A busy, blessed summer
October 2021 Newsletter
The crew for our August and September missions…Jason Haines, Frank Olafson, George Kindel, Buddy and Mary Puryear
A Busy,Blessed Summer
We started it when we brought Sea Hope to Puerto Del Rey Marina in Puerto Rico following our relief mission to the island of St. Vincent in May. Mary and I then went to North Carolina for 2 weeks to attend our grandson’s wedding. After returning, Mary cleaned and painted the condominium we are renting while here in Puerto Rico. I worked on Sea Hope and started planning a return trip to St. Vincent to deliver a load of hospital beds and medical supplies.
We ran into all sorts of delays in getting the material shipped from North Carolina. Most of the delays were related to the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s shipping. Nothing happened in a timely fashion and the prices were nearly doubled from the previous year. The impact on planning was very frustrating to say the least, but finally everything was coming together. The material had arrived in Puerto Rico, the Sea Hope crew had travel plans, and a team of 10 from Anchor Baptist in Pisgah Forest had tickets to fly in to help with the load out of the boat.
About 8:30 am on August 14th, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Haiti causing massive destruction and well over 2,000 deaths. The Lord just laid it on my heart to postpone the St. Vincent trip and instead carry food and supplies to Haiti. It was crystal clear why we had suffered all the delays. God knew the earthquake was coming and He had all the pieces in place for us to be able to quickly shift directions.
The material for St. Vincent was put in storage at Calvary Baptist Tabernacle here in Carolina, Puerto Rico. While that was being done, Mary and I went to the big box stores and purchased rice and beans to carry to Haiti. The crew agreed to go to Haiti and be flexible as we were not sure what we would do after the initial delivery. We had three options: 1. deliver the material and return to Puerto Rico. 2. deliver the material and go to the US for a reload. 3. deliver the material and go to Dominican Republic for a reload. We sailed with all three options open.
As we off loaded the food, Pastor Dieupie Cherubin of Hosanna Baptist Church in Jacmel told me he needed wood and tin to build temporary shelters to be used as churches, schools, and community buildings in the affected areas. Food is of course always needed, but he needed a large quantity of building materials and asked us to bring it to him. We opted to return to Puerto Rico to get that, plus he asked for school supplies so the children in the affected areas could start school. I put out an appeal for help with the school supplies, and you folks just overwhelmed us with your generosity. Thank you.
While we waited for the school supplies to arrive via mail, the crew and a team from Anchor Baptist and Mount Sinai Baptist Church in Pickens, SC flew to Puerto Rico and we loaded the material for St. Vincent and took it to them. The arrival of the beds and medical supplies coincided with a spike in COVID cases on the island, and the medical folks were truly excited to receive this material as it increased their capacity for patients.
We returned to Puerto Rico and with the help of students and staff from the Puerto Rico Baptist Bible College we loaded the material for Haiti and delivered it to Pastor Cherubin in Jacmel.. We finished the off load on a Tuesday night at 8:30 and by Thursday the material was being taken to the mountains to start building shelters. They had several completed in time for church by Sunday and the start of school on Monday. It is such a thrill to work with people who are so organized.
We are praying about future missions. With the COVID travel restrictions in place, we are limited to doing relief missions for the immediate future. Help us pray the Lord will continue to make the path plain.
Serving HIM Joyfully,
Buddy and Mary Puryear