Another quick update

Greetings again,

Well, I am going to try and keep something going on here now that I can!  I was looking through some of the photos that Vilbrun gave me, so wanted to share a bit of that, plus some of the kids when they were here at our place.

Right now I am going to share just one of the pictures from Christmas.  Later on, in the next few weeks, once I get the pictures organized, I'll share more of Christmas.

This picture was when they received their presents.  You do realize Haiti celebrates a bit different from the US, right?  To begin with, they have one day where they celebrate three different things:  Christmas, New Years, and their Independence Day.  And they do that on January 1st.  But for the kids it's more than one day.  They had a Christmas party for Christmas, with all of the children, the workers and families, and the committee and their family.   Then on Christmas Eve, they have a tree (in the yard) decorated with lights, and they get their presents.  Then on New Year's Day it's the big day and another party.  The picture here is their Christmas Eve service and party.

But there will be more on that in a later blog.  

When Vilbrun brought the kids over to our place, it was to measure them.  For clothing sizes, shoe sizes and their weight, too.  I created a form so we'll have a way to keep track of their growth, sizes and grade in school.  The first day, he brought the 20 girls.  I could not believe there was Vilbrun, the main house Mom, and 20 girls, in THIS vehicle.  I was amazed, but shouldn't have been.  You would not believe how they pack them in taptaps on the road.  I'll let your imagination go with this....but they all fit! 

The girls were so cute, and we got the measuring done quickly. 

Then 2 days later Vilbrun brought the boys, all 21 of them, in the same car.  I just couldn't picture it.  And we had some fun keeping these guys settled.  Thankfully we had a couple staying with us and Helen helped control the boys, but it was a job for her.

I am going to make this short and let you simply enjoy the kids.  They love to do silly things when I try to get a picture.  These were the best of the groups.  

We pray your day is wonderful and that this silly virus does NOT visit your place.  We are definitely praying for all of the kids and workers to remain virus free.  And we are praying the Lord will stop the spread and cure those who do have it.  

Let your day be a blessing to someone, somewhere, even if it's a phone call or a text message.  Share the love of the Lord and let His light shine!!                                

VERY LONG OVERDUE catch up

I am very happy to say I have finally found a way to get into this blog and to update it after a VERY LONG TIME!!!  The problem ended up being my personal computer.  But now I will be able to keep things updated more often and prayerfully more informative for everyone!!

Since it's been so long, I am going to try and update maybe twice a week for a while to let everyone "catch up" on all the happenings here.  Please bear with me if you have heard some of this from other sources.  

First and foremost, the children are doing great!  And I will start doing individual updates on them.  Things have changed a bit and it's been a good thing.  But then we all know that moving forward at times is hard.

The situation in Haiti the last 6 months has been difficult for everyone here.  But the Lord kept His Hands on IDADEE and saw that things never were as bad as in some areas of the country.  We simply need to keep praying for the country and for those in power, as the Bible tells us.  When the leaders know the Lord, we pray He will be with them, to guide and direct their ways.  When they don't know Him, we pray for eyes, ears and hearts to be softened to the saving knowledge of the Lord.  

One of the things that has changed at IDADEE is that the committee has put Vilbrun Martin in charge of the children.  He has started changing things in a good way and that is why I will start this time with something new he has done.

Since having  41 children, it's not easy to have birthday celebrations.  But Vilbrun has decided, and started in January, to take the children who have birthdays each month out for a time of celebration.  For the month of January, he took them to a restaurant in Cap Haitian and they had pizza and drinks.  Then he took them to a photo studio and had their pictures taken.  I decided to take each child he took, and show you how they have grown.  I will include 2 photos of each one.  First one I took several months ago and then the one they had taken at the photo studio.  So, here are the January kiddos who had birthdays.

                             Anderson Civil who's birthday is January 10th, 2010. 

Claude Almonor who's birthday  is  January 18th, 2011

                               Kendy Desir who's birthday is January 23rd, 2011

 

Modelene Thelusma who's birthday is January 27th, 2011

Robenson Dorestan who's birthday is January 24th, 2009 

Sherlanda Sentaus who's birthday is January 6th, 2011

I asked them to do a question session with the kids to find out their likes and dislikes...wow. the ONE COMMON statement was, they HATE noise.  Made me laugh but I can also understand that with 41 kids, 8 moms, and all the workers to keep it going.  

So, for this next area, I'll do the "likes/dislikes" for the kiddos above.

Anderson:  His likes list is great!  He likes to dance, to sing, he likes school, church and work.  And he added Soccer and TALKING!  That was one no one else said.  But he only said 2 things are what he dislikes:  Someone being stupid, and NOISE!

Claude:  He likes church, first.  Then he added playing soccer, music and sometimes work.  Dislikes NOISE, and fights.

Kendy: He had a good list.  He likes school and church. He likes the beach, singing, some work, soccer and EATING.  He dislikes fighting and NOISE.

Modelene:  Wow, her like list is pretty long.  School, church, singing, studying, dancing, music, reading, drinking water, smiling, and work.  She dislikes NOISE, sleeping, eating, running and talking.

Robenson: He likes school, church, music, and movies.  He dislikes stupid people, and NOISE.

Sherlanda: She likes school and church.  Washing clothes, playing with toys, water and TV, and cleaning the house.  She dislikes NOISE.

I have a feeling the kids may have compared some things, but in talking with them, it does come out pretty clear that they are pretty much happy with church and school.  And obviously the biggest dislike was NOISE!  

I think I'd like to include in this post, the letter that Remy Fils-Aime, the IDADEE president, wrote for Christmas.  It tells a lot of what has gone on.

The problems in Haiti have hit IDADEE in many ways.  One of those is the cost of fuel.  Gasoline was $2.59 US a gallon, it is now almost $11 US a gallon.  Making it almost impossible to get to town for supplies.  Food has increased quite a bit.  Each item is different, but it has all gone way up.  The manifestations have caused problems even trying to get to town.  We find it very difficult to get supplies of any kind.

We had planned to open our trade school in January of 2020, but now, because of the inability to get supplies, it has been put off.  We do not know when we will open now.  There have been no teams staying at the Joshua House, so that income has stopped, also. 

Our area hasn’t had many problems, but our school had closed for a whole month because parents feared sending their children.  We are now open after meeting with the parents, and the children do not have to wear uniforms.

 

Two of our men, Vilbrun Martin and Amos Celian, had gone to Port au Prince to study.  They have now returned and Vilbrun is now in charge of the orphanage and Amos will now be the head of the trade school.  We are happy to have them taking these positions.

IDADEE has marked off 12 acres of our land to use for agriculture. Food for the Hungry has helped us get the area fenced in.  They are now studying the soil, so we can get the correct items to plant. We now have a motorcycle.  We have also prepared one area for bananas.  And we have started planting in small pots, to sell to others, to help them start gardens. 

The trade school will be opened first for the young adults from the EBAC orphanage, and for some young people in the IDADEE area.  After we have become established, we will open it for anyone to come. 

We want to build a gym and cafeteria for the school and the orphanage, and for the community, too.  We have started to purchase some of the material to start this project.

I took some of the children with me to Port au Prince for 2 weeks, to experience life in the capitol city.

On December 22^nd, we will have our yearly party for our workers, the orphans, and the IDADEE committee and their families.  We are all looking forward to this time of fellowship and sharing.

Thank you for your time, your prayers and your support.  We pray for you and ask you to keep us in prayer also.  Our Lord is answering prayers for us, and we know it’s because so many of you are holding us up to Him.

Matthew 18: 5  “and whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” 

Working toward English for the children

Greetings,

Sorry again for the delay in posting.  I've been in the US for 2 months, but have been working toward a new avenue with IDADEE.  The Lord impressed me to start with only 5 children and do some basic English classes.  The committee was very agreeable and so, last Saturday I had my first class.  The committee chose the kiddos I would be working with.  I had Abbie (Vero's daughter) as my helper.  I had chosen to use a booklet that has English, French and Creole in it, so I'd get it right.  

The kids were excited when Vero brought them.  And I had a variety of ages and genders.  Started with some very basic words... hello, goodbye, thank you, well, you know, just a general things to see how they would do.  The kids sort of laughed and did so well, then I found out they KNEW all those things.  After several attempts at different areas, they showed me their booklets that they brought.  Se Vila at IDADEE has been working with some of them and used the same booklet.  They laughed and I laughed and I immediately made a decision.  

My husband and I have a "bucket ministry".  We fill 5 gallon buckets with various food stuffs, and include scriptures and a coloring book called "Kolore M Konta", Color Me Happy.  I pulled out some copies of that and started in with it.  It has the message of salvation and many scriptures for the children in it.  The kids were really happy with that.  And I will use that until I run out of pages then depend on the Lord to help me go from there.  

I am really happy to have Abbie helping me.  My Creole isn't the greatest (actually not great at all), so she has been a huge help.  After class 2 of the kids went to Vero and told her they really liked this English class.  I told her it was because I gave them Kool-aid and during a break they played with a huge ball we have.  But they were all waving and shouting as they left to go back to IDADEE.  I told them they have to help the other learn what they are learning and they seemed excited to do that.

I'm including a picture here of the kids and Abbie and I.  We did have a good time and I was so pleased with their attitude.  Here they are:

 First on the left is Claude, then me, and Abbie.   At the far end is Walkenson, then far right in the back is Ruth, then Emmanuela, and in the front is Dieulene.  I can tell  you I have some very intelligent kids in this class.  They may go faster and do better than their teacher!!

I don't think I've posted on here about the addition that has come about with IDADEE. Now, a short distance from the orphanage compound, is the IDADEE clinic and hospital.  It has been open for a while now and is a HUGE blessing to not only the orphanage but the the surrounding areas.  God has greatly blessed them to get this going and have given them an opportunity to spread God's word in an even larger area.  They are doing an awesome job here.

 

 Above is the clinic and the right right of it, and in the picture below is the hospital.

 The added blessing is that the children at IDADEE now have immediate health care.  God is truly blessing them.

Please keep praying for the whole IDADEE mission and help where and when you can.

Blessings beyond measure to all!!

Our New Children

Greetings,

I have to apologize for taking so long to get on here and show you these sweet kiddos.  I'm simply NOT a computer geek, or computer literate, so have patience with me, please.

 I had asked Vero to please find a way to get some good pictures of ALL the IDADEE children, since I have been unable to get out to see them.  Then next day, a Sunday, at 12:30, she walked in and said, "Mom, the bus is here with all the kids!"  Talk about service... 

I had a great time getting photos, but also seeing all the children dressed up so sweetly.  And smiles...these kiddos really have my heart!!  When the bus pulled out after the time here, the kids were hanging out the window, calling, "BYE GRANDMA!"  Loved every minute of it!!

Okay, on to the new kids first.  I'll include a short description of how they came.  Pray for them and for the whole of IDADEE!  The pictures are in no particular order, just as the site downloaded them.

This sweet girl is CHERLANDA Chermelus.  Her mother died.  She is the oldest, and has a younger brother.  Her father works at IDADEE and he keeps his son with him, but Cherlanda is now at the orphanage.  

 This cutie is CHRISLA Orélus.  She comes from the town of Pilot.  Her aunt Onide, a former EBAC orphan, brought her to IDADEE since her parents could not care for her.

 This pretty little gal is DERLISSA Georges.  She is one of 7 children.  Parents went to the Dominican Republic and left the children on the side of the road with only sheets as walls for them.  She came from the area of Lambert.  The other children were taken into homes of some of the people who do evangelism with Vero.

 This little sweetheart is DJOULISSA Cheridor.  She has parents, but they are so poor they cannot care for the 5 children.  She is not the youngest.  Mother had children before she moved in with this man.  No idea how many children they each had before they got together.  Vero brought her to IDADEE, and now when she goes out there, Djoulissa runs away.  She is afraid Vero will take her back to her parents.

 This young man is JONELSON Pierre-Rélus.  Mother brought him to IDADEE when the man she married didn't want him.  She has children with this man, but he didn't want Jonelson around since he isn't the father.

 This strapping young fellow is JEAN-LENSKY Joseph.  There were 3 children in the family.  Mother died.  The father (a pastor, the IDADEE cooks's brother) remarried.  The woman treated the children like slaves.  Kathleen (another former EBAC orphan), took the twin girls in.  And IDADEE took in Jean-Lensky. 

 On to this happy young boy, who's name is MAIKEL Valcent.  Abraham, one of IDADEE's founding committee members, brought him in.  He was VERY sick, huge belly and malnourished.  No history for him at this point.

 This good looking young man is ROBINSON Dorestan.  Rigenson, another founding committee member, brought him from Jacmel.  He was living with his grandmother, but she died.

 And finally, this cute you fellow, who's name is SANDLY Petit-Das.  His mom was alone and cannot care for him.  There was no dad in the picture.  He is from Limbé.

This is the IDADEE bus, as the children were getting back on it to head out to the orphanage.

 And here are all 40 of the children.  Have you noticed the smiles and happy faces?  These kids are a joy and lots of fun.  Oh, there are times when they are simply kids and get into mischief, but they are happy.  We had a great time with them. 

 So, with this update, I would ask again, that you keep IDADEE, their staff and all of these children, in prayer.  They are doing a great job out there, but it is with your prayers and support that they can accomplish what they are doing for these children. 
Until next time, blessings and keep your eyes on Jesus, the real reason for all we do.

IDADEE compound and ministry

Greetings as we head into October.  (quick note; I have tried to take out all the extra spaces, but wasn't able to do it, sorry!)

 We headed out to the IDADEE orphanage for a simple photo shoot this morning.  A beautiful, sunny, hot day.  Temps were in the upper 80’s which is normal right now.  But so thankful there wasn’t rain to keep us from doing the pictures.

 We started at the school.  We sat with Peguy Jusner, the head secretary.  Very nice lady with her hands full of work, but she took time with us.  She did have a lot of work sitting on her desk and was very busy, but her smile lit up the office and she asked us to sit down.  Pastor John, the principle was not there this morning, so at this point no photo of him, but we’ll get one for a future post.

 First is Mme. Jusner and then the administration building.

The school operates from September through June.  This year they have 194 students.  All 40 of the IDADEE children attend here.  They teach in French, which is the school language in all of Haitian schools.  The children range from pre-school (3 years old) through grade 5.  Each year they are adding another grade.  The school building was built with this in mind.  Aside from the 2 existing school buildings, there is an administrating building.  As grades are added, some of the rooms (now used for storage) will house more and more grades.  They have ample room for expanding.  Each building also has adequate rest room facilities for the children, including the orphanage.  

The smaller building was the original school building.  It now houses the pre-school, and kindergarten children.  There are three classrooms with a total of 74 students.  I wanted to get pictures of the children looking at the teacher, but when someone comes to visit, all eyes turn that way. 

 

 

 The next building houses the grades 1 through 5.  It is 2 floors.  This building has 120 children attending school.  We were there during recess.  The kids were really running off excess energy, with teachers in each of the areas of play.  The children also have access to drinking water.  Like children all over the world, they love to run, climb and play all sorts of games.

 The chapel on the compound is really nice and so well ventilated.  Breezes flow through a lot.  It was open air designed for that reason.  They not only use the chapel for the school, they have Sunday services there as well.  And of course when special events occur, they use it frequently.  

On to the IDADEE children’s home.   Decided to start with the kitchen.  It amazes me to see them cooking in such huge pots and not burning things in the process.  Today’s meal was a cornmeal dish with beans and a tomato sauce.  They have meat 3 or 4 times a week.  The children come home from school, change and eat their big meal.  Leah is the head cook and she has a helper working with her to feed the 40 children and the workers.

 

I only took a few pictures of the bedrooms, so you can see them.  There is a solar system, so there are fans for children in all the rooms, and they are really nice fans.  Very powerful.  I was amazed at how much air was flowing and how cool the rooms were.  One of the pictures I sort of got the ceiling in it to show you the art work the builders did.  The three house moms were very open and helpful when we got there.  The children do help clean their rooms, but the mom’s take up the rest of the work when the children are in school.  

 

I wanted to get a picture or two of the property for you. It is difficult, with all the trees.  But such a great place for the children to play!  It is huge, and I obviously could not get it all in photos…but wanted to show you what I could.  These were taken from the 3^rd floor balcony.  Years ago, when they were first looking at this land, they asked me to come and see it.  There was a very little tree in the middle of the land.  I sat down under that tree and cried.  I told them, “Do you realize how the Lord has blessed you with this wonderful land?  On high ground, with a creek nearby, fruit trees everywhere, and room to grow!”  That little tree is now a big cashew tree, still almost in the middle of the yard.  You can see the bay from the porch.  I was told by Dr. Hodges, an American doctor who spent most of his life with his family in Haiti, (and he was also an archeologist), that Christopher Columbus first pulled into this bay to make land fall, but then decided it wasn’t protected enough and went further east to an area called Lemonade (lemon-odd).  This was where he lost his ship.  It is so beautiful sitting here and looking at the mountains, the bay and see God’s wonders in His creation. These two pictures were taken from the 3rd floor balcony of the orphanage.  The 2nd floor has a similar balcony.  The children can play here when the weather is bad, and still be outside.

 

 This picture is a Google Map one.  but I don't think it's real current.  The administration building is finished and it doesn't look like it there.  The dotted line is "approximately" some of the boundary of the property.  It goes further up the mountain from here, where the guest house is.

I hope you enjoyed our excursion into the IDADEE compound and Children's Home!  Remember to pray for the children, the committee and the workers who keep this organization following the Lord's leading!

James 1: 27b "...to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."