Hello,

I just got back from an awesome worship night at Catalyst. They played longer then they normally do. We had the privilege of worshiping for three and a half hours. It was wonderful.

This morning in Haiti, the team did a prayer walk over and around the orphanage and over each room before they said their good byes to the children and the staff. They also had a wonderful meal at Nathan's, prepared by his wife. The team is spending the night at the Bercy mission. They will finish traveling to the Port-au-Prince airport in the morning to fly out. They should arrive in the Seattle airport around 10:30 PM. Putting most of them home by 1:00 AM Saturday morning. Gary will be traveling home to Canada, so he will be arriving home even later. Please pray for traveling safety and on time flights and connections. Also please lift the children and Steph up in prayer. It is hard for the children to see the team leave, and it will be especially hard for them having Steph leave after being there for 2 1/2 months. It will also be hard for Steph leaving the children. Truth be told it is really hard on Nathan when we leave also, he gets pretty sad on the trip to Port-au-Prince. So, thank you for all of your prayers this trip.

Blessings,

Chris

Wednesday, May 23, 2012- Haiti Activities and a Sad Story

Hello again,

I did hear from the team today. The last two days have been great. On Tuesday the team went up north to Perou. They visited the children in our school and then walked to Yolin and Wadners. They spent time praying for Wadner and his mother. Mike was excited to be able to baptize Wadner's mother Yolin, on this trip, it has been such a privilege to be a part of this family's life. The team also found out that on Sunday when the preaching at Poteau was cancelled because of rain, after the rain stopped some people showed up for the meeting.The group had an impromptu worship time and 2 more people gave their heart to the Lord, no preaching or altar call, just worshiping God. He is soooo good. The team  also finished the laundry room tables. The paint is now dry and they are ready to use. In the evening they had an awesome worship time, Gary and Darrell took turns playing guitar and Nathan played the accordion. I believe they were down at the church with the children worshiping.

Today Andy held his microfinance and savings & loan class again. It was a very positive meeting. There were many very interested in joining. A very simple explanation of how it works is, a group of business people or potential business people in Haiti, join together and each one contributes an agreed upon amount on a regular basis. Then one can come up with a business plan and fill out an application for a loan from what the group has saved up. The group votes on it and decides if this sounds like a viable business and if so they will loan the money to them. So in effect they kind of create their own bank and help each other get together enough capital to start up or improve their businesses. If they would like to borrow more than the group has for a larger business investment then they can submit their application and  business plan to Andy, who then can approve them for a  microloan from business men or women here in U.S. or Canada. We also believe we have enough interest now to start our market place. So we are going to start clearing the land. We are planning on turning our shipping containers into business spaces to start with. I believe we have 7 or 8 containers now. The plan is to divide them into two or three shops each. The team also went to Emory's today to feed the poor, this is a highlight for some team members on the trip, but can also be difficult to see such extreme poverty. Later on this afternoon Darrell and Gary took turns playing the guitar and taught some of the children how to play musical chairs. Mike said the children really enjoyed the game and squeals of laughter could be heard from the room. Tonight the children also went to bible study. Nathan teaches them on Wednesdays.

Mike shared a sad story with me today. Some of you may remember a fancy house for Haiti high up on the hill after you leave Goniaves and are headed to Marose on the dirt road. A witch doctor and his wife lived there. Nathan was driving by and saw him walking on the road. They know each other and what each other believes because they are both in the same community. Nathan felt like he was suppose to stop and talk to him. So he pulled over and greeted him. Then Nathan asked him if he knew Jesus? The man answered "not now Pastor Nathan." Nathan said do you know Jesus? The witch doctor answered "later Pastor Nathan, later". The next day the witch doctor and his wife were killed in a traffic accident. It sounds like God was giving him one last chance to acknowledge Jesus as his Lord and Savior. It reminds me how important it is to keep praying for the witch doctor in Pass Rien, that she will give her heart to Jesus and will stop telling Nathan, "not now Nathan." Please keep praying for her and others, who do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus.

Tomorrow the team will travel south to Bercy, please pray for safe travel. Also please be praying for the team and especially Steph, as they say good bye to the children tomorrow. They will have lunch at Nathan's, Mike says Madame Nathan has the best restaurant in Haiti (she is a really good cook). They will also be meeting up with a pastor from South Carolina, who is planning on being part of our pastors conference in November. Thank you for praying.

Blessings,

Chris

Tuesday May 22, 2012

Hello,

I did not hear from the team tonight. I do know that in the morning (Wednesday) Andy will be teaching his microfinance class again. I also know that the team will be going to Jubilee (Gonaives) to feed the poorest of the poors children, a ministry our friends Mary and Emory Wilson started, which now has quite a few people helping with in Haiti. I am sure the team would appreciate prayers for both of these activities. Thanks so much for praying.

Blessings,

Chris

Microfinancing, goats and healings oh my!!!

Hello,

Thank you for your prayers today. Andy had his microfinance and savings & loan class today. The class got off to a slow start due to miscommunication on the time it started. But once everyone arrived it went really well. There were about 50 people that attended. After Andy taught, he opened the class up for questions and answers. He said the questions were very intelligent and showed they understood what he was teaching and just needed clarification. He video taped the session so that it can be used again in Haiti or elsewhere when Andy teaches. The people  attending asked if he could teach longer today because some of them had to go to market tomorrow. The nearest market is in Poteau, which is about 25 mins. away by car,  probably about the distance between Lynden and downtown Bellingham for those of you that know Whatcom county. A long walk carrying goods to sell. Hopefully our Market in Marose will be up and running soon. So because of market day, Andy taught longer today and will teach longer on Wednesday, so that he can fit three days of teaching into 2 days.  Becca also taught the women again today, which went well. This afternoon the goat seminar was held. There were families from 4 out of 5 of our churches. They were taught about the care of goats and the value of using them as an investment. The man who taught the seminar has also agreed to supervise the goat program. Mike shared the parable of the talents from Matthew 25:1-30. He then explained that the goats would be given out in a similar fashion to the talents. Families would be given either 2, 5, or 10 goats.They were given applications to fill out with information, like names, etc. They also are asked to show proof that they can feed and water the goats and provide a safe place for them. And they have been asked to provide a personal reference. The supervisor will visit the families and make sure that the goats are being cared for. If they are not, the goats will be given to others who will care for them. The supervisor can also provide veterinary care if necessary. They explained to the families that the goats are to be cared for and that the 2nd and 3rd generation of goats they can sell, eat, etc. The purpose being that they will multiply and then be able to help other families. We want the goats to be a hand up instead of a hand out. Just like the microfinance and savings & loan program. Our dream is to help the village become self sustaining and develop into a thriving community. Thank you so much for coming along side of us and the people of Haiti, your prayers and support are making a difference. In the evening Nathan asked Mike if he would go with him to pray for a younger cousin. The boy was in his twenties and was going to be taken to the hospital, because he was having acute pain in his stomach. They prayed for him for 45 mins. to an hour and then worshiped over him. When they were done the boy said he felt fine and had some water and ate. He felt totally healed. PRAISE GOD!!!

Tomorrow the team will go visit our school and community in Perou. They will also spend some time visiting  and praying with Wadner and his mother Yolin. Please pray for safe travel and that they are able to reach out to the people in Perou.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello

I talked with the team again tonight. They had church in the morning and baptisms in the afternoon. The river was to low to baptize in, so they needed to find another place. One lady in the group knew about an irrigation house and knew the owner, so they were able to use the irrigation house for the baptisms. The team also prayed for a man  who lived in Marose. They were told that he was crazy. His daughter was Christian, and there did not seem to be a wife. The team prayed over the man, the house and family. After the baptisms Nathan went to check on him again and the daughter said that he was a completely different person, that he was helping around the house and doing things he had not done in years. The team did not make it to Poteau tonight, it started raining and when it rains in Haiti no one shows up for things (probably because they have to walk in the rain to get there) so even if the team went, most likely no one else would have. They had fun playing in the rain with the children instead.

Tomorrow Becca will teach the women again. Her husband Andy will be starting a 3 day class on Microfinancing, and savings and loans. This is something that he has a passion for and has already started in Kenya. He will be teaching a group of potential business people in Marose. We are  also hoping to start a market that will help the economy of the village and help the orphanage become self sustaining in the future. Tomorrow we will also be having a seminar on Goat husbandry, to help the families receiving goats be successful. And the guys will be working on building the laundry room tables tomorrow. Please continue to lift the team up in prayer, and thank you again for praying.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello again,

The team had another great day. Mike taught the Pastor's from 9:30 til about 1:00. He said it went great. Becca also started teaching the women again from 9:30 til about 1:30. This was supposed to be her last day teaching them, but they asked if she would teach them again on Monday. She said she would, but that they would have to bring their own food, up to this point we had been serving them lunch, and also breakfast to the ones who stayed over night. They said they did not care, they just wanted to keep learning how to study the bible for themselves and know more about God. Praise God !!!!!!  He is so awesome! Thanks to all of you who have been faithfully praying for Becca and the women. God has answered your prayers. Mike also spent time talking with the older girls in the orphanage today. He told them that they can grow up and do anything. He encouraged them to keep doing their best in school. He encouraged them to not get involved with boys and make poor choices. He talked about how marriage should be a relationship that supports you in becoming who you were created to be and encourages you to use your skills and talents. He talked about not settling for less. This evening the team had devotions and worship time with the children. Gary played the guitar and they spent time singing together. The children LOVE to sing. Our daughter Becca's 7 year old son Felice, is with the team, I asked Mike how he was doing and Mike said he has been going 100 miles an hour with the other children. There is a big hill of gravel in the orphanage, because we are trying to finish the 3rd building and the kids have been playing king of the hill on it. It is amazing how well children can communicate with little language. He has been learning some language, but is still limited in communicating with them. Mike said the children love him because he is such a novelty, they see white or blanc adults when teams come, but not little kids like them. They also think his name is funny, so all day long you hear Felice, Felice. I guess he loves it. Adam and Darrell went into town today and got supplies for making tables for the laundry room. So that will be one of the next projects. Tonight was the last evening of an 8 night crusade. The team did not go tonight, but Nathan did. He gave an altar call after he preached and there were another 15 salvation's. God is so merciful !!!

Tomorrow morning Nathan will be preaching in Gonaives and Mike will be preaching in Marose. Please be praying for both of them, that what they teach is from God. After church people from our village in Perou, Marotte (Gonaive) and Marose will go to Marotte to be baptized in the river. Mike said he believes about 20 are wanting to be baptized. The team will then go to our newest church in Poteau for the evening. Either Mike or Nathan will be preaching, I forgot to ask which one, so please pray for who ever will be teaching, God knows who it will be. There is a chance that each of the team members will be asked to share a bit also. So remember to lift them up in prayer too. And thank you so very much for your prayers. This ministry depends on your prayers.

Blessings,
Chris

Hello,
Thank you so much for praying. Your prayers made a huge difference today. Becca started teaching again this morning and the women had a huge breakthrough. They got it and started getting excited. Later when Becca asked if they were getting tired and overloaded with information, they said no and told her to keep going and not stop. They were having so much fun discovering for themselves. God is sooooo good. Thank you sooooo much for praying.

The guys on the team spent the day building shelves for the storage depot. Mike said they did an awesome job and built tons of shelves. Gary also hung a huge projector screen donated to us by Alpha Tech in the dinning hall. This will be used for teaching the pastors and also possibly as a weekly movie night for the children. The crusade went well tonight, worship was really good. Mike spoke and Nathan gave an altar call. There were 11 salvation's, and another 25 came forward for more in depth prayer. Again thank you, your prayers make all the difference.

Tomorrow morning Becca will be teaching the women again. She will start about 9:00 and go til about 12:30 pm. The pastor's conference will also be going on. Mike will be teaching the pastor's from about 9:00 until 1:00 pm. So please pray for both the women's inductive bible study and the pastor's conference. The team will also climb up the mountain tomorrow. Thank you for partnering with us.

Blessings,

Chris

Thursday May 17, 2012

Hello,

This is one of those times that YOU praying can make all the difference in the world literally.

Please read below and pray, and thank you ahead of time :)

I talked with the team today. They had a good day. They do have one fairly large complicated prayer request for tomorrow. Today, as Becca taught the Inductive bible study to women from 4 communities, she came to realize that there were some different cultural views that were causing some difficulties. First we knew that illiteracy is higher for Haitian women than men. The stats I have found, say that the literacy rate of adults is between 39.66 %  and 53.6 % of the population of Haiti. Most of the sites defined literacy as; "Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life ". The complication comes into play culturally because Haitian women typically are less likely to be literate because of the value placed on a Woman in  society.  The other piece of information that causes complications is that because the women tend to want people to just tell them what they need to know, they tend to not think for themselves or have opinions. Today it was hard for them to understand why they would want to learn how to study the bible for themselves. They just wanted Becca to tell them what the book of Ephesians said and what they should believe. We have experienced this on a smaller scale when trying to hire workers for the orphanage. When we ask a women what job she is applying for she says any of them. When we get more specific and ask if she could have any job what would it be? They look at us like they do not understand why we are asking such a question. We then try to ask things like what do you enjoy doing? It becomes apparent that it is not a problem of understanding the question. The problem is they have not been raised to think of themselves at all. The concept of choosing what you want in life is a foreign concept to women in Haiti. They have not grown up with anyone caring about their opinions.

Both Mike and Nathan spent some time trying to help the women understand why it is beneficial to be able to read and think for themselves. Becca taught them for about 3 hours today. She thinks that they were starting to get it near the end. She will be teaching them tomorrow morning again from 9:00 am to about 12:00 PM (6:00 am to 9:00 am our time) Please pray for a break through in their understanding.

God created these women for a purpose and he desires them to have a personal relationship with Him, to really know Him. He cares about them as individuals, he cares about their thoughts, desires, and opinions. He wants them to have wisdom and knowledge also. Please pray these cultural barriers will be broken.  Please join together in prayer for the women of Haiti. I believe Becca will have the opportunity to teach these women two more times.

In the afternoon the team passed out the gifts to the children, something that is always fun to do. In the evening they went into Marotte for the crusade. The team said it was a beautiful summer night and they had fantastic worship. Each of the team members shared for a few minuets. Two other pastors preached. When the team arrived back in the orphanage they passed out some colored finger lights Andy found, that attach to their fingers and shine different colored light. So there were red, blue, yellow and green glowing lights all over the grounds. They were a huge hit.

Tomorrow the team will work on projects during the day while Becca teaches and then go the crusade again in the evening. Mike will preaching in the evening, please pray that he teaches Gods heart. Also please pray for the team as they will have a ministry time afterwards. Pray that the Holy Spirit is there.

Blessings,

Chris

Wednesday May 16, 2012

Hello,

This is a short note to let you know that the team arrived safely at the orphanage. Thank you so much for praying.

This morning  (9:00 am Haiti time, 6:00 am our time) my daughter Becca will be teaching 30 to 40 women how to do an Inductive Bible Study. It is bible study using only the bible, which in some countries is all they have access to. She was trained by one of the pastor's wives in our church. She has taught this method locally. She has also taught this method in Kenya, first to a smaller group of women and then to a whole church. It is a great bible study method for us, but works really well in underdeveloped countries that do not have access to all of the resources we have for studying the bible. The whole team will join her in the beginning for worship and support getting started, then they will go back to the orphanage to work on some projects. I believe she will be teaching the women over the next three days. Some of the women have traveled and will be staying overnight in the orphanage. Please pray for her to be teaching what God wants the women to hear, and for the women to understand studying the bible this way. It is amazing, the ability it gives people to understand God and their relationship with Him. Her hearts desire is for God to show up and help these women to deepen their relationship with Him.

In the evening the whole team will go to our church in Marotte (Gonaives) to join a crusade that will be going for 8 days. Please pray for the team as they will all share during the crusade. Please pray for those attending that they will be touched by God.  Thanks so much for your prayers.

 Blessings,

Chris

                                 Our May team leaving for Haiti !

Tuesday May 15, 2012

Hello,

Our May team flies to Haiti in about 20 minutes. Please pray for safe and on time travel. Our team of 7 (8, once they connect with Steph in Haiti) comes from Canada and three different areas of Washington. They will have a very full schedule this trip. One very exciting item on the schedule, will be my son in-law teaching on microfinance, and starting up a savings and loan group in Marose. We are hoping this will be a major step forward in offering a hand up instead of out. Please pray that the team is able to accomplish all that God desires, and that the enemy will not be able to get in the way.

Also please remember to continue to lift Steph up, as she prepares to come home. She has really connected to the children and community well. Also thank you to all who have helped with the shipping costs to send a 40 foot container of dehydrated food to Haiti. We have almost $6000 of the $15,000 needed for trucking, shipping, port and duty fees and delivery to the orphanage.  What a blessing.

Thank you for your prayers.

Blessings,

Chris

                We are having a fund raiser in Canada on June 9th, 2012.
                                             We would love to see you there.

PLEASE JOIN US FOR AN ELEGANT EVENING

BENEFITTING

NEW GENERATION MINISTRIES

AND THE

CHILDREN OF HAITI

SATURDAY, JUNE 9^TH

6:00 PM

CATERED DINNER

ENTERTAINMENT & LIVE AUCTION

LIVING WATERS CHURCH

9095 GLOVER ROAD

FORT LANGLEY, BC CANADA

RESERVE A PLACE

NO LATER THAN MAY 26, 2012

AS SPACE IS LIMITED

MAKE CHEQUES PAYABLE TO

NEW GENERATION HAITI CANADA

$42.00 PER PERSON

OR SPONSOR A TABLE OF 10 FOR $400.00

CONTACT WENDY NYBOER WITH QUESTIONS

604-514-3078

Hello,

Hope you have been able to enjoy the sun today. It has been beautiful yesterday and today.

Nathan has called us and asked for prayer. He feels like he is supposed to preach in Pass Rien tomorrow morning. The time would be approximately 7 AM in the morning our time. Normally Pastor Bruno preaches in Pass Rien, but Nathan feels like God is is asking him to tomorrow. Most likely if Nathan preaches the Madame ( aka the witch doctor) will attend. Please pray that the Holy Spirit moves her heart. We know he has been drawing her to Him. She has expressed a lot of fear. Fear of the unknown with God. And fear of satan, because of what she has seen and experienced as a witch doctor. But 1John 4:18 says perfect love casts out all fear.

We have had a stomach bug going around the orphanage this past week, it has put 2 of our children in the hospital. They are both out of the hospital now. And Junior is doing fine, but Bergelende is still not doing as well. Please pray for her and the rest of the children.

Also please continue to remember to pray for Steph. The may team flies out this coming Tuesday, and the team will be bringing her home. She has really been enjoying her time in Haiti and has expressed multiple times that she loves it in the orphanage and is not ready to come home yet. She has been such a blessing to the community of Marose they will all miss her very much. God has used her in many ways.

Please also remember to pray for the May team as they fly out this Tuesday evening.

Blessings and Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers,

Chris

Hello again,
Thank you so much for praying for us this past Sunday. Mike preached and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the congregation of St Andrews Presbyterian Church. They seemed to feel the same way. What a blessing!


Thank you so much for the those of you who have helped with the costs for shipping the 40ft container of food. We have a little over $3000 of the $15,000 needed. Please keep praying for the funds to come in to cover the trucking, shipping, port fees and delivery costs.


I wanted to share another story from Steph and remind everyone to keep praying for her. She will be coming home with the May team, a month from now.
"So I had an awesome couple of days that was just such a God thing...the only way to explain it. So last night my computer got a virus...freaked me out. After some advice from my step dad I got the antivirus software downloaded and going...at one point my computer actually wouldn't turn on. Then I got horrible stomach pain it hurt to stand, it hurt to sit, it just hurt. So I sat in church prayer...I'll admit it for the health of my computer and myself. My computer got restored and my stomach ache went away instantly...one win for our team, lol. My sore hip (I miss my chiropractor) woke me up at five thirty this morning so I actually got my high schooler up who has slept in (she had to catch her bus at 615 today). So I got her up and went back to bed for a couple hours when the doctor I work with called me and told me he couldn't make it and was wondering if I could see if there were any patients and see them...did I mention that on a good day I can get two phrases out that adults understand, lol. Anyway I went down to the clinic after breakfast and found a packed clinic...all the chairs were full people were standing and people were sitting outside waiting to come in...awesome...sigh. So I told the nurse "Mwen dokto jodi a (I'm the doctor today)". She smiled and the secretary/pastor told the whole waiting room the blanc from america was gonna be the doctor today isn't that awesome...yeah awesome I thought...please don't let anyone die, lol. So I saw all my patients and actually gave pretty good care. To understand the situation I was in, I was in a room with just me and the patient would talk to them about what was wrong, write it down in their chart (in english...I'm not superwoman). Well all was good I got a juice at the shop across the street and headed home...did I mention I also did laundry by hand this morning, by hand in a bucket (I'm half superwoman maybe, lol). So I took my laundry off the line and then it hit me. Horrible stomach pain again coming back with a vengeance and so I laid down and slept for a couple hours and woke up freezing, it is raining here so that's not that alarming until I rubbed my fact and noticed that my head was a little warm and I am still cold. It was back...the fever...I have come to think of it like an annoying little brother that wont leave me alone now with the second occurrence. My fever is still low and it is pretty cold here so that's good but the down side is the kids think when you are sick you just need more cuddles (germs don't exist here evidently) so I have shut myself in my room, but I just thought I would let you guys know and ask for prayer before it gets bad like last time. Right now my fever is in the "suck it up princess" category but moving into the "you should probably lie down for awhile" category.
Nothing new to report really on the surface I just feel like a lot is changing in me...which I guess is to be expected here but I just feel like there is so much to tell and not enough time to tell it. I feel like God is calling me to stay closer to home, I have been applying for jobs in seattle cause it is better job opportunities there but I really think God has been telling me to stay closer to home cause I need to be helping out more with the ministry. Love you all and appreciate you more than you can ever know."

Thanks so much for your prayers and for reading this.
Blessings,
Chris

Steph

Caitlin and Steph with the children

Hello,

Thank you for praying last night and this morning for Steph. She said her fever went up to102.6 before it broke this morning. Please keep praying for her health and for the children and staff at the orphanage. Steph said some of the children are complaining of a sore throat. Pray that they do not get fevers. Many people in Haiti die from fevers. Probably because they start out dehydrated, but I am not sure. Two of the Haitian father's of my children list fever as the cause of death. Please also continue to pray for Steph as she stays in the orphanage. Below is an excerpt from one of her letters. I think you will enjoy it. Thanks again for your prayers.

Blessings,

Chris

Hey gang,

Well as you gathered from this email...still not dead...having a blast...and enjoying my 85-90 degree weather.  Wow a lot has happened since I wrote last.  I went through Easter here in Haiti.  Basically we went to church everyday the week leading up to Easter.  I learned a valuable lesson during church...although sometimes i feel like part of the crowd, it is not hard to spot the marshmallow in a bag of chocolate chips (if you get my drift).  One night worship was getting quite energetic and so everyone started dancing...and I mean dancing.  They were leaving the pews and filling the aisles and just going to town dancing and singing...so I did too.  After we all sat down the pastor stood up and started talking about dancing and how everyone was just dancing and having a great time.  Then he said...from the front..."Blanc dance" (whitey was dancing)...then he imitated me.  I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my pew...so I said from my seat in the crowd, "Ou we mwen?" (You saw me?).  Then some guy from the congregation yelled something that involved the words everyone, Stephanie, dancing...I didn't catch it all but I pretty sure he was saying we all saw you.  It was fun.  On Easter morning I woke up a little bummed cause I look forward to good Friday service and Easter every year...it is tied for my favorite holiday with Christmas.  But I rallied and went to church with the kids and we had a guest worship leader and you will never guess what happened...he sang one of my favorite songs in english.  I just about fell out of my chair from shock...so I did what I thought was best...I belted out along with him in my horrible off tune singing voice once again reinforcing everything Haitians might think about Americans who can't sing.  So my day rallied quickly.  During church one of the men came up to me and said, "I need favor...you go to woman side."  Which in a Haitian church the men and women sit on opposite sides but naturally I sit on the boys side because there is a perfect spot that is in the middle of a triangle that is formed by two doors and a window...awesome draft...plus I think it's silly to split the sexes.  Anyway I thought how rude, they are actually kicking me over to the other side...so I smiled and said sure and went over to the other side to find a women on the ground who had passed out.  "You emphemye, wi?" (You are a nurse?)...yeah guess who felt totally ridiculous for thinking they actually kicked me to the girl side, lol.  Anyway I just kind of freaked for a second when I realized, oh my gosh I am a nurse and there are no other medical professionals for a while....shute.  So I started doing what I thought was good and then thank the Lord a lady showed up who was the sister of the orphanage director cause together we kind of did the new grad thing and got this lady going.  Betsy...the Haitian nurse graduated nursing school in Haiti a couple months after I graduated.  Now if you can imagine me in my calm on the outside freaking on the inside sitting in the clinic looking at my help who doesn't speak english and me who speaks very limited creole.  I got the doctor I knew from Haiti on the phone and he said, "oh just start and IV and give her a litre it'll be okay,"...oh is that all.  Well I guess no time like the present to start learning my IV therapy skills...I held the needle and I looked at Betsy and I kid you not I stood there for a few minutes just praying over this needle (yeah I'll admit it although I was excited I was terrified)...luckily I think Betsy just thought this was a missionary thing and didn't lose faith in me.  Anyways to make a long story a little longer the lady ended up getting up and riding home on a motorcycle...yeah.  So I come back to the orphanage totally exhausted from freaking out but holding my cool and go and sit in the dining room with the kids and pastor Nathan just smiles and makes a speech about me to the kids about how hard it is to be away from family on the holidays and what I sacrificed to come here and so on.  Then the kids stand and in unison all say, "Happy Easter Mama Estephanie," in english.  Melted my heart.  Then I got to go to a neighboring community and go to their Easter feast...best Easter ever, I don't think any other one will even come close.
Steph

Hello again,
Thank you so much for all of your prayers today!


The team visited Pass Rien today. They prayed over the land we would like to plant a church on and over the voodoo camp. To bring some of you newer prayer partners up to date, we believe the land that has been promised to us by her will eventually be part of the New Generation Ministries/Good Shepherd Ministries (this is what the ministry is called in Haiti).We have been praying to this end, since Nathan first felt called to pray for this area in May of last year. In January of this year, the team felt like we were supposed to walk down into the voodoo camp, which joins the property we would like to plant the church on. I felt like we were to drive a stake into the ground and claim the camp for Christ and then pray that satan and the madame would not be able to perform voodoo in the camp anymore. Nathan felt like we were to worship God in the camp, which we all proceeded to do. Mac felt like he was to cross the ravine in the camp and climb up the other side and then climb the Mapoo tree and "capture the flag" so to speak. He removed one of the voodoo flags that was up in the tree. I am not sure of the spelling of the trees name, but they are known trees for voodoo ceremonies to take place under. The Madam or witch doctor was not particularly pleased with us. When we came up out of the camp and put the flag in the truck bed, she walked over and retrieved it. The discussion that followed regarding giving her heart to God being more important than talking about the property purchase did not seem to help matters much. After she left we prayed more and some of the others on the team felt like the victory would come, but only with much prayer and fasting. Also, that it was about her heart more than the property. So when they finished praying today, Mike and Nathan walked down to her home and visited with her. Mike and Nathan shared that many are praying for her heart everyday. Mike told her that God tell us things about her and that God KNOWS her. In fact He has known her, her whole life, even before she was conceived and that He wants her heart. She was very interested in the words shared with her. Mike and Nathan noticed that the voodoo flag had not been put back up. She shared that the voodoo does not work good anymore. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!! And please keep praying for her heart. God's word says "the victory is the Lords".


The team also visited the orphanage across the river in Desire. They do not seem to have much help or support so the team brought them flip flops and some Gleaner's food and then prayed over them.


Later on the team did another craft with the children. And then they gave each child a book called 101 Haitian Creole Bible Stories. We have had about a dozen floating around the orphanage from previous gifts from sponsors. One boy has even come to Mike and had him duct tape the cover back together many times. A little before Christmas we had a group generously donate 32 more books. Then this month another couple donated another 30 books so that every child could have one. They are very nice hardcover books. They are written in Haitian Creole so that even the younger children that know how to read can read them.


The team climbed the mountain today and prayed over the valley. They will leave early tomorrow (Friday) morning, around 5:00 AM. Please pray for safe travel and on time connections. Also please continue to pray for Melissa as she leaves her girls. Usually the team helps whoever is staying with the orphange move in and get settled before they leave. Melissa wanted to stay one last night in the room with them. So Steph will be moving in tomorrow after the team leaves. Please pray for the girls, it is so hard being the ones who are always saying Good bye. Please pray for Steph as she adjusts to being the only blanc :) Pray she will enjoy herself, feel like she is accomplishing what God wants her too, and that she will be a positive light and role model.


Blessings,
Chris

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