A Christmas gift....

Would you like to be a part of a very special Christmas present for the IDADEE Orphanage???  We have had a couple of requests for things that might be a good idea for Christmas for the orphanage.  Instead of thinking of the individual children, or workers, we thought something that would last and benefit everyone would be good.  You could be a part of that in several ways.

You could:

                 Buy a CHICKEN for about $ 4.50 US.  (Chickens would mean eggs, and eventually chickens to cook.)

                Or  you could buy a GOAT for about $ 50 US.  (One male and one female would produce MORE goats.  Goats would mean milk and food...eventually).  

                Or, on a larger scale...a COW which would be about $ 250 US.  And there again, milk and eventually meat.  (and with a male and female, more cows).

Any of the above would be a blessing, and would make the orphanage more self sufficient in many ways.  It would also be a way to teach the children how to care for livestock, and how that can benefit the children themselves.  

These are just suggestions, but we know there are those who have asked and this is what we came up with.  Pray with us that the Lord will guide and direct anyone wishing to help in this area.  We want to move forward, and this is one way we can do that.  

We thank you for your concern for IDADEE and for the children we have taken in.  Please be in prayer for the daily workings of the orphanage and for the workers who are dealing with these children.  

As always, we pray God will bless YOU for your prayers on our behalf.   Thank you for being a part of our ministry of helping the helpless in Haiti.

The kids and work...

This is probably the fastest we have gotten on to post a second time.  But we wanted to share with you all the work that is going on now.  

First is the children, of course.  These are most of the kids sitting down, ready to eat.  Takes a lot to get all of them seated and ready to eat.  And, DO THEY EAT!!  No problem here getting them to eat.

And now the work site.  First is the depot/generator house.  Today they put the roof on it.  You can see it takes a lot of workers to get it done.  A couple mixing cement, some putting cement, sand, gravel, and some putting water, and then those who actually do the mixing.  Then...getting the cement up to the roof.  Don't think you would see this in the states.  All of those on ladders pass the 5 gallon buckets up (and of course, the fellow on the ground has to get it to the ladder, then catch the buckets they drop back down).  Then the crew up on the roof, doing the hauling, pouring, and the troweling, and then those who level it all off.  And you end up with a few....overseers...like the little guy there.  Takes a lot just to get the roof poured.  

 

 And the work on the chapel continues, too.  You can see the foundation, floor and offices are about done.  Now a metal roof will go on it.  

 

Keep us in prayer as we continue to work toward the completion of the vision given to us.  We can't do it without you behind us praying.  Thank you for being there for us and for the children.  We're praying for you, too!!

More children

Time has flown by, and many things are going on at the IDADEE compound.  Tomorrow we will finish putting the roof on the new depot.  This will also house our generator.  We needed the security for that.  We are so thankful to have gotten this finished.  

We have also started building the chapel on the compound.  The foundation is completed and we are hoping to get a roof on that soon, too.  We will not put walls around it.  It will be much cooler with it open to the air, but covered.  

We will try to send pictures of both of these projects in the next few days.  A lot of work has gone on and kept us busy.

We now have three new children.  We are putting photos here of them.  You will see two photos of each child.  The first is when they came...about 3 weeks ago.  And the second one is just yesterday.  There is a marked difference in their countenance.  We now have 17 children living with us.  It was to have been 19, but circumstances had us hold off on 2 of those.  

Here are the new children.  

 

 

 All of our kids are VERY active right now.  Keeps everyone at IDADEE running here and there and doing all sorts of jobs.  Keep us in prayer as we face constant situations that bring us to our knees.  

We do covet your prayers in all areas.  Not only IDADEE, but the whole of Haiti to see the moving of the Spirit of the Lord in all areas.  Pray for us and pray for the people here.  Thank you for your concern and prayers.

Three new kids

Another milestone today.  Yesterday, Vero and Smith went to Ti-Goave to pick up three more children.  We wanted to share their photos with you, so you can pray for them, and for us.

Kerby and Makinlove were both abandoned.  One mother was only 18 years old.  The other mother was 19.  Anderson was taken in because his mother has 7 children and cannot care for them.  She is also a very young mother.


Kerby is very sick and we are not sure we can keep him.  We think he may need more help than we can give him.

We also wanted to share a photo of the new doors on the orphanage.  Aren't they beautiful?

Please keep praying for IDADEE and for the Lord to guide and direct in all we do. 

The Children at IDADEE

We had promised to post some photos of the kids, and have finally gotten those taken.  They are not used to cameras and were not sure they wanted their photos taken.  

Here they are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children are listed with their birth dates.  You will notice that Claude has a question mark...we are not sure of his background or birthday.  We are guessing at his age.

A typical day is varied a lot.  Claude is the most challenging at this point.  He wakes very early, and wants someone to hold him constantly.  The rest of the children have many different "quirks".   But as with most 2 and 3 year olds, they are ACTIVE.  A gate has been made for the porch, so the children cannot fall down the steps.  With the huge porch, they have a lot of area to play.  All of the children, except Claude, nap in the afternoon.  Claude sleeps when he wants...no definite times for him.  

Their days consist of eating, playing, napping, bathing and sleeping.  At this age, with only a couple of house parents, it's difficult to take them to church.  But Vilbrun does spend time teaching them songs and Bible verses.  They are smart little tykes and just need the guidance to help them learn.  


We are praying for supporters for these children.  It's a huge responsibility, but these little ones would be without any help at all if we didn't take them in.  Please pray with us that the Lord will touch hearts to help these little ones.


We hope to send more photos soon.  The new doors are installed and helping a lot.  It's been so very hot here, and we are so thankful for the wonderful porch where the children can play without being in the scorching sun.  


Please keep IDADEE and all the children and staff in your prayers.  We are looking to the Lord for His help.  We pray your eyes are on Him, too.

Greetings from Haiti and IDADEE

It has been a LONG time since our last update.  A lot has happened and we will try to catch up with the doings and happenings at IDADEE.

Since the dedication we have taken in more children.  We now have 10 children.  One of the children we did have was taken back home by her mother.  That was Magdarlie Jean.  It was a sad situation, and she did not want to leave.  All we can do now is to pray for her and her family.  We will update with photos of all the children within the week.  We've had a real "interesting" time getting the photos.  (Have you ever tried to coral nine two year olds, and one infant?) 

Many things are progressing at the compound.  We have started the building to house the chapel.  The following photos are of the initial work being done.

 

 

For the 2 days before the annual Kids Fest, we did evangelism in the surrounding area.  We had 39 adults come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  What a great blessing for us as well as them, to welcome them into the Kingdom of God.

The next big thing is the Kids Fest held in August.  We had 530 children who came.  We had 70 leaders and teachers to help with all of the activities.   Close to 60 children made a decision to accept the Lord.  Each day we fed all of the children and workers.  The following photos show some of the excitement from the week.

 

 

 

 As you can see, we've been busy...building, caring for children, evangelism and Kids Fest.  Please keep IDADEE, it's children, the workers and the committee in your prayers.  The Lord has given us a huge responsibility and we need your prayers to help us adhere to His ways and guidance.  


Until next time, remember to keep all of Haiti in your prayers.  The needs are so great and the people so hurting.  We know the answer to the problems is the Lord.  He may not take all the suffering away, but He will walk with those who know Him and listen to Him.

Matthew 18: 5  "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes me."

The Dedication was AWESOME

We are sorry this update is so late, but unavoidable circumstances prevented posting.

The Dedication was really a huge success.  We estimate that over 1,000 people attended.  It was a day of rejoicing and praising God for all He has done for us.  And we praise God for those who helped this event become a reality.  

We now have 9 children.  Eight of those being between 2 and 2 1/2 years old.  The newest is only 2 or 3 months...we aren't positive yet as to his age.  God is bringing those to us who need our help.  We do ask that you pray with us for the Lord to help and supply all the needs IDADEE will have in the near future.

We have just a few photos to share with you.  God was definitely with us as our day progressed.  It was a day of shared joy and praise.  The first photo is the committee of IDADEE.  Through prayer and dedication, all of this was accomplished through their work.

 Remy and Vero were on their way from the orphanage to the "Tent Meeting". 

 You can see just a few of the many, many people who came to celebrate with us.

 

 A "long" view of the celebration and the attendees.  The weather was great, with balmy breezes and the temperatures were great, too.

 Thank you for being a part of this with us, through prayers, support and encouragement.  We will try and post some photos of the children in the near future!!  May the Lord bless and keep you.

We are growing

Greetings in the Name of the Lord!

We have been very busy and getting so much accomplished.  Where to start?  Well, the best place to start is with our new orphans.  You have seen a photo of Emmanuella.  She was our first.  Then, we received our first boy.  His name is Ephraim.  He is a bit different from Emmanuella.  He is very outgoing and smiles a lot.  He is two years old.  His being there and being such an active little fellow, has drawn Emmanuella out and she is becoming an active, happy child now.  And now, just yesterday, we received a 2 ½  year old little girl.  She is still very shy and hasn't spoken yet.  Her name is Ammonia (not real sure of the spelling yet, but that is how it is pronounced.)  We have taken some photos of the kids.  

Here is Ephraim.  You can see what a happy child he is.

 And then there is Ammonia.  She was still a bit frightened when we took these photos.  

 But, kids will be kids.  You can see how interacting with each other changes demeanor.  They will be a great group.

 We did go today to pick up another child.  It was  a little 6 month old boy.  But he has aids, so we could not take him. He is in the hospital.  Please pray for these children who are abandoned and have no one to care for them.   

We do ask you to pray for several things now.  As we take in children, pray that the Lord will be with us in these decisions and that He will bring the children He wants to our attention.  And pray for the workers at IDADEE that they can adjust as quickly as the children seem to be doing.  These little lives are a huge responsibility for them.  They do have the love to share with the children.

 Our next prayer request centers on an upcoming event.  We will be having our dedication of the orphanage and the compound on April 10th.  We are including the invitation here.  Shannon did a great job of getting it set up and printed.  So, if you can, come for this event.  We are excited and praying for God to bless all who come to share with us.

Keep in touch, and email or write to either Remy or Vero and let us know how we can pray for you, too. 

Greetings from Haiti

Sorry for the long delay in posting, but a lot has happened in the last few months.  We have a lot to report, so sit down, and relax...we'll share it all.

First, we want to show you how far the building has come.  It has even improved since these photos, so we'll have to update again with more photos.  But for now...the roof is on, which we showed you before.  But the front of the building has taken on a new look.  And the interior has also improved a lot.  

You can see the porch is near completion.  And we have a walkway and have started some night blooming jasmine to border the walk.  These are just superficial things, compared to the rest.

We have our house parents in place...Vilbrun and Wangelie Martin.  They were married in December and moved up from Port au Prince to the IDADEE compound.  We also have Sainvil and Lea Volmyr as caretakers and cook.  We have a photo of Vilbrun and Wangelie but not Sainvil and Lea...that will come in the next post. 

As you can see here, the kitchen is will on the way to completion thanks to work teams and money donated for the project.  Things really are moving along well.  

 In fact...we are planning to have our official dedication for the whole IDADEE complex and children's home on April 10th, 2011.  We will be posting more on that in the very near future.  But we would appreciate your prayers for all of these things.  We are totally depending on the Lord to help us with the financial end of things.  For the workers and for the children....OH...we have our FIRST child.  She arrived yesterday.  Her name is Emmanuella Valmyr. She was born June 7th, 2008.  She does have parents and one sister, but the home situation is so very poor, the family has no way to care for her.  So we do ask for prayers for Emmanuella and for her family, but also for our staff as they have started the long awaited project of helping the poorest of the poor.

  The next post will also include information on how you can help, through prayers, and through support in various ways.  Please keep praying.