Farewell

My apologies for not updating while in Haiti last week.  We did have a wonderful trip and it was great to be back.  With that being said, it is with much regret that I will discontinue blogging after this post.  I had great intentions, but honestly writing is just not my thing (my daughter is typing this for me).  In addition to writing not really being a gift of mine, the technical difficulties that come in Haiti make it even harder.  I believe my attention is better spent focusing on the teams I am leading.  If anyone would like to come to Haiti and blog that would be awesome.

Heading Back To Haiti

I will be leaving for Haiti on January 13th, with a team from West Pines.  We are all excited to be heading back to Mirebalais.  This is the longest period of time that we have not been back due to the hurricane and election disturbance. 
Then on Sunday, January 16th, Pastor Brian will be joining us for his first time back since he was sick. 
Please pray for us as we travel and I will be blogging from Haiti with an update.

Pastor Brian's 1st Sunday Back at Christ Covenant Church

Pastor Brian's message is "The Valley of the Shadow of Death."  Very good!

http://www.christcovenant.cc/media/videos/index.html

Hurricane Tomas

Please pray for the people of Haiti as Hurricane Tomas heads their way.  Our team that was scheduled to leave on Nov. 4th has made the very difficult decision not to go.  All we can do is pray at this point. It is hard for us to understand how this can happen; all those people living in tents are now being subjected to a hurricane. Rain and winds will bring havoc to an already bad situation. We are going to have to start preparing for the worst.  New tents will be needed, food, medicine and toiletries. GCA has a small medical team scheduled for December 11th to the 18th. Our plan was to go and treat our orphans and school children, now we truly do not know what to expect.  We will rely on God to guide us and give us what we need to meet their needs.

Work in Mirebalais

Just wanted to give you all a quick update on how God worked this summer in Mirebalais, Haiti through GCA.  After the earthquake God blessed us with the completion of the construction of our Guest House and it was dedicated on May 30, 2010.  We had our first team for the summer on June 5, 2010 and that was when our intern, Trey, joined us for the summer.  Then on July 17th, another intern, Andrew, joined us.  They were a true blessing to our ministry and a great help to me. 
During the summer we worked at Tou Tou's orphanage - some of the teams did painting, VBS, ESL and played soccer. Everyone enjoyed hanging out and spending time with the children.  It was amazing teaching them songs in English and how quickly they learned the songs.
Then there was Parachute Village - that was a truly amazing experience for all who went there.  It is a group of about 200 adults and children actually living under a parachute who were displaced from Port au Prince after the earthquake.  GCA brought them tents that were donated by church's in the US, food, clothing,  some medicine and formula for the newborns.  As of this posting, GCA is the only organization supporting Parachute Village.  When we learned this it came as a shock, but prompted us to continue and step up our commitment in helping them.  A side story from our time there: We were amidst these deplorable living conditions and our team sang 'How Great Thou Art' and 'Amazing Grace' in English to the people there and then they sang the songs back to us in Creole.  You truly cannot imagine experiencing the joy and love of the Lord like the people of Parachute Village have. They are living under a tent and being fully dependant on God to meet their daily needs.
On October 6th, we got our school up and running.  The children look so cute in their uniforms going to school.  We are teaching them English as well as all the other subjects.  We are doing one school at our guest house and another school at Tou Tou's orphanage.

Haiti

Yes this really is Frank blogging - only because of my love for Haiti and wanting you all to know how we are doing.    I will be returning to Haiti on November 4th to the 8th, with a team of 11 from West Pines Church.  So that will be my first time blogging from Haiti.   The picture above is of the school children who are at Tou Tou's Orphanage.
Looking forward to keeping you all updated on our trip and all that we are accomplishing in Haiti.