Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Hello,

I heard from the team. They spent the morning in Marotte visiting the school and church. They passed out candy again and prayed for the children and teachers. They also took a photo of the whole school and of the teachers. While they were there, the team was able to meet with one of the women who was married when the September team was in Haiti. I made a packet of wedding photos to share with her. Mike said it was so sweet watching her, because she shared that she was surprised by how pretty she looked in the photos of her wedding. She had no way of seeing what she looked like on her wedding day. She was thrilled to see herself in the photos. We have experienced this before, old ladies laughing when they see themselves for the first time on the back of our digital cameras. Our culture could not even imagine growing up not knowing what we looked like. We could use a little less self absorption.

After visiting Marotte, the team went into Jubilee to feed the poorest of the poor. Mike said it was good to help feed the children again. After helping, our team joined their team for lunch. We like to trade off hosting lunch with them.

The afternoon was filled with meetings for Mike and Nathan. They meet with our bookkeeper again, the electrician and the plumber. And for those of you who have been to the orphanage on the last couple trips, you will be glad to know that the team (thanks to the plumbing knowledge of one of Jason's relatives), has solved the toilet flushing problems and they work! And the really great news is, that Mike and Nathan interviewed two people for the position of orphanage director. Please pray for Godly discernment and wisdom in regards to who they hire. This is a position that carries a huge responsibility. They need to be able to communicate well with the staff, children, Nathan and Mike. They need to be able to understand vision, goals and how to get there. They need to understand servant leadership. They need to understand and implement safe and healthy rules, and routines. The list goes on, please pray for the hiring of this position.

Mike said that Dustin was feeling well again today. Thank you so much for all of you that prayed for him.

Tomorrow morning (Thursday) the team will be going to Pass Rien. They will most likely be speaking with the witch doctor. Please pray that God continues to draw her to Him. Pray for discernment for the team as they speak to her and pray over the area, as well as for her. Pray that she will come to the knowledge that our God is more powerful than satan.

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:37-39

In the afternoon the team will be visiting a small orphanage on the other side of the river. The January team also visited this orphanage when they were in Haiti. The couple  who runs the orphanage also has the same number of orphans that we do, but the children are younger overall. It is basically the pastor and his wife who run the orphanage, but they do have a few helpers.

Also please continue to pray for the team, as it will be the last day with the children. They will leave for Port-au-Prince on Friday. Pray for Melissa as she leaves the children and staff after building relationships with them over the past two months. Please pray for Stephanie as she will be staying in the orphanage for the next two months. Like Caitlin and Melissa, she will be the nanny in the oldest girls room. The difference will be that Stephanie will be working in the medical clinic 6 days a week, making it possible to keep the clinic open more than Monday and Tuesday. She just graduated from nursing school in December and passed her state exams in January of this year. She also has years of experience working in the E.R. (along with my daughter and son) of Saint Joseph's hospital. She will be obtaining her 1000 hours in Haiti, so that she can apply for a higher degree in nursing. She also will have contact by phone with Dr. Ralph on the days he is not in the clinic. So please pray for her adjustment and for the transition of the older girls as Melissa leaves and Steph stays.

Blessings,

Chris