Time just flies!!!

Ok, can someone tell me where the month of February went? I was just sitting here telling you of my upcoming trip to Miami, and here we are into March already. Here are some of the highlights of things that happened since I last wrote:

I did indeed go to Miami, and had a very busy but great weekend with our friends at Miami Shores Presbyterian Church. I was also able to do a bit of shopping and get some much needed supplies that you can't mail, and then our friends took them to the boat in Miami to bring them into Haiti for us.

The team from East Stroudsburg, PA did come down, and sure did a lot of work both for us and for the hospital. We enjoyed seeing those who have been down many times over the past years, and also the chance to meet a new member of the team as well. I personally didn't get to spend a lot of time with the team as I was in Miami, but Linda and the kids did and enjoyed having them here.

The day before I left for Miami Linda came down with Malaria, so she was sick most of the time I was gone. In spite of being ill, she was still able to help the Veterinarian run a clinic for the animals in the local area...mostly dogs. The day after I returned Linda left to go to Cap Haitian and visit her family. She took along a number of the older kids here who were on vacation from school as well. They had a great time, but were really missed here at the HOH by those of us holding down the fort.

The team from PA left and another smaller group from PA came through for a few days. Jeb Bland and his wife and a friend stopped by. We always enjoy having them stop by, as they have developed some really close relationships with some of our young people. Jeb looked over out building project, and helped Ronel decide what was the next step for getting the building under way again.

Ciliana spent the weeks eating, sleeping and growing, she is up to 6.5 pounds, and actually feels big to those of us who remember her being under 2 pounds. She is sleeping better during the nights, much to our joy, and is really starting to recognize people and has a pleasant and happy spirit about her most of the time. She is such a joy to us all.

Our own nurses started working on March 1st. So far they are doing a great job, and it is a relief for Linda and I to have someone here to look after our children's health needs 24/7.

We are looking forward to a team of young ladies coming from Liberty University this week. They are coming to do seminars and lessons with our young ladies on "Knowing your True Identity in Christ". We are looking forward to a very fun week of trading cultures, and learning God's Word together as these young ladies interact with each other. Please pray for their safety in travel, and for health as they spend just over a week with us.

I am excited to also have a long time friend from College come to spend the week with us as well. Amy and I were in our freshman year at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College together before we both went our separate way. We have always kept in touch however, and I'm so excited to welcome her to Haiti and enable her to see the ministry down here.
Here are some prayer requests for you all to continue to pray for us during this coming week:

• I am still working on translating and preparing the first 6 lessons of the Young Peacemakers Bible Study to teach our children and young people this coming Easter break. It is a lot of work as you can imagine, but I'm very excited about the chance to teach these precious truths to our young people. Please pray that I would find the time I need in between all the activities of the teams coming, and the other administrative needs of the HOH, to finish the first half of this project in time. Pray also that the Holy Spirit would already be preparing the hearts of everyone here for the things they are going to learn, and that the lessons throughout the first week of April would bring forth much fruit in the lives of our young people.
• Pray for safety and health for our visitors and for us over the next couple of very busy weeks.
• Pray for the dental team from the University of Nevada Las Vegas that will be coming down again this year with some dentists from the Seattle area, that God would prepare the way for their trip. Pray that those who need to be here for both dental care and to hear the Good News of the Gospel would hear about the coming dental clinic, and be able to make it here for that week. Pray for clear chances to share the Gospel during this week, and that God would be glorified through the use of His servants with skills in the dentistry area.
• Pray for several newcomers to the HOH, including Julienne, pictured above. She has only been here a couple of days, and isn't to the smiling stage yet, but she's getting closer every day, and is really starting to look healthier. Pray for her father who was also very sick when he brought her here last week, her mother just passed away about 3 weeks ago.
  
• Pray for our nurses as they get used to their position here. Pray that they would build good relationships with each other, among the kids, and with our other staff. Pray for wisdom as the provide health care for our children. Pray that they would also have the chance to grow in their spiritual walk as they spend time here at the HOH.
• Pray for all of our spiritual growth, that we'd seek to be more like Christ each day, and reflect Him in our lives.
• Praise God for his faithful provision for our financial needs and pray that He'd continue to provide all we need.

We hope you have a great week! Thank you for your support and prayers.+

Busy Busy Busy!!

Wow, where does time go? It was such a busy week with our team from Canada, but it was such a great time. The kids enjoyed all the pampering the team did, and those who need glasses sure are looking forward to having them sent back to them. We appreciated the eye doctor who checked out all of our kids as well as quite a few people in the community. He even brought down a wide selection of eyeglass frames to choose from. Our precious Ciliana (formerly Siliana - sorry I spelled it wrong), even took a turn modeling the smallest of the glass frames he brought along. She looks very sophisticated! She is doing just great by the way, weighing 4.5 pounds, and gaining! Our only trouble with her is she doesn't sleep well at night, making it tough for Linda and I who take turns staying up with her. The team from Canada helped out so much, even keeping her for night so we both could wake up rested the next day! We really appreciated all they did for us.

Now we are looking at the next visiting team from East Stroudsburg, PA. We are looking forward to seeing the 5 members of the team who have been down here many times before, as well as former Haiti missionary Paul Browne, and a new visitor we will be meeting for the first time. It is going to be a busy week, with much coming and going, as they have different jobs to work on, and I won't be here for most of the time they are here. Lord willing, I am going to Miami for the weekend for a mission's conference. When I get back Linda will be going to Cap Haitian for a quick visit with her family. The students have a vacation from school starting on Friday of this week and going through the next as it is the "Carnival" weekend here in Haiti. So the next couple of weeks are going to be quite something trying to coordinate everything that's going on!

We appreciate your prayers on our behalf as we continue to serve the Lord here at the House of Hope and in Haiti. Here are some specific requests for you to pray for:

• Pray for safety for all the traveling plans over the next couple of weeks.
  
• Pray for safety and health for the visiting team coming down, as well as strength to finish the different jobs we have lined up for them.
  
• Pray for Linda as she holds down the fort while I'm away, and then for me as I hold it down while she is gone...it's always much harder when one of us is away. Also, she just came down with malaria, so she isn't feeling very well.
  
• Pray for our nurses that we have hired as they go through their internship in the hospital, and plan on starting to work for us March 1. We still need to hire 2, so pray that we would find the right nurses who will fit into the program here at the HOH.
• Pray for Colly, Blon, and Iseline three new children here at the HOH. Blon and Iseline have malnutrition, and Colly has TB.
• Continue to pray for Ciliana, that she'd continue to get strong, and that she'd start to sleep through the nights.
• Pray that in spite of all the things going on that keep us busy we'd reflect Jesus to those around us, and we'd take the time to get to know Him better.
• Pray that God would supply all of our needs, and that we'd trust Him for everything.
  

Once again, we appreciate your prayers and support. Have a great week.

Life is Good!

As you can see our "little peanut" as we affectionately call little Siliana, is continuing to flourish. She is getting more energy every day, and when she isn't sleeping is either smiling or crying, no in between! It is at times like these that we are thankful we have such a big family as everyone takes turns taking care of this little one. Even almost two year old Lala does her part, bringing the milk to her whenever she cries! We were able to catch her in a smile though, and wanted to share it with you all.
Last week was busy but good with the team here from the Seattle area. They were able to accomplish many things here at the HOH and at the hospital. Now we are eagerly awaiting a group from Simcoe, Ontario Canada who will arrive today, Lord willing. This group will be here a little over a week, and everyone is excited, as they are close to our kids here, and are a lot of fun to have. One of the men is an eye doctor, so we are happy to be able to have all of our kids' eyes tested to see if they need glasses. I suspect quite a few do, so it will be great to get this taken care of.
The boat arrived in this week, so we are happy to be receiving a number of things that have been on the way for a while now. Included in this shipment should be the rest of the Christmas gifts, so you can imagine everyone can't wait for the things to get here.
Yesterday we hired a nurse to work full time at the hospital, and also one LPN. We plan on hiring 2 more LPN's before it's all said and done. They will be doing an internship at the hospital for a month, to make sure they understand the way things run here, and hopefully starting March 1 we'll have our own nursing staff. We are really looking forward to this, as we know this will enable us to give our sick children better care. We also know this is going to help lighten Linda and my load quite a bit as well.
We appreciate your continued prayers for us. Some specific things to pray for this week would be:

• Continued health and healing for Siliana.
  
• That the doctors would know what to do with Junior, he still isn't doing well, continuing to swell up almost daily. He is convinced he has been cursed because of something he did at home, and so is paying the price for it. We continue to share the Good News of freedom and forgiveness in Jesus with him. Pray that he would grasp these concepts and also that God would give us the wisdom to help him.
• A new little girl named Iseline arrived here yesterday. Pray for her as she is very malnourished, that she'd respond well to the treatment we can give her here.
  
• For continued spiritual growth in our lives, that we'd reflect Jesus to those around us.
• For God's provision of our financial needs, as well as other needs that we currently have.
• For safety and health for our visitors. And also that we'd be a blessing to them as they are to us.

We hope you all have a great week, and appreciate your prayers on our behalf. Blessings on you all!

She's doing great!

Greetings! And a Happy New Year to you all.

We are all doing fine her at the HOH, especially our little baby. As you can see by the picture. A couple of weeks with plenty of formula, love and care made a huge different for this little one. She is so precious, and we enjoy having her as part of our lives. She is having trouble mixing up her night and days though, so she tends to sleep most of the day and keep us up most of the night! But she's cute anyway! We are just thankful she is healthy.

The other kids are doing well, and are well into the next cycle of school. A couple of them didn't do too well during the last exam period, so they are spending more time studying. They'd appreciate your prayers as they get ready for the government exams coming up in the early summer months.

Our Bible studies will start up again this week, and we have a group of men from Seattle coming in today to spend a week helping us fix things around the HOH and the hospital. So it's going to be a busy week, and we'd appreciate your prayers for health and strength for all of us to make the most of the time the team has here.

Please continue to pray for God to supply all of our needs. He is our rock and is so faithful. Pray as well that we would reflect Him in our lives as we interact with people in our community. Thanks for your prayers and continued support.

Merry Christmas!!

It was a great party! Last Sunday we enjoyed a program put on by our young people. About 100 visitors came to the HOH to enjoy the program and party with us, and it we had a very nice time, remembering our Savior, the ultimate gift, who's birth we celebrate at this time of the year. For many of the kids it was their first time, and you can see by their faces they were very excited.

Little Siliana is doing great, thank you for your prayers for her. She is now drinking on her own, and putting on weight. She also loves to sleep all day, and keep us up all night! We were sad to find out that her mother passed away on Tuesday, and she is now an orphan, but we are thankful we were able to get her in time to give her a chance to live.

Our school kids are enjoying a break these days, and I am enjoying a visit with my family in Texas. Please keep Linda in your prayers, as she is holding down the fort. Her family experienced a loss this past week with the sudden death of a beloved cousin in Miami. His funeral is Saturday, so please keep them in your prayers. We'd appreciate your prayers for our friends in Port-au-Prince, as security continues to be a big concern for them all.

We extend our wishes to you all for a very Merry Christmas!

"The Least of These"

We had seen her several times before, lying on her mom's hospital bed. Her mother was diagnosed with AIDS, and is extremely ill. Whether due to the AIDS or Post Partum Depression, her mom had mentally lost it when she was born, and had refused to accept her as her child. Her mom was better now, and accepted her presence there on the hospital bed, but still refused to take care of her. In fact, no one was taking care of her, everyone was preoccupied with her mom, and her sad state of health. But no one did anything about her needs. In fact, she didn't even have a name yet. She is 2 weeks old, and since being born, had not been fed anything of substance, her diet mostly consisted of sugar water the nurses gave her whenever they came by, perhaps once or twice a day. Sunday after church we stopped by to see her, and our hearts went out to her seeing this tiny 3 pound bundle lying there so helplessly. All that was going through my mind was, she, if anyone fit the description "the least of these" that Jesus had talked about in Mathew 25. She had been forgotten, and would soon die unless someone did something.

So we did. We brought her to the HOH. Cleaned her up, and starting putting regular amounts of formula into her little stomach through a feeding tube. We did tests for her at the hospital, and started her on medications. We have been taking care of her needs day and night. We even gave her a name: Siliana. Her mom's name is Silianie, so it's something her mom might have named her if she had been in her right mind. It hasn't taken long for Siliana to start getting better, she has already started to change color from a sickly yellow to a much healthier light brown. She is waking up more often, and has even given us a smile or two. Last night she was cooing in her bed, it was so cute, and we once again feel blessed to be able to take care of another precious treasure! And talk about a perfect time to receive such a treasure! The time of year when we are celebrating the coming of Jesus to earth as a little baby. When we brought her to the HOH the other kids here said, "Great! Now we have our Baby Jesus!".

We are busy getting things ready for our Christmas celebration on Sunday, it will be a busy but very fun day. We will be preparing in the morning, have the program in the afternoon, and receive the gifts in the evening. Excitement is in the air!

We appreciate your prayers and support very much. Junior is still about the same, but he isn't worse so we are thankful for that. Wendjina is doing much better, but when her dad came to see her this morning we sent her home with him to finish her treatment from home. She really misses her family a lot, and we think this is the best course of action for her.

Thank you for your part in this ministry. God bless,

Continued Prayer Needed

Thank you so much for your prayers for Wendjina. She is doing much better the past two days. Please keep praying that she'd continue to respond to the treatments we are giving her. Now we need your prayers for another young child named Junior. This is his second time to be at the HOH. He was here several years ago with TB, but this time has returned severely malnourished. His symptoms are very confusing for the doctors here, and we are trying to change his diet to see if that helps. Please pray for wisdom for us all to know how to help this sweet little boy.

The boat arrived this week! So that means at least some of our Christmas presents are here. I don't think they all made it in time, but at least some did, and we have already received a good number here at the HOH. The kids were all very excited yesterday as they saw the boxes coming in. Now they just have to wait! Thank you to all who sent gifts, we are looking forward to seeing the kids faces when they open their Christmas sacks this year.

The Our Hope young people are busy preparing the Christmas program for this year. They are being quite secretive about it, and have been going to the campground that is attached to our property to practice every night, so we don't see it before hand. We are happy they can now do this on their own, and we are looking forward to seeing the program on the 17th. That is when they will all receive their gifts as well.

We are enjoying having a young man from Vancouver, WA here with us for a couple of weeks. Mason Young is the newest human jungle gym here at the HOH! The younger children in particular have enjoyed having Mason here to play with them, and he is fitting in and helping out a lot. He has a kind heart and doesn't mind holding the little babies, and they sure are loving it!

Once again, thank you for your prayers and your support.

Pray for Wendjina

Good morning, thank you for praying for Jean Daniel, he has recovered well from his surgery, and is almost back to his normal self. Now we need to ask you to pray for Wendjina, who is very sick. She is 2 years old and has been here at the HOH since September. She really was doing well, responding to her TB treatment, and starting to get healthy, and then during the past month she has started to really go down hill. The doctor doesn't know what do to for her anymore, and we are just trying everything we can to save her. Her parents think that someone has put a curse on her, and so have lost all hope that she will live. We keep telling them that is for God to decide, and that if He chooses, He can spare her life. Our prayer is that her family would come to know the Lord through this difficult time, and also that Wendjina would get better. Please pray for Wendjina, for her parents, and for us as we take care of her. Thank you.

I meant to write this before today, but didn't get a chance. This morning one of our oldest boys, Jean Daniel will be going through surgery to have his tonsils removed. We'd appreciate your prayers for Jean Daniel, and for the surgeon, Dr. Mozart, as this operation takes place. Thank you so much. God bless, and have a great day!

Christmas is Here!!

This past week Christmas arrived at the HOH. We love to start early, as everyone here loves the lights and the decorations. For some of the children, this will be the first Christmas they've ever celebrated, and for some the only one they ever will. The new ones have never seen lights and decorations before, it is so fun to watch their faces light up with each decoration that is put in place. We are looking forward to being able to enjoy this time of the year with our children and young people, and to share the Good News of Jesus with those who don't yet know Him.

Speaking of those who don't know Him yet, we can cross Djimmy off that list! Remember a couple of weeks ago I asked you to pray for him. Well last week he accepted Jesus as his Savior, here in the office with Linda and I. It was so wonderful, and at that moment I pictured the angels in Heaven celebrating this newborn member of the family. Thank you for your prayers for him.

It has been a difficult week for us, as one of the young people who has been here 5 years decided she wanted to return home to her father's house. We had been trying to discourage this, as her father is extremely poor, and has no way to take care of her, but she insisted, so we had to let her go, even though it was very difficult for us. In the end she wanted more freedom to do as she pleases, and she knew she wouldn't get it here. That is a very difficult for some of our young people, especially as they have friends whose parents let them do what they want. Please pray for our young people, that they'd be able to stand up to the peer pressure around them, and continue to learn and grow in their walk with Christ so that they are a positive influence to their friends and schoolmates.

We are looking forward to some visitors this next week. A young man from Seattle named Mason Young is coming to spend several weeks helping us out here at the HOH, and a group of men from Oklahoma are coming for a quick visit as well. I have been spending quite a bit of time planning for the work teams that will start to come here in January and continue through to April. Please pray for me as I work out all the logistics of having these teams here. Pray also for security in Haiti so they can come and help us do some much needed repairs at the HOH and the hospital as well.

This week has been rainy and stormy, we actually pulled out the winter clothes yesterday evening for the young children! We have a number of needs here at the moment, and would appreciate your prayers for God's provision for all of our needs. Pray also for a number of very sick children we have here right now. Those include: Gamaniel, Wendjina, Edmaya, and Ashley.

We want to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of our US friends. Hope you have a lovely day.

Fun on Holidays!

Fun on Holidays!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.

Greetings once again from the HOH. Last week our students had 3 days of vacation from school, having just completed their mid term exams. Not wanting to let this opportunity to have some fun pass them by, our older young people put their heads together and organized 3 days of fun and games. They opened it up to some of the children in our local community, and did a superb job of organizing and pulling off the fun days. It was such a joy for Linda and myself to see our young people take the initiative to do this, and then to organize it and pull it off! The one young man who really put his all into this project was St. Germain. Which won't be a surprise to any of you who know him. He just really shined forth his God-given talents of leadership and administration. It was really exciting to watch and participate in, although by the end of the week we were all exhausted! In this picture you can see a group of both our kids and the community kids playing Bingo together.



Having a group of young people come in from the community did open our eyes to the sad moral state that some of these young people are in. We hear stories from the community every now and then, but seeing it and experiencing it with our own eyes was another story. It made me realize how much peer pressure our kids are under when they are in school with these other young people, and it reminded me of the great need we have to pray for our kids to be a light and a witness for Jesus Christ in their schools and the local community. Please keep them in your prayers.



We were surprised when we looked at the news online on Monday to find that Haiti was named the world's most corrupt country. What a mark of distinction! And another reason to get on our knees and pray for Haiti, for the leaders of this country and for all the believers here trying to make a difference for Christ in such a corrupt setting. I was reading in Phil 2:13-15 this morning, and it struck me that this is what we are trying to do here in Haiti. Here's what it says: "...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe." So pray that we would do our work here without complaining or arguing, so we may shine like stars in this struggling country.



Please continue to pray that God would supply all of our needs. We appreciate your prayer support very much, and know that this is God's work, we are all just partners together in it--He will supply what we need. Thank you for lifting us up before the Father. God bless, and have a great week...

Hello!

Hello!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.

It's been a couple of weeks since we've last written. In the past two weeks, I went to Port-au-Prince for a few days, we've had Dr. Boucher visit for a few days, the school kids have all been writing exams, we've been dealing with discipline problems, we received a bunch of boxes off the boat, we admitted 8 very sick and malnourished children, had 2 young children pass away, and we've been getting over the virus that went through. So you can imagine how busy things have been.



But today we are feeling fine, the kids are almost done their exams (most will finish tomorrow), and the really sick kids are starting to get better. Among them are 12 year old Djimmy. He came here very sick and malnourished, but is already feeling better and starting to enjoy life at the HOH. Please pray that he would be receptive of the Good news of Jesus during his time here.



Tomorrow I need to return to PAP, just for the day, I'll fly down in the morning and Lord willing back in the afternoon. I have to take care of some government paperwork, so I'd appreciate your prayers for safety.



Wednesday and Thursday of this week are a holiday here in Haiti, so the kids won't have school. They are already preparing for two big recreation days, filled with fun and games. It's neat to see them using their creative minds to come up with fun things to do, and we are looking to some fun times together.



Please keep some of our young teenagers who are going through some very difficult times. We all know those teenage years are tough, so please pray for these girls in particular: Roselor, Guirlene, Verline and Pierla.



Our Bible studies are going good, and we know God is working in the lives of our kids. While it gets discouraging sometimes when we see our young people make bad choices, we find our encouragement in God and in His Word. This morning I was encouraged with Phil. 1:6...that confidence that God would continue His work in the lives of His people...we are clinging to that same confidence these days as our young people grow, stumble, fall, get up and keep going. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. Please continue to pray as well for God to provide financially what we need to keep the HOH going.



Have a great week, Jenny and the HOH

Building away!

Building away!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.

Greetings from the House of Hope! We have a virus going through the HOH, and people seem to be dropping one after the other! Every day we wake up to several more cases of fever and flu like symptoms. We appreciate your prayers for all those who are sick, and for those who haven't fallen sick yet as they try to pick up the slack of those who are sick.



The boys along with some local workers have worked hard to rebuild our burned out building. Thanks to a generous gift we were able to get a large amount of work done on the building, as you can see in the above picture. We are excited, and are again praying for God's provision to allow us to continue, and one day finish this project.



Please keep 1 year old Stevenson in your prayers, he got really sick this past week, we gave him a blood transfusion, and then the Doctor decided to transfer him to the hospital. He is still there, but is doing better. Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf. God bless you and give you a great week!

The Boucher Family

The Boucher Family
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.

We got back from Port-au-Prince last night. Thank you so much for your prayers for our safety and for Benitha. God, as usual, worked everything out just fine. We were referred to an ear doctor who turned out to be Dr. Boucher's cousin. She was very quick at diagnosing Benitha's problem, and her treatment worked almost immediately. Within a few days it was apparent that Benitha didn't need surgery, her problem was corrected with medication only, for that we are very thankful.



We thank God so much for our relationship with the Boucher family in PAP (pictured here with their new baby boy). They are always so quick to help us when we are in need, and this time was no different. They helped us get all the testing done we needed to, and took very good care of us. Please continue to pray for this special family as they continue to live through very difficult times in PAP. Our young man, Carl Evens, who is in PAP lives with them. It was good to connect with him this past week. He will start writing exams to try and get into university tomorrow. He has exams on Friday, Saturday, and then next Tuesday through Thursday, so please pray for him. He has studied hard this past year, with Dr. Boucher's help, and so we pray that he'll succeed in being admitted to university and begin his studies this coming year.



All of the "Our Hope" young people and kids started school this week, and it's nice to see things getting back to a more "normal" schedule. Pray that they all would use their time wisely, and learn as much as they can during this coming year.

Pray for Benitha

Greetings! Linda came back Tuesday afternoon. Everything went well, and it was so good for her to have been with her family during this difficult time. Thankyou for your prayers for her safety, and for the funeral. The Gospel was clearly presented at the funeral, so we continue to pray that it will bear fruit amongst those who attended.

As soon as Linda returned we found out that one of our older girls, Benitha, needed to go to Port-au-Prince to see a Ear Specialist. She has a very advanced and complicated ear infection, and the doctors here are worried she may lose hearing in her ear. Please pray for this to heal, and pray for us as we head to PAP today. I'll be taking her down, and traveling with Stephanie as well. Pray for safety, and for the doctor there to have wisdom to know how to deal with this problem. We appreciate your support in this way. Have a great week!

Jackson

Jackson
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.

Last night Jackson passed away, after battling Leukemia for almost a year. Thank you so much to those of you who prayed faithfully for him this past year. We never were able to get any kind of treatment for him other than blood transfusions every couple of weeks. This past week has been rough and the doctor told the family they needed to take him home, as there was nothing else they could do for him. It has been extremely tough on his family as they've watch him suffer without being able to help.



Linda will travel to Cap Haitian on Thursday along with Phania (pictured here), so they can help participate in his funeral. Please keep them in prayer as they travel, and also as they do a lot of the planning for the funeral. Pray for the family as well, most of them are not believers. We are thankful that Jackson did believe in Jesus, and we know he is no longer suffering. Pray that during this time with their family, Linda and Phania will be able to share Jesus with them. Pray for receptive hearts, and that God would be glorified in all that goes on there these coming days.



School begins for our students this coming week, pray for us as we get all the preparations finished. We will also begin our Bible studies with the children and young people here. So things should soon start to be on a more regular schedule. We've had several young children be able to return to their homes this week, specifically Sandley, Djeffry, Jamesley, and Jamesen. We've also had 3 new children come, please pray for them, their names are, Withcy, Nayson, Guerry. Please pray specifically for Guerry, he is very sick and swollen with malnutrition.



We appreciate your prayers for us. God bless and have a great week!

Kensly is Happy!

Kensly is Happy!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.

Thank you for praying for Kensly, he is doing just great! He has adjusted to life back at the House of Hope, and as you can see in the picture of him in our garden, is very happy. We appreciate your holding him up before the Father.



My trip to PAP went well, we got the interns off fine, thank you for your prayers for safety. I was also able to touch base with our friends the Boucher family, and see their precious newborn baby boy.



These past few weeks, things have been extremely difficult here at the HOH, we've had many things happen to discourage us, things we've never faced before, and it's been very tough. We still are working through some things, and would appreciate your prayers for wisdom for Linda and I as we work through them. Please continue to pray for the spiritual growth of our children and young people, as well as Linda and I. Pray also that God would be glorified in all that goes on here at the HOH, and that we would be lights in our community.



Things have settled down somewhat in PAP, so we are thankful for that, especially for all our friends and colleagues who live and work there.



We continue to have a house full of visiting friends from England, so that keeps us busy on top of all that's going on. On Sunday we enjoyed having Jeb Bland and his team here for the day. I have been spending quite a bit of time making up new Bible studies for the Our Hope young people in the coming months. Please pray that God would use them in the lives of our young people to bring them into a deeper knowledge of Him, and a closer walk with Him.



We have three new children who are quite sick, their names are: Lubiana, Samenta, and Louvensky, please keep them in your prayers. Also praise God together with us for a couple of very generous donations that have been an encouragement to us, and are enabling us to do some much needed work around the HOH. The boys and some local workers have finished pouring the cement roof for the first floor of the building we are working on since it burned down. This coming week they'll work on making the stairs to the second floor, and also on starting to put up the walls.



We appreciate you and your prayers on our behalf!

Pray for Safety

Just a quick note to let you know that I have to travel to Port au Prince tomorrow to take the two interns to the airport to fly back to the States. I'd appreciate your prayers as we travel there. I will be spending the night with the Boucher family, and will get to see their new baby boy! Then I'll be back on Friday.

Also pray for our visitors coming from England some arriving here tomorrow, and some on Saturday. We appreciate your prayers as we travel around, especially during our time in PAP as things are not as calm there as we'd like it to be. It also looks like Tropical Storm Chris is heading our way over the next few days, so pray we can all arrive back here safely.

Keep Linda and the kids in prayer as well, the boys are working with some local masons on the burned out building, they should be ready to pour the roof sometime early next week. And pray for Kensly as well, a new 3 year old boy who is sad and sick, pray for him to adjust well here, and to start to feel better. Thanks!

Smiling faces

Smiling faces
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.

The smiling happy faces that greet me every morning (like Lala here), make me feel so happy to be back among them. We are well into summer vacation here the House of Hope, and as you can imagine there is much activity going on all the time. Some of the older boys has begun running several miles every morning, and playing as much basketball as they possibly can. Some of the older girls are starting to make uniforms for the coming school year, as well is helping us with the numerous visitors, we have during the months of July and August. All of the younger kids are making the most of every day just playing as many games as they can in a day. Our two short-term ladies have been spending a lot of time with different groups of kids loving them, and sharing Christ's love with them through their actions. They've also been helping to decorate the HOH by painting on the walls. Linda and I are just trying to keep it all together, we've got up on most of the work that didn't get done while I was gone, and are now pressing on with the new things.



We've enjoyed having various members of Linda's family from the US come to spend time with us during the month of July. Presently, we have her three nephews here, as well as her sister, brother-in-law and their daughter. It has been very good for Linda to catch up with family members she has not seen for a long time. So her days lately have been filled with taking care of their needs and enjoying their company.



I've been working on a new prayer letter and also on Bible studies for the coming school year. I've also been serving as the local taxi service for missionaries and visitors alike, as Ronel, our oldest boy and helping chauffeur, is not here right now.



We feel very blessed to be experiencing calm and peace in our area of Haiti, but that is not the case in other areas, especially in certain places in Port-au-Prince. We would ask you to please pray for all of our missionary and Haitian colleagues who live and work in Port-au-Prince. It is a very stressful environment of the moment, and they could really use your prayers. We have been hearing reports, however, that in the midst of very difficult times there, the Gospel is being preached and lived out daily, and people are coming to know the Lord. So please keep praying for this very needy country, that God would be glorified and many would come to know him.



Please continue to pray as well, for God's provision for our daily needs. As always, when there's trouble in the country. It becomes difficult getting supplies into the outlying areas, and the already escalated prices continue to rise. We appreciate you all, have a great day!

Back in Haiti!

Back in Haiti!
Originally uploaded by House of Hope.

Greetings once again from Haiti! Sorry I did not get a chance to update the blog while I was traveling. It was a very busy, 10 weeks. I enjoyed visiting with everyone that I had a chance to see, which turned out to be quite a lot of people. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to travel with my sister, we had a great time together, and it made the miles pass by quickly as we drove across the country. We ended up putting on 5,400 miles onto our rental car in just four weeks!



Needless to say I'm thrilled to be back in Haiti. It was so good to see everybody again. Linda and the kids fared quite well during my absence, although it was a busy and difficult time for them all. Everyone is finally finished with their exams, some just finished last week. They are now getting full swing into summer vacation, starting with a basketball tournament this afternoon. Several of the "Our Hope" kids have gone to their homes to visit their families, please pray for safety as they travel, and also that they would have the chance to be a witness for the Lord during their time at home.



It was great to travel back into Haiti with two young ladies who are here to spend several weeks with us. Heather and McKenzie (in the picture) come from Oklahoma and Texas and are here to help out at the House of Hope. Today they have enjoyed getting to know some of the kids and spending time playing with them. Please pray for them as they are here, pray for health and safety, patience and endurance as they share God's love with the House of Hope family.



We appreciate your prayers and support of the HOH, and hope to be able to get back to our regular updates.

Please pray for John Widly, and Oldina two recent arrivals of the House of Hope, as they are on the road to recovery. Please pray also for the many visitors that we have coming during the next couple of weeks. Pray for safety, and Linda and I as we work out the final details.



We are excited to have reliable cell phone service in our area now. If you ever need to get in touch with us write us an e-mail and find out our numbers. Have a great week!