Our Lord Provides!

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

 

Greetings!



Taking the team to the orphanage

After a brief week and a half in the States, I found myself back in Haiti for just under two more weeks. A good friend of mine, Chuck Martindale, has been sick and had a group of 20 people coming in. So I volunteered to help him out. But not only was it a time for me to work with the team, it also gave me opportunities to show the Jesus Movie, talk about our Lord, and build relationships.


I should back up a little and explain how the Lord made it possible for me to even go on this trip. I hesitate to tell this, but it is yet another example of how God provides. Gail and I have a small non profit (501(c)3) organization. When I thought I should make myself available to go back to Haiti to help out, I checked the bank account and we only had $57.34 in there! Well, that's not going to get me very far out of Ironwood (where we live) and certainly not to Haiti and back! I was sharing this with Gail when she stood up, went out of the room and returned with a small plastic bag which had some tin foil in it. She set it in front of me and told me to use it. Upon opening it, I saw a small pile of cash. Gail told me she had been socking a little money away in the event of a 'rainy day'. The Lord provided just enough money in that bag to make the trip with $50.00 left over! Oh, how God provides!

Living conditions at the orphanage 4 years ago.

This trip also turned out to be a good time to reconnect with a little orphanage Gail and I have worked with in the past. At one time Gail and I even camped in a tent up there so we could work with them! I have to admit, I'm not fond of camping, and camping in Haiti provides an even greater challenge. But hey, we lived. The orphanage was a great host and we lacked nothing. At that time, there were about 10-15 children there. Now, there are about 35 kids running around! I should explain, as with most orphanages in Haiti, most of these children do have family living. But for one reason or another, their families aren't able to provide for them, either in food or in their education. So they send them away. I would rather call this type of living a 'children's home' but they are referred to as orphanages.


New 2 room sleeping area for the girls

The Jonas family started this one in Port au Prince back in 2004. When the earthquake hit in 2010, it completely destroyed their home and the home of the children. With no place for them or the children to live, they moved about one and a half hours outside of Port to the village of Z'Orange where they lived in tents.  Pastor Jonas's wife has family there and it was their only option.

Future building for the boys.

To this day, it hasn't been easy for them. When I met them in February 2013, they were all in tents. I remember bringing duct tape on each trip I made so they could repair the rips in the material. One positive thing is that there is a block church structure (partially built) that they could go into when the weather got bad.

Current kitchen at the orphanage

Forward about four years, and the living conditions are a little better but far from ideal. They received some donations from a couple Haitian churches in the States so they could build a two room building for the girls. It's a fantastic improvement, but the boys are still sleeping on mats on the floor in the partially built church. Their tents have disintegrated over time in the harsh Haitian climate and are unusable. They hope to be able to finish another small building that would house the boys, but they have to rely on outside help to make this happen. They have all they can handle just feeding, clothing, and schooling the children they have.

Girl attending the school for the orphans. They don't have
uniforms, but it would be a huge blessing in the future if they did.

The first of a few trips of taking food up to the children.

As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago when I made a visit to them (I usually go unannounced), I could tell they were pretty hungry. I was told that they hadn't eaten yet that day and were hoping some food from Port au Prince would show up. It was now 4:30 in the afternoon. So a couple Haitian friends and I went to the village and got beans, rice, oil, and spaghetti which will hopefully get them through a month.  We were planning on providing this food all along, but now we were made aware of the  need in person. A special thank you goes to Life Church in Rome GA for providing the funds that made this food purchase possible! God bless you! Gail and I hope to be able to continue providing food for them on a continuous basis. It would be such a relief and a blessing for them. Please think about coming along side us in helping with this need. We would like to provide about $500.00 in food per month, but at this point we just don't have the funds to make this happen. To make clear, this isn't money given to the orphanage. We know better than that! You can't just 'give' cash. We want to actually purchase the food and deliver it. It's the only way we know for sure where the money is going. It's just the way we have to do it.


The next trip to Haiti will hopefully be in mid August. Gail and I have worked with a very small church in the northwest region for the past 3 years. We have established a very good relationship and have come along side them in whatever way we can. Their church, which is called Philadelphia, is having a baptism. Not sure how long it has been since their last one, if in fact they even have ever had one. The pastor asked if I would be with him during this which will take place at the ocean.

The man and lady on both ends are taking care of all these
children. Actually, this picture is missing a few of them!
 

This time will also provide opportunities to show the Jesus movie and share the gospel of salvation to people that may have never heard of Jesus. Most people where we go haven't even seen a movie, let alone one about Jesus. It's a great way to get people that aren't Christian to view it. They want to see a movie!

In August we will also make a stop at the orphanage to provide whatever we can in food to them.


The congregation at Philadelphia church where I hope to help with their
baptism celebration next month!

This is all dependent upon our Lord providing the funding. I sort of used up our rainy day fund on the last trip. As some of you know, for about one and a half years now I have been overhauling wood clarinets and selling them. It's what I use to do and now am doing again in order to help provide funds for our ministry in Haiti. But it's not enough to fully cover all the expenses. I do know, that if the Lord wants us to continue serving Him in Haiti with sharing the gospel, distributing food and helping out the orphanage, He will provide! Please consider being a part of this ministry either through prayer or through your financial gifts. We are a 501(c)3 non profit. Your donations are tax deductible. Thank you!

In His Service,

Chuck & Gail

Contact Information

Chuck & Gail Guerber

% Grace Hill Ministries

P.O. Box 171

Ironwood, MI  49938

USA: 906.285.2500

Haiti:  509.4753.0270