Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Christmas Excitement

Christmas is always a special time of year at the House of Hope.  The house gets decorated, excitement builds as talk of Christmas gifts fills the air, practice begins for the Christmas program the kids put on, and songs are sung about the coming of God's gift to us -- Jesus.

It is especially exciting for the kids who haven't been at the HOH for Christmas before.  They hear all the stories from the experienced kids, and some days it's hard to contain all that energy!  This year has been particularly challenging as there has been so much rain, school has been cancelled a lot and Linda has to keep everyone occupied at home!  

Last week, former HOH kids St. Germain came back home to help direct the decorating of the house.  He is very gifted in this area, and together with the kids who are at the HOH now they did a beautiful job.  Here are some pictures...


One of our very talented and creative boys, Reginald even built a few fireplaces to add to the atmosphere:


Yesterday, two things added to the excitement in the house.  First of all, the Christmas presents arrived on the boat...
It might not look like much now -- but in these plastic totes are all kinds of wonderful gifts our kids can't wait to see!  We are so grateful to Grace Baptist Church in York, PA who sends these gifts each year.  They make our kids feel so special and loved.

The second thing that brought excitement... FOOD!  Yes, we received a shipment of food to fill up our food pantry ahead of the holiday season...

Receiving these food shipments are such a blessing and we are grateful to our friends and partners in Miami who assist us in shipping these supplies down to the HOH.  Supplying food for our big family is always a stress for Linda.  This shipment will allow her to relax a bit over this Holiday season.

But, before all the fun stuff of the season begins... 
  • There are exams to finish writing.  So, please be in prayer as they write their exams over the next couple of weeks. 
  • Pray also for one of our beautiful young ladies who is suffering from depression and some mental health issues.  It is difficult finding proper treatment and someone who can help her in our area of Haiti.  We need to try and send her to Port-au-Prince this week to get better help for her.  Pray for wisdom and decisions to be made in that area.
  • The kids and Linda are working hard on preparing a special presentation of the true meaning of Christmas through skits and song.  Many people from our local community are always invited to come.  Pray for them as they share the Best News Ever with those in our community.
  • Jenny starts her trip to the US to speak on behalf of the HOH in a few locations this week.  Pray for safety as she travels and good times with friends, partners and family.
We appreciate you all and want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas season...

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Rain, Rain and more Rain!

That is what seems to be dictating life at the HOH these days.  We don't have "snow" days in Haiti -- but the kids sure do seem to be getting many "rain" days these days.  It affects all of life -- the roads turn into deep mud pits, traffic slows and even halts.  Food, produce and even charcoal to cook with becomes rare and the challenges of life seem to get even more challenging.  Because of this, I know Linda would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and patience to meet these challenges.

I wanted to share a great link with you today.  Tim Fausch from Extreme Response came down to Haiti with me on my last trip and wrote an informative post on the ER blog about the House of Hope.  I thought it might be interesting to you all hearing things from his perspective.  You can go to the link here:  Extreme Response Blog .

Monday, November 13, 2017

A Whirlwind Trip

Greetings to you all!  A big thank you for your prayers for my recent trip to Haiti.  Everything went just as we had planned it -- and if you know Haiti at all, you know that's a pretty big deal!  Three other Extreme Response Staff members joined me on this trip to Haiti and it was an amazing trip.

For me, the chance to get back and see 
Linda and the kids meant so much to me.  
Here's a picture of the best hug ever.... 
me and my Nannie!
For both of us the trip was too short and the tears were hard to hold back on the day I left. 
 
 I was thrilled to meet the newest member of our family, tiny Moise...
I held him every moment I was able to, 
what a precious little one.  
Can't wait to see him grow and get healthy in our care.

I'm not the only one charmed by the new baby
 Three year old Mits doesn't remember coming here around the same age as little Moise,
but he sure is excited to be here for his new little brother!

It was good to be able to get an update on some of our family who have been sick.  Oliana is definitely doing better and she asked me to thank you for your prayers.  You can just see that her poor body is having more and more trouble coming back from those crisis moments, so thank you for your continued prayers for her.  She is determined to continue with her studies and started back to school while I was there.

I was not able to see Lyse while I was there, but the fact that she didn't need to come to the hospital while I was there is always a good sign.  I was able to chat a bit with one of the other young ladies who is having some trouble with some mental health issues.  I won't publish her name for her own privacy, but if you could pray for her and for wisdom for Linda and our health care professionals as they try to work with her, that'd be great.  

It is always good for me to see the House of Hope through the eyes of people who have never seen it before.  So much happens in our home every day...
  • Our dedicated staff serves hundreds of meals each day.
  • Approximately 80 infants, children and young adults call the House of Hope home at any given time. 
  • We are able to help over 50 children and young adults receive an education.
  • Our yard is constantly filled with children and youth from our local community who find in our home a place of safety and refuge.  They simply call it, "The House".
  • Our kids, young and old, who have received help and hope for their lives are quick to pass that on to the others that come along behind them.
  • The love and hope of Jesus is spread both through many daily activities as well as through everyday life interactions.  

The visiting Extreme Response team put together a short video of our time at the House of Hope.   Here you can find it and see a bit of what they saw while there... House of Hope Haiti Slideshow 2017

All of this is possible because of you, our great team of partners who bless us with your support to keep this ministry going.  Thank you for your part. 

Monday, October 30, 2017

New Faces

Thanks so much for your prayers last week. I've had a hard time keeping in touch with Linda over the past couple of days due to some telephone problems, but it sounds like things are going ok in general from what I hear from the kids.  Since they haven't written me that Oliana and Lyse are any worse, I'm taking that to mean they are hanging in there.  Since I'm heading down this week, I'll see for myself firsthand and give you an update after I get back.

I'd appreciate your prayers for our trip down there.  I'm taking a group of 3 (we are all coming from 3 different countries) to two different places in Haiti in a matter of 6 days! So, as you can imagine there are a lot of logistics that have to fall in place.  

In the meantime, we have several new faces at the HOH... these have come in with various illness and will be with us for a time. 




This little 17 day old baby was brought to the HOH after his mother passed away.  He is named Moise (which is Moses in English)...
And here are two updates to make your heart smile.  These little ones are doing incredibly well having been with us for a while now...

 Hendy has put on a lot of weight in his few months with us -- he looks like a totally different boy!
Widson is also doing much better -- and always happy!

Thanks so much for all your prayers and support that give us the chance to bring hope to these precious lives. 

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Update

Hi Everyone!  We just wanted to ask you to continue to pray for the requests we put on last week.  Oliana is still struggling and the doctors are struggling to know what to do to help her.  Please continue to pray for wisdom and healing for her body.

The kids are all busy studying and writing their exams this week and would appreciate your prayers for them.

Here's a couple to add to the list!
  • Lyse is back in the hospital again needing a blood transfusion.  We continue to thank God for preserving her life and ask you to pray for continued protection as her body fights through her blood disorder.
  • Linda's family has once again experienced a loss.  Just a day after burying an aunt, they lost a young 17 year old boy to cholera.  It hit him fast and he died within 24 hours.  It was a terrible shock to the whole family and they are having an extremely difficult time dealing with it.  Please pray for comfort and peace from our Heavenly Father to the entire family.
Thank you so much for holding us up in prayer!  You are an important part of this ministry.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Update on Oliana

Thank you so much for your prayers for Oliana this weekend.  While the doctors still consider her in serious condition, she is doing a bit better.  Her blood pressure has stabilized but they are still unable to get her blood sugar levels steady.  She sends her thanks for your prayers and was able to sit up for a picture to send you all...
Thanks for your continued prayer for Oliana and the whole team helping her.

Some more items for prayer this week are:
  • Dieula (Lala) is writing mid-term exams this week and the rest of our students will write their exams next week.  They would all love your prayers.
  • We are still having issues with our vehicle -- it's hard to find a good and honest mechanic and just all around hard to get it in good working order again.  We could use your prayers!
  • Our University kids have just started their courses for this semester.  Pray for them and their studies and that they would be a light to their schools and classmates.
  • We are in need of some clothing again if anyone out there is able to do a clothes drive for us.  If you'd like to participate in this, just let me know and I can give you more details (houseofhopehaiti1@gmail.com)
Thanks so much for all of your support.  Have a great week!

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Pray for Oliana

Good Evening,  I know it's a bit late for an update.  But, Oliana has been very sick for the past couple of days.  This evening she seems to be worse.  Her blood sugar levels are high, and her blood pressure is low, her blood count is low.  The doctors need wisdom in caring for her, Linda needs wisdom and strength to deal with everything as well as the other kids who are helping her out.  And pray for Oliana, she is in a lot of pain. 
Because Oliana is not doing well, the car is not finished and a few other issues at the HOH, Linda will not be able to go attend her aunt's funeral.  Thank you for your prayers that that would work out, but with all that is going on she doesn't feel right leaving.  Thank you too for supporting us in prayer.

Monday, October 09, 2017

Update on Life at the HOH

Hello to all of our friends, family and partners!  We have had a couple of good and fairly routine weeks since you last heard from us.  The kids are well into school and the process of getting everyone off to the right school, in the right uniform at the right time is flowing a bit easier with each week that goes by.

Jn Mary and Baselet ready to head off to school

We were so grateful to receive our shipment of food and also some much needed school supplies from our friends in Miami...
 Iverlande supervises the distribution of back packs
Lethnie is happy to get her school supplies
The boys stocking up as well...notebooks, pencils, even deodorant brings smiles all around!
A big thanks to everyone who has made this school year a success so far.  With our car troubles, we have had to purchase another means of transportation for those who classes are further away.  We purchased a moped bike for this purpose.  This will eliminate the need for our car to be out on the roads everyday and hopefully help us preserve it a bit better as well. 
For the time being, Joseph is the designated chauffeur for those whose school is too far away to walk.

We appreciate your prayers and support so much, here are some prayer requests for the next few weeks:
  • Pray for the mechanics that are working to get our vehicle up and running again.  It is a invaluable tool for us.  We are praying that this happens this week because Linda had a death in her family and needs to return to her home town on the weekend for the funeral.  This vehicle is her only way to be able to do that.
  • One of our young men (Joseph) along with 2 of our "adopted" kids from the local community (Wilvens and Haldin) wrote exams yesterday to try and enter the Haitian police academy.  They are waiting for the results and if they are chosen will enter the police academy in the next few months.   It's a tough job in Haiti, but we are proud of them for wanting to serve in this way.  Pray for them over the next few weeks as they await the results.  We'll keep you posted on that.
  • Linda is working hard on the details for sending 2 of our other young men to University in a town close to the city of Cap Haitian.  They are still waiting the results of their entrance exams, but should enter classes in November. Because it's a government school, the fees are minimal, but She needs to locate affordable housing for them as well as transportation to and from the school.  The best option would be for them to find a place in the student housing the university has.  We won't know about that until classes start though, as some are still finishing up their studies from last year.  Please pray that all these details would work out, and that Stevenson and Reginald would find a place in student housing to make all of this easier.
We hope you all have a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends!

Monday, September 25, 2017

Home Again, Home Again

Many thanks for your prayers last week.  Hurricane Maria turned North and other than some strong rains that evening mostly missed the HOH.  Boy did it ever do damage where it hit though -- we feel very grateful that we were not on that hit list.

We appreciated your prayers for Linda's trip to Port-au-Prince as well.  She had a great trip down, a good conference with the mission leadership and a nice visit with some long time friends she hadn't seen for a while.  Unfortunately, the trip back was not so nice. 

The bottom line is, our vehicle is old.  It's been working hard for almost 20 years now, and it is definitely showing it's age.  It broke down 3 different times on her way back, making the normally 6 - 7 hour trip turn into a 26 hour saga -- most of those hours spent sitting by the side of the road. When she arrived back home this morning, she was very thankful for our prayers for safety, and that the trip was over!

Another answer to prayer, the boat arrived in Haiti.  They started to receive the shipment of food today -- always a good day when the groceries arrive!



Please continue to pray:
  • For our students as they dig into their school work.
  • For Lyse, she has once again had a bad turn in her health and has been hospitalized needing blood transfusions.
  • For Jenny as she is planning a quick trip back to Haiti in about a month -- everyone is thrilled about this "bonus" trip.
  • For some decisions about our sick vehicle... that we'd be able to fix what we can to continue using it for now -- and for wisdom to know what to do about the future.
  • As always,  our financial needs never seem to go away!  Please pray for some more monthly donors to help us out as we bring Hope in its many forms to the kids in our care. 
 Thank you all so much for partnering with us in this special work. 

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Here we go again...

Well, no doubt by now you've heard of another hurricane going through the Caribbean.  So far, it looks like the eye of Maria will go by even further North and East then Irma.  This is good for our part of Haiti and while we might get rain and wind from the outer bands, we are hoping it's not too bad.  We'd really appreciate your prayers though, as you know these things can be quite unpredictable.  We have a shipment of food for the HOH on the way to Haiti this week -- pray that it arrives safely.

Another area of prayer is for Linda as she has to travel to Port-au-Prince this week for some meetings with the leadership of our Haitian Mission.   As you can imagine traveling around Haiti is tough for her on a good day.  This week they are facing some unrest and demonstrations popping up from time to time, and now there's the possibility of bad weather due to the hurricane. 
Sweet Lovedine will be Linda's travel partner to help her out along the way.

Some of the boys will be driving them down.  And the Joseph and the young leaders will hold down the fort along with our staff.  Pray for safety as they travel.  For good meetings while they are there, and for health especially for Linda.  Seems like there is a virus going through the house -- about 10 woke up with colds and fevers this morning!

The rest were up and ready for school early.  
Here they are eating breakfast before they head out...

We are so grateful for the many ways you support us!  Thank you for keeping us in your prayers and  have a great week. 

Monday, September 11, 2017

School Starts (Take 2)

The kids officially got started back to school this morning.  It really ended up being very good they didn't have school last week, as we had the whole Irma thing to deal with.  But it was good to have them all get off this morning.  Here are a couple of pictures...
 Manouchka and Mits 
(I know this picture looks like they are being tortured -- but they really were excited to go this morning!)
Valandjina is ready to head off for the 5th grade

In the end, there wasn't a lot of damage to our area of Haiti after the storm went by our Northern coast.  We seemed to have had a lot more rain than other areas were reporting, but that is not anything new for us.  We are grateful for being spared, while at the same time realizing with sad hearts that many other people were not.  

Our prayers continue to be for our friends, family and supporters in areas of the Caribbean and US who were severely affected by these storms and ask you to do the same.   It feels so weird for them to be the ones in need and not be able to help them as they so often do for us when we are in need.  So for that, we ask you to pray along with us as they have some weeks of tough recovery ahead of them.  

We are so thankful for your support in so many ways.  Thank God for us as we received enough funds this past week to be able to pay off the first installment for the kids' school tuition.  God is so faithful in providing for our needs -- thank you for being a part of that provision. 

Friday, September 08, 2017

The morning after!

Good morning, heard from Linda this morning. It was a pretty scary night for them, the wind was fierce, she said she wondered if the house would still be standing! It is still raining a lot as it did through most of the night. She doesn't know how it is in our community, but we'll update you later about that. Just wanted to let you know they are ok.

Thursday, September 07, 2017

Update

The HOH has experienced intermittent rain and strong winds most of the afternoon into this evening.  They are doing fine though and are so appreciative of your prayers.  The eye of the storm hasn't quite gone past yet, but it is further north than it had looked earlier -- so that is something to really be thankful for.  We have heard that people in our town who live by the ocean had to be evacuated because the ocean was really getting rough.  But we likely won't know until tomorrow what the whole area looks like.  Thanks for your prayers, please keep them up -- and pray also for the others getting hit now, and those down along the line. 

In the meantime, they are busy celebrating Linda's Birthday -- it's nice they have something else to keep them all occupied.  


Irma

Linda said the HOH woke up to nasty weather this morning, and all the path projections show just some of the outer bands have reached our area.  So, please keep them all in your prayers as the day goes forward.  

It is also Linda's Birthday today -- the kids have been planning a party for days -- not sure how this will impact it, but if you are able to -- send her your best wishes.  She can be found on Facebook.  Or if you send me an e-mail, I can pass it along to her.  Thanks for standing with us during this time of uncertainty. 

Monday, September 04, 2017

School & Irma

There's nothing quite like the excitement of the first day of school -- for those who like school.  Nothing quite like the dread of those who don't. Over the weekend Linda and her helpers were able to unpack and hand out all the school supplies we had sent in over the past couple of weeks.  Here are some pictures of the fun...





It's always quite a production to get the right shoes/sock/underwear and other supplies to each of our 50 students.  But they pulled it off, and were able to get everyone ready for this morning.  The only picture I got was of Lala, who is now officially finished Elementary School and is starting in Secondary school this year.  She is really excited...

But, as so often happens in life -- the excitement turned to dread and the dread to excitement when the majority of our students were sent home and told to come back next week.  What could have possibly caused all of our students to get sent home?  Nothing they or we did for sure!  The schools told them, they simply weren't ready for students yet! 

We aren't going to complain though, we have other things to occupy our time this week.  You might have heard of the bad hurricane, Irma, heading our way.  While getting ready for school last week, our kids spent a lot of time praying for our supporters and supporting churches in the Houston area.  And now we need all of your prayers for us as we are facing our own.  All the projections show it going right over us with the eye itself a little too close to that northern coast line of Haiti where we are.  

We will be spending the next few days making as many preparations as possible, but we could sure use your prayers.  Ultimate good thing for us would be for it to break up as it hits islands heading our way -- but then that's not too good for them.... no easy best case scenarios here.  Please just pray for Linda to receive the funds we've sent down in time to purchase food and fuel.  And for wisdom for her and the older kids as they face the uncertainty of the storm and the days ahead.  Pray for our other colleagues, friends and family all over Haiti for God's protection and provision for all of us.  

Thank you so much for helping us in all the many ways that you do.

Monday, August 21, 2017

HOH Fall 2017 Newsletter

Many thanks for those of you who prayed for Linda over the past 2 weeks.  She  made it through and is doing well.  Now she is headlong into getting the kids ready for school.  6 of our young men are re-writing their final High School government exams.  They did not pass the first time but did good enough to try again this week. They'd really appreciate your prayers for them, they are:  Rosnel, Joseph, Obed, Wilken, Evelt, Herby.

We have just put out a new newsletter and wanted to share it with you here...
We hope you have a great week.

Monday, August 14, 2017

Filling you in...

Again, we would like to thank you for your prayers over this past week.  Jn Mary is doing better and the cholera has not spread to the others.  We are so thankful for this as it can really spread easily if everyone is not careful.  

Linda is in her second week of teaching the Child Evangelism Fellowship teaching course.  She would really appreciate your prayers as she is juggling many things in order to do this ministry she really loves to do.  With school starting soon she is trying to get things like inscriptions, uniforms and supplies ready at the same time.  Thank you for holding her up in prayer.

I wanted to give you a quick update on Lyse. She is doing really well and came several times to see us at the HOH while I was there.  She has gone 3 months without need of a blood transfusion and really seems to be doing much better as far as her all around health goes.  Her parents asked me to thank you for your prayers for them.  This whole experience has stretched their faith and pushed them to trust in their Heavenly Father more and more.  

We got some good news about some possible help for some of the mattresses we need.  While we haven't worked out details, we are excited to see some possibilities there.  We will still need others, so if this is something you can help with either with actual mattresses, financial help to get them or in prayer... thank you for whatever you can do to help us out with this.  

Please continue to also pray for the upcoming school year and provision for the school fees we will need to pay for our students.  Thank you so much for your part in this special ministry.  Have a great week!

Monday, August 07, 2017

Better Today

Greetings to everyone.  Jn Mary is doing much better today, they feel they have the Cholera under control, and he was able to come back home this morning.  We are still monitoring the other kids for the next few days to see if they come down with any symptoms, but so far they are all doing ok.  Thank you so much for your prayers. 

I wanted to share this video clip with you that some of the team members who were visiting the HOH put together.  This was done by James & Katie McCarthy -- and I've put the link here with their permission.  Hope you can enjoy a glimpse of their time in Haiti and a glimpse of life at the HOH; just go to this link to watch it...

Sunday, August 06, 2017

Hit with Cholera...

This wasn't the update I was hoping to write when I said I'd write again soon.  Last night the HOH was hit with Cholera when Jn Mary (pictured here working on his camp craft) came down with it.
  
He was admitted to our partnering hospital's Cholera wing and has been given IV solution and oral serum all night long.  Linda says he seems to be doing better this morning. 

This is not good news to hear from our standpoint, because Cholera spreads like wildfire and it can be fatal or bring other more complicated health problems after it.  At a place like the HOH it could spread very quickly and with some of our kids so frail it could be very hard on them.  Jn Mary is one of our very helpful kids, quite often taking care of the younger ones during the day -- this could have caused him to spread it around before he showed symptoms.  We'd like to ask you to pray...

  • That it doesn't spread to others -- that the measures they have taken to disinfect the HOH, and are taking to not spread it further would work and no others would come down with it.
  • That Jn Mary would continue to improve and recover from this completely.
  • For strength and wisdom for Linda.  She has had some busy weeks and is supposed to teach a 2 week Child Evangelism Fellowship course starting tomorrow.  This is not something she needs on her plate right now.
  • For Rosnel (one of our older boys, pictured below) as he gives one-on-one care to Jn Mary while he is sick and down in the Cholera ward.  Pray for his protection and health as he takes care of Jn Mary.
 Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf.