Archive for the ‘Day to Day’ Category
Thanksgiving was just awesome. We enjoyed fellowship with family and friends all day. I cannot help but to still feel this sense of thankfulness today as I begin my day. It is an attitude I want to keep throughout the year.
This morning we are securing a place to live for Jean and Venise and their family. To us it is very simple, a 2 room with bathroom apartment for 11 people. To them it is a home out of the tent city they have been living in. As of last week they were asked to leave because 2 people on the property got Cholera and the Church that owns the property became concerned. We were able to secure this place for a year for $1012.65. I know the number is funny and I usually round off, but it is all in the conversion. In Haitian speak the apartment costs 5000 Haitian dollars. I write this to say that I am learning there are places out there for people to rent, however very few Haitians can afford 5000 Haitian dollars. This is about 3-4 years wages in Haitian terms. Our families are very blessed to have Homebound Missions assisting them in this way. They are thankful and I am thankful.
Yesterday Obenson e-mailed to ask for food. I will do that also.
Please pray with us concerning our families as we move forward and try to assist them in building self sustaining work for their families. This is our most difficult challenge, but also our most worthwhile. And please, if you have ideas to offer we would love to hear from you. Tyler, myself and our Board would love to hear your thoughts as you have prayed.
Here is an interesting update on Cholera. If you have wondered what the Haitian people are thinking, this will give you some insight. Please continue to pray for the Haitian people.
On Monday, I met with Matthew for a computer conference. I have learned Mimose stopped going to sewing school in April. Sadly, she didn’t tell us. Having Mimose accepted into sewing school was a gift from Heartline as a way of showing their appreciation for Homebound Missions. They took her immediately without question. I do not know of anything else for Mimose. There is no other program that I know of that helps woman achieve what Heartline’s program does. Please lift Mimose up in your prayers.
Just as we were finishing up, Job called saying he needed to talk to me. We waited for him to arrive and he had a chance to speak to me. His home was given to him. It is a very tiny box of a room. I hadn’t realized that some of the walls are mere blankets and sheets. It seems that thieves are going around at night with machetes and knives and they slice through the blankets/sheets and steel what is inside. Job says he is afraid and doesn’t sleep at night. He would like funds to buy wood or metal to secure his house. He estimates that it will cost $270.00. If anyone feels so led to help with this need we will send him the money right away. For now, we can only add it to the list of needs that we are trying to meet.
Presently we are raising the funds needed to get our last family out of a tent city and into something solid. We have about half the funds needed. This will provide housing for 11 people, the Jean and Venise Previlus family. This need will cost approximately $1000. for a years rent. It will provide at most 2 rooms and a bathroom of sorts.
We thank you for your prayers and support for all of our families.
So many people have asked me to explain what is going on in Haiti. The hurricane? What about the tent cities? What are they going to do about the cholera? How do you even begin to explain how terribly difficult these situations are to the Haitian people. I have started to cringe when I hear about how resilient the Haitian people are. People say this as though the Haitian people are somehow gifted with torment and they are out there saying, “Bring it on.”
The Haitian people are resilient by a force of hand. They are as resilient as the N Korean people who are put in death camps at the hands of their government. They are as resilient as the millions of others who suffer poverty, government tyranny, and natural disasters. They all suffer and yet each morning wake up and have to do it all again.
For many in Haiti they cling to the hope that is in Christ. I am always amazed at how they worship and praise God though everything around them is bleak. Even with hurricane Tomas I read a news article of a Haitian gentleman who was sitting along the road with his Bible awaiting it’s arrival. Resilient isn’t maybe the word I would use for the Haitian people. I think of words like courageous, faithful, persevering, and maybe these have given them resilience.
Several weeks ago we were able to get Obenson’s family into an apartment of sorts. We mentioned the owner of the land he was on has evicted everyone. Please read the following news story as it answers so many questions about the hurricane, Cholera, and the tent cities, so you can see for yourself the terrible situation that Haitian’s now find themselves in. Please talk to your family about it over the dinner table and pray as a family for the families in Haiti. Feel their burden as we are instructed to do in the Bible, as if it were us who were suffering.
Here is the news article.
Boston.com put up some pictures of Haiti 10 months later. They are very sad and show that the suffering never ends for the Haitian people. Click the link below to view the pictures.
This was sent to me by Madhava & Nirmala, Directors of Mercy & Grace Orphanage in Andhra Pradesh, India. Please pray with us, this Sunday for the orphans around the world?
DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE ORPHANS OF THE WORLD
The United Nations reports that the number of orphans around the world is more than 140 million. This global crisis is present even in the United States where over 120,000 children now wait to be adopted from the foster care system. God commands every Christian to act and to care for the orphans and we would like you to join us on ORPHAN SUNDAY …November 7th to stand for orphans, to defend the fatherless and care for the least of these
- More than 46 million orphans in Africa.
- More than 71 million orphans in Asia.
- More than 10 million orphans in Latin America.
- More than 120,000 orphans in the United States.
“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.”
James 1:27 (NIV)
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I have e-mailed Matthew today to tell him to warn our families of the impending hurricane. I asked him to find a place for his family because they are presently in a tent and also asked him to tell Obenson to get into the apartment they have rented. I just did not want them to be unaware of what is coming.
Port-au-Prince should be relatively safe from mudslides, but the wind and rain could be a big problem. Please keep our families in your prayers.
Yesterday, Tyler and I had the opportunity to present Homebound Missions to Calvary Assemblies in S Windsor CT.
We had a big agenda, to talk about the situation in Burma with the Karen and Karenni and then to update them on the Heartline Birthcenter, talk about the Cholera outbreak and what Homebound Missions is doing in Haiti. We were blessed to have a young Karen gentleman named Ktaw, who also spoke with us from a much more personal position about the atrocities in Burma and what it means for the Christian Karen and Karenni. Ktaw is from Hartford, CT and we have been blessed to know him through family members.
After church we all met in the fireside room for a delicious lasagna dinner prepared by the Pastors wife Lois. The afternoon was filled with fellowship and sharing. What a great day. Before leaving, Calvary presented Tyler and I with a check for Homebound Missions. Thank you very much Calvary Assemblies; thank you Pastor Ken and Lois.
Here is the new list of assistance provided & requests for assistance.
Assistance Provided
10/22/2010 Matthew received food
10/27/2010 Obenson found a place to rent and he was sent $1075.94 to secure it for 1 year.
10/28/2010 Matthew stove and charcoal $45.00
Here is the new list of requests for assistance listed by priority.
Assistance to obtain housing for the Jean & Venise Previlus Family
$700. US to pay for Job Lira’s truck repairs
School Tuitions:
Rebecca (High School) $443.03
Cassandra $291.00
Danika $139.24
Joveny $177.21
Evans
Vilia (High School) $417.72
It has been a very busy week for both Obenson and Matthew (our family liaison), but they have successfully found a place for Obenson, Idora and the children to move to as they have been told they must leave the tent city. The land that their tent now sits is owned by a private individual and he has evicted everyone.
It was no easy task to find them a home, but they were able to find a place for $1075.94 a year. It has 2 rooms and a bathroom. We were hoping to find a place that would allow us to pay for just half the year but it didn’t happen. The money has been wired to Obenson and he will begin moving right away.
Obenson will also be looking for a job. He has a license and I have asked him to go talk to Job who has told me with a license you can get a job. Job has been very helpful with Obenson and has been counseling him on other matters as well. I appreciate that he is so willing to help in this way.