Big News!

Thank you thank you thank you for your prayers and thoughts over the last few days! We are so happy to report that Christman and Djoudly are both recovering beautifully...

Djoudly and Kessy in the recovery room. He is still at the hospital doing great!

Christman got to return to the apartment and is doing great!

Checkups will be done on Friday! If all is well, back to Haiti they will go. Also, it was decided this week that baby Todd will be returned to Haiti without surgery this trip. A thyroid issue was discovered and the doctors decided it will be best to get that under control and let him get a little older, and then do the operation. Please continue to pray for him and Ciara both as they hang on until the next round of surgeries in November.

Sara and Todd!

So at this point, everyone is headed back to Haiti except Kessy, Christman and his mom, and Djoudly and his aunt. Please pray with us for a speedy return to Haiti... it is hard for them all to be out of their comfort zone. They want to go home!

In other news with Chadasha.... Isaac Roberts has an announcement to make:

As many of you know, this has been an excrutiatingly long and tiring process for the Roberts, but we know that God is faithful in Him time, and it is PERFECT! Isaac will be going home to America as soon as a flight can be booked. Praise the Lord!

And you've probably heard, but there is a tropical storm threatening the island of Haiti and the DR... Isaac is it's name, ironically. Prayers for safety and security for everyone in both countries are much appreciated... specifically for our friends in tent camps whos homes will be severely impaired by heavy rains. Peace, Love, and Jesus people! :)

Until next time...

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!

11/13-11/27

First and foremost, we must apologize sincerely for missing last weeks post! Our blog writer was in transition between countries last weekend and she's not very good at delegation [hey.. everybody's got weaknesses, right?] We will do our best not to let that happen again!

These past 2 weeks we have been graced with the presence of some very happy adoptive parents who got to spend some time with their kids and take a few steps to advance their adoptions on the Haiti side. Check out the pictures below:

Jon Luke [formerly Jonathan] and his Mom, Shannon!

Wanelson and his Mom, Leslie!

Mathieu and his parents, Elizabeth and Peyton!

Rowan and his parents, Heather and Payton!

As you can see, the Guest House has been busy busy and full of life! We LOVE that God has allowed us to play a part in letting these families spend time together. As the holidays near, we ask for special prayers for our adoptive parents in the States.. we can't begin to imagine what it's like to not have all your children home for the holidays. But, we all know that Our God is greater!

In other news with Chadasha, we have welcomed a new intern, Carley! We are so excited to have her serving with us for about 4 weeks. She has absolutely fallen in love with baby KenKen, who to our amazement and only by the miraculous power of God is doing better and better, smiling and laughing again, and is set to discharge from the hospital later this week!

Carley and KenKen!

Oh, and the other huge news! God has graciously brought 4 out of 5 of our heart patients back to Haiti good as new! The other one, Pricile, had some minor complications and should be back this week sometime. Praise be to God for healing these children! When we picked them up at the bus station, Ysnadaire who is 11 was all decked out in new clothes his brother had bought him as a reward for being so brave. Prior to surgery, he couldn't even go up one flight of stairs without getting short of breath and having to rest. I hugged him and I said "How do you feel? You're not sick anymore!" He looked at me with bright, excited eyes and he said "Chelsey, I can walk! I can walk!" It brought tears to my eyes... the absolutely joy that this child is going to be able to LIVE now without the limitations of a heart defect. This is such a perfect picture, friends, of what Christ does for us when we become believers. He enters our lives, changes us on the inside, and allows us to do things we couldn't do before, and LIVE like we never could before!

Zaikel!

Naika!

Ysnaidaire and his brother, Guerson!

One more quick thing.. you know we have been teaching English and doing a Bible Study on Saturday mornings at Koriah [to about 150-200 people]. Well, this past week we began English classes and doing a Bible Study at a second tent camp! It's closer to our house, so we are able to go there twice a week [on Mondays and Wednesdays]! There we teach about 50 kids and adults, with the hopes of growing if God allows! We are being continually amazed at what God can do if we just say "yes" when we hear Him calling us to do something new.

With this past week being Thanksgiving, we feel it only appropriate to say Thank You. Thank you to you who are reading this blog. Thank you to you who are committed to praying for Chadasha. Thank you to you who are supporting Chadasha financially. Thank you to you who have physically come and served with Chadasha. And Thank you Jesus for leading, guiding, and working this ministry for Your fame and for Your glory on a daily basis. We are truly blessed as Children of the King!

Mesi Jezi! Mesi Seyneur! Mesi Jezi!

10/9-10-16

This week in Haiti...
The first thing we would like to report is that we saw a man come to Christ this week. This is what we are working every day for. Not just to make sure people get fed, or kids get to school, or babies don't die, or girls don't get abused, or orphans don't get forgotten... but we work every day to see the name of Jesus be made famous in this country. And that happened for one man this week.

On Monday we took KenKen and his parents to the AIDS hospital to get their HIV test results. His dad got his paper first: HIV negative. Then KenKen's retest: HIV positive. At this point we began thinking [and hoping] that maybe KenKen got it from a blood transfusion he received in the hospital. Then KenKen's moms results: HIV positive. When they showed us [Michelle, Kessy, and I], our immediate conclusion was that this man was not and could not be the father of KenKen. We prepared for an outburst when he realized it. But we looked to him to see his reaction, and he was smiling with tears in his eyes. He simply stated, "It's a miracle, and by the Grace of God, I have been spared." We just stood there, flabbergasted. The very next thing out of his mouth was this: "I want to accept Jesus as my Savior." Whaaaaattt?? We hadn't even personally mentioned Jesus to this man yet [although he was aware that we are a Christian organization]. We dropped everything [except KenKen of course] and circled up in prayer right there in the middle of the hospital, and KenKen's dad declared Jesus as Lord of his life.

KenKen and his Daddy

It was an amazing thing to see how God works. This seemed like the most terrible situation from the beginning, mostly because we know that KenKen is most likely going to die, sooner rather than later. But in the Bible in Ecclesiastes 3:11 God promises, "He makes everything beautiful in its time." We now know this to be true. We watched God make something beautiful from what was dust before. Praise Him!

Also this week Chadasha was incredibly blessed by the presence of two families who are adopting from Little Hands & Feet. Many of you know the twins, Ruth & Naomi, that we have had for some time. They turned 1 in July, but they are still teeny tiny little girls. Their Daddy got to come and visit them for a few days this week while completing some paperwork for their adoption.

the girls and their daddy!

The other family that came to visit are adopting a son who is new to Chadasha's Little Hands & Feet. Meet Rowen and his beautiful parents, Payton and Heather.

Rowen's birth parents have both passed away [most likely from cholera] and he is now staying at Chadasha's Little Hands & Feet for the duration of his adoption process. He just turned a year old, and is absolutely precious.

In addition to Rowen, we gained another little girl at Little Hands & Feet this week. Her name is Carline and she came to us from a very dangerous and abusive tent. It took her a few days to warm up, and she is still a bit timid, but she is getting more comfortable at Little Hands & Feet. She has managed to find a best friend there:

Danisa & Carline!

The other exciting event this week actually happened today! The children old enough to go to school [which they start next week] went to church at Pernier for the first time! They were ecstatic to be getting out of the house and going to church. We took them with us under the impression that they would go to Sunday school and then Children's Church while we went to the main service. However, upon arrival at Pernier we learned that Children's Church starts NEXT Sunday... so 3 of our American Chadasha staff and 10 kids plus 2 babies piled into a pew where we attempted to keep them quiet and still for the 2 hour service. It really didn't go as horribly as you would think.... they are great kids!

all the kids waiting on church to start!

Along with these happenings, we celebrated a few Chadasha family birthdays this week as well. The weather has been still not as hot as it usually is, but the rain has slacked off a bit. We were only delayed 4 hours by it this week :) Haiti desperately needs some form of drainage system. We thank you for your continued prayers and support, and hope you'll check back next Sunday to read about what God does this week!

Prayers from Haiti!

9/25-10/2

Hello from the beautiful city of Port au Prince! Chadasha had a busy week and this is where you can hear all about it. Some of you may have heard of the medical emergency work that we do, mostly for children. If a child is extremely ill and the parents feel they cannot adequately care for him or her, we agree to take the child and nurse him or her back to health and then return him or her to their parents. It is so amazing to see children get better, but so heartbreaking when we have to send them back knowing they most likely won't make it. This week we spent some time caring for and loving on baby KenKen.

KenKen lives in a tent city with his mom and dad. He is 9 months old and weighs 7 lbs. They did not know what was wrong with him, but knew he would die if they didn't get help. Reluctantly and heartbroken, but knowing it was the safest thing, they handed him over to us to take to the hospital to figure out what is going on. Sadly, baby KenKen's tests revealed pneumonia in both lungs, and he tested HIV+. He spent a few more nights with us and then we returned him to his parents. They were so happy to see him. His parents agreed to be tested for HIV, so we spent a day at the AIDS hospital with them this week. After paperwork and blood draws, they told us it would take 7 days for the results. We pick them up tomorrow, and their lives will most likely be changed forever. Prayers are so appreciated for this little family.

Also this week we were blessed by the presence of some incredible people. Jon, Glori, Shannon, Chad, and Leslie came in on Thursday and were with us until today. They are all such Christ-like, loving, and sweet people who were so encouraging to be around. On Friday morning we got into the Word together and really got to know each other's hearts. It was awesome! Jon & Glori are adopting 2 of our kids, James & John, from Little Hands & Feet [our Children's Home], and Chad & Shannon are hopefully adopting James & John's little brother, Jonathan. We also aquired the 3 brothers aunt, Denisea, who is 6 years old. She will be staying at Little Hands & Feet as well as of today. Below are some pictures from the weekend when all 4 kids stayed at our house:

Chad, Shannon, & Jonathan

Denisea

Jon, Glori, James, & John

Before this week we had 10 kids at Little Hands & Feet. We added Denisea & Jonathan, which makes 12. In addition, we also added 6 more children who are all brothers & sisters. Their pictures, names, & ages are below:

Samuel (6), Aaron (5), & Stephanie (10)

Esther (2)

Emmanuel (12)

Ruth (4)

Each time people go to Little Hands & Feet, every one of these children meet you at the door and want to hug your neck. They are the sweetest most well-behaved kids. Prayers for them as they continue to adjust to their new home!

We have a new team here this week consisting of 5 beautiful women from Church of the Cove in Tennessee. We know not what this week will hold, but our prayer is that it makes Jesus famous. Check back next Sunday to find out what went down in Port au Prince this week! And for more information about Chadasha, please visit us by clicking here.

Until next week! Love & Prayers from Haiti!