Keep updated with the progress of our ministry in Haiti.
We wanted to post some pictures so you can see all the great things happening at IDADEE. Even with the rains, building continues. So we wanted to share these with you.
Let's start with the gym. It's been there a while, but the kids enjoy it, so we wanted to let you see it, too.
The chapel is so nice and airy... if there were walls all around, it would be hot, but this way they can get a breeze and still hear God's word!
This is the gazebo, that a team put up for us.
And now the guest house. The view from up here is really great. And breezes come all the time. It's growing fast. It will have 8 bedrooms with 4 beds in each one.
Then there are some of the kids.... Trying to get a picture of the kids is a REAL challenge. Sort of like taking a picture of a tornado. Always on the move, never stopping.
Makinlove
Kerby
Ephriam
Wakenson
Jhon Peter
Dieulene
Ruth
Amy
Loveka
Emmanuela
The kids love school. They have a lot of fun and are enjoying learning... well, all but one. Lovensky is a challenge. But he'll work into it soon, we hope.
I hope you enjoyed the photos. We'll try to keep posting more as they are taken.
Keep IDADEE in prayer, along with all of northern Haiti. These rains are causing so many problems. Pray with us that it will stop for a while and give the ground a chance to dry a bit. Keep praying all of the kids and staff at IDADEE. Living in Haiti is a challenge, but doing it with 24 kids with the raising cost of food is a HUGE challenge. (We have one new one, soon to be posted on here).
Blessings to everyone. We hope to see you soon.
Greetings again!
Trying to catch up on some news here for everyone. We will try to keep posting photos as we can, but wanted to share what we have so far.
First, our guests house... the first one is when they put in the foundation. The second one is just two days ago... they are doing a great job on that. Isn't the view something? You can see the orphanage just below, that's the roof of the building on the left. From this point, (in the second photo) you can see the bay where Christopher Columbus originally landed, but decided it wasn't safe enough to stay. He missed out on a great area, didn't he? The breeze up here is fantastic. And with Haiti being HOT most of the year, this is great. A wind generator would be a real plus in this location.
Next are the kiddos. Actually this is the school kids, at work. We have 2 classrooms right now and the kids are learning fast. Pray for our teachers and the kids as they work toward their goal.
Now the kids that we did take pictures of...
Ester
Jhon Peter
Makenlove
Lovensky
Vladimyr
We will post again soon with more pictures to show you what is happening at IDADEE. Please keep us in prayer as we try to follow the Lord in the way He wants us to go.
Saying we are busy is no excuse, but it really IS our excuse. With 24 children, only 3 moms, and few other workers, it's really hectic trying to keep up with things. Plus we have started school, had the edges of a hurricane and LOTS of rain.
We started school with 14 of the children. We have 3 teachers who have taught before. Most of the kids like school, but of course we have one who does not like it AT ALL. We are teaching in French right now. We will also teach English to the children. If we start now, they will be able to grasp languages much easier. They are learning to do letters, sounds of letters and different shapes. They have Bible every day. They color. They are starting to learn how to count. There is more that we work into their lessons, just as I'm sure you do in the states.
It was VERY dry and we lost many of our crops we had planted. We prayed for rain and the Lord answered. But we really didn't want Him to send a hurricane to accomplish that. We have had so much rain and it has cause other problems, but we will overcome them. The actual hurricane (Sandy) didn't hit us, but the outer ridges of it brought us an overabundance of rain.
We now have the new bus and are using it a lot. We take the children to church in it, and that is a blessing. During the week it is used as a tap-tap, or transportation vehicle between Cap Haitian and Vaudreuille (near Radio 4VEH). And if we need to take the children to the clinic, we use it before they take it for commercial use.
We have been working on the guest house. It is situated on the hill above the orphanage. We have the foundation in and they have started on the walls. We are praying it will be completed in good time.
We had a team come in and put in a gazebo. It will be a place where visitors can come and we can talk with them.
So many things have been accomplished lately. We will try and get some photos posted on here in the next few days. With being so busy it's hard to take the time to take photos to share, but we will make that effort.
Please check back and you can remind us what you'd like to see on here. We will take some photos of the projects completed and in progress. We will also try to update the children's photos, so you can see how they have grown.
Please keep IDADEE, it's children, the workers and the committee in your prayers. This is a hard time in Haiti and we are feeling the effects of the raising cost of food and fuel.
Thank you for your prayers and for keeping in touch with us. May the Lord bless you abundantly.
A lot has been going on at IDADEE the last week or so. First we'd like to post some pictures of a few of the kids, dressed up and smiling. Hard to get them all at once, but we'll do our best.
Dieulene
Kendy
Amy
Loveka
Gaelle
Esther
Ruth
Emmanuella
We had a group come in to get set up and prepare for the "Kids Fest" this year. We are half way through the week and it's going great.
The Sunday between training and "Kids Fest" started, we had a couple of weddings. We have been doing evangelism in our area and these couples came to the Lord and wanted to get married. The pictures tell the story...the first gal shown is 84 years old. Yes, they have lived together for a long time, but now that they are Christians, they want to live according to how the Lord would want them to. Both couples are up there in years, but are new Christians. Please keep them in prayer.
On to "Kids Fest". Some statistics you may be surprised at. We have 530 children (including our own orphans). We have 65 Haitian leaders who came in and trained to do the camp. We also have 5 helpers, who see to the children's needs throughout the day. (Example, bathroom breaks). We have 6 Haitian cooks who make a meal for 618 people every noon. The main meal is beans and rice with meat included. And we had 13 Americans come in to help teach the leaders. Now, on to our day... We have morning chapel with the whole group. We pray and teach them songs. Then they go on to the different areas. There are a third of the kids in Bible Study, a third in crafts, and a third in competition and games. They switch off and everyone gets to participate in all three areas. Note: the different "headbands" tell you what group they are in and who their leaders are.
Here is morning chapel...
These are some of our orphans at chapel...
This is individual group Bible study...
And games...
And then crafts...
That is our quick update for now. We'll post more photos when the excitement is over and we can sit down and let you know how it all went. Till then, keep praying and thank you for your prayers, and for your financial support that keep us going.
We are sorry for the long time since we have posted here. We have been very busy and so much has happened.
On June 12th, Smith Mondelus went to be with the Lord. He was such an important part of our ministry. He did so much of the day to day work. Aside from the fact that he was Veronique's brother, he is missed by everyone on the committee, the workers at the orphanage and especially the children. This has been a devastating loss for everyone. Please keep us all in prayer as we try to regroup and move on without him.
Work on the chapel has continued. We have gone as far as finances will allow on that project, but you can see it's a beautiful building which will be a great asset to the ministry of IDADEE. We are using the building for Bible study now. Normally we travel to Pastor Saint Ange's church for Sunday service, but if situations prevent that, we have service here with the children.
We have the bus now, but it is still in Port au Prince waiting on the paperwork to be finished. Please pray with us on that. Pray that we will have it up here soon, so we can transport the children to church and appointments easier.
Work has started on the guest house being built on the hill behind the orphanage. It's just begun, but we wanted to share with you where it will be and how we are progressing. It's a beautiful setting, for sure.
We have had to work on getting our septic system up and working right. This meant we had to put in a septic tank. The picture below shows the work on that. In the background you can see the play yard that was put in for the children. We hope in the near future we'll get more pictures that are up close.
We have just a couple pictures of the kids for now. The first one is Loveka and the second one is Lovensky. The kids are growing and doing well.
Again we are so sorry for not keeping up with our blog. Please forgive us for the time we have taken to get this to you. Please remember to pray for us. For the children specifically, for the different projects, and for Smith's family and friends as they deal with his loss. Thank you for your prayers and for your patience with us.
