Monday, December 19, 2005

Christmas!


Christmas!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
Yesterday we celebrated Christmas at the HOH. We know it's a bit early, but that's what worked out the best for all of us here. Some of the young people are still writing exams this week right up until the 23rd when Linda and I will be leaving for vacation. We had a wonderful time yesterday, it was a lot of work preparing a meal for close to 180 people by the time you add all the children, staff, and close friends of the HOH. This year we left the program completely up to the Our Hope young people. They surprised us with a home made manger scene (pictured here) and quite a few nice songs and skits. They did a really great job, and of course were thrilled after all the guest left and they received their Christmas gifts. No one was disappointed this year! Thank you so much to all of you who sent them gifts. I wish I could bottle up all the excitement that was around here and pass it on to you all!



The excitement and joy was short lived when one of our little children passed away this morning. He wasn't doing well yesterday, but we were quite surprised when he passed away. We ask you to pray for John's family, his grandfather is a guard at our hospital. Unfortunately they waited too long to bring John to the hospital, and we weren't able to get him the treatment he needed in time. His family has had a rough time lately with many members quite sick, so they'd appreciate your prayers on their behalf.



As I mentioned already, Linda and I will be going on vacation at the end of this week. Linda will be going to see her family in Cap Haitian, and will be gone a week or so. I will be in the US visiting my family in Texas and will be gone a total of 3 weeks. We are thankful for the staff members we have who will be staying here at the HOH 24/7 during the time we are both gone. Please keep them in your prayers. Some of the Our Hope kids will be going along with Linda to Cap Haitian for a little vacation as well. Please pray for Linda and myself as well that we would get some much needed rest and relaxation!



All of the other children are doing very well, coming right along in their various treatments. We continue to search for a hospital for Jackson that will treat his leukemia, but so far we have had no success. We are in contact with one that we see as last hope, but we know our true hope is in Jesus, and we continue to pray and trust him that he will do His will in the life of Jackson. Please pray that as Linda goes and visits him over the holidays that she'd have a chance to present the Gospel to him again, and that the Holy Spirit would work in his heart and that he would accept the Lord as his Savior.



We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. We'll write another update just as soon as we can!

Monday, December 12, 2005

Christmas and Mangoes!


Christmas and Mangoes!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
Great news! All the Christmas gifts that we had hoped would get here before Christmas have made it safe and sound. What a blessing, thank you for your prayers, and thank you so much to all of you who sent gifts to make Christmas a special time for our kids. Linda and I will be sending a lot of time getting things ready to celebrate Christmas here at the HOH. This year we will be having our party on Sunday the 18th, since the school students will be writing exams all through the next week. That is another prayer request for you all, they started writing exams today. Pray that they would be diligent in studying and would do better this cycle then they did on the last one.



We've continued to receive several new children. One of them is a cousin to Manouchka that we introduced several weeks ago. He is extremely malnourished and we are waiting for the results to see if he has TB as well. Kendly, Sabrina and most everyone else is doing just great. Thanks for praying for them. Marc Donald is pictured here enjoying a mango that a neighbor brought over for the kids. Everyone loves mangoes around here, and we don't usually get to have them at this time of year, but sure are thankful for the gift!



Hope you have a really great week. Please continue to pray as we continue to seek out research for Jackson, Linda's nephew who has Leukemia. We've come upon a lot of dead ends, and have just a few inquiries out there yet, but we continue to pray that God would open the door if it is his will.

Monday, December 05, 2005

No more Blacky


No more Blacky
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
It was a sad weekend for us as we lost our old faithful dog Blacky (pictured here...ok, so he was a little camera shy, all I could find was a picture of the back of him!). He was very old, and was suffering a lot, so in one sense his death was a relief, but he was here a long time, and we all were used to him and loved him. So it was sad.



We are having a difficult time finding help for Jackson. The hospitals we have contacted so far have turned us down. If any of you reading this have any contacts that you could get in touch with that might be able to help us out please let us know. So, please pray that we'll have wisdom to know how far to go to find help, and when we just have to stop and say we can't do anything else, that's a hard decision to make. Also pray for him as he is suffering a lot, it is hard for his family.



We seem to be doing pretty good as far as the kids go here at the HOH this week, everyone seems to be coming along nicely, so thankyou for your prayers on our behalf. We hope you have a really great week.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Christmas!


Christmas!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
Greetings! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at the HOH! We have had a lot of fun decorating, and watching the surprise on the faces of the children here. They just love all the color and the lights. For some of them they've never seen anything like this before, and children who have been here for a Christmas already are eager to fill in the new children on all the exciting details...especially about the gifts that so many of you send us. That is one request we have for you this week. Many gifts have been sent, but none have made it here yet. Please pray that the boat would get here before then, and that at least some of the gifts would be on the boat. We enjoy making this one Christmas a happy occasion for the children who are only with us this one time, and of course always enjoy having the extra opportunities to share with them the Good News of Jesus born so long ago!



We had a very nice week with Jeb and Leah Bland here. (Notice I didn't say James this time all you Elverson people!). Leah helped us get our prayer letter all ready to send out, and Jeb worked with our guys to start repairing the burned out building. They were able to get some posts in, and the guys are continuing to work on that this week. We know it's going to take a while to get the building ready to be used again, but it is nice to see progress starting on it. We'd appreciate your prayers that God would supply the needed funds to complete this project.



Kendly is doing much better this week, thank you so much for your prayers. The Dr. has put him on TB treatment, so hopefully that will be the answer for him. We've had a few new children come to the HOH this past week. There are just so many with very severe cases of TB and malnutrition. Please continue to pray for Haiti and this very difficult time for so many people.



We found out last week that Linda's 9 year old nephew has a very serious form of Leukemia. As you can imagine, it has been a difficult time for us all. What is especially difficult is that there is absolutely no treatment available for him in Haiti. Our hearts are just breaking for little Jackson, he is so precious, and is suffering terribly. We are starting to look into options to see if we can find a hospital in the US that would take him and give him treatment. We know there are such places, so please pray that God would direct us, give us wisdom, and prepare the way for us, if this is His will for Jackson to receive the treatment he needs. In the meantime pray for Linda's family, as you can imagine this is a difficult time for them all, and there has been so much expense involved in just finding out what has been making him sick, it has been a very difficult time for them all.



We appreciate you all and thank God for you. May you have a great week.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Pray for Kendly


Pray for Kendly
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
We could really use your prayers for little Kendly. He just doesn't seem to be coming around at all. Nothing we do seems to be working for him. Please pray for wisdom for us and the doctors to know what to do. Thanks you for prayers on our behalf. If you would please also pray for one of our supporting churches as well. The Simcoe Gospel Chapel in Simcoe, ON, is very close to the HOH, they send down teams every year, and we all have become close to a number of the members over the years. We just heard that one man, Rod Copeland, who had come down and helped us out a lot last February had an accident and died this past Monday. Please pray for Rod's family, and for the church as they go through this difficult time.



We have a busy week planned as we have some visitors here from PA. James Bland is here and is starting to work on the building that we had that burned this past year. His daughter Leah is helping me with some office work and playing with the children.



We want to wish all of our American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have purchased a Haitian turkey to make for our visitors...it will certainly be a different Thanksgiving meal than they've ever eaten before!

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Steady On!


Steady On!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
Where does the time go? It's hard to believe another week is almost over, and so much for my attempt to get an update posted at the beginning of the week!

We have continued to receive new children, with several others being admitted this week. We were also able to send a few home, so that helps balance things out a bit. We had asked you to pray for Manouchka who has a very severe case of TB. Here she is pictured with her mother who is staying here with her for a little while as she is a very "high maintenance" child! Once she is better and doesn't need so much care her mom will leave her here for the rest of her treatment. Please continue to pray for Manouchka, she doesn't like to eat anything or take her medications, so that of course makes it very difficult to treat her TB.

Dieunika and Wesley are doing very well, and we think we finally have Sabrina and Kendly back on the road to health again. But please continue to pray for them. A new 8 year old boy named John came in yesterday also with a severe case of TB, he is very sick and could use your prayers as well.

We have had almost a week of rain and wind, with only a few spurts of sun, and believe it or not we've had to finally pull out the "winter" clothes! Everyone received a sweater this week, and is often seen layering up with several layers of clothes to keep warm. I know all of you who are from up North are probably getting a kick out of this, you'll really laugh when I tell you that the actually overnight temperatures have been 79 degrees F. But it feels "cold" to those who aren't used to it, especially with a wind coming off the ocean right through our windows all night.

We thank God for his provision for all of our needs, and appreciate your prayers for his continued provision. As you can imagine, so many really sick children puts a strain on our resources!

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Recently Baptized!


Recently Baptized!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
It was a great weekend! What a joy is was to see Jean Daniel, Mikerlange, Dada and Vonette (Pictured here the day of their baptism) be baptized and join the fellowship of our local church here in La Pointe. We already have other young people express a desire to be baptized when the church has another baptism in March. It's so exciting to see this spiritual growth in the lives of our young people.

On Sunday evening Ronel, Manno, Stephanie and Vonette sang in a concert with their worship group "Alleluia". It was encouraging last night to hear Stephanie tell how a Bible study we just recently concluded called "It's Not about Me" helped her change her attitude towards singing in public. She said she used to sing and take all the glory for herself. She has since learned that we are created for the Glory of God, and now when she sings she sings for God's glory. In her words she won't "steal" God's glory anymore! God is working and changing lives...thank you so much for your prayers on behalf of our young people.

We welcomed back Dieunika, a six year old girl we had asked you to pray for previously. She was so sick the Dr. decided to take her from the HOH and put her in the hospital for a while. It is truly a miracle that she is still alive. She went through a very rough time, her parents had even thought of just taking her home so she could die at home. But God had other plans and now she is doing just great!

We've also had several other very sick children admitted in the past week. 7 year old Manouchka is extremely sick with TB and malnutrition, and 5 year old Wesly has returned to the HOH for the second time extremely malnourished as well. Please keep these two in your prayers. Also, our babies, especially Sabrina and Kendly, are having a really rough time getting over the flu we had going around the HOH. Please pray for them specifically. Sabrina was doing so well, but has really gone backward health wise this past week. Please pray for her to start coming around again.

These past few children coming to the HOH puts our numbers at 102 children and young people. Please pray as Linda, the staff and I strive to take care of the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of all these precious ones. Please pray as well that God would send us the finances we need to take care of increasingly high numbers of needy ones with prices of everything continuing to rise in our part of Haiti.

We appreciate you all and your prayers are an encouragement to us. Thank you for your prayers on behalf of our friend Mark Fletcher, we received news that he was able to return home yesterday to spend a few days with his family before returning to have surgery this coming Monday, so please continue to pray for him and his family.

God bless you all!

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Prayer needed please


Prayer needed please
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
We have an urgent prayer request that we would ask you all to pray for. A good friend of ours, Mark Fletcher is very sick. The Fletcher family, who lives in Nova Scotia, Canada is very close to all of us at the HOH, and are the "Long Distance Loving" family of three of the Our Hope kids here; Vonette, Dieujuste and Desimene. They have always treated these three HOH kids as part of their family, and all of the children and young people here love and appreciate them. The news this week that Mark has a cancerous tumor and will be operated on during this next week brought sadness to us all. Please help us pray for Mark, his wife Cindy, and their 7 children. Thank you very much, we appreciate it as does the family.

Friday, November 04, 2005

Growing in the Lord


Growing in the Lord
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
This past summer three of our young ladies, Phania, Vonette and Stephanie took the first Child Evangelism course on how to teach the Gospel to children. These past few weeks they have been working hard completing all the homework they have to do in order to finish the course. They have been spending time practicing their new skills on the children here at the HOH, who are always a willing and lively audience. Here's a picture of Stephanie teaching them a verse (Hebrews 7:25a). It is exciting to watch them learn how to teach God's Word to children and see them grow through this whole process.



We are also excited about 4 of our young people who have decided to follow the Lord's example in baptism. They have spent the past month or so attending baptismal classes at our local church, and will be baptized this coming Sunday morning. Jean Daniel, Mikerlange, Vonette, and Dada are the 4 who will be baptized. How good it is to see these young people taking steps forward in their spiritual walk. We'd appreciate your prayers for these young people, especially as they have to give their testimonies today in front of the church members.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Dr. Boucher's visit


Dr. Boucher's visit
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
Good morning, and a Happy New week to you!

We had a very nice weekend here at the HOH as our good friend Dr. Boucher came for a visit (pictured here with Linda and I at a birthday party). It's always like Dad coming home for the kids, they love him so much and have such a good time when he comes. He also preached the sermon in church Sunday morning from James 3. He encouraged us all to live with Godly wisdom in the midst of a society that most often shows the opposite of that. It was great to have him with us.

Daphno and Kendly are doing great, thank you for praying for them. This week it's Sendilia, Lovely and Sabrina who aren't doing too good, so you could pray for them. Linda is also not feeling well, and could use your prayers.

We received news from Carl Evens in Port-au-Prince. Unfortunately, he was not in the top 100 students (out of 3,000 plus who tried) who wrote the Med School exam, so he will not be attending there this year. He is still waiting for news on the other exams (Agriculture/Veterinary/Dentistry), and will then know in which area of study he will enter. We are proud of him for his hard work, and know that God has a plan for him studying something in the university in PAP and are waiting to find out what it is! Please do pray for him though, he was very sad discouraged (as was his friend Toto from up here who didn't make it either) that he didn't make it.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Prayer needed


Prayer needed
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
We'd appreciate your prayers for 2 year old Daphno and 7 month old Kendly. Both these little boys are having a tough time these days. They are both on IV's and not feeling well at all. Daphno has a very severe case of TB, and is being treated for an infection as well. Kendly is being treated for both an infection and malaria and malnutrition. So thank you for lifting them up in prayer. Other than the two of them most everyone is doing fine here at the HOH. The students are working through their exams, thank you for your prayers for them. Most have brought back good reports, feeling that they have done well...I guess we'll see when the grades come in, but it's good to hear they feel they've done well.



Last night we had quite the commotion on our yard. At about 9 pm a huge pig came in through one of the gates, and it was quite an ordeal getting him to leave again. It was hilarious watching all the kids trying to steer the pig in the direction of the gate again, half of them were scared of it! I wished I had a video camera to record the event, there sure is never a dull moment around here!

Monday, October 24, 2005

Exam Week!


Exam Week!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
Good Morning,

This week is exam week for our students. They would sure appreciate your prayers on their behalf. This is Rosemène and Desimène in their uniforms on their way to school this morning. Due to the exams we've stopped all Bible studies this week, but will continue them again next week.



We also have a virus going through the house, so people are dropping one after the other. It has pretty much gone through all the babies which is always the hardest part. Kendly is still having a tough time, and is on IV's, but the rest seem to have made it through ok. Now it's spreading through the older kids and young people, and yes even Linda and I. So thanks for your prayers in that regard as well.



Tropical Storm/depression Alpha went through here pretty much all day yesterday. We didn't have much wind, but did get quite a bit of rain, and had a chance to pull out all the winter sweaters!



Hope you all have a great week. Please thank God with us for all the wonderful things that we received from the boat that came in, and thank you to all of you who sent things. Please continue to pray and ask God to supply our daily needs, and that we'd be faithful in His service here at the HOH.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Alson - ready for Christmas!

When told to pull out some of the nicer clothes for the classes we have each morning with the children, Alson selected this cheery outfit. Linda and I had a good laugh when he showed up to school in it! It is only 2 months to Christmas! What made us even happier however was the fact that Alson accepted Jesus as his Savior yesterday after school devotions. Praise the Lord for a new brother in Christ! 8 year old Alson is here at the HOH being treated for TB. Pray that during the remaining months that he is here Alson would grow in his walk with the Lord.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Carl Evens - Home for a visit!

We are all happy for the chance Carl Evens (our boy who is studying in Port-au-Prince) has had to come back to the HOH for a short visit. Thank you so much for your prayers for him over these past few weeks. He feels that he wrote all of his exams well, and now we wait to hear if he got into Med School, or into another line of study. We think he should find out the results this coming Friday, as soon as we know we'll let you know.

Jenny and Linda Posted by Picasa

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Thank You!

Sabrina is doing much better today, thank you for your prayers. We do not know what was wrong with her, but she is better, so we thank you!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Prayer needed for Sabrina!


Prayer needed for Sabrina!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
Remember tiny Sabrina who came to us in such a terrible condition we didn't think she'd live? She was doing so well these past few months, putting on weight and starting to really come around. This morning she has woken up very lethargic, and distant. She hardly shows any response to stimulation at all. We are unsure what the problem is, she doesn't have any other symptoms showing us something is wrong. We are running some tests today, pray we can find the problem, and that she'll get back on track. Others who need your prayer are Benitha and Licia who are both not feeling well.



The boat has finally come in, so we are looking forward to receiving lots of boxes and supplies today and the rest of this week. Other than that things are pretty much going as normal. We appreciate your prayers on our behalf. Please continue to pray for health and wisdom for Linda and I as we serve the Lord here. Continue to pray as well for God's provision for our financial needs to function each month here at the HOH.



Pray as well for Maika. Yesterday she left the HOH for good. She wanted to go home and be with her father. We kept putting it off, because we knew what hard times her father was going through, and how difficult it would be for her there, but she just kept doing bad things in an attempt to make us send her home. When her disobedience was here at the HOH we could deal with it, but she finally started to give problems in school and in our local community, and we felt like it was time that we allow her to go where she wants to go. It will not be easy for her, but please pray that she will not cause more problems for her father and will obey him. Pray also that she would grow in her spiritual walk. We will miss her, but we haven't seen her so happy as when she was leaving here with her dad in a long time, so we have to let her go and know that God will still be with her where she is going.

Wonder Boy!!!


Wonder Boy!!!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
He eats, he laughs, he cries, he sings, and now he is trying to talk as well. What a miracle! We never really thought 8 year old John Kerry would do much of anything, especially laughing, talking and singing. But everyday that goes by he seems to wake up more and more, it is so exciting to watch. He has been with us just over a month now, and has gained 6 pounds, now weighing in at 24 pounds. Thank you so much for your prayers for John, and please continue to pray that he'll continue to progress and become a healthy little boy.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Oh Baby!!


Oh Baby!!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.
We keep getting in more babies here. Yesterday two children went home, and we received two babies to replace them, so we are still at 100 total, but with 22 babies...wow! Many of them are very young, we don't remember ever having so many before. Most of them are malnourished, but are quickly gaining weight as we fill them up with milk and love.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Jenny's new Office Assistant in training

Dieula is growing up fast and is such a joy to have here at the HOH. She wants to be involved in everything and is very quick to learn. She seems to have the right technique for working on the computer already!

Monday, October 03, 2005

100 And Counting!!

Good morning, and Happy start of another week! We are finally back online at the HOH, it’s amazing how dependent you get on something like the Internet and e-mail. We are glad to have a reliable system now though, and we’ve even been able to get the Our Hope Kid’s computer online so they can start to learn how to use the computer and Internet/e-mail.

We have received an unusually high number of very malnourished children over the past two weeks. Eight children from ages of 5 months to 5 years old have been admitted to the HOH. All of them have very severe malnutrition. This puts our number at 100 and also the highest number in both Linda and my time here. The names of these new kids are: Rocken (1 1/2 year old boy), Lovena (4 year old girl), Landie (5 month old girl), Mathias (3 year old boy), Sendilia (1 ½ year old girl), and Dieunika (5 year old girl), Blandine (9 month old girl), and Stevenson (10 month old boy). As you can imagine our house is just hopping busy!

Two of these children really need your prayers, Mathias and Dieunika are not doing well at all, their parents are here with them as they are in a bad way. The doctors want Mathias to go to PAP since they aren’t sure what exactly his problem is, Mathias’ parents are not able to take him at this point, and are still seeking the Lord’s guidance on what they should do. Dieunika is just so very malnourished, she is not doing well at all and could use your prayers as she is suffering a great deal.

John Kerry is continuing to improve, he is gaining weight and eating a lot, but has not made any other improvements as far as comprehension or talking goes. Sabrina is doing great, her family came to see her on the weekend and were very surprised at how great she looks!

Carl Evens has finished writing the entrance exam for Med School and now must wait for the results. In the mean time he will write entrance exams for several other studies in case he doesn’t make it into Med School he can study something else, and transfer later on. He will be writing an exam for Dental school starting tomorrow. He really appreciates your prayers. He felt like he did a good job on the first and third days of the exams, but on the second day didn’t feel quite so confident. Please continue to pray for him and for God’s will in his life for this coming school year.

Please pray as well for Evelte. Many of you who have been here in the last year will remember him as the little burned boy in the wheelchair who had an incredible smile and attitude in spite of everything that he’s been through. Well, on Saturday we received news that his mother had passed away. We were all very shocked by the news as we’ve known her for a long time. Evelte took the news hard as he was very close to his mom. Some of the older kids took Evelte to the funeral yesterday. But he could sure use your prayers during these difficult days.
We appreciate your prayers on our behalf very much, and thank God for each and every one of you.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

A great week has started!

Everyone is healthy, not an easy thing to have happen in a house with so many people living together! School is well underway, and we are all starting to get back into a routine that makes life a bit easier.

We’ve been able to start all of our Bible studies, and are once again enjoying the time to spend learning God’s Word together, and growing in our walk with Him. Please pray for me as I put together these lessons, that I’d have the wisdom and time to put into it to make them beneficial to all who participate. We even had a nurse from the hospital ask if she could start participating as well. So we just ask you to pray that God’s Word would change the lives of many people through the ministry of the HOH.

We praise God that the HOH received the full amount of what our budgeted needs are during this past month. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf for God’s financial provision of our needs, and please continue to pray for that in the coming month.

John Kerry is starting to get better, he eats well, but doesn’t seem to like to drink anything, we have to fight with him to get him to drink milk, but already the food is making a physical difference for him. He responds a bit more to being touched, but still doesn’t speak, and we are not sure just how much brain damage has already been done from the extreme malnutrition over such a long period of time.


Sabrina is really beginning to do well, smiling and being generally happy while starting to put on some weight. Please continue to pray for her recovery from a very serious case of TB.

Yesterday two young girls Rosemise and Evelyne both around 12 years of age accepted the Lord as their Savior during the classes that Linda has with the children each morning. We praise God for these two new sisters in the faith. They both have TB and will be with us several more months. Please pray for their spiritual growth during the time that they are with us.

John Wisly is really struggling in school, we’d ask you to pray for him. He is repeating his grade for the 3rd time, and still just can’t seem to get the concepts. Unfortunately there is nothing like special education classes in the school system here where he can get more help. We are trying to help him at home as much as we can, but could really use your prayers for him as well.

Carl-Evens is busy preparing for his entrance exams into Med school in Port-au-Prince. He will write the exam on the 29th. Please pray for him, there will be several thousand people writing the exam and only the top 100 will be taken. He has studied hard all summer, and feels pretty confident. Please pray that he would have clarity as he writes the exam, and that God’s will would be done as far as him getting into Med school this fall. He will also be writing the exam to get into the Dental School program just in case he doesn’t make it into Med School, he can start in Dental School and won’t miss out the whole year. He is willing to study either of these two things, and desires God’s will be done in his life. These past few months in Port-au-Prince have been very good for Carl, he has grown a lot, and we were very pleased to see his progress when we were there last week. Please keep holding him up in prayer.

We trust you all have a great week, and want you to know we appreciate you all very much.
God bless,

Jenny for the HOH

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Pray Pray Pray....

We do appreciate your prayers and would ask you to continue to pray for:

  • Health, Linda and I seem to be trading spots being sick these days. She is now down with malaria and could really use your prayers.
  • All the children/young people in school, that they would be good testimonies for the Lord to those around them, that they would work hard and learn all they can.
  • The sick children we have with us, especially John Kerry, Nelson and Magalie.
  • Our internet is down again at the HOH. I am using the hospitals. We are trying to get a new system set up so our internet will be more reliable that it has been. It will be a bit costly, but in the end worth it we feel.
  • For God's provision of all of our needs, and thank him for what he has already provided for us.
  • For the Bible lessons and studies that are going to begin this evening. That I would have wisdom in preparing them, that the kids and young people would have open and receptive hearts, and that the Holy Spirit would open our minds to learn.

And there's more...

In the midst of all the running back and forth to and from PAP, our visitors leaving, we also had school starting for all the "Our Hope" kids, and a number of new children come into the HOH quite sick. I mentioned Sabrina in a recent update, and wanted to tell you that she is doing much better, thank you for your prayers for her. Nelson is a 3 year old boy who is at the HOH with his mother. He is extremely sick with malnutrition,a nd has lost sight in both of his eyes due to lack of Vitamin A. There might be a chance that he'll be able to see a little bit out of one eye, but not a lot of chance. Please pray for his recovery. Magalie is a 18 month old little girl who is also sick with severe malnutrition, but she is coming along very well. We also admitted a 15 year old boy named Stevenson who has TB. He is still adapting to the HOH, but pray that he'll soon feel at home, and that he'd be open to the gospel while he is here with us.

The one case we really need your prayers on, however, is a tiny 8 year old boy named John Kerry Fleuristil. He was abandoned at the hospital last week, with only a paper from the mayor of a local town telling us a bit about him (name, age etc...). He only weighs 18 pounds!!! I thought I had see just about everything in my time here in Haiti, but I was wrong...I've never seen anything so sad in my life. He is nothing but bones, and has yet to respond to us at all. He is in his own little world, doing only what he must to survive and stay alive...which before he came to the HOH included eating whatever he could find to put in his mouth. We are not sure at this point how much of a mental problem he has, or how much is due to severe trauma at this point, but please do pray for John Kerry. Pray also for us to have wisdom to help him get back his strength and health.

School has started, and the house is bustling with the activity of 40 some children/young people coming and going throughout the day. We in the end had two of the "Our Hope " children who didn't stay with us. Helene has returned to live with her family here in La Pointe, since she has finished school. And Jamesky has gone to live with an aunt. We will continue to pay for his schooling, but he will live at home.

Welcome!!

Greetings to all of our friends, family and supporters. We have finally decided to become part of the "blogging" world, as our list of e-mail updates just got too long to send all at one time. We hope this is an easy way for everyone to keep in touch with the HOH and what is going on on a regular basis. I will try to update this blog as often as I possibly can, so check it out once a week or so and keep up with what's going on at the HOH...if you can!

These past couple of weeks have been just a whirlwind of activity. In my last update I told you I had to go to Port-au-Prince to see a dentist. And that all went very well, I found a good dentist and was able to get my tooth fixed, so I thank you for your prayers, and thank the Lord for working all that out. It was also good to see some of our missionaries in PAP and get to catch up a bit with them.

Our friends from England left about a week after I got back from PAP, we enjoyed having them here and were sad when they had to leave. Just a few days before they left Linda started having trouble with pain and spasms on her right side. It all came to a head last Thursday night when she started having acute pain and we had to take her to the hospital. The doctors determined she was having a gall bladder attack and suggested I take her ASAP to PAP to get a sonography.

So on Saturday morning we left for PAP. We were able to get the sonography on Saturday as well and got back better results from that doctor than we had been anticipating. We are hoping to be able to control things with a better diet in the future, and are hoping that she will not need to undergo surgery to remover her gall bladder. The doctor here in La Pointe has given us to December, when the doctor in PAP asked us to come back and redo the sonography. If the results are better she won't have to go through surgery. If not, she will have to have it removed.