2022 has mostly been a year walking through dark valleys but we have also climbed a few mountains and feel God with us in all the highs and lows. A wise friend recently reminded that fruit isn’t produced on the mountaintop but in the valley. Valleys tend to induce anxiety and fear, but they also bring us closer to our Shepherd. It is comforting to be reminded that even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil; for God is with us. (Psalm 23:4a)
It has been another tough year for Haiti and our family as we continue to pray for peace and cling to hope. We are thankful that while it still seems there are no solutions on the horizon, we have the hope of Heaven and are continually reminded that this broken, waring world is not our true home. The Lord is our home. Our hope is that when we sit with others in their suffering, they will come to know the One Who suffered and died for them, to give them life, and eternal hope. We are thankful to update with some positive highlights from the past few months of fighting for hope with Haiti.
Students sponsored for school in Saint Marc, Haiti are continuing to receive lessons and tutoring three days per week along with food assistance while at class thanks to our donors who continue to support the ministry.
We are finally “Ansanm anko”! It has been wonderful to be “together again” in Haiti after multiple canceled trips or having to travel separately due to many factors the past year. Elisabeth and I have big smiles on our faces as we travel down our road to our Haiti life and ministry. All you see and read is accomplished because we have a God who loves and cares and God’s people love, care and invest in people around the world. It is a blessing and a privilege to partner with you in Haiti and around the world.
My prayer for this Haiti trip has been that my coming will be an encouragement to our Haitian ministry partners and the few expats and missionary friends still here who are unable to leave. Yet it is I who have been encouraged. Haitian ministry partners who have lived with our family in Haiti, that God gave us the privilege to mentor from young adulthood are now mature leaders ministering in their communities, “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord their labor is not in vain.” There is much fruit in the ministry because of the way they lead by example and love their neighbors. Our oldest daughter Elita and I have been visiting several Haitian families in our Kofael and school programs and checking on the progress of sponsored children at their various schools. We feel very safe in the area where we are currently but appreciate prayers for traveling mercies and protection as we travel the dangerous road back to and from Port au Prince. Armed gangs are still attempting to run the country of Haiti using fear tactics, violence, kidnappings, and road closures since the lack of government with the President’s assassination last year. We are taking every precaution and trusting our sovereign God as we continue to love and serve the people of Haiti.
As I look around, I see a lot of new construction even though gas stations and grocery stores have very little on the shelves.Life goes on and families build homes. Haitians first build a strong wall around their property before building the house. I see many new walls going up all over.I think of Psalm 48:13-14 and pray this over Haiti. “Take note of the fortified walls and tour all the citadels, that you may describe them to future generations. For that is what God is like. He is our God forever and ever, and he will guide us until we die. “
Upon arriving in Haiti, I was able to meet with KOFAEL directors Jovanie, Cyntia, and Roselie who live in the Port au Prince area.Thankful for these three who keep things running and personally minister to the KOFAEL Haiti ladies. I am thankful for the privilege of equipping and encouraging these faithful ministry leaders alongside our (still currently stateside) Haitian leaders Frantz and Julienne.Roselie traveled home with us as we needed her assistance with a few things and the meeting for the KOFAEL branch in Saint Marc she directs was scheduled for that week. We meet at the home of Figaro and his wife Nancy who assist KOFAEL meetings and facilitate the school sponsored kids program and tutoring center in the neighborhood. I am so thankful for how they serve their neighbors and work as unto the Lord even during the hardest seasons.KOFAEL women lining up to receive and pay their small business loans at the monthly meeting I was able to attend in March.Elita had a great time playing with the kids at the schools we were able to visit while checking on our mission’s sponsored kids.Roseland and Alimonika are sponsored for school through Heart of God Haiti. The majority of kids sponsored for school are thankfully in areas that have been able to stay open this school year. School=HOPE in the midst of continuous hardships.Elita and I were able to visit many families such as Elphina’s. Three of the families we visited have new additions since the last time I saw them!While visiting one of the schools to check on sponsored kids, a girl named Marie ran up to me squealing “Madam Eric!” She was very little when Eric helped get her to the hospital for an emergency tonsillectomy after she was brought to our door barely able to breathe. She used to be afraid of me because she thought I was responsible for the pain she felt after surgery when I insisted on bringing her liquid diet restrictions because her family was trying to force spaghetti and bean sauce as that’s all they had. She was all smiles when she saw me this time! Seeing Marie reminded me of the many stories like hers only the God Who Sees could orchestrate like a well full of water appearing in the desert.Markendale is another of those stories (along with his mom and brother). Because of the relationships built with his family that started with a surgery, we also get to watch little brother David grow up (I was given the privilege of naming him David and did so because he is the 8th boy born in this family)!Remember Ricardo? Many of our friends have prayed for the children I have shared about over the years who have severe hydrocephalus. Ricardo is a survivor and is now eight years old! It was so wonderful to see Ricardo and his mom Alicia at their home and visit his siblings who are sponsored at their schools.Then there are the ones that are hearts are heavy for always with groanings too deep for words. She is smiling here because she has a sweet bond with Elita, but please pray with us over precious “Da-da”. It was an answered prayer for Elita and I to find her home and to spend even a short time letting her know she is loved.The special highlight of my trip was seeing our god-daughter Elisabeth Erica who ran to me and surprisingly knew me as if I had seen her every day.My delightfully spunky and very verbal “Sabet Erica” insisted to everyone that she was leaving with me. So she joined the Saint Marc KOFAEL directors and I for lunch at a nearby restaurant. We had a first together when I got to show her how to use an actual flushing toilet and wash her hands with running water. She was very pleased with her herself, her gatorade, and the big meal she mostly saved to take back to her family.We were able to treat our dear friends Roselie and Genise (and her daughter) each to dinner and a night at a hotel. Since we had the unavoidable expense of booking a hotel for security reasons and covid testing coming in and out of Haiti, we decided to share the gift of fellowship and a good night’s sleep with our Haiti sisters.It always seems I’m scrounging for metal art to bring back at the last minute and dear O always delivers despite many obstacles and staying up all night to finish my order. He and his amazing artisan business partners have suffered unimaginable traumas and loss this past year. Here he is smiling for the picture but being with him felt like a room full of strangling grief. Perhaps you have a piece of metal art made by his hands? If so please pray for him and his artisan friends whenever you see that metal art. And if anyone wants to help me in encouraging and supporting him further, I still have some metal art I just brought back that I need to sell.Our friend and ministry partner was so proud to show me the progress on the home he is building for his family and future ministry. If the funding comes to help complete this home, we would eliminate the need for one of the buildings we currently have to renew rent on each year.I have watched this grandma work so hard for so many years to give future generations a chance. She is understandably weary as each day seems harder than the day before with no end in sight for her many children and grandchildren.The “kitchen” where several of our school sponsored kids cook their meals outside their one room homes. The rising prices of everything make it difficult to have the means to cook much at all. There is only so much we can do to help with continuous needs that are ever before us. I am thankful to trust the God Who Sees each need and is Our Provider.Roselie and Elita soaking in Haiti’s beauty after a day sitting with so much broken.After a long absence away, it was nice to see we are not forgotten. Even the goats remembered my voice and still wanted to walk with me! Someone recently asked what we do with the goats. Eric answered that I keep them as “trauma therapy” which was thought to be a joke at first. But it is no joke. There is hardly a day one can live in Haiti without acquiring more trauma. Goats in bowties that walk alongside you after a hard Haiti day helps lift the heavy. Those who live nearby tell me how much they look forward to seeing my goats that always bring a smile no matter how hard the day! I keep six special-to- me-goats as “smile” pets. New offspring are sold to keep the herd down to a manageable size and the sales money used to buy food for the pets. The same goes for our many rabbits!For those of you who follow Kanna-the goat who started it all- she is still kicking and loving life!Doesn’t seeing sweet Darlin’ make you smile?Haitian sunsets are the best and I didn’t want this one to end. But Lord willing, I won’t be gone as long this time as Eric and I plan to spend much of the summer in Haiti.I always look down and pray over the dangerous roads and millions of lives unable to cross to a safer place where there might exist a day without trauma.We hit the ground running the day after we came back with our Haitian coffee and metal art! Pictured is most of our stateside team at our April mission KOFAEL fundraiser. Now that Covid restrictions are lifting we are hoping to have at least one event or speaking engagement per month when we are not able to be in Haiti.
Thank you to everyone who has supported and prayed for us and for our dear Haiti. We are not permitted to give our travel details ahead of time and due to the shifting security situation, we have to be very flexible with plans. Therefore, updates will often happen after the fact. Please know that although there is sometimes a lack of public communication, we are still working and privately communicating with supporting churches, donors and sponsors. We love you and the privilege to pray for you too!
2022 has mostly been a year walking through dark valleys but we have also climbed a few mountains and feel God with us in all the highs and lows. A wise friend recently reminded that fruit isn’t produced on the mountaintop but in the valley. Valleys tend to induce anxiety and fear, but they also bring us closer to our Shepherd. It is comforting to be reminded that even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil; for God is with us. (Psalm 23:4a)
