team has arrived!

The team has arrived safely and we are already getting oriented.  Will post more soon I am sure!  Thanks for all your prayers for all of us- :)  :)

Calande

This is Calande.  She is a beautiful little girl at the school in Chaveneau who also happens to stay with our host family (they live behind the church- on church property so they can maintain the grounds and church).  She is a sweet and quiet little girl and is one of the FEW children sponsored at the school.  On any given day Calande can be found working around the house when not in school (washing dishes, helping cook, cleaning something, etc..).  She always has a quick smile for the missionaries and loves to sit and watch us work.

School child sponsorship is only $25 per month and will pay for tuition, uniform and books. Sponsoring a child will give you someone to pray for regularly and we will update you often on their progress. And...  since the money gets put together with that of others, if we get enough children sponsored we should be able to start our feeding program next school year.  This will provide a healthy snack daily and a big/hot meal a few times each month for ALL the children.  This would be very exciting and a real benefit to both the children and ultimately the community as well.  Would YOU pray about sponsoring one of the children at the school- you can pick age/grade/sex/etc...?  We have many to choose from.  Thanks and God bless you!

The beach!

In March we were able to take some of the local children (Chaveneau) to the beach at Port Salut.  It was a beautiful beach but even more beautiful were the smiles and excitement coming from those kids!  :)  

Ezekiel's face when he first saw the water!  (Ricardo doesn't look too sure- peeking out)

Didn't take him long to be playing/jumping in the waves!

All my "buddies" sitting in a fishing boat on the shore.

Who says Haiti is not beautiful???  LOOK at this beach!  (and it was an overcast day- sometimes it's SO BLUE)

Most of these children had never been in a vehicle (rode in the back of the truck) or farther than Chantal (3 miles from home).  Just watching their faces as we rode along in the truck was almost worth it, but when we got to that beach it was ALL we had expected ... and more!  This is ministry for sure- these children will never forget that day (neither will we).  Thank you God for this opportunity!  :)

Prayer Walk-

When I mention prayer walking around the community in Haiti people get kind of freaked out. And when some people read on our website that part of our trips involves prayer walking they sometimes shy away.  People have this idea in their head of us walking up to doors, forcing our beliefs on some poor unsuspecting Haitian and hurling Bible verses about hell and damnation at them.  (not really- that's a bit of an exaggeration- but it does scare some people)  

In actuality prayer walking is one of the highlights of the trip for a LOT of the participants.  We pray before we leave the base- that God will lead us where He wants and to whomever He wants.  Then, we just walk and pray as we feel led.  We talk to people, we make new friends, we share stories, etc... It is truly a blessed experience and we always return feeling excited and glad we went.  

Below are photos from one of the prayer walks on this last trip (these were all taken in Carrefour). Enjoy!  

Vehicle Update:

     Some of you have been asking what is going on with the truck we had donated to the ministry.  Well, things have been BUSY!  After a serious amount of prayer and council from many individuals it was decided that it would be more feasible and better stewardship of funds/resources if we would sell the truck stateside and donate the proceeds to the ministry.  These funds (along with what has been collected so far for shipping the truck) will be used to purchase a vehicle in Haiti. It just did not make good financial sense to ship a vehicle estimated at $3400 value for about $5000- most of which we still did not have. This was a VERY difficult decision but one we feel as an organization is honoring and pleasing to God.  We are blessed to report that all parties involved came to the same decision independently and then contacted one another to concur.  Confirmation that this is what God would have us do.
     So, at this point the truck is for sale in Colorado by the young woman who was donating it to us and we are still collecting money toward our vehicle fund.  We will probably wait until I return to Haiti in early July to actually purchase the vehicle, but at this point we have let some friends I have there know we are looking.  This will give us more time to raise money toward this project.  If YOU or someone you know would like to help us get a reliable vehicle please contact us to find out how you can assist.  Thank you and God bless you for your continued prayers regarding this matter.  We know this is His plan and even though we would LOVE to have a vehicle sooner and get moving on this, we trust in His timing and provision!  - Crystal  :)

Currently we have $1800 in the vehicle account-  we are praying and trusting God to provide the rest.

Sponsor letters

I was blessed this last trip (March mission group) to be able to take letters to the orphans from their sponsors.  We have almost 20 orphans sponsored- that's 1/4 of them!  YAY!!   We are praying for sponsors for the rest of the girls and so are they- especially after seeing how happy the ones were that have sponsors.  Here are a few photos of the girls getting letters read to them by our translator Leonard.  They were SO HAPPY!  Would you like to sponsor an orphan for $32 per month??  You can write her, encourage her, pray for her, and invest in her future/eternity.  Can't think of a better way to spend about $1.00 per day.  God bless our sponsors!  :)

Food for Chaveneau

On our last mission trip (March 2012) we were able to provide a meal for about 300 people in Chavenau- 250 school children, the teachers/staff, the mission team and a few families in the area. Each person got a huge plate of rice/beans and a piece of fish. Yum!  :)  Praise God for this chance to bless and be blessed in return!  We would LOVE to do this on a more regular basis- let us know if YOU would like to help.  - thanks so much for your prayers and support!