Wednesday, December 14, 2016

A nice calm...

It's not often I get to write an update at a time when all seems to be calm at the House of Hope.  I do realize that "calm" is probably a very relative term.  Calm in some of your houses will likely look very different than "calm" in a house full of 100+ bodies at any given time!  But, calm is how things feel at the HOH at this moment, and it feels good.  It reminds us of how many things we have to be thankful for.  Here are a few that have encouraged us and we hope it encourages you as well:
  • After a fairly rough virus went through the house over the past couple of weeks, it's nice to have everyone in good health.  We continue to pray for Lyse as she still needs blood transfusion every couple of weeks.  But, a pediatric friend in Quebec is running some tests on her blood and we hope for a more complete diagnosis soon.
  • The boat arrived last week bringing some new Christmas decorations and also some Christmas gifts for our staff.  The Christmas gifts for the kids from our partnering church in Pennsylvania are presently on the boat and if all goes well should arrive before Christmas.  These things have everyone excited about Christmas.  Here's some pictures of the decorations...




Here are some wreaths they made out of old Christmas cards... 


  • We have been receiving numerous financial gifts that have helped us pay back over half of the money that we owed to our partnering hospital.  This is a big relief for us to see that number getting lower instead of higher and we are so thankful to all who have helped us out in this way.  We also have been receiving more monthly gifts that will help us not get back in debt so badly in the future.  Thanks also to those of you who have been praying with us about this need.  We ask that you continue pray as we try to finish off this debt in the New Year.
  • Our kids have almost completed this semester of school.  They are in the process of writing their exams, and should be done in the next week or so -- just in time for Christmas vacation.  They work hard and study hard and certainly appreciate your prayers for them in this area. 
  • We just love this time of the year.  It creates such excitement and fun for our kids.  But the real reason it is such a special time for us is because it's about Jesus.  That he became one of us, one that we can relate with very much at the HOH -- a poor baby.  And that he lived and died and rose again to save us and give us life -- this is our true Hope.  What greater reason is there to celebrate?
So you see, there is much to be thankful for and each one of you plays a part in making this thing called Hope happen at our House! 

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas in your corner of the world.   Thanks for reaching out and touching ours.




 

Friday, November 11, 2016

Catching up

Greetings to you all from a wet, soggy House of Hope.  Almost since the hurricane went through, there has been constant storms and rain showers go through our area of Haiti.  While for us it has been mostly annoying dealing with constant damp and muddy conditions, for many others it has caused flooding and destruction of property and more loss of life.  
 Nannie trying to stay dry on her way to school during the rain.
 
As a result of one of these storms, we lost one of the lovely trees in our yard.  We are very grateful that it fell in a direction that was away from our buildings and didn't cause a lot damage, but we did have to cut the rest of it down.  It took a couple of days work to get it all cut up and moved off our yard.  Thankfully, we were able to make charcoal out of it and will be able to use it for cooking for a while.

The boys working on clearing out the fallen tree

Another project the kids and Linda have been working on is updating our kitchen.  We were blessed by a gift from a partner, who visited us last year, to be used to update the kitchen.  This project includes getting new propane cooking burners...
And new tiles on the floor and part of the walls...


and paint on the walls...

We still have to find and purchase stainless steel counters and tables to be used for food prep and the kitchen project will be finished.  This is something we've wanted to do for a really long time and we are so thankful to the people who put money towards us accomplishing this project.

As you can imagine, there are so many logistical details that go into running a ministry like the House of Hope and we cherish each and every supporter that helps us in many different ways.  After many days of waiting for the rain to slow down so the boat could be unloaded we finally were able to receive a shipment of food to fill up our pantry...
These food shipments come to us from our friends in Miami and are such a blessing to us.  Lately, they have had trouble raising enough funds to send in full shipments of food, so we make do with what they are able to send and purchase the rest ourselves in Haiti.  If anyone would be interested in directly helping them supply this food shipment for us, we could link you with their organization to help in this area. 

This food shipment came in just in time to help us receive a few new children into our home.  The first of these children is a young girl named Chanika.  She has Tuberculosis in her stomach and will need care at the House of Hope for at least the next 9 months to a year to receive treatment and become healthy again...

Several young children have come with severe malnutrition and skin infections.  These children remain at the House of Hope along with a family member who helps us care for them.  They will only stay a few weeks, up to a month until the child is healthy again.  We have a constant rotation of these small children in our home.  

Another important addition this past week is 4 month old John Kerry (it is a boy, in spite of the pink outfit!)...

The reason John Kerry's admittance to the House of Hope is so important is because of his parents.  Both of his parents are significantly intellectually challenged.  There is very little if any help for people with these disabilities in our area of Haiti and John's mom knows nothing of taking care of a small baby.  We are happy to be able to provide them with a safe place to stay while Linda and our staff take time to show and teach her how to care for her child.  
 
We love being able to provide hope in all of it's forms for those in need around us. Thank you so much for your part in helping us do this.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Some News

Greetings to you all from the House of Hope.  Linda and the kids asked me to thank you specifically for your prayers for us over the past few weeks.  They are all doing well, the kids are in school and life seems pretty much back to normal.  The only fallout for us from the big hurricane that went through has been receiving more children into our home.  We've already received about half a dozen from the affected areas out west of us and we anticipate that going up even further in the next few weeks.  

Thank you too for your prayers as I traveled out to see some of our partners out in Western Canada.  We made it there and back safely in spite of having to drive through a pretty bad storm and counting semi-trailers stuck in the ditch part of the way along.  It was a bit of stressful driving -- but we made it and had a great time with our friends out there.  

An exciting story that came out of this trip is that while speaking at our partnering church in Banff on Sunday morning I shared the story of Lyse and our desire to find someone who could help us with her case.  Banff is a tourist town and they often have visitors from all over the world in their church services.   In the service that morning was a family from another area of Canada  They had family visiting from Brazil and they brought them to see this beautiful area of Canada.   So, turns out the father of the family just happens to be a pediatric doctor in a children's hospital here in Canada!  He offered to do what he could to help us with Lyse's case.  He has all her information and is seeking some answers with the other doctors in their hospital.  We are so grateful that our Heavenly Father cares so much about each of us that he coordinated all these events so that we would cross paths!  Keep praying for wisdom for the doctors and that we could get some definitive answers for Lyse.

On the same note of exciting news, we are so grateful for everyone who has sent in extra financial support for us over these past few weeks.  We have been able to make 2 significant payments on what we owe to the hospital and while we still have some debt left, we are feeling much better about it than before and are hopeful that the rest will come in as this year is coming to an end.  Our next prayer request would then be that we would be able to get some more partners to support us on a monthly basis so we don't go back into debt to them in the future.

 We have some prayer requests to share with you for the days and weeks ahead:
  • Linda had a fall last night and injured her foot.  She had x-rays today and the doctor said it wasn't broken, but it is swollen and painful.  Please pray for quick and total healing for her.
  • There is a medical team visiting our partnering hospital this week and another one heading there next week.  The team that is currently there will be doing skin grafts on one of our little girls at the House of Hope this coming Friday.  Five year old Neisha has been in our home for a little over a month now and she came with significant burns across her stomach.  We are grateful that this team has the tools and skills to do these grafts for her, and we ask you to pray for them as they do the work and for Neisha that she would heal nicely and that this would really help her.
A big thank you to everyone who has given and prayed for us -- you are such a blessing to us!

Wednesday, October 05, 2016

An Update

Good Morning Everyone.  First of all, very sorry I didn't get to write an update yesterday, I was not home all day.  I did keep in touch with Linda and the kids throughout the past couple of days to make sure all was OK. They are doing fine.  

We are located on the North coast of Haiti, so not in the area where the hurricane hit directly and where it seems there is much more damage.  I haven't heard anything about if there is damage in our general area, but I do know the HOH and all our kids are safe.  The had lots of wind and rain through the day yesterday; what scared them the most was how dark it got throughout the day.  Now it is calm but still raining off and on.  

Thank you so much for your prayers on their behalf, and please continue to pray for Haiti and those who now have to start cleaning up and helping those most affected. 

I'll update when I can, but I am heading out on a road trip today to visit with a supporting church in Alberta, Canada, to visit family and to attend the funeral of a friend of ours who passed away suddenly this past week.  While the HOH is dealing with rain, I'm preparing to drive through our first snow storm of the season!  So, I could use your prayers as well.

Thanks so much for all the messages of concern and assurances of your prayers.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Thank you!

We appreciate the response we've had from you our supporters to our call for help.  We have had numerous donations made, as well as some promises of help and continued prayers for which we are so thankful.  We will be able to make a payment on our debt and hopefully continue to pay off more in the months to come.  Please continue to keep our projects in your prayers.

Before I give you a bit more of an update on my trip down to Haiti -- which I promised but haven't had a chance to do yet -- I wanted to give you a bit of an update on our "grand" babies.  Fafane and Jeremiah are doing really well.  Unfortunately Fafane's father-in-law passed away last week, so with the rejoicing of a new baby in the family came a time of mourning the passing of the child's grandfather.  You could keep that family in your prayers as well.

Lyse continues to hang in there.  She continues to have her blood count monitored and receives transfusions as necessary.  We heard back from one set of doctors in Miami that they were not able to help us with her case at this time.  We are not sure if that means, nothing can be done to help her, or that they are just not able to get involved in her case.  Our friends in Miami are still checking into this, so we remain hopeful and ask for your continued prayers for her as well.

Now, for some more pictures from my trip down to the HOH... VBS (we call it camp in Haiti) as always was a special time for all of us.  We had the 60 HOH kids there and before we knew it, they were joined by about 100 of their friends and fellow students from our local community.  We were glad to have them come, but it did get a bit crowded and chaotic as we just don't have enough space for that many people.  But everyone just moved over a little bit and it really was a great time to be together and studying God's Word and how it applies to our lives today.   The theme this year was Jesus makes me a 10 out of 10.  Here are some pictures...

The three different "teams" sitting in the shade during lesson times.

This team used construction paper to make hats for their team members one day.
 This team shows off their handy work after taking part in the craft session.
 Games are always a fun time -- this is a rousing game of dodge ball
Not even the pouring rain could squelch the enthusiasm during a balloon popping game.
Unfortunately, the T-shirts didn't arrive until after camp was over and we all went home, so we weren't able to get a picture of everyone in their shirts, but this is a group of them.
The girls show off their theme based shirts.
But, as with all things -- summer holidays has come to an end, and now the kids are into the school year.  This is the first year for Kateleen and Davidson... They were excited on their first day.
Here are some others on their way...

And here is a picture of the two girls who were adopted by the Haitian family in Port-au-Prince as they head off for their start in school as well...
Once again, we thank you for the part you play in changing the lives and futures of these precious ones in our care.  We appreciate your continued prayers and support in whatever way you are able to help us out.  We hope you all have a great week... until next time....

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

We need your help...

When you are involved in a work such as the House of Hope there are several things that become very clear as time goes by.  Two of these things stood out for us these past couple of weeks.  First of all, we are more convinced than ever of the necessity of the work we are doing.  Just this past week two sets of twin boys have come to our home extremely malnourished.  These and every new story of lives being changed brings new excitement and understanding that what we are doing is the most important thing for us.

The second thing that has stood out for us is how dependent we are on others to accomplish this ministry.   We are totally dependent on God to provide everything we need to love, care and provide hope for these children.  But we are also dependent on our partners to help us out in the ways that they can.  

We have come to a place where we are really in need of your help at this moment.  We have mentioned the financial struggle we have had off and on for the past couple of year.  We are so grateful for everyone one of you who has been a part of the House of Hope family over the years; whether it is through giving of your time or resources, or your encouragement and prayers.  

The past couple of weeks have been tough as we are receiving more and more pressure to pay off the debt that we have to our local hospital.  It is a debt that has been around for a long time and no matter how hard we have worked to reduce it, we haven't been able to as more expenses continue to be added to it.  We have mentioned it as a need in our latest newsletter that you will see below, but since writing the letter it has become an even bigger need as the pressure to pay it off has become more intense.  

We realize not everyone is able to help us in a financial way.  But if you are, would you please consider helping us with this need by sending a gift to one of the organizations listed on our page?  If you cannot help in that way, could you please pray with us that our God who has provided for us so faithfully in the past would do so again in this moment of need?  Either way you can help, we are thrilled to have you partner with us in this exciting ministry.   We hope you are encouraged as you read our latest news in this link below...

   Sept 2016

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Welcome Baby Jeremiah!!

A new addition to the HOH family arrived this evening with the birth of Jeremiah Liam Justin.  He weighed in a 3.7 kg, just over 8 pounds -- a big baby for us -- we are used to the under 4 pound crowd!  
Both baby and mother are doing great.  By this evening the doctor had given Fafane one hour to give birth or he was going to have to do a C-section... we are thankful everything went well.

Thank you so much for your prayers together with us.  We are excited to have another "grand" baby in our family.  And he has many "moms", and "dads" waiting to show him lots of love.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Prayer needed

Good Evening, we hope this blog post finds you all doing well in your respective areas of life.  I know I promised you more stories of my latest travels to the HOH and the goings on there -- and I will be posting more about that.  But for the moment, we have an important prayer request we wanted to share with you.

You might remember last summer when I went to Haiti I attended a wedding of one of our girls, Estephanie (Fafane).  She is expecting their first child and has been having some issues since last month.  She is 8 months along and has started to have contractions.  While we are thankful that she was able to hang on a bit longer than when the troubles started at 7 months, we would like the baby to stay in just a bit longer!  The doctors have admitted her to the hospital and she is on bed rest.   They are watching her blood pressure closely and we are just waiting to see what will happen.

Please pray for Fafane, her husband Ronald, Linda and the medical staff giving her care.  You can see Fafane and Ronald here in this picture (along with our boy Mits).  

On the same praying note, continue to pray for Lyse.  The doctor in Miami has the medical report now, and we are just waiting to hear from him if anything can be done to help her out.

We appreciate your prayers on our behalf very much.  We are very blessed!  Thank you for your part.

Tuesday, August 09, 2016

Catching up

I am back from my trip to Haiti.  It was a wonderful time for all of us and as always ended too soon!  I have many stories to share and hope to do that in bits and pieces over the next few weeks.  

Of course, seeing my two girls just made my trip and we spent as much time as possible together over the weeks I was there.  Every time we had a chance to hug Nannie (on the right) would tell me, "I'm not done with you yet" and the hug would go on for a while longer.  They are both doing really well though, and Lala (on the left) is just a huge help to Linda with all of the younger kids -- I'm so proud of both of them.  Lala brings a seriousness of someone who knows the importance of bringing order out of chaos, and Nannie comes along behind and brings an insatiable joy to every aspect of life.

Another highlight for me was finally getting to hold little Lyse.  What a precious little girl.  I was surprised to see how alert she was; she is a fighter and is just fighting for her life with all her might.  Here we are...
Every day is touch and go for little Lyse as she can hardly go a week without needing a blood transfusion.  This makes each day stressful for her mom and dad as blood is not always easy to find.  They asked me to pass along their thank you to you all for keeping them in your prayers.  

On my way into Haiti, I received a phone call from a friend in Miami who has a doctor friend who wants to see if he can help us help Lyse.  While we do not know if anything really can be done to help her complicated condition(s), we are so thrilled to have that possibility arise.  I was able to get all the information we needed to write a complete medical history for her.  We have sent it to the doctor and are just waiting for him to get back to us with his thoughts.  

In the meantime, please continue to remember this family in your prayers.

Some other prayer requests at this time are:  
  • I will be traveling again this week, heading to our friend Bonita's wedding in Ontario.  I'm really looking forward to seeing a number of our good friends and supporters, and also excited to have the chance to swing by our great supporting church in Simcoe.  
  • Linda is already busy in getting things together for the new school year.  She has many uniforms to get made as well as decisions as to who should study in which school.  One of our biggest needs as the start of the school year looms before us is the finances to pay the tuition, books and uniforms for the year.  Please pray with us as we watch God supply this need.
We appreciate you all and the various ways you help us bring hope to the children and youth of Haiti.  

Tuesday, July 05, 2016

A forever family found

Greetings to all our friends and supporters.  Thank you so much for the prayers for our students who were writing the exams.  They all feel they did pretty well -- time will tell -- now they just have to wait to get the results back, which will likely take a month or two.  

A couple of months ago, two of our lovely little girls found a forever family here in Haiti.  Our pediatrician here at the hospital had a sister who wanted to adopt some children.  Unable to have their own children, she asked her sister to watch out for some little girls who needed a home.  She found two of our little girls, Rose Nirva and Julienne, who do not have homes to return to.  

They came up from Port-au-Prince to meet the girls and it was love at first sight!  Now, the girls have joined their family in PAP and seem to be fitting right in.  As you can see from the picture of Rose Nirva in their new home, they look so happy.

 
  And here they are with their new mom...

It doesn't happen often, but when it does we are thrilled to have our little ones find a family here in Haiti to adopt them.  As you can imagine, it was an emotionally difficult day when they came to take the girls with them.  Both of them have been with us since they were just a few months old.  But, we are thankful for more people in Haiti who are willing to love and care for these children and now we can receive others in their place.  We look forward to filling their beds again!!

Thanks for your support that helps us bring hope in so many different ways to the children and youth who come through our doors.  Please continue to pray for Lyse whose health is still so poor.  Pray for Jenny as she travels down to Haiti during the next week.  She will be in Miami for a few days over the weekend, so she hopes to see as many of you there as she can.  Pray for the team from Miami who will also be traveling to Haiti a little later.  And pray for the camp as we have fun together, study the Bible together and make many special memories as we share the good news of Jesus with all those who come.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Say a Prayer

Good Morning!  Just a quick note to ask you to pray for our young people and friends who are writing the difficult government exams to finish High School this week.  They have studied hard -- now it's time to write.  They have several difficult days ahead of them and I know they'd really appreciate your prayers.  Here's the list... Rosnel, Joseph, Stevenson, Dieujuste, Obed, Wilkens, Junior, Marie Claire, Dada and Manno.

Continue to pray for Lyse who is not doing well.  They took her to Port-au-Prince to have more tests done, but it doesn't look like anything can be done for her in Haiti.  They suggested that maybe in the US she could be helped.  I hope to find out more details on my trip down in a couple of weeks.

We appreciate your support in so many ways -- thank you for your prayers.  Have a great week!

Wednesday, June 01, 2016

Mother's day Appreciation Party

Mother's Day in Haiti is on the last Sunday of the month of May, and our kids just love putting on an appreciation party for all their "mom's".  Linda always works very hard teaching the kids songs and helping them prepare food. a program and gifts to make them feel special.  This year the kids made up some special T-shirts to give them...
 
 The "Mom's" of the HOH
These ladies all work in different capacities to assure that our children and young people are well taken care of.  From cooking, to laundry to child care they work have worked for many years to make the HOH a home for the kids.  Some of these ladies have been working at the HOH for over 30 years! We are very thankful for the work these ladies do; they are an important part of our team.

On days like today we are reminded of just how crucial the work of the HOH is and how essential it is to have all of the staff involved.  Early this morning an 11 year old boy named Simon was brought to us.  Once you see his picture, I know you are going to say to yourselves, Jenny has made a big typing error in the actual age of this child.  But Linda says he talks like an 11 year old and that is indeed the age given us by his family.
When we say family we mean his siblings.  They have lost both of their parents and are left to fend for themselves while living as extras at an uncle's house who barely gets by with his own family. This  picture is just a glimpse of what that has meant over the years.  Long-term malnutrition, stunted growth and now an amputated arm.  

A month ago, it was mango season in his area of Haiti and often during that season; mangoes are the only food children like Simon get to eat.  Sometimes you can wait for them to fall out of the tree -- but not most times.  Hunger drove Simon to decide to climb up to get a mango but he slipped and fell out of the tree.  In the fall, he broke his arm; having no money to take him to the hospital, his family wrapped it in banana leaves left it to heal on it's own.  

But it didn't.  Infection set in, and in the end had to be amputated to save his life.

The trauma has been very difficult for Simon and he is having a hard time accepting this most recent crisis in his life.  He begged the doctors to not cut off his arm.  He cried and said he knew how difficult life was with two hands, how could he survive with one.

Enter the HOH.  We've been here many times before.  At the HOH Simon can learn how to accept,  live with and even thrive in spit of his disabilities.  Here he can find hope, love, learn to smile again and hear the Good News of hope in Jesus.  Stay tuned for some dramatically different pictures in the weeks and months ahead.  

We know we are able to bring hope to kids like Simon only with the help of partners like you who help out in so many different ways.  Your financial and material donations together with your prayers on our behalf enable us to care for these children with whatever needs they might have.  

A big thank you to everyone who answered our call for some clothes, we look forward to getting them down to the kids and being used.  Please continue to pray for:
  • Lyse, she is once again not doing well at all.  This long journey is taking a toll on her little body and on the spirits of her mom and dad.  Please keep them in your prayers.
  • Our students will soon be writing their final exams and preparing for the government exams.  They'd really appreciate your prayers for them.
  • Linda always has many things happening all at the same time.  She could use your prayers for wisdom and health for the everyday events that can bring her stress.  Lately, with major rains it's been difficult for her to find charcoal to make the food, food prices continue to rise as the rains make the roads difficult to travel on, and the boat that often brings in food donations from Miami has been in dry dock!  So she's had to be creative in keeping things going -- she does a great job and your prayers and encouragement would make a big difference.
  • Finances as always are a big stress point for us.  Pray for this provision for us.
  • I am working on the camp lessons, projects and activities for this coming summer.  I plan to head to Haiti in July and spend a couple of weeks at the HOH.  I'd love your prayers for all these little details to come together.
Thanks for the part you play in this special place!

Thursday, May 19, 2016

A chance to help...

Thank you to everyone who held Linda and the HOH up in your prayers, we appreciate all the notes of encouragement as well.  After another tough week with a virus goinging through the house and making them sick one after another, they have had a much easier go at things this past week and are able to take a breath.

Yesterday was Haiti's National Flag Day and was full of celebration.  Our elementary school kids were all involved in parades and dances put on by their schools for the local community, here are some pictures...
 Micah, Valandjina, Ivinsky & Dieula

Siliana

 They had a really fun time and now have the rest of the week off, so they are enjoying a nice break.

Linda asked me to pass on a need we have with you all and see if there are any of you out there who would be able to help us out in this way.  Keeping almost 100 children, young people and young adults clothed every day is a big challenge.  If we had to purchase clothing for all the kids, well, there's just no way we could do it with the kind of budget we work under.  

The big need we have is for clothing.  Our stock is dwindling down and we really could use an influx of clothing donations from our friends and supporters.   They do not need to be new clothes, we are happy with used clothes and shoes as long as they are not too badly worn out.  We need all sizes from baby to adult, and all types of clothes - everyday to dressy clothes as well as undergarments.

If this is something that interests you and you feel you could do a drive of some sort at your school, church, communities; or if you simply have extra clothes at your home that you wouldn't mind sharing with us, that would be really great.   

We have set up a way that you could just pack them up in a cardboard box and ship them off to an address in Miami.  Our friends there will receive the items and then pack them in a way that will enable them to arrive safely in Haiti.  Anyone wanting to help us in this way, just drop us a note at houseofhope1@hotmail.com ; I'll send you a more detailed idea of what we could use and detailed shipping information.  If collecting and sending clothing isn't your thing but you'd maybe like to help with the expense in getting them on the boat and over to Haiti then just let me know that too and I'll let you know how you could do that as well.

We know we couldn't do this ministry without the support of our partners.  We appreciate the part you all play.  Thank you so much!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Linda's Very Bad, No Good, Terrible Day(s)

Sometimes when you are having a really bad day, it is good to hear about someone else and suddenly yours doesn't seem so very bad.  I've been in touch with Linda over the past couple of days as these events have been unfolding.  The only reason I haven't written you about it all sooner was that it was constantly changing and now we feel like we can fill you in.  So, for those of you who pray for us regularly -- please keep it up, we need that.  We can't always fill you in as things are going on, but you can pretty much be sure there's always something going on in our lives -- we need your prayers!!

The start of her bad days was the arrival of a family at the HOH towards the end of last week.  You can see the mom and her 4 children here in this picture:
The arrival of this family was not a problem, it was the circumstances that brought them to us.  The little girl in the pink outfit has TB and needs extended treatment.  The mom had recently been through a terrible physical beating by the man they had been living with and needed care, and they were all in general poor health after having spent the previous couple of nights just living on the streets.  The entire family begs for a living except for the older boy who hangs out in the market and carries loads of merchandise for people making a pittance for his efforts.

In order to start the TB treatment for the little girl Linda let them all come to the HOH so the mom and child could get care.  It seemed like a win-win situation for everyone -- at least from our perspective.  We could care for all of them at once, they could catch their breath and have the chance to have a safe place to stay for a while.  But, we have learned long ago, our perspective often isn't in line with those who come to our home.  Everyday was a struggle for Linda to keep them at the HOH.  They were making no money being there, and the pull of begging on the streets was just too great.  After several days of arguing, Linda was finally able to convince the mom to leave the little girl who needed the treatment along with one of the older brothers to be with her.  With that the mom and other children returned to the streets.  

This arrangement didn't last long.  Sunday afternoon the kids ran away from the HOH. Linda sent our older boys out with the vehicle to try and find them, but they were not successful.  Monday, Linda sent them out again with no success.  As you can imagine, everyone was upset and worried - but none more than Linda, she felt so bad.  Finally, this morning when she sent the boys out again they found the children back out on the streets.  They also located the mom and made sure they were all reunited again.  The little girl will have to get her TB treatment on an out-patient basis which isn't ideal, but our only option at this point.

If this was the only thing to go wrong on Sunday/Monday for Linda that'd be bad enough, but in the midst of trying to locate the run away children.  Our young lady Stephanie who is expecting her first child got a terrible allergic reaction to something and was rushed to the hospital.  She has been really sick with elevated blood pressure since Sunday, and is just now this afternoon getting back to normal.

While this was going on, Jumalia came back with Lyse who was again pale and listless.  Her blood count was down to 4 and she needed transfusions.  Here she is:
It took most of the day yesterday to get the transfusions arranged and done.  The doctors suspect she also has an infection so they are watching her closely.

On top of all of this, Oliana (our diabetic/siliac young lady) is once again sick and unable to get out of bed.  This time she has come down with malaria and is receiving treatment which is a really tough thing in and of itself never mind having malaria with it!

And the glue holding everyone sane at this moment is Linda and boy could she use your prayers!!

Thank you for supporting us in this way and please continue to pray for our financial needs as we bring hope in it's many forms to the children, youth and sometimes even families who come to our home.

Saturday, April 02, 2016

Prayer needed again

Good Morning!  We hope you are doing well and enjoyed a wonderful Easter season.  At the HOH it was a great week, it is always one of our favorites during the year.  

This year as usual we put on a week long conference with meetings each evening.  Various pastors, speakers and singing groups from our local community churches came and participated in the services.  Each night we had a packed yard as hundreds of children, young people and even adults from our community came to sing, and hear God's Word.  

Here are some pictures:
 The musicians
 The Praise and Worship team
 Those who came
A young boy's singing group from a local church

We are so pleased for the privilege of sharing the Good News of Jesus with those in our local community and so thankful for all of our young people who worked so hard to put this on.  Linda had nothing but praise for all of the HOH youth as they really helped her out to pull this off.

Now it is back to school and life as normal! But as life gets back to normal we need to once again ask you for prayer for little Lyse and her parents.  She did fairly well these past couple of weeks but she is now starting to fail again.  Her blood count has gotten dangerously low.  She received one blood transfusion this past week and one again yesterday.  They think she will need more today.  This is such a difficult time for Jumalia, her husband Andly and the HOH family.  Please keep them in your prayers during these difficult days.

We appreciate you all for your prayers, financial support and the many other ways you lift up this ministry.  Blessings on each one of you!

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Rejoice!!!

We wanted to let you know that Lyse is doing so well, the doctors sent her home this week.  It never ceases to amaze us when our kids defy the odds and the rejoicing never gets old.  It's especially neat to be able to rejoice with one of our "kids" as our "grand-kid" defied the odds this time.  And we wanted to invite you to share in our joy.  Here is Jumalia and Lyse.
Mom and Daughter back at home

We don't know what the future holds for her, if this is just a temporary improvement or the path to full healing, but we are thankful for every day we have her with us.  Thank you for holding them up in your prayers.