This past Saturday we had a baptism for 22 people. This is the first time I've seen a baptism at Luc's church and it was a great experience.

The first truckload to leave the compound...there were a few trips made:



Worship on the beach before the baptisms started:





The sign by the beach... "We ask you not to "poop" by the ocean please":



One of the baptisms (Pastor Luc is the one making the splash):



Pastor Luc & his associate pastor, Herold:



Kenzie (aka "K") came to H2H a few weeks ago and is planning on staying until July 1st. This is her second trip to H2H... she came 2 years ago with a mission team from Vineyard Church. It has been great having her here. She loves the kids and spends all her free time with them. She's started teaching English lessons last week in the H2H School and to the interested older kids & adults in the evenings... she is also giving Renel daily lessons :)

Kenzie's first lesson... teaching the kids to sing "Jesus Loves You":





Playing with the kids during recess:



Kenzie is writing a blog as well - check it out: www.inlovewithhaiti.blog.com

Pastor Luc has a church in Forche (a neighbouring town to Grand Goave) and Kenzie and I visited it this past Sunday. The church building was destroyed completely in the earthquake... their wasn't much to begin with... and they have built this temporary structure:



It was packed:



Despite knowing they will make me "preach" every time I visit, I love going to church in Forche - the accordian player reminds me of my uncle Ewart...



...and who wouldn't love this drummer boy:

more "stuff"

The aftershocks have slowed down... in frequency & in strength... but last night (1am) we had a 4.5 aftershock that shock the bed enough to get our attention. They're so infrequent now that I'm not used to them anymore and last nights spooked me & I couldn't get back to sleep. I laid awake thinking about the sponsorship letters the kids are writing (that will get mailed to the sponsors with the July newsletter). Even though Renel & I have been sleeping in our house for a few months, Pastor Luc & the kids are still sleeping outside in tents. The Children's Home is the only building on our compound that wasn't seriously damaged and the kids could move back into it as soon as they get the "word" from Pastor Luc. The kids are writing about the earthquake in their sponsor letters and almost every single one of them says they're not ready to move back inside... they are afraid of another big earthquake. I've been trying to encourage them to feel safe inside but last nights aftershock will make it a lot harder.

On another note, Renel hung the signs my brother painted yesterday...

Westbound (driving from Port-au-Prince):



Eastbound (driving from Ti-Goave):



The front gate:



Today, we finished taking pictures of the donated dresses...







Some of the boys were jealous...



MEI School (in Abbotsford) has been partnering with H2H for several years and does a lot of fundraising for us. They are having a "celebration" tomorrow to finish off this years fundraising and they asked me to do a video to show at their assembly. Eliyou is starring in the video and he's so cute that I wanted to share it with you too... especially since so many of you deserve a huge thank you too for all that you've done to support us since the earthquake... THANK YOU... from Eliyou and all of the other kids here!!!

More pictures from my dad & brother's trip

My dad and his sponsor child, Louson:



Here is one of the signs my brother did... the rest of the pictures will have to wait until we hang the signs:



Sean only learned a few creole phrases but he loved saying them... especially when the H2H school kids walked by the house every morning:



The Wired Monk in Crescent Beach sent the kids an Oreo cookie snack... who wouldn't love that!







The cook was distracted by the kids eating the snack and the rice water boiled over...



My brother doing some electrical work with Renel (my husband) on the roof of the new bathrooms:



This really has nothing to do with their trip but the pictures are great... we had to cut down a big tree when Darcy's team put up the guest house tent and here are some pictures of them cutting the trunk into planks:

My dad and brother have arrived!

Sorry this is rushed... we just had an aftershock and a storm is brewing so I want to get this downloaded before we lose the internet for the night.

Here is the final result of Darcy's tents...

The guest house:



The kids dinning room:



The workshop that is being held under tight watch:



My dad, Larry, and my brother, Sean, arrived on Friday. My dad has been here several times but this is Sean's first trip. I can't express how great it has been to have them here... I have been running on empty since January and they're definitely helping to refill my tanks! They've been busy doing some "handyman work" at my house and Sean's main focus is building & painting some signs... it may sound like a small thing but it's so frustrating to explain where we are located without a sign on the main road and in front of our compound... it's especially important now with all the aid coming in and the drivers not being familiar with us or the area.

The sign boards being welded:



The painting begins:



Having some extra hands, that just happen to be pretty skillful, is always a plus and we've taken full advantage of it. Here's some of what Sean has been up to...

Putting up the iron sheets on the new "temporary" kitchen:





Sponsorship letters:



They've also spent lots of time playing with the kids - the kids especially like the plastic soldiers they brought... thanks to their recent encounter with the US Marines :)









They also brought some special treats with them...

Cards from Hope Luthern Christian School:



Clothes made by the Home-Economics class at Glen Eagle Secondary School in Coquitlam:





This was just too cute not to post... my mom sent a bunch of new underwear and here's Eliyou showing his off!



And finally... Kenzie Watson (from Vineyard Church in Abbotsford) came on the same plane as my dad & brother and will be staying at H2H until July. She'll be teaching ESL and helping out wherever she can... she's staying in the new guesthouse tent and definitely approves of it... good job Darcy!! Kenzie has been working hard on her Creole and already written enough sponsorship letters that she deserves a vacation :)

Work hard - Party hard!

Darcy's team flew out of Haiti on Friday and they worked so hard during their last few days that we were able to squeeze in a "day of celebration"... which was very much deserved! We drove to Ti-Goave and took a water taxi to a remote beach... this was a first, even for Pastor Luc.

Water Taxi:



Pastor Luc praying the boat would stay afloat... especially for our Haitian friends that can't swim... my husband included :)








The beach from a distance:



The Beach from less of a distance:



The beach from even less of a distance!:



The water was beautiful... an shallow enough to walk out as far as you'd like:



When we returned from the beach the team was surprised with a party... in the new dining room of course!













The party was enjoyed by all... it may have even upped our Christmas banquet! After all these kids have been through these past few months it was a real blessing for them to sit together and enjoy a meal... there was even enough food for all of the "extras" that are still sleeping in our yard.

I will post some final pictures of the work that the team did in the next day or so. I have been going to PauP during the days so I haven't been able to get good pictures during the day light. Thank you Darcy and the rest of your team - you have been an incredibly blessing to the kids at H2H :)