MISSION Community Church

Dear Faith Based Partners;

On January 12, 2010 a massive and devastating earthquake struck Haiti approximately 10 miles southwest of Port-Au-Prince. The earthquake left behind thousands of dead, injured and homeless. Many humanitarian efforts have been underway to assist the Haitian people. Many Town of Gilbert employees and citizens have asked how they can help with relief and recovery efforts.  So, we have partnered with Project C.U.R.E.   Project C.U.R.E. (Commission on Urgent Relief & Equipment) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1987 to help meet the need for medical supplies, equipment and services around the world. As you can imagine they have been heavily involved with Haiti earthquake assistance. 

The Town of Gilbert, in an effort to assist those in need will accept specific first aid and hygiene supplies at our established collection sites from March 15-26, 2010. These donated supplies will be delivered to a distribution site and sent to Haiti by project C.U.R.E. We respectfully ask that you donate only items from the list below.  Most items can be found at your local pharmacy.  I want to thank you in advance for your participation and support of the Haiti earthquake relief efforts!

Town of Gilbert Project C.U.R.E. Donation sites;

• Gilbert Fire Department Administration, 85 E. Civic Center Drive (8am-5pm)
• Gilbert Fire Station 1, 2730 E. Williams Field Road (main entrance 8am-5pm)
• Gilbert Fire Station 2, 2855 E. Guadalupe Road (main entrance 8am-5pm)
• Gilbert Fire Station 3, 1011 E. Guadalupe Road (main entrance 8am-5pm)
• Gilbert Fire Station 4, 909 E. Ray Road (main entrance 8am-5pm)
• Gilbert Fire Station 5, 3630 E. Germann Road (main entrance 8am-5pm)
• Gilbert Fire Station 6, 3595 E. Warner Road (main entrance 8am-5pm)
• Gilbert Fire Station 7, 215 N. Cooper Road (main entrance 8am-5pm)
• Gilbert Fire Station 8, 1095 E. Germann Road (main entrance 8am-5pm)
• Gilbert Fire Station 11, 2860 E. Riggs Road (main entrance 8am-5pm)
• Town of Gilbert Public Works lobby, 525 N. Lindsay (8am -5pm)
• Town of Gilbert Municipal Center Building lobby, 50 E. Civic Center Drive (8am- 5pm)
• Gilbert Police Department precinct lobby, South Area Service Center, NW Corner Greenfield & Queen Creek (8am-5pm)
• Town of Gilbert Development Services lobby, 90 E. Civic Center Drive (8am-5pm)     

First Aid and hygiene supplies requested

• *Hand sanitizer                                                                      
• *Masks                                                                               
• *Sterile gloves
• *Bandages                                                          
• *Wraps/rolled bandages                                                
• *Gauze and dressings                                                      
• *Medical tape
• *Splints
• *Crutches (can be used)
• *Baby formula
• *Infant rehydration formula (e.g. Pedialyte) they must have expiration date date of July 2010 or later
• *Adhesive bandages (e.g. Band-Aids)
• *Antibiotic ointment (e.g. Neosporin, bacitracin)
• *Pain medications (e.g. Tylenol, aspirin, Advil) they must have expiration date of July 2010 or later  

So far, God has done some truly amazing things on our trip that will have an immediate impact on the ministry of Somebody Cares to Chikudzulire and other villages.  One of the trip’s purposes was to assist the staff from an IT standpoint.

To date, 4 of the 8 Somebody Cares computers have had work done on them.  One desktop computer was completely replaced with one ¼ the size and at least twice the power.  Another desktop got additional RAM and hard drive space added.  A third got additional RAM, and a fourth got additional hard drive space.  A wireless repeater was added doubling the coverage and increasing the strength of the existing signal.  Two of the four had wireless network cards added as well.

Looking ahead, the four laptop batteries are in need of replacing.  One of the batteries is in a piece of luggage that has not yet arrived, so be praying for that to come in.  A power backup system may be installed since power outages are frequent in Malawi.  Lastly, two more computers may be upgraded with RAM or hard drive capacity.

Why is this so important?  Having a number of church partnerships and village adoptions, Somebody Cares needs systems that can keep up with demand so their staff can be freed up to go into the villages and minister to the sick, dying, and suffering families. The laptop batteries would enable the Home Based Care workers supported by the church to partner with the Somebody Cares staff by capturing stories real-time rather than relying on handwritten notes to later be typed and shared with churches.

We are coming to the end of the rainy season yet by the grace of God have not been impacted in getting out to various villages.  Since it had just rained significantly upon arrival, the first couple days were spent at the Somebody Cares office or in local villages.

On Wednesday, we made it out to Chikudzulire.  All of the structures (the boreholes, feeding center, pit latrines, community center, and the playground) are in great shape after the rainy season.  We met with Mr. Makina, the Zone Leader who cycled over 25 miles to the Somebody Cares office back in 2007 leading to our partnership and village adoption.  The hope is to reveal a surprise at Mission’s justice weekend of our grand opening if the rain holds off – stay tuned!

One of our sister churches, Praxis, is heading to Homes of Hope, Fiji this Thursday March 11th. Besides building the counseling center on the foundation our team laid in February, one of their team members will be able to travel with an outreach team from the Homes. Below is the itinerary for that trip. Try to imagine a very rural, tropical environment as you read...

• We can leave Suva (Nausori) on March 14 and travel to Labasa, in Vanua Levu.
• We will transport for 2 hours to Lagalaga jetty to catch a small boat.
• Two hour boat ride to Kavewa Island to pick up a young pregnant girl that is waiting to come home with us.
• Another two hour boat ride to Druadrua Island where we have heard of much sexual exploitation amongst the young girls.
• We will then boat back again to Vanua Levu to visit two villages in the interior, Qelewara and Nubu. The purpose of visiting these villages is to see first-hand that sexual exploitation is so much broader than sex trafficking. Two of our girls presently with us come from these two villages.
• We will plan to leave Vanua Levu to fly back to Suva (Nausori) on Friday, March 19.

Please pray for the whole team from Praxis; their leader, Rick Prigge, and the lucky girl who will be going on this amazing outreach/rescue mission!