I believe in my last blog I stated that School was going to
begin September 2 but a judge friend of mine has now informed me that school
will not begin till Oct. This seems to
be a pattern in the last few years.
There is no set time and it goes back and forth until school finally
opens. It is true the
Haitian people are struggling to find the money to enroll their children in school. Not only do they need to pay for tuition but also fees, uniforms and shoes. I know a little how they feel. The director of the orphanage informed me that the children’s uniforms still fit but no one has shoes. That made me swallow hard. Though Bud and I mainly supply food to the kids it is hard to not want to do more. What we have tried to commit to as the Lord provides is about $1000 per month and the Lord has provide.
Shoes are about $150 to $200 Haitian Dollars each and we need 19 pairs. That is just under $450. We had received a gift of money that a young boy raised for the children but we determined that the best way to spend that money was for school lunches. The children had not been carrying anything to school for lunch. I did not know that the schools have such a time with so many children not having food to take to school. When the director talked to me about this need two of our daughters bought thermal lunch bags and water bottles for each child. The gift would provide a peanut butter sandwich and a small snack for each child each day.. Guess who is baking cookies? Now we need to buy shoes. I gave it to the Lord in prayer and asked the children to pray as well. I try to be honest with them that the money comes from the Lord and only he can provide it. So the children came to my house and Bud and I measured each of their feet with a ruler. After a quick snack they were off back to the orphanage and I can say at that time I thought school would be starting in about 2 weeks and I had no idea where the money was coming from. Two days later we were at Kate’s house for dinner. We had told no one about the need but after dinner two dear friends handed us a check to use for our ministry with the kids. It was enough to pay for the shoes. With school starting in October we have plenty of time to shop for shoes. I tell you this because God moves in amazing ways and provide for these children. I can tell you that we received a generous amount through a fund raiser this summer. It was enough to cover the rent for the house for another year which will be due in January and enough food though the end of Sept.. Praise the Lord. I am learning more and more the quicker we give our needs to the Lord the faster He can respond to our needs.
Haitian people are struggling to find the money to enroll their children in school. Not only do they need to pay for tuition but also fees, uniforms and shoes. I know a little how they feel. The director of the orphanage informed me that the children’s uniforms still fit but no one has shoes. That made me swallow hard. Though Bud and I mainly supply food to the kids it is hard to not want to do more. What we have tried to commit to as the Lord provides is about $1000 per month and the Lord has provide.
Shoes are about $150 to $200 Haitian Dollars each and we need 19 pairs. That is just under $450. We had received a gift of money that a young boy raised for the children but we determined that the best way to spend that money was for school lunches. The children had not been carrying anything to school for lunch. I did not know that the schools have such a time with so many children not having food to take to school. When the director talked to me about this need two of our daughters bought thermal lunch bags and water bottles for each child. The gift would provide a peanut butter sandwich and a small snack for each child each day.. Guess who is baking cookies? Now we need to buy shoes. I gave it to the Lord in prayer and asked the children to pray as well. I try to be honest with them that the money comes from the Lord and only he can provide it. So the children came to my house and Bud and I measured each of their feet with a ruler. After a quick snack they were off back to the orphanage and I can say at that time I thought school would be starting in about 2 weeks and I had no idea where the money was coming from. Two days later we were at Kate’s house for dinner. We had told no one about the need but after dinner two dear friends handed us a check to use for our ministry with the kids. It was enough to pay for the shoes. With school starting in October we have plenty of time to shop for shoes. I tell you this because God moves in amazing ways and provide for these children. I can tell you that we received a generous amount through a fund raiser this summer. It was enough to cover the rent for the house for another year which will be due in January and enough food though the end of Sept.. Praise the Lord. I am learning more and more the quicker we give our needs to the Lord the faster He can respond to our needs.
Sammy has had a cold since we got back and a very poor appetite. The cold has finally gotten better and I
discovered today he has cut two new teeth since we got back. He is a little mocking bird. He loves to repeat things we say and so I
started sitting with him with a picture book and working on both languages.
Today he took a little tumble. I was painting our bedroom and getting some
extra cleaning done before I begin to teach and he followed me up the
ladder. He was not hurt but he surly is
a climber.
Bud has gone back to work with MFI but has kind of laid low
because he is not feeling well. Sammy
shared his cold. He did help me around
the house though. Bud has a new motorcycle
too. Here in Haiti you can buy a new
motorcycle for under a $1000 US . We are
struggling with one vehicle when we work in two different directions. To run the car back and forth several times a
day is very expensive and at time impossible so we bought the bike. They are very good on fuel and it gives Bud
the freedom to move from job to job and not wait for me to get done with what I
need to do. This past week gasoline has
been difficult to find so it will be good in times like these to have a vehicle
that can get by on less. I am not going
to learn to drive it though and it is not suppose to go to the city. That is not a good place to ride a bike.
It has been a good week. I met with the school and we talked
about schedules for my teaching at Grace Zion School. I will be at school 3 days a week from 7:45
to 1:00. Other days I will be helping
Empower Global with some bookkeeping for one of their project and working with
Joy and Hope and Stella house orphanage.
Tuesday I watch Savannah for the Davis’s so they can got to work for
MFI. I need a day to work on paperwork
so watching the kids fit right in. One
Thursday a month I will be traveling to Marmalod to a school to help the
teachers develop ideas for a school that has 300 children. This project is under the guidance of a
friend of mine who is in the states and cannot be here. Some of my Saturdays I will be working with our neighborhood kids club which
will be starting up in September.
In all of this it is my desire to lead children to Christ
and help adults who are working with children to do the same. So many Haitian Christians are trying to do
what they can to help the children of this country and their people. The best thing we can do is not take the lead
but walk beside them and give them help to do it for themselves. Bud and I love the opportunity to work
alongside other ministries as well to help them to accomplish what they have
been called to do as well.
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