Greetings from Haiti

Our team consists of Jeff and I, Tony & Cindy Brandt, Brian & Robin Richardson, Geralyn Denlinger, and Marv Diller.

We arrived safely to lots of rain on Fri, didn't last long after we arrived, but it clearly had rained hard for a while.

The girls are all doing great. They are all better in their English and are practicing it on us. I wish I could say the same for my Kreyol.

We took them to their beautiful new house yesterday and they were flipping out! We did a great dance around our haitian broom to break in the new house then set to work.

They worked right along side us cleaning all day. We washed, swept, mopped and mopped again. The men worked outside on putting wire up around the wall, getting the electric running properly and the water inside going.

We hope to have them moving in on Tuesday!!!!



Sat evening we went to visit Pastor Nathan in his new home. He has a great home. We sat on his rooftop enjoying the incredible mountain view, and in conversation as always with Pastor Nathan, we say joy in him. He is so happy to be there but we know his main concern is his church. God helps him perservere with joy.



Today we went to Pastor Nathan's church in the street. It was so cool because while Pastor Jeff was preaching, several kids and adults were listening to what he was saying. God uses the struggles and hardships even still!



We also met up with a family here that are connected to Alisha Brandt in the states through their family and were able to deliver some very important supplies. We met them in front of the Presidential Palace...much worse to see in person than on TV or in pictures. The park by the palace is full of tents. It is truly unimagineable. The tent cities are everywhere, but people are generally so friendly and full of hope.



We went to see Schneider's new home where he lives with 8 other family members. At the ripe old age of 23, he supports them with help from one brother who is also old enough to work.



We visited Gesner and Youdeline and their 1 year old Gessy. They have a tent that Tony and Jeff put up for them in March and have become quite creative in how they have made it into a home. Gesner's barber shop is a separate tent in front of their home. He is trying to run the shop while being Mr. Mom so Youdeline can go to work with the Red Cross. Her contract will end with them in July and we pray they will renew it. As we drove away, full of emotion, I realized only God can fill a person with joy the way Youdeline is filled with joy even in her circumstances.



Tomorrow we plan to have the women clean at the boys' new home while the men finish the wire on the wall and yard work at the girls home. Lots more work to be done. We are so excited to move the kids into their new home!



I have to admit, seeing our new home, while as beautiful as it is, the reality of what we are about to do really hit me. I struggled for a bit to make sense of the emotional roller coaster I seemed to have hit. But God spoke to me last night as I read in John 14:1 when Jesus was speaking to his disciples. 14:1 says "do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me." Those circumstances were different, but I know God was asking me to trust in him and what he is going to do through me.

Praise God for all He is doing here in Haiti and in us as we humbly serve!

Deb

"Awaken Haiti" awareness / action / hope

Yes we finally officially have a name: Awaken - Haiti

Who We Are:
Awaken – Haiti was founded by a group of people who are striving to be the hands and feet of Christ by stepping outside of themselves and their own desires in order to help those in need.

Mission:
Awaken – Haiti desires to establish avenues to begin breaking the cycle of poverty through providing aid to orphans and the poor while intersecting diverse cultures in order to further one's spiritual transformation.

Why We Are Here:
We want to make people Aware of the need among orphans and the level of poverty in Haiti. We also want to Awaken spiritual Awareness in those who serve as well as those we serve. We desire to be a vessel for people to Act on this awareness of physical and spiritual need. We desire to bring Hope for the physically and spiritually impoverished.

What a blessing it has been to be a part of seeing the passion that so many people have for the people and children of Haiti. We have been very busy getting all of this off the ground, coming up with concepts to support and carry out the mission, and trying to juggle life at the same time.

I want to share with you some of things that have been and still going on with the ministry over the past month:

1. Myself and Tony Brandt took another trip to Haiti to meet with our Haitian leaders and continue to follow through with our relief and restore effort with our orphanages and ministries.
2. Continue to work on and are in the final stages of launching the Awaken-Haiti web-site.
3. Designing and launching of our new logo.
4. Have had two sponsor meetings.
5. Broke ground and completely framed the House4Haiti. (Thanks to Doug and Randie Thomas, the H4H team, and all the volunteers.)
6. Have had numerous small fundraisers
7. Drafted and got approved an outline of the ministry so we are now a sponsored ministry of the Carlisle Brethren in Christ Church.
8. Rented and will be moving the girls of Good Samaritan into their new home next weekend.
9. Are in the process and in the next month will open our new boys orphanage that will house and take care of 15 boys.
10. Have been assisting two orphanages with there monthly budgets.
11. Helped fund a construction project at pastor Nathan's church.
12. In the process of making 25 bunk beds for the orpahanges and guesthouse. (Thanks Glenn and the Sawdust Alley team)
13. Gathering items for the 40 foot container that we are going to pack and send to Haiti on June 11th.
14. Writing trip manuals and gearing up to host trips for people that want to serve in Haiti. - Dates for fall and winter trips coming soon!!!!!!!:-)
15. Made many improvements to our financial and receipting system.

I could go on and on and on..........

None of this would be possible without a very gifted, dedicated, and resourceful group of people that is also known as the Awaken-Haiti Leadership Team:

Director of Haiti Operations: Myself and Deb
Director of US Operations: Doug and Ger Denlinger
Director of Ministry Development: Robin Richardson
Director of Finances: Bryan and Amy Gobin
Director of Sponsor Relations: Michelle and Jeff Bell
Director of Mission Trips: Tony and Cindy Brandt
Director of Construction: Marv Diller
Director of FH/FG Relations: Matt Reichard

We have asked a lot of these people, and they have delivered. Deb and I can't express to them enough how critical they are to this ministry.

As we continue to do our best to be obedient to what God has planned for this ministry, we need your prayers. Please pray that:

1. God continues to give us a clear vision on how He wants us to carry this mission.
2. We continue to seek out and listen for that guidance.
3. People's interest continues to turn into passion for Haiti.
4. The container will go smoothly.
5. Our house here the States sells in a timely manner.
6. Deb, myself, and our children as we go through this transition of leaving friends and family and moving to a developing country.
7. The hearts and minds of all the people touched by this ministry will draw closer to God and His desire for their lives.

May God continue to bless Awaken-Haiti, the people of Haiti, and all those involved in helping us to carry out this mission of making people aware, turning that awareness into action, and giving people hope....

Jeff