Hello,
Tonight  is our last night in the US. We are sitting in the airport as I write this. We would appreciate your prayers as we travel and adjust. All of my children and their families spent the day with me. One of my sisters and her girls also came up to see us off. Saying goodbye tonight was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It felt like my heart was being ripped. I have peace from God, but it is still hard to say goodbye. I have 6 older married children and their spouses and 7 grandchildren I am leaving behind.  I was blessed with being able to be present at the birth of my 7th grandchild before leaving. She was born Thursday morning. Some of you have been praying for her because of her breathing problems during pregnancy. Thank you for your prayers, the birth went well and was very peaceful.

My daughter Becca, grandson Felice, son Dustin and daughter in law Melissa are flying to Haiti with me to help us move. I will try and post a photo of our group on the blog later, after my son in law emails it to me :)    Thank you so much for your prayers.


Blessings,
Chris

Hello,

I wanted to update you a bit on what has been going on in Haiti. The second half of the roof has finally been poured over the rooms we will be living in. We will be in the last part of the children's village to be completed. We were hoping that the roof would already be finished when the team arrived in January. But I guess we also need to learn to be patient. In Haiti relationship is way more important than the task, which is something we have out of balance in the US and Canada. It will be one of those stretching and growing things we find as we live in Haiti. Greg and Mike have been waiting for our containers to arrive to the children's village. One of the containers arrived in Haiti just before Christmas. In Haiti they take the American holidays and the Haitian holidays. So between Christmas, New Years and Carnival week, our containers have been sitting and waiting. One of the containers is full of food and the other container is mixed supplies for the children's village, schools and churches. This last container also has some building supplies needed to finish the rooms we will be staying in. So we would appreciate your prayers in getting it off the docks and up to the children's village. Please also pray for the food container to be released. We have been told the containers might be available Friday or Saturday.

Greg and Mike built removable goal posts for the soccer field next to the children's village. They have also been working on the playground. They are adding a fireman's pole and a rope climb. They have also been doing maintenance around the children's village.

God is still moving powerfully in Pass Rein. One night this past week when Greg, Mike and Laura went up for an all night celebration service, they had 6 salvation's and 6 women who were practising voodoo, denounce it and choose God. Also women came forward for healing who had been molested and abused and three came forward to be set free from demons. They were there until 5:30 the next morning. Praise God for healing and setting these women free. God is so Good !!!!!!

Today a group called teen challenge will be coming to stay a couple of days at the children's village. There will be a youth group meeting tonight and youth will be coming from all the surrounding communities. The teen challenge group will be sharing their testimonies and worshiping with the Haitian youth. Please pray that God moves among the youth from both cultures.

Please continue to pray for our family as we prepare to move the children and I to Haiti. I am still trying to finish up probate and my father's estate, plus finish up packing and all the details involved with an international move. I truly cherish your prayers for strength, endurance, wisdom and discernment. Also for help in putting people ahead of the task. Thank you so very much.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

The team had a good day today. Thank you so much for your prayers. They went to church in Marose. A lot of people came forward to be filled with the Holy Spirit during church. Two friends from another ministry came to church also. Nathan preached up in Pass Rien, where there were 5 more salvation's between the morning and evening service. That makes about 20 new believers in Pass Rien this week alone. Nathan also held a meeting for the older youth in the village to see how many would be interested in forming a youth group. 35 youth showed up. So we will try and start a youth group in Pass Rien.

In the afternoon the team spent time praying over some of the children individually. After that Jay did a Goliath skit, which the children loved. The team also said their goodbye's to the staff and children. They will leave for Port-au-Prince around 5:30 tomorrow morning.

Betsy, one of our nurses, who is also one of Nathan's sisters is engaged. She will be married in March. Everyone is very excited for her. Her husband just graduated as an accountant. They will live in Marose and she will still be one of the nurses in our clinic.

Please pray for the team as they travel home, for safety and for on time connections.

Thanks and Blessings,

Chris

swing set in the new playground

Hello again,

Thank you for your prayers today. In the morning the team and children spent some time outside the children's village picking up garbage. The team also went into the market and helped Nadine (Nathan's sister) purchase some more kitchen items. It took a good portion of the day. They also stopped and visited another ministry near us that we are friends with.

While at the market the team found peanuts so, when they got back to the village, they made peanut brittle candy for the children and staff. They also put together some gift bags for the staff, which surprised and blessed the staff. In the evening Jay did the devotions with the children and had them acting out the characters in the story. The children really enjoyed it.

Tomorrow the team will go to church in Marose. Then in the afternoon they will spend some time praying over some of the children. The children come from such hard places, we like to spend some time praying over the ones that seem to be struggling the most. Please pray for discernment and healing for the children. Tomorrow will also be the last full day for part of the team. Brenda, Jay, Kathy and Mac will be heading for Port-au-Prince Monday morning. Laura will be moving into the older girls room as a nanny. She will be spending about 2 months in Haiti. She will go home with the March team. Greg will also be staying longer. He will be stay about 1 month in Haiti. He is staying on to help Mike finish the part of the children's village that we will be staying in. And of course Mike will not be coming back with the team, he will be in Haiti waiting for our younger children and I to join him later this month.

Blessings,
Chris

February 1, 2013

Hello,

The team had a great day today. In the morning the team visited Perou. They spent time with the children passing out pillow cases dresses and candy. They also spent time with the teachers and pastor Reynolds and the youth pastor, Benchy. They had a great prayer time with the staff and children and they passed out new Bibles to all of the youth group. Our youth group in Perou is a sister youth group to one of our partner Churches in Oklahoma. The youth group in Oklahoma raised funds for the youth group in Perou to each receive a bible. A very precious gift. The team said they really enjoyed the time spent in Perou. They tried texting photos of the bibles and youth group, but they did not come through, so I will ask them to email them to me tomorrow so I can share them with you.

The team also got quite a bit of the playground built, they tried texting photos of the playground also. So again, I will share them as soon as I can.

Last night there was another church service in Pass Rien and there were 7 more salvation's. Praise God ! Thank you for continuing to pray for Pass Rien.

Tomorrow the girls are going into town with Nadine, Nathan's sister, to buy some more kitchen supplies. It should be a fun experience. I believe the rest of the team will be trying to finish up the playground. Please continue to pray for the team as they build relationships with the children and staff and be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Blessings,

Chris