July News

Greetings again,

Well, I decided to jot part of our July newsletter here. It won't go out until Thursday, so you all are getting the preview of it. And I am adding a bit of encouraging news here that I didn't put in there.

I'll start with that. On our daughter-in-law's blog, she posted a picture of the passport that was FINALLY received for their new son. They still need prayers, as there are two more huge hurdles to face...Homeland security and visa. But with all of our prayers, maybe these will go quickly and without a hitch. It is way past time for him to be home with them.

The first part of the letter referred people to this site, to see what happened when we were stateside. And some of the things in there, I have already posted here, so I will just give a "recap" of the letter.

I am so thankful for "our kids" here who pitched in and helped us get settled back into the normal here. Daniel took two days and got the tags on the "Eagle" done. And Vero and Leah worked wonders at the dorm. It had sat empty for two months, so needed some major work. I didn't mention Cequer in our letter, but he is always being such a huge help to us, in so many ways. We are really indebted to all of these kids....(when you are well over 60, everyone under 50 is a KID).

With our team here, Don had to go over and work on the toilets and fans, and a few other things, but he has accomplished a lot in the short time we've been home. We need to seriously consider getting new toilets in both the dorm and house. Can you believe they are wearing out? How does a toilet wear out??? NO IDEA, but they have.

Then I mentioned that God was at work in several ways here. Emmaul, our former puppeteer who lives in Chicago, came for a weeks visit. This was such a joy for us, and for a LOT of Haitians who were anxious to see him after so many years. It was a blessing to have him here with us, even for a short time. (Next year we hope to have him, his wife and two children come.) But now comes the first miracle from the Lord. They day he was to leave, we were to get three more visitors. It was our 10th "heart baby", Clare and her folks. She is now ten years old!!! But due to a problem with their airline, they had to come in a day early. This was GREAT.... Emmaul had done all the paperwork for Clare's adoption. He was so excited to see her. AND, he was the only one who knew how to find Clare's birth family. Emmaul knew right where they lived, and took Jeff, Lynn and Clare out there. It was an answer to prayer, because we had no way to find them. Clare's birth dad, her brothers and sisters, and grandma were so happy to see her. Her dad even gave her a lecture about obeying her mom and dad. What a joyful reunion. And her birth family was so thrilled that Jeff and Lynn kept their promise to bring her back to see them. This is Jeff, Lynn and Clare. And next is Emmaul with Clare. What a blessing!!While Jeff, Lynn and Clare were here for the short 5 days, Clare was able to visit many places that she had been to when she was a year old. The photos became a reality for her. It was wonderful for us to have them here and be a part of this reunion.

I mentioned that our next container is on the way. We are SO thankful for that. It is scheduled to arrive August 5th...but we are in Haiti, so do not depend on a specific date. But we are praying if it can't be cleared that day, that it would be soon after that. The needs here are overwhelming. And in relation to the containers, it's time to start thinking of Christmas Bags...yes, it's only July, but things have to be purchased and bagged and gotten to Stan for shipment. If we are to get it by Christmas (prayerfully on time this year), then we need to start working on them now. You can contact Stan through the site at the right side of the blog.

I found a scripture that really spoke to me and prayerfully to everyone who reads it. It is Psalm 147: 1-5. It reads: "Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him. The Lord builds up Jerusalem, He gathers the exiles of Israel, He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty His power, His understanding has no limit."

Our praise and prayer list follows:
Praise for:
The passport for our new grandson.
A wonderful trip.
All our family and friends who were a part of the trip.
The Lord keeping our home and those here safe in our absence.
Stan and all his work for us and the people of Haiti.
Pray for:
Haiti, the people , the missionaries and the government.
America and it's struggles.
The suffering, and that we can help those the Lord directs us to.
Our health and strength.
The Lord's direction and guidance in all we do here.
MFI and all it's work.
The container coming soon.
The teams that will be coming soon, for wisdom and insight in all they do.

Now, in all you do, give God the glory and thank Him for all He has done for you!!