Putting the finishing coat on the retaining wall to prepare for Trish's Playground of Hope
Working on the wall
Leveling the ground for Trish's Playground of Hope
Digging the foundation for the retaining wall for Trish's Playground of Hope
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Friday, April 25, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Hello,
Hope all of you had a great Easter. We did. We started Easter weekend by showing the "Passion of Christ" film on Good Friday evening. We had over 400 crowed in, out and around our tent in Pass Rien. We showed the film in Haitian Creole. I could hear the aha's, as light bulbs came on. It was pretty cool to see. The next day during Awana at the Marose church we showed it again to over 100 Children.
As I watched the film, I was thinking how great it would be if we could show a newer version of Jesus' story. One that was correct color wise. One that had a more modern view of the disciples. And I was reminded that it is not the movie or activity that brought food to the table. It was God who called them and it was He who would draw them in. So here I am again learning to lead differently. Please lift us up in prayer as we try to distinguish between what is Haitian culture, what is U.S. culture and what is God's culture.
I also thought that it would be fun for each child to dye one Easter egg and then eat it. It was a crazy idea, but I wanted to let them experience a new and fun activity. And, it was protein in the end.
Ditas home is going well, the foundation wall is complete.
We will have photos at our fundraiser.
Trish's playground is also coming along. We will have updated photos tomorrow hopefully as the retaining rock wall should be completed.
Yesterday our Pastor from Perou was married. Just as we arrived in Perou it started to downpour. It rained extremely hard during the whole ceremony and let up just as the wedding ceremony ended. The mud in Perou is like clay. As you continue walking it just keeps building up. You literally can gather 3 or 4 inches on the soles of your shoes. It is very difficult to kick or scrape off so that you can keep walking. I will post photos of the wedding also. There is a cute one of the brides mother giving the bride a piggy back ride so that she is not covered in mud for the ceremony. Mike preached at the wedding. Pastor Renold's brother, who is also a pastor, led the prayers. Pastor Daniel from our Marotte church led the vow's. And Nathan led the worship. Weddings in Haiti usually have at least 4 pastors.
Today we had our first broken arm. Pretty good for having 60 plus children running around, especially since 2/3 of them are boys, and most of them between 8 and 12 years old. The boy came to us, holding back the tears, Mike took one look at his arm and said "I think we are going to go to the hospital first". He said he "did not want to take any chances". Good call, since it was actually broken. I will put a photo of him on the blog also. Please lift him up in prayer for quick and complete healing.
Mike will be teaching bible study tomorrow in Poteou and preaching again Sunday in Perou. Please continue praying for the people of Haiti, that their eyes will see, their ears will hear and their hearts will trust in Jesus.
Thank you for partnering with us in prayer.
Blessings,
Chris
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Hello,
I am sending this e-mail out as a prayer request. We try to buy most things for the ministry here in Haiti. But sometimes there are some items that we can only buy stateside. Sometimes items are to large to go on the airlines. In these cases we ship them in a container. When we know we are going to ship a container we then send out requests for other donated items in which to fill the container up with, so we utilize the space well. We just sent one container yesterday. A 40 ft container is allowed to weigh up to 55,000 lbs. if it is going to be trucked, more if it is going by rail. When loading a container containing 55,000 lbs. of goods it can be difficult to judge the total weight. Yesterday we were over by a bit, which meant unpacking quite a bit of the container in order to off load items we were willing to go with out. Items that were heavy enough also to make up the weight difference. This leads to difficult logistics when you have machines lined up for lifting the container onto a semi truck trailer and you have a truck driver waiting, and most men able to volunteer to help with the unloading are still at work during the middle of the day. The trucking stateside is just the beginning of the process. It still needs to get to the docks in Florida, and then be put on a barge for Haiti. When it lands on the docks in Port-au-Prince, there is duty, inspections and then trucking to get it to our Children's village. A long process, with a lot of possibilities for corruption along the way. Because of the rough start yesterday, we were reminded that we really need to be praying each container through the process more diligently. It is not a matter of waiting and it will get there eventually. It really is a God matter to have everything pass and receive the items here. So we are asking if you would please pray for this container. It is a 6 to 8 week process.
The team spent time today ministering to the pastors of our Good Shepherd churches. They also ministered to our nanny's. This evening they had different game stations and activities set up for the children, which was followed by chante' (singing), devotions and culminated in a party for the April birthday's. Brooklyn, one of the team member's celebrated her 11th birthday with them. The team prayed for all the children in the Children's village and then the children prayed for the team. A great evening.
Tomorrow the team will be leading worship, sharing and performing a skit at the Marose church. Please pray that the Spirit of God moves. Thank you so much for partnering with us in prayer.
Blessings
Chris
Friday, April 11, 2014
Hello,
The team is doing well. Thank you for your prayers.They spent all day Wednesday giving eye exams to the children in the children's village and some of the Marose community. It has been amazing watching some of the older people in the community, who have known eye sight problems walk out of the Children's Village with huge Cheshire cat grins on their face, because they CAN SEE. Can you imagine hardly being able to see, and then someone changing that. Sometimes I am so amazed at what we don't have as struggles in North America.
Wednesday the team also did crafts with the children and spent a lot of time worshiping with them. The children absolutely love to worship. In the early evening the team climbed the mountain behind the children's village for devotions.
Thursday the team went go into Gonaives, to the open market. They spent some time seeing some of the history of Haiti and the Gonaives area. They worked on different projects during the day. One of the projects was spreading a new load of sand under the swing set and monkey bars. The second project was mixing concrete for a new pad under the propane tanks for the kitchen. The third project was painting the Lord's prayer around the dining room near the ceiling. We have been slowly trying to paint scriptures in each room in the Children's village. It is something that has been on my heart for a long time. In the evening the team gave out glow sticks, which as always was a big hit.
Today the team will be visiting our school in Perou and holding an eye clinic in Perou for the community. Please pray that they are able to help the people who need it most. Sometimes so many come for help, and the needs are so great, it is hard to know who needs help the most. We also will be going to all night prayer and worship in Pass Rein. Please pray that God moves hearts.
That's all for now. Thank you so much for your prayers. We could not keep going with out them.
Blessings,
Chris
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Hello,
Our April team has arrived. They arrived late Monday afternoon. They spent the day getting settled and playing with the children. They are a great mix of ages and talents. Some are excited to build relationships with the children. Some want to minister through worship. And some have come to hold eye clinics in some of our villages.
Today the team started the day by traveling to Pass Rein. They spent most of the day holding an eye clinic for the community of Pass Rein. They made lunch for the children.
They held babies and spent time relating to families in the community. Later in the afternoon we hiked up to the voodoo camp and prayed and sang a worship song. Then after spending the whole day in Pass Rein, we loaded up in the trucks and headed for one of the home groups from church. After a short drive, we took about a 10 minute hike over a small stream and up into the hills to attend the church gathering. We worshiped, prayed, and the team presented a skit, and later a song in Creole and English. Mike preached and Nathan lead worship. Near the end of the evening eight people came forward and accepted Jesus into their lives. Afterwards about 30 more came forward for prayer. It was a wonderful night. We did not get back to the Children's village til around 11:30 P.M. The team was great.
Tomorrow the team will be holding the eye clinic for the children here in the children's village. Please pray for them as they work with and help the children. They will also be doing crafts and games with the children. Nathan will be leading bible study in Pass Rein in the evening. Mike will be leading bible study in Poteau on Thursday evening. Please pray for both of them to be leading in accordance with God's will, and for hearts to be moved.
Hurray!!! The foundation wall on Dita's home is completed. We are excited to be moving on to the cement slab next. For those of you who don't know about Dita's home, it is our future transitional home for the girls aging out of our Children's village. Which by law is 16 to 18 years old world wide, whether they have finished school or not, whether they are prepared to be on their own or not. You can find out more by reading previous postings on this blog. Or, find out more about Dita's home by attending our fundraiser in May :)
Our next BIG adventure is the start of Trish's playground. We have a page dedicated to Trish's playground on our website, which you can connect to by clicking on the website link below. This morning we had the second day of clearing the grounds in the center of the Children's village for the new playground. It is being built in memory of Terry and Norma Bosman's daughter and grandson. We are so excited for the vision of what this playground will be for the children. We have seen just a hint of it in their faces as they watched the huge road building machines come in and clear the grounds for us. For some of the children last Sunday and this morning was more then they could ever have dreamed of, they did not know such machines existed :)
We want to thank you for all of your prayers, we appreciate them so much, they are such a blessing. Will post again soon.
Blessings,
Chris
Please be lifting both of these projects up before God. They will both be such a huge blessing to the children of Haiti.
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