Three New Goats!

Unloading 'Kids Against Hunger' food

Last Sunday, Ken, Mary, Gail and I went to another church that Living Water Ministries built and supports. It’s in the village of Ti Anse. It’s a very small church but was filled to capacity, about 75 people. The little Haitian Creole I know was enough to know he was speaking on grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone. He also has a very good delivery to his message.

The rest of Sunday was spent relaxing. Later in the afternoon, Ken, Mary and Gail took a swim in the ocean. I decided to stay back, I’m not too much of a swimmer!

Our new 'Billy' and two Nannies

Yesterday also saw the arrival of another team from Global Compassion Ministries. Including Jerry, Karl, and Danny. They followed two trucks of food up here loaded with ‘Kids Against Hunger’ meals. We got the trucks unloaded mid afternoon and the drivers headed back to Port au Prince. Today they plan a food distribution in the village of Ti Anse.

This morning, Zoray (a Haitian that works on the campus) went to the market in Anse Rouge to purchase 3 goats for us, two nanny’s and one Billy. We pray it will be the start of a small herd. We have them tied up and they are all adjusting nicely to their new surroundings.

Karl & Ken working on the solar oven

While Gail and I were dealing with the new goats, the rest of the group distributed food in Ti Anse. Also this morning, George Truelove came to spend a few days helping out with the food distribution and fellowship with all of us. He and his wife Carol Ann have a clinic about 4 hours away from us. I think they have been missionaries in Haiti for over 30 years, but don’t hold me to the exact number of years they’ve been in country.

This afternoon Karl and Christian (a fantastic young Haitian interpreture) along with some help from Ken, built a solar oven. I look forward to trying it out tomorrow!

Danny, George, and Jerry (new generator house in the back left)

If you are receiving this automatically, the pictures may not come through. You may want to go to the blog site and check it out there.

Thanks for your continued support!

In His Service,

Chuck & Gail

Update: Ti Lagon, Haiti

Evening meal

The team from Global Compassion left the campus yesterday (Thursday). They were such a blessing to us – thank you Steve, Jim, and Terry! God bless you. We enjoyed most breakfasts and evening meals together.


Campus Suzuki

A huge thanks goes to Denny Mitchell for all the work he has done. Not only on the campus, but also the work he has done on the campus vehicle that Living Water Ministries has provided. Having the Suzuki here gives us the possibility of going to nearby villages rather than taking the ATV. Also, if needed, we can now get to Port au Prince in the event of an emergency. It brings great peace of mind to all of us. With the help of Mary and Emily, we started to work up the garden two days ago. It’s a slow process due to the heat. The soil has eroded from the nearby hillside to this bottom area. It’s the only place that I have seen around here that has real dirt and not just rock on it. By last night we had the large shade house area worked up. By the Grace of God, the water lines that were run to it a few years ago were still all functioning! So we gave the extremely dusty dirt a good watering. We will plant it soon. It will be interesting to see what grows!

Two gardens will be inside the shade houses

Ken has been busy making shelves for our house. He does such a great job! We now have a couple shelves in the kitchen and 4 nice sized shelves in the bedroom. The next project is to build a chicken coop so we can get a few chickens. We are so fortunate that both Ken and Mary have taken the month out of their lives to serve here in Haiti!
Today we went to the village of Ti Anes. Stopped at the school and met with the kids and teachers there. They remembered Gail and me from the last time we were here. Just our luck it soon was recess time, so we enjoyed playing with them.

Ken making shelves

We then walked through the village and stopped by the ocean for awhile. After a short break, we headed to the village of Baie de Henne. We drove to one of the 4 churches that Living Water Ministries built and support. The pastor came out to greet us and showed us the church. After a brief stay, we went to the open market to look for eggs. We got a good deal on 5 dozen eggs! Next to the small market is a little building where we got a couple bottles of soda. Drank them down and headed back to the campus.

Yesterday's sunrise

We give our Lord the glory for giving us the opportunity to serve Him here in the Northwest of Haiti. It is by your support and prayers that His work can be furthered! God bless!

In His Service,
Chuck & Gail
Ti Lagon, Haiti

"A voice of one calling in the desert"

Yesterday we attended church in Ti Parade. Pastor Etienne's message was from Matthew 3 and how John the Baptist was a common man but called great by Jesus. The things of this world did not make John the Baptist great. He was poor, clothed in camel hair and ate locus and honey. Not exactly what we, of this world, would call 'great'. But in God's eye, he was. Fantastic lesson to be learned.


Gail was asked to read from Scripture Matthew 3:1-10 in front of the church. She did a great job!
We had a good time meeting all that were in attendance. The church was really full, there were even people sitting on the cement floor. It's nice to see people giving praise to our God!

The rest of Sunday was relaxed. I think we all sort of needed a break. It got really hot in the afternoon.

Today Gail, Chuck, Ken, and Zoray (the interpreter) went to the market at Anse Rouge. We wanted to get a few vegetables and some fruit. But fruit was not going to be bought today. We couldn't find any, but being in this desert area, it's understandable. The market is a good hours drive away which in and of itself can wear you out. You get there on what they call a 'road', but calling it that is a bit of a stretch! Added to the drive was intense heat and the ever curious smell of the market. This afternoon Ken and Aaron started to wire the guest house. It will be nice to have the place wired!

A group of about 8 Haitian kids walked through the campus Saturday. Emily quickly grabbed the soccer ball and ran over to them. Before you knew it, a soccer game started! It didn't end well for Emily. Her flip-flop came off and she cut her foot on a rock. Ouch! So it's wrapped up and she's hobbling around. Thanks to John Filz, we were able to bring a bunch of crutches to Haiti last year. They came in handy today - thanks John! Dad and Arron did a good job of cleaning it out and she'll be fine. Praise God!

Steve, Terry, and Jim from Global Compassion Ministries left yesterday to deliver items to Linda B. further up into the Northwest. They also wanted to see a few other missionaries a few hours away. I'm not sure where they camped overnight, but will be anxiously waiting to hear! I hear their truck coming as I write this so I better finish up!

Thank you all for your prayers. We do need them. And know that we are praying for you also!

In His Service,
Chuck & Gail

The Adventure Begins!

All is well with the group that arrived in Haiti on October 15th. It's been a bit hectic and the lack of a good internet connection has kept us from posting. But now that we are in the Northwest, it is better.

Ken and Mary Challis along with Gail and I left Ironwood Michigan on Tuesday, the 14th. While spending the night in Chicago before our flight to Haiti, we found out that we couldn't take all of our luggage. So, with the help of Gail's son-in-law, (who lives in the Chicago area) we had to eliminate two checked bags. Hummmmm, what won't we need? Tough choice! Gail did some last minute rearranging and by the Grace of God we have what we have! We met up with Ken and Mary's daughter, Emily and her friend Aaron in Ft Lauderdale. The six of us flew to Port au Prince, Haiti on the 15th. There we met Steve, Terry and Jim from Global Compassion.

We all stayed at the Global Outreach facility just outside of Port for 2 nights. One full day was spent purchasing food, furniture and supplies. We attempted to purchase about a months worth of food for 10 people. Unfortunately, we found out later that we had lost a bunch of groceries. I'll (Chuck) take the blame. I loaded the truck and had some groceries sticking up out of boxes towards the back of the truck. When we got to where we were headed for the night, a bunch of the food was gone. We pray that someone that really needed it was blessed. The following day (Friday) was a Haitian holiday and the stores were closed. So we headed to the Northwest with the provisions God supplied. We are headed later today to a little market a few miles away to see what we can get.

Many parts of the road leading to the Northwest is a single lane. We were stopped about 1/2 hour away from our destination with a truck full of charcoal that was stalled on a hill. The next thing we knew, we saw their truck starting to roll backwards, then tip over. By the Grace of God, nobody was injured.  We had to 'create' a new road down an embankment in order to get around. When the guys from Global Compassion came through, they pulled the truck out with their 5 ton military truck. I can only imagine how thankful the driver was for them! That truck could have very well sat blocking the road for days before being moved.

The picture on the right is from this morning. We have been busy unpacking and getting settled in. We thank God for Global Compassion which hauled all our belongings!

This is our first full day and we got up running (so to speak). Denny from Living Water Ministries has been taking Ken around and showing him all the systems and layout of the campus. Ken and Aaron then started in on taking out the framing from the new septic system for the education building. It's hot today, so they worked hard until noon. We will get back at various jobs after a few hours when it isn't so hot!

We thank all of you for your prayers and support! We also pray that our Lord will use us for His will. Every day is an adventure with the Lord!

In His Service,
Chuck & Gail