A Tremor Shakes Up Unwanted Memories

This past week has flown by! We said goodbye to our five fabulous KCC ladies on Tuesday, and hello to our new team on Wednesday. We have a group of 10 staying with us now. They have many projects going on this week including; laying down new flooring in all three containers, hosting vacation Bible school in Les Bours, planting a garden, and teacher training seminars. The flooring is looking really nice! The guest house container is already complete and the orphanage is well on its way! Two days of vacation Bible school have left the children in Les Bours with food in their bellies and singing about Jesus! This morning part of the team planted a garden on our property with tomatoes, lettuce, pepper, mustard, beets, collard greens, and more! It is only day 2 and so much as been accomplished!

Frentz was able to pick up Jivenson's ashes on Wednesday, after a two week battle with the hospital and funeral parlor. It was bittersweet to bring "him" back to HOPE House. We are having a service on our property tomorrow to spread some of his ashes around the compound. Five of the team members who are here with us now knew Jivenson from their visit last summer. Our staff will all be present as we thank God for allowing us to be part of his short, but sweet, life.

Naika is not feeling well today. She has a terrible migraine and looks miserable. She has been hanging out on my couch, barely moving, since about 8:30 this morning. Please pray for her to start feeling better!

Construction has been coming along really well on the property! The drain field is blocked off and covered, the driveway is paved, and garden areas are enclosed, the patio has been extended, the water tank is complete, the plumbing system is up and running, and both the large and small stoage rooms are complete! Next on the agenda: reinforcing a few of the outside walls and then the base of the future orphanage building! Joseph and his crew are awesome!

This morning we had a tremor that shook our containers. It sent people all over Port-au-Prince screaming and running outside. The shake did not cause any damage, but spread fear and anxiety. All of the terrible, horrifying memories of January 12th came flooding back. Marie, one of our nannies, was very concerned for her son who was in school because when the children panic and run out of the building, some of the children get trampled over. Please continue to pray for the Haitian people.

The next few days we will be having a carnival here at HOPE House for our kids and the children of our staff, hosting one more day of vbs, distributing seed packets for gardening, and starting teacher training! I'm looking forward being part of God's work this week!

"I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back."

Never a Dull Moment

l
These past few days have been a bit of a roller coaster. I will start by highlighting some of the high points:
- The team from Kentwood Community Church arrived with all of their luggage and great plans for a vacation Bible school in the tent city of Jeremie and a spa day for our staff and Gift of Hope women.
- The spa day was extremely appreciated! This class of Gift of Hope ladies had never been pampered on in such a way before. The team set up stations and allowed the women to move around the room treating the to manicures, pedicures, and facials. The facials were definitely the highlight! They loved laying on the bed with their heads relaxed on a pillow while getting their heads massaged and their faces cleaned. (Most of them sleep on cement floors or in the dirt.) About half of the women ended up falling asleep during their facial. They all thought it was hilarious to see each other with round cotton cloths over their eyes and face masks over their faces.
- Marie Guerda, Caleb and Guerlen's mother, was afraid to have her nails painted because her church would make her stand outside. I assured her that Jesus loved her anyway, and she decided to paint her toes and fingers bright red! Love that lady!
- The team also baked brownies for the ladies....there are two things that women love, feeling beautiful and eating chocolate! Both were accomplished! It was a good day!
- This morning we hosted our first ever tent city VBS. About 60 children joined us in a canvas tent for worship, a Bible story, snack, a craft, games, and more snacks! Today's focus was on the topic of heaven. One little girl sitting by me whispered, "I bet there won't be earthquakes there." It is amazing how life shattering those 45 seconds were on January 12th, 2010.
- One of the little boys who came today had a terrible infected burn on the palm of his hand. As I looked at his hand closer I could see that there were bugs crawling around in it. I could tell he was in pain because he was unable to focus on anything else but starring at his hand. The poor little guy was probably only 4 years old at the most. I called Mamoun, one of our wonderfully trained nurses from last week's medical seminar, and she rushed over and cleaned him all up! It was painful, but now it's clean. She wrapped his tiny hand up the best she could so it wouldn't get infected again.
- At the end of the VBS today I asked the kids if any of them wanted to come back again tomorrow. Clapping and cheering filled the tent! ...I took that as a yes!
- We had a thunderstorm yesterday and nothing leaked! YAY! This could be the start of a very good thing!

Unfortunately there have been several sad things that have happened this week as well:
- One of our second grade girls had cholera earlier this week. We asked for prayer for her and she was sent to a cholera clinic in Cite Soleil. I am thankful to say she is healed and came to school on Wednesday to show me where they poked her with an IV.
- Just as soon as one little girl got better, another one got sick. RoseCarline from LaPlaine is very ill. On Tuesday evening she was shaking and having difficulty breathing. Abner said that many people thought she had already died. He has taken her to a hospital and I am waiting to hear how she is doing. Please pray for her and her family.
- Several other people in Les Bours have been infected by cholera this week, including Cha-cha's husband's sister. (Cha-cha was our school assistant who died in child birth in December of last year.)
- Yesterday in Les Bours an 8 year old child was run over by a car and killed. They did not attend our school, but they were from our community and their family is devastated. Route Neuf is such a dangerous road to live on. The flying tap-taps and buses rarely slow down for people, animals, or other vehicles.
-One of our neighbors works for an electrical company and he has his crew moving large electrical poles from the main road into his property. Last night, during the transportation of one of the poles, it fell off from the machinery and crushed one of the worker's legs. His leg bones cracked from the weight. They were able to get him to a hospital and he is in surgery to have most of his leg amputated today. He is in a lot of pain, and life is about to get a lot harder for him. Please keep him and your family in your prayers.

We are excited about all we have planned in the next few days. Tomorrow we are hosting VBS in Cite Jeremie again. In the afternoon we are taking our older HOPE House kids (Naika, Sophonie, Caleb, and Pierreline) up to the Baptist Mission to see a few zoo animals and eat some ice cream! On Sunday and Monday the team will be busy here at HOPE House and at Gift of Hope cleaning out supplies, distributing hygiene kits, and organizing our storage. We also plan to take a trip on Monday to continue distributing water filters and purification solution to families in cholera infected areas.

Thank you for all of your continued prayers and support. We are so blessed to have you as part of our HFAP family!

Clinic Week

I am so thankful for each of the amazing ladies God put on our medical team last week! It was a tough, stressful, emotional week but God's presence was evident as true relationships were formed, positive attitudes filled the team, and medical care was provided to over 1,500 patients!

The team divided their time between our clinic in Les Bours and the tent city of Jeremie. They were shocked at the amount of terrible, oozing, bleeding ear infections on young children. They have been sleeping in the wet mud for far too long. Gail had one little baby brought to her with a hat wrapped tightly around his head. When she removed the hat the baby's hair was growing with mold. After living in such wet and damp conditions the baby's head was literally covered in mold. Gail washed her hands all day and could still smell the stench of this poor baby's head on her fingers. A lot of antibiotics were passed out for all kinds of infections. We went through suitcase after suitcase of medicines and have very little left in our storage.

Words cannot express how thankful the Haitian people are for these clinics. Some of our patients walked for hours to see our team. Others lived in the countryside and took an all day bus ride into the city. As word of mouth spread we had hundreds of patients lined up outside the tent door. On Wednesday alone the team saw over 530 patients! Our next medical week will be the second week of July. Thank you Gail and team for an amazing week! I was so thankful for all of your help after the flood! You guys rock!

Since the team left, Morgan and I have been catching up on things back here at HOPE House. She is here for 3 more weeks and I have been so thankful to have her help! Yesterday we took a day of rest and played with the kids in a blow up swimming pool. It was quite an exciting event for all! Naika and Sophonie turned into little fishes splashing and rolling around in the water. Pierreline and Caleb kept pouring bowls of water over their heads pretending to take a bath. (This went on for about 3 1/2 hours.) Kimberlie even had her own little baby pool to splash around in. It was a great way to spend a hot afternoon in Haiti!

We are getting ready for our next team to come in tomorrow! A group of women from Kentwood Community Church is joining us for a week of Vacation Bible School in the tent city, pampering our staff and Gift of Hope ladies, and getting down and dirty with construction projects around the property. Should be a great week! I will keep you posted as the internet allows!

What A Week.

Words cannot express what we have been through this week. We are thankful to all be alive and thankful God spared our precious children. You may or may not have heard about Monday night's horrific storm. It began raining, as usual, in the evening. It started coming down harder than normal. Frentz and I were in our container sitting in bed trying to yell at each other over the sound of raindrops hitting our roof. All of a sudden there was a knock at our door. Heather and Kelli, two team members, were standing outside, soaking wet, with children in their arms. "Everything is flooding! Water is rushing in. We are all under water!" Their voices were panicked as they threw the children into my arms and turned back to get more. I scanned my flashlight down to the lower part of the property and was horrified at what I saw. Muddy waters were swirling around the containers and rising above the doors. The team members were rushing children to safety and barely able to keep their feet on the ground as waters reached above their knees and pushed them backwards. Within minutes the water rose above the children's beds. Once the team members and children were safely in my container we began praying for our health, our property, our safety, and for the rain to stop. Frentz and the guards were trying to clear the debris in the drain system to allow as much water as possible to flow from our property. Up at the top of the drain, water blew through the hole like a waterfall. Our neighbor's property was holding too much water that rocks and cement started blowing through the base of the wall so that more water could travel through. Rushing water is a very powerful force!

At that point I went back to the team and we decided to make a plan to move to higher ground. We were afraid that the wall directly behind my container was going to blow out and all of the water would come crashing into us. The highest point on our property is the top of the water storage tank. There was a ladder leading up to it that was standing in the rushing waters. As we began to partner up and plan on how we would carry the children up the ladder and the water began flooding into my container. "We need to get out now!" We grabbed the children, umbrellas, a tarp, and all of the crackers, water, and dry sheets I had in my house and ran out the door. We sent two people up the ladder with the supplies first. I stood halfway up the ladder and began passing children to the top. One by one we all made it up and began sliding the children under the tarps and umbrellas. Several of the team members sat with the children to keep them calm and warm while the rest of us tried to gather a few supplies not knowing how long we would be spending on top of the room. Lucienne (a nanny who lives with us) came running over to the ladder with a tent in her arms. "You build me a house, now I am giving you a house!" she exclaimed and gave me a small tent to put the children in. "Thank you God for our houses!" She began singing as she danced in the rain. She was so excited that her little tent was the new "HOPE House". Megan, Heather, and I struggled to see in the dark and through the rain to put up a tent that none of us had ever assembled before. But through the grace of God we had it up in no time and began moving the children one by one inside. A few of the team members ventured back down the ladder to grab diapers, clean water, food, a first aid kit, and another tent. It was about 3:00am until we had the second tent set up and we were out of the rain. Thankfully the rain had lightened up and the water was starting to go down. Water had reached up to the top bunk of the bunk beds in the guest house. It was pouring out the kitchen windows, and covered all of the children's toys. I'm not sure if any of us actually fell asleep before the sun came up. I am so thankful that this team was here! I would have never known that the orphanage was flooding until the cribs were under water! Mamoun, our night nanny, could not have held all of the children at once to carry them to safety. Our team literally saved the lives of our sweet little babies!

The team spent all day Tuesday bleaching everything we could possible save. The water that had covered the containers was filled with sewage, cholera, and other bacteria. The flooring was ripped out of all three containers. The children's beds were bleached and we had to throw the pack n' plays away. Toys that couldn't be bleached were thrown away. The patio area was bleached over and over again. The children spent all day Tuesday and Tuesday night on top of the water tank. With all of the bacteria floating around we didn't want any of it going in their mouths. Gail started everyone on antibiotics as a precaution.

Tuesday afternoon Frentz picked up Kevin and Jessica Perberg at the airport. At 5:00 our staff and some of the team members joined us at the funeral home for a service in memory of Jivenson. His little body laid in a tiny open casket. He had the same small smile on his face as he did the moment he went to be with Jesus. It was a tearful service we the staff stood up one by one and told their favorite stories and memories with Jivenson. Jivenson had a special way of getting into people's hearts. Marie and Lucienne both described their deep love for him as if they had given birth to him. Myslene stood up to lead everyone in a song that ended up in yelling and crying out to the heavens. We all know that Jivenson is whole, happy, and with Jesus, but our hearts are broken and missing him here on earth. I am so thankful that Jesus saves.

Wednesday the team went to Les Bours to finish examining the school children and open our clinic up to the community. They ended up seeing over 200 patients yesterday. Many of them were very ill, and all of them received antibiotics to help fight all of the bacteria they are exposed to living in stagnant water. One of the little girls in our school had been beaten with wires by her godmother. She said she was beaten because her godmother has a boyfriend. She also complained of pain in her private area. Some of our precious kids live such painful lives. It is absolutely heart breaking. The nurses continued to see many ear infections in young children. Many of their ears were bleeding and oozing. One of the nurses pulled out a bug from the inside of a patient;s ear. Today and tomorrow the nurses are serving the people living in the tent city of Jeremie.

Jessica, Kevin, and I stayed back yesterday to continue cleaning HOPE House. At noon we were able to move the children down from the water tank and back into their container. They were so happy to be back....they were going crazy sitting up on the roof with nothing to do! In the afternoon Gerlade, her husband, and her husband's brother all came over to meet with Jessica and Kevin. We sat together and shared video, pictures, and stories of Little Jeeves. Gerlande had a very hard time looking at the picture of Jivenson when he became very ill. Overall they were so grateful for the care he was provided and how much he was loved. His uncle said, "Even though he didn't get to go to America yet, he lived like a child from the United States."

Later in the afternoon we took them home to Les Bours and brought along water purification sprayers with us. Jean and TiBray sprayed the school for cholera and walked up and down the streets of Les Bours treating every puddle and moldy pond they could find.

Pray for cholera to stop spreading. It is taking the lives of so many people! Pray for the sun to shine so that the water and mud can dry! Pray for the rain to stay away and stop spreading diseases and bacteria! Pray for HOPE House to remain safe and dry. Pray for the health of our teams, staff, and children. Pray for God to continue to give us His strength and wisdom to serve His people.

For those of you who met Jivenson, heard his story, or were touched by his life in some way, there will be a memorial for him at the Perberg's house in Grand Rapids this Saturday at 3:00pm. Because it is in their home, there is limited space they are inviting close friends and family. If you would like to make a donation in memory of his beautiful life, you can make your check out to HFAP and send it to: HFAP, 1275 E Wackerly Rd., Midland, MI 48642. (You can send it to the PO Box in GR too, but we will receive it sooner at the Midland address.) All donations will be spent to help cover the costs of his hospital stays, medications, and funeral. May the Lord be blessed and honored by our response to losing the life of this precious child.

We Love You Jivenson

Pain. Sorrow. Grief. Relief. Saddness. Pain. This has been the cycle of my emotions the last 12 hours since sweet Jivenson went to be with Jesus.

He was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia just weeks ago. Between a virus, dehydration, and his sickle cell crisis his weak little body just couldn't fight it. We did absolutely everything we could including admitting him to multiple hospitals, receiving multiple blood tests, covering him in prayer, and dedicating an entire medical team to him. Medicine was no longer helpful. He had developed congestive heart failure and his liver and spleen had pooled with blood and his hands and feet were bloated with water.

Until yesterday afternoon he was peaceful. He did not have energy, but he was not miserable. Yesterday afternoon he took a turn for the worse. He laid limp in my arms barely able to keep his eyelids open. The nurses that had just arrived on the medical team were massaging him, giving him medications, and collecting lab test data. But Jesus loves him more.

About 6:00 he starting having trouble breathing. He received a breathing treatment which helped, but only for a short time. After his treatment I said goodnight to him. "Bye-bye Sonson, wave bye-bye." For the first time since he had gotten sick he responded back with a two finger waive.

Soon after he stopped breathing. The nurses began CPR and gave him a shot of epi. When there was nothing left to do they asked me to call it. Time of death was 7:10pm. (8:10 in Michigan.)

My dear sweet Jivenson, you will be greatly missed at HOPE House and here on this earth. I am so thankful you were with us for 16 wonderful months. You gave us so much joy and snuggle time! Your smile, waves, and contagious laugh will never be forgotten. It is hard to wake up this morning knowing you are not here. I LOVE YOU LITTLE JEEVES.

Jesus, please wrap your arms around our sweet little man. Thank you for making him whole again and taking away all of his pain. I picture him on your lap with all of his hair back waving to all of us below. I am sure he could not be happier. I sit here so thankful this morning that he can be reunited with Madame Kisnail who took such great care of him during her time at HOPE House. Madame Kisnail, Kimberlie's twin, and Little Jeeves are all together. We serve You, we love You, and we trust You have a plan for all of our hurting hearts.

We are planning his funeral for Wednesday. His wonderful adopting family will be flying in. They also plan to have a memorial service in Michigan for all of those who loved him and prayed for him. I will post more details about that when I get them.

Thank you for loving Jivenson and spending hours on your knees praying for him. He has been healed.

Rain, Rain Go Away

It finally stopped raining late last night after over 30 hours of rain. Our property is a muddy mess! Life does not go on as normal in Haiti when it rains. Workers don't show up, tap-taps are harder to find, schools and businesses close, etc. We have so much to accomplish, we are all working double time today! Dad and Keith are only here for one more day working on construction. They are getting a lot accomplished but Dad thinks he might have to come back down for another four days and bring some parts for the generator. (Oh darn!)

Morgan and Kelli, our June interns, have been keeping busy getting ready for the medical team to arrive tomorrow! We are so excited to pick up Mama Gail and her team at the airport tomorrow afternoon! It just can't come soon enough! We have an awesome medical week planned! All of the Les Bours students will be receiving their physical exams, we have three days of tent city clinic, and each afternoon we are hosting a nurses training seminar. These nurses will be able to continue health care for their people even as our medical teams return home. Looking forward to a great week!

I just returned from Les Bours (which is also a muddy mess). Gerlande came over with her new baby, Joubenika. She is absolutely precious! Gerlande was so proud to show her off. Thank you to everyone who purchased one of Gerlande's journals! You have made such a difference for her family! Our last class of women will be coming in for their monthly check-up on Tuesday. I can't wait to see all of them! (And Baby Benley!) The new class of ladies has been busy while I was gone! I have over 120 journals ready to sell! They will arrive in Michigan on Sunday. Get your orders in or pick some up to take to your churches or friends to sell! (Email us at: haitipoverty.org)

Cholera is on the rise again. It never went away, but now, after all of these rains, it is getting worse. The death toll has been rising everyday. Please pray for the cholera victims and their families. Clean water is a human right! The solution to this problem is so simple...and yet so difficult. You can help cholera patients by donating $20 for a life saving IV, or by donating $50 to purchase a water filter for a family without access to clean water. (Send donations to: HFAP, PO Box 120105, Grand Rapids, MI 49528)

Please continue to pray for our sick children to feel better, Pierreline and Caleb are both doing much better today! Jivenson is hanging on for Mama Gail and the medical team to arrive!

Until next week....

We're Back!

We arrived back to Port-au-Prince yesterday at approximately 12:55pm. We managed to find all of our luggage and greeted our favorite "red cap" airport helpers before finding Dad, Charly, and Joseph. When we arrived at HOPE House we were welcomed with cheering staff and children with arms wide open. We were home!

It was a joyous afternoon as we expressed our gratitude for our amazing staff. Myslene and the ladies made a delicious feast, and Joseph and his men gathered for a meal and gifts! Thanks to the Home Depot of Midland, MI these dedicated workers all received new hard hats! We also purchased each man a set of new work boots (which they want to wear as church shoes because they are so excited to have something brand new) and matching T-shirts. All of Joseph's crew(including Keith Veldheer) received a HOPE House T-shirt with "I work for Joseph" written on the back. Joseph received one that said, "I am Joseph." And Dad, of course, has one that says, "I am Joseph's brother." The men were doubled over laughing. We are truly thankful for these men and all of the sweat and labor they put into to making HOPE House a safe place for our children, staff, and guests.

After the work crew party was done Frentz and I got out our gifts for HOPE House staff and children. It was like Christmas! Naika was so upset when we left for MIchigan that we had to console her by telling her we would bring her a pink jacket and sunglasses when we returned. (Which she had been asking for for months!) There were jackets, sunglasses, and toys for everyone! I enjoyed the afternoon just hugging on the kids. Pierreline had her arms around my neck for hours. Mika is saying many new words! At dinner time she told me she needed to wash her hands. Caleb of course added, "Yes! Wash your hands!" The kid just cracks me up all the time.

Unfortunately we have a few sick kids. Pierreline work up this morning with an eye infection and Caleb is complaining about stomach pain and threw up after breakfast. Jivenson is still very sick. We are working to get him a medical visa so he can come to the states for testing. Please pray for his paperwork to happen quickly and easily, and for him to gain enough strength to be able to make the trip. His life is in God's hands. He loves him even more than we do....which at times is hard to believe!

This afternoon I have am going to the airport to pick up Morgan and Kelli, two girls that will be helping me out for the next 4 weeks. They will be assisting with our teams and HOPE House kids. It will be great to have some extra hands around here! We have a lot planned for the month of June including; major construction projects, clinic week, teacher training, two week of VBS (one in Les Bours and one in Cite Jeremie), garden planting, new Gift of Hope women, and more!

I'll be writing again soon!