In Kreyol we say “Men anpil, chay pa lou!” More often than not, it’s obvious in our lives here. A car breaks down and 10 guys push it so it can be jump-started. A container of food arrives from Kids Against Hunger and 20 guys form a chain to empty it in a couple of hours, all by hand. Did you know that there are many people from America and Europe that are part of these many hands that make MOHI able to operate?
There are MOHI volunteers that make sure the mail is picked up and scanned each week; who make bank deposits; who print letters, fold, stuff, stamp and drop at the Post Office; who keep our child sponsorship program running Stateside; who organize special events; who put out the Hope Report for us; who pray daily; who give with generosity…
Have you noticed how nice the Hope Report has been looking? Pastor Carlos Pereira and the Evangelical Church of Fall River, MA, have been putting out the newsletter for us this year. Believe me, it is no small task to get all those letters to the right places looking so nice. Many thanks to all those involved in the process!
The newest member of our missionary team here has been such a blessing. Lori Paajanen, from Alaska, has been working with our sponsored students at the school and also teaching our inventory managers some things on the computer. Each day we inevitably spend a few moments just chit chatting. She has already learned so much that she knew nothing about previously. Things like, disputes that we have to deal with locally, local utilities that work sometimes and not others, money transfers that don’t make it, what happens to thieves that are caught in the act by the neighbors… This week the whole team, it seems, has been laughing about the typical perception of the missionary life that others have. We’ve decided that mostly what missionaries do is work hard!
Lex headed to Boston yesterday for a short stay. He had the pleasure today of being with some old friends and making some new ones at Chair City Community Church. We are grateful to Pastor Dave Tralongo and the congregation there that warmly welcomed him and for their enthusiasm for the work in Haiti.
Pat Kalagher left us yesterday to return to America. He has been living at the mission compound and working with Be Like Brit for the past 10 months, as the on site engineer for their construction. He also was helping with some of the technicalities of the new MOHI school construction project. We are grateful for all Pat’s hard work and his willingness to be a team player. We wish him well in his future endeavors.
Our heartfelt thanks goes out to Bruno de Brito Soares, from Grace Fellowship Ministries (Nashua, NH), who organized a food drive and this week shipped out food for the people of Haiti. Your hard work and patience is greatly appreciated, Bruno. God bless you!
If you are praying for us, please remember to pray specifically for Chrislove, Sheevens and Wilson (all children in our school with medical challenges) and Edmond (aka Sava) who was struck by a truck yesterday, while on his motorcycle here in Grand-Goave.
Would you like to be some of these hands that are making light work in Haiti? Please contact Patty at 508-826-7374 to volunteer at home or here in Haiti. Maybe your church would like ship food and supplies to MOHI in Haiti. Contact Pastor Carlos Pereira at 508-336-5905 to learn of the best way to do this. Perhaps you’d like to sponsor a child – contact Gloria at 603-801-0530. It takes a lot of work to help a lot of people, but together we are doing just that!
