Hope...the Beginning of Change

Overflowing Thankfulness

I’d like to start out today with pictures of this week’s cuties.  They are the ones who help us to get up every morning and face hardships without wavering!

God has blessed us with so many wonderful friends and partners over the years.  I am so grateful for each and every one of them.  Mission of Hope International would never be making the impact it is today, if God hadn't brought us all together.  How cool is this?!!!!

As we approach the American Thanksgiving holiday, I have been praying for you all and thanking the Lord for you.  Individuals who believed in the vision from the very beginning committed to pray and give regular donations to help get this work on its feet.  I think of the people the Lord used as His mouthpiece to advise us along the way.  When the right decisions to make seemed contrary to what we’d always known, there were words of confirmation coming at us at every turn and so we stepped out into unfamiliar territory time and time again.

All the times that I needed a friend, I found one. 

I remember how Lennie and Amy Engman opened their homes and their lives to us.  We’d gone to church together for years, but we didn’t know each other, at all.  How many times we have called on them over the years!  They were grandparents for our children and counsellors for Lex and I.  Amy provided so much motherly wisdom to me, as I endeavored to raise children in two different cultures.  To this day we can call on them, day or night, and KNOW that they will do everything they can to help us.  God has provided for us in incredible ways!!! 

In the early days in Haiti, we really had nothing.  Every time we returned to the States, David and Jane Case (another couple who didn’t know us from a hole in the wall!) would buy us all new underwear, shoes, clothing, soap, shampoo – all the basics that we needed, but had no money to purchase.  Again, that was God’s provision for us, but it took willing souls to make it happen.

Hundreds have supported this mission with financial gifts.  Some, I have never even met, but the Lord knows each and every one of you.  I pray that His blessings overtake you!

Over the years the Lord has brought people of kindred spirit to encourage us and work alongside us.  Many have put their hands to work, constructing the school, restaurant, transitional houses and permanent homes.  Others have worked with our school teachers, students, pastors, nurses, mechanics, carpenters, masons, administrators, etc – sharing their knowledge to help our friends to learn even more.

I think of our amazing board members, Gloria Harvell, Carlos Pereira and Gama Parayson, who use their skills to help run this ministry.  They all work full time and have responsibilities at home and in church and yet they all put in extra effort to ensure MOHI is running smoothly.  Thank you JESUS for these special people!

I am blessed with an amazing husband, Alexis, A. Jay, Gama, Angela and Nathan, who are all missionaries at heart.  I thank God that He has brought along our dear friends Kevin and Tammy Groder and our new friend, Leah Fuller, to join in serving Him full time in this place that we all love so much.

Many organizations have partnered with us over the years, too.  Some have partnered for specific projects and others in a long-term relationship.  All are so valued!

Today I want to share with you a little about our partnership with Bless Back Worldwide (BBW).  BBW has been sending teams to us for just over a year now.  They focus on medical missions, but also do quite a bit of teaching, children’s ministry and soccer clinics.  They have been helping to build homes for families in need (remember, about 70% of the buildings in Grand-Goâve were destroyed in the earthquake!) and paying for surgeries and other medical needs. 

We spent time with most of the leadership and board members of BBW while we were in Charlotte this September.  Talk about people of “like precious faith!”  I must say, we were exhausted from all the questions when we left Charlotte, but we were also very encouraged to be partnering with an organization that desires to learn and adapt to a culture that they admittedly do not know.  (FYI, they are quick learners and know an awful lot about Haitian culture already!)

I remember one of the board members asking us, “What is priority for you right now.”  Knowing that they focus mostly on medical missions, I so wanted to respond with something medical in nature, but that really wasn’t the case.   Lex and I knew very well that our priority was to finish the new school in Thozin, so that’s what we told them. 

I will never forget Jane Case telling Lex, “You have not because you ask not!”  She was referring to James 4:2.  Without preaching a whole message, (which I could so do right now!) maybe we all should consider what she said.  No, we shouldn't go around asking people for their stuff, but I know most people would love to bless someone with something they need – they just need to know that it’s needed!  Sharing this need with BBW enabled them to consider the need and decide if/how they wanted to help. 

The “fear” I felt, sharing our real priority with them, was that they might feel that we didn't appreciate the medical missions that they focus on.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Lives are regularly being saved and changed through medical missions.  It has been a part of our vision since the beginning.

God is so good to us!  Our friends at BBW have decided to partner with us in completing the basics of the first phase of the school, as well as transforming a couple of our other rooms into medical and dental patient facilities.  Praise God!  We are so excited and thankful!

The timing worked out such that Paul Fallon (yes, architect extraordinaire!) was here with the last BBW team and he was able to hear from them what they were looking for in this facility.  Paul has been such an amazing help to us since the earthquake.  He has designed buildings and done estimates and overseen work for the past three years.  We are so grateful for his continued role in the construction projects.  Alan Roseberry, who put in all the rough plumbing in the school, plans to be here to do the finish plumbing, as well as the plumbing for the medical/dental rooms.  Yay!

We are currently planning to fabricate a septic system in the driveway of the Thozin campus (see picture below).  This will require that we block off the front entrance area, so no one gets hurt.  This week we built stairs to the back door, which is never used, but will be now!  We will begin some demolishing (just unfinished floors) to accommodate bringing water into the medical/dental rooms this week.  Electrical conduit continues to be installed and benches continue to be built.

Here are some more pictures of this week’s activities...

As most of you know, my husband believes in being grateful.  He often speaks of the woman from Michigan who sponsored him in school when he was growing up.  He would love to know who she is so he can give her a hug and say “thank you” for giving him an education.  There was a couple from his little village in la Gonave, Maleguy, which also played a major role in his childhood.  They pastored the local church and made sure the kids were in school and eating.  The pastor passed away several years ago, but the wife, Madame Pastor Boulou just passed on a couple of weeks ago.  Lex and some others left by boat yesterday to be a part of the funeral today.

I found it interesting that as Lex spoke of her, he did not show any sadness at her death.  There’s a general understanding among all “her kids” (Lex included) that she lived a full life in service to Jesus, completed it well and has now gone home.  It’s a joyous occasion!  They are happy for her!

Would you join me in praying for our friends at Mission E4 today.  Several of them were involved in an automobile accident in Marlborough, MA yesterday.  Two remained hospitalized.   I pray the Lord touch them and bring healing to both their minds and bodies.