Monday, May 21, 2007

He Won!!!

We are so proud of Manno. He won, and is one of the two finalist for our region of Haiti. Now, early in June he will be going to the capital city, Port-au-Prince to compete with the other 13 finalists. This is a big deal for him, and we are proud of him! Please continue to pray for him, that he would be a good example to the others in the competition, and that he would be a light shining for the Lord as he continues to use the talents God has given him to bring Him glory. We'll keep you posted as time goes by.

I am currently in the US. I'm missing all my kids and Linda, especially baby Ciliana, you can see in this picture she is doing just great. We don't have a final answer yet with regards to her blood tests, we hit some walls, which I guess is normal as we are walking on new and unfamiliar territory for us, but hopefully we'll get things straightened out, and will be a help, not oly to her but to others in the same situation as she is in the future. At this point we won't know more until I go back to Haiti and can take her back to PAP.

I've been in touch with Linda and the kids and they are all doing just fine. School is coming to an end, so they are getting ready for exams. Some will be writing government exams this coming month, so they could really use your prayers. I'll try and list who they are before they write their exams. Thank you so much for your prayers, and for your patience as I'm traveling and not able to update this quite as often.


Friday, May 04, 2007

A Star among us!

Over the past few months the phone company that gives us the cell phone service in our area of Haiti has been having a contest to find a rising star in the area of music. One of our boys, Manno (Emmanuel Pierre), entered the contest, and out of the 1,000 contestants in our department of Haiti, he made it to the top 10. This week is voting week. The top two out of these 10 will go to the capital city, Port-au-Prince, to continue in the contest. We are proud of Manno, his hard work, and his love for the Lord. Please pray for him that he would use this chance to sing as a chance to be a strong witness for the Lord. We'll let you know if he makes it to the finals, but we are proud of him either way.

As you know, I spent almost a week in Port-au-Prince meeting with the other CrossWorld missionaries, and a couple from the CrossWorld Home Staff. We had a nice time together up at the Lodge, in the very cool mountains above PAP. I was also able to take Ciliana to get her blood tests, we are waiting for those results.

Thank you to those of you who expressed your condolences for the death of our friend and former HOH kid, Celibon. Our young people were able to participate in Celibon's funeral while I was away. They sang a beautiful song together, and I have heard that it was very well attended. Continue to pray for his family and friends who are missing him very much, and also that as they talk about his life, others would come to know Jesus because of how much he imitated Christ in his daily walk.

The two men from Compassion Canada were able to make it here after all, and we had a nice visit with them. We also enjoyed a visit from David & Phyllis Schmid, and John and Rachael Sherwood from the CrossWorld home office this past week. Now we have one more group of men coming for just one day this weekend before I take off and go to the US for a few weeks. It has been a busy year for visitors!

Most of the children are doing pretty good. Only Blandjina is still struggling, but she is doing better, and we hope in a few weeks she'll be fine. Many of our students are really studying hard as end of the year exams are coming up really fast. Linda and I are preparing things for my travels, so we are all managing to stay busy.

We'd appreciate your prayers over the next few weeks, as I travel in the US and Canada, and as Linda stays here and holds down the fort (and she's not been feeling well for quite a while now). I will try to update as often as I can while I'm away. I will be in Corsicana, Texas first, then will be traveling with my sister up to Seattle, then up into Canada, over to Calgary and Edmonton, and then back again. It will be a busy few weeks, but I am looking forward to seeing a number of different friends and supporters of the HOH. If you'd like to get in touch with me while I'm in the US just send me an e-mail and I'll give you my phone numbers. I'd be more than happy to talk with you! Thank you for keeping in touch and for your prayers. We just admitted a little malnourished 2 year old boy named Kedner, so you could keep him in your prayers as well. God bless, til next time...