MOHI School
I remember when Lex and I were first talking about starting Mission of Hope. Lex talked and talked and talked about wanting to have a prestigious school. He explained to me that mission schools often have a reputation of being mediocre (not that ALL are, of course). He wanted to change that reputation and provide a top notch education for kids that couldn’t afford to go to a private school or even a public school.
This past school year we had just over 800 children attending MOHI schools. It is important to us that each of these students receives the best education possible. We speak with our staff often about what it takes to have a really good school: A good teaching staff, hard working students and supportive parents.
To have a good teaching staff, you have to pay a good wage. Over the years God has provided time and time again – often beyond what we could have hoped, funds to pay the staff. At times it has seemed hopeless, but somehow the money arrives. To date, this is one of our biggest challenges within the mission, but it’s a priority for us.
Our students are motivated by teachers, administrators, missionaries and foreign visitors to excel. We also have some rigid rules in place to make failure difficult.
Finally, we have regular meetings with the parents to encourage and inspire them to be actively supporting their children’s education. Often in Haiti, students fail to do well, because they fail to come to school regularly. There are always reasons to miss school: water needs to be fetched for the household, younger siblings need someone to stay with them while mom tries to sell something in the open market, someone needs to cook for the family while mom is in Port-au-Prince trying to earn some money to care for the family… In those early years, it was hard to get the parents to buy into the importance of making sure the kids were in school. Now the parents know that we are serious about their children’s education and most are taking it more seriously, too.
2012 Graduating Class at MOHI
We received word today that all of our 12th and 13th grade high school students passed their national exams. This is a HUGE success for our students, their families and our staff. We are sooooo proud of all of them! To date, every high school student who has graduated from MOHI’s high school has passed their national exam. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you understand Haitian culture, it’s major. In a recent meeting, one of our staff was talking about someone who’d received exam results for their sixth grade class. They were bragging and carrying on about how 50% of their students had passed national exams. 100% is very uncommon. 100% in 3 different grade levels is unprecedented!
Chapo ba – Hat’s off to our amazing students, parents and staff who are making MOHI’s schools become prestigious schools in Haiti!
Class Sponsorship
1st grade class in St. Etienne
You, too, can support the MOHI school students! We are now making class sponsorship available on 4 different levels. By making a financial commitment of $10, $25, $50 or $100 per month, you can become a part of this team – impacting the future of hundreds of children. I often think about how my husband’s life was changed because someone chose to send money every month to the mission that opened up in his village. He was able to then go to school and prepare for the future God had designed for him. How many Pastor Lex’s do we have sitting in our classrooms today? How many lives will they in turn impact down the road? This is seriously good stuff! If you’d like to get involved in impacting these kids, please contact us today and request more information or a class to sponsor.
School Construction
MOHI School second floor slab poured and covered
The slab that we poured before heading to the US needs to set for one month before we can remove the metal poles beneath and take the form work off. There are two teams from the world race who will be spending next month with us. One of their jobs will be to take all the plywood and lumber our carpenters remove from the slab and remove the nails and organize them so they can be re-used. After that, we will begin finishing the classrooms, hoping to move students in by end of Christmas vacation in January.
The first phase of this project has cost us $500,000 to date and will require another estimated $160,000 to finish. Please remember us in prayer and spread the word to friends and family who may be looking for a good project to support in Haiti.
Visits in America
Andrew, Chel and Charles Finn
We’ve been having a very busy time in the States and have really enjoyed seeing so many friends and supporters. We shared a meal with our dear friend Charles and Chel Finn and their son Andrew. Chel has brought medical teams to us in Haiti on several occasions. We took this opportunity to start planning for another trip this coming January.
Most of this week we have been in Akron, OH with our friends at the Chapel. We are so grateful to Fred and Sandy Muffet for their incredible hospitality. The church has provided a house for us to stay in while we’ve been here. Those of you who have been to MOHI in Haiti, know that we just don’t get any family time with just the four of us. What a blessing to have a home where we can cook our own meals and just hang together as a family. Incredible!
We had the opportunity to make many new contacts and enjoyed a trip to the Amish Country. We met Paul and Margaret Matasic, who run a ministry for the disabled. They have a warehouse of wheelchairs, walkers and crutches. They have distributed many of these to people in Honduras and are interested in distributing them in Haiti, as well. They don’t just send these items, but they go in with a team of physical therapists and technicians who fit the people with the proper equipment and make necessary adjustments so they are comfortable.
We met Tim and Shanda Gobeli. They will be coming to Haiti in February to teach pastors and church leaders how to minister to the disabled and what the Gospel has to say to them. They will also be visiting hospitals, speaking in the women’s ministry and addressing our local Handicapped Association in Grand-Goave. Shanda has cerebral palsy and uses a wheel chair herself. They are a special couple and we are confident their message will benefit the people of Haiti.
Noelle Beck is running a ministry to the teens, teen mothers and young mothers of Akron. The teens have a safe place to come in the evening with an indoor skate park and other supervised recreational activities to participate in. The volunteer staff is there to love on the kids. Girls as young as 11 years old, have benefited from the teen mom’s ministry. Such young girls often have no idea how to care for a baby. Here they are learning basics and following a program that helps them to provide for their babies and see them as more than a possession. In all these ministries, Noelle and her staff present the Gospel in both word and deed.
Cindy Berrett, Sandy and Fred Muffet on the Portage Lakes
Cindy Bennett, a nurse practitioner from Akron, spent some time with us in Haiti last January. She was so kind to host a meeting for the next team from Mission USA that will be traveling to Haiti in February. It was great to have a time of food, fellowship, Q & A, prayer and general instruction with them today. A couple of days ago, Cindy asked us over for a boat ride in the Portage Lakes right here in Akron. We love boating, so this was a special treat for our family.
Tomorrow we head to Pennsylvania for a week. Our friends Chris and Joy Youell have set up several meetings for us, concluding with a fund raising dinner on Sunday night. If you are in or near Western Pennsylvania, please join us. Contact us for more information.