Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Routine...

No matter how fun it is to have all the kids home from school during summer vacation, there is something refreshing about getting back into the routines that school brings with it. After a few weeks of the schools deciding whether or not they were going to begin in September or October we are back into the everyday fun of making sure all of our 37 students are off on time to the right school with the right uniform and the correct homework finished! Thankfully, we are a large family so we are able to divide up the tasks among everyone and somehow it all gets done! Here is a picture of some of the kids in their various uniforms...

It was an exciting start of the school year for a few of our kids who started school for the first time. Nani was one of those. Do you remember that tiny little baby we received here almost 3 years ago, the one that didn't even hit the 2 pound mark on the scale? Well, here she is in her little uniform, heading off to school with "big sis" Lala. She had a few days at the beginning that were difficult for her, as she and Lala are in different classes at school. But she is used to it now, and enjoys saying "Au Revoir" (good-bye in French) each morning on her way out the door!

Because the government exam results this past year were so terrible, the schools are attempting to work twice as hard with the kids this year. Some of our students in the harder grades are starting school at 7am, and don't return home until after 5pm. We are thankful that they have started to take their work seriously, as we've been complaining for years that they are too soft on the kids! I think this year our kids are going to be doing some serious studying!

We've started up our various Bible studies again. It's been exciting to see some of the boys who participated in the Peacemaker seminar we held this past summer show an interest in the other Bible studies we are holding. 3 of the old boys came and asked if they could participate in the other studies as well, which of course we were more than happy to have them attend.

On Tuesday evenings we are doing a study called "Conformed to the Image of Christ", it's a study on spiritual growth in our journey with Christ. On Saturday evenings we are continuing our study on what God has to say about "Money". On Sunday evenings we are looking at different Character traits that, as Christians, should be visible in our lives. Add to these the Saturday afternoon study with the neighborhood boys and Sunday morning Sunday School classes; and my days are kept very busy trying to keep ahead in preparing the materials! What a joy it is to see God's Word producing fruit in the lives of these children and young people. Please continue to pray for us all as we seek to bring the message of the Good News of the Kingdom to the people we come in contact with.

In the midst of all this "routine", we have, of course, had some non-routine things going on as well. After all we do still live in Haiti! Here's a look at some of those things...

Da (Linda) had a birthday (I won't tell you how many this makes!), and naturally, we had a big party for her. Some friends recently gave us a barbecue, and so we had BBQ chicken and fried plantain, and of course some really good "Pikliz", what those of you who visit here mistake for Cole-slaw the first time you see it. (Believe me they only make that mistake once! It can be quite hot-- as in spicy hot). Here we are at the party, (if I look exhausted it's because I just got finished BBQ-ing chicken for 170 people!! Good thing her birthday only comes once a year!).



One of our nurses here at the HOH gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. This was her second child, but the first she's had since working here. Since the maternity room of the hospital has a window right outside our wall, we could hear her the evening she went into labor. All through our family devotion that night we heard her screams of pain. Finally Da stopped our devotions and started praying for the safe delivery of the baby, and before she had stopped praying we heard the cries of the newborn! Since she hadn't picked out a name yet for the baby, she offered us the chance to name him. After much discussion (we have many people with many opinions around here) we gave her several options, and she took them home to share with the rest of her family. We're not sure yet which one she chose! This is a picture of the newborn...

Last night we lost a little baby girl here at the HOH. She was extremely malnourished, and her family had brought her here at the beginning of the week. They chose not to stay with us at that point, and they took the little baby away with them. Two days latter they brought her back, after having gone to the witchdoctor's house to try and get help from him. Unfortunately, it was too late to save the baby, and she passed away. It was a sad evening, but we are thankful for the chance Da had to share the Gospel with them, using her own testimony of what God has done in her life.

This morning we awoke to the news that the husband of one of our employees was critically ill in the hospital. Brother Rosemond is a friend of ours, and a beloved husband of Mme Rosemond; he works at the hospital as the head guard. We'd appreciate your prayers on behalf of the entire family. He seems to be doing better this afternoon, but was still on oxygen as he's having trouble breathing on his own.

Well, that's about it for news around here, both routine and non-routine! As always we appreciate your prayers and support very much. Please continue to pray for
  • God's provision for all of our needs.
  • That we would love God and love each other in a way that brings glory to Him.
  • That we would be faithful in our service to the Lord.
  • For the health and healing of 5 little children with severe malnutrition in our care.
  • For our students to study hard and be faithful students this school year.
God bless...

Friday, September 04, 2009

A quick News flash!!

It is true...two postings in two days! No, I haven't been struck with loads of extra time and nothing to do...I just have some information that we feel is important to share with you all.

I'm assuming that most of you have read our latest newsletter telling of Linda and my leaving the HOH to begin a new ministry. (If not, you probably should... http://www.handsofhope.org.uk/files/hohnewsletter.pdf ). You will not find a lot of information on this blog with regards to the changes and transition, as we are attempting to keep the two ministries separate. If you are wanting to know more about Hope Village, the new ministry, you can look up the blog we have set up specifically for it... www.hopevillagehaiti.blogspot.com .

The one bit of information we did want to pass on to you was to let you know that our new ministry, Hope Village, will be under the same mission we are under now, CrossWorld. I, (Jenny), will remain a member of CrossWorld, and will continue on as a missionary under them here in Haiti. This seems to have caused a bit of confusion so we wanted to clear that up and to let you know that CrossWorld is supportive of this new venture. If you have any specific questions about this, please feel free to contact me directly.

As always, we appreciate you all, and appreciate your support of this ministry. We are excited about the new direction that God is leading us in, but at the same time do have some sadness at the thought of leaving a ministry that is so dear to our hearts. We still do not know a specific time-frame for this transition and change, we are working through piles of details, and things like this don't happen quickly in Haiti! We will keep you informed as we know more.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Turning the corner...

We finished with the Peacemaker seminar on the weekend. Boy did we ever have a great time together with these boys. They were so eager to learn, and in the end we had 29 boys receive certificates for completing the whole course. There were about10 more who were there for different parts of the course. The last evening we had a big contest to see which small groups remembered the most, and then ended it with a bit of a reception for everyone to receive their certificates. We were also able to give them each a Bible. This was the most exciting part for them. They were so thrilled to received a Bible, for many of them this is the first Bible they've ever owned. I was overwhelmed as I saw several of them, like Rodly, holding their Bibles to their chest and talking about how happy they were to have their own Bible...wow, something we so often take for granted!

One young boy waited until the festivities were over to come and ask Linda and I to pray with him, because he wanted to become a child of God. What a joy it was to lead this young man to faith in Jesus. That makes 2 throughout the course of the seminar, and together with numerous testimonies of how God was and is using the materials taught to work in the lives of these boys, we are so thrilled to have been a part of something that has had such an impact in their lives. Please pray that as they go on into the coming school year that they'd put into practice the things they learned, and continue to grow in their walk with the Lord. We will return to Saturday afternoon Bible clubs with them, this next week.

With the seminar finished, and all the "Our Hope" kids back from visiting their families, all of our attentions have turned to the coming school year. The uniforms and books have all been purchased, and Monday morning the schools are supposed to open. We've been hearing rumors that they were going to postpone the opening of school for a bit, but no one has made an "official" statement on that, so we are planning on sending them off as normal, unless we hear differently. We have 37 students this year in all grades, starting with Kindergarten going right up to Grade 13 in 9 different schools in our local community.

Thank you so much for praying for Angie, she has settled into life and studies remarkably well. We thank God for some very understanding professors who have been a huge help in getting her settled in and started in her studies. Carl Evens has started his classes once again at Univerisity in Port-au-Prince. He is starting his 3rd year of a Business Administration degree. He continues to live with the Boucher family, and we are so thankful for their willingness to help us out in this way.

Linda had an aunt pass away this pass week, so several of the kids have gone to Cap Haitian for the funeral. We also had a 6 year old little girl pass away earlier this week. She had arrived here severly malnourished. We had thought she was making some positive steps towards health, but then suddenly took a turn for the worst and was never able to get over that.

We'd appreciate your prayers for the following:
  • That our students would study hard, and apply themselves during the coming school year.
  • For God's provision for all of our needs.
  • For growth in the lives of the community boys who have been learning God's truth about how to live at peace with each other. Pray that they would be a testimony to these truths in school, in their homes, and out on the streets.
  • For the various Bible studies that are starting up, that the Holy Spirit would work in each of our lives so we can apply what we are learning, and be witnesses for the Lord where we are.
  • For continued health for us and the kids.
Thanks so much for your support in this way. We appreciate your part in this ministry, and thank God for each one of you.