Happy Thanksgiving!
In the Aftermath of Matthew
House #4 was completed this week in Port Salut. Lex got the crew started and Pastor Hakine stayed with them until the end the next morning. Another family is sleeping inside a secure home now. We are so grateful to all the generous donors who made this possible.
At the Office of the Minister of Planning
Haiti’s minister of planning invited us, along with eight other organizations, to do a presentation at his office this past week. With very little advance notice, Jephte, Pastor Edon, and School Director Voltaire worked after hours to get a power point presentation put together, outlining all the different areas that MOHI is working in. Lex had to come back from Port Salut Wednesday night in order to make the presentation in Port-au-Prince Thursday. It went really well and we were proud to be recognized by the minister for the outstanding education we are providing for the students in our community. Interesting fact from the minister of planning: there are only 550 non-governmental organizations licensed by the Haitian government. And yes, Mission of Hope is one of them!
Elections
After such an intense election season in the US, I find myself feeling a bit lighter than expected about today - election day in Haiti. This election was to have taken place prior to former President Michel Martelly stepping down from power, but it didn't. The congress chose a temporary president, whose sole purpose was to make sure elections happened over the next 3 months – which, of course, they didn’t. Results from today’s voting will determine whether or not it’ll go to a final round.
Soulfest 2017
We are excited to have received confirmation this week from Soulfest that the mission’s band, Light of Hope, will indeed be performing again at this year’s festival. It also “just happened” to be that Lex was meeting with Mark Stuart (founding member and former lead singer of Audio Adrenaline) the next day. The meeting wasn’t about Soulfest, but of course we had to bring it up to him. He was excited about our plans so far and had some encouragement and advice for us.
The mission will again be a ministry partner with a tent at Soulfest and be reaching out to young people to get involved in missions. If you are from the New England area and would like to help with preparations or are planning to be at Soulfest and would like to help work at our tent, please contact me. Thank you.
Strength of Heart
I want to share some more pictures of Tim and Shanda's ministry (Strength of Heart Ministries, Akron, OH) with you. These are among the folks that were given wheelchairs, mattresses, and/or food.
And here are a few pictures of them with the MOHI Education Cooperative students.
Thozin Church Service
We had a great service in Thozin this morning. Lex brought forth a message of encouragement for us. One thing he said that really stuck with me is, “It’s easy to go to church, but it can be difficult to serve God.” Following Jesus means denying myself (not doing/saying what I feel like) more than just Sunday morning. I am constantly faced with the choice of following His will or my own. My heart’s desire is, “Not my will, but Thine.”
Fund Raiser in Marblehead, MA
Clifton Lutheran Church held a fundraiser for MOHI yesterday. We are so thrilled that they took this upon themselves to do and trust more victims from Hurricane Matthew will have basic needs met because of it. Our daughter, Alexis, had a last minute schedule change and was able to be a part of the event. Lex and I are so proud of the outstanding way in which she represented MOHI and the wonderful feedback we received about her unplanned presentation.
Need in the Medical Ministry
As we move forward into another week of reaching out to Port Salut, we want to let you know of a specific need. We used medications from our clinic stock to reach out to the people of Port Salut, Port-a-Piment, and Roche-a-Bateau and we now are short for the next 3-month period. We give away about $2000 worth of medicine each month (including 4 outreaches in areas from 5-30 miles from MOHI). Many of these are purchased at wholesale cost. In order to restock our shelves and continue reaching out with medical aid in the southwest, we need double that amount for the next 3 months. If you or someone you know would like to reach out to others with medical help, please consider making a donation and sharing this need with others. This is an immediate need. If you need any additional information about this, please contact Angie Shepherd, the director of the medical ministry here at MOHI at medministry@gmail.com. Thank you!
Thanksgiving 2016
Although Thanksgiving is not celebrated nationally in Haiti, there are pockets of expats throughout the country that will be celebrating – ourselves included. I’m so excited this year to have our MOHI Education Cooperative students share some Thanksgiving theatrics during dinner.
Yesterday Edna and I began preparing some dishes for the festivities. Today Alicia and Angie are working on some cookies that will stay fresh in the freezer, because we only have so much oven room. Right?
I’ve had the opportunity to listen to several “Be Thankful” messages this week. I do believe there is wonderful power in being thankful. Once again, I want to express my thankfulness to each of you who read this blog – to each of you who pray for us – to each of you who support MOHI and the people of Haiti. Thank you!!! And from our MOHI family to yours, may you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this week.
