HAITI! It is still a country in great need of help - and still a very big weight in our hearts. Tom and Kim Woulfe are preparing as full-time staff missionaries with Helping Hands and we need your prayers during this preparation process. They are getting their home ready for the market and we trust that God will bring the right family to buy the house.
We are also seeking God's will for the most effective way to help the people of Haiti - of course they need housing, jobs, food, clean water, sanitation - but most of all, they need their hearts changed through faith in Christ. Our desire is to "teach them to fish" instead of giving them fish. In the past, we have helped with medical care, children's ministries, shelters, food, clothing and other supplies. However, our vision is still to help them to reach out and minister to their own people.
Join with us in prayer for the people of Haiti and Godly wisdom in our ministry to them.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Monday, August 16, 2010
Dr. K
"Dr. K” had recently returned from Uganda, Africa where he and his wife, Brenda, were serving with Helping Hands Foreign Missions.
Dr. K was born June 6, 1952 in Wyandotte, Michigan to Harold and Maryann Kowalske. Life Chiropractic College brought him to Georgia. After graduation, he moved to Gainesville where he set up his practice
of over twenty-five years. In 2002, Dr. K and Brenda were called into full time ministry and formed Helping Hands Foreign Missions. Together with Helping Hands, they focused attention in Bolivia and Uganda where the lives of countless people have been changed by their medical and spiritual ministry.
Master of Martial Arts, Dr. K studied and taught Tang Soo Do for over thirty years. He also had a passion for building and construction, a talent he utilized in the designing and building of communities here in Georgia as well as Bolivia and Uganda. In the past twelve years his greatest desire was to reach the hearts of people for Jesus Christ.
He is survived by his wife, Brenda; his children Lisa, Jennifer, Richard, Ryan, Zachary, Russell, Lee, Freddy and Allison; his grandchildren Billy, Joshua, Benjamin, Hannah, Andrew, Ezekiel, Trey, Savannah, Norah, Hazel, Lucas and Micaela.
Funeral Services will be held at Riverbend Baptist Church, 1715 Cleveland Highway, Gainesville, GA 30501 on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to Helping Hands Foreign Missions for the Village of Eden project.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Dominik worked at the "give away" station - people received milk, clothes, toothpaste, soap, etc
Sent from my HTC smartphone
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
USED BY GOD
Donna, Haiti team member:
“For the past few years, I have been in a verbally abusive relationship. Often I would ask God why He would allow me to be treated that way. Recently He revealed to me that I should use my experience to minister to others that are in abusive relationships. Since that time, I have been able to minister to two women who are currently in abusive family relationships. Today in Haiti I was able to minister to a third woman who was in a physically abusive relationship. This lady was in emotional pain and was using alcohol and marijuana to soothe that pain. After sharing the gospel with her and after a lengthy discussion, I was able to pray with this woman, who had claimed to be a “Christian Buddhist.” She believed and accepted Christ as her Savior.”
Thank God for people like Donna who allow themselves to be used by God.
“For the past few years, I have been in a verbally abusive relationship. Often I would ask God why He would allow me to be treated that way. Recently He revealed to me that I should use my experience to minister to others that are in abusive relationships. Since that time, I have been able to minister to two women who are currently in abusive family relationships. Today in Haiti I was able to minister to a third woman who was in a physically abusive relationship. This lady was in emotional pain and was using alcohol and marijuana to soothe that pain. After sharing the gospel with her and after a lengthy discussion, I was able to pray with this woman, who had claimed to be a “Christian Buddhist.” She believed and accepted Christ as her Savior.”
Thank God for people like Donna who allow themselves to be used by God.
Monday, June 14, 2010
HECTIC DAY
First day in clinic is always crazy, as we figure out where to set up each station – check-in; doctors; pharmacy; give-aways. Today was no exception. We held clinic in an orphanage overseen by Pastor Jean Claude, and the church that he pastors is located in the front of the orphanage building. All the structures were damaged, though not severely, during the earthquake, and only recently have they gotten assurance that the building was safe to occupy. So now they are moving some of the orphans back from the mountain village where they had been taken after the earthquake. But there is still lots of repairs and construction to do.
Today, part of the team worked outside in about 95 degree weather- but they didn't complain. Just drank gallons of water and kept working. They're digging footings to put in a new part of the church/orphanage. Part of the team worked in medical clinic; part of the team worked with about 100 children at the orphanage.
We ask for prayer for tomorrow's ministry. Today it was difficult, especially in medical clinic, as we struggled with translation. The young men and women who were working as translators have wonderful hearts and want to help, but their English is not the best and of course, we speak no French or Creole. But we know that God understands all languages. So we are praying that tomorrow, the language barrier will dissolve and we will have an easier time with translation.
We saw 70 medical patients, and had 2 salvations. So we are thankful to God for saving those souls and as Jo Phillips said today, "we will be together with them in heaven."
Thank you all for being a part of the work of rebuilding lives and giving eternal hope in Haiti. Today was so busy, we haven't had time to post photos, but tomorrow!
Drs. Richard and Brenda
Sunday, June 13, 2010
SERVING AGAIN IN HAITI
Hello again from Haiti – it is still as hot as ever here, maybe hotter. We get tired just sitting around…not that we have been sitting around though :) We have a team of 17 here, how awesome to see God's children from around the world – Germany and U.S. and Haiti, worshiping and serving together. Part of us (the ones from Georgia) got delayed in Miami yesterday, when our plane had mechanical problems (hey, we were just fine with getting off a plane that was having mechanical problems.) It did put us a day behind getting to Haiti, but it's all in the grand plan of God. We're here now, and have a busy week planned.
Today was church service, even though the Georgia team arrived at the end of the service,as our plane didn't land until 10:30 a.m. but still a wonderful time praising God. We spent the afternoon getting supplies ready for tomorrow – which will be medical clinic, children's ministry, and construction. We're helping add a room on to Pastor Jean Claude's church building, which also has several rooms which serve as dormitories for orphans.
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO BE HERE SERVING GOD AND THE PEOPLE OF HAITI
Posted by Drs. Richard and Brenda
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Hey everyone,
Sorry that we didn’t have a daily blog from Haiti – this time, we had problems with internet and we didn’t have our “resident tech” to help us out. But that didn’t stop our team, whom we affectionately dubbed “The Magnificent Seven” from doing an awesome job.
What a great blessing to see Micaela (Kayla as she has been dubbed!) – the little girl whom we met back in January during our first trip. Due to a chronic foot and leg infection that stemmed from her club foot, she required a below-knee amputation, which was performed at the temporary hospital set up in Port-au-Prince by the University of Miami hospital. She did great and we were surprised at how well the incision had healed. We saw her several times in clinic, changed her dressing, and just hung out with her.
I (Dr. Brenda) visited her “home” which made me cry. But she doesn’t seem to notice her terrible surroundings – instead, she always shines that beautiful smile. It is only by God’s grace that her leg has healed so beautifully, considering the dirty conditions in which she lives.
We had thought she might have the opportunity to have a prosthesis fitted at the hospital in Port-au-Prince, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. We are continuing to work to bring her to the states, where we hope to have her fitted with a prosthesis, and have her undergo rehabilitation. She also needs corrective surgery on her other foot, so hopefully that will also happen. Please join us in prayer for this young girl. God has a plan!
The medical team saw over 400 patients of all descriptions. We gave out diapers, shoes, clothes, food (including candy :)), powdered milk, and other items at the tent village. Thank you to all of our supporters who have given so generously to help the people of Haiti. You are making a difference! Remember we will be taking other teams to Haiti this year, the next trip is June 12-19, so let us know if you are interested in serving with us. Email for more information: aaron.reignier@helpinghandsmissions.org.
Thank you for being a part of God's work in Haiti!
Dr. Brenda
Sorry that we didn’t have a daily blog from Haiti – this time, we had problems with internet and we didn’t have our “resident tech” to help us out. But that didn’t stop our team, whom we affectionately dubbed “The Magnificent Seven” from doing an awesome job.
What a great blessing to see Micaela (Kayla as she has been dubbed!) – the little girl whom we met back in January during our first trip. Due to a chronic foot and leg infection that stemmed from her club foot, she required a below-knee amputation, which was performed at the temporary hospital set up in Port-au-Prince by the University of Miami hospital. She did great and we were surprised at how well the incision had healed. We saw her several times in clinic, changed her dressing, and just hung out with her.
I (Dr. Brenda) visited her “home” which made me cry. But she doesn’t seem to notice her terrible surroundings – instead, she always shines that beautiful smile. It is only by God’s grace that her leg has healed so beautifully, considering the dirty conditions in which she lives.
We had thought she might have the opportunity to have a prosthesis fitted at the hospital in Port-au-Prince, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. We are continuing to work to bring her to the states, where we hope to have her fitted with a prosthesis, and have her undergo rehabilitation. She also needs corrective surgery on her other foot, so hopefully that will also happen. Please join us in prayer for this young girl. God has a plan!
The medical team saw over 400 patients of all descriptions. We gave out diapers, shoes, clothes, food (including candy :)), powdered milk, and other items at the tent village. Thank you to all of our supporters who have given so generously to help the people of Haiti. You are making a difference! Remember we will be taking other teams to Haiti this year, the next trip is June 12-19, so let us know if you are interested in serving with us. Email for more information: aaron.reignier@helpinghandsmissions.org.
Thank you for being a part of God's work in Haiti!
Dr. Brenda
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Hello and thanks to all of our faithful followers:
We have a team of 9 people leaving this Sunday (have to be at the Atlanta airport at 5:30 a.m.!) for Port-au-Prince. It will be interesting to see the changes in the past few weeks-to see if there has been any clean-up and rebuilding yet. We expect the medical will be much less acute, but still lots of needs. We will be doing medical work in the tent village near the mission house. We are also planning to start doing clean-up at one of the destroyed homes of a church member-we hope to help them rebuild their home. We will also be checking on Micaela, the 14-year old girl we met in a tent village, with a badly infected foot and leg. She subsequently had her leg amputated at the hospital which had been set up at the Port-au-Prince airport by the University of Miami. She did great post-operatively and we recently had more great news – the hospital will be getting prosthetics and Micaela will be one of the recipients! We had originally planned to try and get her to the U.S. to be fitted with a prosthesis and undergo rehabilitation. Currently, as far as we know, she is still at the hospital; we will be checking on her during this trip. You can read more about her story at the following site:
http://projectmedishare.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/young-girl-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-at-project-medishares-field-hospital/
Please pray for our team:
Dr. K
Brenda
Mark S.
Steve
Lee
Freddy
Adam
Mark E.
Todd
THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF THE HAITI RECOVERY THROUGH THE POWER OF CHRIST!
Dr. K and Brenda
We have a team of 9 people leaving this Sunday (have to be at the Atlanta airport at 5:30 a.m.!) for Port-au-Prince. It will be interesting to see the changes in the past few weeks-to see if there has been any clean-up and rebuilding yet. We expect the medical will be much less acute, but still lots of needs. We will be doing medical work in the tent village near the mission house. We are also planning to start doing clean-up at one of the destroyed homes of a church member-we hope to help them rebuild their home. We will also be checking on Micaela, the 14-year old girl we met in a tent village, with a badly infected foot and leg. She subsequently had her leg amputated at the hospital which had been set up at the Port-au-Prince airport by the University of Miami. She did great post-operatively and we recently had more great news – the hospital will be getting prosthetics and Micaela will be one of the recipients! We had originally planned to try and get her to the U.S. to be fitted with a prosthesis and undergo rehabilitation. Currently, as far as we know, she is still at the hospital; we will be checking on her during this trip. You can read more about her story at the following site:
http://projectmedishare.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/young-girl-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-at-project-medishares-field-hospital/
Please pray for our team:
Dr. K
Brenda
Mark S.
Steve
Lee
Freddy
Adam
Mark E.
Todd
THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF THE HAITI RECOVERY THROUGH THE POWER OF CHRIST!
Dr. K and Brenda
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
March 14, 2010
Posted by Drs. Brenda and Richard
By the end of the days here, I (Brenda) am mentally, physically, and emotionally drained; at the same time, I feel a sense of peace and contentment that I have done the work God called me to do. Richard (as most of you know) just keeps going and going like the EverReady bunny! But even he has to go slower because of the heat.
We went to church this morning – hey all of you out there who get restless when your preacher goes past his 20 minute allotted time – just think of our service this morning. We arrived at 9:30 a.m. and worshipped until about 1:00 p.m. (We all were prepared with water and me with a few gummy bears hidden in my purse!)
But what a service – there were so many blessings it’s hard to describe. What was amazing to me is to see the people praise God so joyfully, they sang a song that said “God’s grace is sufficient.” And this is after many of them have suffered through the death of family and friends, the loss of their homes and most of their material possessions. They are living in tents; some do not have any shelter at all – yet they rejoice in the Lord. It reminds us of the passage in Habakkuk which says,
Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
One difficult time today was meeting with Mechou, the mother of Michaela, the little girl with the badly infected club foot who is now at the University of Miami hospital tent at the Haiti airport. The doctors had told Mechou that Michaela’s leg needed to be amputated below the knee and she really had not comprehended this information. She was told to return to the hospital this afternoon to meet with the doctors and sign a consent for surgery tomorrow. We met with Mechou and explained the situation and told her that we wanted to help in any way possible-with rehabilitation, etc. She was worried that we would make promises and then disappear. However, we assured her we would do everything we could to help Michaela. Aaron and 2 other team members then accompanied Mechou to the hospital, visited with Michaela and met with the doctors. The foot is not salvageable and if it is not amputated, the infection will spread, eventually getting into Michaela’s bloodstream, leading to death. Mechou signed the consent and Michaela is scheduled for an amputation tomorrow.
The amazing thing is that the doctor who will do the surgery is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon from Nashville, TN, one who specializes in club feet. Is that a miracle from God or what? He also offered the hope that it might be possible to do corrective surgery on Michaela’s other foot to avoid her becoming a double amputee. But right now, we simply don’t know what the future holds for her.
Please pray for her and her family; the mother is a widow and has 4 other children; like most people here, she is living outside under a tarp. We also are going to try to help her during this process. We thank all of you who made it possible for our team to be here; we know our encounter with Michaela is not an accident and that God has a plan for her. Thank you for being a part of that plan.
The rest of the team today went to the tent village and gave out everything else that we had left – diapers, milk, clothes, food, flip-flops, candy, etc. Some had a few close calls, as people crowded around trying to get anything they could. But for the most part, everything went smoothly. Again, we thank all of you – it is because of all our supporters that God has brought into our lives that we are able to help the people here in Haiti, not only physically, but spiritually as we share the hope of Christ.
We love you – God bless each of you for your wonderful hearts to serve.
We leave in the morning at 7:00 a.m. so pray for our safe journey.
Richard and Brenda and the Helping Hands team.
Posted by Drs. Brenda and Richard
By the end of the days here, I (Brenda) am mentally, physically, and emotionally drained; at the same time, I feel a sense of peace and contentment that I have done the work God called me to do. Richard (as most of you know) just keeps going and going like the EverReady bunny! But even he has to go slower because of the heat.
We went to church this morning – hey all of you out there who get restless when your preacher goes past his 20 minute allotted time – just think of our service this morning. We arrived at 9:30 a.m. and worshipped until about 1:00 p.m. (We all were prepared with water and me with a few gummy bears hidden in my purse!)
But what a service – there were so many blessings it’s hard to describe. What was amazing to me is to see the people praise God so joyfully, they sang a song that said “God’s grace is sufficient.” And this is after many of them have suffered through the death of family and friends, the loss of their homes and most of their material possessions. They are living in tents; some do not have any shelter at all – yet they rejoice in the Lord. It reminds us of the passage in Habakkuk which says,
Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
One difficult time today was meeting with Mechou, the mother of Michaela, the little girl with the badly infected club foot who is now at the University of Miami hospital tent at the Haiti airport. The doctors had told Mechou that Michaela’s leg needed to be amputated below the knee and she really had not comprehended this information. She was told to return to the hospital this afternoon to meet with the doctors and sign a consent for surgery tomorrow. We met with Mechou and explained the situation and told her that we wanted to help in any way possible-with rehabilitation, etc. She was worried that we would make promises and then disappear. However, we assured her we would do everything we could to help Michaela. Aaron and 2 other team members then accompanied Mechou to the hospital, visited with Michaela and met with the doctors. The foot is not salvageable and if it is not amputated, the infection will spread, eventually getting into Michaela’s bloodstream, leading to death. Mechou signed the consent and Michaela is scheduled for an amputation tomorrow.
The amazing thing is that the doctor who will do the surgery is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon from Nashville, TN, one who specializes in club feet. Is that a miracle from God or what? He also offered the hope that it might be possible to do corrective surgery on Michaela’s other foot to avoid her becoming a double amputee. But right now, we simply don’t know what the future holds for her.
Please pray for her and her family; the mother is a widow and has 4 other children; like most people here, she is living outside under a tarp. We also are going to try to help her during this process. We thank all of you who made it possible for our team to be here; we know our encounter with Michaela is not an accident and that God has a plan for her. Thank you for being a part of that plan.
The rest of the team today went to the tent village and gave out everything else that we had left – diapers, milk, clothes, food, flip-flops, candy, etc. Some had a few close calls, as people crowded around trying to get anything they could. But for the most part, everything went smoothly. Again, we thank all of you – it is because of all our supporters that God has brought into our lives that we are able to help the people here in Haiti, not only physically, but spiritually as we share the hope of Christ.
We love you – God bless each of you for your wonderful hearts to serve.
We leave in the morning at 7:00 a.m. so pray for our safe journey.
Richard and Brenda and the Helping Hands team.
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