November 15, 2017

View of the school as we approached. We took a truck down the mountain, walked along the riverbed, hiked up the mountain, and then walked through the village until we came to the school.

Buddy and I in one of the classrooms with the students, teacher, and assistant teacher. The children were learning and having a great time.

This precious little girl was standing at the chalk board, pointing at each word, as the other students said the names of each word. It was so exciting to see these children learning to read!

Standing with Melanie Blanton, a nurse from Petal, MS, and the village elder and the security guard for the school. They absolutely LOVE the new school! We are standing where the cistern will one day be built.

This is Melanie, the nurse from Petal, MS, and a newborn. We were walking along a trail when we heard a commotion ahead of us. A Haitian woman had given birth inside her mud hut an hour or two earlier. She then passed out. Melanie went into the dark hut, provided care to the mom, and brought out the newborn.

This is the father of the newborn Melanie was holding. He is a first-time dad and was rather nervous. I took him aside and congratulated him and reminded him that he now has the responsibility to provide for his son and teach him the ways of the Lord. I asked if he was a Christian. He said he wasn’t. I asked if he wanted to become one. He said yes. I then shared the Good News of Jesus and he professed his faith in Christ as he called on the Lord to save him. Afterwards, his dad told me that he had been hoping and praying that his son would become a Christian.

This is Ellismene. She is a dear friend of mine and many others. We went to her house that a family from Ridgeland, MS had built for her a couple of years ago. She was not in good shape and was complaining of pain. We took her to our clinic and discovered her blood pressure was 220/110. Our medical team gave her a drip and got her on some medicine to control her blood pressure and made a follow-up appointment for her. She was doing much better when she left the clinic!

This 95 year old former soldier came to see our missionary, Tony, at the clinic. He is a rare man because he is a Haitian who has lived to be 95 and he is a veteran of the military which no longer exists. At the end of his visit he stood straight up and gave a strong salute!

In the middle of the night last Thursday, a car pulled up to the gate of the Hope Center and a pregnant woman and her husband got out. A couple of hours later, the woman gave birth to this beautiful child. Tony and Mickie, our missionaries, did an incredible job of loving and blessing this couple as they had a healthy delivery at the Hope Center. Over 200 children have been born there!

This woman lives with her husband and several children in this tin shack. We spoke with one of her sons who said there is one small bed inside and the children sleep on the dirt floor. They never know whether they will have enough food from day to day. We were able to provide rice and beans and cooking oil for several days.

This man recently moved into this mud and rock hut with his family. We noticed something was cooking here behind the house. We asked what it was and he responded that it was corn. The entire meal for his family would be corn. Just corn. And that might be the meal for the next day and the next day . . .

This was the kitchen of one sweet family we met. This is where all the meals are prepared. Pictured is a man trying to blow on the fire to increase the flame.

To find this family, we drove the truck as far as we could on the rock road, then we turned on the dirt road, and when we could go no farther we parked the truck and walked down a pathway. In this clearing we found the family we were looking for. They live very simply in this hut with very few earthly possessions. Fortunately, one of the children has been sponsored for school and will get an education as well as a meal every day. Due to a lack of education and understanding, we have to remind the adults how important it is for the children to go to school every day.