Dear Ministry Partners,

We would like to thank all of you who participated in our Raise the Rent Campaign! We are so thrilled to share with you that we have indeed raised the rent with the help of all of you!

We have been busy packing donations from all over the US and even a couple of other countries. Again, we want to thank all of you for every box you sent in for this season’s donation drive. We were able to send down 17,970 lbs of much needed supplies. Another huge thank you to all of you that packed, taped, sorted, folded, counted and so on each and every item that came through our doors.

We are currently in need of $750 to get the donations through customs and pay for the truck to bring them all to the orphanage. We are so close! We will put a slide show on our website under Papi Pierre’s Corner when the donations are at the orphanage and being unpacked.

Last week Pierre, our Pastor/Manager fell and broke his ankle. The first reports we had were that he fell off the roof and broke his leg. We learned on Monday that he had broken his foot in three places. Pierre had surgery yesterday evening and has a cast up to his knee. He has been in a lot of pain as the first round of doctors tried to reset his ankle without any anesthesia. He is resting now and is much more comfortable.

Pierre had been helping the orphanage mechanic with guiding the water truck in when there was a commotion on the street outside the orphanage. It seems a woman with a small baby had asked a stranger to hold the baby while she went to the restroom. She disappeared and never returned. The woman that was left holding the baby said she had no way to care for the child and left her on a garbage ravine.

There were people on the street yelling for Pierre that he needed to come get the baby or she would not survive. Pierre was rushing while he was on the ladder and lost his footing and fell. Another staff person went and got the baby.

The baby is a little girl and appears to be about 4 months old. The first photos of her show how malnourished she is. She is skin and bone, with every rib from the front and back showing. Her eyes are vacant and she doesn’t cry. She has a face like a doll with eyes that appear as empty.

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I remember being in Haiti several years ago. It was dry season and there were very few afternoon rains. There was an old man walking down the street. He had on clothes that were more than worn by any of our imaginations. He was carrying some pads of paper that were tattered and dirty. As he walked down the street, he would pause for a moment or two, gathering up strength to walk up the hill in the heat of the day. He stepped across sidewalk gutter and set his belongings down. There was a small amount of water trickling down the gutter from some run off at a nearby building. He cupped his hands and filled them with the filthy water and drank. Then he picked up his pads of paper and kept walking.

I was reminded of that scripture where Jesus says, “Whoever gives a cup of water in my name, because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41)

How little it takes, sometimes, to offer a ray of hope to someone in need. I wanted to stop the old man from drinking the dirty water, but I had no alternative. But really, I did. It was the perfect set up to share with him about the Living Water that will quench his thirst for eternity; the hope of something more.

The tap tap pulled away in the traffic and I lost sight of the man. Physically. I see him in my mind every now and again and wish I had taken the opportunity to give some hope to someone who probably felt pretty hopeless.

Sometimes giving hope takes slowing down to see what God is showing us. Sometimes it costs us time we don’t think we have. Sometimes is costs us being a little uncomfortable. Sometimes it may cost us a broken ankle.
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We have named the little baby girl, Hope. She is currently in the hospital awaiting a blood transfusion and is on oxygen. We don’t have a diagnosis, but know she is stabilizing.

When we were able to reach Haiti for the three minutes we were granted today to see how the baby was doing, we told the staff that in the US, we have named the baby Hope. There was a collective “ahhhh”, followed by a knowing, somber, “Ahh, that is a good name for her.”

Hope needs just that: a future and a hope. She needs prayer. She needs a fighting chance. We are trying to set up a fund for her to cover her medical costs while the orphanage awaits lab tests and a diagnosis. The birth father was found through the General Hospital records and it appears, at this time, that the mother has been reported as deceased.

Hope’s fighting chance is in Christ. The orphanage, should she survive the illness she is fighting, is a refuge for her where she will be loved, fed and given clean water that escapes so many of the people in Haiti.

There is woman I know that sings worship and writes music. She co-wrote a song called Savior of the World.

The chorus says:
Savior of the world
Your blood bought my freedom
A body broken – atoned for my sin
You gave it all for love
So that I might know you
Jesus, our hope
You are salvation
Savior of the world

-A. Holt
I have been singing that song a lot lately since Hope came to our door. Sometimes we get to be a bit of hope to those we encounter. Other times, those very people that we think we are here to reach out to, end up brining hope to us.
Thank you all for your continued support of this ministry. You are truly God’s hands extended.

Every blessing,

For His Glory