Latest and Greatest

Aloha everyone,

After returning from Jeremie at the end of June, it's amazing how fast July has flown by. God's work continues here and we love being a part of it. Aaron Harris went home last week and we miss him terribly. I am certain he will return. He is a blessing to the ministry here and I am sure God will bring him back in time.

Since my last update I went to Jeremie again with just my translator. We inspected the plaster (looks beautiful !), got the window framing started with our Haitian carpenter and negotiated making the windows for the church with another Haitian contractor. It's so nice to see the project moving ahead. Running short on funds though (which is always the case !) but we should have enough to finish the church, orphanage and maybe some bathrooms. Eventually we want to build a school here, as well as some self sufficiency projects when God brings in the funds.

Monday we tried to take another team to Jeremie on a rented bus. They were going to paint the outside plaster and do some other work, as well as do a "Vacation Bible School" for the children in the orphanage. We left out of base camp at 6 am in one of those "military style" buses I mentioned in my last update. I say "tried" to take them to Jeremie because about 6 hours out of base camp, on the mountain road to Jeremie, we encountered a road block and could not pass. That morning someone had killed a Government Representative from Jeremie and the killer (supposedly the representative's own body guard !) lived in the area we were in. Angry residents from that mountain town blockaded the road and would not let anyone (Haitian or American) pass. They rolled huge boulders across the road and were standing around shouting and not allowing anyone to pass. We eventually had to back down the mountain road for nearly half a mile to find a place to turn the huge bus around. We discussed our options with the team leaders and finally decided to go back home to base camp to avoid the possibility of exposing the team to any danger. So for another 6 hours (plus stopping to get food) we road that huge bus all the way home - 13 1/2 hours total in the bus !! What a long day !! But the team was fantastic ! They were all junior and senior high school students and their leaders from Washington state and there was absolutely no complaining from anyone - what a great group of people !! It was a disappointment not to get to Jeremie, especially as the people there were expecting us, but we know that God had other plans for this team. So since Monday we worked on the church property, set up another new tent in the tent city and poured a new concrete "entry ramp" for the girl's orphanage front gate. We've broken two mufflers at the entry into the girl's orphanage property these last few months since the entry is so rough and steep !! (they both broke off as we tried to drive in !) After losing the second muffler, we decided to fix the problem and did so yesterday. It looks great and hopefully will make it much easier to get in and out of the girl's orphanage from now on !!

Work continues on the National Church property and now with the larger facility the church is growing quickly. Last week the building was almost filled to capacity ! One of the things I enjoy a lot is picking up people in the tent city on Sundays to bring them to church. It's a tiny little "bus ministry" and is such fun. Usually I drive over to the tents about 45 minutes before church and gather up anyone who wants to come in our base camp van. A couple times I brought bread rolls for them to eat on the way to church. It's a great time to practice my Creole as I "knock" on their tent "doors" and get them all loaded up in the van for church. Sometimes it's mostly children and other times it's mostly adults. My closest friends there - John, Junior, Miquel, Gerald, Carmen, Kekett and one or two others are regulars, but we often have "first timers" come along too. As I enter the tent city to pick them up, it's also a time to really see how they live - sometimes eating nothing and sometimes eating just a tiny bit for breakfast, then doing dishes with dirty water in a bucket squatting down in front of their tents. Then they put on their "Sunday best" which is often clothing that we would probably throw away and not even bother to give to the Salvation Army ! But they want to come to church and try to get dressed up. One thing they are always needing is shoes. They don't want to go to church in their broken down old flip flops (which is what many of them wear all the time). They want regular shoes for church. We have begun asking teams that are coming to work in Haiti to bring men and women shoes so we can give to them and get them to come to church. I am praying for an increase there (with shoes for them all) that will require a huge bus to bring them all to church !!

Another thing we just started two weeks ago is an English service at the National Church. The Haitians want to learn English so badly and this is an opportunity to learn English as well as worship the Lord. The service is much smaller than the Creole service, but I am certain will grow in time. The Americans, of course, also love it since the teams usually have no idea what's going on in the Creole service.

Last week the Washington team decided to bless the girls in the girls orphanage with a meal - so they cooked up a giant pot of spaghetti and we took it over to them Saturday at lunchtime. At first the girls were hesitant, but soon their hunger overcame their shyness and they devoured the spaghetti. We watched numerous girls, no more than 10 years old, come back for two and even three plates full !! A number of the team members didn't even try to eat as we watched the girls gulp down the food with smiles on their faces. We didn't want to take away any of what they could be eating. After lunch the team did some skits and then painted the girls nails with fingernail polish. The team decided to wash the girls' feet before painting their nails (it's pretty dirty there and the girls are often barefoot). At first the girls didn't seem to want their feet washed but, again, pretty soon they were loving it. As they were getting to the end of nail painting it started to rain so we all headed for cover at the girls new dorms. Some of the teenagers on the team decided to play in the rain and the girls thought that was so funny ! Haitians don't generally like the rain and quickly head for cover whenever a shower approaches. To watch the Americans dancing and singing in the rainstorm was hilarious to them !

Another team from Las Vegas was also here last week and did a medical clinic in the church similar to what we did back in May. Hundreds of people from all over the community came for free medical attention. It is such a great way to bless the community and connect with them. We had helpers who prayed with the patients, and others who just played with the children of the patients, colored, blew up balloons, or simply held the children while their parents got attended to. Great time of loving on the local people ! This week the same team went out to Les Cayes (another remote province) to do a second medical clinic. Although I didn't go to that one, it went great and continues to the end of the week.

And another team from Georgia came, drove two hours every day for three days and build a small church structure in the mountains by a town called Las Cahobas. From the road it's about a 30 minute hike straight up the mountain to the church property. Their Haitian brothers in Christ carried all the lumber, roofing tin, generator and other supplies that would have killed me to carry. But for them it's simply a days work.

The work continues all over Haiti. Haiti has such great need. Many wonderful things have been done in Haiti since the earthquake of January 2010, but there is so much more to do. I am so happy to be a tiny little part of what God is doing here.

Blessings to all,

Mark Olson

Team Coordinator

Foursquare Haiti

The almost completed church and orphanage in Jeremie with the new entry and "steeple". The masonry block in the foreground is a neighbor's new house. They asked me if we wanted to buy their property when I was there in February, but I said no. I told them to build their house and then come to our church. Maybe they will now that they are building it !!

A few of the kids in the Jeremie orphanage. You can't help but love these children !!

Getting ready to feed the girls in the orphanage their spaghetti feast !

One of my tent city adopted "daughters" and another baby who seems to like us Americans !! But I tell my Haitian friends here that I love these people so much that I am "preske aysiyen" (almost haitian)!!

The Journey to Jeremie...And Back

Aloha again !!

Well, just got back from working in Jeremie, Haiti for the last three weeks. We don't have any internet at the base camp there so I couldn't communicate with the world for a long time.

The work in Jeremie is going very well. We started a new church and orphanage there in February (I wrote about it then) but have not had any teams available to go back since then - until now. This trip the team built the front entry to the church and started plastering the outside to prepare for paint. When it's done, the new building will be a beautiful white "stucco" looking building with the church downstairs and orphanage upstairs. Pastor Casamajor is such a great man of god and serves his church people and community very well. He also heads up the orphanage and takes care of 45 children. I headed to Jeremie a few days before the team arrived to make preparations and measure each child in the orphanage for a new school uniform. A church in Charlotte, N.C. received a donation of $ 1,500 for school uniform material for the Jeremie children and our own Pastor Rosinell (assistant pastor at the National Foursquare church where I normally live) is going to make all the uniforms.

When the Charlotte N.C. work team arrived we jumped right into construction - built a front entry and "steeple" so the building looks more like a church. We also did some minor changes to the structure that was started in February. Working in Jeremie is so fun - and we have become the community entertainment. We call it the "blanc show". In Haiti we are "blanc" (white) and for some reason, watching us cut lumber, drive nails - or even just stand around talking - is so interesting to them ! One local lady even brought a chair to sit on the side of the road and watch us work. But their curiosity also provides such a wonderful opportunity to minister. I often ask the kids and even the adults - "ou renmen Jezi ?" (do you love Jesus ?) They are so responsive and developing relationships with them is so rewarding ! I am thankful beyond words to be able to serve here.

One Sunday Pastor Casamajor preached a great message on being patient for God's blessing (or course I don't know Creole well so the interpreter helped me understand !) Pastor knew his congregation would want to move in the church quickly as they watched us work, so he was wise to talk to them about patience since he knew the building would not be done before we had to leave and head home. After greeting visitors that morning he asked each one a question in Creole and after one young woman responded he waved at me to go outside to talk with her. Of course I had no idea what he wanted so I asked my translator what was going on. He told me the woman wanted to give her heart to the Lord and Pastor wanted me to pray with her. I was so humbled and blessed. Through my translator, I talked to the lady and we prayed with her for Jesus to come into her life. Afterward I was able to give her a new Creole Bible thanks to the generosity of the Charlotte church team. What a wonderful day !!

The two cooks we had for the team were wonderful. They cooked great Haitian food and even cooked (although I think a little reluctantly !) some "American" style meals to make the team feel more at home. After the team left, they continued to cook for me and my translator until we left. One morning after breakfast I was sitting at the base camp table and the head cook came around the corner from shopping at the open market with a huge smile on her face. With great excitement she told me she had a "sipriz" (Creole for "surprise") for me for lunch. I followed her in the kitchen, watched her open the bag and dump it's contents into a huge pot. I looked in to find the liver, lungs, heart and miscellaneous other "unknown" inner parts of a goat. She couldn't wait to cook it all up for me and made me try pieces of it before serving it for lunch. Of course I told her how excited I was to have such a "wonderful surprise" and couldn't wait for lunch. I did, however, ask my translator how long it would take to get to the nearest medical clinic - "just in case" !! Ha ! But it all turned out fine and actually tasted great - and I so much appreciated her love and generosity !

After spending nearly three weeks in Jeremie it was so very hard to leave. The neighborhood was getting used to seeing us and the children always said "Bonjou Pastor Mark" each day as I walked down the dirt road from base camp to the new church building. After the Charlotte team left, I stayed on another few days to work and help the Haitian laborers get the plaster work on the church started properly. On my last day I gathered all the Haitian workers together, along with anyone else who wanted to listen, and shared with them how blessed I was working with them to build this new church and orphanage. I prayed for them and for God to use this new facility and them hugged them all. A few tears were shed - even among the Haitian laborers - as we said good-bye for a time. Hope to be back there later in July to finish the job and get the children moved into their new home and the church into their new place of worship.

The trip home from Jeremie was quite an experience. I couldn't get a confirmed reservation to fly home so I took the "Jeremie bus" back to Port-au-Prince. The bus is a very old, heavy duty - almost military style - bus that's designed for about 50 people. They cram, however, nearly 70 people in the bus and of course I'm the only non-Haitian. All the luggage is lashed down on the roof and a few guys ride up there as well. The journey is only 150 miles, but it's still a nine hour drive. At least 60 miles of it are dirt roads and some are narrow winding mountain roads that are one vehicle wide with a 500 foot drop off only inches from the edge of the road. At times I felt like the Holy Spirit was the only thing holding the bus on the road, but there were other times I felt like we were in a run away freight train driven by Satan himself !! When the road is open and straight, the driver "puts the pedal to the metal" and pushes as hard as he can. When he comes up on another vehicle, he simple lays on the horn (which you can hear for miles !) and goes around what ever is in the way. We drove the same route a few weeks ago delivering lumber and it took almost 14 hours, so you can imagine how fast the bus was going to shave nearly five hours off the trip !! What a wild ride !! But the scenery was magnificent. Beautiful mountain country that often reminded me of the Big Island or Kauai. Going through one village I noticed a smokey fire on the edge of the stream ahead and as we got closer I saw a man burning the hair off his freshly killed pig with another lady next to him cleaning the insides out of her freshly killed pig at the edge of the stream. Made me smile as I thought what would happen if I ever saw that going on at water's edge in Honolulu !! Ha !

Love you all,

Mark

The side of the new church and orphanage with the plaster crew working hard. In the foreground is the church "laundromat". Ladies from the church wash clothes in the yard next to the new church, since we have a water source, and then lay the clothes out on the grass to dry.

Part of the "blanc show" as neighbors watch the team working. Notice the lady with the chair who came prepared to sit all day and just watch us work.

Building the new front entry of the church as the plaster crew works on the side.

Some of the orphan children who are anxious to move into their new living quarters. It was so fun talking and laughing with them during our visit. They taught me how to sing "Jesus loves the little children" in Creole and we sang it every time we got together.

Here's the existing church and school they use. Can't wait til they get in the new one !!!

Our wonderful and talented cooks in Jeremie - Fabienne on the left and Madame Roman on the right.

The New Church Building Is COMPLETE!!!

Aloha all,

May was such a busy month with over 130 short term missionaries coming through our base camp here to work and serve God in Haiti. Such an encouraging time as we are able to accomplish so much with so many willing volunteers. God seems to be continuing to bless the work here and we are grateful.

The most exciting news though is that WE ARE IN THE NEW CHURCH BUILDING !!!!!! The construction teams that worked so hard over the last month finally completed the building so we could start using it and on Sunday, May 22nd, we had our first worship service inside. What a great event !! Doors, windows, lights, etc. are still a long way off, but as I said before, we don't need them for now ! And the building is already getting used every day. Two weeks ago we had a huge free medical clinic inside serving over 500 patients during three days - ministering to church families, tent city residents and many families from around the community. The medical clinic was run by a team of 24 people who brought suitcases full of medicine and all kinds of medical supplies.

Last week we got our first Tilapia to experiment with (eight young adult fish - some female, some male). But yesterday we got 600 little baby Tilapia to begin our Tilapia fish farm - growing Tilapia to feed the church families, to sell to the surrounding community to make money for the church and to train the local Haitians how to do this on their own properties. It's exciting to see another self sufficiency project being birthed here. Hopefully we will see the fruit of this effort in huge ways down the road ! (no pictures of that yet, but will be next time !!)

And finally - We were able to move the girl's at the Girl's Orphanage into their new dormitory this week ! Such an exciting time to get them out of tents and into a real building !! We moved them Wednesday and then went back on Thursday to install some shelving units one of our teams had made. The girls were so excited and appreciative. One of the girls got some balloons from somewhere and decorated the ceiling of their room with them. They haven't looked so happy since we started going there in January. So much more to do, but this is a wonderful start. They still need a kitchen, completed bathrooms, a clean water well and many other things. But God will provide in His perfect timing.

Blessings to you all !

Mark

The New Church building with the very first service ever in the new building just getting underway.

Girl's Orphanage - just moved them in today. Finally out of tent living !!

Some of the girls in their new dorm rooms. Currently they have three triple layer bunkbeds in each rooms so there are nine girl's per room (for a room we might normally put four in). But what a blessing anyway !! This is the Hilton compared to what they had in their tents !!

This is Esther - my Haitian "adopted daughter". Her mom dropped her off here five years ago because she couldn't take care of her. Imagine the feelings that must go through Esther's mind - am I important ?, am I loved ?, why did her mom do that ? But she is a trooper and I love her ! She's one of an estimated 500,000 "orphans" in Haiti - either actual orphans or abandoned or vulnerable children being cared for by organizations like this one. Esther is one of the fortunate ones who have ended up in a facility with good, loving caretakers and groups like ours helping to support them in many different ways.

Haiti Yard Sale Fundraiser THIS Saturday!

Come out this Saturday to a super massive yard sale to support the Haiti Mission Team. Lots of gently used stuff! Come support, come hang out, come shop!

Saturday, May 21st, 8:00am - 2:00pm

850 8th Avenue

Click here for more info

Celebrations in All Shapes and Forms

So much going on here I just had to write again sooner than normal !

Last week was so special with two people giving their hearts to the Lord in the tent city. Nothing can compare to that. But that week was also sad because Jara departed Haiti and returned to Hawaii. I know she was torn and I am positive that her heart is still in Haiti. But God's timing is perfect and I know she will be a part of the work in Haiti - whether she is in Hawaii or Haiti or somewhere else. We love and miss you Jara........

Jara's last full day in Haiti was Thursday the 12th so we had a party ! It was really a birthday party for the Girl's Orphanage (we told Jara it was for her - ha !) Anyway, it was really for all the girl's who had birthdays in April, May and June. Rhonda, our friend from Canada, came earlier in the week to do some work in Haiti so she brought all kinds of party favors and gifts that would have been nearly impossible to get in Haiti. Jara baked her famous cakes and the kids loved them ! Aaron (one of our staff) played his guitar and David (a team member from Washington) played his Ukulele - and the kids danced and sang and just had good fun all afternoon. Thanks Jara for making that first birthday party with the girl's so special !!

Friday night we went to a worship service by the Palace that was one of a kind. If you don't know what's going on in the Haitian government, we just completed a lengthy election process and "Sweet Micky" Martelly won. Saturday May 14th, Michael Martelly became the new president of Haiti. But what the news media probably won't tell you is that about one month ago, Martelly asked a 1,000 worship leaders from many many Christian churches through out the nation to come and pray for him and his new government. The worship leaders met about two weeks ago and prayed over Martelly. One of our worship leaders at church, who is also one of our daily interpreters, was invited to attend that prayer meeting with Martelly. He told us that Martelly actually got on his knees and asked the worship leaders to pray over him - and they did. Martelly then asked the worship leaders to put on a prayer and worship night outside the Palace grounds on Friday before he was inaugurated and that's the service we attended last Friday night. There was many many thousands of Christians there, worshipping, praying and calling on God to remove the evil from the Palace grounds and from all the government of Haiti. At one point the worship leaders on stage asked everyone in the crowd to get on their knees and pray and you can't imagine what that felt like to be on our knees in the middle of the street praying over the Palace and the government of Haiti with thousands of other Christians. For hundreds of years the Haitian government has been influenced by voodoo and I have read numerous accounts of voodoo ceremonies and even animal sacrifices in this part of town. What a wonderful way to start the new government in Haiti !! I don't know of any other time in modern history that a president has called for a special worship service to pray for his nation and the government he would take over the next day !! Praise God for His miracles !!

This Sunday during church service the pastor asked for anyone visiting for the first time to stand up (which they do every Sunday). One young man stood up who I recognized from the tent city next door. His name is Variste. When he introduced himself, he told the pastor right then and there that he wanted to become a Christian. So the Pastor told him to go with one of the leaders and they both walked off to a quiet place behind the church where he gave his life to Christ. Later that afternoon I took a team over to the tent city and there was Variste - beaming from ear to ear, telling me what he had done (although I knew it already !).

Phew !!! Way too much to keep up with. But such fun and blessings, just had to tell it now rather than wait !

God bless you all.

Mark

Birthday parties are such a blast !!

At least 20,000 people standing all over the streets in front of the National Palace - praying, worshipping, dancing and enjoying God's presence the night before the new president is sworn into office !! The tall things on the right are speakers on the edge of the huge stage (which is off camera to the right).

More New Brothers & Sisters

Bon jou (good morning in Creole), or Bon swa (good afternoon in Creole)

What a week this has been !! We started a program recently of replacing many of the tents in the tent city next to our church. Many of them have been there over a year and are in really bad shape. We asked John, the main tent city leader, to make a list of the worst tents, and especially those with women and small children. Last Tuesday morning we started by setting up a tent for a lady with two kids who's tent had been completely destroyed in a bad storm and she was living next door in another family's tent. We erected two tents that day and Wednesday morning went to set up a third. As the team was installing the first tent, I was standing off to the side talking (through my interpreter) to Carmel, one of the ladies there we've become friends with. We've talked with her many times over the last four months - and even a little bit last year. During my conversation, I explained to her that the reason we were there was because Jesus loved her. Tears welled up in her eyes and told me she'd been thinking about Jesus for a while but didn't "know Him yet" (as she put it). I asked if she would like to know Jesus right now and glanced at my interpreter to make sure he was following. When I turned back to Carmel she had dropped to her knees in the dirt and begun to cry. My interpreter and I looked at each other again and then we both knelt down beside her and led her to Jesus. What a great experience for her (and for me !). As we all stood back up Carmel was beaming from ear to ear. Eventually we went back to work, but just fifteen minutes later another man came up to me and simply said he wanted to know Jesus also and could we pray for him too ! We again knelt down in the dirt right where we stood (in the midst of ten other people - both team members and tent city dwellers) and led him to the Lord in the midst of the chaos ! What a day !!!!!!!!!!! Later, as I reflected on the experience, I realized how easy it is to bring people closer to God by simply showing them His love. We look for opportunities to help the Haitians in compassion relief (like we were doing last year after the earthquake and continue to do this year), but we are also looking for places to be involved long term, where we can develop relationships and show them God's love over time. It's "harvest time" in Haiti - sixteen months after the earthquake, with the cholera and the horrible living conditions in the midst of so much devastation. Seeds of God's love were planted in the lives of millions of Haitian people as the world came to their aid and those seeds are "growing" quickly. Hopefully, as we work with the Haitians to improve their living conditions, we will also be part of the "harvest of souls" for many years to come.

The new church building is coming along great. Yesterday the team finished the roof and we are now closing in the siding on the ends. If all goes well, we could be worshipping in the new building in two or three more weeks. No doors or windows yet (we still have to order those), but who needs them ?! We worship now in a "shed" with tarps for sides !!

So much more to share - even from just this past week ! But we'll save that for next time !

Love to all

Mark

This is Carmel. A new sister in the Lord as well as a wonderful friend !! Carmel's husband was killed in the earthquake.

On my right is Jackie, one of our translators, and on the left is Junior - a new brother in the Lord who gave his heart to Jesus while we were setting up his replacement tent in the tent city next to our church.

The team from Washington who worked at setting up some of the replacement tents. The young man with his arm around me in the back is Miqel. He wants to go back to school again, but doesn't have the money. We are working to raise funds for him (and many others) to sponsor them for high school and beyond.

Praying for Keke and her children. We just completed setting up a new tent for her family.

And of course the new church !! Yesterday we finished the roof and soon we hope to have the two ends completed. Then it's worship inside !!!

Lots to Celebrate

Aloha everyone.

Two whole weeks since my last update. Went to the mainland to see my daughter and mom since my last update and returned to Haiti on April 27th.

So much is continuing to happen here in Haiti. The next structural steel crew to help put up the church building arrived on the 27th and started right into work. Slowly the building is taking shape. It will still be a few weeks before we can use it, but soon we will be moving inside and worshipping in a brand new building! The church congregation is excited and people are constantly watching what's going on. Our Haitian crew is also learning some new skills erecting a steel building. There aren't that many steel buildings like this in Haiti and this is all new to the Haitians.

This past weekend was the Foursquare Haiti National convention and 24 pastors and church leaders from around the country came in to our church property to worship, hear excellent teaching and bond together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Aaron and I were able to attend one of the evening services and God really spoke to us both ! (and the speaker was an American so we didn't have to wait for the translation !) The Haitian pastors and leaders all stayed in the temporary buildings we built on the church property and enjoyed it tremendously. This was the first year they have been able to all stay in one place for meals and to sleep. The pastors all agreed that this was the best convention they've ever had. As a result of this year's convention the pastors have decided they want to meet four times a year as a large group and they also agreed to stop work at noon every Friday just to pray for each other. The pastors are from all over the nation and most only see each other once a year. Praying for each other once a week will do so much to strengthen the churches they serve in and to continue binding them together. We sent a number of the pastors home with our Mana-pak food boxes for their orphanage and school children - over 4,000 meals sent home with these men of God for the children !

At the Girl's orphanage we will be installing the razor wire later this month. I am especially excited about that !! But another exciting thing is that a mainland church has donated the money to dig a well on the Girl's orphanage property that will provide the same excellent drinking water we have on our National Foursquare church property. Currently the girl's get water out of a shallow well to use for washing, etc. I pumped some of it myself the other day and it comes out of the faucet slightly "brown". And their "drinkable" water that is in a large water tank elsewhere on the property is brought in by truck - but it's the same water we purchase that we consider to be only good for washing and toilets !! It will be so great to get these girl's some really pure drinking water that we can trust. At the same time, we will be buiilding a water distribution setup for the community around the girl's orphanage similar to what we did at the church property.

Next week Aaron, Jara and I want to have a birthday party for the girl's at the orphanage - for all the girls who have birthdays in April, May and June. Hopefully we can pull it off without too much trouble. Last week I gathered almost all the girl's names and birthdays so we can celebrate during this coming year. It was a little interesting as we asked when their birthdays were - I think they began to suspect something was up and some of the girls began telling us their birthdays were real soon ! I guess they figured if their birthday was sooner, they'd get presents sooner ! (we will have to work on their honesty about that !)

Yesterday we started work on grading the property for Pastor Bellande's new orphanage and church. Tuesday we went to the property to meet an engineer who will be helping us with rerouting the stream that runs through the property. When we arrived there were about 20 Haitians working on the property next to ours - a few men, numerous women and a bunch of kids. The men were working with pick and shovel to try to level the adjacent property they own. Come to find out, they were from a Haitian Assembly of God church and they are going to build a small church right next door to ours. But what was so interesting, they were leveling the property today because they have a big church party this coming Sunday and they have no place to meet unless they complete the leveling project. After meeting with our engineer and contractor who will be moving all the dirt on our property, we decided to assist the Assembly of God church and level their land as well. The backhoe started yesterday and we promised them we would have it done before Sunday - but only if they invited us to their party ! ha ! Without our help, I doubt they could have finished their project this week. I expect they went home thinking we were an answer to their prayer - ha ! How interesting are God's ways !!

Love to you all,

Uncle Mark

All the framing is up except for a tiny portion at this end of the building. Next week we start siding !!

These are the Foursquare senior pastors from around the nation having a planning session on the church property. In the background is our chicken "condo", the tilaplia tanks and our "guest house" where these pastors stayed. We just finished building the guest house a couple weeks ago.

Some of the grading work on the property for Pastor Bellande's church and orphanage. We will be rerouting the stream in the middle of the picture so we can have more usable land.

Sorry - just had to toss in a shot of the grandkids. Behind me is Eddie (my son-in-law) who is feeding Vida and I am feeding Levi. Was so much fun seeing them !!