It was the weirdest thing yesterday - I have never heard of this in all the years I have been working in Haiti. I was taking Bijou for a walk and some ladies were coming down the path from up on the mountain, carrying their goods to market in Thomazeau. I had Bijou on a leash and was holding her close to me. As soon as they saw me and Bijou they started yelling "Um we! Um we!", which means "help me, help me!" and "M paka kouri, m paka kouri!" That means I can't run! I called to them that I was holding Bijou and she would not do anything to them, that they could pass this way with no problem. They screamed all the more and were trying to run as fast as they could with their loads. I told Mezo (our guard) about it and he said they think white people will eat them, They thought I would use Bijou to catch them and then we would eat them. Wow! I told him I'm a vegetarian, I don't eat meat, so they only have to worry about Tim. Anyway, it was an interesting little first time experience!

Have you ever seen a complete rainbow? I mean, the whole arch and both ends? The other day we saw this for the first time in our lives! It was truly awesome. For anyone wondering - there was no pot of gold at either end. But the splendor of God seen through His awesome creation is worth so much more!

Life is difficult for everyone in Haiti. Even if you have all of your basic needs, and more, met, life is still difficult! The youth in our education program who live in the mountain villages of Brajirois and Robert have an added difficulty. In the villages where they live with their families, there are no secondary schools for them to attend. They have three options for school: 1) Walk the 3 hours down the mountain each morning and 3 hours back up in the afternoon 2) Move to the village at the foot of the mountain and live with relatives or friends. The walk to school is still from 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours each way. 3) Drop out of school After several of the youth in these two villages asked me for bicycles to get to and from school, and as I talked with them more and understood the difficulty they faced to get to and from school each day, it was time to take action. Many of our sponsors give generously to our “Where Needed Most” fund. We were able to use some of these funds to purchase 22 bicycles the first of this week. On Wednesday we went to meet the kids and distribute the bikes. This distribution took quite a little while to accomplish. In Haiti, one has to register his/her bike with the police. So we had to find the serial numbers on all the bikes, fill in the paperwork and then have each youth sign the original and the copy. One young man, Jean-Jean Vertilus, (sponsored by Susan Lanier), was especially appreciative of this gesture towards them. He said he had been getting to school on foot and it would take at least 45 minutes each way. He said that now with the bike it will take him about 10 minutes each way! He was so happy. He said, “I thank God for the Americans who are helping us to develop, because without their help I would not even be able to write my name. I have no parents to send me to school, so if not for my sponsor, I would not have the hope of an education. I am praying for God to strengthen and encourage all of you, that you may continue helping others.” Thank you to all our supporters who help to bless the lives of these children and young people through your generosity and love.

Bijou & I went for a walk the other day. We went over to the dried up river bed near the house. Bijou really wanted to walk in the river bed that day so we went along. She was being good that day so I had her off leash. It's usually difficult to get her back in the compound when she is off leash, but this day was a breeze. She was on the other side of the ravine and I had been calling her. Suddenly she took off lie a shot towards the house with "a puppy treasure" clenched firmly in her teeth. She did not stop until she was inside the gate. She went over to the cistern and stashed her treasure. It was a goat skull (I think that's what it was). She brought it in the house the next morning and chewed it up on the living room rug. Tim is rarely ever (actually never) happy with Bijou and this day was no exception!

There are many interesting things around the "ranch". Like this ugly bug that was waiting on the porch for me one morning. It was like a crawdad with wings, only bigger. Mezo says that if it bites you it will make your body water. I guess that means you'll get a big fever or maybe because this big, ugly thing is on your body you pee all over yourself - not sure - and don't want to find out.

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!