We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. We were pleased to have Silke (from Munich, Germany) and a team from Be Like Brit staying with us this year.
Silke came to us through Sturbridge Worship Center and is here for three months. She is a hard worker and very independent. She has done a lot of work in the pharmacy, has bandaged more than her share of injuries, is working with sponsored children, helping to build transitional shelters and organizing student records/photos. She had trouble imagining celebrating Christmas without snow, but eventually she did get into the Christmas spirit.
Len Gengel, his son Bernie, nephew Ross and OUR nephew Gamaniel make up the Be Like Brit team that is staying with us right now. They are in Grand-Goâve to celebrate Len's daughter Britany's life, by fulfilling her desire to build an orphanage in Haiti. Brit was killed at the Hotel Montana during the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. They will begin working this week by fixing the road to their land.
I was chatting with a friend, who was telling me that this was their first Christmas without kids in the house on Christmas. It occurred to me that I don't even associate Christmas with opening presents any more. It has been 10 years since we've placed gifts under the Christmas tree and run to the tree Christmas morning with the kids to start opening the gifts. It was a pleasant and enjoyable tradition, but I don't feel like we're missing out because we no longer use it.
This Christmas I actually took some time to bake bread and hot fudge cake. Silke and Alexis help by making chocolate chip cookies (I brought chocolate chips from America!) Our construction foreman gave us a live turkey, which Makila slaughtered in the morning. It was cooked Haitian style and, to me, it tasted like fish. Good fish, but certainly not turkey. We did have ham, also. I had found it at the grocery store in Port-au-Prince. THAT was delicious!
Yesterday, we had more food and fellowship, as we had other friends in church and then for lunch from Missionary Ventures and Mission E4. The left over desserts from Christmas fed about 50 people! It was fun to share them with everyone. (Those of you who have visited us in Haiti KNOW that we don't do dessert very often, so it's a REAL treat!) We brought the Missionary Ventures friends home to Petit-Goave on the boat. It was...uh...an...uh...interesting trip. We were back before it turned into a "three hour tour." (Any Gilligan fans out there?)
Our school kids are all on vacation. Silke is teaching Marie Yve how to make Challah bread. I made some for Christmas and it was a hit, so I figured we should keep it coming. I translated some more praise/worship songs into Kreyol. Maestro is working with the musicians to learn them and will be working with the singers starting this afternoon. I usually do these "song seminars" with Maestro, but I've been having to give up some of life's pleasures as other responsibilities grow. It's all good though, because Alexis is thrilled to pick up where I left off. I think it's very cool. :-)
New Year's is a huge holiday in Haiti. People are cleaning, cleaning, cleaning to welcome the new year. Everyone usually stays up until dawn on New Year's Eve. New Year's day is spent visiting family, friends and godparents. All our workers want to be paid before the new year so that they have a couple of dollars to give to their godchildren and grandchildren and children when they visit on New Year's day.
Tomorrow we have a team of six coming from Pennsylvania. They were recommended to us by Stacey, the team leader of the first World Race team we hosted. On Friday a team from Sturbridge Worship Center will be coming with a LOAD of McDonald's Quarter Pounders from Joe & Lori Ruscito at the McDonald's Cafe in Winchendon, MA. Each year this team puts on an American Style cookout for our church and the friends that they invite. The church has a great time with people singing, putting on drama skits and telling jokes. At the end they all eat hamburgers and french fries. :-)
After New Year's comes our annual Christian Leadership Academy. I'll tell you more about that soon. Please continue to pray for Haiti. God bless you!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Something New!
Welcome to our attempt to keep everyone up to date on what's happening here in Haiti and specifically at Mission of Hope. Since you are reading this you must have an interest in what we are up to. That's awesome. Thank you! It is our hope that by keeping you up to date you will be encouraged to pray for Haiti and those whose lives are being affected by this mission. We hope, too, that you would share this blog with your family, friends, co-workers, business associates and churches that you think would benefit from it, as well.
Our family has been living in Haiti for the better part of the past 10+ years. We have gone through a lot of changes and growth, both as a mission and in our own personal lives. We are grateful to the Lord for giving us the opportunity to serve Him here in Haiti, for the vision He has imparted to us and for the continuous growth He causes in us.
We are excited about the latest changes at Mission of Hope and would like to share them with you. Before we share this news though, we want to remind you of where the mission has been so far. We spent almost eight years working as Higher Ground - Mission of Hope, out of Gardner, MA. Pastor Kerry Twing, who has now gone home to Glory, recognized the call of God on our lives and stood with us as we stepped out into this new territory. For years he supported us in every way imaginable. The Higher Ground Ministries' staff took care of banking and all kinds of office duties, leaving us free to plow the fields in Haiti. They supported us for years in prayer and with finances. Pastor Kevin and Tammy Groder took the reins, in February 2008 when we became a church controlled organization under North Shore Christian Fellowship (Salisbury, MA). They worked HARD to keep things going and growing. After January 12th, Pastor Kevin practically moved to Haiti for several months. He was invaluable to the mission as we worked together to help thousands and thousands of people in Grand-Goâve who had their lives literally turned upside down in the earthquake. Tammy herself, took on a great amount of work, especially over this past year as we had grants and containers and many one time donors that needed to be receipted and were looking for reports. Both Higher Ground Ministries and North Shore Christian Fellowship contributed greatly to the foundation and structure of what we call Mission of Hope in Grand-Goâve, Haïti. We are forever indebted and grateful for all the Lord has been able to do with them and through them for the Haitian people.
The story of this mission reminds me of the life of a butterfly. We started out as a caterpillar and of necessity went into our pupae. But today, we have come out of the pupae as a beautiful creature with new wings that are ready to take us soaring into the heavens. I know, it sounds pretty dramatic, but is this not the way it truly is???
We have now formed a new non-profit organization, Mission of Hope International, Inc. As of January 1st, this organization will be replacing the NSCF controlled Mission of Hope. We are excited to have a Board of Directors who will be doing just that, directing the mission. They are:
Our family has been living in Haiti for the better part of the past 10+ years. We have gone through a lot of changes and growth, both as a mission and in our own personal lives. We are grateful to the Lord for giving us the opportunity to serve Him here in Haiti, for the vision He has imparted to us and for the continuous growth He causes in us.
We are excited about the latest changes at Mission of Hope and would like to share them with you. Before we share this news though, we want to remind you of where the mission has been so far. We spent almost eight years working as Higher Ground - Mission of Hope, out of Gardner, MA. Pastor Kerry Twing, who has now gone home to Glory, recognized the call of God on our lives and stood with us as we stepped out into this new territory. For years he supported us in every way imaginable. The Higher Ground Ministries' staff took care of banking and all kinds of office duties, leaving us free to plow the fields in Haiti. They supported us for years in prayer and with finances. Pastor Kevin and Tammy Groder took the reins, in February 2008 when we became a church controlled organization under North Shore Christian Fellowship (Salisbury, MA). They worked HARD to keep things going and growing. After January 12th, Pastor Kevin practically moved to Haiti for several months. He was invaluable to the mission as we worked together to help thousands and thousands of people in Grand-Goâve who had their lives literally turned upside down in the earthquake. Tammy herself, took on a great amount of work, especially over this past year as we had grants and containers and many one time donors that needed to be receipted and were looking for reports. Both Higher Ground Ministries and North Shore Christian Fellowship contributed greatly to the foundation and structure of what we call Mission of Hope in Grand-Goâve, Haïti. We are forever indebted and grateful for all the Lord has been able to do with them and through them for the Haitian people.
The story of this mission reminds me of the life of a butterfly. We started out as a caterpillar and of necessity went into our pupae. But today, we have come out of the pupae as a beautiful creature with new wings that are ready to take us soaring into the heavens. I know, it sounds pretty dramatic, but is this not the way it truly is???
We have now formed a new non-profit organization, Mission of Hope International, Inc. As of January 1st, this organization will be replacing the NSCF controlled Mission of Hope. We are excited to have a Board of Directors who will be doing just that, directing the mission. They are:
- Rev. Lexidan Edmé, president (MA, Haiti)
- Gloria Harvell, clerk (NH)
- Renée Edmé, treasurer (MA, Haiti)
- Karen Page (CA)
- Paul Lacourciere (CA)
- Dr. Gary Lee (OK)
- Rev. Dan Lee (MO)
- Kervince Parayson (MA, Haiti)
We also are expecting to add Rev. Carlos Perriera (MA) to the Board very soon. Each of these people bring valuable knowledge and great abilities that will benefit the mission. Three things they all have in common is a love for Jesus, Haiti and her people. All members have been to Haiti and specifically to Mission of Hope several to many times. We are looking forward to seeing how the Lord will use this group of people to further impact the country of Haiti.
It is our hope that many of our friends, partners and supporters will want to get involved on a regular basis, as well. We're talking about WORKING! :) We are hoping to have at least a couple of groups of volunteers to help with our monthly newsletters, as well as with some office tasks. For this first year, Angela Parayson will be coordinating with Gloria and Renée to ensure that all sorts of administrative duties are accomplished. If you live in or near Gardner, MA or Nashua, NH, and would like to volunteer some time to help, please contact us without delay. One of our favorite sayings in Haitian Creole: "Men anpil, chaj pa lou." or "Many hands make light work." Volunteering, especially for the newsletter, is a great way to get young people involved in doing something for Jesus, too. (Something that's dear to our hearts.)
One more important thing to share with you: Our new contact information.
Mission of Hope International, Inc.
PO Box 884
Gardner, MA 01440
(978) 410-9101
At this point we will be keeping the same accounts for e-mail, Skype, Twitter and Facebook. They are:
E-mail: lex@missionofhopehaiti.net and renee@missionofhopehaiti.net
Skype: mission_of_hope
Twitter: mission_of_hope
Facebook: Renee Rosen Edme ... Lex Edme ... Alexis Edme ... Alex Jay Edme
Address in Haïti: Rue du Port #225, Grand-Goâve, Haïti
Telephone in Haïti: (509) 3788-9684 or (509) 3811-3622
Address in Haïti: Rue du Port #225, Grand-Goâve, Haïti
Telephone in Haïti: (509) 3788-9684 or (509) 3811-3622
Again, thank you for your interest in Mission of Hope, Haiti and our family. Please remember to contact us about volunteering. We look forward to continuing to work with and for you in Haiti.
Blessings!
Lex & Renée
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