Gift of Hope

Gift of Hope officially opened today! We had our first journal making class this morning. Four ladies attended: Jiniol (Benley's mom), Gerlande (Jivenson's mom), FloreMichelle (a lady who has been selling donated shoes and clothing sent from our supporters), and Mideline (Shellsie's mom, a baby we cared for who died just before her first birthday in April). After months and months of preparation the day was finally here! I was so excited to see them all, I started crying before we even began!

The ladies did a great job on their first journals! Mideline's was nearly perfect! Gerlande struggled a little because she has trouble with her eyes. All in all, I think we are going to have some BEAUTIFUL journals coming your way! Get your orders in! They will make great Christmas presents!

We took pictures and wrote down each woman's story for their bio. (Gerlande's photo is posted here, she is holding Jivenson in front of her home with her other children.) Each journal will be complete with a bio of the woman who made it and a picture of them with their child or children.

After journals we spent time talking about the importance of memorizing scripture. As a group, we will be memorizing 2 verses a month. This week's verse is Roman's 14:8b "In life and in death we belong to the Lord!"

Myslene was busy in the kitchen all morning and at noon we all ate a delicious lunch together! White rice, bean sauce, and chicken!

The ladies are so excited and thankful for an opportunity to learn something and care for their children. As I asked each woman to tell me her story the first thing they all said was, "I would like to go back to school and learn something so I can care for myself and my children. I would like to tell people that I am so thankful for this program because I can do something for myself." The women described how difficult it is to find enough food to feed their children. I asked each lady to tell me what God has done for them. Jiniole said, "I love God very much. He is my life." Gerlande said, "I love God so much because he saved my life in the earthquake. I was on the third floor of a hospital with Jivenson and He saved us both."

We are all excited for Thursday! The ladies will be making their first journals that will be sold! (They got to keep the ones they made today.)

Jivenson had to go to the lab for blood testing this morning to see if we can find out any more information about his delayed development. He has pokes all over his fingers and arms. They couldn't get enough blood! Just as they were checking out, the nurse came back and said he needed poked again! Poor guy did NOT have a good morning!

Tomorrow we are going over to Les Bours to distribute clothing to the community. I will also be meeting with Pierreline and her family and enrolling her in school! I got to see her briefly this morning. When she saw the white truck pull up she started jumping up and down and crying with excitment! On Thursday she is going to come visit us at HOPE House just to play for the day! We are all missing her!