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.
The start of school has been delayed for months due to the fuel blockages and gang threats awaiting the prime minister’s resignation in order to allow school to resume. However, there are some schools operating and the majority of schools where students sponsored through our mission are located, finally opened in November. Elisabeth had been working to raise the school sponsorship funding for dozens of children but stalled that process with the stalling of school until last month. David (pictured) is one little boy who would like to start school. He lives in an area where school is now open. David is one among several others still in need of a school sponsor for the 2022-2023 school year. Would you like to help grow hope for David’s future or another student in need by providing a school sponsorship? Continue reading and find the dedicated school sponorship link below.Parents of approved school sponsored students and student recipients over age eighteen attending the contract agreement meeting in August. School was expected to begin in early September.Every parent or adult age student was in attendance! Children receiving an education is one of the biggest ways we can fight the war on hope! Families line up to receive this hope!New life always brings hope! Congratulations to our School Sponsorship Directors Figaro and Nancy on the birth of sweet Lydia Clara!Countrywide lack of fuel makes it next to impossible for our KOFAEL ladies to get to the monthly meetings these days, but eight braved the roads and high travel cost to be together at last month’s meeting in Port au Prince. They shared a time of testimony of how God is providing during these exceedingly difficult times. Being together brought smiles of hope!There are days when we are exceedingly sad that being in Haiti is not possible as much as we hope. And then, there are days when God gives us a glimpse of HIs much bigger plan for why we are often grounded in Texas for such a time as this. We receive calls and messages almost weekly from former Haiti missionaries and expat friends, Haitian friends, Haitian strangers, churches that have Haitians appear at their door and need translation and guidance in how to help, and even our Haitian neighbors we spent years living and doing life with next door! One morning in October, Elisabeth received a call from a good friend and former neighbor in Haiti. He knew we were in Texas and asked if we lived close enough to Dallas, Texas to be able to assist another former neighbor friend in desperate need. We told him we were four hours from Dallas and could not possibly drive there in time to help with the needed request. Then Eric called a friend who works at the airport and he was able to get Eric on a flight (via his employee perks) to Dallas within the hour. The only way for Eric to get to our friend Mano was to be on the inside of security on an incoming flight. The only information he had to go off of was the flight Mano was scheduled to depart on later that evening. Eric was able to get to that gate and look for him. You see, Mano had been working in the Dominican Republic for several months, got on a boat to Puerto Rico, was arrested and then released and put on a plane that ended up in Dallas. He speaks only a few words of English, had no phone, no credit card, less than $20 cash, had not eaten in days, had just the clothes on his back, had not been able to talk to his family in Haiti in over two weeks, and had no idea what was happening next. This is a friend who had a good job in Haiti with his own welding business and worked at the shipping container yard. Mano helped get three cars we shipped to Haiti out of customs safely, made all our window security bars and gates at our previous two houses and often sat outside guarding our house when we lived next to him. When we say things are very hard in Haiti, it is because we personally know people like Mano who can no longer work there to support their families and will do anything to find a way to do that again. Eric approached the gate and saw a large black man with his head down and hoped and prayed it was Mano before he said in a loud voice in the Creole language, “Sir, you need to come with me now.” Startled and a bit frightened, Mano jumped up and it took about five seconds for him to register he was staring at this buddy Eric. Relief flooded over him as well as Eric and they embraced joyfully. Eric’s childhood best friend Jeremey (who lives in the area) sacrificed his moving day to come pick them up at the airport, take them to eat, to Sam’s and Wal-Mart where they purchased a phone, clothes, and other necessities for Mano (who had not only never been to America but had never set foot in such large and plentiful stores as these so it was quite the experience)! Mano was able to call his family in Haiti and they and other Haiti neighbors rejoiced with us that he was able to connect with Eric. When it was time for Mano and Eric to head back to the airport, Eric was able to help Mano with some difficult security situations he had no way of understanding in English. Because Eric had a flight out after Mano, he was able to escort him all the way to his gate where Mano had a straight flight to FL where his relative was waiting to greet him. It is days like this that we thank God we are in Texas for such a time as this. This day would not have been possible without the body of Christ coming together quickly to meet needs. Eric has shared Christ with Mano many times over the past ten years and Mano is not yet a believer. We hope that the miracle and kindness of this day has planted yet another seed that will one day lead Mano to put his faith and trust in Jesus, our only Hope!Another reason we know God has us in Texas (and yet still hilariously on a Haiti compound) is because of this dear family. The Osiers came to us in December 2020 for what we expected to be a three week visit, and they are still here due to the continued extreme difficulties in Haiti. The Osiers are able to stay on both approved political asylum and temporary protection status. After nearly two years, we are so thankful they were finally able to receive legal work visas and now both have their Texas driver’s license as well! Their two daughter’s Jo and Hannah attend a private Christian school with our son Evan. The school helps them financially with tuition and has been a wonderful help to the girl’s transition. They are pictured in front of the Honey House that we (and other volunteers) worked very hard to turn into a home for them this past year. We are so thankful they are safe and have made so much progress in the past few months! We expect they will be with us at least another year. We all still work remotely for the ministry of Kofael, Haiti to encourage and equip those still on the ground. It has been a difficult and discouraging year fighting for hope on that front and we covet your continued prayers and support as the stories we hear daily are extremely hard, and we often feel helpless, but never hopeless.
Thank you to all of you who have directly or indirectly fought with us to bring hope to our dear Haiti this past year.
Romans 15:13 ~ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Romans 12:12 ~ Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Hebrews 11:1 ~ Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Romans 8:24-25 ~ For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Our Hope is in Christ Alone,
Eric and Elisabeth Ream
If you would like to give a year end donation to Heart of God Haiti (which funds and oversees all the ministries and us as missionaries), KOFAEL Haiti, (the women’s small business loan and family preservation ministry), sponsor a Haitian student or give to the Ream Team to help us personally continue to travel and minister to Haitians both in Haiti and in the U.S., here are the following specific links to do so.
