Author: bryan@bmeyers.net (Page 80 of 101)

Friends of Haiti,

This month is Joe’s month.

Joe began working with the ministry in 1997. At first he worked as an interpreter for me and the groups that come down to work with us. He has an excellent command of the English language, and speaks Spanish as well and French and Creole.

Joe’s real name is Pierre Louis Joseph Edmond, but to all of us he is Joe. He and his wife Wislene have three children: a son who is 17, a daughter 14, and another son who is 10. The daughter and youngest son attend his school in Delmas, which is a suburb of Port Au Prince.

Joe is one of those people who can “get it done,” and if he can’t he knows someone who can. He’s a person who can’t sit still and doesn’t accept the statement, “Well, this is just the way it is.” Besides that, he has become a very good and trusted friend. I’m not sure I have a better friend than Joe.

Currently Joe oversees the school in Delmas, taking care of things when I’m not there, He relays information about needs there and in other areas we work. Without the help and oversight he provides, it would be very hard to keep things running as smoothly as they do.

Joe and his family, like so many in missions in Haiti, depend on the monthly sponsorship giving for his school and from working with us to live. He also has an elderly mother he cares for, and all the needs of a man with a family in one of the poorest countries in the world. He has told us many times that without the ministry he is not sure how his family would live. Knowing him as we do, he would find a way, but God has placed him in our ministry and lives, and we are thankful for the provisions we can supply for them.

If anyone would like to send a gift for him or his family, we know it would be a blessing to them  and as always, we appreciate the sacrifice you make each for the schools, the feeding program and the ministry.

Serving HIM together,

Steve and Terry

Jeanty

Steffy

This month we are introducing four children whose parents were killed in the 2010 earthquake. Since then, they have been cared for by a pastor and wife whose church the parents attended. Their church is very near the epicenter of the quake, but suffered little damage. Although their house was destroyed, the couple is using a couple of the rooms there to live in.

The children are

• Jeanty, who will be 14 this year,
• Steffy, who was born in 2008,
• Andreus, also born in 2008,
• Inozam, whose birth date is not known.

Andreus

Inozam

As with many kids there, they were outside playing at the time of the quake and their parents were inside their homes or very near them. When the quake hit and the homes fell, the parents were trapped inside and killed, as a result of their injuries or because others around them could not rescue them.

If anyone could help with a monthly offering, or a one time offering, I am sure they would appreciate it. It would be used for clothing and food needs.

While we’re highlighting these four children, they are not alone. No number has been put on the number of kids now living on the streets because of the earthquake, but in some areas of the city at each stop sign or stop light, there are groups of them asking for money or help. Life is perilous for a child on the street. Among the other obvious hardships, the child sex market has grown, with teen age girls forced into prostitution in order to live. It really is a bad situation.

The third anniversary of the earthquake was observed this January 12th. This year the observation was not as widespread as the first. Many say its time to move on — not to forget it, because no one ever will, but life there has to go on. Most of the damaged business buildings have been torn down and cleaned up. There are some houses that are still as they were but very few reminders of what happened remain in the residential areas. Outside those areas, however, hundreds of thousands still live in tent cities.

This March is our 18th anniversary too. Our first trip took place in 1994 and the ministry was named in March 1995. It is very hard to believe it has been that long. Some of you have been with us every step of the way. But whether you met us in the summer of 1995 or later, for 18 years all of us working together have made a difference. A few things stand out:

• Hundreds of kids have attended schools that weren’t there before, and eaten a daily meal because of your caring and generosity.
• From a health stand point, no one in the areas we work contacted cholera. Why not? Because we have simply taught people how to use the water they have.
• Many people have came to know the Lord because of churches being built where there were none.

In the coming months we are going to “spotlight” different people that work with us in Haiti to give you an idea who works with us there, their families, what they do to help in the ministry and how your giving and prayers help them.

We couldn’t do this alone; it is because of your help we can. Thank you for all you do.

Serving HIM together

Steve and Terry