April 30th Update

Greeting in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The past three weeks has been very busy for us. Three weeks ago we had John Wicks, our engineer, in to do welding on the trusses and get set-up for a group of 22 people. Beside this, he installed the counter tops and installed a sink for the new kitchen we put in this year for our guest house.

For the last 10 days we had a group of 22 with us. They worked very hard despite the high humidity and rain we had. There were welders, carpenters, masons and other skilled people in the group. In 10 days they finished laying all the blocks that needed to be laid in the church. Praise the Lord, no more block work! They also cut all the steel needed for 5 trusses, and welded three trusses. Also, they made great headway on two other trusses.

This was a great feat since they had to cut several of their days short due to rain. The traffic was horrendous because of the mud, rocks and water in the streets due to all the rain which resulted in trips across town from 1 hour to 2 hours one way; rather than 45 minutes. Also, one day they had a city wide strike that blocked the only road we could go on with Mack trucks and burning tires at different intersections. This caused the group to lose 3 hours of work as we waited for the government to get things under control. Oh yes, one day we had to take them to a friends guest house to take baths because we ran out of water at our house. These are some of the challenges one can face on a mission trip. Yet, they all thanked God for the good food that Margaret prepared for them everyday.

What is our next step in the re-construction of New Life Church of Croix des Mission? The next steps is to finish the 9 remaining steel trusses. We have enough money to fabricate 2 more trusses; therefore, we need money for 7 more trusses. Each truss costs us $1,200 in material. Also, we will need money for purlins and tin. 

We are praying that God provides this need so that the people in this church don't have to continue to suffer under the sun and in the rain. Also, we need certified welders to come down and weld these trusses for us. Maybe you know of one and you would be willing to help him get down here.

Group of 23 people

I know it has been a long time since I have had an update. We are now in the midst of 10 day team working with us. They left early this morning to the work site. We had to squeeze them in like Saradines in our long-bed flat truck. Besides the 23 people in the truck, they had all their tools with them which took up the whole middle between the two benches. We are looking forward to a great week with them.

They will be working on our mother church in Croix des Mission, Port-au-Prince, which is pastored by Jeanty Osnac. It is a church of some 800 people. They are working at putting on the roof this week. They will not get it done, but will finish up some walls and begin to put up the trusses.

We thank God and those who give to our ministry and work alongside of us. God bless each and everyone of them.

The New Year

We are now into 2012. We thank the Lord for bringing us through another year. We have been truly blessed in many ways this past year. We had some good family time as my daughter spent Christmas and the New Year with us.

I am writing this on the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake that killed so many people and brought such destruction. The government has planned special events all week. Yet, what is most encouraging is the special services that are taking place through out Haiti today. The church is testifying of God's grace and spending much time in prayer for the country of Haiti. The earthquake brought many to Christ and rejuvenated the faith of many. I pray that this be the year when God pours out His Spirit in a mighty way in Haiti.

There is much hope in Haiti today. Most people are pleased with the new government that was elected this year. They seem to be moving Haiti in the right direction. More than 50% of the rubble has been removed, over 100,000 people are back in homes, and 6 tent cities and there people have been relocated. This month they are to begin re-locating those in the biggest tent city which is located in the middle of the city next to the presidential palace. There are over 900,000 children going to school for free in the country through the education program of the government. Yet, there is still so  much more that needs to be done because the needs are so many and so great.

We as New Life Mission of Haiti have our challenges ahead of this year. Our biggest challenge is completing the re-building of our mother church. Another challenge is that we are in a legal battle over one of our church properties. Then there is the daily demands of our neighbors, churches, schools, feeding program, and co-workers in Christ.

We thank God for all those who support us through their prayers and gifts of love.

Haiti and Its Challenges

It is great to back home in Haiti after our visit to the states. Yet, Haiti is a land of many challenges. The first day after getting back, we had to clean the house from top to bottom. There was a layer of dust over everything about an inch thick. The house was locked and not in use for two months, but no glass in the windows. We live in a house open to the elements. Yes, there is no air conditioning.

We came back to find mice living in our photocopier in the Bible school, which as you can imagine, is not a good scenario. Then soon after we found a rat in a cupboard on our porch. Then the following week, we found a rat in our guest house. When I chased it with a stick and cornered him on the back porch, he leaped off the porch, only to land on his feet two floors down in the yard and run away.

We have been gearing up for the school year. I have been preaching in Haitian churches, and publicizing the Bible School since being back in hopes of a good group of first year students. Margaret has been overseeing a three day seminar for our elementary school teachers.

Yesterday, I was talking to the pastor of New Life Church of Demier and asking him how construction of the church and school are coming. We had left a Haitian team to work on it while we were gone. If you remember, this is the church that takes two hours by car and a three hour walk to arrive there from where we live. He gave a good report on the progress being made. We have erected two school buildings, in the process of building a bathroom, and half way done with re-building the church which will also be used for two classes during the week.

Yet, with progress, there is always challenges. The challenge we are facing now is that because of the large tin roofs the water is washing away the land around the school. You must understand that the church and school are on the very top of a mountain. To combat this problem, there are two things we can and must do: first build a water tank to collect the water off the roofs, but it will not be able to hold all the water;  second, build a graded retaining wall to stop the erosion. Of course this all requires money which we don't have at this time.

Be in prayer for the Bible school, our elementary school, and the on going construction of the Demier church location.

We thank all those who remember us in prayer and give towards the work here.

State Side

We wanted to update you in what were are doing. We are presently in the states visiting family, friends and churches. We are outside of Rochester, New York. Western New York is sure beautiful. We are keeping our supporters abreast of what we are doing and getting some needed rest. We will be returning to Haiti on August 2nd. Pray for our health as we are dealing with several health issues. We thank all those who pray for us and financially support us.

Up-date June 1st

This past month has been very busy.
I went out to one of our country churches,pastored by Ylophane Dieuseul, in a mountain area called, L'azile. God is doing a great work out there. The congregation has grown and we have built a new school building where over 250 children attend and get a free hot lunch everyday.
We had a two fold mission as I went to visit this church. The first was to take 11 goats up in the back of our double cab pick-up truck over rough roads. It's a three hour trip. We did this to begin a goat project for the church and community. These are a special kind of goat that is relatively new to Haiti and much larger than the native goats. We gave ten families, one female goat each and the church keeps the other goat which is a male for breading with the females. The person who receives a goat does not pay for it but is required to give two kids (baby goats) back to the program. One will be given to another family and the other goes to the church to help it financially. The second reason for going was to hold a leadership seminar which went very well.
The other thing we did this month was coordinating and getting all the material into our Demier church for two classrooms and the church we are rebuilding in that area. This is no small feat when you consider hauling in everything you need on your head and by mule over mountains and through rivers for 3 hours. We have already carried in 100 sack of cement, 90 - 2x4's, 1,400 concrete blocks, 3 truck load of sand, 40 sheets of corrugated tin roofing, 40 bars of steel, food for two weeks to feed 15 people, and many other misc. items. These figures do not include all the material we hauled in for the first two classrooms we have already built for the school.
Last but not least, we had our Bible school graduation where 20 men and women graduated. They completed their three year Biblical and Theological study. It is always a joy to send equipped and trained laborers into the harvest field. We now have graduated over 370 students. This was our 21st graduating class, to God be the glory!
We want to thank you all for your prayers and financial support of God's work in Haiti. We could not do this without you and God's gracious favor.

Pastor Homes

Another group has come and gone. This time it was a joint group from Corner Stone Christian Fellowship and Zion Fellowship. There main focus was finishing a pastors house that Zion Fellowship financed. They were a great group and a real blessing. We thank God for the ladies on the group. They reupholstered all our furniture which was a big task to tackle in a short amount of time. It looks like a new place around here.

We are still working on our mother church at Croix des Mission. The next group will put a bond beam on all the walls.  The following team will put the roof on which will be very exciting. Also, we are digging in for the long haul at our church in Demier which will involve re-building the church parsonage, church building, and school. Pray that God supplies for all these buildings. We know that he will.

God bless all who pray and give to our ministry.