We Are Moving!

In an attempt to have all of our information at one location on the web, we are moving the HOH blog over to our website. 

From now if you normally came to this page to find the blog updates, please go to the new HOH blog here instead:  https://www.houseofhopehaiti1-lapointe.org/blog .

If you normally waited for an e-mail to tell you there was an update, we are working on setting that up to happen the same way as before.

Thank you so much for the 14 1/2 years you have come here to this blog to read the news of the HOH.  It's hard to believe it's been so long -- where does the time go?  We hope to see you over at our new location!

Ups and Downs

Greetings to all of our friends.  It has been a bit of time since you've heard from us.  It's been an interesting 2nd month of the year for us all and we appreciate your patience, support and prayers for us.

As many of you likely heard, there was a time of unrest throughout the country of Haiti.  The kids were off of school for a couple of weeks before it all settled down and life got back to normal again.  Unfortunately, times like those can be stressful as supplies and food stop circulating around the country and what you can get is extremely expensive.  This rise in food cost has continued in the weeks following the unrest as people try to get their businesses up and going again.  It sure makes a difference when you are feeding 100 people 3 times a day!  I don't know how Linda does it -- she is amazing -- but she kept things going and all the mouths fed!

In the last update I told you about the wonderful PT help we had received from the STAND Haiti Project.  One of the Haitian PTs who works with this group came back to visit the HOH once the short-term team had left.  She offered to come and work with our kids several evenings a week.  What a blessing that was for our kids to be able to have regular PT help.  

Here you can see Claudette, working with one of the HOH kids.  Because of the unrest and school being out, Rosnel (our young man who is studying PT in Cap Haitian) was able to come back and work with her for a couple of weeks.  It was great for him to have the chance to do some hands on learning as well.

Another nice thing that happened over this past month was the arrival of the boat from Miami.  We received many wonderful things from supporters and churches who sent things for the kids.  Here are some pictures...

Lovely and fun toys!!!

 

 

 

 Clothes and Chocolate!

 

 

Food!

 

 

A shipment on the boat can sure put smiles on faces at the HOH!!

We have a couple of new kids at the HOH and would love your prayers as we seek to give them hope in its many forms.  Isaac is a tiny baby who came a couple of weeks ago in very poor health.  Here you can see Esther giving him some love and formula...

 Here he is with Linda about 2 weeks later... you can see the difference a couple of weeks of formula have done for him!

 Then, just this week 5 year old Widley came to the HOH.  He is very malnourished and has just started on our nutrition program. 

We are so blessed to have you all stand behind us and help us out in so many different ways as we bring the hope of Jesus to the kids in our home.  The need around us is so great.  We love being able to help out, but there is no way we could do this without our team of partners and we appreciate each one of you.

If you want to learn about ways to help us out -- check out our "Get Involved" page on our website here.

If you'd like to be able to donate to this special ministry -- get the information on our "Donate" page here.

Thank you for the things you send, for the financial support you send us and for your prayers on our behalf.  Together we give hope!

Great PT help!

Here we are already into February!  The days seem to just hurry by and with constant activity at the HOH there is no slowing down time.  

How nice it was to have our friends Jacques and Isabelle come for a visit all the way from France.  They spend a lot of time in the NorthWest part of Haiti and we have numerous kids at the HOH that they found in very bad situations and brought them to us for care.  Brothers Davidson and Darolyn were two of these kids and here they are during their recent reunion.  Davidson is on the left and Darolyn on the right. 

We were also blessed to have a visit from some Physical Therapists who were part of the group STAND Haiti Project.  They came to the HOH to see numerous ones of our kids and young adults to see what help they could offer.  Then they had us bring two of the youngest ones, Widson and Kiky to their clinic in Port-de-Paix.  Alexandra and Jedline took them there...

At the clinic the group made multiple tools to help these young boys with their various physical disabilities.  What an amazing job they did!

Widson certainly seems to not mind his special board getting him to lie on his stomach and use some different muscles than what he's been using. 

 At first, Kiky didn't seem to mind his chair so much.  What a great smile!!

The special made walker was a little less well received.  He has had one of these before and hated it so much he literally ripped it apart!  Hopefully we can get some more use out of this one and it will help him use his legs more.

The special table seems to have not been so well received.  His face makes it look like we are torturing him, but we really aren't!  We hope these tools will help Kiky gain the use of different muscles and learn to do some things for himself that he hasn't been able to do.

We are so grateful for people like these who help us in various ways to find and bring hope to kids in Haiti who really need it.  Thank you for your part in allowing us to share this hope with them.  Please continue to pray for the various needs at the HOH, particularly for the kids and their studies, for health for both Linda and I, and for wisdom, strength and protection during times of turmoil in our lives and country.

Visitors Welcome!

A favorite time for the kids at the House of Hope is when we have visitors or visiting teams come down to spend time with them. They love the attention, love practicing their English, and just love building relationships with friends and supporters of the HOH.  

This week we have a team from Quebec down visiting. Among the visitors is Gislaine. Her heart was touched by Widson when she was down a couple of years ago and she's the one who sent him his special chair making it easier for him to participate in life at the HOH. 

We love to see these special bonds formed through time spent at the House of Hope. If any of you are interested in taking a team down to spend time and help at the HOH, please get in touch with us. You can find our contact information on our contact page here.

There are specific needs we have at different times. Right now we could really use some Physical Therapists who would be interested in going down to assess and give us ideas on how to help special needs kids like Widson.  We have news of some PTs being in our area of Haiti this coming week and they are going to try and stop by to start a program for these kids.  The next step would be for us to have some others go down later in the year to keep this going. If this is something you or someone else you know might be interested in, please let us know and we can see if we could work something out.  

We know going down to Haiti isn't something everyone is able to do and we are so thankful for the other ways so many of you support this ministry. Thank you for your prayers and giving that enable us to bring hope to those who come into our home. 

Peace and Joy in the New Year!

Happy New year to all of you.  The House of Hope has finished their customary Haitian January 1st meal of pumpkin soup and the year is off. 

Yummy!! Pumpkin Soup is a favorite!

The past few weeks have been very busy at the HOH.  The kids finished up their final exams and started their Christmas vacation. The boys came home from their universities around Haiti. The boat arrived from Miami bringing the Christmas presents (at the last minute!).  And then it was time to just spend together as a family; reflect on Jesus, the reason we all have hope and be thankful and enjoy the last few days of 2018.  

Here is a peak of our past few weeks...

 The boy's are home...

 The house is decorated...

 New shoes for everyone...

 The gifts have arrived...

 The gifts are organized (really they are!)...

 First the Staff Party...

Then the Kids'...

 

Time for gifts...

 

 

Thank you God, we are so blessed...

 

 

And Thank you!  The House of Hope is a team effort.  We are so thankful for each one of our partners who allow us to bring the Hope of the Good News of Jesus to the children and youth in our corner of Haiti.  This past year had its share of disappointments and difficulties, but way more blessings and hope and you were a part of that!  We look forward to seeing what 2019 will bring and are happy you are along for the journey with us.

Merry Christmas!

As we prepare in multiple ways for the Christmas Season, we wanted to take the chance to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

HOH Newsletter

Linda and some of the kids were able to go to Port-au-Prince this past weekend to received the award we talked about in the last blog.  It was a really special time for all of them and we are so thankful it all went well from the travel to the awards ceremony to being able to spend some time with our kids who are there going to school.

There is a new edition of the House of Hope print newsletter going out to our partners far and wide this week.  This year's newsletter features a really neat story from the past.  To read it, follow this link:  House of Hope Newsletter

As you know, with the end of the year coming up there are always extra expenses for us and the need to bring in more support.   This letter encourages all of our supporters to see the way their support has helped us bring hope to so many children and youth over the years and encourages people to continue to help us do this.  Please pray with us as the letter goes out that God would use it to supply all of our needs.  

We have an exciting matching donation program going on this year with our partnering organization Extreme Response.  From now until the end of the year, all gifts given to the House of Hope through Extreme Response will be matched by a generous donor.  These matched funds will be used for various Extreme Response projects they have going on.  It is a great way to have your gifts go ever further.  In order to take part in this matching program, just send a gift to Extreme Response and mark it "for the House of Hope matching funds".  Donations can be given here.

We appreciate you all and the part you play in this ministry.  Have a great week!