Many greetings to you from Haiti!  Yes, I am back here now (just in case you thought I was still in the US, which would be understandable, since you haven't heard from me in forever).  But no, I am back and am happily getting a refill of spontaneous hugs and constant noise.  As you can imagine, life has been really busy since I've returned.  School has started, we've had 3 visiting teams, and I'm busy trying to catch up on all the end of the year administration things that didn't get done thanks to my rush to the US for my eyes.

Speaking of which, just how are my eyes doing?  Well, for the most part they are doing fine.  I'm learning to take better care of them, recognizing when they are tired and too dry, and for the most part I've managed to do pretty good.  It has been very helpful in making me realize there is only so much you can do in a day, and if it all doesn't get done, there's always tomorrow!  Well, today it's the blog's turn to get updated, so sit back and enjoy a bit of news about the end of our year, and the start of this new one.

So, to begin properly, I need to wish you all a very Happy New Year.  Ok, so I could never quite figure out where 2011 went, and now I'm already almost a month into 2012...it doesn't seem possible!  But here we are, and already this year I've had two flights to Port-au-Prince to pick up teams, and two bumpy 8 hour bus rides to bring the teams the 150 miles up from Port-au-Prince to were we are.  I know you might be thinking why on earth have we gone back to taking the bus after all these years of using the 30 minute charter flights up to our area.  Well, it's a fair question, and here's the reason:  The airline has reduced it's flights to our area from 3 per day to just once a day.  And on top of that, they've raised the price for the privilege of flying with them -- once again.  So this means that the chance of getting a work team up here complete with all their luggage, which used to take 3-4 days, now takes over a week of me fighting and pushing and begging to please fly up the rest of the luggage.  And we get to pay more for the experience!  Well, usually by that time the team is already on their way back to where they came from.  So it ends up being a very stressful time.  On the bus, well it is a bit stressful too -- but it's pretty much over in an intense 18 hours by the time I fly down, pick them up and head on back on the bus.  So, it's worked out really well and the teams -- other than being a bit sore are pretty much ready to get up and working the next day.

Just what have these teams been doing?  Well the first one, a group, who came down through one of our partner organizations called Children's World Impact, was a fully medical team. They helped our partner hospital with consultations and surgeries for the week that they were here.  The second, our regular group from Snohomish, Washington,  had our mechanic on it, and he worked on all of our vehicles.  There were also some ladies and general handy men who did odd jobs around here for us and for some other missionaries in the area.  They have now moved on to another area in Haiti and are helping yet some other missionaries in the same way.  The third team is a group from various areas in Quebec.  They are still here and are making me really work hard on my French from time to time.  They are helping out the hospital as well doing odd jobs.  

Back here at the HOH, the kids put on a spectacular Christmas program once again. I'm reporting that it was spectacular, because that's what I've heard -- as you know I wasn't here.  Unfortunately, we lost most of the pictures that they took do to technical difficulties, but I managed to save a few and here they are:

Of course they also had the traditional Christmas meal where everyone including our staff have the chance to share a meal together.  Here's a picture of the smaller children sharing that meal:

The Christmas season is always a great way to end the year.  And we are always a bit sad to see it end.  But the new year, and the start of school that it always brings comes whether we are ready for it or not.  And now, everyone is back into their routine schedules. 

So, as we look to the days ahead, here are some items you could remember to pray on our behalf:

• For faithfulness for all of us to use our time wisely and do our studies.  I am still working hard on my Masters (but I am behind and need to spend more time on it).  Linda is also continuing to study at home for her High School class.  The school has offered her the option to keep up with the classes at home and just come to school during the exam period to write the exams.  So she is trying that to see how it goes.  All the kids are working in their various levels of education.  We had pretty good report cards over all after the first cycle.
• For God's continuing provision of our needs.  The help of food through the church in Miami has been such a huge help for us, there just aren't words to describe it.  Giving picked up through December as well, and that has helped us out so much, so please thank God with us for that.  Please continue to pray for us in this area as we wait on the Lord to provide for us each day what we need.
• There are a number of new children here with us with a variety of illness. One 14 year old boy named Wedlyn has a huge TB mass on his neck.  It makes it very difficult for him to swallow and breathe. He is very uncomfortable and weak.  Please pray for him as he recovers and adjusts to life here at the HOH for the time being.
• Tomorrow I'll be taking two of our kids as well as two ladies from our community to see an eye doctor in a nearby town.  Please pray that all would go well, logistics aren't always the easiest things to pull of around here!
• We have finally been able to restart our Bible studies and lessons.  We started the Community Boy's Club this past Saturday, and Sunday School with our kids on Sunday morning.  Slowly, we'll start working in the others as well.

Many thanks to you all for supporting us in the ways you are able to.  We know we couldn't be here doing what we are doing if weren't for all of you doing what you do.  So thanks, and God bless...

Not quite like I planned it...

Well, some times in life you just never know what's going to hit you next.  I am writing you from Texas.  Yep, I have left Haiti already... I wasn't supposed to or I should really say, I hadn't planned to leave so quickly, but things don't always go as planned...

As you know from my last blog update, I was having a lot of trouble with my allergies.  Well, all through this time I was having some trouble with my eyes, particularly my right eye.  Suddenly last weekend things took a sharp turn for the worse.  Starting Thursday night and through Saturday, I couldn't open my eye for very long, I would go hours without being able to open either eye due to the sharp pain and spasms in my right eye.  The doctors at our hospital, and the leaders of our mission decided I should head for the US immediately instead of waiting until my planned travel date next week.  You can imagine the rush of trying to get things together for me to leave, all the while me not being able to open my eyes for very long to see what I'm doing!  But I had lots of help, and everything that needed to be done was done. 

God worked out all the travel arrangements perfectly, and provided people to help me all along the way.  I flew to Port-au-Prince Sunday morning, and by Sunday night I was able to open my eyes without any trouble, but was really bothered by light and still had quite a bit of pain.  I traveled to Texas on Monday, and by the time I arrived here I was already doing much better.  On Tuesday, I saw my eye doctor who told me I have an eye disorder that isn't serious, but can be extremely painful if my eyes get too dry, as I found out! I didn't even know I had anything wrong with my eyes....I've never ever had a bit of problem with them before.

The treatment for the disorder doesn't seem to be to difficult, so I should hopefully be able to take care if it in the future.  To everyone who knew about these events while they were happening, thanks so much for your prayers and help in so many ways.  To those who didn't know, so sorry I couldn't tell you about it, but I couldn't see well enough to update the blog!  So, in the end I will be in the US a week longer than I had planned.  Once again feel free to call me if you wish to chat at all.  E-mail me at jenny,reitz@crossworld.org to get the phone numbers where I am at if you'd like to do that.  They are the same numbers as other trips, so if you have them already you can use them.

• Please remember Linda and the kids during this time.  It was very difficult for them to go through this, and now I will be gone for a longer period of time.
• Much work will fall on Linda, so pray for her to be able to handle all that will come up.  
• The kids are writing exams before their Christmas vacation so pray that they'll be able to concentrate and do a good job. 
• We have several work teams coming to the HOH right after I get back on the 31st, so pray as we still work out logistical details and have these teams come in.
• Continue to pray for God's provision of al of our needs, and thank Him for the way He has done so throughout this year.

This time it wasn't so gentle...

Yes, the reminder was much stronger yesterday when I opened mom's e-mail...I could imagine her wanting to ask me, what's up with you, this needs to be a priority.  And she has every reason to say such things, because one thing I got over and over again on my recent trip to the US was how important it is for me to update more often.  My answer to everyone is:  Yes, I am going to try ... as soon as I get back.  And then I got back, and before I could get through the stack of work on my desk, and the many e-mails in my inbox I got sick, and can't seem to get over it.  It's my same old woes all over again, I am allergic to Haiti -- ok, well something in Haiti -- although I am exploring the possibility that perhaps it is actually SOMEONE in Haiti that I am allergic to, but everyone I say that to says, "hey, you had this problem before you knew me!" and they are correct, so I should perhaps scratch that idea.  In any case, I am pumping 5 different allergy medications into my body, but so far I am just struggling everyday.  So, I guess you can imagine that only what is most urgent seems to get done these days. 

This afternoon I have determined that the blog is urgent, so I'm laying on my bed and typing to you all in between fits of coughing.  Oh please don't feel too bad for me I really am not suffering at all.  The weather is cool, there's Christmas music playing, I'm being catered to and I get all kinds of teas brought to me (there's a tea in Haiti for everything.  I'm pretty sure I've been through the entire list and some of them twice -- thankfully I like tea so even this isn't a hardship).  So are you ready to do some catching up?  Here goes...

Our trip to the US was wonderful.  Linda and I had such a blessed time visiting Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.  We were able to take part in their mission's conference and it was just a wonderful time.  It was so nice to meet new friends, and reconnect with those we knew already.  We had so much fun with their kids during the evening sessions with them, and were blessed with many many pairs of shoes.  Those shoes actually made it here to Haiti today!  As I write Linda is down in the office opening up the boxes and distributing shoes to everyone.  Thanks so much FBC, and thanks for a great time at your conference.

We then spent 10 days in Texas at my sister's place.  We were able to rest a bit there and were also able to visit some of our supporters and friends in the area.  We visited our good friends at Centennial Church (formerly Fellowship of Frisco), and had a wonderful time there one Sunday morning.  We were blessed by friends there who printed new prayer cards and brochures for ideas on how to help the HOH.  We'll be sending them around to our mailing list eventually and if anyone needs or wants copies of these to pass around to friends, please drop me an e-mail to let me know.

Then came 10 days in Florida.  These were not a rest in any way, but they were good days.  We visited with friends and family, and we shopped.  There are just some things that we need that we cannot purchase here in Haiti.  What a blessing it is to have a place in Florida to stay, shop and pack up things to send into Haiti and friends there who help us get them on the boat at the right time and here into Haiti.  We are hoping to receive the items we sent next week sometime. 

And that brings us back to Haiti -- and we are going to stay put for a while right?  Well, not exactly...that would make life just a bit too easy.  I will be traveling twice more before the end of the year.  This coming weekend I will be heading to Port-au-Prince to meet with the other CrossWorld lady missionaries in Haiti for a retreat.  We will be spending time with each other, resting, sharing and studying the Bible together.  We are looking forward to the time together as we don't really get to spend that much time with each other.  I'll be back the end of next week and will be preparing things for my departure again as I will be heading back to Texas to spend Christmas with my family there.  It's been quite a few years since I've been with them for Christmas, and thanks to some gifts from some very kind friends I will be able to do that this year.  My mom is so excited she's already counting down the days! 

Now, on to the kids -- just how are they doing?  Well, they are so busy into school.  This year seems way busier than other years. Everyone seems to be needing to study more, and there is just much less free time for everyone than before.  We haven't even been able to start up our Bible studies, and have just kept up with our family devotion times in the evenings because everyone's schedules are so full.  Linda really felt the stress of this trying to return to school, and then missing a month while we were traveling (our trip was planned before she decided to return to school). Also, her diabetes was really hard to keep under control with all that was going on and in the end, after a valiant effort she had to make the choice to stop school.  She really wanted to try and continue, but with the kids all having heavier schedules this year there was no way she could continue.  So, she is now back at the HOH with me in the mornings, and we are attempting to get back on top of things that had kinda fallen by the wayside.

We had quite a few new kids come to the HOH while we were gone.  One little 9 year old boy Kerly came just before we left.  He was quite sick then, but has just gotten worse over the past few weeks.  They are not sure what his problem is, but he almost died last night.  We were able to get a blood transfusion for him today and he really seemed to pick up after that, so please pray that he would continue to progress and that the doctors would know what to do for him.

To conclude, here's some prayer & praise requests:

• Please remember Linda and the kids here while I'm gone on my different trips.
• Pray for the kids with their heavy school schedules, exams for this semester will start soon.
• Pray for the salvation of several of the new kids who do not know Jesus.  One 8 year old little girl came crying into the office the other day after having seen the children's version of the Jesus film.  I asked her what was wrong and she cried out between sobs, "They nailed Jesus to the cross!".  It was a special time to share the Good News with her, and watch the stirrings start in her heart.  Please be in prayer for Schnaida.
• Pray for me as I look at the new year and what studies to do with the kids.  We'll be starting them back up in January, Lord willing, so pray that I'll be able to work out the details to doing that.
• One last thing, please pray for God's provision of our needs.  These have been tough months, we are doing all we can to cut costs and use our resources wisely.  Pray for continued wisdom in these areas.

That is it for now -- this got longer than I thought it would.  I will try and update with some pictures before I leave for the states in mid-December.  Blessings to you all...

A Gentle Reminder...

Yes, that's what I received from my mom about a month ago, gently reminding me that it had been a month since I'd updated the blog. It was very nice of her to remind me, not because I really needed the reminder (I knew it'd been a month), but it was just nice to know she cared about it enough to remind me. I was determined the next day to sit down and update the blog...I really was...I had such good intentions, but as the days started to once again fill up with the tyranny of the urgent, well the blog got pushed back again and again.

Now, today I am up against a different deadline. In two days, Linda and I leave for the US for a month. If I don't update now... I won't get a chance to for another month. And I just couldn't do that to you all. So here goes...

Just what has been keeping us so busy?

Well, to keep up with some of the themes from the last posting; the chicken pox hit us pretty good this time through. Up until last week we still had kids coming down with it; and older kids at that. Even some of our 20 somethings came down with it. We finally are getting a break from that, and hopefully we've seen the last of it for a while. We are so thankful that no one was too seriously sick, just miserable for the days they were down. But in the end everyone has successfully pulled through.

Another thing that has consumed much of my time these past few weeks has been the start of school. We have 51 kids/youth in school this year... Yep you read that right, 51... in 14 different schools and universities. So, I probably don't really need to tell you it takes quite a bit of effort on everyone's part to make sure everyone is in the right place, at the right time, with the right uniform, the correct books and their bill paid. Add to that the fact that Linda is also attending one of these schools this year and has to be at school in her place at 7am every morning...well, you get the picture, right? Here's a picture of 4 of our youngest kids in their uniforms. They were so excited on the first day of school!!

So, is anyone wondering how our little Loveson is doing? You aren't going to believe these next pictures. First is one taken several weeks ago. He's doing much better, but still has the white hair and discolored skin showing his severe malnutrition. He is eating "Kenèps" a favorite fruit among our kids here. Our own kenèp trees gave an abundance of fruit this year, much to the delight of young and old alike.

Loveson would have loved to update the blog for me like he did a while ago, but he has been much too busy with school himself here at the HOH. And much, much too busy sporting his new look...complete with totally black hair, and a more normal skin tone...Yep! An incredible difference. It is so exciting to see him doing so well. Thank you so much for your support that enables us to bring hope to these kids. We couldn't have done it without everyone doing their part. Thanks for yours!

Here are a few prayer requests to keep in mind for us over the next few weeks:

• Linda and my travels -- We will be in Oklahoma, Texas and Florida over the next four weeks. Pray for safety, some rest, and a productive time sharing the ministry of the HOH in various locations.
  
• The kids as we are gone -- Especially pray for St. Germain and Phania who are pretty much in charge when we go away. Pray for wisdom for everyone to make wise choices while we are gone, and to take care of each other well.
• School -- Everyone is studying (including Linda and myself). So we all need to give our studies the time and effort necessary to do well. And have understanding as we learn new things.
  
• God's provision -- Praise Him for the way He's provided for us already. We have received numerous food and other shipments from Miami over the past few months that have helped us out so much. Our actual donations are still very low these days, but so far we have not gone without anything we have needed. So we praise God for that, and ask that you pray for His continued provision for the ministry.
  

Chicken Pox - School - Irene

So, if you were picking out what comes next for us here at the House of Hope, just what would you pick? Sometimes I wish we actually could have a choice on what came next -- sort of like a multiple choice, would you like this, this or this. But then again, perhaps that wouldn't be so fun after all, especially if all them were hard and difficult choices (remember the choices God gave David as his punishment for counting the people when he wasn't told to).

Well, if we had a choice, we probably wouldn't have chosen Chicken Pox so quickly after our run in with Cholera; but that's what we got. We always are looking for the positive in things, so here's the big positive at least up to today -- only one of the kids has it! Yep, that seems almost too good to be true in a house of over 80 kids; but that's where it stands. So, we'll see if it stays there or if more kids get it. So, anyone curious as to who was the lucky kid? None other than my own little Nani...yep, and I just don't need much of an excuse to put her picture on the blog...so, once again, here she is...not with the pox...I couldn't do that to her! But you can just imagine her with spots all over her little body. For her it has been a total adventure, she had to give us a running commentary of every spot that shows up. "Oh look, there's one...Oh! and here's another one". She almost made you feel like you were the one missing out on all these spots...

School was approaching rather quickly. We were starting to feel the rush of needing to organize and get uniforms and books in order, and of course the thought of paying for all the entrance fees was also in the forefront of our minds. This week the Haitian government decided to postpone school for another month. Yes, this is not an unusual event n Haiti Well, this for us was an excellent turn of events. Having another month to get all of our ducks lined up in a row -- or kids as it would be around here, is such a great relief for us. This year we have a special student going to school. Linda has decided to return to school to try and finish her High School diploma. She has several tough years of study ahead of her, but we are proud of her for taking this step. For being a model citizen and huge help to many in our community, she was offered a full scholarship at the local high school, and will be in the same class as some of our kids -- how's that for having your mom go to school with you!

This does have one small drawback to it...we now have to keep the kids occupied here at the house for an extra month. We have learned;

that you can only make kids take a nap for so long...

And sticking the remains of Tati Jen's labels on your face is actually very fun, but only for so long...

And while talent shows are extremely fun to prepare for and put on, you really only can stand on your head for so long as well.
So, we will continue to seek out other activities to keep the kids happy, healthy and growing in all areas of life.

As I am writing this, we are in the process of getting pummeled by rain from Hurricane Irene. It hasn't been too bad as far as wind goes, but we are getting a lot of rain, and the homes in our area which are closest to the ocean have received damage. I will try and get out and about tomorrow to see just how much damaged was caused. As always we appreciate your prayers for us as we face the different things that come our way.

We'd ask you to continue to pray for our needs. Donations have been low, and yet the prices of things (especially food) continues to rise with every crisis we face. Almost all of the main foods we can find to purchase in our area of Haiti come from Miami. By the time we get ahold of them down here they are at least 3 times the price one would pay in Miami. For being one of the poorest countries, it is unbelievably expensive to keep food on the table down here. One way a church in Miami has decided to help us with this is by purchasing food directly in Miami and shipping it down to us on the boats. They have been doing this since after the earthquake, and have continued up until now. They had been using their own donated funds to make these purchases up until now, but are now running low and are not able to purchase for us as they did before. I know there might be people who are interested in helping us directly with sending gifts to this church so they can purchase food to send directly to us. If this is of interest to you, please contact me directly at: jenny.reitz@crossworld.org and I will give you more information on how you can do this.

In any case, we appreciate you, our faithful supporters for your prayers, your financial help and your encouragement along the way. Life in Haiti is certainly a roller-coaster ride, and like any good roller-coaster it's so much more fun with a lot of friends to enjoy it with you. So thanks for being part of what's going on here...we appreciate you all.

Cholera? Where?

The difference between this week and last week is unbelievable. It's like we've been transported to an identical village some place else over night. As fast as the outbreak occurred; so it ended. Yesterday the hospital didn't have more than 20 people in the cholera wards, and we haven't had any more sick kids here at the HOH at all. We are so thankful that it is over, and we are able to catch up on our work, sleep and health.

Through this ordeal, the hospital was given a Cholera Treatment Center, I'm putting up some pictures so you can see it, it looks really good -- and the best thing about it at the moment is that it is empty!! But it is there in case another outbreak should occur.

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With life returning to normal, we've been able to allow the "Our Hope" kids to go back to their home communities and families for a short visit. Pray with us that these young people would be a light for the Lord to their families and friends as they spend some time with them.

Next week, Monday, I will be taking 4 people (3 of our kids and a friend from PAP) to the eye clinic being held in a neighboring town. They have many specialists coming from the US, and all 4 of these people have pretty serious eye conditions. Please pray that we'll be able to get each of them the help they need, and that all would work out well.

Again, many thanks for your prayers and giving over the past week and a bit. God bless you, and please continue to pray that we would point others to Christ as we minister to the needs around us.

All are well

Greetings from a healthy House of Hope! Our cholera room is empty, and the rest of the house full of healthy people, for which we are extremely thankful. Many thanks for your prayers, it has been a roller coaster week for us and we appreciate you all holding us up in prayer and support.

Just wanted to tell you a story of a very dear pastor friend of ours. Pastor Emerable is 79 years old and came down with Cholera last week. He is one of our biggest fans, and supporters here in Haiti. He is the most amazing man I've ever known. He just shines forth the love of Jesus everywhere he goes, and lives a life of a servant to his fellow man. He spends his days hiking the mountains behind us and the neighboring town looking for people in need. It's not that he has a lot to give them. He himself is a stick thin man with almost no worldly possessions at all. He just knows how to help people. Bring them to the hospital if they are sick, bring them to the House of Hope if they are sick children, and share the love of Jesus with everyone.

We couldn't even begin to count the number of children he has brought to the HOH over the years, even hiking over 4 hours one way just to find them and bring them to our home. And once they are here, he doesn't ever forget them, he comes back at least once every two weeks to visit them and make sure they are ok. He is just an wonderful man.

Cholera took out a huge toll on his body though, by Wed. of this week, he was over the cholera, but his heart had been damaged. His family didn't want him to die in the hospital, so they asked me to drive him part way to his home. It was one of the saddest moment of my life. When they first put him in our vehicle, he was lying on his stretcher in the fetal position, skeleton thin and mostly unresponsive. When we reached our destination I went and took his hand; he grabbed mine. With a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye he said, "I sure do love you guys". I assured him of our love as well, and even more important the love of his wonderful Heavenly Father. It was such a beautiful, yet sad moment, as I was sure I'd never see this man again -- until we met up in Heaven one day.

Well, God had other plans. His family called us yesterday to tell us, he is doing extremely well, able to sit up, and even walk with some help. We never expected that and feel like it was just a gift from God at this moment. So I wanted to share it with you as well. Pray for Pastor Emerable, and for his family (his son is still recovering in a hospital in the south of Haiti from his Gillian-barre syndrome that he got after his run in with Cholera).

We had some visitors here from our supporting churches in Miami this past week; they left this morning. Now we are headed to the airport to pick up some dear friends and supporters from England today.

May you all have a blessed weekend, and I'll try to connect with you all again next week.