Vacation!

Spring break has begun!  Our kids are busy getting back into their Rubber Band game.  They have made up this game, kinda like marbles -- only rubber bands are easier to come by in our corner of the world.  The end goal is to collect as many rubber bands as you can -- taking them back and forth from each other as you win or lose the game. 

Here you can see the boys playing -- the rubber bands are on the ground on the lower right hand side of the picture, but they aren't easy to see.  

Here Ivinsky, Mits and Mike show off their collection!

 The sign of a good Rubber Band player!

It's nice they get such joy out of something so small and easy to get to them. They have the week off of school and will be enjoying some down time with their friends. 

We do have a few new faces once again.  The first is a family group:

Nineteen year old Manouchka and her 2 children were a family in crisis.  Manouchka was burned by hot water in her home.  Her family then dropped her off at the hospital with her 2 children and left her without anyone to care for her or the children.  

Touched by her need for some time to heal and someone to help her care for the children, Linda opened our home to her in order to give her a chance to get back on her feet.  It is an unusual story for us, but it is a proactive move on our part.  Without proper care this young mother would not be able to heal properly to care for her children.  The children would have become more and more malnourished and eventually brought to the HOH in worse condition.  This way we can help them all get back on their feet and also share the love of Jesus with them.  Pray for them as they have this time of healing at the House of Hope.

Another little boy could use your prayers as well.  8-year old Destiné just arrived at the HOH.  I think his picture speaks  volumes...

  Such sadness, it just rips at your heart. 

Please pray for Linda and the other kids and staff at the HOH as we seek to help Destiné in every way possible.  He is in such need of love, care and healing.  Pray for wisdom in dealing with him, figuring out his medical needs and helping with the emotional and spiritual ones as well.

Many thanks for each of you and your various ways of supporting this special ministry.  We hope you have a wonderful week.  We look forward to celebrating Easter this coming weekend.  We have an evening community event planned at the HOH on Good Friday.   Then we will have a special Easter service on Sunday celebrating the resurrection of our wonderful Savior.  May you all have a great time remembering Jesus and all He did for us at this special time of the year as well.

New Faces and Places

Movement would be a word to aptly describe the HOH on any given day.  With 80 resident children and youth to care for, as well as countless neighborhood kids constantly coming and going; there is always something happening at our home.   These past couple of weeks have been no exception...

Since our last update, Judson, the little baby who arrived in our home is coming along splendidly.  

You can see here,
 pictured with one of his many "mom's" - Jessika,

 that he is looking much healthier

We have also added 2 more malnourished children 

to our number over the past weeks:

Lancina is just a year old

and

Djivensky is 2 years old.

These two are both here with a family member who will stay as well to help care for them.  We find it an important part of the healing process of these malnourished children to have a parent or family member stay with them.  The child remains in the care of someone they know, love and trust.  And the family member has a chance to be educated on proper food nutrition and care of the child so they don't fall back into malnutrition when they return to their homes.  Children like Lancine and Djivensky generally remain 3 to 4 weeks at the HOH before returning to their homes with their family.

Of course caring for so many children in need requires a lot of help and supplies and this past week we were blessed to receive both from a large group of our supporters.  There were those who provided financial gifts to help us purchase the things we needed.  There were those who graciously purchased, received and shipped the items to us.  And there were those who helped with all the transition parts in between.  We are very grateful for each person and each part of the process that allowed us to receive much needed.....

Food

 

  Clothing & other supplies

 

 And New Chairs!!!

 

Thank you to everyone who had a part in getting these items to us!

We were able to get some work done on our vehicle these past weeks as well.  We are thankful that it is still limping along, it is such a valuable tool for us to use in this work.  We are trying to start to raise funds in order to be able to get a new (or at least new to us) vehicle at some point in the future.  If you would like to help us pray for this that would be great.  If anyone also wants to help us out financially in that way, gifts can be sent to Extreme Response marked for the House of Hope.  You can find information on how to do this on their website.

Another item we'd love for you to pray with us about is a change of place that has happened over the past couple of weeks for some of our young adults.  Our goal for our young adults has always been to give them the hope of a future through education.  As a result, it is our desire to help them get enough education so that they are able to get a job and take care of themselves.  In Haiti, this means helping them get either a vocational or university training in a subject.  One thing that is helpful in Haiti is that there are lots of higher education schools and they aren't much more expensive than paying for High School for our kids.  So, as long as God provides the means, we want to help our youth with this hope for their futures.  

This year we have several young men who are stepping out into University.  We attempted to allow them to attend a university near our village, which allowed them to also still live at the HOH, but that has proved not a very good choice.  The school is poorly directed and they have not had good results there -- teachers not showing up and classes have been canceled more often than they are held.  

Enter Basketball.  Our boys love to play basketball and over the Christmas break one of them was asked to try out for a university team in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.  Reginald succeeded and was accepted to the university team with a full scholarship for his University education!  The coaches have since asked him if there were any more young men like him from the HOH who also would be interested in scholarships!  This week some more of our young men have gone down and have started classes there as well.  They will be going through some try outs over the next few weeks to see if they can also play on the team and receive scholarships -- please pray for Stevenson, Herby and Dieujuste. Pray also for Linda and our young leaders Junior and Jn Daniel as they work through all the logistics in having the boys in PAP and what will be best for their futures. 

Comings and Goings

One thing that is often misunderstood about the House of Hope is that not all the kids who come here stay indefinitely.  A big part of our work is providing temporary care for kids who are in rough shape physically, mentally or emotionally.  Most of these children and youth need a few weeks to a few months of concentrated care until they are ready to return to their homes.  

This transitory part of our ministry is what has allowed us to care for and bring hope to thousands of children and youth in Haiti since our founding in 1956.   The more permanent placement for some of the children at the HOH started back in the year 2000.  Cultural shifts in Haiti meant that some of the children who came to us came from unsafe environments and were unable to return to their home situations.  The majority of kids who come to the HOH though return to their homes as soon as they are able to so.

This past week was a special home going of little Madeline.  

She came to the HOH in March of 2017.  A three year old little girl swollen with malnutrition...

This week, she was able to return to her home with her father.  She responded well to the treatment and care here at the HOH and looks much healthier...

While it is always a little bittersweet to see these children we have come to love leave us, we are always thankful that they have a family that loves them and is waiting for them. 

As is often the case, we don't have a lot of time to think of the children who leave us.  There is always another one waiting for our love, attention and affection.  This past week we were blessed by the addition of a new baby to our family.

Judson is 5 months old and is also swollen with malnutrition.  His mother passed away and he has not been able to receive the care he needs.  

He has come to the right place!  He is presently being showered with about as much love, care and attention that anyone could handle.  His arrival brought out the normal jockeying for who gets to be the "mom", "dad", "sister", "brother", "godmother", "godfather".... every social position one could ever need filled.   He seems to be adjusting well so far and we look forward to watching him thrive over the months ahead.

A quick update on Jamesley.  He is doing a lot better.  He was able to go to school today, and his bleeding seems to have stopped, so that is a definite improvement! 

We appreciate all the different ways you are a part of the things that go on in our big family.  Thank you for your part!

Look At Me Now!

One of the most exciting things to do at the House of Hope is to look at before and after photos of the kids who come in so very sick.  There are always some dramatic changes and we often don't realize it because it happens so slowly and we see them every day.  This week we did a few comparisons of some of the kids you've prayed for and supported over this past year.  The changes are incredible and we wanted to share them with you.

The first of these is Dorothy.  I know I haven't written about her for a while, but she is doing really well physically.  She still has a tough time mentally, but has such a bubbling joy pouring out of her for the simple everyday things of life -- like food!  Here she is...

Another one who really struck us this week was Moise.  You'll remember he came to us as an newborn baby back in late October.  He was tiny, malnourished and extremely fragile...

He started to do really well.  Growing.  Healthy.  Then in January he got sick and we really thought were were going to lose him...

Thankfully, he pulled through.  We were so grateful for all of your prayers for his precious life.  When we looked at his picture taken this last week, we were all taken aback.  Moise is doing incredibly well...

It's always amazing for us to see the difference some time in the House of Hope can make in the lives of the kids who come to us.  We recognize that all of this is possible because of the incredible team we have standing with us in this special work.  And most of all recognize that we are very blessed by God to be able to be part of His work at the HOH.

Thank you so much for your part in supporting us, standing with us and helping us out in the many ways that you do.  Please continue to pray for Jamesley.  A doctor from our partnering hospital is traveling in the US and has the special Factor for Jamesley, he will take it back to Haiti this weekend.   Hopefully, by this time next week we will have his bleeding under control.  In the meantime, pray for wisdom for the doctors this week and for patience and comfort for Jamesley as he has some tough days ahead of him yet.

This week is a week of holiday in Haiti, so that means the House of Hope is a busy beehive of activity.  You might want to keep Linda and her sanity in your prayers as well!  We appreciate you all and hope you have a great week as well.

An Update

We are so thankful for your prayers over this past week, and want to update you a bit on what's been going on at the HOH.  

Linda had a successful trip to Port-Au-Prince and the eye doctor.  The doctor was able to give her some medicine that has already started to clear up her problem.  The trip down and back was quite stressful as they had multiple break downs on the vehicle both going down and coming back.  It is becoming very evident that we need to start looking at getting a better vehicle for situations such as there. That's certainly something to pray about!

Now, on to Jamesley.  He had to go back into the Operating Room once again this past week.  We were not able to find the exact blood product that we needed to help him be able clot better, but we were able to get him some that we hoped would help.  Unfortunately, he is still bleeding, so it didn't work out so well.  That's the bad news.... now for the good!

The LA Kelley Communications Foundation has gotten us clotting factor for Jamesley in the past through their Project SHARE.  Thankfully, they have agreed to send us some more for him.  A doctor from our hospital is in the US and will receive the factor to take back to Haiti in a week or so.  Hopefully, this factor will give Jamesley what he needs to stop bleeding and heal.  They have also put us in a waiting list to get more of this extremely expensive treatment in the future.  They have been such a blessing to us -- there is no way we could pay for this treatment on our own.  It has improved Jamesley's quality of life so much over these past 2 years, and we are thankful that we will be able to receive it again.  Please keep him in your prayers...

We are so grateful for all the many partners we have that make bringing hope to our kids possible.  That includes you and the part you play as well!  Thank you!

A New Week

Good Morning.  Thank you all so much for praying for the team at the HOH last week.  It took them a little bit to get Jamesley in for his surgery, but when they did everything went well.  He was doing much better and seemed to have stopped bleeding.  I waited a bit to write an update to make sure of what was going on with him, but just this morning he started to bleed again.  So, we are waiting for the doctor to come by and see what is up.  At least they were able to find blood for him last week, so we have that if it's needed.  We are so grateful for each one of you who prayed for us and send notes of encouragement.  Everyone appreciated it and we'd appreciate your continued prayers for Jamesley's health.

In spite of continued rainy and wet weather, the week seems to have started as a pretty typical week and the kids are off to school.  We do have a two other prayer requests to pass on:

• Today a young lady from France is to arrive at the HOH.  She will be spending some time here helping Linda out in whatever way she can.  Pray for  good transition into life at the HOH for her.  Pray for her to be a help and a blessing, especially with some of our kids who need a bit of extra care.  
• Linda is having some trouble with one of her eyes this past week.  The doctors have suggested she go see an eye doctor in Port-au-Prince, so she will be heading off there this weekend.  It is not easy for her to travel around Haiti, so pray for good travel, and for a solution to her eye issues.

Thank you so much for partnering with us in this special ministry. 

a little turn...

If you have a chance today, we'd appreciate prayer for Jamesley.  He was doing so good yesterday, but for those of you who maybe don't know, he is a hemophiliac and his status seems to change fairly quickly. 

This morning the doctors feel the need to go back into the surgery with him.  He has a pretty significant infection and started to bleed again in the night.  Please pray for wisdom for the doctors (Dr. Mozart particularly).  Pray that we are able to find blood for him at the Red Cross blood bank.  Pray for mental strength for Linda and the other staff and kids.  Pray for peace and comfort for Jamesley as these moments can be very scary for him. 

Thank you for standing with us!

So much better!

Greetings to you all!  We hope that you all had a very nice weekend.  We wanted to give you a small update today to let you know how things are going.

We appreciate your prayers very much for our sick ones these past few weeks. 

Moise is so much better -- look at his smile...

 Jamesley had his surgery and is doing much better as well...

We are so grateful for your words of encouragement, your prayers and support that enable us care for these precious lives.  Have a great week!

Thank you!

We appreciate your prayers for us so much.  Little Moise is doing better.  He came back to the House of Hope from the hospital, but is still in need of constant nursing care.  He is still having some trouble breathing, but overall is doing better and has not had seizures again.  

He slept most of the night...

School finally started today and life seems to be getting back to normal.  We appreciate your holding us up in prayer over this past tough week.   We wish you all joy and peace in the week ahead.

Prayer needed for Moise

Good Morning.  We are asking you to please pray for out little baby Moise.  (If you read a few posts back you'll find out how he came to be with us).  He has been sick all week and has now been admitted to our partner hospital.  He's having trouble breathing and they have put him on oxygen, but this morning he has started to have seizures.  Unfortunately, we are unable to locate the medicine needed to stop the seizures and we have sent our boys off to the next town over to try and find it there. 

He has been with us just a few months, but is a beloved member of our large family.  As you can imagine it is difficult for everyone to see him like this.  Please pray for wisdom for the doctors to know how to help him.  Pray that we can find the medicines and supplies needed to help him.  Pray for Linda and all the others giving him care.  It's complicated having him down at the hospital and not in our home as people have to go down to be with him 24/7.  

At the same time, we are very thankful that we have a hospital and doctors so close by who are able to help us with our medical needs.  We are thankful that Handy the other baby not doing well is doing much better.  We are thankful for God's provisions that allow us to care for this precious life.  And we are thankful for you all who support us in so many ways -- especially right now with your prayers at this difficult time.

Happy New Year!

Greetings to all of you and a very Happy New Year as well!  We are sorry for the long pause in updating the blog, as you can imagine it's been a busy time for everyone.  Jenny just returned from her travels and things at the HOH are slowly getting back to normal.

The Christmas celebrations were a really special time for everyone.  The older HOH kids worked very hard along with St. Germain and Linda to host a Christmas Program for our local community.  On Christmas Eve over 150 of our neighbors came to hear songs, Bible verses and skits celebrating the Greatest gift of all -- Jesus.  

Here is Linda and some of the kids on the day of the program:

Then, on Christmas Day they had a special meal all together along with our staff members.  

Here is the staff table:

 

And some of the kid's tables:

 

The meal was finished with a special treat of homemade cake!

The kids waited patiently through the day as the meal was prepared, then eaten.  But the main event was still to come -- the presents -- sent to us from Grace Baptist Church in York, PA with the help of our friends in Miami and the Miami Shores Presbyterian Church.  It is such a blessing to have so many people work together to make sure this was a special time for the House of Hope.

Here are a few pictures of the joy these gifts brought to the kids:

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to everyone who made it possible for our kids to have a nice Christmas and also have the chance to share the Best News Ever with those in our local community.  All of it is important: your prayers, financial donations, participation in getting us supplies and food, as well as sending gifts and clothing.  Without your giving and help, the work at the HOH would not be possible.  Thank you!

Now we are into the new year and it has been a tough start to 2018 in our part of Haiti.  It rained through the entire past weekend and many homes were flooded, some destroyed and lives lost.  Some of our own staff members lost their belongings as their homes flooded out.  The start of school had to be cancelled, but they hope to start again tomorrow.  As you can imagine this has been a tough weekend for many around us.  Please pray for us as we seek ways to help those in need, especially our staff members and their families.  If you'd like to help with these needs, please let us know.

We do have another couple of prayer requests:

• First would be for health for several at the HOH who are not feeling well, including Linda -- who has been working very hard these past couple of weeks and now feels a bit worn down and under the weather.  Also having a tough time are our babies, Moise and Handy.  Both of them have diarrhea and are quite dehydrated -- they are receiving hydration solutions and we hope that they will recover soon.  
• One last person on our sick list is Jamesley, our young man who struggles with Hemophilia.  He's been going through a tough time lately, and is going to need surgery this coming week.  Please pray for him and the doctors.
• Then, we'd ask you to pray for a solution to the water shortage.  I know that might sound strange given that they've had non-stop rain for the past 4 days.  But the flooding has messed up the water pipes, what water they do get through is so muddy you can't use it and the pump on our campus isn't working to get us water from the well.  So, as you can imagine -- it's a bit frustrating and complicated caring for our large family with limited muddy water and needing to find and purchase water for them to drink.  

Anyone wanting to help financially with the needs of caring for the babies, children and young people at the HOH can send donations to either Extreme Response (www.extremeresponse.org) or Crossworld (www.crossworld.org).  Both these organizations give tax-deductible receipts and pass on your gifts to us.  These gifts enable us to provide hope in many forms to the HOH -- including medical expenses, food and nutrition, Eductation, love, care and spiritual hope.  Thank you for your help in this way.

Christmas Excitement

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

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

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

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

Yesterday, two things added to the excitement in the house.  First of all, the Christmas presents arrived on the boat...

It might not look like much now -- but in these plastic totes are all kinds of wonderful gifts our kids can't wait to see!  We are so grateful to Grace Baptist Church in York, PA who sends these gifts each year.  They make our kids feel so special and loved.

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

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

But, before all the fun stuff of the season begins... 

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

We appreciate you all and want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas season...

Rain, Rain and more Rain!

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

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

A Whirlwind Trip

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

For me, the chance to get back and see 

Linda and the kids meant so much to me.  

Here's a picture of the best hug ever.... 

me and my Nannie!

For both of us the trip was too short and the tears were hard to hold back on the day I left. 

 

 I was thrilled to meet the newest member of our family, tiny Moise...

I held him every moment I was able to, 

what a precious little one.  

Can't wait to see him grow and get healthy in our care.

I'm not the only one charmed by the new baby

 Three year old Mits doesn't remember coming here around the same age as little Moise,

but he sure is excited to be here for his new little brother!

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

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

It is always good for me to see the House of Hope through the eyes of people who have never seen it before.  So much happens in our home every day...

• Our dedicated staff serves hundreds of meals each day.
• Approximately 80 infants, children and young adults call the House of Hope home at any given time. 
• We are able to help over 50 children and young adults receive an education.
• Our yard is constantly filled with children and youth from our local community who find in our home a place of safety and refuge.  They simply call it, "The House".
• Our kids, young and old, who have received help and hope for their lives are quick to pass that on to the others that come along behind them.
• The love and hope of Jesus is spread both through many daily activities as well as through everyday life interactions.  

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

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