Dear Friends,

“We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.”  Psalms 75:1

Thanksgiving season has arrived again!  We thank God for the opportunity to serve Him in Haiti.  We thank Him for you, our partners in ministry.  God is using you through prayer and finances to advance His Kingdom in Haiti.  We thank Him for the numerous changed lives – many have trusted the Savior during this past year.  We thank God for Pastor Diogene and his ministry team who are so committed to discipling these new believers.   We thank God for the thousands of meals that we were able to supply for the hungry Haitians this year.  We thank Him for the more than 7200 children in our 38 elementary schools and the opportunity to touch these lives with an education, food and the good news about Jesus.  We thank God for the houses we are able to build for earthquake victims.  He has supplied the funds, through you, to build and rebuild about 30 houses.

As we thank God for you we also extend to you a heartfelt THANK YOU!!

Last week before I left Haiti, I visited three of the new house projects.  The first one had the walls almost finished.  Pastor Diogene and I visited with most of the family for a few minutes – then the father came around the corner of the house.  He was dirty with cement and mortar covering his clothes as well as his arms and hands.  But what a huge smile on his face!  He is so excited about the opportunity to rebuild for his family.  And he let us know.  He extended his hand and thanked me over and over again and I pass that on to you.  This family is getting closer to having a metal roof over their heads to replace the blue tarps that have been their shelter for the past 9 months.

The other two sites we visited were not as far along.  They were in the final stages of cleaning up the rubble from the collapsed house.  It is such a difficult process since there is no equipment available and no place to take the rubble.  Their land size is very small – the house covers most of it.  So there is no back yard, front yard or side yard to move the rubble to.  Most of it ends up out on the street in front of their land with the hope that the city will remove it.  That could take days, weeks or even months.  But there was definite progress since I was there a month before.  These families too are so thankful!

You will find a Christmas List here of things that you can give to if you so desire.  We truly appreciate your faithful support throughout the year.

Serving our Lord together,

Bernie, Sheryl & Philip Bovenkamp

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