2nd group arrived

The Malone University students have arrived now too (except a few that missed flights and will join us in a day or so). Eating a YUMMY dinner..... Update later

Arrived!!

The first part of the group has arrived at the base safely. Kelsey, Mike and Lane are sitting on the porch eating spaghetti before bed!! 

Center

Here is a photo taken inside the new training and discipleship center.... Excuse the mats and little bit of furniture. There are still people living in it, but this large community area will be used as a classroom! This is beyond exciting for us to have this right next door to our mission base. (team members and staff can walk over for ministry) If you are still thinking of making an end of year donation, this is a GREAT way to help us reach out better to those in our own community. We still need about $3000 to have this project fully funded. We also need people to come and guest teach once things are up and running- hint hint.  #heartsunited #haiti #discipleship #outreach #orphanprevention #excitingnews #donate #missionarylife 

UPDATES

Sorry I have not kept up again... there are just too many social media outlets to manage (facebook and instagram get the most attention because they are easily accessed on my cellphone).  Anyway, here are updates from the last time I wrote....

-Upcoming mission trip (Dec, 30, 2015- Jan. 9, 2016)  WILL be happening.  There was some question due to elections and potential for unrest, but things are calm here in Haiti (at least in and around Carrefour).  Also, it was just announced last evening that elections will be postponed until January 10th so this makes the trip just like any other.  We have medical (nursing) students coming as well as some others who have been here to Haiti before.  We plan to do clinics and observations in other health settings, but also to hold a pretty in-depth young adult Bible Study for a few days and visit the orphanage quite a bit (even holding our annual Christmas Party with gifts and a HUGE meal for the children there).  Follow this blog to see daily updates from the team starting Dec. 30th.

-Training & Discipleship Center HAS BEEN RENTED!  This is very exciting news and the house God picked for us could not be more perfect.  Now we just need to get in there, clean, and set it up to use.  We have already talking to someone and will be meeting again early January. She has a small business and is looking to expand her production line.  She needs a new location where a few locals can be hired/trained to make pieces of her products- they will then either be sent to the main location to be finished, or possibly even finished here in Carrefour.  This is RIGHT in alignment with our vision of creating jobs for our neighbors, but also for cleaning up our community (she uses recycled trash) and for being able to mentor/disciple those who come to the center.
     We are still trusting God for the rent money for this house.  We still need $3000 US to rent the building for a year and get it ready, but the opportunities for outreach and impacting lives for Christ is well worth that investment!  This is SO EXCITING!  (if you would like to help toward the costs associated with operating this facility, please let us know or send a donation noting that it is for the Training & Discipleship Center to Hearts United with Haiti  PO Box 55, Morgantown, PA 19543- thanks)

-Orphanage-  Pastor's family is still in "crisis mode".  It has been quite a year for them.  First, his illness in the beginning of 2015, and now his wife is ill so there have been many financial hurdles for them as well as many physical/emotional ones.  We have been over there visiting and trying to help in any way we can with the children.  New chickens (30 of them) have been purchased and delivered to replace those that stopped laying eggs.  Food, fruit/milk, and other supplies have been delivered and donated to them.  The Nannies have been paid (including a Christmas bonus) and have started their Bible Study which I will continue to lead until one of them assumes the leadership role for this.  The children are well and look great when we go visit.

-Bas-Citronniers;  Goats are doing well and they are actively seeking to sell them during this Christmas season when the price is high.  The school children had a Christmas party I was not able to attend, but I got LOTS of photos from the committee there.  The children are making progress in school and test results have shown that.  We were able to repair some areas of the roof where there were holes (from wear) and replace some rotting boards holding the structure together.  They were rotted due to water damage from the holes in the roof.  We are still VERY pleased with the progress out there and the decisions/leadership initiative that the committee has taken.  They are WELL on their way toward sustainability which is exciting.

That's about all the battery life I have time for today.  Keep looking for updates from the team starting December 30th and I will try to post again prior to that.  God bless!

MINISTRY NEEDS 2016

I know we put a list of the Christmas ideas, but here's God has given us for 2016 and beyond.

     -we have the opportunity to rent a building (right across the
             street from our existing mission base) to start the
             Discipleship & Training Center again.  It is an
             amazing opportunity, but we will need funds to build
             desks, put up chalkboard(s), and get things up and
             running.  Also, the rent will be $3500 for the first year.
   
     -we feel led to help the community school in Bas-
           Citronniers (very remote) with some of the needs
           they have there such as adding to their goat raising
           program (they need land, shelter, etc... for the goats
           they already have been raising to sell and they will
           eventually need a new roof for the school building).  We
           recently helped them with repairing the existing roof, but
           that was only a temporary fix.  The supporting structure
           for the roof is really rotted and needs replacing in the
           next few years (if not sooner).   We would also like to help
           them invest in solar power too since they currently rely on
           a generator for power but that requires gas. These will
           help insure they are able to be self-sustaining in the future.

     -God is leading and directing us to continue to look for land
          to purchase once our legal status in Haiti is finalized ( we
          were told it should be done by MARCH- yay!).  This land
          will be used to build our mission base and Training &
          Discipleship Center where we will do many types of
          community outreach (Bible Studies, classes in English/
          literacy/nutrition/etc. as well as various seminars for
          pastors, to teach job skills, and to reach our local
          area through education and discipleship).  In Haiti it is
          difficult to find someone to finance land, so we will need
          to have the bulk of the funding to purchase the land, then
          we will raise funds to build.  Land we have been seeing
          for sale that will serve our needs will be about $5000 US
          per acre.

Please consider one of these opportunities when thinking about your end-of-year donation.  God is moving in mighty and FAST ways lately in the ministry.  We are blessed to be part of His work in Haiti (and stateside).  **there are other aspects of the ministry that are in need of continued funding (ie:  the former orphan girls who have left Life is Wealth -- we help support them with education and occasional food/supplies and discipleship) but these three are the biggest ones.  A donation to "greatest need" will be put into a general account to be used as needs arise within the ministry.  We would LOVE for you to come to Haiti yourself and see first-hand the ministry in action.  Until then, continue to follow our blog, facebook and instagram for photos and updates.  Thank you and GOD BLESS this Christmas season!

Roofing 101

One of the reasons Ron came during this trip was to help with some construction on the new base if we rented it. We decided to stay in our current location which needs no construction work done, BUT the school roof in Bas-Citronniers is having some trouble with leaking. It was done in a very unique and interesting way- bug/window screening covered with a mixture of latex and cement. This turned the screening into a kind of canvas-type canopy covering the school building. This is lightweight and flexible and was a really neat idea (plus it really looks cool- lol). 

Unfortunately, there were some unforseen design issues- one being that water runs down the roof, but kind of curves back under the edges if the rain is not heavy or it is just dew from the roof. This is rotting some of the supporting boards. 

There is also a problem with the latex-concrete mixture cracking in some spots and this has caused the roof to leak. 

Sooooo we are in the process of working with the locals who originally helped with construction (the designer/builder used all local labor) to repair and replace sections where there is water damage before this thing becomes an even bigger problem. 

As is typical in Haiti, supplies needed are limited and we must travel all the way to Port au Prince to find them. When we do, they are quite pricey!! A five gallon bucket of the latex that we mix dry cement into is $150 US!! We blew through one of those yesterday and need two more to complete the job but dont have funds to do so.... The first bucket about broke our budget!! We have also had to buy 2 x 4's to brace the roof and replace the rotted ones, cement mix, screws, etc. The local labor (giving jobs to five men) costs $14 per day per man.... so $70 per day in labor and we anticipate a week of work so close to $500 in labor!!  

The entire project should be about $1500 to $2000 when done but the roof should then be good for a while. We may eventually have to replace the roof with a more traditional one, but this should postpone that decision for quite a while. 

If you would are touched by the story and would like to help toward our expenses, that would be great. Any funds we dont have to put toward this roof will be funds we have available for other worthwhile projects. God bless and enjoy some of these photos from the work we did yesterday. 

Donations can be made from the website heartsunitedwithhaiti.org or checks can be mailed to Hearts United with Haiti, PO Box 55, Morgantown, PA 19543. Note Bas-Citronniers on your donation.  They are tax deductible and MUCH appreciated! 

Three of the workers (with Ron and Redgi) putting down new screen over holes or cracked spots. That was then covered by the latex mixture like painting. A second coat will be applied in a few days once this completely dries. 

Ron painting on new latex to hold the screen- note how we constructed a little overhang now with the screen to divert water from the boards. Also note how BURNED we all got out in that hot sun..... And to think these guys worked from 8 am to 4 pm with only a short lunch break... all for $14/ day!!

You have to carefully walk out on the beams to lay screen and repair the roof. One step to the side and you would fall through the canvas-like roof. My job was offering up LOTS of prayers as the guys moved about up there over children having classes below. 

Mixing up the latex-cement to paint over the screening. 

A view from down below. 

And THIS is why we do it!! 140 little children can now go to school in their own community in this building thanks to those who came before us to build it and follow the vision they had for quality, local education. We are blessed to continue upon the work they started and help maintain the facilities before the problems get worse! 

-Crystal

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING??

For a long time God has given us the dream of reaching out to our local community in Carrefour in the form of a Training and Discipleship Center (we desire to use this facility for education such as English classes, literacy classes, nutrition classes, etc as well as outreach such as medical/dental clinics and other community type events). We have always thought it would be nice if this building was located right by our mission base so that those staying with us in the base can be more involved with hosting short seminars or assisting with the teaching we have on our regular schedule. 

As we have prayed about this for the past few tears, God kept giving us direction and always this vision of a location on the mountain.... but that has not happened yet. What HAS happened is that a house across the street is available for rent. We went to look at it yesterday and though it is set up as a house, the community areas are large enough for us to make desks/benches and start holding classes there. There are also three small bedrooms and two baths if needed when hosting groups AND parking for the bus! So, though not on the mountain, it would be a start and a place to begin our own outreach ministry that groups could help with and help us establish. All this right about the same time that we should finally get our legalization completed here in Haiti. This means in the spring we could be ready to start outreach!! How exciting is this possibility??

So..... We are asking you for prayer about this. First, we want God's plan to be clear about this move. We would also need the rental funds of $3500 and extra to set up the building and are praying God will send these (that would be great confirmation). 

Here are some photos of the house.....

Looking down the hallway toward the bathroom - one bedroom on each side to the right and left. 

The big room for classes (the house is being renovated)

Front (reception) area-looking in from outside the house.