Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Good News!

I promised you some good news about the HOH.  We waited until this week to tell you, because it was supposed to be officially over today, the Universal Children's Day.  Unfortunately, Haiti is in a bit of a riot stage through this past weekend and the event had to be postponed.  But we will be nice and won't make you wait to hear our news.

This year, the House of Hope was awarded a special award for it's work with vulnerable children in Haiti. This award is given out annually in Haiti by the Network of Christian Organizations for the Development and Promotion of Children (ROCHEPE).  The members of this committee are from organizations working in Haiti including:  Compassion International, World Vision, Tearfund, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Medical Teams International as well as numerous others from within Haiti.

Linda and 6 kids from the HOH were supposed to attend an award ceremony in Port-au-Prince this evening, but unfortunately, the unrest has kept them from going.  It is uncertain when the ceremony will be rescheduled.  
Our faces were much like Widson's here when we heard the news.  (Isn't he doing great by the way?  His casts were recently removed).  It's not often we hear about, much less receive such things and we wanted to share it with you.  

The HOH has been doing this great work of bringing hope to children and youth who need it for 62 years now.  It is very hard work, but it is extremely rewarding as well.  And none of it could happen without you our faithful partners. 

So, in spite of the fact that we didn't actually receive the award yet (it is to come with a financial donation), we want to thank you for your part in helping us receive this recognition.  It's not why we work -- but it does feel good sometimes, to be noticed and appreciated.

Tuesday, November 06, 2018

Catching up!

Greetings to you!  I (Jenny) am back in Manitoba after my trip south and have been greeted with snow.  I am very thankful for an wonderful trip visiting churches, supporters and family throughout Texas.  Thank you to everyone who had a part in making this trip possible.  Some great supporters lent me their vehicle again so I could make the trip (almost 80 hours of driving!).  Many people hosted me in their homes, several churches had me speak and share what God is doing at the HOH.  Many others met me places or just took the time to visit with me while I was there.  Then there were those of you who prayed with me along the way.  I appreciate you all.  

At the HOH things are going well.  Life is getting back to normal after the earthquake and everyone is back to sleeping in their own rooms at night. The kids wrote their mid-term exams last week and then had a few days of vacation towards the end of the week.  They are getting into the swing of school and homework again and finally this week the last two of the girls got their new uniforms.  Manouchka and Kateleen have finally moved up to a skirt from their little shorts they  had in the earlier kindergarten years.  It is a proud moment for them!
We are having some struggles with our university students as the scholarships that they were promised have not been honored.  We are still in discussions with the direction of the school as it will be very difficult for us to continue giving them this level of schooling without that help.  You could pray with us as we continue to work through this.  Linda is to be heading to Port-au-Prince in the next couple of weeks and she hopes to be able to go to the school and discuss this with them. 

We were happy to receive a young lady named Alexandra at the HOH recently.  She will be staying several months to help out Linda and already has settled in well.  She calls Linda "Mom" and is helping out with various activities throughout the day.  She also is holding weekly classes in French and English for the kids on the weekends.  Keep her in your prayers as she works with us to bring various forms of hope to our kids.
We have a specific need for clothing at this time at the HOH and wanted to share that with you all.  We need clothing for all ages, but most specifically are in need of clothing for the middle age range, from 8 to 14 years old.  Used clothes are just fine with us and you would just need to get them to a Miami address for us.  If this is something you or your church could help us with, please get in touch with us and we can give you more details on how to get those to us.  You can write us at houseofhopehaiti1@gmail.com.

We have some good news to share with you, but you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for that as we will be able to post it on the next blog!  Many thanks to each of you for the way you support us.