First day of school at IFM 2012

This past week on Monday, marked the first day of school here at IFM. Here they are all lined up
 as both excitement and anxiety are in the air. This is a special day for them and considered a great priviledge!



Here is Pastor Volitaire the director of the school as well as the Pastor here. 

 

They file out to their classrooms 

Such sweetness with their little green check uniforms 

and white socks with black shoes.

Here is a link to our pictures from July and August.
https://picasaweb.google.com/102771674354323845206/PhotosInJulyAndAugust?authkey=Gv1sRgCKfc-ejbtP_neg

Lecòl in Haiti vs. school in America

In America it seems all children are given a chance to go to school. The government has made it available to pay for schooling so that all children can get an education.

I never thought it was a blessing when I had to do school.
Is it just because I took it for granted?
Yes, but that is not the case here in Haiti.

Here in Haiti it is a great privilege to be able to get an education. A lot of children here are sponsored by donors in America, and for some, their parents are able to pay their schooling. But, many do not have the opportunity to go to school at all.

Recently we had the privilege of going to the awards ceremony for the school here that IFM sponsors. It was inspiring to hear the children read, sing or offer something they wanted to share. ( of course we could not understand it all ) We could see in their faces and hear from their hearts that it is a privilege to be able to go to school.

As another school year begins, let us each take time to be thankful for the opportunities we have had and do have today to achieve an education. It is truly a blessing!

English class with the kids

We are doing an exciting ministry with some of the kids that hang out here at the mission. We are doing some English lessons with them and picking up a little more Creole in the process. We have a copy of "A Question of Yams" in both English and Creole. I read the Creole version and they read the English and we correct each other.

After reading we do some activities. Here we are doing a bucket brigade relay.

Last week, we went to watch a soccer match, the guys got all dressed up in their best, but we had the wrong day:(. They still had a fun time playing on the playground equipment.   

 

Aftermath of hurricane in Haiti

Live news from Fond Parisien. Haiti  9-10:30 a.m.

Here is our gardener moving limbs in a pile to make into charcoal for later.

The lake looks a little rougher than normal.

Here a tree fell on the pig pen, he is letting me know he is still okay. :)

Boga, one of our security guys is out cutting his claimed tree. 

Steven and Rylan are trying to cut this tree that fell on one of our picnic tables.

We then headed out for a drive this morning thru our town here.
This is in front of a church lot.

This is the main road.

So many roofs have come off of houses like this tin roof in the back. 

Pray for all the Haitians, especially the ones that don't have dry shelter like we do

and that they can experience the safety and peace thru Jesus!

 

Helping the widows...

Rylan and I were blessed last Friday to be able to help Shea put a roof on the house of a widow lady in our church. Her brother had built the house, but they did not have the money for a roof.

She has been living in this tent while the house was being built.

 

 

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. Proverbs 19:17
Seeing the appreciation from this dear lady was repayment enough.

His mercies are everlasting.........

When times of discouragment come, and no doubt they have. We also need to focus on the joy and thankfulness of our heavenly Father.
We rejoice because:
There have been some new converts baptized here.
Some of our staff members that were gone for a time of refreshing have arrived here safely.

Our family got to get away for a couple days for some time to relax.
He never forsakes us!

We appreciate all of you prayer warriors and never think for a moment that your prayers are not being answered, because they are. Their is a real battlefield here, and we could never do it without the power of the Holy Spirit.


Here is a link to some of our most recent pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102771674354323845206/PhotosInMayAndJune?authkey=Gv1sRgCOzq4K-glP2kCw


"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." Psalm 100

Field trip day

Last Friday our family took the 6th grade class from the IFM school on a field trip.

There was about 55 children and 3 teachers. Other than leaving 2 1/2 hrs. late and sitting in lots of traffic our day was fairly uneventful.We were impressed that the kids were well behaved as this would have been the first time for many of them to go into Port-Au-Prince.

Our first stop was to a large clothing factory where they make the Cinta uniforms for the States. (the only place we took pictures) They did a great job at accommodating us as they had us take our lunches to an air-conditioned meeting room. There they also served us pastries, cookies, and drinks. Many of the mothers of these children got up very early to prepare them a special lunch for this special day.

After that, we drove past the Palace and to a Haitian History museum. The museum was very interesting.

Our last stop was to an American-style grocery store. This was interesting to watch the kids and see what they chose to buy. For some it was fruit and for others cookies and cake. They are used to buying in the outdoor markets and little boutiques, so this was a new experience for most of them.

Here they are packed out in the lunch room

 

We had a great tour-guide that made our tour very interesting. Her Dad helped start this business.This was a good for the children to see a place with so much job opportunity here in Haiti.


Here is where they load the boxed products to the States. These ones were going to Wal-mart. And yes, Rylan got a Haitian-style haircut. :)