Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Well, we are behind (as usual) in getting news posted here. It seems like we stay so busy that we only have time to update about a week later, when folks come home and start reflecting on their visit and sharing theie photos and stories!

This is no exception. Here are a few photos sent our way from last week. Sook was kind enough to share a few words about each as well!

The first two are a couple of examples of the gorgeous sunsets in Haiti! More to come later, stay tuned as we try to keep up!!

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Living Hope team arrived safely at JoyHouse. They have been busy making plans for the week in Haiti.

There are kid's clinics, pastor classes and all kinds of activities being planned for the community! In the past, they have been great witnesses as good Christians, so we are happy to have them here to minister again in Haiti!

We are excited to see what this group has in store. They have been here before (at least some of them) and have been one of the best groups ever!

We can't wait to see what God has planned! More later...

Saturday June 19, 2010

This week has been quite a change for us at JoyHouse.

Sook arrived from Canada on Sunday. She has been holding a grief counseling class in the mornings for a few of the women and then at night for Daniel, Fito, Matthew and Jerald. The girls wrapped up last night and received their certificates and the boys are finishing up right now. They have all been really excited and involved in the process. Sook is great to have around, she is very wise and a great person to talk to.

The florida disaster team came Monday and worked very hard! They had a lot of wisdom and great things to share. They left early yesterday morning to head back to Port Au Prince to help with the Buckets of Hope that were collected by the Southern Baptist Conference and finally released.

We are still seeing a lot of fruit from the FBC/PCH team and all the great work that they did! Samon's man who accepted Christ last week when Pastor Ryan came to talk to him, was in church Sunday! He seemd very excited to be there and it was great to see the transformation made in both his and Samon's lives. Continue to pray for strength for him as he makes changes to his life upon dedication to Christ!

We also received word that Cheryl Thomas has acquired another wedding dress! Joyful Weddings is going to bless so many people, t is incredible to see it all coming together!

Kristen and Cristine have been working with the women more this week and it was extremely exciting to see that all the women from last week, brought a younger woman to learn this week! We had asked them to be thinking of someone they would like to learn what they were learning so it was incredible to see that fruit! Ty made some absolutely beautiful head scarves...

Matthew, Fito and Daniel took Kristen, Cristine, and Sook to see the beach yesterday and Matthew even got them all to try cooked snail! It was definitely interesting...!Today Charlie took Sook, Cristine and Kristen to the market in Port Au Prince where they got some delicious fruits. It was great to get to see more of Port Au Prince but we were happy to get back to Gressier.Last night we taught Eddie and Daniel how to play "spoons" although, in order to conserve dirtying utensils, in Haiti we play "pens." It was such a fun time! I don't think we have all laughed that hard in a LONG time!

We can't believe it is already time for our team from Living Hope to arrive tomorrow! It seems like just yesterday that we got here. We are so excited to see them and to get the kids club undereway!Keep the kids club this week in your prayers and safe travel for Joe as he comes to join us on Wednesday

We have decided that Charlie , one of the boys, has a new nickname....: the "phantom." He's got a soft walk and a gentle touch! Whenever something breaks, needs repairs, or even when city power goes off, Charlie has already fixed it, restored it and gotten things running before you even realize he's been there! We had a sink break the other day and before we even knew we had gotten a new sink, there was already one installed! He is such a blessing to have and just one of the kindest spirits!

OH! I forgot to mention, we got the washing machine all set up and running, this has made laundryjust a tad easier! We loved seeing everyone's mezmorized faces as they walked by the tumbling and whirling of the big machine..

Fito and Norma were planting her new flowers the other day (which are just lovely!!) and for those of you who don't know, Norma is quite the avid gardener back in Arkansas! Well, some worms popped up in the dirt and sweet Fito was just aghast! But Norma just dug her hands in the dirt and picked those worms right out...which Fito could not believe!! Now, the flowers have brought on a small battle between Lucy and Norma of how much to water the plants.

Meema (Norma) always has to remind the boys to wear their JoyHouse shirts whenever they go to the airport to pick up teams. A few weeks ago she took the boys to a nice restaurant while they were waiting for the team and had some great food. A week later when it was time to go to the airport, every single boy was outside in his JoyHouse shirt, ready to go. Needless to say, there has een no further problems with them wearing their JoyHouse shirts!!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Bonswa!

God is doing great things in Haiti...He is so good! Arriving in Port Au Prince, throughout our drive and as we have been in and around Gressier, we have seen a greater sense of hope. The destruction is still very real, but the path to rebuilding seems to be more evident. Kristen and I have been enjoying every moment here, working with teams, getting to know the Haitians and everything in between. We hope you are preparing prayerfully and getting excited for the 19-26! The JoyHouse team is very excited for the "Texsa team" to be back. In fact, Matthew was asking about "Pastor Butch" the other day...I think they've missed him!

Kristen and I have been working a lot with Daniel on his project, which is taking care of women and babies in Haiti. It is a hard sight to see the malnutrition that sweeps the hills, but Daniel is able to show them Christ's compassion through seeing them and taking special time to care for each one. On that note, if any of you have access to women's or kids vitamins, or any sort of baby/ children's medicine (we've seen a lot of fevers and coughs). I know that is something he was prescribing pretty frequently. It could be a great blessing to him!

Yesterday we started the women's ministry and are excited and encouraged by how eager they are to share and learrn! We also registered kids for the kids cllub and got OVER 300 from Grand Savone and Gressier alone! We will most likely register again tomorrow...

I'll leave you with a verse from a song we heard the other day that has been very meaningful to us, its called "compassion hymn." I'd encourage you all to listen if you get a chance. it truly painted such a vivid picture of Christ's mercy and the call we have to share that compassion He has shown us to those without hope.

"How beautiful the feet that carry
The gospel of peace
To the fields of injustice
and the valley of need-
To be a voice of hope and healing,
to answer the cries.
Of the hungry and helpless
with the mercy of Christ

What boundless love
what fathomless grace
You have shown us,
O God of compassion!
Each day we live
an offering of praise
As we show to the world
Your compassion"

In Christ's abounding love,
Cristine and Kristen.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Well, it has been a very productive past 2 days!

Yesterday the Arkansas team, Kristen and Cristine all went to Carefour for the morning where they played with lots of kids at teh school, shared the gospel and then went to play with kids at the Lifeline orphanage. Afterwards they evangilized around the area and the number of salvations for the week ended up being well over 200! The Lord is moving so much with so many decisions for Christ!

The Arkansas team left early this morning and we were very sad to see them go. They were such a wonderful group of people with huge hearts for the Lord! They left such a mark during their time here with their zealous spirits and passion to serve and love the people of Haiti! All their friends and family should be very proud!

Norma and Joe are busy today running errands and picking up our newest addition from Canada! Kristen and Cristine have been busy around JoyHouse with the Haitians (althought now they are all watching the World Cup and getting very excited from the other room!) We also had some visitors from the CMBH in Port au Prince earlier this morning. It is so encouraging to hear what other members of the body are doing in and around Haiti!

The disaster team from Florida gets here on Monday and we will be doing a lot of planning for the kids club while they are busy building houses. Continue to pray for the women's ministry ythis week as it is moving in big ways!

Wednesday June 9, 2010

What an amazing week it has been! (written last week)

Lots of new and exciting things have been going on at JoyHouse this week!

The team from FIrst Baptist Springdale has been busy at work putting together temporary housing.They get up early and work dilligently. What a blessing those houses are! Pastor Ryan led a great lesson Sunday at church and the team had a great skit to go along with it. The entire team went out today around 6 am to work on houses so that they would have time to go to the tent cities to evangilize (which is where they are now). In their past days of evangilism they have already seen many decisions for Christ!

Yesterday we registered children for the kids club that the Living Hope team will be putting on the 21-24 of June. We registered over 300 children alone in Grand Savone and Gressier at Pastor Benito and Pastor Reginald's churches. The kids seem very excited and we are looking forward to registering more this week!

Kristen and Cristine from the Texas team have been working with Daniel on "the Daniel project." They have gotten to see many babies and mothers, and what a true need it is for them to receive proper nutrition and care It seems the word has n out about Danie's project as many times the mothers will come to him when he is isut and helping other moms! Gail Bright should be very proud and excited to see how it has grown. We have received so much support and supplies from the states. Many diapers, vitamins and medicine, all of which are being used heavily. What a blessing it is to those mothers when Daniel is able to treat their baby and then present them with a new set of clothes!

Yesterday we also began women's ministry. We are focusing on the Titus 2 model of teaching and leading the older women so that they may be able to teach the younger women. We were very excited to see how eager they are to learn. Maggie and Rosemary were great examples yesterday as they helped the younger women work on their embroidery.

Donisha is very excited to be sarting a community garden project, her and Norma spent quite a while today looking ffor seeds, but came back successful!

Cheryl Thomas has already collected several wedding dresses and suits to start the "joyful weddings" project. This is soemthing that will really bless the members of the church, and be a beginning to finding a solution to the unwed mothers in Haiti.

Sunday night we had a torrential downpour that sent a stream of rushing water down the stairs. It flooded the girls' room and under the stairs but the teams worked well to get it all mopped up. Hopefully it is fixed and the next torrential downpour will not mean another flood!

All those at home can be very proud of the energetic and hard-working team from Northwest Arkansas! What a blessing!