Giving out rice and cooking oil in the village of Perou

The relief

And the joy

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

Giving out rice and cooking oil in the village of Marose

Hello,

We wanted to thank you for responding to our previous e-mail regarding the value of the US dollar rising and the effect it has had in the Haitian market place. Because many of the items the people buy in the local market come from America, their dollar does not go as far as it did just a couple of months ago. We asked for your help as many of the Haitian people cannot afford to buy food. This past Saturday we were able to pass out rice and cooking oil to some of the poorest families in the community of Marose. Then again on Sunday, we were able to bless some of the poorest families in the community of Perou. 

We will be passing out rice and oil in other villages that we minister in during the coming days and weeks, I will post photos again when we have those outreaches. We are in the process of determining which families in those communities need help the most. In each outreach the rice is passed out through the church to the community, the families helped do not need to be attending the church, we are just trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus reaching out in love and compassion. Hopefully you will catch some of the relief, hope and joy experienced by these families you have reached out to in some of the photos on the blog. Many thanks and blessings, for coming along side and helping.

The story I wanted to share is one Nathan shared with us today, the story takes place before the hurricane in September of 2008, but today was the first time I have heard it. Quite often God uses Nathan to give someone one last chance to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Sometimes the stories have good endings, sometimes not. I do not like to hear someone tell Nathan "later pastor Nathan, later". There usually is no later. So, Nathan said that one day a couple of weeks before the hurricane hit, he felt led by the Lord to go to the cemetery in Badjo. Badjo is a village across the river from Marose that is known through out Haiti as one of the main villages where voodoo is practiced. People actually come from international destinations to experience voodoo in Badjo. Pastor Nathan brought some friends from the village of Marose with him, to help evangelize in the village of Badjo.  In the cemetery they removed some of the cords and flags that represent voodoo. While they were taking down the cords and flags they were approached by some of the witch doctors and people in the area that practice voodoo, Nathan tried to explain to them why he took these items down. He shared about Jesus with them, they became very angry with him and would not listen or give their hearts to Jesus. He explained to them that they may not get another chance. Two weeks later the hurricane hit. Mike, our son Jeremiah and a team of friends were in Haiti at the time. The hurricane destroyed much of the Gonaive area that year, most people who were not able to get to a second story or on top of the roof of a stable building died in the flood. For those of you who have been to the Children's Village, try to picture the river becoming wide enough to reach the doorway of the Marose church. The hurricane hit the Gonaives area that year and then within hours circled around and hit Gonaives and Haiti a second time. ALL of the people in Badjo that Nathan had tried to share Christ with were caught up in the flood and died. Not one survived. Stories like that are huge reminders to us of how important prayer is. It is not possible to know when an opportunity to share one last time with someone will come up, which is just one of the many reasons we need your prayers. It is one of the many reasons we are constantly asking for your prayers and thanking you for praying. Your prayers really are a life line at times. People ask what our biggest needs are sometimes, prayer, good solid prayer is one of the answers we give. So, once again THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO PRAY.

Blessings,

Chris

The hurricane hitting Marose

The river flooding 

Over the banks

Narrow river flooding Marose

Amazing

It broke roads

People trying to find a safe place

Helping each other

Some of the aftermath

Water is such a powerful force

The crew that rescued Mike, Jeremiah and the team

Mary and our littlest

two of our younger girls

eating mangoes

wild hair on one of the sweetest

smiles

Hello,

We just wanted to touch base with you and share what is going on here in Haiti. We also wanted to thank you for your faithful support, your prayers are so very much appreciated by us. I don't think I will ever be able to fully explain how important your prayers are to everything happening here in Haiti.

Nathan's grandfather has some property in a small village near Gonaive and Marose called Myam. He is an evangelist and is quite a character. He is in his mid 80's which is quite a feat, given the life expectancy in Haiti is 52. It is probably partly due to his being such a character  :) and the bigger part due to his love of sharing Jesus. He has always desired a church to be on part of his property in Myam. The only church in Myam right now is mixed with voodoo, which is so confusing to the people. So we are beginning to lay the foundation for a "Good Shepherd life giving church" plant. Nathan held a week long revival in Myam, Mike spoke one of the nights, and there were guest speakers the other evenings. Over the 8 evenings 46 people asked Jesus into their hearts. We see this as a sign that God wants to move in Myam. Myam is another dark place that needs the light of Jesus, please pray for the ministry and both Nathan's and our family, as we again break into a dark place. With the fruit comes attacks from the enemy, so we really need your prayers, for perseverance, protection, wisdom, discernment and direction. Thank you.

Mary and Ian (the couple interning with us for about 7 months) are doing great. They are spending part of their time here in our home with the older boys transitional ministry and part of their time in the Children's Village. They are doing multiple age bible study groups and helping us with some of the logistics of running the ministry. They are also developing some exciting Facebook campaigns, which you can look forward to seeing in the future. Ian is also looking forward to getting started on our mini farm in front of the Children's Village. We are hoping to have raised vegetable beds, chickens and eggs, turkeys and two Tilapia fish ponds. Some of these projects have been waiting on the side lines for quite a while, we are excited to be finally bringing them into being. 

Again thank you for your prayers. 

Blessings,

Chris

Mary and some of our girls

Some of our boys