As I sit here tonight and realize all that has happened since I last wrote, it seems like months ago although it is only days.  March 5 we had our 4th annual banquet and we are so thankful to all our supporters.  We have received so much love and support from our fellow healthcare workers, missionaries, pastors, and friends.  They have been with us every step of the way.  Most of all we are thankful to our Lord Jesus Christ who has provided us the avenue for all things good even when we ourselves did not know which way to go.

Since our last trip we have been organizing for our next trip which will leave this saturday March 13th. There are 13 people on this trip and they are so excited.  I was present as our new Hearts Afire team leader was organizing his team at the last team meeting.  This is the first time that Hearts Afire has sent any other team leader other than the founders to head a team.  We are extremely proud of James Lohmann who has proven to truly be a strong leader in all ways.  He has participated in 15 missions with Hearts Afire and has organized all our medications and supplies since 2006.  He has been our  volunteer inventory coordinator and believe me he has volunteered many 100′s if not 1000 hours plus in all his efforts.  We are very excited because he will continue to support Hearts Afire efforts in Petit Goave.  They will again be working initially on the Wesleyan compound and then move to our new location at a new clinic opening just in time for us.  Our team will fly right into Port-au-Prince and then drive to Petit Goave.

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February 6 – A team of 11 consisting of Dr. Vilma Vega (team leader, co-founder/president Hearts Afire, and Infectious Disease), Dr. David Sugar (Orthopedic surgeon), Dr. Allen Van (orthopedic surgeon), Dr. Gary Dunlap (orthopedic surgeon), Dr. Jose Estigarribia (general surgeon), Dr. Nilesh Patel (anesthesiology), Dr. Greg Abbott (oral surgeon/anesthesiologist), Beth Abbott (anesthesiology RN, Critical care RN, midwife), Dr. Mildred Pastorizo (Pediatrics and Pediatric immunologist), James Lohmann RN ( IV RN, missionary RN, board of directors member of Hearts Afire), Fernando Vega (private business owner, logistics, IT, documentation).

We left at 2 pm from Ft. Lauderdale.  Upon original arrival to airport, we were greeted by four Haitian baggage handlers who not only met us with a smile, they didn’t want to take tips for handling our bags of medical supplies.  As we arrived to the counter at Jet Blue, we met a very friendly Haitian worker who broke out crying about her country and immediately thanked us for providing medical support.  She directly went to the supervisor who then called headquarters and allowed all our 34 pieces of luggage 50lbs each on board.  Already God’s favor on our trip was being displayed.  We arrived in Santo Domingo and stayed with our Dominican missionaries(Corazon Del Siervo)overnight.

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January 13th through February 6 – Continued up scaling of work on the home base in Sarasota.  We are thankful to the Bon Eau Foundation for their first response to our need in helping the people of Haiti.   Hearts Afire is donated a temporary 4300 sq. ft. warehouse.  A volunteer committee is organizing the medical supplies and medications and packing for future trips.  Over 100 volunteers helped us during this time to get over $200,000 worth of medications and supplies organized.   We are so very thankful to all the donors for their time, their money, their efforts, and all their connections.  We could not have done it without all their love and support!!  What a blessing you all have been!!

Vilma Vega MD, Co-founder/President Hearts Afire

As founders of Hearts Afire we unanimously decided based on the prompting of God that we must send in a team.  Being the surgeon and one of the founders, I was the obvious choice.  I never had a desire to go to Haiti; never felt called to Haiti; but realized that God “calls” people, and God “send”s people on different assignments. I was being SENT on this one.  Our Dominican missionary friends sent me an email asking when I was coming, and since we had a team leaving in February, I said, “We have a team coming in Feb.”  She emailed me back…”We need surgeons, anesthesiologists, and orthopedic surgeons NOW”.   She made it clear that the conditions were getting worse in Haiti and it was a disaster of unimaginable proportions. After speaking with my wife, the decision was made and now the work had to begin.  I had remembered reading in the book “Jesus, MD” that the author stated “a call is often nothing more than seeing a need and recognizing that you have the ability to meet that need.”

Now the phone calls started…the CEO of Blake Hospital…”I need medicine, amputation saws, suture, and orthopedic materials”  The response was “Take what you need.” Next was the office.  I had surgical cases and office scheduled so I needed to reschedule everything.  The office staff would take care of it.  Call coverage…”not a problem” was the response of my colleague.  Then the flights.  American had a flight leaving the next afternoon.  I was going to be on it.  God will make a way when there seems to be no way.

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January 12 – Devastating 7.0 earthquake shakes the poorest country in the western Hemisphere – Haiti

January 13 –As I started my morning in prayer, I realized that we could not stand back and watch but that as medical missionaries in the US and being so close to Haiti something would have to be done.  But what and How?  I received an emergency phone call from Dr. Maria Mallarino at about 11am who had organized with the assistance of her family in the Dominican Republic and the Dominican Republic government access into Haiti with a first response team consisting of 11 people made up of her team from Florida Cancer Specialists.  Dr. Mallarino asked for assistance from Hearts Afire Inc.  Hearts Afire is a Christian non-profit international organization providing medical and spiritual support to 8 countries through the support of short term missions.  However when Haiti earthquake occurred with much prayer the founders and board decided unanimously to quickly upscale Hearts Afire into a first response organization.  The Hearts Afire Haiti Relief project was formed,  separate accounts and project budget were setup and emergency volunteer committee was started.   Believe it or not all of this was done within 24-96 hours.

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