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[1]
PHOTOGENXApril 2010 What’s Inside?
+Updates on our recent trip to Haiti+Th e meetings that followed+Diane’s Health
Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Haiti is committed to
the transformation of Haiti as a nation. Staff and students
alike are sowing their lives into serving and discipling the
people of the land. The YWAM base in St. Marc has
become a hub of coordination for designing and
administering the registration of Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) who are migrating away from the ruins of
Port Au Prince to the St. Marc district. To date, these
efforts have processed more than 10,000 individuals,
securing temporary housing, food distribution as well as
access to emergency medical care. In addition, the YWAM
base is functioning as a distribution point for food and aid
in conjunction with donations from USAID and World Food
Program. In the mid-term, they are developing sites for
tent communities and in the long-term are developing land
for building houses for people who choose to relocate to
St. Marc permanently. Together with these land
development projects, there are numerous other
community development issues that YWAM as a global
organization is taking action on.
PhotogenX was asked by the YWAM global
leadership to go to Haiti to conduct interviews, create a
photographic survey of the land and to research. We had
the incredible opportunity of being on the team of 7 people
from PhotogenX to go. When we got back, we put
together several presentations that were given to influential
business executives, investors, water specialists, nuclear
energy specialists, engineers, filmmakers and the like from
all over the world who had one common vision; to allow
God to use them to help Haiti. We feel incredibly honored
to have been able to serve the nation of Haiti in a way that
will bring much action in the very near future!
an update from Steve + Diane
L’Union Fait La Force“Strength through Unity”HAITI
[2]
Faces of HaitiHope amidst Tragedy
Steve made some local friends who were
waiting to be treated at the YWAM clinic. They were fascinated by his colorful
skin!
Diane holding a tiny earthquake survivor named Levi while his
mother collected dried food items and supplies from a distribution at YWAM St.
Marc
visit photogenx.net to watch a video presentation that we created in Haiti!
[3]
About three days after returning from
Haiti, I (Diane) began to have flu-like
symptoms. It did not seem serious at first,
but when I wasn’t getting better after a week,
I knew it was time to see a doctor. The doctor
suspected parasites based on my symptoms
and even after running labs that came back
negative for parasites, he was convinced it
was a false negative. The results did come
back positive for salmonella, so I was
prescribed an antibiotic, Cipro. For two days
the symptoms seemed to slow down, but I
still had very little energy, was sleeping most
of the time and was not able to keep fluids or
food in my body. From the beginning I was
achey and weak, but one night I woke up in
excruciating pain and had to rush to the
emergency room as I was having trouble
breathing. Because of the pain I was in, they
immediately put me on a heart monitor at the
ER. After running some lab tests (which all
came back normal...except for that pesky
salmonella) the doctor ruled that I was having
a bad reaction to Cipro. I was instructed to
stop taking it, put on prescription pain
relievers and sent home. For a few days the
pain was excruciating in my back and the
pain relievers made me sick, so I had to stop
taking them. My body was weak and tired but
trying so hard to fight. The pain eventually
lessened in my back, but worsened in my
joints and tendons around my shoulders and
knees, where before it had only been mild
and achey. The pain became so strong in my
left knee that I went to see my doctor again.
He sent me for x-rays to rule out if there was
fluid and infection in my joints. There was
fluid, but not infection, my knee was very
swollen. My knee needed to be drained,
which temporarily relieved some of the pain.
After my body had some time to relax after
having such a bad reaction to Cipro, I was
put on another antibiotic to treat the
salmonella, as well as a different pain reliever
(which also made me sick and I am not able
to take). I felt very strongly that my joint pain
was a reaction to the salmonella and
suspected that I was experiencing something
called “Reiter’s Syndrome” but my doctor
disagreed. I was persistent in
asking him to check into it so he
referred me to a joint specialist. I
called the joint specialist only to
find that she charged $300 just
for the initial consult without any
testing included. I was
disheartened and frustrated.
We had just come
back from about nine
months of traveling and
had just started the
process of switching to a US
insurance before I got sick.
Because our new insurance hadn’t
kicked in yet, we have paid for every doctors
visit, emergency room visit, diagnostic test
and prescription. The expensive consultation
was intimidating, so we prayed about
whether or not I should go. The next day, my
doctor called me and informed me that he
wanted to help me out as I had been having
such a difficult time and knew that I was a
missionary. He had arranged for the joint
specialist to do a consultation with him over
the phone- for free. After reviewing my
medical chart, she diagnosed me with
Reiter’s Syndrome, which is basically reactive
arthritis to an infection in your body,
commonly after contracting salmonella. It
can recur for as long as a year after initial
symptoms begin to surface. She told me the
only treatment was to take ibuprofen and to
stay off of my feet. I believe nutrition also
plays a huge rule in healing and have talked
with some of my nutritionist friends to come
up with a diet that is right for me at this time.
Having a free consultation was truly a
testament to the faithfulness of God. He has
assured me time and time again that He sees
me, He knows me, and He is very near.
At this point I have been in bed for 20
days. I am now able to keep food and liquids
in my system. Miraculously, I did not become
dehydrated the whole time that I have been
sick. This has without a doubt been a huge
struggle physically and emotionally. SImple
tasks like writing an e-mail, walking to the
bathroom or brushing my teeth have become
taxing. Every morning I look myself
in the mirror, tell myself to “get
better” and force myself to hold my head
up high. I spend my days in contemplative
prayer and have felt flooded with peace at
the most difficult times.
I am not sure how I would be getting
through this right now if it weren’t for my
remarkable husband, who has taken care of
me day and night and simultaneously is
balancing all of his commitments to
PhotogenX and YWAM as well as picking up
some of the slack while I have been unable to
contribute. To my dear family, friends and
community, it has been an immeasurable
encouragement to know that so many are
praying for me.
Please continue to pray as I continue to
heal and repair. Specific prayer points:
:: Please pray for both Steve and I
emotionally as this has been a very trying
time for us.
:: If you know me at all, you probably
know that I reallllllly don’t like to sit still. This
whole laying in bed for days and days has
been difficult for me and I am ready to get
out of bed and be myself again! Please pray
for my mental state, that I would remain
focused, positive and have peace of mind.
:: Pray for my physical body, that I would
heal completely and not have recurring
symptoms. I would very much like to defy the
text books that say I will have ongoing aches
and pains.
Love, Diane
“His grace is
sufficient for me...”
2 Cor. 12:9
Diane’s Health
[4]
What’s New?
The six month PhotogenX Discipleship Training School (DTS) begins next week! Although we will not be involved as much on a day to day basis as we have in past years, we will still be interacting with the students, teaching photography courses, possibly leading an outreach team in the summer and helping with a lot of the “behind the scenes” work that goes into accommodating and training 50 new PhotogenXers.
PhotogenX
DTS
We are excited to announce the release of the first Sex + Money documentary "Webisode".Get a taste of the forthcoming anti-trafficking documentary in which a small film crew follows 5 young American photojournalists around the United States as they document the problems, the causes, the victims and their stories, in search of a solution for modern-day slavery. For more information visit the official documentary site (sexandmoneyfilm.com) and make sure to check back often as we plan to release new webisodes weekly.
FilmSex + Money:
A Global Search for Human Worth
April-September 2010
For information on how to partner with us financially, please e-mail Steve: [email protected]
Steve:e-mail: [email protected]
blog: www.iamthesrtuggle.blogspot.com
Diane: e-mail: [email protected]
blog: www.dianeschallert.blogspot.com
Contact
Thanks for
Reading!