Our 2011 Christmas List is here.
Thank you for your faithful support! Thank you for your prayers! Have a merry Christmas!
Dear Friends,
While I was in Haiti in October, Jonette, one our orphanage workers, came to see Daniel and me. She asked if we could loan her some money to pay a nurse who was caring for her. Two weeks before Jonette had been bitten by a dog while carrying some things on her head from the market. She fell and hurt her back and hip which was still painful – however the dog bite seemed to be healing. Jonette told us that she has six children, and when I asked her about a husband she hung her head in shame and said she was never married.
Now Jonette had paid out all her money for the medical care and had no food for her children. We gave her enough to care for her family and pay the nurse until she could get back to work and continue to support her family. She came back to work about a week later and seemed to be healed and doing well. Then about three weeks ago Jonette got sick again. When Daniel heard about it he immediately had Garry take her to a clinic in Gros Morne. The doctor examined her, considered her symptoms and told them that she would die soon. The dog had given her rabies, and she had not been treated for it soon enough. There was nothing more to do. Garry had to take her back home. When Garry reported this to Daniel, he immediately called a doctor friend in Port-au-Prince for a second opinion. The doctor concurred and said it was too late to treat. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: medical clinic
Dear Friends,
On one of my recent trips to Haiti one of our orphanage kids handed me a letter as I was leaving Tricotte to give to his sponsor. Well, I wasn’t paying very good attention and put it in my pocket. When I opened it later I realized that it didn’t have the sponsor’s name on it, and the orphan hadn’t signed it. So I don’t know who gave it to me or who to send it to. As I was thinking about this dilemma I realized that we haven’t sent sponsor letters out for some time, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to do so. And just maybe it was a letter meant for you all – that’s how I am treating it. So here is what he writes:
Dear Sponsor,
Good morning my sponsor. How are you? And your family? So I think your family is good. Because I know God is responsible to take care of your family and you.
It is the joy, it is the best joy when I find the opportunity to write you this letter. The aim of this letter that’s for to thanking you. So I’m very happy to write you to tell you, so I know is not easy. But Jesus give you courage for work every day very hard for you help me. So I don’t stay indifferent. Without I don’t say nothing so I write you this letter to say you thank you. I want to say (thank you) very courageous because the Bible say in Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.”
Thank you very well,
Thank you Dearly,
This letter come from the orphanage Haiti.
Tags: orphanage
Dear Friends,
A couple of days ago I was talking to our new Haitian Starfish Ministries director, Daniel, on the telephone and he shared about his day. He had just spent most of the week in Tricotte and had several meetings with our orphanage workers, orphanage children and school directors. He had also met with our construction workers and checked out the progress of the school building in Remoussin.
While in Remoussin, Daniel met with Pastor Exalius who pastors the church there and also is the headmaster of the school. Exalius has a tremendous heart for the people of that area and uses his gifts to shepherd the people of the area. He told Daniel about a particularly needy couple. Annonse Pierre became paralyzed from the waist down in an accident nine years ago and has not walked since. He has no wheel chair so the only way he gets around is by sliding on the ground by pulling himself with his arms. Read the rest of this entry »
Dear Friends,
I spent a week in Haiti the middle of July. It was a full week of meetings with many of our Haitian leadership team. It was a time of getting better acquainted with our new Haitian Starfish Ministries Director, Daniel Thelusmond. It was a time of sharing about the future with many of our older orphanage children. It was a time of praying and sharing with Daniel much of our vision for God’s work in Haiti. It was a good time! I came home refreshed and excited about how God has raised up Daniel for this time: to lead Starfish Ministries in Haiti as God continues to direct our path. Read the rest of this entry »
Dear Friends,
We are often asked about the future of the children in our orphanage – what is likely to happen to them as they grow up and leave the orphanage? And what, if anything, are we doing to prepare them?
It is our goal at Starfish Ministries to provide each child with the education and training to do what whatever he or she desires and has the aptitude to do, and to continue to support that child as long as it takes to receive that education. Of course, this looks different for every child. Here are a few examples of those who are receiving their training right now. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: orphanage
Dear Friends,
We’ve just returned from two weeks in Haiti with much to report. Unfortunately, we did not have internet access while in Tricotte, so we were unable to send email updates while there. So I’ll combine a few of the updates we would have sent into this newsletter. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: evangelism, orphanage, teams, well-drilling
Dear Friends,
In his preface to The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis wrote:
There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race falls about devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.
Lewis’s observation, written 70 years ago, defines a major difference between our enemy’s strategy in the United States and Canada and his approach in Haiti. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: evangelism
Dear Friends,
We first wrote about the village of Bethel in our June 2004 newsletter. Here is an excerpt from that letter.
This past Tuesday, some of us went along with Pastor Diogene and his Port-au-Prince team to share in a Bible Study in the village of Bethel. This is the village we were introduced to through the unfortunate circumstances of Joe, our truck driver, who hit and killed a drunk pedestrian. Because of that incident Pastor Diogene met with a judge who invited him to his home village of Bethel. After meeting with the judge Pastor Diogene was invited to begin a Bible study in this village every Tuesday afternoon.
Four weeks ago, 14 unsaved people came together under a large tree to study the Gospel of John . The next week 22 were there. The third week it was 26 of which two indicated a desire to become Christians. When we were there, 36 people came to hear the Word of God shared and three more became Christians. Pastor Steve had the opportunity to pray with them. It is so exciting to see the interest and hunger for the truth. One of the older women in the group was a witch doctor’s wife. Many more people passed by, slowed down, and listened for a while, wondering what was going on.
We are in the process of purchasing land in Bethel and expect to start a small Christian school there this fall. An evangelistic crusade will be held there sometime this summer. Please pray for the people in this village — God is working in their midst. We are trusting Him for a great harvest of souls. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bethel, church plants, evangelism, schools
Dear Friends,
My last day in Haiti last month was spent in Port au Prince making the rounds to our house projects. It was encouraging to finally see the results of months of preparation to get this project started. The earthquake left rubble that had to be cleared away in order to begin rebuilding. We now have 13 houses either completed or very close. Pastor Diogene and I walked through the neighborhood near the church since the “streets” are too narrow to drive through. We met the home owners and received grateful greetings from the proud recipients of the new homes.
Now these homes don’t seem to be much by our standards but are a tremendous blessing to those who have been living in a tent or simply under a blue tarp for the past year. One new home was built on a lot that is only 16 foot square because that is the only land this widow has. That means after the walls are build directly on the property line the only room is about 14’ x 9’ plus a 4-foot porch right on the street. This beautiful Haitian lady was all smiles when we came up and she quickly gave us hugs and many thanks. I pass the “thank you” on to you. Without your generous support this would not be possible. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: earthquake, evangelism