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This is the Entrance to St. Marc, Haiti
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So needless to say God has shown Himself
faithful to the people of Haiti, and through a partnership with Galcom
International, God provided the funding needed to purchase the equipment
for the rebuild of the Station in St. Marc. There were so many aspects
to the logistics of getting the equipment to the final destination and
SO many people whom God has used to be a part of this project. Chris
Bartholme (VP Ears To Hear) and myself worked many hours with Engineer
David Creel (Far East Broadcasting/Galcom Intl) to select just the right
equipment which meant many emails and communications with Michelle Cope
(Galcom) and an occasional phone call or FB message to Tim
Whitehead(Galcom) to finally get the equipment on its way to Missionary
Flights International. MFI flew the equipment in to Barahona, where I
live so that everything could be reviewed so that we could be certain
that we had everything that we needed. Then the equipment was repacked
into suit cases, driven to the border town stored for a few days at the
Chadasha Mission Base in Jimani, Dominican Republic where our friends
from the Mennonite Mission IFM helped us transport the equipment across
the border safely into Haiti.
God had assembled just the right Team to go to St Marc for the install
of the Station. Chris Bartholme (ETH), Pastor Julian Matthews (GGWO PR),
Pastor Rob Dressel (Grace Church PR), Wolfgang Grotendeik (Missionary
Aeroplanes), Tobias Grotendeik, Pastor Bill Cannon (GGWO Haiti),and
myself were able to join forces and take on the repair of the tower, the
install of the new antennaes ,the nstall of the new transmitter and
countless other things to make this installation complete.
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The Roof of the transmitter room.
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So we arrived in Haiti at the IFM mission
base in Fond Parisien. When we arrived there we had met with Aaron
Lavvy and his staff, along with Ebed and a truck from Global Orphan
Project and a van from Chadasha International to help get us and all of
the Radio Equipment safely to St. Marc which is a several hour journey
once we had safely made it through the border. Anyone who has been
through the Mal-Pas/Jimani border knows that it was a miracle of God for
us to pass through the border without paying any customs fees or having
any trouble at all with the paperwork for the passing. Praise God for
His faithfulness!! Praise God for His faithful servants along the way!
St. Marc
In St Marc we set up camp at Ebed's house where his mom took care of us
really well! We were welcomed in as part of the family for a week as we
co-labored to make this vision a reality. Pastor Julian and Pastor Rob
stayed with Pastor Bill and Cheryl a little further up the mountain in
St Marc. When we arrived at the station we began to sort through all of
the equipment as well as taking the first day to put together a plan of
action for the install. We needed to completely clean off the roof of
the station, remove the old equipment from the tower, remove the old
equipment from the station as well as secure the tower before anyone
could safely climb it.
Day 2 began with shattered dreams as we realized we still had many
electrical issues that had not been solved with the power coming from
the streets. We were in need of running all new electric line from the
street back to the station. We had not figured any of this in the
budget! Thank God Pastor Bill who lived in St Marc had the knowledge of
where to go to purchase the needed wire and Pastor julian had the Creole
speaking skills to negotiate the price. The church came up with half
the money needed and ETH was able to cover the other amounts needed to
purchase the needed wire.
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Pastor Julian and Chris Bartholme work on the electrical issue.
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I was blessed to climb and check connections before the transmitter was turned on.
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The work continued as we installed the new
equipment inside the station as well. The new transmitter was the big
deal as well as just making the studio more functional. New equipment to
play digital media and also new headphones, mixer, mics, cables etc...
help to make the station more modern. As we were serving to install the
station, we took an evening to go to the area where Pastor Bill lived
and did an outreach movie. We showed the Passion of the Christ. We had
several young men dedicate their lives to the Lord after the film.
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Had a great turnout for our evening outreach Movie.
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We had many complications, but finally we
were able run all of the checks and prepare to fire up the station.
Chris Bartholme did the honors of pushing the button. We had a very
clear signal!! Praise God the Voice of Salvaton is finally back on the
air. It was pretty amazing. All the guys were high five-ing each other
members of the church were clapping and we were careful to give God all
the honor and the glory as we celebrated this time together.
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Chris did the honors of pushing the button.
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We spent the next few days broadcasting and
training the men on the equipment. We brought with us a few Galcom
Fix-tuned Solar powered Radios to distribute. What a blessing to be able
to get some of these Radios into the hands of Barbara MacLeod who has a
prison ministry at the St Marc Prison. Pastor Bill has visited the
prison regularly as well to share Jesus with the inmates. The conditions
at this prison are very poor. When we went to the prison, they decided
that we could not go in at the last minute. I was a little discouraged
but very determined that some of these radios were supposed to make it
in to the prison. We did not have enough to distribute one to each cell
so the Lord put on my heart to give them enough for each of the Ladies
cells and then later in the year we will distribute the rest to the
prison. Here is where I need to jump ahead of the story.
Pastor Bill Cannon
Pastor Bill has been a tremendous blessing to all of us. He was a huge
blessing in getting the station on the air as well. Just a few days
after we had crossed the border from Haiti back into the Dominican
Republic and the same day Pastor Julian and Pastor Rob had made it back
to Peurto Rico from the Dominican Republic on the Ferry, we had received
the news that Pastor Bill Cannon had passed in the evening due to an
Asthma attack. Needless to say the words brought a shock to us because
we had just been working together , worshiping together, praying
together, just a few days earlier. Here is a link where you can read
Pastor Julians blog about Pastor Bill: click here
You can also watch a video of Pastor Bills work here: click here
You can watch Pastor Bills memorial service here: click here
Shortly after returning to the DR I had received an email from Barb here is a small excerpt from that letter:
"Hi Shawn:
Boy, it’s been a couple of tough weeks. We are really mourning Bill’s
death. He touched us more than we imagined. He was so humble we really
didn’t know much about him. I just watched the video of his service on
Monday. It was so good.
Just to let you know that the women in prison still have the solar
radios that they received. That is how they heard that Bill had
died....."
Bless you
Barb MacLeod "
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Broadcasting after so much work was done.
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Rob built a fire on the roof to weld the ends on to the wires.
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Ebed's mom fixed us a huge celebration dinner to show thanks for the hard work.
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CHris found a little friend at dinner.
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So Thankful for the opportunity to be a part
of this work . To God be all the honor and Glory. It was a great
pleasure to work with such a great team and also with great partners
like Galcom International. We believe this is just the beginning God has
great plans for this station, for these people and for the work in St.
Marc, Haiti.
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A view of St Marc from the roof of the station
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The Team members as we met in Barahona, Dominican Republic
before leaving for Haiti, Left to Right: Pastor Julian Matthews, Chris
Bartholme, Shawn Rineholt, Wolfgang Grotendeik, Tobi Grotendeik, and
Pastor Rob Dressel.
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Pastor Bill Cannon met us in St.Marc and also helped with the Radio Install.
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Pastor Julian and Pastor Rob brought many supplies from
Peurto Rico for the School in the DR, as well as things for the children
of Haiti.
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Packing the van for the trip to the border.
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We arrived in Jimani.
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The transfer of supplies from one PR vehicle one DR vehicle into the Haiti vehicle.
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Finally loaded and ready to go into Haiti
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The Electricians work to complete the new service to the Station.
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Sorting through the equipment and getting things ready for the install.
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Another planning and troubleshooting session.
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Removal of the old equipment.
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Using the safety harness.
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Tobi spent a lot of time in the air.
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Pastor Julian and Pastor Bill searched the city for all the parts that we needed.
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The Install of the antenna and the cables.
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A view of the city from the bottom ariel.
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Pastor Bill Cannon and Cheryl Cannon.
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Galcom Fix-tuned Solar Radio for 102.3 FM
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Galcom Fix-tuned Solar Radio for 102.3 FM
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Our visit to the Maranatha Children of Grace orphanage in St Marc.
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Maranatha Children of Grace orphanage in St Marc.
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our photo shoot on the way back out of Haiti.
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