Dear Friends,
When Starfish Ministries took over the orphanage in Haiti in January, 1998, Nodi was already there. He was 11 years old when I first met him and I was immediately drawn to him. Nodi was a boy who was near death when his uncle found him at his blind grandmother’s home. She was not able to care for him so he begged for food in order to feed them both. When his uncle found Nodi so sick he brought him to the orphanage in hopes of finding a home that would care for him.
Over the years Nodi was often sick. When he was 13 years old he was diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anemia. Haitian doctors told us that this disease would take his life by the time Nodi was 20 years old. When he passed 20 they changed his life expectancy to 25 and then to 30. Nodi is now 28 years old and still doing well although he does have bouts of this sickness from time to time.
Nodi became a Christian soon after coming to the orphanage and has continued to grow in his spiritual life. Nodi has worked hard at learning English and now is quite good at it. After completing high school Nodi chose to go to a plumbing school in Port-au-Prince and completed that in a couple of years. Since then he has been doing plumbing jobs in Port-au-Prince and at our orphanage and most recently is helping at the new medical clinic. We have been very pleased with his skills in this trade.
And now when a need arose, Starfish Ministries hired Nodi for a full-time position as our Starfish Ministries’ “Water Master.” As we have been drilling wells now for several years and providing clean water in many of our villages it became apparent that we needed a person full time to monitor the water quality and maintain the water systems. We considered who would fit this job description and soon chose Nodi. It is so exciting to see another of Starfish Ministries’ orphanage children become a man and now find success in life. It is very likely that Nodi would have died at a young age if he had not the opportunity to come to the orphanage and received medical care. But God chose him to be part of the Starfish Ministries’ family and now is making a difference in Haiti.
The Starfish Ministries’ orphanage received 26 more “Nodi’s” during the month of October. I’m eager to get to Haiti next week and meet them. This summer we moved 13 of our older boys to Gros Morne to finish high school, we have 15 boys in Port-au-Prince completing high school and attending university and 23 girls now live in our Girls’ Home in Port-au-Prince and are attending high school, university and trade schools. With all these older kids leaving it made room for the 26 new orphans. I will be taking photos and getting information on each of these new kids next week. We trust that God has sponsors chosen to help meet the needs of these children. For $50 per month a sponsor will provide all the child’s needs at the orphanage including food, clothing, medical care, education and spiritual nurturing. Please let us know if you would be willing to sponsor one or more of these kids.
Serving the Lord together,
Bernie, Sheryl and Philip Bovenkamp
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