Zanmi Mwen (my friend)

This is my good friend Addison. He is my right hand man in all the work we do here in Haiti. We have become very close as we have worked together the last couple of years. It has been very hard to build relationships here as most people can only see me as a means of provision. It is very different with Addison and I. We talk for hours sometimes about life, God and our families. It is good to have a real friend here. Most of my days I don't speak much english and it sometimes can make me feel more distant from home, but many times over, Addison has been my confidant when things get tough. I eat at his house everyday, play with his four kids and talk with his wife, it makes it a bit easier when I start missing home. I am sure many of you read the blog I wrote after the little boy had died. That was a rough day and Addison saw what I was going through. Even though culturally we don't deal with stuff like this in the same way he was sensitive enough to know I wasn't doing that good. The following day he called me and asked me to go to a soccer match with him because he knew I needed sometime away from what I was dealing with. It may seem like a small thing, but it was huge to me and spoke volumes about his care for me. We continue as friends, sometimes we get mad at each other or have misunderstandings, but thats friendship. I thank God for bringing us together in relationship and I know that we will continue to care for and challenge one another.

Thanks for all you do,

Brian

Noel

We built this house for Noel, a widow that has her grandson living with her. Previously she had lived in a mud hut that had a a tin roof full of holes so she couldn't stay there when it rained. I used to see her every morning as she sold corn and spicy corn broth every morning on the bridge where I sit and talk to friends. She was always very friendly but not very talkative. One day I purchased some breakfast from her and from then we began to talk a bit more. I suppose when she saw that I would eat her cooking she warmed up to me a bit. Only after a few weeks of being better acquainted did she feel the freedom to share her situation and ask for help. This is very refreshing as normally people ask me for money before they even greet me.

I recently had an opportunity to share with Covenant Family Church in Omaha. They blessed us with a financial gift and we were able to use this money to build a dry safe and secure dwelling for Noel. As Noel and I continue as friends I learn from her quiet dignity and hope that I can treat her with the the same respect she has treated me. Thanks to all for your love and support. Please continue to give and pray as we work together to spread His love.

Brian

Still working

The housing project continues to move along. We now have 15 foundations in walls up on 3 houses and the roof started on one. I return to the states on Feb. 4th and hope to have finished 12 houses by then. While here I have continued to do Rapid Response work. We have built a house for an elderly widow, helped a man start a motorcycle taxi business, and helped many with daily needs. I will get some pictures up and share some stories later this week. Thanks for staying connected. Sorry the blogs haven't been very frequent. I'll try to make up for it this week.

Brian

Progress

I have been back in Haiti for about a week we are building 50 houses with a grant from Cross International. Things are going well construction wise. We are moving along fairly quickly. We got 5 foundations put in this week. We will begin pouring the floors on Monday and hopefully have the walls poured on a couple houses by the end of the week.

The houses are 10ft. x 20ft. with 2 doors and 2 windows. They will have poured concrete walls with metal roofs. We are building them in 8 house complexes. All the houses face the center of what will eventually be a gathering area for the neighborhood. If we have enough money in the budget we hope to provide water and some electrical power to each house grouping.

We also distributed food to about 50 elderly in the neighborhood. Addison my good friend and coworker who some of you have met on your trips here has a passion to help the elderly so for the last 2 1/2 months he has been giving them about a 15 day supply of unprepared food. He had begun helping a few older people on his own before he even asked me to help financially. Needless to say he doesn't have a lot himself and he is trying to provide for his wife four children and an orphan he recently took in. I am excited to be joining him in the passion the Lord has given him. The orphan is the girl whose brother I wrote about in the last blog.

It has been an encouraging week seeing a lot of work being done and seeing God's hope beginning to settle in here in Jubilee.

As always thanks for your continued prayer and financial support.

Happy New Year,

Brian