Praise Report

Just wanted to share that 2 people have accepted Christ on our prayer walks with the Michigan team this week. Praise the Lord that more souls have been added to the Kingdom!

Graduation

Lifeline's very first trade school sewing class graduated today. There was a ceremony scheduled at 10:00 this morning, but being as this is Haiti, it didn't start until closer to 11:00. All of us Americans were in the church patiently waiting so I walked up to the trade school to see how close they were to being ready. I stepped into a room full of excitement. (First of all, they were all impressed to see "Madame Adam" actually dressed up.) Each one was busy getting ready and helping each other put finishing touches on their final exam, which was the dress they wore for graduation. I could feel the energy in the room, but still encouraged them to quickly get to the church.
Recess was in session at this time so the school children gathered around all the windows of the church to see what was going on. The sewing students waited at the door, then deliberately walked down the aisle to the front rows of the church. Madam Bousicot entered in her traditional Haitian gradation robe. We opened with prayer and the crowd singing "How Great Thou Art". The Michigan team attended the ceremony and sang a couple of songs. Then Madame Bousicot said some very sweet things about Adam and I, addressed the students, then read Proverbs chapter four.
The students came to the front to sing "One Day at a Time" and I'm pretty sure I wept through the entire song. The memories of the first day of class came to my mind when hardly anyone knew the songs Madame Bousicot wanted them to sing. Many in the group hardly knew anything about God and had no desire to back then. As they belted it out in harmony and with passion, I was just overwhelmed by how far they've come. I love the thought of the plan God had for them and that I actually was able to play a pretty big part in that.
But I had to dry my tears because was scheduled to speak next. I talked about how privileged they are to have had Madame Bousicot as a Christian mentor and sewing teacher. I told them I was proud of their accomplishments both in sewing skills and business practices. I reminded them that they were never given a handout here, but God provided the means for this class and they have worked hard to provide a better life for themselves and their families.
Madame Maxo (mother of 10, who lives very close to the mission) asked if she could say a few words. She talked about how Lifeline has done good things helping the children for years, but the trade school is now the avenue for Lifeline to help the adults. She acknowledged that the class gave Madame Bousicot and I a hard time at the beginning, and thanked us for not giving up on them. Finally, she thanked Adam and I for coming to live in a foreign country to help them.
So I don't know if this seems like a big deal to you, and I hope it doesn't seem like it's all about me, but this whole program is very special to me. The effects of this class are a huge reason I left my career, family, friends, and life at home to live here. It may just seem like sewing to you, but to them it means a job, a business, clothes on their back and food on their table. These ladies will always deal with a hard life here. That's just the way it is. But now they are better equipped and prepared and know that they never have to face it alone.

Here's What's Happening...

The mission has been full of activity lately! Our team of 8 from Kentucky left for home this morning (good bye Estabon & Pat). They did a lot of work projects and were unbelievably good with the kids –their activities and skits were so appropriate for the kids around here. We enjoyed you guys!
The new group of 17 from Michigan arrived on Tuesday. Since most of them are youth, Adam and I have truly been enjoying getting to know them. The first night we walked to the cross to sing and to hear their testimonies. They shared the reasons they wanted to come on this mission trip, and we could see their burden was strong and that their heart was in the right place. They weren’t just coming to see poverty; they were coming to show God’s love and to help wherever needed.
Yesterday was full of walking to Barbancourt and the dam in our village. The kids who followed us there loved the songs this group sang in Creole.

We saw a thick crowd of kids around Jonathan. Initial thoughts were that he had been dog piled. Turns out he was arm wrestling with a teenage guy. (We won’t mention who won.) The point is everyone loved it.

Today the gang split into groups to work on projects building, cleaning, and repairing things around the mission. This afternoon we went on a prayer walk with Pastor Rony and Merilien. We were in 2 groups that went to different houses visiting, praying, and singing with people. Some of the youth shared their testimonies in Creole. The walk was even crowned with a great blessing… the lady that lives on the hill by the mission accepted Christ! Praise the Lord!
See what I mean, it has been pretty eventful around here! Please pray that the mission, missionaries, and the teams present and future would be healthy, safe, blessed, and our efforts pleasing to God.

2nd Prenatal Class

By Guest Blogger: BJ Nicholson
Word has spread throughout the villages about the prenatal classes being held here at Lifeline. As we were preparing last minute things for our second class, we were told that seven ladies had walked from Barbancourt (about a 30 minute walk down the river bank and across the river) wanting to attend the classes. Unfortunately, we had reached our maximum and were unable to accommodate them in the class. I felt for the ladies that had put forth all this effort yet were unable to benefit from their long trek, so we decided we will do a condensed class in one day (next Tuesday) just for the ladies in Barbancourt. Immediately, 12 ladies signed up and the roster was started. There are so many people in need here, and I know we can’t reach them all; I just hated to turn anyone away!
All expectant mothers returned for this week’s class, and we were even joined by a few women who Dr. Yves had instructed to come. They seemed just as eager to learn as they had last week! The class was opened with an object lesson by our friends Esther and Vina from Kentucky. They had a cube that represented the story of Jesus and described how He came to die and rise again for our sins. They emphasized how much He loves each of them and their unborn child and that everyone can live eternally with Him if they obey His word. Amber then began the class lecture with a review of nutrition from last week. Afterwards, I spoke a little about labor and what to expect, including my own experience. I then explained how labor might feel and how to use breathing techniques to help them relax through contractions. Kari was responsible for the main teaching portion of the class where she presented some pictures from the internet showing what a fetus looks like in the womb. From this, she explained what was normal to expect and warning signs to be aware of during pregnancy, delivery and after birth. Most of the ladies had never seen a picture like this. One of the mom’s, who already has 6 children, told everyone there Kari knows what she’s talking about. She thought Kari already had kids because of the knowledge she has but was surprised to know she didn’t. After the class, some of the ladies wanted to take pictures with Kari and told her thank you for the good information.

Unexpected Kindness

By Guest Blogger: Tiffani Lumbatis (who left for home today… we love you and will miss you!)
After hanging out with the LaDigue village kids, I trekked over to Barbancourt (a neighboring village) with Troy, Ray, Esther, Andrew, and Robenson. It was a fun walk with many sites to see-all the different fruiting trees and plants, cows, horses, mules, etc. At one point on the trail, we had to cross a swift running river. We took off our shoes and socks and very cautiously waded across, to the amusement of the local children who were watching. On the way back when we were preparing to cross the river, a lady was washing her clothes in a metal basin. She was very friendly, but she kept trying to tell me something that I didn’t understand. When I had crossed the river and was starting to put my socks back on, the same lady was handing me a skirt she had brought to wash and began wiping off my wet legs. I thought it was very sweet of her to let us use her clothing to dry our feet and legs so that we wouldn’t get our socks wet. She even made the effort to cross the river with us so that we could use her cloth. This shows the character of many of the Haitian people. Though they have very little, they are still willing to give of themselves and lend a hand or a smile.
When we got to Barbancourt, we entered the other Lifeline school, which is also one of the 9 feeding stations. The new school building is still at the beginning stages of construction; the canteen building that is there serves as both the school for the kindergarten through second grade and as the dining hall. When we walked in, there were about 50 students all in uniform watching the teacher (and us), and one little boy was sitting along the wall wearing an orange shirt. This was “my kid”, Michael. I started sponsoring him last summer and have been excited to meet him ever since. I said “bonswa” and gave him the green and black soccer ball I had brought him and took a few pictures. I wish I would have gotten to play ball with him, but it was time for the kids to eat. Before they ate, the school kids wanted to sing for us. They sang 4 or 5 songs in Creole and were very good. When they were finished singing, we handed out the metal plates containing the meal of beans and rice. After the school kids were served, the village kids started making their way inside for their meal of the day. Robenson said they feed about 300 kids at the Barbancourt station, which I thought was pretty amazing. It’s cool to see how much $20 a month can do when it’s all put together and used for God’s kingdom.

Chil'en in the Village

By Guest Blogger: Kari Nicholson

Today we went with the Kentucky team out into the village to witness to the children who do not attend the school. It was amazing to see how quickly the crowd picked up! We did a skit about the woman at the well and explained that true happiness could be found in Jesus, and that anything else would not satisfy. Shortly after the skit, Melody told the children a story and handed out 2 crayons to each child so that they could draw what they thought was God’s most beautiful creation. As a piece of butcher paper was laid out for the children to color, they each took their places and knelt down to color their individualized section of the paper. The pictures drawn varied from people and tap taps to trees and flowers. Although we may not realize it in America, even children in Haiti enjoy coloring and drawing pictures…and they’re quite good at it!Once the children had finished coloring, Troy’s team provided them with beads and glittery strings so that they could make necklaces.Even the adults standing around wanted to make them! Then they passed out pixie sticks, and the children’s faces glowed with excitement. As the stories were being told to the children, a small crowd of young men and women from the village began to form as well. It seemed that we were reaching not only the young children, but also their parents and other villagers with God’s love.

The Universal Language of Love

By Guest Blogger: Melody Skidmore
Visiting from a small, rural Eastern Kentucky town, I couldn’t ignore the slight nervousness I was feeling upon entering the church for service this morning. “How am I even going to understand what’s going on?” was the daunting question running through my mind. As I seated myself in the back pew, it was difficult to tell whom of us was the more curious – the children gazing at the new visitors or we visitors about to embark on this new experience. Any nervousness quickly faded as I was greeted with heartfelt smiles. The beautiful singing soon made this “country girl” feel right at home. However, the comfort zone was short-lived as I was called upon to come to the front and perform the skit that we had planned. As I began, Robinson translated for me while Tiffany used the props to enrich the story. It was so rewarding to see the interest sparking from the eyes of the adults and children alike. The skit provided a positive message to all that even “useless rags” have a part in God’s plan. Just as a quilt is made up of all sorts of small pieces of fabric (rags), God’s plan is made up of many smaller parts too – us!
After the church service, our team sponsored the Kid’s Club service “American Style”. Performing another skit, making a craft (beaded necklaces) and an American cookout complete with grilled hotdogs and potato chips. Let’s not forget the cookies and red Koolaid (I was having flashbacks to my childhood Bible School days). My nephew, Jarrett, did an amazing job with the skit promoting the theme that “WE” are God’s greatest creation of all. The children enjoyed looking at God’s greatest creation (themselves) in the mirror and admiring their newly crafted necklaces. I think that I can speak for the entire team in saying that our time with the village children today was truly precious. Their eagerness to learn and to love is immeasurable. As the activities came to a close, I flashbacked to my previous thought – “How am I even going to understand what’s going on?” Although language barriers were evident – nothing could have been more obvious than the genuine love and common goal of praising the Lord that was shared by all….sometimes listening to WORDS with your ears is not nearly as important as learning to listen with your HEART.

Kentucky Team

Troy Brooks rejoined us yesterday with Vina, Ray, Esther, Steve, Melody, Andrew, and Jarrett from his home town in Kentucky. Today they have been busy working on mission projects. They put a fresh coat of paint on the clinic hallways and made some benches for the canteen.This afternoon we all walked to the dam and were joined by tons of kids from the village. We sang children's church songs, played "duck, duck, goose", and showered them with love and attention that breaks the language barrier. In fact, a lot of them spoke some English to us (they're getting good!).
Mel showed off her kung fu skills. She and the boys put on a humorous show for the crowd of us gathered around them.
Steve had several of the boys running while he was picking them up and chasing them around. Several adults just lit up while watching them play in the street. It was so good to hear them all laughing and, even if it was just for a moment, everyone was carefree and enjoyed themselves.

The Doctor's Corner

By Guest Blogger: Dr. Yves
What a great month of May we had at the clinic!
First of all Troy Brooks and his family spent more than 4 weeks with us, working side by side seeing patients at the clinic. His wife, Mrs. Deana, a physical therapist also had some work done with many of the clinic’s patients.
Moreover, Mr. Troy and Mr. Adam once a week would go to Petit Bois in the hills of the mission campus to bring the well needed care and medicine to the poor people of the underserved community of Petit Bois.
We also had Miss Tiffani Lumbatis, “Super Woman”, who visited this month also. She did a wonderful job in reorganizing our pharmacy. Her service around the clinic is well appreciated.
The big news of the month was receiving Dr. Ken VanAntwerp and his team of 12 specialists (internal medicine, ophthalmologists, Family practice, pharmacists and nurses) to work with us for 2 consecutive days at the mission clinic. It was a huge blessing because so many people were helped. They have diagnosed several important cases, some of which are being followed up by me.
1 Case of Hydrocephalus (water-head baby)
1 Case of incarcerated hernia (oxygen cut off from portion of intestines)
1 Case of thrombophlebitis (inflammation of veins)
50+ Cases of cataracts
1 Case of eye infection who has needed urgent surgery since November in order to save the child’s eye.
All of the patients are now being taken care of at the University hospital.
Finally we had received during the last days of May 2 visitors: BJ and Kari, who have helped in the clinic and have started working with pregnant women, teaching them about prenatal nutrition, proper feeding techniques, and also proper hygiene.
Thanks to the great teamwork between visiting and resident missionaries we have accomplished so much during this month of May.
Thank you again to all of you!
May the Lord Bless you,
Dr. Yves Jean Joseph

The First Class

By Guest Blogger: BJ Nicholson

We held a special class today at the mission for expecting mothers and will continue to do so for the next three Mondays. When setting up for the class, the song “Little is Much if God is in It” was repeating in my mind. I asked the Lord if he was preparing me for a low turnout, but that was not the case. We had 19 women show up, 6 of which are having their first child. The “little” is what we can do; the “much” is what God can do. Tiffani, Kari, and I took blood pressure, pulse, weight, and blood sugar checks on each participant so we can monitor them over the four week period. The mission has been blessed with portable ultrasound equipment; Adam learned as much as he could from the last mission team regarding ultrasound. He did ultrasounds for five of the ladies today and was able to check the babies’ heart rate, measure to see how far along they are, and (the most exciting part) let the mother-to-be see her little one. He will try to get one done for each of the mothers before the classes are over. Tiffani opened the class with a devotion focusing on how the women and their babies are created in the image of God and that He has a plan for each of their lives, even as they are developing right now. Amber segued the devotion into the lesson by stating how good nutrition is necessary to raise up strong children so that they can be all they can be for God. Amber taught the nutrition class with our assistance. The focal point was when you have to make a choice of junk food or healthy foods, always choose healthy because what you eat, your baby eats. Examples of healthy foods and junk foods were available to show the differences. The different food groups were explained as well as the importance of eating from each of them. Many had never heard any of this! At the end of the class, we were able to give enough vitamins and powdered milk to each lady to last until she comes back next week, at which time she will be given more. One of the ladies (age 39) seemed to not be feeling too good, the results of her blood sugar being too low. That was our “God moment” for the day because she was someone who needed our help right then. We monitored her and gave her a banana to eat before leaving as well as the healthy choices we had used for examples.
Many of the mothers seemed very receptive of the information and thankful that the class was held. Hopefully God will use the class to reach the mothers spiritually and prepare them to have healthy babies!