Thanksgiving Day

School in Terrel de Nigris

Today we give thanks to the Lord our God! All praise and glory go to Him. We all should be mindful of giving thanks to God for every aspect of our lives. Giving thanks to God in every situation will not necessarily make our troubles go away, but our attitude about them will be so much better!

Children getting notebooks and pencils

 

In the past week, Gail and I have made two trips to a little village called Terrel de Negrs. It’s about 1 ½ hour’s drive via ATV. We have been there in the past and were aware of the school situation. At one time there were 80+ children in this Christian school. Now they claim to have 40, but the day we were there, there were only 29 kids present. The school has lost over ½ of its pupils due to a lack of school materials, books, no uniforms and no daily meal given (not to mention that the building’s roof has started to come off). So another organization came to the families and told them they would give them uniforms and a meal every day if they dropped out of this Christian based school and attended theirs.

The school is in need of new chalk boards

Things are beginning to change! Living Water Ministries along with Global Compassion Ministries have started to deliver food to the village and to the school. The children that remain at the school now get a nutritious meal every day! We still are working on getting them materials, books, writing paper, chalk  boards, craft supplies, etc and sometime in the future, God willing, uniforms. Uniforms are highly regarded in Haiti. Basically, a school without uniforms is not a school at all. Helping this school is a work in progress. If anyone has connections to where to purchase inexpensive uniforms, please let us know!

The schools kitchen

For a reason we didn’t fully understand, the first day we showed up there was no school. While we sat in the shade across from the school, it wasn’t long before we had a number of ladies from the village around us. Seeing as our Haitian Creole isn’t very good (terrible at best) our conversation was limited to a few words and a lot of hand and foot signals! They brought a bunch of plantain and we purchased a few of them to cook up later. It was an interesting interaction between all of us! Within an hour, the director of the school, Sony George, arrived. His English was pretty good and we were able to get a tour of the school and of the village.

Fresh vegetables!

Ismita and daughter in front of what use to be her house

While in the village, Sony George showed us his house and gave us a couple papaya, a bag of peas and something that looks like a  round green vegetable, but I have no idea what it is! He then took us around and we stopped at a place where recently stood the house of Ismita Pierre. Her house had caught on fire and collapsed just a day before. It was still smoldering when we were there. She has 5 children and no husband. They are staying in her parent’s house for now. That’s a lot of people in a very small space. We left the area praying for this lady and her dilemma.

All that is left of Ismita's house and belongings

We returned to the school the following Tuesday to the joy of children learning. They are so happy to be in school! Because of the generosity of others, we were able to give each child a notebook, pencil, and tooth brush. There are four teachers, including the director, and each received a hygiene packet along with a couple bags of craft supplies to be used with the children. We stayed at the school for an hour or so then headed into the village to see how Ismita and her children were doing. We left Ismita some children’s clothes and hygiene packs. It’s so sad to see her house in shambles. She is a Christian and we pray our Lord will provide for her needs.

More on Thanksgiving…. There is an old Haitian saying (or, maybe I just made it up;). “Any day you have less than three flat tires, it’s a good day.” With that in mind, last Monday was a good day, we only had two flat tires!!!! One on the ATV and one on the car. Thankfully, we were not on the road when they went flat. We were able to get a moto (motorcycle taxi) here to take the tires to Ans Rouge to get fixed. Unfortunately, the flats didn’t occur at the same time. We didn’t notice the flat on the car until the moto had left with the ATV tire! So our taxi guy made two separate trips, about 45 minutes drive each way. On the plus side, we got to get to know this young gentleman. We look forward to working with him and getting to know him better in the future.  

‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.’  1 Chronicles 16:34, 2 Chronicles 5:13, Psalm 106:1, Psalm 107:1, Psalm 118:1, Psalm 118:29, Psalm 136:1

As we reflect and give thanks for how great and loving our God is, we also give a prayer of thanksgiving to all who have given to the people of Haiti through their prayers and support. God bless you and your families.

In His Service,

Chuck & Gail