10/23-10/30

Hello from Haiti! We hope that you had a great week, but whether your week was at the top or the bottom of weeks for you, we hope above all that You felt the presence of God. We are definitely seeing His Hands at work here in this country!

First of all, we are so blessed this week to have Mrs. Peggy and Mrs. Marie visiting us from Church of the Cove in Tennessee. These beautiful, Christ-like women have put on their hardhats and walking boots and jumped right into the craziness of Haiti, loving and serving like it's going out of style. Their compassion and brokeness for these people has given us all a little bit of perspective and we are so thankful for them!

The UN has a very evident presence here in Haiti, but their employees are mainly here to keep physical peace and control the violence and crime... not for humanitarian work. However, we have been blessed to come across at least 2 officers who are going above and beyond their job descriptions. [Please pray for them!] Earlier this week we got a call from a UN officer who stepped out in boldness to speak up for a baby boy in desperate need of medical care. The boy, 2 years old, had been severely burned, spent a month in a hospital, and was now back in the tent camp. We went to check out the situation, and this is what we found:

His mother [who is 7 months pregnant with her 9th child] agreed to go to a hospital with us, so we took them both to Medishare. The baby is getting excellent care and will be staying at the hospital until he is ready to go home. His mother is hanging in there and we are doing our best to show them the love of Christ. We will keep you updated on the progress of this little guy!

After we got this child the care he needed, the same UN officer introduced us to another little boy who had a sort of staph infection on his back. We were able to meet his father and give him some antibiotics. When we checked back after a few days, he was already healing. We were able to bring some shoes and hygiene products, and the UN officer bought him some clean clothes. He and his father both were so thankful... their faces lit up the room. We are so thankful God chose to put us in their path.

Odini and his daddy!

From working with the UN and the people of this particular tent camp, God has brought to us the opportunity to possibly contribute to beginning a school for the more than 200 kids living in this camp who can't afford to go to school. We are praying and seeking God's direction as far as what our role should be in this task. This is a picture of a portion of the camp that these kids are living in:

Our final medical emergency care that we were able to provide this week was with Baby KenKen. He was taken to the hospital 2 days ago because he has taken a turn for the worse. This morning he stopped breathing but the doctors did CPR and brought him back. He currently has a feeding tube because he isn't eating, a fever, high blood sugar, and short rapid breaths. It seems that it won't be much longer until He steps from here to Heaven. Prayers for his sweet mom are so important.. that she may feel the comfort of our Heavenly Father!

On a higher note, the kids at Little Hands & Feet have started school and are loving it! We were finally able to get all their books, uniforms, shoes, belts, etc. etc. etc. We had no idea the extent of getting stuff for school in Haiti until we had to do it! It's a lot of stuff. They are also thoroughly enjoying their twice a week Bible Study with Kessy and Joshua. This week they learned 1.) God made me special, and that makes me BEAUTIFUL. and 2.)God made others, so when I hurt them I hurt God. After the lesson, they do an art project. Below you can see them coloring and painting.

This Saturday God brought about 25 kids and over 50 adults to learn English in Koriay, the tent camp. After an hour of English, some members of Chadasha were able to give their testimonies as a witness for Jesus and a complete explanation of why we are wanting to serve the people of Koriay. Next week our goal is to do an hour English class and then an hour of Bible Study. Prayers for direction, open doors, and open hearts are most appreciated!

Oh... and we have an extra special guest staying with us at the Guest House this week as well! Meet Rutherchy:

He is 8 years old and in need of heart surgery to fix his less-than-perfect heart. We are planning to take him to the Dominican Republic next week when we go to take 5 other Haitian children to have heart surgery, and beg that they do Rutherchy too. We know that if it is God's Will, it will be done. Right now we are all just taking this opportunity to love him to pieces! We'll let you know next week what ends up happening with this sweet boy.

God is moving in mighty ways here. As a family and ministry, we are meeting to pray daily that this ministry be about our God and not about us... not about the name Chadasha, but about making the name of Jesus FAMOUS here. Because thats what we're about. And we would love for you to join us :)

Until next Sunday... love & prayers from Haiti!