Incredible Medical Team

I’m amazed at the divine connections that are made at MOHI.  Bless Back Worldwide contacted us a few months ago, wanting to send a medical team to spend a week with us.  We just spent an incredible week getting to know ten committed, hardworking, joy-filled individuals.  Together we conducted three medical clinics, two in Thozin and one in St. Etienne.  About two hundred people received medical care from this team.  Each day we had to tell them to stop.  I think they would have preferred to work into the night, but Lex is very sensitive to the needs of a team and prefers that they not get heat exhaustion on their first day of work!  Here are a few pictures from their time here with us.  It was sad to see them go, but we trust that God will keep them coming back to continue to be a blessing, as they say, “You are blessed.  Bless back!”

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Thanksgiving in Grand-Goâve

We really enjoyed our Thanksgiving celebration here in Haiti this year.  We started celebrating Thanksgiving in Haiti three years ago, when Boss Fanès gave me a live turkey specifically for our American holiday.  It was such a kind gesture that we decided it would be really nice to have a “real” thanksgiving feast.  I thought of our friend, Boss Fanès, many times throughout the day, thankful that we had the opportunity to know him, to miss him and to one day be united with him once again.

This year we were able to celebrate with American, Canadian and Haitian friends and family.  I spent the day baking and cooking down at the beach.  It was great fun!  It seems everyone else did likewise, because there was soooooo much food!   I love that we had young children running around playing Batman and riding scooters around us.  The teenagers (and Michelle Meece!) enjoyed bowling on Wii after dinner.  It was so much like being at a big family Thanksgiving in America.

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Christmas Shopping

Last year we began the Gift Shop at MOHI.  This is an online spot to pick out unique  and practical gifts for children in Haiti.  It was such a blast to bless so many children with special gifts at Christmas time.  Some people just want to give gifts to these kids and others like the idea of giving the gift on behalf of a loved one.  If you place an order by December 15th, we will send a greeting and picture to your loved one of the child the gift was given to.  Thee are lots of really neat gifts available, like fruit trees, goats, chickens and bicycles.  Just click on the Gift Shop to choose what gifts you’d like to give.

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Happy Birthday Kristie!

We had the pleasure of attending a home church service called, “Action of Grace.”  Rosenie planned the event at her home in celebration of Baby Kristie’s first birthday.  She shared her story of heartache, prayer and the support of her church family as she went through the darkest of valleys.  She spoke of how God had used Mission of Hope International to save her baby’s life.  After going to doctors after doctor and spending thousands of dollars on different lab tests, Kristie was no better, but rather was getting worse.  A group from Bob Heier Ministries was conducting clinics at MOHI when Rosenie called us out of desperation, fearful that Kristie was dying.  We later learned that Sally Heier, RN had accurately diagnosed Kristie’s problem just from talking with Rosenie about the symptoms Kristie was showing.  She was able to suggest a hospital for Kristie where they were able to accurately diagnose her and eventually she had an operation to resolve the problem.

The operation itself was very costly.  Rosenie only knew that God would provide.  She didn’t know how.  Her brother was able to give her some money to get her started.  When we presented the situation to you, our friends and partners, you came through with the rest of the money needed to pay the debts.  Today Rosenie was praising God that God had saved her daughter’s life and it didn’t require that she sold all that she had to pay off the insurmountable debt she’d incurred to pay the hospital and doctors.

Today we rejoice in our Savior, Jesus, along with Rosenie for all that he’s done for Kristie.  We are grateful, too, that He is there in every circumstance to show us the way.  He has a solution to every problem!

Peanut Butter Arrives

Yes!  Three barrels full of peanut butter arrived at MOHI last night.  We will begin distributing it to children in our preschool classes this week.  Thank you so much to each one of you who donated and encouraged others to do likewise.  Some people have already started collecting for next Fall’s drive.  Praise God!

We also received a barrel full of medical supplies for the MOHI clinic.  Thank you to our friends at House of Love Ministries (Pastor Joseph and Robin Williams) in Orange, MA for gathering these items so they are available to give to sick people visiting our clinics.

Perhaps you are part of a group (school, youth group, church, reading club…) that would like to collect supplies to ship to Haiti.  Please contact Gloria Harvell at (603) 801-0530 for detailed information.  Thank you for your help!

School Construction Update

The finish plaster on the east-side classrooms and hallway has been done.  Now we progress to the east-side ground floor and the front of the building.  We are looking forward to architect Paul Fallon’s return tomorrow, as he helps us to continue planning out the completion of this first phase of this project.  Here are some pictures of the east-side of the building.

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He Knows Me and Yet He Loves Me

Pastor Lex brought forth an incredible message this morning that went right into my heart.  He shared about how well God knows us – even better than we know ourselves.  He used several examples, including the story of Peter denying Jesus.  Jesus told Peter ahead of time that he was going to deny Him, because Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself.  Sometimes when we do good things (especially publicly), it’s easy to begin to think of ourselves as being good.  But Jesus said that only God is good.  There’s nothing quite as stinky as a self-righteous attitude.  The Apostle Peter lived, worked and played with Jesus and yet the passion with which he loved Him went into hiding when everything seemed to go wrong.  Three times he professed that he didn’t even know Jesus, realizing that He was likely His closest friend in the world.  In the end he wept bitterly.

I, like so many of us, have also worn the haughty hat of self-righteousness.  Sometimes we just don’t see it.  Other times we just choose not to acknowledge it, assuming that others don’t see it.  Often times we’re like the ostrich hiding his head in the sand.  Everyone else can see, but we think it’s a secret.  Even if no one else knows, certainly God knows very well.  And yet He still loves us and He still chooses to use us to advance His Kingdom in the earth.  Amazing!

Check out this parable that Jesus shared in Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)… To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’  But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’  I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

How easy is it to look at someone else and laugh or look down at them, because we judge they are foolish, or incompetent, or stupid, or…sinful?  Thank God He doesn’t look at us the way we have been known to look at others.  One of my favorite scriptures is found in Luke 7:47.  It refers to the amount of love we have for God being directly related to how much He has forgiven us.  I reached a point in my life when I realized that I was just a mess.  My “friends” all turned their backs on me.  (Of course, I likely would have done the same thing if our roles had been reversed.)  But when we know how horrible we can be and that God still cares about us, He wants what best for us and He forgives us, that’s when we love God like never before.

I want to become more and more like Jesus everyday.  I want to be able to really know a person and yet really love that person.  I want to forgive them, just like God has forgiven me.  And pray that He’ll help us all to get our act together!!!!  🙂

Here are a few pictures from this morning’s service…

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Amazing Worship tonight with Angela and Alexis!