Bijou (because a blog is not complete without pictures of a cute puppy)Sunday we worshiped with the Delmas 28 congregation. Jeantyrard had called and told us our preacher friend, Edique Augustin, from Bas-Limbe was in PAP and wanted to see us. Edique preached the morning and evening services on Sunday. He had been in town for the week. Each August he brings a group from Bas_limbe to the Delmas 28 church for a weeklong prayer service. They start at 6 PM and go till 6 AM. It was good to catch up with Edique and his work in Bas-Limbe. We sat on the same bench with Jeff, one of HFHC's sponsored youth. Towards the end of class I noticed Jeff slapping his forehead. So when class was over I asked him if he had a headache, because I had noticed him hitting his head. He said no, he just had a bad thought cme into his head and he wanted to getrid of it. So he was literally knoocking it out of his mind. I brought up 2 Corinthian 10:3-5 and started quoting it to him. He finished the verse, "...and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ". Jeff said he wanted to live what the Word teaches. I was proud of him. He is hearing and putting into practice. I was proud - not of HFHC, but of God, and what He is doing in these kids' lives and that He allows us to be used in His work here.

Gregory came up to me after service. Gregory and I have had several conversations about him giving up and giving his life to Christ. He told me a few weeks ago he has been coming to church so he could learn more about Jesus and he was thinking of being baptized. Well, after the service he came up and told me he had been baptized last week!!

What great news! So we know there was great rejoicing in heaven the previous Sunday!

We gave Jeff, Gregory and Jacob a ride after services. I told Gregory I needed to take a picture because he is a new person (new creation) and I have a photo of the old Gregory, but needed a pic of the new Gregory. He was all smiles for his photo. Then I took a picture of Jacob and told him I'd need a new one when he became a new creation too. He has been coming to church recently too. We talked about not waiting to long to heed the call of Christ on his life, how each time you hear Jesus call you and each time you ignore Him, your heart becomes a little harder. I had asked one of the other kids recently why he doesn't obey Jesus. His response was that Jesus has not yet called him. I told Jacob that anyone who has heard the Good News has been called! (Jacob - Above Photo)

Of course I had to get a shot of Jeff too - he said ,"Because I'm just Jeff!" Iasked each of them if I could share their pictures and our conversations with our supporters and they all agreed. I told Jacob that we would all be praying for him to obey the call that he has heard for his life.

On Saturday, August 8, we had a busy day. Jeantyrard made arrangements for 5 of our kids from Brajirois to get some much needed dental care. The kids traveled from the mountain into PAP and spent the day getting extractions, fillings, etc. We also had two children in need of hernia surgeries. Both of these kids are from the Cite Soleil area. James is 16 and Ismalande will be 9 in October. We were at the hospital most of the day, waiting for them to be prepped, have the surgeries and then come out of recovery. Both surgeries were successful. James went home late that afternoon. Ismalande had some vomiting so they kept her overnight. She was able to go home the next morning. It felt good to be able to get some of the medical and dental needs taken care of. And it is possible due to our generous supporters and donors! Thanks to each of you!

Visit from Rachel & Marshall

The day I dropped the youth conference team off at the airport, I also picked up Rachel (our middle daughter) and Marshall (son-in-law) from the airport. They were with us for a week and we enjoyed every minute of their visit. Rachel was just under 3 months in her pregnancy, so because of nausea, we chose not to travel around much. Rachel translated most of the letters from the secondary school students to their sponsors while she was here. What a tremendous help that was! We went to Kaliko beach for a day and enjoyed just relaxing, talking and catching some rays. The weather was perfect and the surroundings were beautiful. We also visited the Cazeau Orphanage one day so that Rachel & Marshall could meet the little guy they have been sponsoring for over a year in HFHC's orphan care program. They were all very happy to meet each other and I believe if they could have, they would have taken Lorvens home with them. While they were visiting, Tim played with the kids and Sonia and I went over the list of repairs needed at the orphange. There's always something that needs fixing with 48 kids! Mezo (our righthand man) took Tim & Marshall down to Lake Azuei. It is about a 20 -30 minute drive towards the DR from us. They took almost all of Mezo's kids with them so they could get "sweet water" from the big spring near the lake. The kids swam a little and filled jugs and buckets with water to bring back home. There is a hotel on the lake that was built only about 2 years ago. The photo here shows how the lake is swallowing it up. Lake Azuei is spilling over its banks, largely due to erosion. Marshall helped Tim around the house a lot. They were able to get the pressure pump for the water working again. The first 2 or 3 days that R & M were here, Tim and Marshall carried buckets of water to the roof to fill the tank on the roof so we could shower and flush the toilets. We're thankful to just have water, but it was great to get that pump going again! The following Saturday (Aug 1), was a sad day - the day we had to take Rachel & Marshall back to the airport for their trip home. But God blessed us greatly by making the way for them to come.

Things have been "popping" around here since our last post.

I got back from Charlotte on July 16 and on July 18th, twenty-one people from various states arrived to help with our HFHC Annual Youth Conference. That day was spent picking up folks at the airport and everyone getting settled in at the hotel. On Sunday we worshiped at the Delmas 28 congregation, then spent the afternoon getting conference materials put together and separating donations of school supplies.

On Monday morning we headed out for the Global Outreach conference center at Titiyan, about a 45 minute drive. Some of the youth had already arrived by the time we got there. For the next two and a half days we had Bible sessions centered around the book of First Peter and the calling of God on each of our lives, fun activites, lots of soccer, good rest, good food, good felowship and more. The kids look forward to this 3 day conference all year long. For many of them thi is the only time of the year that they sleep in a bed by themselves, eat 3 good meals a day, and have access to toilets and showers.

One of our youth, Christiana was baptized into Christ and also one of our translators. Seeds were planted in many hearts and we will water and wait for God to produce the crop.

On Tuesday afternoon and evening in our free time, the US team separated out sacks of rice and beans into smaller sacks for each youth to take some food staples home with them. This was part of HFHC's food relief efforts, supported by our generous donors contributions to the "Children's Food Fund". This is an ongoing effort, because there is always a shortage of food here in Haiti, and/or the lack of means to purchase food.

Thursday we held a half day VBS at the Cazeau orphanage. Upon our arrival, Sonia, our house-mom, had all the children arranged on the steps coming down from the dormitoriy rooms singing a song of welcome to us. It was great. Sonia always amazes us with all that she does wth these children. We are blessed to have her on our team. Mark & Beverly headed up the VBS with help from the US team and volunteers from the crowd. Sonia and several of the older girls prepared lunch for everyone. I always tell her to keep it simple, but she really lays out a spread! Everyone enjoyed the fellowship with the kids and the food.

After lunch, we were treated to a concert by the children. They sang songs in French, Creole and English and performed praise dances to Christian music. It is always a special treat to visit the Cazeau orphanage!

Friday was spent visiting Cite Soleil School and distributing food to the kids. Many of the kids also received small gifts from their sponsors. This always makes them feel special and blessed.

After the visit to Cite Soleil, we brought the group out to Thomazeau to see the property and the house. Many had been on the trip last July and had seen the property with nothing on it. So this time they didn't have to stand around in the hot sun. They had a place to sit down and relax for a while with a cool drink and some snacks. Then it was back to the hotel to prepare for their tip home on Saturday morning.

All in all it was a great trip, with a great team of people who loved on our kids for a week.