With Three Kids on Every Arm…

Our day yesterday in a nutshell…

- Working on the house… It’s been so encouraging to see the house come together each day and to be blessed with a chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a tangible way.

- Facilitating a VBS and helping with a feeding program for kids from Renados, another neighborhood here in Gonaives… Hilarious, in a word. Pray that the Lord would continue to open hearts to what he would say and how he would move. Pray that the VBS would be a help in continuing the ministry started by the missionary family there.

- Playing with kids in Jubilee… It’s no exaggeration to say that most of the time, each of us has at least three kids attached to us in some way. We spend our days surrounded by kids. Smiling. Beautiful. Games and basic language lessons offer endless entertainment, opening doors to share the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ. Love. Yet, in the face of face-splitting grins, many of us find ourselves wrestling with difficult questions about ‘why’, working to trust in the grace, justice, and sovereignty of a God who knows his children by name. The words of Psalm 46:10 remind us to “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in all the earth.”

And for those of you who are wondering about the situation with the baby, here’s an update (and a full story)… Laura Lynn, a missionary who is a nurse and teaches at the school in Jubilee (the neighborhood in which we’ve been working), runs a Mamba program for malnourished children. One child in particular, Youvendjy, hadn’t been doing well at all and was not being cared for well by his mother (who is mentally ill). He is 2 ½ years old, but weighs as much as an 8 month old should, which has slowed his development considerably. Laura Lynn (Lala) had been working with the mom to see that Youvendjy got the nutrition and care he needed, which eventually led to him being with Lala for parts/all of the day. Eventually, it was decided that Youvendjy needed to go to an orphanage in Port au Prince (hopefully for a short time) that specializes in caring for malnourished and very ill kids (the missionaries here in Gonaives have connections with the missionaries running the orphanage). Because the mother is not well, this meant she went back and forth between agreeing that this should happen and being very, very upset about it; so much so that the police came to the house one night insisting that the baby be returned to the mother (which was a reversal of what the mother had given permission for earlier). But one of the beautiful things about our Father is that God is so faithful and worked the situation out for his glory – and in ways that make it possible for Youvendjy to get the care he needs. Through a meeting with one of the City Commissioners in Gonaives and the willingness of neighbors from Jubilee to act as witnesses, the Lord opened a door that will let Youvendjy to go to Port au Prince for now. The commissioner is from Jubilee, is a Christian, and has told Lala that he’s willing to be involved in the process for the long run, all of which are huge blessings. Tomorrow, Lala, her sister Casey (who is here visiting), and Youvendjy are headed to Port au Prince. From Port au Prince, Laura Lynn and Casey will head home for three weeks and Youvendjy will go to the orphanage. God is good, no?

Second day...not a second too late...

So for the second day of our journey...we started out with a nice breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs made by Joe and Tammy, our local missionaries from Georgia. Once we ate, we headed out to our different projects. Bryan, Chad, Olin, Angie, Andrea, and I headed out to build a cinder block house for a widow and her five children while our teachers Sarah, Julia & Heidi gathered their supplies for school. After getting their supplies together, they came out to where we were building the house. The house & the school are close to one another in Jubilee. Lala, or Laura Lynn (another missionary & teacher), gathered the younger kids around to play games out in front of the house we were building. After they had played games for a bit, Lala, Heidi, Sarah, & Julia took the older children (4th & 5th graders) to the school to teach them basic English vocabulary. These were the kids who couldn't continue going to the local school for one reason or another. While our teachers were off teaching, the rest of the team helped build the house for the widow. It was rough having only basic tools at our disposal, but it was good to have a practical way to serve & make a difference. The best part though was the break time where we got to hang out with the kids in the shade, play soccer with the boys, and and learn to spin tops, too. We also got to meet the widow and play with her five children. By late afternoon we had helped the Haitian work crew led by Adison & Dieukiby (pronounced Jackie-bye) put up four walls of the house. We also cleaned up the yard around the house with the help of the kids that were around. Going into the evening, we had supper and then devotion time. During that time, the situation regarding Youvendjy, the little boy mentioned in the previous post, really started to hit home. The mother showed up with the police to take back her child. Lala had been taking care of him because he was malnourished & sick and because the mother wasn't going to take care of him & had actually threatened to harm him. This little boy has been on our hearts, so please be praying with us for the health and welfare of Youvendjy. Tomorrow Lala goes to court to appeal for this child's well-being. If the appeal fails, he will stay with his mom and could die of malnutrition, pnenomia, or potentially by the neglect & abuse of his mother. Please continue to pray for this situation and for the rest of the work going on here in Haiti.

Daniel

P.S. Sorry that I didn't get a chance to post this blog last night. The situation that developed with Youvendjy lasted late into the night. Also, the Internet has been slow & intermittent at best during the day...

We're Here!

Well, we've made it to Gonaives! Saturday night we had a nice group dinner at a Diner in Ft. Lauderdale, then headed early to bed for a 4:30am appointment with the shuttle bus to the airport. Port-au-Prince was a study in contrasts - stepping off a shiny new plane into the airport, where half the building had been condemned due to the quake. Customs was in a former hanger a short busride down the tarmac - it had been hastily converted to replace the terminal. One team member got sent to the back of the line, but other than that it went pretty smoothly. It took awhile to get our rentals, but soon Brian had us on our way up the recently repaved road to the North. For lunch we stopped in St. Marks where we ran into some folks from YWAM that were working there. Somewhere beyond St. Marks, the pavement ended, and the potholes greatly increased. Mopeds, container trucks, and pickups packed with people all vied for space. The scenery got prettier though as we first came along the shoreline, then over some mountains, and finally past the many rice fields and banana plantations where the same water that filled the rice paddies came up between the houses. After arriving in town and settling in at our new home away from home, we headed down to Jubilee to meet some of the people we'll be serving with. As soon as we pulled up, hoardes of kids swarmed us, and we plunged right into playing with them, all hundred or so at the same time. We know that God incredibly values each life, but it is not without some heartache that we walk into this world down here - for many of these kids, its not just about a game or some attention, but many are in life and death situations. It may be easy for some of us to take for granted loving parents, but imagine if you were a kid with a serious but curable illness, and your mom didn't want you or wouldn't take you to the doctor. It's everyday that things are happening like this. One little boy in particular is on our minds. Tomorrow we'll head down and get started on our projects. We want to spread love and hope. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Remember the kids down here.

Blessings, Olin.

Preparations

I've been back in Haiti for a few days now. It always feels like home to me. I am preparing now for our team to arrive we will be helping to build a house for a single mother with 4 children. We have already put in the foundation and when the team arrives we will begin setting block for the walls. I am looking forward to the team meeting this family and sharing time together with them. We hopefully will be updating the blog daily with pictures although the Internet has been spotty. thanks for all of your continued support for our work here in Haiti.

Brian

Hope!

The above picture is the family of Mr. Raheem Shah. We are building our project home for this family. Raheem Shah was seriously injured in the earthquake of 2005 and became crippled for the rest of his life.
The construction of home is in final stages as you can see in the pictures.


The family of Raheem is very excited about the new home you can see the hope on Raheem face in the pictures below.

I am going back to Pakistan on June 15 and oversee the projects activities and will develop reports for higher management of ORR. We are also working in education and skill development for the poor women in the project area.
In our embroidery center 24 female are getting skills and we are helping to educate 230 female student in our project school.

I will make assessment of our fruit trees plantation of this year and will study more for introducing the honey beehives in the areas where our fruit trees are producing fruits.
The honey bees help in the pollination process and as a result make vital effect on the yields of fruits.

Waheed Alam
Director ORR Pakistan