Dispatches: Hispaniola 2025
Mission: Haiti 2025
By GARY FALLESEN, Climbing For Christ
Mission: Haiti 2025 was scheduled for Oct. 23-Nov. 2. But Tropical Storm Melissa forced postponement of the trip, changing the dates to Nov. 4-13. We continue to pray and monitor the storm.
Saturday, Oct. 25
The National Hurricane Center’s forecast cone for Melissa on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 25.
The postponement of Gilbert’s graduation and our trip to Hispaniola was warranted. Tropical Storm Melissa is on the verge of turning into a major hurricane that likely will impact Haiti. Some forecasts predict two-to-four feet of rain from the storm.
The streets of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where Gilbert lives and attended medical school, already are under water.
“Not only are the streets flooded, we have at least 11 provinces, including Santo Domingo, with Red Alerts and some of them are already flooded, and according to the COE (Emergency Operations Center) the storm could become a Hurricane tonight into tomorrow,” Gilbert reported this morning. “They recommend people in the provinces with Red Alerts and those in Yellow also to stay home.
“So far I am fine. I have been communicating with some people from the villages we serve and so far only rain and winds since Tuesday.”
Thursday, Oct. 23
Tropical Storm Melissa’s forecasted impact as of Wednesday, Oct. 22. A hurricane watch was in place for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince.
The news about Tropical Storm Melissa came across my radar Wednesday (Oct. 22) and I immediately sensed the rising tide of trouble. Hispaniola, our scheduled destination for today for Mission: Haiti 2025, lay in the possible path of the storm.
A few hours later, Gilbert Lindor messaged me: “Bad news! They [his medical school in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic] just announced that graduation will be on Nov. 6! This is due to the alert from the meteorological office.”
The alert was a bulletin from the National Hurricane Center warning about “heavy rainfall and flooding” for parts of Hispaniola (the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Those warnings grew worse last night as “life-threatening flash flooding” was forecasted.
Gilbert, who was due to graduate in March but couldn’t participate because Dominican officials didn’t sign paperwork he needed in a timely manner, was scheduled to finally graduate on Saturday. Until Melissa entered the picture. Now it is Nov. 6.
“Sorry,” Gilbert messaged as we hastily worked on rescheduling Mission: Haiti at – literally – the 11th hour. “So many problems.”
“Not your fault,” I said.
“But it’s sad and more work to coordinate everything again,” Gilbert said.
My wife Elaine and I had been saying we felt bad for Gilbert; it’s as if he’ll never get to graduate (after finishing more than seven years of medical studies last December).
“Yes, that’s what I’ve been thinking!” Gilbert said. “This graduation will also be a victory.”
Gilbert’s life is a God-glorifying victory. He was rescued by the Lord from death – both in this world and the next – when we evacuated him from his home mountain village of Gentilhomme, Haiti in 2007 at the age of nine with a gangrene broken leg. He lost the leg but gained salvation as he recovered from an emergency amputation. We supported him through school knowing that God had a special calling on his life.
Gilbert, right, and classmates at a Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago celebration of degree projects completed last December.
He has a heart to serve others, especially the downtrodden. He kept Climbing For Christ’s work in Haiti going even after we had to dismiss our original Kingdom worker there. Gilbert responded by starting C4C’s “New Generation” (known as C4CNG), a group of young Haitians carrying on the ministry in the mountains of their beleaguered country. Schools have been continued and one day we hope to have a clinic built where there is no medical help. Dr. Gilbert will operate it.
But, first, he needs to graduate.
Prayerfully that will happen on Nov. 6 and our team – Kevin Kimble, Andy Moritz, Russell Yandura, and Elaine and I – will be there to witness it. We have rescheduled Mission: Haiti to Nov. 4-13. That will include mobile medical clinics in the villages where Climbing For Christ supports and C4CNG oversees schools for hundreds of children: Boucan Pierre, Kalimet, and Majon.
We are praying Melissa does not turn into a hurricane that hits Haiti and that days of forecasted rainfall does not trigger mudslides in the deforested mountains leading to more misery for a hurting people. Pray on! 
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