, fires, emergency situations. But Haiti was extreme – the destruction was on a scale I had never seen before...”
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Just One...
April 22, 2010: Haiti’s earthquake destroyed more than 50 hospitals and clinics in a nation already plagued by persistent poverty.The University of Miami now operates a world-class facility 200 feet from the Port-au-Prince airport, delivering life-saving care and medical treatment for Haiti’s suffering people. The “tent city” has air-conditioned wards and O.R.s, wooden sidewalks to keep the inhabitants out of the mud, and medical staff from all over the world. “We were literally right at the airport with helicopters and planes coming and going constantly,” recalls Glenda Alexander, a Hope Force Reservist from Atlanta, Georgia...
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"The Lord bless you. The Lord keep you."
April 17, 2010: On Easter Sunday, Hope Force sent three chaplains to Haiti to serve at one of the country’s busiest medical clinics – the University of Miami Hospital in Port-au-Prince. One week after the devastating January 12 earthquake, UM established an invaluable urgent care center where thousands of patients have found refuge, help and life-saving care. Located directly adjacent to the capital city’s airport, the field hospital serves as a beacon of hope for the Haitian people...
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Nashville Training, April 8-10, 2010
"I have had the wonderful privilege of working as a public health nurse for 24 years. I have been blessed beyond measure by the Lord. I have been praying for some time now for God to show me what He wants me to do, as I look at retirement in the near future..."
"The Hope Force training was amazing. Little did I know that I would be so changed as a result. The Mintons and their staff are genuine people. They live what they preach – you could feel it..."
"We’re from Huntington Beach, California and we flew all the way to Nashville to attend Hope Force training. It was worth every penny! We love Hope Force..."
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Miracles in our Midst
March 2, 2010: The stories we continue to receive from Haiti serve to build up our faith tremendously. We are so proud of each one who has served already or is currently serving. We are also grateful for the fact that God has allowed us to partner with such amazing people. Erin McRorie is an Emergency Room Nurse who joined our medical team in the Leogane region of Haiti. Her story shows the amazing possibilities that exist when a group of talented, committed people come together in a cohesive team, intent on one purpose and vision. “God had His hand on our trip from the very start.” Erin recalls. “We were truly blessed. As soon as anyone verbalized a need or even prayed about it, that need was fulfilled. I saw this happen over and over again...
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Each One Needs a Healing Touch
February 27, 2010: Arvis Wiggins is a Hope Force Reservist and joined the team as a translator. His previous work as a missionary to Haiti made him an invaluable asset to the team with his knowledge of the country, its people, customs and culture. “I was touched and blessed by talking to the Haitian people,” he says. “Even though each of them had lost so much, they were thankful to God that He had spared their lives. I sensed more openness and tenderness toward God than I had ever sensed during the twelve years I had previously spent in Haiti...
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...Then the Ground Shook
February 25, 2010: Carla Ives is a seasoned Hope Force Reservist and found herself in Haiti recently doing what she does best – reaching out to the littlest members of trauma-affected communities. When Hope Force was asked to send in counselors to the Houston Astrodome to meet the needs of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina, Carla was there in full force bringing a message of hope and peace to children and adults alike. She holds the distinction of being our first non-medical Reservist deployed to Haiti and she is already making a dramatic impact...
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Mom and Babies - Alive and Well!
February 8, 2010: One of our first medical teams to reach Haiti achieved amazing results through their mobile field clinic in Leogane – a region near the capital which experienced an 80-90% destruction rate from the earthquake. This has given us a strong footing to continue our vital outreach in the months ahead. Kirk Dominic from California co-lead the team of 19 medical professionals. He is a military veteran and Deputy Fire Chief of Costa Mesa’s Fire Department, yet he felt that he had never been part of such an effective team as the Leogane field clinic ...
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Amazing Performance in Leogane
February 8, 2010: The Hope Force medical field team of 19 in Leogane treated more than 2,500 patients in our makeshift hospital during their ten days in the region. The compound consisted of a grouping of tents for accommodation and a separate group for treating patients and recovery. Team co-leader, Christine Thompson (standing on left), reports, “Many of these patients would have died had we not treated them. The team performed surgery, wound care, orthopedic interventions and splinting. In addition to obstetrics, infant care and pediatrics, we also treated several emergencies that were brought in by stretcher. Thanks to the skillful hands of Dr. Garrett Sutter, who is an E.R. doc, we saved many ...
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Orthopedic Supplies - Profound Impact
February 4, 2010: Hope Force staff member, Craig Snow, went to the Adventist Hospital near Port-au-Prince to further our medical assessment efforts. He saw first-hand the profound impact that our orthopedic supplies are having “on the ground”. Smith & Nephew, the country’s largest supplier of orthopedic implants and instruments, is responsible for donating $2 million of orthopaedic supplies to HFI, and the donation has already been distributed. Altogether, HFI has procured $3 million of medical supplies -- much of which has already been delivered in country ...
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Reservists Love HFI Training
Gina Huey attended the State College, PA training from June 22nd through 26th of 2006. Within just a few days of her training, there was a need in Wilkes Barre, PA, due to floods, and the call went out to Hope Force reservists in Lewistown and Mount Union. We asked Gina to sum up her training experience and what it was like to immediately be deployed. Here is what she had to say ...
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| HFI Reservist Corner |
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