Have you signed up? Run, walk, push a stroller to help us establish a medical clinic in Haiti. September 26, in Kirkwood, MO or wherever you are with our International option. HOPE5K.org

In our last newsletter, we talked about major changes in the direction of our work here in Haiti. We spoke about transitioning our focus from orphan care to orphan prevention. We expressed a growing discomfort we felt upon realizing that many of the children in Haiti's orphanages have families. We decided to refocus our project on working directly with vulnerable families and communities. We committed to trying to keep families together; the prevention of both actual and “economic” orphans. We are doing this through several projects, which we believe support vulnerable families and are important aspects of a healthy community. We are excited about the developments of the last several months and look forward to sharing with you the work that is ahead. Thank you for your financial support and prayers. Your continued involvement is key to our success moving forward. You can DONATE HERE to support our ministry in Haiti.

We have two very exciting developments, which have us back on schedule for the clinic. First, through a friendship we have developed with another ministry here in Gonaives, we have been offered the use of a clinic built inside of a 40' shipping container. The trailer has been completely outfitted with a generator, two exam rooms, and bathroom. This is a huge blessing!  Furthermore, Jonas and Berlange have allowed us to park the clinic on a corner of the property here at Paradise Village for one year. This allows us to get underway without having to rent, buy or build a permanent location.

The second important development is the hiring of a doctor. We had several qualifying factors, which were making it very difficult. We were looking for a Haitian doctor who has a heart for the poor, a focus on health education and the vision and leadership to work alongside Americans to develop this project. God led us to Dr. Mima through a mutual friend. Dr. Mima has worked with us at several mobile clinics over the summer and we realized quickly that we wanted to work with her. We particularly noted the time she took with her patients, the way she explained herself to them and her caution in prescribing medication. The clinic arrives in mid-September and Dr. Mima begins mid-October with the goal of having the clinic open by November 1st!

Beginning this school year we have committed to sponsor 20 children from 5 families and 7 schools. The criteria for a sponsorship includes being a member of a poor and vulnerable family: single moms, widows or families taking care of other peoples children (orphans). All of the families we are working with have at least one adult who is working in some fashion to provide for the family. This is important because without a working adult, aiding a family with school is not in fact helping free up income for food and other necessities, but rather it is removing one of the motivations to work. These 20 children represent the whole spectrum listed above and are from families with which we are already in relationship. Many of these families are constantly in the situation of choosing to pay for their children's school, uniform and books... or eat. By providing this assistance and maintaining regular family visits we hope to stabilize the family and impact the next generation.

While we are excited about the sponsorship program, reaching 20 kids and 5 families barely touches the desperation that exists in the community surrounding Paradise Village. As we discussed this reality with Volcy we decided to add a kid's program on Saturday mornings. Volcy has a deep love for children and developed a program like this in his hometown. Many of the children in our area subsist on one meal a day, some days no meal. On Saturday August 29th we fed 134 local children and provided them an opportunity to have fun, play games and be exposed to the gospel. The program will resume in October when Volcy returns from his first trip to the States. The employment of three local women to cook for the program is another way we are reaching our goal to help vulnerable families.

Both the kid's program, as well as a soccer team we are starting for the older boys this fall, help us make inroads into the community as we seek to develop deeper relationships and meet more families that meet the criteria for our sponsorship program.

Up to this point we have made several small forays into this realm, on a strictly individual basis to create income opportunities for people. This however is a huge need in a country with monstrous levels of unemployment. Economic development is a challenge for many reasons: Haiti's poor infrastructure, extremely low average income and dependency on imports to name a few.

Through a partnership with Friendship Church in Centralia, Missouri, we hope to begin our first major economic initiative in the new year. The goal is to begin an egg production business, selling wholesale to other organizations here in Gonaives, and also selling eggs in the traditional way “employing” local women to sell in the markets of Gonaives. The details are not currently established, but Friendship Church is sending an assessment team in November, which will include four farmers, their Pastor and a young business school graduate, Holden Meyers, who—should the assessment findings appear favorable—will move here in January to help run the project. We are really excited about this partnership and what we will learn going forward. We promise to keep you all up-to-date as the project unfolds.

Four teams visited us over the summer, most of which focused on medical care. We had our largest and longest group to date, a team from Medical Campus Outreach, a ministry of First Pres in Augusta, Georgia. This group of 40 was with us for two weeks in June and we look forward to seeing them again as we explore an ongoing partnership with them. We had several other groups including one from one of our supporting churches, Twin Oaks Presbyterian, who also ran a very successful art camp. We continue to offer medical support to two Global orphanages and their communities: Desiré and Marmelade, as well as, Northern Friends of Haiti's mission in La Coupe. We were also grateful last month to have the opportunity to spend time with the kids at Village de Vie when a visiting team was here. We have one remaining trip for 2015. CLICK HERE to sign-up for the October 2015 trip or one of our 2016 trips.

The team here on the ground is doing well and have enjoyed the quicker pace of the last several months as we plan and execute our new direction. Our days have been filled with meetings and phone calls, as well as time online—we love having internet that actually works. Micah, Chloe and Jude continue to adjust and are all speaking Creole incredibly well. After a short summer break they have returned to school entering grades 2nd, 5th and 7th   after each graduating first in their class.

Volcy and his family are doing well, even as Volcy works hard and a lot! Their children are growing up and enjoying living at Paradise Village.

One of the most encouraging developments for the whole team has been growing relationships with some of the other missionaries and ex-pats at work in the greater Gonaives area. There are not many of us and we feel like we are being accepted into the network of people working here. As you can imagine it has been fun to meet new friends, share meals and have a little taste of our old “normal” right here in Gonaives.

Finally, as many of you already know from Facebook, Moses is coming along well after his eye injury. We have often talked about the fact that nothing we have experienced thus far has driven home the depth of the medical need here in Gonaives more deeply than having to sit with Moses all night; bleeding, swollen and in tremendous pain with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Talk about a helpless feeling!  However, God has been faithful and we remain incredibly grateful for all of the prayers and support for him over the last couple of months. We praise God for the care of Father James, a Korean ophthalmologist, who performed the surgery and has provided great care to Moses in Port au Prince. While Moses no longer needs his eye patch—and is very happy about it—the healing continues and we are waiting to see how much his vision has been affected.

PRAYER:
-We thank God for the way our new projects are coming together and pray for guidance as we learn and adjust on the fly
-We praise God for Volcy, Romy, Marie-Lourde and for our latest employee, Dr. Mima
-We are grateful for the use of the mobile clinic
-Pray for safety as we travel to the Dominican in September, as our visitor's visas require renewal 
-Pray for Luke and Julie as they have applied for a visa that allows them to stay in Haiti for a year at a time; it comes with many benefits, but the process is convoluted
-Please pray for our patience and humility with some of the ongoing difficulties we all have from time to time adjusting to the culture, pace and climate of Haiti—it is really hot every day right now!
-Please continue to pray for Moses' vision and healing
-Please pray for our partnership with Friendship Church and the assessment team coming in November
-Pray for funds as project growth and budget growth go hand in hand

You can CLICK HERE to see this on our website