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.