Welcome to Julie Wells Ministries

Courtney Fischer of ABC 25 w/ our team in Haiti First-Hand Account Phone Interview.

1/28/10 8:13 PM CST
What I saw today I will never forget. A mass burial witnessed by about fifty of us. For the Haitians in attendance it was just another day after the quake: their faces emotionless while bodies were thrown in a pit in front of us. For others there, they were focused on a job- the men with shovels ready to dig, a pastor playing the trumpet. For me it was...inhumane. The new way of life for Haitians post quake. It was a day that will forever stay with me. It makes me question what's to become of this country? These people?
We arrived at Titanyien late afternoon. The morning was filled with casual stops throughout Port-au-Prince: the orphanage pastor picking people up, dropping them off. He seems to know everyone and always wants to help.
It took two hours to get thirty miles outside the city. I can't begin to get into what we saw on the drive- internet is cutting out. outside the city we turn down a road of rocks. It's barely drivable. The clear see to the left and desert mountains to my right. It's amazing a country filled with so much natural beauty is enduring so much pain and suffering. The smell of burning flesh and rotten bodies is not far away.
The van stops. Ahead are piles of rock and rubble. Look closer. There's a foot, a hand, an elbow. I see a man's face twisted in agony-- the moment of pain and terror captured on his face. Human bodies: bloated and recently dumped. sand and gravel barely covers the dead people. We get back in the van and drive further down the road.
40,000. The pastor we're with says that's the number of people buried in this valley after the quake. I learn bodies have been dumped here for centuries--a cemetery for the poor the pastor says. Old graves are individually marked with crosses. Then I see the deep pits: at least fifteen deep. Moments later local men descended from the mountains carrying shovels. They show up every Thursday. The job pays about two dollars. More if they bring their own tools. The busses start arriving, carrying bodies by the truck load. Masked doctors start unloading body bags and cardboard coffins. The first coffin lowered into the pit buckles in the middle: the weight of more than one body makes the box collapse and an arm peeks out.
Body after body is lowered into the five graves. A band plays "oh when the saints go marching in." the pastor from this orphanage plays the trumpet.
A Catholic priest helps carry the body bags. He says a short prayer in Creole and English. I ask him if he has time to answer a few questions. The priest says he has no time--he must get back to the hospital to work triage. The whole service lasts barely 30 minutes.
Then the sound of crashing dirt. The men with shovels dig and rocks hit the plastic body bags. They disappear almost as fast as they were laid to rest.
It feels disgusting and dirty witnessing this. But there is a sense of routine about it all. The priest looks tired--not sad, no angry, just weary. Nothing shocks these people anymore. The workers and the band will be back soon. So will the priest. No families--no one knows who the people in the body bags are. They will disappear a statistic. The rebuilding of this city must begin soon. These people need hope.

Come visit Julie at her home church.

Jan 21, 2010

Dear Friends and Partners,

We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the Christian community. Thank you for being so generous in your giving. In our local community, we have received generous donations of medical supplies from The Deaconess Women’s Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens. We had a team scheduled to be on the ground on January 26th, but once again, the flight has been cancelled. We continue to search for ways to get these supplies into Haiti. Please be in prayer that we would be able to carry these much needed supplies.

Our staff, in conjunction with my church, The Cathedral in Evansville, Indiana, is organizing a multi-phase relief response.

The primary objective is to continue to get food and water to our property to feed the children of the Haiti Christian Orphanage and the additional displaced people who are camping on our property. The Lord has been gracious to us as we have been able to keep these resources present by wiring funds, so the Haitian staff can purchase items including fuel for our generator! Thank you, thank you for your donations!! Now, we need transportation for large donations and transportation for relief teams including medical personnel.

Our second objective is to partner with larger organizations that can provide concrete resources, medical care, and security. These organizations include the US Military, relief organizations and other ministries.

Our third objective is to assess the needs of the Petionville community. Our joy is full knowing that all of the children in the orphanage are safe and unharmed. However, we have many friends in Haiti who have lost loved ones, homes, businesses, and are existing with minimal items. Please remember that HCO is a third generation ministry. This means that we have adults who grew up in the orphanage who have families of their own. We anxiously await reports from these members of our HCO family as we are confident that they will need our assistance with basic needs and reconstruction. We have already heard reports of serious injury and loss of homes. Communication remains somewhat sparse, but seems to be getting better with each passing day. Just another reason why we need to have a relief team on the ground to assess the needs.

Additionally, early reports from CNN, Fox News and MSNBC report that as many as 750,000 children may be orphaned due to this disaster. Prior to the earthquake, Haiti had more than 300,000 orphaned children. We anticipate that HCO will become a refuge for more children, which will require more staff in Haiti and an increase in our daily operation. We are ready to answer the call and provide much needed care to the children of Haiti. We will open our doors to as many children as physically possible.

Finally, our ministry is ready to play a pivotal role in the reconstruction process. We understand that military forces will focus on rebuilding structures that are central to restoring infrastructure including government buildings, police departments, banks, and markets. We want to fill in the gaps by helping the average man rebuild a home to care for his family.

If I can offer any words of caution, I would say...don’t become numb to the terrible visuals we are seeing on television. We are inundated with a barrage of violent media on a daily basis from regular television and movies. In essence, the saturation of violence can rob us of our passion for the Haitian people while the disturbing visual images of our Haitian brothers and sisters fly across our computer and television screens. These are real people with inexplicable grief. We need to gear ourselves for a long, sustained effort in Haiti.

Friends, we are on a faith walk. We don’t know all of the specifics, but we are knocking on every door and checking every resource. We do know that since 1968 the Haiti Christian Orphanage has been serving the needs of orphaned children. This is our commission from God, and we will work tirelessly to fulfill the calling that God has given.

May God bless you for your support.

He defends the cause of the fatherless...
Deuteronomy 10:18

All donations to Julie Wells Ministries are tax deductible.

Julie Wells Ministries is a 501-C-3

"Women Unite Wrap Up"

" 8-9-09 Julie Wells"

1. Teens who wait are more likely to experience stable marriages. Teens who have sex outside of marriage increase the likelihood of adding instability to their future marriage. (heritage.org)

2. Teens who wait are more likely to report feeling “happy”.Teens who have sex outside of marriage have higher rates of depression. (heritage.org)

3. Teens who wait are less likely to have regrets.
2/3 of teens who have sex outside of marriage will regret this decision. (heritage.org)

4. Teens who wait are more likely to grow to be financially stable. In 2004, 5.5 % of the general population lived in poverty, while 28.4% of
women with children lived in poverty. (Nat’l Poverty Center, npc.umich.edu)

5. Teens who wait are more likely to grow to have healthy families. Children who grow up in single parent households are 3x more likely to drop out of high school, 5x more likely to live in poverty, and 12x more likely to go to jail. (makeitlast.org)

6. Teens who wait are more likely to graduate from high school. Pregnant teens and single parents are more likely to drop out of high school. When compared to high school graduates, high school dropouts will make $200,000 less in their lifetime. They will make $800,000 less than college graduates. (focuas.com)

7. Teens who wait are more likely to be physically healthy. AIDS spreads twice as quickly among uneducated girls. (unitus.com)

8. Teens who wait are more safe from STD’s. 1 out of every 5 condoms fail. Some STD’s are lifetime diseases because they have no cure. (unitus.com)

9. Teens who wait are more likely to protect their future fertility. The Centers for Disease Control
estimates that 25% of sexually active teens will get
an STD this year, and these diseases may interfere
with future fertility. 80% of teens do not even know
they have an STD, and do not know that they are
passing it to their partner. (members.tripod.com – Abstinence Educators Network)

10. Teens who wait honor God, respect themselves, and look forward to a healthy sexual relationship with the spouse God has designed just for them.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jesus said….If you love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15