News

ICM Medical Outreach to Haiti

On Jan. 29, 2010, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that injured hundreds of thousands of people, ICM sponsored a team of 16 doctors and medical support staff from Richmond, Va., who traveled to Port-au-Prince to provide much-needed medical services to Haitian earthquake victims. The team returned to the U. S. on February 7.

Maribel Delgado, ICM Dominican Republic Project Coordinator for Construction and Mini Bible College met the team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and accompanied them in Haiti during their ministry outreach. She said that the medical ministry outreach saved lives, provided hope and allowed God to act in miraculous ways.

“The medical team from Richmond, Va. was a true Godsend.  Within one hour upon arrival, they were already caring for the people….the children and babies especially. The team delivered five babies while they were there! One lady delivered right on the doorstep, and they were able to care for her and for the baby,” Delgado said.  

Team leader Allan B. Harvie, Jr., said the team saw 600 patients on a slow day. He added that by 10:00 a.m. the temperature under the tarp they were working in reached 109 degrees. Delgado said that despite the conditions, the medical staff not only worked to provide patient care, they also performed non-patient duties as well. “Each night the clinic tents had to be taken down and put back up in the morning. The team worked so very hard. The team brought their own tents to sleep in.”

Delgado said that she had never in her life seen so many miracles. “Every single day we saw miracles.” She said that the team started seeing people “when the sun came up, because the lines had formed during the night. They were seeing [emergency cases] during the night.”

According to Delgado, no other medical relief organizations had pediatricians on staff, so the team’s pediatric skills were very much in demand. “The Lord provided each person on the team with just the right skills that were needed… So many lives were saved because of this team.” She noted that more than one young life was forever touched by God through the team’s outreach.

“One three-month-old was brought in…the baby was not breathing…essentially, dead,  [but] they worked and worked until the baby came back to life!  Another baby came in having convulsions because of a very high fever… they were sure the baby would die,” she said. “One nurse finally got an IV into the baby… and the fever came down. The baby lived.”

Delgado also said that while many of the contributions and supplies from overseas aid groups were still sitting in large containers at the airport in Haiti, people were actually able to get food and water and clothing that they need when they visited the clinic.  “Every person seen at the clinic site was sent out with needed medicine, a bag of food and some clothing.”

God’s love was also evident in the early hours of the morning, as Delgado heard believers worshipping in the midst of their struggles. “The most meaningful moment for me of the whole week came during the middle of the night,” Delgado said. “Everyone was sleeping but me, and I began to hear a loud noise in the distance. 

“The sound became louder and louder and I began to realize it was voices. I was so fearful that an angry mob was coming to attack the compound. But as the voices came closer, I could hear them singing in Creole…maybe two thousand strong. 

“One word I knew….Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  It was 3 a. m. and these voices were praising the Lord in the middle of the night, in the middle of all the destruction. This was a tearful reminder that God’s love is being poured out in Haiti in ways never seen before.  God is working in wonderful and mysterious ways in Haiti.”

Harvie also noted God’s mysterious workings when he relayed a story about needing water to keep from being dehydrated. He said that on one day, a truck carrying water blew out its tires—right in front of where they were working. Needless to say, they then had plenty of H2O!

Read the Press Release About the Medical Outreach

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