Saturday, June 27, 2015

Good News...and Bad

We appreciate your prayers for Oliana very much.  She has gone through some tough weeks and ended up falling into really bad malnutrition.  But she seems to have pulled through, and Linda told me yesterday she is starting to get much better.  You can see in her recent picture that she is still struggling, but it is a much better picture than just a couple of weeks ago...
Thank you so much for holding her up in your prayers and for the encouraging messages you sent to her.

Unfortunately, this good news comes with some very bad news about one of our other kids.  Jamesley has been at the HOH for the past 5 years.  He has had a really tough life.  His dad passed away a number of years ago leaving his mom with quite a few young children to try and raise on her own.  It was a life of hand to mouth existence; difficult enough for children with no major medical needs, but Jamesley didn't fall into that category.  As a hemophiliac, his medical needs were more than his mom could handle with all the other children.  In desperation, she brought Jamesley to us.  

It has been a constant struggle over the past years to keep Jamesley healthy.  As a kid, he wants to play and be like other kids, but his body is so fragile, just a small bump and he could be in pain for weeks.  So, when he fell down last week and his leg swelled up, no one worried too much about it at first.  Just as a precaution, our pediatrician had an x-ray taken and the results changed life forever for 18 year old Jamesley.  


The doctors found out he has very advanced bone cancer.  They are convinced it is extremely far along, and do not give him very long to live.  There isn't a lot that can be done for cancer at this stage in Haiti and nothing that can be done in our little corner of Haiti. 

You can imagine the shock and pain this has caused everyone at the HOH.  Linda is beside herself and struggling to know how to handle all of this and help him through this difficult time. We are thankful that he is a believer and knows and trusts the One who made him.

They could all use your prayers.  The kids I mentioned in the previous blog as well as Linda will start their final government exams on Monday, and the stress of this has made it even more difficult to prepare for that.  

We appreciate the many ways you support us -- thank you for holding us up in the midst of this new difficulty.  
  • Pray that Linda and the other kids at the HOH would have the courage and wisdom to minister to, comfort and bring peace to Jamesley as he faces the days ahead.  
  • Pray for Jamesley to be able to trust in His Maker and be fully aware that God is with him as he goes through this time of sorrow.  
  • Pray for wisdom for the doctors and nurses as they bring what care they are able to try and minimize the pain and suffering.  
  • Pray for those who will be writing exams this week, that they will be able to concentrate in spite of all of this going on at home.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

An Update and some prayer requests

Many thanks for your prayers for Oliana. Getting the insulin dose regulated has proved extremely difficult and she is starting to fall into malnutrition as they try to regulate her diet.  To say the least, she is a very difficult case and everyone involved could use your continued prayers for her recovery and health.  We will keep you up to date as we are able to.

We wanted to share some pictures with you so you can see some of what is going on at the HOH these days...

 Mango season has arrived and
Mits isn't quite sure what to do with his bounty...


The HOH was thrilled to receive
Dr. Grace Eckhoff the first week of June.
Grace grew up in our village of La Pointe with
her parents who were our doctors.
To have her come back as a doctor herself
 was a neat experience. 
Here you can see her chatting with
an old friend at the HOH;
when she was younger she would come every
afternoon to spend time with the kids.

Dr. Grace came to the HOH together with a friend
and long time supporter Dr. Brenda Morris. 
This wasn't Dr. Brenda's first trip down to Haiti,
but it was the first one for her daughters.
Here are Michelle, Addie and Lilly
enjoying some time with the HOH kids...


The School year is quickly coming to an end for our students and they are busy studying for their exams.  They'd really appreciate your prayers as they try to finish the school year well.  The government of Haiti has changed the number of official exams the students have to take throughout High School.  Previously, they had official exams at the Grade 6, 9, 12 and 13 years.  They have now eliminated the exams for Grades 6 & 12.  So, you can imagine this has brought great joy to all of our students who were in those classes this year. 

The students we do have who are writing these extremely difficult exams are:  Desimène in Grade 9, and:  Linda, Rosemène, Toto, Dieuny and Obed in Grade 13.  Linda also asked prayer for a number of other students from our local community who come and study with her every day in preparation for the exams.  

Jenny is busy preparing for her trip down to the HOH the end of July.  She will be bringing down three young ladies from Canada, and they will be meeting up with a team from Miami Shores Presb. Church while down there.  They plan to host a week of Day Camp with lessons, games and all kinds of fun activities.  Please pray for Jenny as she works on preparing the lessons amid her many other responsibilities.  Pray also for all the logistics of travel and for safety and health for these teams as they spend time at the HOH and build relationships with the HOH family.

Thursday, June 04, 2015

News on Oliana

Oliana made it to Port-au-Prince ok and was able to see the specialist.  It was so good that we were able to get her down there this week because that specialist is leaving Haiti for a while, and we would have missed him.  She had many tests done and the doctor in the end has decided to change her insulin dose.  He also gave her some advice on how to better take care of herself with her many medical conditions.  Other than that, he did not find anything else wrong with her.

We are so thankful there isn't anything more serious going on with her.  Please pray for Oliana and for our local doctors as they implement these changes and work to get her back on the road to health over the next few weeks. She will be flying back to the HOH this coming Saturday.

Thank you so much for your prayers on her behalf.