God is helping the children of the Haute St Marc Orphanage

Dear Friends & Familly,


I am so happy to report to you what God is doing to establish the Haute St Marc orphanage for 25 wonderful children.  These children are like a family (14 boys, 11 girls) ranging from 7 to 18 years old, who live in a broken-down, concrete cinderblock building way out in the hills of Haiti, near the town of Haute St. Marc.  They have no water for a mile or two, no electricity and only one or two caretakers.   Because the road getting there is so bad, it takes a very rugged vehicle or motorcycle 30 to 45 minutes to get there. (If you ride the motorcycle be prepared to be caked with dust by the time you get there!)   The orphanage is located is near the origin of the cholera which is always a big concern in Haiti...

Some of the children with their caretaker (footprint artwork in the back)

Up to now, the orphanage has never been officially established legally. Because of this, the caretakers have not been able to obtain a constant source of food and support for the children, and they have often gone without.   Well, my friends, I am so happy to report that God is  working to fix this.   At this time, my friend pastor Julian Matthew is presently in Haiti.   His purpose is to establish the orphanage legally and also obtain each child's records so they could be able to be taken care of by other organizations, fostered, adopted.   In addition, he is beginning to work with some other organizations to help move this along.   There may be opportunities for some of the orphans; however, their proper legal records must be established first.

Pastor Julian Matthew showing Christ's love to Haitians.... 

Pastor Julian has a very big love and heart for the Haitians.   Although he is from the English-speaking island of St. Lucia, he learned Haitian Creole as a child and has been devoted to the people ever since.  He is a very devoted follower of our Lord Jesus Christ and presently ministers through the missionary organization Greater Grace World Outreach (GGWO). Missionaries in this organization rely on their local communities and personal networks to support themselves financially, which always calls on a reliance on God's daily manna.   This is definitely the case for my friend pastor Julian, who presently ministers in Western Puerto Rico to a small group of Christians, along with his supportive wife Cynthia and their 5 children.    


Pastor Julian is the one who called me to go to Haiti with him last year, and for that I am grateful.  God has allowed him to be a great advocate for these orphan children and others in their situation.   It has really changed my life by helping me see my biblical responsibility to love the poor.


God has also established another missionary from GGWO in Haute St. Marc Haiti.  Pastor Bill Cannon and his wife are there to run a pastor training school. This school trains 10 - 15 pastors at a time in order to go out and lead their congregations faithfully in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This is very important as voodoo is a strong influence in Haiti and tends to creep back into people's thinking.   Pastor Bill has also been and will continue to be a great support for the orphanage.


If you feel led by God's Holy Spirit to help support this worthy cause for the children of the Haute St Marc Orphanage, please consider giving to support it at this time.  They will need money to establish the paperwork for the orphanage and each child's individual records, medical screenings and legal authorizations.   This is very difficult and expensive in Haiti, and we are daily relying on God to both feed the children and to provide a future for them.


In order to provide the support (tax deductible), you can mail a check to:
Greater Grace World Outreach
Pastor Julian Matthew
6025 Moravia Park Drive
Baltimore, MD 21206


In the note of your check, please write: Pastor Julian Matthew/Haiti Orphanage


If you would like to contact pastor Julian please call/e-mail him:
Phone in Puerto Rico: (787)560-5414
e-mail: jpmatt93@gmail.com
Phone for GGWO in Baltimore: (410)483-3700


Here is a wonderful scripture to give a biblical perspective:


Luke 12:32-34
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


To God be the Glory through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Psalm 91 Books provide inspiration to Haitians in Haiti & DR

I wanted to share how much impact God's word has on people, whose hearts are soft and absorb it. 
There is a ministry of the NYPD that is called Psalm 91, and they publish childrens books (in Spanish & English) and also a military edition book about Psalm 91 which has great explanation of the Psalm along with many examples of how trusting God has provided protection for people.   

Barbera, who is in the military proudly holding
her military edition of the Psalm 91 book. 

When I went to Haiti & the DR in February, I was only able to take a few books with me as this was my first trip.  We have several more boxes that people over there are eager to receive, and will send later.  This is a nice lady named Barbera who lives in Port Au Prince.  She actually speaks English quite well.   She is in the military and really appreciated the Psalm 91 military edition that I gave her.  I also gave the pastor and several others that book because they could read English, and books are very valuable over there.   Especially ones that help understand how God's word can help our lives. 

Pastor Ronald and others learning English from the
Psalm 91childrens edition

Here we are using the childrens Psalm 91 book to help teach English to the pastor Ronald who lives in Santo Domingo.   He leads a church of Haitians who are trying to make a life for themselves in the Dominican Republic.  The childrens book came in very handy because the language is easy and the pictures help describe the meaning of the words.  Language is very important for them because knowing English and Spanish will help them do well in the Dominican Republic. 

This sweet Haitian girl lives in Santo Domingo and is sporting her Sunday best.   She really loved the book we gave her of Psalm 91 and was so proud of it, she wouldn't put it down.   She had to have all of her pictures taken with it. 

This is a group picture of the Santo Domingo church with me and my friends Shawn & Julian and the little girl.   Again, notice that she kept the Psalm 91 book in her possession at all times.   Notice how she is still proudly displaying it.  This church group was like a big family.    







I gave a copy of the military edition to Pastor Anous and he also carried it with him everywhere.  He was so happy to have it and read it every day I was with him. 

Pastor Anous who really enjoyed the Psalm 91 military edition book.

Thank you so much to the Psalm 91 ministry of the NYPD for providing the books.  This is really a blessing and a protection to the people in Haiti and the Dominican republic who we were able to give them to.  










I would like to close by inserting the text of Psalm 91.  It is such a great Psalm for helping us remember that God is our protector and will always watch out for his children all over the world. 

To God be the Glory!

Psalm 91

 ¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.^[a]
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust.”  ³ Surely he will save you
   from the fowler’s snare
   and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
   and under his wings you will find refuge;
   his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
   nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
   nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
   ten thousand at your right hand,
   but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
   and see the punishment of the wicked.
 ⁹ If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
   and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
   no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
   you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
 ¹⁴ “Because he^[b] loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble,
   I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
   and show him my salvation.”

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 91:1 Hebrew Shaddai
2. Psalm 91:14 That is, probably the king

The children in Haute St Marc Orphanage are given food

I wanted to share with all of you the really good news that the children in the Haute St. Marc orphanage have been given food!   When I visited in February, you could see that the cupboards were nearly empty, and I was told that the people who had given previously had stopped giving, and Pastor Anous was giving out of his own means to supply the food for the orphanage, which he could not continue. 

This was really on my heart, and on the airplane on the way back, I met a very nice lady named Natasha who told me that she thought she could help.    She connected me with a worldwide relief organization called "Mensajeros de la Paz" (Messengers of Peace in English) http://www.mensajerosdelapaz.com/.  They have quite a large number of people working in Haiti, and Natasha herself works to help supply funds for the Haiti relief efforts.

It wasn't long before we were given our first shipment of food.   Here is a picture of part of the shipment at the Mensajeros de la Paz location in Port Au Prince:

The food is loaded on the truck 

That bag looks heavier than him...

The first month we helped rent the truck to take the food to the orphanage way up in the hills of Haute St Marc.    Also, for the next month we took part in a "Pulguera Primavera" (spring tag sale) at Escuela Micael (our childrens school) and in a short period of time, we were able to sell some items and received many donations which made enough money to cover the truck rental for another month. 

The food has arrived!!!

The children were so happy when the first shipment of food came last month.  They were celebrating and saying "Where did that food come from???"  "Who gave it to us?",   "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you......"



Healthy rice & beans along with other tasty food!



Lots of food is cooked on a regular basis!



Thank you God for the food!!!



................................This picture really touched my heart, to see the reverence that the children have as they pray, and thank God for their food.  I am so happy to see that the children are eating regularly now.  These are such great kids and they really deserve to be given a chance at a better life.  

It really doesn't take too much, and God is really the one taking care of them. 



The children get a well appreciated meal!



They have been able to cook lots of food to provide meals not only for the children who live in the orphanage, but also to the children who come there for school.  

We are very grateful to Mensajeros de la Paz who have generously offered to give a supply of food every month for at least one year.    In addition, Natasha is continuing to work to procure funding to help support reconstruction efforts at the orphanage.  Please pray for her efforts to be fruitful, as it would be an incredible blessing if we could see a new orphanage with working facilities built for the children, comfortable beds, electricity, running clean water, fruit trees, goats/chickens, etc.  

It reminds me of how God himself looks out to care for the needs of the orphans and widows:

Deuteronomy 10: 17-19

¹⁷ For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. ¹⁸ He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. ¹⁹ And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

To God be the Glory!!!

Orphanage in Haute St Marc Haiti

We had a really great trip into the hills to visit an Orphanage.   It took us about a half an hour on the back of a motorcycle on a very rough, dusty road.  There were many houses and people living along this road, although it really wasn't a road, but more of a horse trail.   You would definitely need a 4 wheel drive to get up there.  We crossed some streams, and it became quite rural and even beautiful in spots.   When we got there, I could barely see from the dust in my eyes, but finally we came to the Orphanage. 



Front view of the Orphanage


In front they have a Cistern that they have to bring water ~2 or 3 miles to fill.  I'm not sure how they accomplish that, but hopefully a truck comes and helps them. 




The Boys room, for 13 boys



When we came into the boys room, it was clear that the boys there were packed pretty tight.  I counted 5 working mattresses, for 13 boys...    Seems awfully cramped.   They didn't seem to complain too much though.     I sure would have.




Little boy sporting his school shirt

 The boys were so friendly and welcoming.  It was great being up there with them.   The children were so polite and respectful.   




The Girls Room

These girls were very friendly.   The one in the purple was kind of like our host and she introduced herself in English to me.  I said "Nice to Meet you" and started talking to her in English.   She got this blank look and said "No English, only Creole".   I stopped and said "No Creole".   Everyone broke out laughing!!!












Two little girls showing off their School dresses







One of our main purposes in going on this trip was to bring cloth for them to make uniforms for these and many other children in the schools for St Marc.   For the Haitian children, having a school uniform is very important for them to be able to go to school in.  













Our hostess proudly showing her school uniform



Oops, the shoes don't quite fit any more...























The blue skirts were for the lower grades and the grey skirts are for the middle school and high school. 





 



The Cupboard, almost no food and kept locked

 I heard that the people who were helping buy food have stopped and they haven't been able to feed the children very well.    Please pray that we can organize some relief effort to ensure that the children get properly fed. 

The girls shower

We never had any running water in Haiti.  You just carry water from the cistern out front and pour it over yourself.  In this case, they are using an anti-freeze container for a water holder for the shower. 



The backyard and chicken coup



There is a fair amount of land in the back, suitable to plant some fruit trees, have some goats/ chickens, etc.  I didn't see any goats or chickens when I visited though. 

The water filters

It is very important to filter all the drinking water as the water that is carried into the Cistern is contaminated.   This is the region of the country where they think the Cholera initiated (Northeast of St Marc).  A gentleman from the Red Cross told me he thought it came from the valley surrounding the Petite Riviere de l'Artibo'nite.   That is just over the ridge from where we were. 

I only hope and pray that the filters work adequately for the children.

 

Pastor Anous, Their Caregiver and some of the children

The kids were eager to show us their art project, which was their foot prints in colorful paint with their names written next to them. 

They were so proud of it.

A bit of candy to sweeten up life

The children really enjoyed this candy we gave them.   What impressed me was that they waited so patiently to receive their candy.  Some of them got very nice M&M's in plastic containers and some of them got very regular lolipops, but they were all happy with exactly what they received.   

The front door of the orphanage...



Jeff and some more of the children in front of the church there

 Actually, I didn't have enough candy with me for all of the kids, but I still didn't hear any complaints.  We had more candy back in St Marc and Pastor Anous promised them that he would would get them some later.











This brief visit to the Orphanage in the hills East of St Marc, Haiti was one of the most moving moments of my life.   To see the conditions they live in and get to know them even little bit, and to see the type of people they are later brought tears to my eyes.  I could see that any one of these kids, if given the proper opportunities, could do something great with their lives. 




A biblical perspective...


Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.


Galatians 2:10
All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.


James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.




Please...


>Give your heart in prayer for Haiti:


For the government, the people who have it so hard, the orphans (especially the ones in this orphanage as I met them personally, but there are many more).


>Give/save any thing you would like to send:


If you feel led to give financially, please do so (I can help you know how to give to the Children in the Orphanage if you like, or if you would like to buy more cloth, that will also be needed).


Pastor Julian will be going again a little later this year (He can take any items you would like to send).
I may be going again (please let us know through e-mail or comments if you would like to send or give something.


>Go visit if you are able: either Haiti or DR (get to know the people).




Thanks for your love/prayers and support.   To God be the Glory!

Ruuska Village, Our Hosts

This Little Boy Stole my Heart

When we first arrived in Haiti, we stayed the first couple of nights and final night in Ruuska Village, which is an adoption agency in Port Au Prince.   The kids were great there.  I had so much fun with them.

A view down Main Street of Ruuska Village

Shawn Rhineholt holding a sweet baby boy, Jeff & one of the ladies who helps at the Village

When we got ready to leave Haiti, my friend Shawn wanted to adopt this little boy.   He had a hard to letting go of him.  The kids just have that effect on you. 

Here is a beautiful baby girl that was there that day.

They are working on providing homes for the children in the US and South/Central America.    It is a great place, and they were excellent hosts to us.  We met many nice people there from the US working to improve the adoption agency, and adopt children.    It suffered some earthquake damage but has been repaired quite nicely.   They graciously offered to let us stay there as our home base and took great care of us.   We also got a chance to spend a day or so working around the village.  We are very thankful for all of their generosity.  

Please see their website at:
http://www.reachouttohaiti.com/