Updates from Sami Rigelsky:
(from posts beginning on Saturday, 2/16/19)
We have never been so excited to see a water truck.
We have been crying all morning. Knowing that relief has come, and is coming, to the people we love and serve has brought us to our knees in praise.
Keep praying, keep giving. Ask God to make a clear path for more relief to arrive. Pray for our partners for safety and wisdom as they distribute much needed relief.
When I was thirsty you gave me something to drink. ~ Jesus (Matthew 25)
~~~
Friends, this is what can happen when you pray, come together & GIVE. This morning we have water trucks bringing LIFE SUSTAINING and SAVING water into Citè Soleil.
These people have gone days without water. Days. They are calm, they are orderly and they represent HAITI. This is a true picture of the people we love and serve in Haiti. They are not savages; they are not disorderly thugs. They are moms and dads, children & they are family. They will not hoard this water, they will share it. The other thing that stands out? God is the hero. Haitians are the vessels of God’s heroic act of loving His people. It’s not about us. It’s about Him. It’s about empowerment.
Thank you for being a part of saving and sustaining lives. We have more trucks coming and we are working diligently to get food into the hands of these people, too.
Keep praying, keep giving and we will keep empowering the Upstream family to serve others beautifully.
On behalf of the Upstream family, with grateful tears streaming down our cheeks, we say THANK YOU.
What a glorious event this is, MESI JEZI. (Thank you, Jesus)
~~~
It’s happening, this is only the beginning.
Thank you will never be enough.
Please don’t stop praying and giving. We will keep coordinating, sending and empowering.
When I was hungry you gave me something to eat. ~ Jesus (Matthew 25)
Loading up hope.
Loading up love.
Loading up generosity.
Loading up LIFE.
❤️??????????
~~~
Please also pray for Guy. (Pronounced Gee, for those who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him.)
Guy is Upstream’s Haiti country director. He carries the torch as the boots on the ground man in charge.
Guy has God-given vision and anointing to serve the people of Citè Soleil. One of our greatest honors in life is to serve alongside him and to empower him to be all that God has created him to be.
Guy carries an extreme privilege & burden as the point man for most things Upstream Haiti. Please don’t stop praying for him as he serves his people faithfully through this crisis and beyond.
We love you, Guy & we are so proud of you for following God no matter what.
~~~
Nobody I know that works harder for the sake of others and the Kingdom. He
(Joe Rigelsky) isn’t here to serve his own vision, but that of others. He does it all because of the glory of God, the love of others and because he is compelled beyond our own understanding.
Please pray for Joe. So much rests on those strong shoulders of his. But, he’s only human. Please pray for him to be filled overflowing with the yoke of Christ, the peace of the Spirit, wisdom, discernment, steady head and heart, supernatural strength and endurance.
Be the change, babe. I’m behind you, beside you and with you. ❤️
Please don’t stop praying for Joe. ❤️
(Yes I still have Christmas decor up. Sorry not sorry 
)
~~~
Many of you have asked how you can help the people we serve in Haiti. I am here to give you a few tangible ways that you can….
There is no question that God has absolutely commanded us to care for the poor. After making the gut wrenching decision to have Joe return to the States, we are mournful, and yet, we are reminded that Upstream exists to empower people who help people. Our staff and partners are 100% capable of coming to the aid of each other and the communities around them. We believe in them. We are championing them. Our team has developed a plan to retrieve food and water and get them to the places where our children are not eating, where families are literally starving. Not your “It’s noon and I have been so busy today I forgot to eat and I am starving!” type starving, but LITERAL starvation. If we do not get food and water into the hands of our people, they will absolutely have catastrophic consequences and we will have an epidemic on our hands.
So, how can you help?
1. Give generously to Upstream’s Emergency Fund. We are believing God to move in hearts to provide basic necessities for survival for people we serve. 100% of the dollars we receive toward the emergency fund will go EXACTLY to it. No overhead. No salaries. No admin. We need to buy food and water. Give like it was you or your children starving & thirsty. (Link at the end of this post.)
2. Pray. Pray like it was you and your children facing the suffering the Haitian people are facing. Intercede on your face, your knees, in the car, in the shower, CRY OUT TO GOD and believe with us for a move of HIS POWER. Ask God to break your heart for what breaks His and then prepare to have Him respond. Caution: it might mean sacrifice on your part. When you are done praying, pray some more. Pray that food and water will be found, that the money that we send will be able to be picked up without safety incidences. Pray for the people in power in Haiti, the people who want the power, and the innocents that are caught in between.
3. Live on purpose. You & I will someday be standing before our great God and our Haitian brothers & sisters will be standing with us, and we all know what God says about the poor, the least.
Matthew 25:40-45
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”
Go to upstreamint.org/donate to give. Write “Emergency Fund” in the “where would you like to see your dollars go?” section.
Thank you for giving to our friends and family in Haiti like you would give to Jesus Himself. 