12/4-12/11

This week we have been winding things down in Haiti for the year. On this coming Thursday, the last of our American staff will be returning to the States for the holiday season. Chadasha in Haiti will be left under the care of our Haitian staff, who we are confident are more than capable of doing a fabulous job.

Our English classes are continuing to grow at both tent camp locations! On Monday and Wednesday we went to Carade where we teach English and do a Bible study in make-shift classrooms that are actually old school buses. Our class sizes have grown so much that we had to start a third class. So now we have a mens, womens, and advanced class at that location twice a week. These people are very consistent and hungry to learn.

On Saturday we went to Corial to do our weekly class and Bible study. There were many obstacles including horrendous traffic, a community event, and forgotten chalk to use the blackboard, but God provided and we were able to have a short but great English class and Bible study.

Solomon, Kelly, and Kelly

This week we had to say a few sad goodbyes. Our most recent intern, Carley, returned to her home in North Carolina. She was such a joy to have serving here with us for the past month. We know that God has huge plans for her, and we are so excited to see how God continues to work in her life in America. Also we had to say goodbye to two sweet ladies who were staying with us for a few days. Kelly is adopting Solomon who is one of our kids at Little Hands and Feet, and her friend, Kelly, came along with her to visit. These ladies were such a huge help with getting us organized and ready to leave for a few weeks. We and Solomon miss them so much!

We have two huge praise stories to share with you this week as well. Really, words are great and all but pictures tell these stories so much better. Many of you remember KenKen. Last week we shared that he had been discharged from the hospital back to his tent camp, and appeared to be getting better. Well, he has proven to all of us that our God is BIGGER and STRONGER than anything in this world... including AIDS, tuberculosis, and malnutrition.

KenKen 3 months ago

KenKen last week

Our second praise story is about the burned baby that we got a call about from a different tent camp. He had fallen into a pot of hot oil and his mother took him out of the hospital thinking she could take care of him in their tarp tent. Nothing could have prepared us for what we found in that tent, and we were unsure there was anything that could be done. But after a week or so in the hospital and constant checking on and loving on, Baby Bulin is healing amazingly.

The first day we saw him

This week!

Praise God that miracles still exist! He is faithful, and He really does love these kids WAY more than we ever thought we could. KenKen turns a year old tomorrow, and the burned babies mother will deliver another baby at the end of December! Pray for them both please!

A few days ago, one of our Haitian staff went in the bathroom after someone had just taken a shower. He said "Oh!! What happened to the mirror?!" We ran into the bathroom, thinking it was probably shattered or something, only to discover it was still fogged up from the hot shower. He had never seen a mirror fogged before because people in Haiti don't take hot showers in closed in bathrooms. A fogged up mirror after a hot shower is something that we as Americans don't even notice because we are so used to it.

We are learning that the Gospel of Christ is much like this. We grow up in or around churches, hearing about Jesus and hearing the Gospel every way possible. It becomes so common place that we don't even notice it sometimes. But God has been faithfully bringing us people who, upon hearing our presentation of Christ's Love and the way that He changes lives, look right at us and say "I've never heard that before." We stand in amazement that these people literally have never heard the story of Jesus before, but we are so thankful that God has chosen us to share with them this amazing truth. There are people right in front of you today, people you think have heard the Gospel as many times and as many ways as you have. But maybe, they haven't heard the whole truth. Or maybe, they haven't heard it at all. Keep your eyes wide open, and embrace chances to share the life-saving story of Christ. You never know when someone's face may light up and they may exclaim "Oh!! This is awesome news! Why haven't I heard this before?!" We invite you to be bold for our Savior with us!