Tuesday, August 28, 2018

A look at Camp!

As promised, here's an update of how camp went while we were in Haiti...

I would have to say this was probably the best year of camp we've had in the 5 years since we've started doing camp each summer.  For one, we had the most kids/youth we've ever had with our numbers topping out at 294 before we said we couldn't take anymore.  Everyone was so excited to be there, the days were packed full of activity from....
 Helping with daily chores...
 
There were daily sessions with rousing singing
 
  
 Here's a video of some worship time...
 Bible Study-- our theme was Hebrews 13:8
  and even Homework...
 For the younger kids there were play times...
 
We also did a craft for everyone to take home as a reminder of our lessons
Then of course there were games.... wild and crazy given that there were so many kids in a small confined space.  But everyone had a great time and there were surprisingly very few injuries!
The favorite games were one called Mele Mele (or Mix Mix),
 and the find your sandal game.  With almost 200 pairs of sandals it can be quite a challenge...
 
 Of course balloons are always a big hit as well.
Each year so far we've been able to give out camp t-shirts that have the theme of the week on them.  Here is this year's shirt...
 
This year we added a meal for everyone.  Other years we have felt bad when we had to send the campers from our local community away so we could feed our own kids.  The camp started out years ago for just HOH kids and we've gradually opened it up to include the community kids as well.  This year we decided to try and feed everyone.  And with 300+ people around it was not an easy feat!  But Linda is incredibly skilled at this, and everyone ate every day.  We are so thankful for the many people who sent us money and food supplies to help us with this endeavor.  We could have never done it without their help... 
 
 
  
We are so glad our team from Miami was there to help us out.  they've been here all of the 5 years we've done camp and they are such a big help, especially with the younger kids.  
All in all it was a wonderful time.  Spending time together.  Having fun, studying God's Word, sharing in work, study, play and food.  Each year we grow closer and it helps stimulate our spiritual growth throughout the year.  Thank you for your part, whether in giving finances to the HOH for us to function and be a light in our community or through your prayers as we bring hope to those around us.  We all play a vital role, thanks for yours!

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Time to Catch up!

Greetings to you all.  Wow, it's hard to believe a whole month has gone by.  I am sorry I never got to update the blog while I was traveling and in Haiti.  The internet down there was horrible and while I did manage to put a short update on Facebook throughout my trip, I couldn't get on the blog site at all to do an update.  If you still want to join the House of Hope Facebook page so you can get these more frequent updates, you can do that by following this link:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/houseofhopehaiti1/ .

Thank you so much for your prayers for our travels over the past weeks.  Everything went so well it was just amazing.  All my flights were on time until my final flight back to Winnipeg at which time I got in late and lost a bag!  What a perfect time for things to go wrong!

My time in Haiti was just wonderful.  Here's a look...
These two guys weren't the ones who came and picked me up in Port-au-Prince -- thankfully.  But they were sure waiting for my arrival after the 6 hour car ride in the white vehicle behind them (which amazingly made it once again over those rough roads).  
 
What an encouragement it was to be picked up and chauffeured by Jn Daniel.  Watching these "kids" grow and expand their knowledge and skills is so exciting.  Since coming back we've learned that he was offered a full-time job in Port-au-Prince as a Lab Technologist, so we are going to lose him as a chauffeur, but are so excited to watch him move on in his life. 
My time at the HOH was just incredible.  Spending time with the kids as well as Linda was a highlight and we just enjoyed being together.  I'm so happy with how things are going there.  Seeing different kids step up into leadership roles to help Linda.  Watching others move on to new steps in their lives.  It is so neat how Linda and I can work together so well both near and far apart. We feel like we are a pretty formidable team and are so blessed to have each other to minister with.
Several of the kids thought it was a good idea to have me jump back into my role as "medical liaison" while I was down there this time.  Shortly after my arrival, Frandy had an incredibly traumatic accident on our yard.  Those are the moments we are so thankful our house is on the same yard as a hospital.  I stayed with him through the ER and then the operating room late into the night as the surgeons worked on his arm.  He has a long road of recovery ahead of him, please pray for him as we still aren't sure how much use he is going to have of his hand and fingers. 
 
Several nights later it was Moise who kept me at the ER until the wee hours of the morning as he was having trouble breathing and needed oxygen.  Then later it was the twins!  Needless to say, I put in a lot of hospital time this trip.  I was happy to do it though and give Linda a bit of a break as she along with our older kids go through this a lot throughout the year.

Camp was really great this year as well, but I'm going to wait until the next blog to fill you in on that or else this blog will be way too long!  

Here are a few prayer requests to keep in mind until the next blog:
  • School is starting up in 2 weeks.  This means a lot of things, but most particularly we need to purchase school supplies, uniforms and pay entrance fees and tuition in the coming weeks.  Please pray for provision of all these things we need related to the education of the kids.  It is such an important part of our ministry to bring them hope.  It costs about $300 US per student per year to send them to school.  We have 52 students.  Please pray for this need.

  • Our boys in Port-au-Prince are doing really well.  We do see the need to find other housing arrangements for them.  I was able to visit them on my trip and after talking with Linda about it, we were not happy with the situation where they were at.  God has brought a much better situation about, but it is also more money.  So, we have until mid-September to make this decision.  Please pray with us about this.  Pray that we would have the funds to move them to the better situation.  
  • There is some really great Spiritual growth happening on many different levels with our kids both at the HOH and those in Port-au-Prince.  It is really very exciting to watch God working in their lives and them getting to know Him better.  On this trip, they asked me to spend more time working on Bible Studies and devotions for them which I am very happy to do.  You could pray for me as I do this and try to work out different medias and methods to do this from afar.
We are so grateful for each one of you and the part you play in this exciting ministry.  Together we are bringing hope to many -- Thank you for your part!