Baby Micah

It was an exciting week, to say the least. By far, the best news from the week was the birth of our nephew Huguener and his lovely wife, Jackie’s baby. Micah was born yesterday (Saturday, July 18th, 2015) morning at 4:06, two days before his due date. Both baby and mommy are doing well after 25 hours of labor. We are so excited for this little family and all the wonderful adventures of parenthood that Huguener and Jackie will encounter. We pray the Lord’s clear guidance for them always.

.

I had the opportunity to speak with Huguener briefly on the phone this evening. I also got to hear Micah objecting to his mom trying to get a little catnap in. Wow! That little man has some seriously strong lungs!

An interesting note, Dr. Jeffrey Blake is the doctor that delivered Micah.  He also happens to be the doctor that delivered Alexis and AJay, as well as Nathan.  Dr. Blake also joined teams from Forward in Health to provide health services for people here in Haiti.  He worked in Fonfrede and les Cayes prior to the earthquake.  He came to us in Grand-Goâve just a week after the earthquake.  We sure do appreciate all the ways in which he has helped us and so many in Haiti!

Jim Murphy, who is Micah’s great grandfather (seen holding Micah in the picture above) has a long history with us, as well.  He and Police Detective Stephen Sandoval were the first visitors to Mission of Hope back in 2000.  They were at our very first annual conference and they both remain dear friends today.

Clinic News

Angie Shepherd is a physician’s assistant who came to us from Bless Back Worldwide in Charlotte. She spent the week with us, working with our clinic staff. She interviewed and trained a new doctor that we are considering bringing on staff, as well. It was wonderful to have someone so well qualified to get him started out on the right foot with training on the electronic medical record system that we use. One of the many advantages we’ve been appreciating about this system is the ability to consult with Bless Back doctors while they are in Charlotte. They are able to pull up the records and give their input to Dr. Lavaud when he’s looking for it.

.

.

White Stone Church

A team from White Stone Church (Knoxville, TN), led by Pastor Mark Zimmerman, joined us this week. We are excited about the budding partnership we are entering into with them. We will work together to create an afterschool program for kids in the Thozin area of Grand-Goâve. The program will focus on discipleship and include sports, feedings, and tutoring. This week the team worked mainly in a mountain area outside of Jacmel.

.

Pastor Mark brought a strong message of encouragement and warning from Hebrews 3. Here’s a quick version of what I got out of it:

The recurring theme is found in verses 7b-9: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.” Again, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” When we hear His voice, we need to respond to it.

Sometimes we forget about today and the significance of what today brings. We hear a child’s laughter, we see the beauty in a singing bird. We are accustomed to being with a loving spouse, to seeing friends at church, to hearing a scripture verse, to experiencing the Lord’s guidance… But when we hear HIS voice, do we do anything with it? Is there not a corresponding action to the faith that rises in our hearts? The children of Israel, time after time after time complained of their need today, but never seemed to appreciate that time after time after time their need was met by Jehovah. They had an awesome beginning, as the Lord delivered them from slavery in Egypt. But, just like in a soccer game, it’s not nearly as important how well you start the game, as it is how well you finish. The Israelites finished the “game” terribly. All, but the two spies who gave a good report, died in the wilderness, because of their unbelief.

Again, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” I don’t want this example from Israel’s history to be repeated in my life. How about you? Let’s choose to respond when we hear His voice, lest we harden our hearts against Him.

Angels in Action

We had the opportunity on Friday to be extremely thankful for the Lord’s presence in our lives. The team from Knoxville was coming back from a wonderful time in Jacmel when a drunk driver rammed into the bus. This particular road winds up and down a mountain range for about 50km. The vehicle came around one of those curves on the wrong side of the road, with enough force to send the bus into a spin. Although the vehicles were both badly damaged, everyone walked away from the accident whole. The team members that were on the bus were praising the Lord for protecting their lives and grateful for the way the driver reacted to keep the bus on the road.

Bless Back Worlwide

A full team from Bless Back Worldwide arrived at MOHI last night, after a long day of travel with about 75 suitcases. They are all geared up to present their second women’s health fair, starting tomorrow. Throughout the week over 300 women will be seen by the doctors. Ultrasounds will be performed on the pregnant women, as well as special teaching sessions for them. There will be lots of educational classes going on for all the women, as well as some fun crafts, pampering and a favorite lunch of rice and beans with fried chicken. Would you please join us in praying for these women to be touched this week? – Spirit, soul and body! Thank you!

.

Teacher Workshop

Summertime is often thought of as vacation time, but when you run schools you quickly realize it’s your opportunity to set the stage for a better year than the one before. Last week I talked a little about the maintenance going on at the school. This week we had teacher workshops at the beach. The teachers were very receptive and everyone enjoyed a meal together.

.

Sir Isaac

While it has been a busy and exciting week just with the happenings here in Haïti this week, I am also getting really excited about our involvement in the upcoming Soulfest event. Ross Dobson and the staff at Sir Isaac have been working overtime to meet deadlines and deal with me being pickier than perhaps I should be. Nevertheless, they have risen to the occasion, preparing our video presentations, and designing all of our banners, posters, tee shirts and tank tops, handouts and even custom coffee cup sleeves. Things are looking good. If you have any advertising needs, I highly recommend checking out Sir Isaac! They have been a blessing to us!

.

Long-Term Missionary

Amy Long, from Jacksonville, FL has been busy preparing (which includes major fund-raising, too!) for a long-term move to work with us here at MOHI in Grand-Goâve, Haïti. We are hoping she will be ready to join us in September. In the meantime, she took on a project for me this week – revamping our information for teams coming to Haiti. I have to admit I am very impressed and excited to soon have these materials available for everyone coming to serve.

.

Thank You!

As always, thank you so much for taking the time to catch up with us. Thank you for your prayers and financial support, too. God bless you!