Prayer

Good Afternoon! This is just a really quick update to ask for your prayers for us. Things have been so busy I haven't had a chance to update the blog, but unfortunately it always seems to work out that that's when we really need your prayers! So I'm just quickly writing you about a couple of things.

• Nani has come down sick with what has all the symptoms of Scarlet Fever. Our Pediatrician has been hesitant to call it that, but the symptoms are all there. So, she has been really sick. We were able to get her on antibiotics really quickly, so she is much better today, but we all could use your prayers for healing, for strength, and that this wouldn't spread to the other kids.
  
• At the same time numerous of the other kids have come down with different viruses/illnesses going around, so things are a bit crazy around here at the moment. Those who are still healthy are trying to remain that way, while taking care of the sick!
• Linda has been having some health troubles of her own, and this week her hemorrhoids have really started to cause problems. Tomorrow morning she will be undergoing surgery to try and take care of the problem. Please pray for Dr. Mozart as he performs the surgery, and for Linda as she undergoes it. We hear it is very painful, and her body usually takes longer to get over things like this, so please pray for her, and all of us who will be helping her get through this.
• Saturday evening we are supposed to start teaching the "The Young Peacemaker" seminar to 52 young men from this area. With so much sickness going around it's been hard to find the time to prepare for the seminar, and enough healthy bodies to pull it all off. We know our enemy doesn't want God's truth to be told to these young men, so please pray that we would be able to continue with the seminar in spite of the obstacles that keep popping up.

Thank you so much for holding us up before the Father! When I get a chance I'll update how things are progressing.

Hot, Hot, Hot!!!!

It is definitely summer around here. We're back to working up a sweat by just sitting in a chair and doing nothing! The afternoon rain showers that occasionally come our way are a much appreciated break to the heat and humidity of the summer. But I don't really mind it that much, summer is my favorite season. For us the sun is coming up at between 4:30 and 5 am (we didn't change to daylight savings time this year), and this morning it gave off a glorious orange glow that was just beautiful. Not that I make it a habit of being up with the sun, those of you who know me well know I am a night owl, but at precisely 5am this morning a very large bang occurred right outside my window. At first, it really annoyed me off that someone would be making such a large noise at such an hour, but then I had the blessing of seeing an awesome sunrise, so I quickly adjusted my attitude!

With summer around here comes fruit! Something we don't get for much of the rest of the year (I know strange for living in a tropical climate). The latest crop has been mangoes, and once again the favorite pastime at the HOH is sitting beneath the mango tree, wooing one to fall right in front of you. I've heard kids sing to the mangoes, scold them, and even offer up a short prayer hoping for it to fall at that moment! This picture of Nani enjoying one, shows you exactly how a mango is meant to be eaten, it's not for the timid, or for anyone wanting to remain clean for that matter. Digging in and getting your whole face into it is the only way to go!

We've been occupied with many things these past couple of weeks. Most of them have to do with school ending. All but a few of the kids are done with their final exams. Most of our students passed the year, but a few didn't, making us have to think and make decisions about what we are going to do with them in the coming school year. The few who are still writing exams are those in grades 12 & 13. They will continue to write their government exams today, tomorrow and Thursday. If you think of it pray for them, these are very difficult exams, and determine whether or not they can continue with their studies and finish school, or if they have to wait a year and re-write the exams.

With the end of school came several graduation ceremonies. The two that we celebrated were for Esther, who graduated from Kindergarten, and Dieujuste, who graduated from elementary school. They looked great in their new outfits, and we had great time celebrating with them.

Here is Esther at the party we had for her at the HOH afterwards...

This is Dieujuste at his graduation with his sisters. Desimene is on the left, she also lives here at the HOH. The other sister lives in our local community.

It is exciting to see our kids work hard and get through these milestones of their lives.

This week is the big conference week here in our village. Over 5,000 people from all over Haiti will show up for a week of Bible studies, times of worship and fellowship. Our kids are really excited about the childrens program which will have several thousand children in attendance. To get prepared they've been braiding the girl's hair with beads, pulling out the best clothes we have, and asking us several times a day if the conference is starting today. It's almost as exciting as Christmas!

I am spending most of my days getting ready for teaching the young boys the Peacemaker studies. We almost have 60 boys signed up to take the course, which is very exicting. Thank you for your prayers as we prepare to share God's truth about living at peace with each other, and resolving conflict in a way that pleases Him. In two weeks we'll also be holding our Staff Camp. This is something we do every 2 years as a way to thank our staff for their hard work taking care of the kids here at the HOH. Many of these ladies would never be able to take a vacation, so we can at least offer them a week where they are taken care of instead of them taking care of others. We have all kids of plans to pamper and care for them, so please keep that in your prayers as well.

We appreciate every one of you who supports us in this ministry. Thanks for your prayers for God's provision over the past few weeks. Our faith has been stretched, and God has been faithful. God bless...

HOH Kids - 1: Very big fish - 0

School is quickly coming to an end. To celebrate we decided to take the kids to the beach. A man we know here in La Pointe has a beach on his property about 2 miles down the road, and he told us we could bring the kids down anytime we wanted, so we decided to take him up on the offer. After playing a quick game of "how many kids can you fit in the back of a Land Cruiser", we arrived at the location ready for a great day at the beach.

Pretty much the moment we arrived it started raining, and it kept raining for the whole next week! So much for me thinking I wasn't going to get wet at the beach. The kids and Linda were not going to let a little rain deter them, however, and they had a great time playing in the water. It did get a bit cold though with the rain coming down, and several had come to complain that they were freezing. We told them to try running around a bit to warm up when God sent us some entertainment that made everyone a whole lot warmer.

Somehow the word "Shark", screamed out by several kids while you are at the beach seems to get your blood going. We scanned the waters to try and see what they saw, and sure enough down the beach a little ways we could see a dorsal fin sticking out of the water, swimming uncomfortably close to the water's edge. I didn't know we had sharks in our waters around here, and it turns out it wasn't really a shark, but we didn't hesitate to get all the kids out of the water as quickly as we could.

In my "American/Canadian" mindset I'm thinking, ok that's it, no more kids in the water until this thing goes away...silly me, what was I thinking. Everyone else in the HOH was thinking, "Yeah, there's supper!". And as if set up by a synchronized timer all the older kids took off running down the beach towards where the "big fish" was swimming. My mind went off again, 'this isn't good, someone is going to get hurt', but their minds were pretty fixed on supper. Armed with nothing but rocks the kids lined up on the shoreline and started using the rocks to scare the fish onto the beach. Soon after a few well aimed rocks stunned fish, they jumped in the water, wrestled around with it, and soon had the fish in their custody. Who would have thought that? Here you can see the mob coming back down the beach rejoicing at their catch. (The group in the bottom left hand corner of the picture are carrying the fish. )


And just what was their catch?

It was a 5 foot swordfish type fish...it was amazing. Fishermen from the area started showing up, and were totally in awe. They'd seen the fish show up there for days, and had been trying to catch it, but hadn't been successful. They kept saying how we must be very blessed people for God to give us such a gift. Of course, then they suggested that we probably would be wise to share that blessing with everyone else in the area!

Our friend Mithou got a machete, and boy let me tell you, what a woman! She just cleaned that fish right up, while at the same time Linda and her kept watching the crowd that was rapidly expanding, trying to keep up with who in the crowd we needed to give some of the fish to. By the time we got the fish all cleaned, the crowd was so thick we could hardly see our kids, and everyone wanted a piece of the fish. So in the end we had to call our beach day over, so we could get at least part of the spoils back home with us.

It was a great experience, and made for a really great day. When we got home we had the chance to cut up the fish, and many people both at the HOH and in our surrounding community were able to eat off of the meat we got from the fish. It really was a blessing and a gift from God, and people in the area are still are talking about it!

There have been quite a few other events that have happened in our local community during the past couple of weeks, that clearly remind us that we live in a fallen world, and have helped us remember our responsibility to be witnesses of light to this needy place. One incident that affected us greatly happened to the family of one of the boys who attends our Bible club. His father was killed in a fight, and then in retribution a mob attacked, tortured and killed the man who killed him. It all happened one evening here in our little town, and as the streets where dangerous our yard started filling up with neighbors and friends trying to find a calm place. Many young people from the community showed up, and as we listened to the mob raging on the road, everyone started sharing their own opinion about what was happening. This gave Linda and I the chance to talk to many of them about what God opinion was about all of this, and more specifically what he says about taking revenge. This talk led to a lot of other topics, and in the midst of a very terrible event we were able to share God's truth with a lot of young people from this area.

So we ask that you continue to pray for us as we seek to use every opportunity we get to share God's truth with those we come in contact with. Pray as we start to prepare the "Peacemaker" course for the young men in the community. 25 of the HOH young people have offered to help me teach this course, so we are revamping it so that they can do some of the lessons and teaching. We are looking forward to what God is going to do in the lives of the young people as they learn these Biblical principles for dealing with conflict, very fitting in light of what happened.

We do appreciate your prayers and support very much, and have one other specific prayer request we'd like to share with you our partners in ministry. We've had some trouble with money we were supposed to have received at the bank, and the end result is that we are extremely low on funds right now. It is very good for us to have our faith stretched to really depend on our Heavenly Father to take care of all of our needs (like he provided supper from the beach). But we'd ask that you pray for us and ask Him to do just that...provide for our needs, and also grow our faith as we wait on Him. Thank you for partnering with us in this way! And God bless...

Moms and the Wii

This past weekend was Mother's Day here in Haiti, and as usual, our kids had a great time celebrating it. At least half of the kids here have lost their moms, so maybe that's what makes it such an emotionally charged Sunday morning service as the kids sing with all their might all the official "Mother's Day" songs. Linda and I are always humbled as they pour out their love on us for being their "fill-in" moms, and we both received a picture frame and a plaque as a Mother's Day gift, as well as a very yummy special afternoon meal. It really was a special day together here with our "improvised" family. Sorry I was too busy enjoying it to take any pictures.

Last week we celebrated the "home-going" of a former House of Hope mom & employee. Mme Merzilien passed away at an age I can't even imagine reaching, she was 105 years old! She worked for almost 30 years here at the HOH taking care of children in need, and one of her daughters followed her in this work and for many years as well. She has numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren who live in our village, one grandchild is a good friend of ours. She is known for being a joyful, caring lady, and while we know she is much better off now, she will be missed greatly.



Well, I guess it was bound to happen at some time, but in the past couple of weeks something new was introduced here at the HOH. A youth group from a church in Alberta, Canada decided they wanted to raise money to purchase a Wii for the HOH. They worked on it for a couple of months, and we just recently received it. So we are now part of the Wii players of the world. I can't tell you how much fun the kids have had with this game. Their two favorites so far are boxing and motorcycle racing, not that they actually get much of a chance to actually have a favorite. With over 100 people vying for a chance to play, and only 2 people playing at a time, it takes quite a while before your chance comes around again! We've only pulled it out twice, because I, as the official "Wii Coach/Referee" only have so much energy...it is quite an exhausting task! But as you can see in the picture of Baslet & Chedlyn, the kids are having a blast with it, and so we say a big thank you to the youths in Canada who thought of getting this gift for us.

If you should pop by the HOH during the evenings these days, you'll probably feel like you've entered into a three-ring circus. While our actual numbers have gone down to around 90 kids, many other kids from our community are preparing for their final exams. Because we have electricity, they come here to study, and it can get quite crazy around here after a while. But if you remember from the last blog, everyone starts writing exams soon, and the government exams will start towards the end of June, so please keep praying for them to work hard, study well, and be examples as they write their exams.

I learned during the last Boys Club we had with the community boys that 6 of them have come to know Jesus as their Savior since the club started! What a joy it was to hear that and watch them stand up to give testimony to that during the last club of the season. We look forward to studying the Peacemaker series with them during the month of August.

I am studying an online course throughout the month of June. It's called "Foundations and Principles of Holistic Ministry" through the Chalmer Center for Economic Development. So far I've learned a lot, and have been able to keep up with the work load (it only started two days ago), in spite of faces like this popping out of my desk every now and again! It's amazing I get anything done at all!

We continue to have our family devotions in the evenings, and lately have started sharing with each other how the Bible was "alive" for us in any given day. Our hope is to encourage them to read their Bibles on a daily basis, and look for ways it impacts their lives and the lives of those around them. Pray for growth in all of our lives as we seek to become more like Jesus, and then seek to witness Him to those around us.

We continue to appreciate your prayers and support very much, and are so thankful for so many people holding us up before our Father. He is so patient and kind, and He cares for us so completely. Thanks for your part in this ministry.

Back at the HOH

I always hate leaving the HOH for an extended period of time, but there is nothing quite as pleasant as returning after being gone for a few weeks. Often I can hear the cheers coming from quite a distance as we honk the horn on the car announcing my arrival (I'm usually not the driver!). It does indeed make me feel special.

Then comes the kisses...everyone has to greet me, welcoming me home, there are hugs from the younger ones, and in the case of Micah, his hug lasted a full 10 minutes as he wouldn't let go until he finally fell asleep in my arms! He looked quite different as he has had his curly locks cut off, and now is sporting a bald head, but as you can see, he's still cute!

I was gone for 4 weeks. The first of which was some time spent in Port-au-Prince with the other CrossWorld Haiti missionaries at our annual retreat. We had a good time visiting with each other, and really enjoyed having our good friends Walt & Dotty Baker there with us. Walt's sharing from God's Word was just what I needed, and it was a huge encouragement to me.

The other 3 weeks I was in TX, at my sister's house. They were full weeks of buying shoes and school supplies to ship down to Haiti, visiting friends and supporters, and also getting a bit of rest. Unfortunately, the getting rest bit was too short, so I got back to Haiti feeling pretty exhausted, and have spent some time the past couple of days trying to catch up on some sleep!
So the next few days will be filled with trying to catch up on things that didn't get done in my absence, and trying to catch up on all the news of things that did take place while I was gone.

School is almost over for the year, and everyone is studying hard for final exams. We have 13 students who will be writing various government level exams this year, and we'd appreciate your prayers for them as they'll be writing them during the last weeks of June and beginning of July. Here's a list of those writing the exams:

• Grade 6: Joseph, Stevenson, Dieujuste, Donald, and Kendrick
• Grade 9: Mikerlange, Mirlène, St. Germain and Rosnel
• Grade 12: Ricardo, Dada, TiBen
• Grade 13: Caleb

Thank you for your prayers. Pray that they'd be diligent to study, that they'd be in good health to write the exams, and that they'd be examples to the other students as they write their exams.

The Saturday boy's club continues to meet, but this Saturday will be the last as everyone is preparing for exams and then summer vacation is here. We do have plans to do some things with these boys during the summer as well, to keep up our connection with them. Continue to pray for them to put into practice the things they are learning, and for those who do not yet know Jesus as their Savior, that they'd fully understand the Gospel message, and come to faith in Christ.

There are several things going on at the HOH that we aren't able to share with you, but still desperately need your prayers. Hopefully in the next month or so we'll be able to share everything with you, but in the meantime, we'd appreciate your prayers for wisdom, a Godly attitude and the fruits of the Spirit as we deal with some difficult situations. Thank God with us that He is Faithful, and totally in control, and we can count on Him for everything we need.

We appreciate your partnership in this ministry very much...God bless, and hopefully the next update won't be as long in coming as this one has been!

Pressure...

That single word aptly describes what life has been like at the HOH these past few weeks. We've been experiencing a lot of it on many different levels, and the ups and downs of it all has made life feel like an never-ending emotional roller-coaster ride. Here's a bit of a glance of some of the things we've been dealing with...

The most recent incident of dealing with pressure happened very early this morning. I had had one of those nights, you know where you can't sleep, your mind is thinking about a million things all at once (none of which seem very logical by 10 am the next morning). It was 3:30 am and I had already tried reading a book, spent time praying, and was about to pull out the book again when my phone rang. In the 5 seconds it took me to reach for the phone and see who was calling me numerous scenarios had already gone through my mind...is it family, a friend, a wrong number? Who calls people before 4am? Then I saw it was Benitha, our oldest girl who stays with the younger girls downstairs. "Jenny", she said, " one of the propane tanks is leaking, I can hear it, and we can smell the gas". I jumped out of bed, woke up one of the older boys thinking perhaps it had a leak at the top and we just needed to turn it off. I was wrong! At the very bottom of the tank was a hole, and propane was hissing out with a lot of force! It had just been installed and was completely full, and we could already smell propane throughout the whole house. We quickly woke everyone up and sent them outside, called in some help from our neighbors/friends, and tried to plug the hole...umm, we found out that was not possible! Not even with duct tape, which we have been told can do pretty amazing things. Needless to say, a lot of praying was going on, as were phone calls back and forth to my brother-in-law in TX who works in the gas industry. In the end, everything worked out OK, one of our maintenance men came and unhooked the tank, carted it far away, and eventually the propane dissipated, no one was hurt, and nothing was damaged...and for that we praise God for his graciousness to us.

Wisenika, a cute baby girl who had been abandoned at the local hospital joined the HOH family in late January. She had been born with multiple disabilities, but seemed to be doing ok until a couple of weeks ago. She took a turn for the worse, and nothing we did seemed to help. After weeks of struggling to survive she passed away on Friday evening. We were relieved to see her suffering relieved, but it's always hard to lose one of our kids.

On Monday of this week we received word that Jn Daniel's younger brother who lives in Port-au-Prince (PAP) had been hit by a truck. He had been driving a little motor scooter. Their uncle in PAP had been trying all day to find out where they had taken him, and late Monday afternoon they found out he had died during the course of the day and had been taken to a morgue. As you can imagine, it was a shock to everyone, especially Jn Daniel's family, but here at the HOH when one of our kids is hit with something like this it hits us all. We all shed tears as Jn Daniel wept for his brother, who was not a believer. With much planning, Jn Daniel picked up his mom and another brother and they headed to PAP on Tuesday to help with the funeral plans. Please pray for this family in their time of grief. Jn Daniel is the only believer, pray that in the midst of his own grief he would be a witness for Christ, and have the opportunity to once again share his faith with his family.

Max, who had broken his leg a few weeks ago was able to get his cast taken off...note for anyone who has ever wondered: it takes hours to soak off a plaster cast! No sooner did he have his cast off when Marco slipped on a wet spot on the floor and broke his arm! I guess with 100 kids around we shouldn't be surprised by having a few broken bones every now and then. We have been speculating as to who might be next, especially since they kids have pulled out some of our old roller blades and have started to whip around the house with them again!


Several of the kids came down with malaria, Micah was by far the sickest of them all. For days he couldn't keep anything in him, and we couldn't keep an IV going as he was so agitated. Everyone took turns trying to help out, even Lala & Nani, who decided to climb into his crib with him. Thankfully, we eventually got the malaria under control, and he is doing much better.

Add to these events, exams at school for the kids, and numerous other fairly major pressures we aren't able to share with you, it has been quite a month! So we are so very thankful for your prayers on our behalf, even though sometimes you may not know exactly what's going on, but you pray for us nonetheless. Thanks!

Lest you think we are by any means discouraged....think again! Remember the roller-coaster ride, with the ups and the downs. Well, with all the "downs", we've had some pretty major "ups" during this month as well, and they by far outweigh the "downs". So, let me share with you some of our more encouraging moments of the past couple of weeks.

Remember the group of about 60 young boys who have been attending our Character Studies every Saturday afternoon? Well, they just can't get enough of the Bible stories and lessons we've been teaching them. They get very upset if we have to cancel for some reason, and we've received numerous reports back from people in the community wondering what's been going on with these boys because they can see obvious change in their lives. One lady told us about one of the boys who every day shares Bible verses he's read in his personal devotions with whatever friends he runs into. Another mother came by to tell us she doesn't even recognize her son anymore, he's a totally different boy. She couldn't thank us enough for taking an interest in helping these young men. Well, a few weeks ago the boys themselves came to us and asked us if we would study the "Young Peacemaker" series with them. We had done that series with the HOH kids over the past couple of years, and have posters of different lessons still hanging up around the HOH. They've seen the posters and have decided that they want to learn what the Bible says about getting along with others, and helping them resolve conflict! Ok, I admit, I was just a bit shocked to have them come and ask us that. So, we are going to make some time this summer to teach them those lessons as well. It's so neat to see God working and transforming these young lives!

Then, the young people of the HOH decided they wanted to do something special over the Easter weekend. They spent hours planning a "Spiritual Life Conference" with the theme of "Living in Unity with each other", and using the life/death and resurrection of Jesus as an example for us all. It was really exciting for me to see them implementing some of the different techniques of teaching that I've been using with them in our Bible studies over the past few months. They did skits, role plays, story telling, and all kinds of things to share their message. It was a great week, ending with an incredible worship & celebration service Sunday morning. We had over 100 people from our local community join us each night throughout the week, and on Sunday morning as well. On Saturday night we had a time of testimony for anyone who wanted to share. Some of you may remember Clervi, he was one of our older boys who out of rebellion left the HOH some years back, and has not lived a life pleasing to the Lord since then. He showed up for every meeting, and on Saturday night got up in front of everyone and said he knows he has not lived as he should, and that his relationship with the Lord has really gone backwards. He asked everyone to pray for him, that this would be a new beginning for him, and that he'd regain that ground that he'd lost. Wow, that was incredible to hear, and so we'd love for you to pray along with us for Clervi, that'd he'd be serious in his decision to start anew, and that he would grow in his walk with the Lord.

So...the ups, the downs...it's all been there, but what a joy it is to know that we serve a living God, a resurrected Lord; and it is a privilege to be His hands and feet bringing His hope to the children and young people in our corner of Haiti. Thanks so much for your prayers, your support, and your encouragement.

It's 70°F. and we are chilled!

We aren't great weathermen here at the HOH, but one thing we know these days, we're having a lot of rain, and a lot of very cool (for us) weather. The jackets/sweaters/pants/blankets are back out again as we brave low temperatures around 21°C during the nights. Ok, so I know these are spring temperatures for many of you, so we are trying to "enjoy" it as best we can, and think happy thoughts of spring along with you all...

Our numbers here at the HOH have not gone down at all. We are now sitting at 99 kids, we did hit 100 last week, but unfortunately one little girl passed away over the weekend. The incoming kids continue to have malnutrition, but we also received one little girl who is a Collodion Baby this week. I had never heard about it before and had to look it up on the internet. It is a skin condition that the babies are born with, this little girl is 4 months old, her name is Jepsny. She is greatly improved since coming here and being plastered in Vaseline twice a day, but her condition is so terrible I can't even think of sharing photos with you all. Hopefully, one day she'll improve enough for me to do so.

We were very glad to receive a shipment of food from World Vision last week. Their food helps us supplement what we feed the children, and enables us to save money by not having to purchase everything that we need. We are also able to help numerous people in our area who have been having trouble feeding their families, by sharing some of the food we received with them.

The kids are back to school, and most will begin to write their exams this week. They'd appreciate your prayers as they study and attempt to pull their grades up with this mid-term exam.

My trip to Miami went really well. I had a great time with our friend at the Miami Shores Presbyterian Church. It was a really great weekend of hearing what God is doing around the world, and I was very happy to be part of it by sharing what God is doing here at the HOH.

We are back on schedule with our Bible Studies, and kid's clubs. Last week one of the young men who comes to our Saturday afternoon Bible club accepted Jesus as his Savior, it was a very happy time for us to see him make this decision. Please continue to pray for these studies, that God would use them in all of our lives, to enable us to reflect Jesus to those around us. Pray for Shilder, that he would grow in his new found faith.

Please continue to help us pray for people to support this ministry financially, as you can imagine with the economic crisis everywhere, we are feeling it here too. Pray that God would provide for all of our needs, and that our faith would remain strong as we wait on Him to do that.

Sorry to not have more interesting news/pictures for you on this blog. These days are days of simply pressing on, sharing the love of Jesus with those we come in contact with. Please pray that we would be faithful to love God and others as we live among and interact with people in this area of Haiti.

Time for an update!

A great big tropical hello to everyone! These have been beautiful days, not too hot, not too cool; a mix of rain and sun, vacation from school, and much activity here at the HOH. Our numbers got up to a whopping 98 this week, two have since returned to their homes, and another has come, so we are now sitting at 97 kids! I don't think I need to say it, but I will anyway, it's a bit wild and crazy around here!

Most of the kids coming in have severe malnutrition like Jameson who just arrived today. It's sad but with all the nutrition programs being run throughout Haiti today, they only want to treat the ones with severe malnutrition. That means that when children like Jameson come to the hospitals or clinics to be treated before they are gravely ill, they are sent away with no nutritional help at all. Two to three weeks later they are severely malnourished and on the verge of death, and that's when we get them at the HOH. We usually find out quickly which way they are going to go, and in all reality they don't spend a lot of time here. It usually only takes a couple of weeks of treatment for them to be healthy again, and for most of the children we receive that is the way things turn out. For the few who don't make it, they are only at the HOH for a matter of days, if even that before they pass away. It is a frustrating reality these days, and while we wish it wasn't so, we are so thankful that we are here to receive these little ones in their time of need. We are even more thankful for all of you who enable us to give them hope.

We have had a very busy month of February, full of activity. We've had visitors or teams every day, except for 4, during this month. We enjoyed the team from East Stroudsburg, PA. They were a great encouragement to us, and helped with numerous projects around the HOH and especially at the hospital. Of course it was great having our good friend Bonita and her family here for a few days, and also the men from Wisconsin with Doug Anderson. The few days they were here were days of great encouragement for us, and we appreciated the times of sharing and prayer we were able to have together.

One of our dogs gave birth to 8 puppies, adding greatly to the general population of the HOH. Thankfully many people in our area wanted the pups and we were able to get rid of them quite quickly, but before they found homes the pups endured many hours being "loved" by the kids here at the HOH. No one "loved" them more than Nani, she was constantly carrying them around, and amazingly they never seemed to mind.

The young people of the HOH planned a Valentines party for the evening of the 14th. We enjoyed a nice evening playing games, and just spending time with each other. It was nice that it was Ernst' birthday that day too...we love reasons to have a party around here!

Our friends from Simcoe, ON have been here for a week now. They always bring a lot of excitement to the HOH, as I'm writing this update they are teaching the kids to play floor hockey in our hallway! They've brought an activity for every day including sewing projects, a number of the girls have learned to sew cloth diapers for us to use. Other fun things they've been doing with the kids is hand painting, face painting (see Jn Mary's lovely face in the picture!) lots of toys and fun games. Since the kids have been on vacation from school it's been great having activities to keep them busy, and let them enjoy themselves. The Simcoe crew hasn't only brought along fun and games, they've also brought some good times of learning and fellowship. Last night their team leader, Wally, spoke to the kids in our family devotions. He talked about how they are lights in our community here in Haiti, and how they needed to shine brightly for the glory of God. To illustrate his point he passed out flashlights to each of us, and turned off the lights and turned on the flashlights and sang "This little light of mine". It was a special time of remembering how we are to be lights to those around us, and it was great time of fellowship with our friends from Canada!

The reason the kids have been off school is because it's "Carnival" week here in Haiti. For two days this past week we opened up the HOH to the kids in the community to come and have some "fun days", we set things up almost like fair, there was games, movies, music, food and lots of fun. At times there were well over 100 people here at a time (not counting our 98!). All of the boys who are involved in our Saturday Bible club were here (you can see them playing dominoes in this picture), as well as a number of employees from the hospital, and other people from our community. Everyone was able to find something to enjoy themselves, and we were proud of our young people for their hard work in pulling off these fun days. Once again St. Germain did the bulk of the planning and organizing for the day, he really has a talent for these types of things.

In spite of all the other ativity, I've been able to get a few office/administrative type things accomplished, the biggest of which was a new prayer card for the HOH. It only took me about 40 tries to get the picture that we wanted, mostly because my subject (Lala, who will turn 4 in a month, can you believe it!) has really turned into quite the little ham (this is one of the pictures we had to scrap as she struck this pose right as I clicked the picture!). I did finally get one we liked however, but you'll have to wait to see the finished product...

I'm hoping to get a prayer letter written in the next couple of days, and also a new presentation as I'll be speaking at a missions conference at the Miami Shores Presbyterian Church during the weekend of March 5-8th. So you can keep me in your prayers as I try to get a lot done, in the midst of some already very busy days.




There's lots more I could write about, like Max who turned 1, learned to stand and then promptly broke his leg all within a few days of each other!






Or, Altagrace, who after more than 4 years of sitting in a wheelchair unable to use her legs has actually starting to walk using a walker...who would have thought this day would ever come? You'll be hearing more about this in the future!

But they've taken the power, the hockey game is winding down, and our afternoon meal is really starting to smell good, so I best get moving. It's been fun going through a recap of life here over the past few weeks with you though...

We'd appreciate your prayers as we continue to grow, shine and reflect Christ to those around us. Please pray for all the travel that's coming up over the next week and a bit, the team taht's here will be leaving, another group of visitors will be coming, then I'm leaving for Miami. I'll be back in Haiti on the 10th of March, Lord willing. Pray for a good time at the mission's conference, and if any of you live in that area and want to come and hear the presentation, and visit with me, please contact the church for more details. Pray too that God, who is faithful, would supply all of our needs during these days as we receive more and more kids needing our help.

One last thing. Some of you have written questions or requests in the comment option on this blog. The only problem with that is that it doesn't give me a way to get back in touch with you, so if you'd like to write me an e-mail asking your questions feel free to do so at: houseofhope1@hotmail.com

Off and running in the New Year...

It hardly seems like a new year anymore. The way this year is flying by it'll be over before we know it!

The new year started for us with full schedule of visitors and visiting teams. The whole months of January and February were and are completely occupied with visitors, including every single day of the month of February! I'm not sure what it takes to become an official travel agent/tour guide but if hours put into making travel arrangements count for anything I must be close! We do enjoy these teams and visitors however, and look forward to the ones still on their way here.

The team from Snohomish, WA was here for two weeks starting mid January. As usual, they fixed tons of things around the HOH and also the hospital and various campuses. We so appreciate these guys who come back every year, and work so hard to get everything in fixed and in order again. They always find things to fix, usually things I didn't even know needed it! This year we were able to take a trip with them out to Bayeaux (outside of Cap Haitian) where Linda's mom lives. It was an interesting trip, as it was the first for me to go by motor boat around parts of the North coast where the road isn't passable. Going there wasn't so bad, but coming back the waves were huge, and the captain not quite as good, and most everyone got a good case of sea sickness! We were all quite happy to get our feet on solid ground again.

A week and a half later I turned around and went back out again, this time with our friend Jeb. We decided to drive out there on this trip, and about 7 hours later weren't too sure which was worse...I mean we only went about 40 miles up the coast, as a crow flies. Unfortunately, we couldn't take the crow's road...it was either: an hour and a half in a bumpy car over terrible roads followed by an hour in a boat over wavy waters followed by a 10 minute hike then another hour and a half over completely horrible, never before seen so terrible roads; or 7 hours bumping along over terrible roads driving about 100 miles just to get to the town about 40 miles away. I've come to believe that helicopters area a great thing...I guess I don't need to say how sore and tired we were, but they were good trips, and it was good catching up with Linda's family again.

This week we look forward to a group from E. Stroudsburg, PA (they are traveling here as I write). They will be working on a number of projects at the hospital, and also spending time with our kids here at the HOH for a week. Then our good friend Bonita and her family will pop in for a quick visit, followed by a quick visit from Pastor Doug Anderson and some friends. Hopefully I'll get a chance to update you all before the next group comes after that.

Things have been going well at the HOH. We had a bit of a lull in the numbers of children moving through here, allowing us to catch our breath, and catch up on everyone's name. When they are coming and going so quickly it's hard to keep up with everyone! We currently have a total of 91 kids and young people here, most of those being admitted continue to have severe malnutrition. One little six year old girl, Fredeline came in late December swollen from head to toe with a protein deficient form of malnutrition (first picture) - KWASH. Now just over a month later she is doing incredibly well and almost doesn't even look like the same girl (2nd picture). She is a little giggle box, who loves being here and playing with the other children. Her family is amazed at her recovery, and spoke to our staff members about it. They said they would now give testimony that God was here in the House of Hope. They said, "We visited so many witchdoctors, doctors, churches and hospitals with Fredeline, none of them were able to help us. But here, God healed our little girl." This story is repeated countless times over and over again at the HOH, and not everyone gets it, but are we sure glad when they do, because it really is all about Him. God is here and He is working, to Him be all the glory!

What a joy and privilege it is to be God's hands and feet, bringing hope to these precious children. We certainly couldn't do it without all of your help, praying for us and supporting us in the many ways you do. So thank you for helping God's glory be known, in this little corner of the world.

Here are some prayer requests for the next little while (see I do have high hopes of updating you again before too long!):

• Some of our students didn't do too good on their first semester of school this year. We had a very serious and stern talk with them over the weekend, and they all have renewed their intentions to study hard and get better grades. Pray for them to be faithful in this part of their lives and to make the effort to study hard, and learn the things they need to.
• Pray for all the traveling of our visitors to and from the HOH. Many are coming and going, so pray that all the logistics would work out, and that they would have safety as they travel here.
• Pray for the various Bible Studies we continue to do with our young people, the children, and they 60 or so boys from out in the neighborhood. It is really hard for me to find the time to make up all the various Bible Study materials, so pray that when I do find the time that I would be able to use it wisely and be able to stay on task to get the lessons prepared. Pray that God's Word would continue to transform our lives, and to make us more like Jesus every day.
• The economic troubles all over have affected us here as well. Pray that God would continue to provide for all of our needs, and that He would give us wisdom as to how we can better use the resources He has already given us.

Thanks again for your various means of support. God bless you all.

An update is coming soon...I promise!!

Thanks for your interest in making a donation to the House of Hope. All the information you need in order to do so can be found at www.crossworld.org . Go to their giving page, and then choose the method you'd like to use. God bless, and keep watching, an update is on the way!

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas festivities are well under way here at the HOH, inspite of the fact that we have not yet received most of the Christmas gifts off the boat. The boat is in, just not unloaded. The kids don't seem to mind, because that just means we'll have to have another party of some kind to pass out the gifts when they actually do arrive, prolonging our festivities, probably into the new year!

This past Sunday was our annual Christmas program. This year the kids and young people, specifically St. Germain were in charge of everything. They worked out a program earlier in the year, were responsible for having rehearsals, and making sure everyone knew their part. Linda and I did absolutely nothing for the program. We were able to sit in the audience, and watch it for the first time with everyone else in attendance. I must say, they did an incredible job, and lest you think that is just me being a bit prejudice, everyone who was here to see the program told us the same thing. There were more than 200 visitors crowded into our home to attend the program, and with a perfect mix of music, poems, humor, skits and messages of the true meaning of Christmas, everyone from the children to the adults was satisfied and encouraged.

Our days have been filled with end of the year school activities like exams, and Christmas parties, as well as having a number of visitors here at the HOH. Our last group of visitors left about a week ago, and now everyone is done with exams, and all the meetings and parties have been attended, and we all feel like we can take a deep breath and relax a bit. We were all in need of some vacation days, and it's been nice to be able to just spend some time together relaxing in the evenings.

Tomorrow for Christmas Day we'll be having the entire HOH family in for a meal, that includes all the staff, kids, and friends from the community. It total we'll be about 200 people, and Linda and the girls are busy preparing for the meal preparations. I'm so glad they are good at cooking for such events, and enjoy doing it.

We really enjoyed having my family here to visit, and they helped us make up a lot of decorations for the HOH for Christmas. My Brother in law made some Christmas trees out of plywood, and the boys learned a lot from working with him. My sister Emmy brought stockings for the kids to decorate, and then to use to decorate the house, it does look very festive, and all the colors and decorations just makes the kids' faces light up!

The day after Christmas I'll be heading back to Port-au-Prince to attend a friend's wedding, then I'll be back up here a couple of days later to help with our New Year's Eve party. So the activity never stops around here!

As we are busy celebrating Christmas in our special ways, we want to send our wishes to you all for an incredible Christmas, and a very joyful New Year. What a privilege it is for us to be able to bring the wonderful story of hope in Jesus, the One who was willing to come to earth as a little baby, to live among us, to die to pay the price for our sins; who rose again, and offers eternal hope to all who believe in Him. This story continues to go out from the House of Hope, and it is our prayer that it brings you all hope as well at this special time of the year.

It's About Time!

Ok, do I start with an apology or not? Well I feel like I do owe you one, not that I really could have done much to avoid the fact that I haven't updated the blog for over a month now. I can tell you why in three words...BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!! I've even been too busy to make up and have the Bible studies with the kids, so you know it's been crazy around here, because that's not something I'll give up easily.

Here's some idea of what's been going on, and what's ahead for us...

• Shortly after having Micah brought to the HOH, we received another newborn baby named Max. He came to the HOH after his mother died giving birth to him. He was only 1/2 day old when we got him, the youngest baby we've ever received. We agreed to keep Max for a couple of months for his dad who didn't know how to care for a newborn baby. Max is HIV positive, but since his mom was receiving treatment already he has a good chance of being negative once we can do a more specific test for him. That can only be done when he is a month and a half old, so we are waiting to do that. In the meantime, we have our hands full keeping up with two small babies, Max and Micah, pictured together in the crib here...
• Micah was really doing great for most of the past month, then suddenly last week he took a turn for the worse. He was treated for malaria, but is still having trouble getting over it. he had put on about 4 pounds, but now has lost a couple of those. Finally today we were able to take out his IV's and hopefully we are heading in the right direction with him.

• The family that is adopting Micah has decided to adopt a second little boy as well. Max Travis is from the same general area as Micah, and also recently lost his mom. Max Travis (pictured here together with Micah) is almost 10 months old, and is slowly getting adjusted to life at the HOH. Their adopting mom is coming this coming week to meet them and also to start the paperwork for their adoption to be processed. We pray with them that this process will happen quickly, and that they will be able to take their boys home with them soon.

• Earlier in November I made a quick day trip to Port-au-Prince to pick up my sister Beth and a friend Heather Patterson. They came down for 2 weeks to help out at the HOH. What a blessing they were to have here, I can't imagine how busy we would have been had they not been here, seeing as I was so busy in spite of all their help. One day during their time here we were able to take a day trip on a sailboat to the island of La Tortue and spend the day at the beach (see picture). We were thankful for the friend who set this day up, and also for a chance to just have some fun together. About 10 kids from the HOH went along as well, so it was a lot of fun for everyone.
• Also during the first part of November, we received an intern here at the HOH. Britney Mabel, from Lancaster, PA has come to help us out, and to spend time experiencing missions first hand. She will be staying with us until the end of March. She has already been a big help with the babies and in other ways as well. We are happy to have her here to help us out, and hope she has a great time here with us. She's already made friends with a number of the kids here, and they have begun exchanging language lessons, English for Kreyol! We'll see who learns more during the next couple of months!
  
• Mid November we received John Berger and Walt Baker here for a visit. Even though it was just for a morning, it was great to have them both here. Walt was the one who first brought me to Haiti back in 1992, so it was so great to have him here at the HOH, and see the work God has allowed me to be part of since returning to Haiti. We had a really good and encouraging visit.
• I returned to PAP in mid-November to take Beth and Heather back to PAP, and also to attend the going away party for John Berger who left Haiti to take up the position of Vice President of CrossWorld. It was nice to get together with almost all the other CrossWorld missionaries in Haiti, and also some former missionaries who had come back to Haiti and were here at this particular moment (like Darcy Dickerson, and Beth & Duane Browne).
• That same weekend, I was also able to visit with the Boucher family as well. Then Dr. Boucher, myself and several of our older boys drove back up to La Pointe in a new vehicle we had purchased for the missionaries here. It's been many years since I'd driven up from PAP, and it was quite the 9 hours, especially since all the flooding that has happened in the parts of Haiti we drove through. We couldn't believe it was the same place, it felt like we were driving through a totally different country. It's amazing what flood water can do to totally rearrange a landscape. I regret that I didn't have a camera along to take pictures, especially of the area just north of Gonaives, called Doubedou, it was just unbelievable.
• Last week we enjoyed a visit from our International Director from CrossWorld, Dwight Lehman. It was great to catch up with him, and news from our home office, as well as have a chance to talk over different ministry issues here.

• We did manage to continue our Saturday afternoon "Boy's Character Club" several times during the past month. We are now receiving up to 50 boys each Saturday afternoon. Thanks to a special gift from some friends, we are occasionally able to make a meal or a snack to feed them when they come, as many of them come to us hungry, not having anything to eat at their homes. They seem to enjoy coming, and participating in the various activities we've put together. Here's a picture of some of them working on a project.

• Last weekend we had 3 birthdays here at the HOH. One of them was for Nani. Remember the 1 1/2 pound little baby we received just 2 years ago, not thinking she'd live? Well she's 2 years old now, and as much of a live wire as ever. I call her our own personal hurricane, because wherever she goes, you know she's been there, and she seems to be able to be everywhere at once. She's such a joy to us, and absolutely adores her big "sister" Lala. They are pictured here together the night of the big birthday party (Nani is in front).
• This coming Friday I'll be heading back to PAP to pick up my older sister Emmy and her husband, as well as my mom who are all coming down to visit the HOH for the first time. We are all very excited to have them coming as they've all been such a big part of the ministry of the HOH since I started working here, and to have them actually come and see everyone is a big deal for us. All week the kids have been painting the house, wanting to make it as fresh and nice as possible. They hoped to get it decorated for Christmas as well, but it looks like our visitors might get to help us do that.
  
• Lord willing I'll be heading to PAP the next weekend to visit with the other people who were at the WorldView Center with me this past summer. We hope to meet together and encourage each other in putting into practice the things we've learned. I will also be taking Max and Micah together with their mom, to get a Psychological evaluation done in PAP. I should come back to the HOH on the 9th, and arrive just in time to receive a team from the Fellowship of Frisco in Frisco, TX on the 10th of Dec.
  

Well, I think I better wrap this up and send it on out to you all. Thank you so much for your patience in hearing from us. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. Thank the Lord for us for His faithfulness over the past month, and for providing for all of our needs. We continue to receive extremely malnourished children quite regularly, and our numbers have gone back up into the 90's after dipping down to the low 80's for a bit. Thankfully we started receiving food rations from World Vision last month, and they've promised it to us for the next couple of months. We don't know how long we'll receive them, but we are so thankful to have the help to be able to feed all of our kids. Please continue to pray for God's provision, and for wisdom for Linda and I as we seem to face new situations almost every day. We desire to be a light and a witness for Christ to the community around us, as well as bring His love and hope to the needy children He brings into our home. Thank you for your prayers and support that enable us to do that.

Getting back into a routine

We are feeling a lot more settled these days. School started yesterday, and so we are starting to get into a routine during the days. It's back to getting up at 5:30 am to make sure everyone is out the door in time for school.

It was the first day of school ever for 4 of our kids. Baslet, Esther and Chedlyn started in class 1 & 2.


Lala started kindergarten at another school. She was so excited to go, and had no trouble being dropped off. Nani on the other hand was not so happy about being left at home. When this picture was taken she didn't yet realize what was going on, she was just having a lot of fun watching her Lala get dressed up.

This morning, when I said to Lala, "You're going to school today!" She looked at me and said, "um, no", like it was something she could choose to do if she wanted to. She didn't mind when we told her she was going to go every day, though. Nani on the other hand, hid the comb so they couldn't comb Lala's hair, and for the first 15 minutes after Lala left she walked through the whole house looking for her and calling out her name. When she couldn't find her she came to the office and cried. But I guess she'll get used to it.

Things in our area continue to be very difficult economically. Every day we receive people coming to ask us for food, or medicine, or money. It is so hard because we can't possibly help everyone, the need is just too great. We've received 20 kids into the HOH in just a month, we can't even keep up with them all. We now have 97 here, and every day more seem to show up. We are glad we are here to help out those we can, but it feels like a drop in the bucket to what needs there are around us. Pray that we would have wisdom to know who to help, and how.

We have 30 boys from around La Pointe signed up to come to the Character Studies we are going to do with them starting this Saturday. We'd appreciate your continued prayers as we try to reach out to this very needy group of young people. They are quite a formidable bunch when you look at them, but if we don't do something now to help them in developing good Character, this whole area will suffer greatly as they get older and more rebellious. So pray for Linda, St. Germain, Rosnel and myself as we prepare and run the activities on Saturday for these boys.

Our Bible Studies started on Sunday evening with each of the three family groups presenting a song they wrote, from the Proverbs we've been studying this past year. They all did a super job writing the songs, and we are all looking forward to learning and singing the songs as part of our devotions and worship time here at the HOH.

This past week we received a new (to us) 3 week old baby boy named Micah. Micah was born during the string of hurricanes that went through the country of Haiti. His mom died after giving birth, as they were unable to get her to a hospital in time. Micah was a twin, but his sister died a couple of weeks after they were born. A family who are friends of ours heard about his story and decided to adopt Micah into their family. They asked if we'd keep him for the time being, and we were more than happy to help out. So Linda and I are once again trading off nights to care for a small baby. We are happy to have a part in helping this little treasure, and are very thankful we have a lot of helpers around us to help care for this little one. Pray as he's had some health issues that we've been treating, and also pray for the adoption of this little one to go through quickly so he can go and join his family that is waiting for him.

Well, that about brings you up to date on our life. We appreciate your prayers for God's continued provision for all of our needs. And while your praying, Praise Him too, because He is good, all the time! He has shown His faithfulness to us over and over again.

Back home again

Well, here it is, 3 AM, I can't sleep, so I figure it's time to finally get an update out to you all. It's been on my "to do" list since we returned to Haiti, but with so many other things popping up, it seems like updating the blog always gets pushed down on the list.

So many people have written to ask how we are doing after the recent series of hurricanes and storms to pass through our region, and we appreciate the concerns, prayers and encouragement of each one of you. Let me assure you that we are fine here at the HOH, which unfortunately can't be said for a lot of other places in Haiti who were much harder hit than we were. Linda and I were not here for the storms, but the kids said it was a very scary time, the winds and rain were fierce, but in the end we had no damage to the HOH whatsoever. All we can say is "thank you Lord for Your mighty protection".

The only damage done on all of the mission property here at La Pointe, was a few tree branches that fell down. One fell in the area where our vehicle is usually parked, but Ronel had thought ahead and had moved the truck when the winds had started to pick up. Thanks to his quick thinking, we were spared any damage to the vehicle! In anticipation of any other storms that might be heading our way, the maintenance men of the hospital have been cutting off any tree branches that are over the buildings, just in case.

You've been asking if we have food and water, and at the moment we do have both. But with the extensive damage all over the country of Haiti, the roads cut off in many places, thousands of people left without homes or anything at all, and most if not all of the gardens completely wiped out; supplies are becoming scarce and food prices are soaring. Some estimates have said food prices have risen 60% in the past month alone, and we can believe it. Getting anything fresh from the market is increasingly difficult, and staple goods like rice and flour are expensive. Powdered milk can't be found, and the condensed milk we use for our malnourished kids has gone up in price as well (we were only able to get 30 cases for the same price we usually get 45). But we have some for a while, and are thankful to just have it. So the bottom line at this point is, if you can afford it, you can find something to eat...if you can't, you go without, and there's plenty of people around us going without these days. We can see it in the numbers of malnourished children brought to the HOH. Every day there seems to be at least one or two new ones, we have 2 babies in almost all the cribs in our nursery.

As for water, we are still having trouble with our water source, the local hospital. Their pump has problems that they can't seem to fix, so in the 10 days we've been back, we've had running water for a little bit on 2 of them. The rest of the time the kids have been hauling it from wherever we can find it. They are such good sports about it, and when doing it together actually seem to have a good time creating ways to carry as much as they can at a time. We don't know for how long this problem is going to last, but we are much better off than many other people around us, so we'll take it when we get it, and carry it when we don't!

Another issue we are facing is a shortage of diesel fuel. With the roads so badly cut in many places, the fuel trucks can't get to us from Port-au-Prince, and what does make it through is expensive (we've seen it as high as $18 US a gallon in the past couple of weeks, but it has come down considerably if you can find it, I paid $5 last week for some to put in our vehicle). Anyway, we get our electricity from the generators at the hospital, and they've had to shorten the hours they run their generators as their supply of fuel is quickly being used up. We've had to tighten our belts and manage our time more wisely to use the hours of electricity we do get to get as much work done as possible. But again, we are privileged to have this amount considering those around us who go without on a regular basis.

School across Haiti was canceled until October, so we've had the kids here at the HOH every day. We've also become the official "drop in" center for all the boys and young men around our town who have nothing to do. Our yard is constantly full of kids playing basketball, soccer, dominoes, or whatever else they can find to keep themselves busy. While it can get kinda crazy at times, we are happy to provide a safe and healthy environment for them, and hope to start some week-end activities with them during the school year. God has been impressing on our hearts the great spiritual needs of this group of young men, and we hope to be able to use these activities to reach them with the Good New of Jesus in the days ahead. Pray for us as we throw around ideas of how to do this, that we'd be effective ministers of Jesus to this needy group of kids.

So here are some ways you can pray for us:

• Pray for the country and people of Haiti. We hear of a lot of aid coming in to help people who have lost everything, pray that it would be distributed wisely and fairly, and that there wouldn't be a lot of corruption through the process. Pray that the leaders of the country would use this help wisely for the good of the people and country of Haiti.
• Pray that in the midst of incredible loss and devastation, God would be glorified, and that God's people would allow Him to use them to bring His message of hope to those who need it. Pray for the comfort of the many people who have lost family members, and pray that many would come to know Jesus during this difficult time.
• Pray for Linda and I as we are working on the Bible studies for our kids. We hope to start when school starts up, or the beginning of October, whichever comes first!
• Pray for God's provision of the financial support we need to continue to purchase food and supplies at these high prices.
• We have a lot of items coming for us on the boat. The boat is anticipating coming into Haiti from Miami in early October, pray that all the items for us would make it here ok, that God would protect them from theft and damage. These items help us out in so many ways.
• Our friend Jeb is coming down for a couple of days, we look forward to his visit, and already marvel at how God worked out this trip in His perfect timing as Jeb is bringing us some items we really needed. Praise God together with us for His perfect provision.
• We have been offered help with our staple foods from World Vision. Unfortunately, just when they were going to bring us our first shipment of food, all the hurricanes hit, and we were not able to receive it. We have no idea where this food is now, or if we'll ever see it, but pray that we would, it would be a huge help as we feed around 100 people 3 times a day!

While Linda and I are very happy to be back at the HOH, we had a great trip visiting friends and family in the UK and in the Miami area. We are so blessed to have had the chance to see some of our supporters in their homes and churches, and to have the privilege of sharing God's work at the HOH with many different groups of people. It is always amazing to us how God brings together people from all walks of life, and from many different countries to form a team to minister to the needy children and young people of Haiti. We appreciate your support and prayers so much, and thank God for your partnership in the ministry He has given us.

Travel and Hurricanes

Hi, Linda and are are still in the UK. We've had an incredible time reconnecting with friends and supporters of the HOH, and realizing just how many people here in this country love and support the ministry. God has just overwhelmed us with the encouragement and support of our brothers and sisters here in the UK.

As you can imagine, however, we are saddened by the news of hurricanes hitting Haiti, and our homesickness is even stronger now as we long to be there with our kids. They are doing ok after Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna, but there are two more on the way behind them, so we ask you to pray for them. None of them know yet of any of their direct family members being killed, but many other people were heavily affected all over Haiti.

I am just finding out bits and pieces of information, it seems like Port-de-Paix, the town closest to us was quite flooded, no airplanes are able to get in or out at this point as the airstrip is underwater. Gonaives is underwater as well (that's the major city that was hit back in 2004), that is the land link up to our part of Haiti, so at this point traffic is stopped both via land and air. We just heard that a friend of ours lost 5 family members in that town, if you think of it pray for Esther.

Our mission campus in Port-au-Prince sounds like it was hard hit. With houses loosing their roofs, and one of our missionaries being injured. So please pray for them as well.

I'll update you as I can, but thanks for your prayers on our behalf, and on behalf of Haiti.

We are alive and well!

Greetings from the HOH! I've been back exactly 2 weeks today, and tomorrow I leave for the next chapter of my travels. I think I should start a travel book or something! I can't believe how quickly time flies by. These past two weeks have been filled with activity. Just getting things done that didn't get done while I was gone during the month of July; as well as receiving 20 visitors from England, Canada, the US and Haiti, occupied all my waking hours. The HOH was a hopping place, and I'm sure the kids are going to go through withdrawal when tomorrow all the visitors and Linda and I leave them.

One thing we were able to fit in was a fun day at the beach with almost all of the HOH kids (only those who were too sick to go stayed home). We were well over 70 people in all, squished into a truck and our Land Cruiser! Everyone had a wonderful time, from the oldest to the youngest(Ricardo and Nani are pictured here). The day had been planned completely by St. Germain, who is quickly becoming our Resident Activity Director. Linda and I didn't have to do anything, just go along and enjoy the day, and we sure did do that.

Here are a few snapshots of our fun day:

Of course everyone enjoyed
the beach...

A friend of the HOH lent us his BBQ for the day, and St. Germain and Caleb grilled some great BBQ chicken!

Yummy!!

And while it was a really fun day, it was just a fraction of all that's been going on....here's a quick glimpse of some other things to help you see how you can continue to pray for us through this busy summer.

• We thank God for His protection of two of our boys who hit a lady as they were driving to town on a motor bike. The lady injured her foot, and had a head wound as well, but she admitted it being in the wrong, she tried to cross the road without looking first. God really worked on our behalf as we negotiated with the lady and the authorities in the area, and we were able to bring the lady to our hospital here and make sure she was well taken care of. In the end, the response of our boys immediately after the accident left a huge impression on the people in the area where it happened. When Linda went to the area the next day the people came out to where she was in the car and said, "your boys are so respectful, and well behaved, in spite of all that was going on." Linda was able to share Christ with the people and talk of the difference He can make in our lives. We thank God that in the midst of a bad situation, He received the glory!
• Of all our students who wrote government standardized exams this summer, only 2 didn't pass. One of those, Mikerlange, was allowed to rewrite his exams, so we haven't received those marks back yet. Stephanie will have to wait until December to rewrite hers. The new school year is right around the corner with classes starting on Sept. 1. We have several of the younger kids starting school for the first time this year (Esther, Lala, Chedlyn and Baslet), and Linda and I won't be here for their first day of school! We will miss being a part of that, but we are so grateful for our the older kids here who take such good care of the younger ones and will help get them through those first days.
• A number of our older boys were able to attend a camp that was run by the Lemuel Organization. They had a great time of learning from God's Word, and fellowshipping with other Haitian young people, from totally different parts of Haiti. We are grateful for this chance they had, it left a lasting impression on the boys, and I know they will be able to use a lot of what they learned in their every day lives.
• The price of food and supplies continues to rise here in Haiti. We are constantly receiving extremely malnourished children here at the HOH, and are constantly receiving people coming in to ask us to give them some food to take home to their families. People are hungry, and it's always a challenge to know who and how much to help, and how to best manage our resources for our own kids. With school only weeks away, many families are wondering what they are going to do, as they can't even feed their kids, let alone consider buying uniforms, books, shoes, and paying for their children to attend school.
  
• My time studying in the US at the WorldView Center was a really great time of learning. They kept us busy, but it was good as we learned many practical ways to be more effective missionaries in our respective countries. There were around 20 CrossWorld missionaries (working in or heading towards 6 different countries or areas) in attendance, and it was good to get to know them as well. Once things settle down a bit I hope to share more of what I learned with Linda, and see how we can start to put some of the principles into practice here in the ministry at the HOH.
• Linda and I head out tomorrow to visit our friends and supporters in the UK. We have been preparing for this so long it's hard to believe it's actually time for us to go! We will be speaking in a number of churches and different events during our 3 weeks in the UK, and would appreciate your prayers as we travel, and also as we share about what God is doing in Haiti and specifically at the HOH.

Well this update has been plenty long, if you are still here with me, thanks for persevering, and also for your prayers on our behalf.