Prayer Partners: It is good to be home again with my family, I miss them when I am in Haiti, but miss the kids and people of Haiti when I am here. Oh well, This is what God wants me to be doing for now, and that is all I really care about. It was a great trip. The team was fantastic and very helpful to me. I won't repeat the up-dates that Chris posted on the blog, she does a great job. I will just add a huge highlight for me. I have been teaching pastors and leaders from about 35 churches, I really broke through to them this trip and they were so inspired to break away from the more traditional Haitian style of doing church to a true "Life Giving" church. This brought great joy to me to see these pastors rejoicing and praising God for this revelation. WOW. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I could not be doing this stuff without you. You are more valuable to this ministry then you know. Thank you.....

Mike

Hello again,

I talked with Mike tonight, he said that today was a good day for the team. The feeding of the poor went well. Thanks for praying. The team was able to visit our Gonaives church and meet the pastor. They also were able to lay the water lines to the clinic and build a type of concrete basin, so that patients of the medical clinic can wash their hands, face and/or feet as necessary for the medical clinic. Many of them have traveled far to reach the clinic. The 2nd phase of the orphanage building is close to being finished on the outside, so today they started digging the foundation on the 3rd and last phase. They dig by hand and it requires pick axes, not just shovels. Please pray for the men digging out in the heat. Today Mike was able to gather all the workers in the orphanage, clothes washers, security guards, cooks, ect. The purpose was to thank and encourage them. He also met with and taught our Good Shepherd orphanage pastors. This went very well, again thanks for your prayers. The village of Marose has had some heavy and long rain storms, which Mike said is good for the land. Mike noticed that our land had not been planted for the season and other people had not planted either. He asked why and the answer he received was that the irrigation ditch which comes from the river had been broken when they were working on the road. It is a dirt road. Mike asked when it might be fixed. Everyone sounded like it probably would not be. It is hard to understand the acceptance of life in Haiti sometimes, but then our culture has been modeled and taught not to just accept things. We have seen change happen and wrongs righted when people rise up and refuse to accept circumstances. Because of this we have hope that things can be different, we have even come to expect and demand that they are different. Please pray that this is not a permanent problem, there is so little food in Haiti as it is. The meeting for moving ahead with becoming a licensed crèche, for adoption purposes was very productive. Mike says he has a lot of paperwork that he is bringing back to be filled out and translated into French. Tomorrow afternoon the team will head to Bercy.

Please pray for safe travel. Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

I would like to share a bit of a story tonight. Getting around in Haiti is challenging to say the least. If you are almost anywhere north of Port-au-Prince and would like to go just a bit further north, first you must go south to Port-au-Prince. The bus makes one complete loop so you could end up riding the bus all day and not actually arrive very far from where you started. Most Haitian's do not own a car or any motorized form of transportation. Another option is a tap tap. Which is usually a truck brightly painted. If you bang on the side of the truck they will pick you up. Thus the name tap tap. They will stop and pick up anyone, regardless of how many they have already stopped for and regardless of what you may have with you, like chickens for example. We have seen people on top of bulging truck loads, that are already carrying more weight than you could legally carry here, and the people are hanging on to the ropes that are tying the loads down.

So, since we have three pastors now, one traveling from Marose up to Peru, one traveling from Marose into Gonaives and Nathan traveling up and down the coast line, we are realizing the cost and time taken up in just 'getting there'. It has been on our hearts to try and solve this problem. Mike and Nathan have checked out different options and we have consulted others and have come to the conclusion that small enduro type bikes are the best solution we can afford right now.

So, now go back 20 years when we were getting our first Haitian son. Mike rode on the roof of our missionary friend's van. He rode through Port-au-Prince, out in the open and through small villages. He just didn't want to be inside and miss anything. He wanted to see and experience it all. Everywhere along the road side children would point and yell blanc, blanc. Blanc means white for those of you that don't know.

Now skip ahead 20 years, Nathan, Mike, Phil and Adam decide to go into Gonaives and buy the three enduros. The three amigos then decide to put on the three little helmets that came "free" with the bikes and ride back to Marose. Try picturing three white guys on the small enduro bikes. Mike said they had a blast, and I am sure they put more than a few smiles on children's and adult Haitian faces. I would have loved to see the three of them weaving in and out of traffic laced with as many pedestrians as vehicles in the city and then out on the dirt roads, laughing and riding together and not wanting to miss anything. Wanting to see and experience it all. I hope this puts a smile on your face also.

Mike said the meeting with the Pastors' association went really well again today. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Helping to feed the poorest of the poor children in Gonaives has been changed to tomorrow and the team would appreciate your prayers.

Tomorrow Mike will also be in meetings regarding getting our crèche license for adoptions. We would really appreciate your prayers for

wisdom and discernment. Thanks so much for partnering with us in prayer.

Many Blessings,

Chris

Good news, Mike is better, he says he feels great, thank you so much for your prayers. We really appreciate them. He was able to teach at the pastors association and they want him to teach again tomorrow. They had a really good teaching time, a powerful prayer time, and a great worship time. Mike and Nathan will also spend time teaching the Good Shepherd Pastors tomorrow. Please pray for them.

The team spent the morning with the children, face painting and doing arts and crafts. They were also able to pass out shoes to many of the community children. Quite a few suitcases worth. A true gift, as many have no shoes. They even play soccer barefoot, and the men that go on our teams have a hard time keeping up with them. Most times the children win the matches :) Tonight they gave the orphanage children glow sticks, the children and the adults love them. They do not have anything like them in Haiti. It is hard for them to comprehend why they start glowing once they are bent. It is really fun to watch, such a simple thing that brings such joy.

Tomorrow the team will be able to go to market and visit our church in Gonaives. They will also be able to feed the poorest of the poor. I have shared about this in past e-mails. The first 250 children that get into the tin building get a meal that day, the rest will not. They just do not

have the ability to feed more. This is also an eye opening and heart breaking experience. Looking through western eyes we do not have a place to put what we see and experience. But it is such an incredible experience to be the hands and feet of Jesus as we feed these children. So please lift the team up as they come along side and help to feed the poor and needy.

Nathan was able to get all of the paper work approved in Port-au-Prince for the containers. But, they said he had to come back in a couple of days to pick the paperwork up. So the saga continues. God knows the timing, and has known all along. So please just keep praying for them.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

The team went to Peru today. Mike said that the community had built a church out of sticks with woven reeds for the sides and a tin roof. He said it worked great.They are digging a latrine also. Mike and Nathan had a good meeting with the village elders. He talked with them about making the same type of building for the school we will be holding in the fall. He also talked with them about the need for good water. A lot of the children are sick. Mike said the children have to scoot down into a ravine to get water and it is not clean water. We would like to help them by digging a well, but not sure how to at this point. They also had a worship service and Mike felt like God was highlighting one women in particular. They found out that she was a prominent women in the community and a believer. She said, she had a daughter that was having abdominal pains and asked for prayer for her. Mike asked where she was. The women said at home, Mike said that they would go to her to pray. So they walked about a mile to this women's home. The daughter and granddaughter were there. They laid hands on them and prayed. Mike said it was a powerful time. She said that she felt like she was healed. So Mike asked that we continue to lift her up in prayer.

We try to think of fun things that the children and maybe the adult have never seen or tried before. The last trip the team cooked hamburgers for

the whole orphanage over an open fire. Tonight they taught them how to make Smore's. Mike said they all had a blast, even the adults.

As far as construction goes, they seem to think the 2nd phase of the orphanage building will be finished by the end of August or a little later. This is great news for the children. And we now have glass windows in our medical clinic. This will help them to keep the dust out and the bugs. YEAH!

Please pray for spiritual protection over the team. Nathan had a really bad headache on Friday, and Adam had a lot of leg pain, he said he had not done anything to cause it. Also Mike had a really bad headache after teaching in Peru, he almost never gets headaches, he prayed about it and then went to meet with Nathan, and as soon as he started talking to him he said it was gone. So the team would appreciate your prayers.

Tomorrow Nathan is going up to Peru to preach and taking the guys on the team with him. So please keep them in your prayers. Also Mike will be teaching tomorrow morning in Marose and the girls will be in Marose too. Please pray that God moves. Thanks for all your prayer. Blessings

Chris

Some of our little guys.

Hello,

The team has safely made it up to the orphanage. Thank you for your prayers.

Tomorrow the team will mostly focus on the orphanage children. They will be giving out sponsor gifts and playing and interacting with the children. Nathan will be working on getting the containers. It truly is unbelievable how inefficient and bogged down the government can be in Haiti at times. But we have hope that we are close. So again, we ask for persistence in prayer for the safe delivery of the containers. We have been told there is still one more piece of paperwork missing, that necessitates a trip to the docks in Port-au-Prince. It is amazing how much red tape is involved to help bring relief to the people of Haiti. I guess when we finally get the containers, it will show God's glory.

Mike said the team will probably go up to Peru (pay-roo) on Saturday. When the previous team was in Peru, there were 40 salvations. The next Sunday Nathan lead 30 more to the Lord. Since then I know of 15 that have been brought to salvation. We have hired a pastor for Peru. Also we have purchased more Bibles in Haitian Creole to take up to Peru. Mike is excited to be traveling up north to see them again.

Please pray for God to continue to move.

Many Blessings,

Chris

The June Team

The June Haiti team leaves tonight. Please pray for safe travel and good plane
connections. I will try to post a photo later this evening when I have one. Thanks
so much for your prayers. Blessings,
Chris

Remembering Madame Nathaniel

We have some very sad news. Madame Nathaniel, Nathan's mother died this morning. This is a tremendous loss. She was a very godly women. The family is very close and it will be hard to carry on without her. She was a very important and respected women in her community and church. Please pray for pastor Nathaniel, Nathan and the rest of the family.

Thank you, Chris