Today, November 30th, marks one month that we have been in our new location. We were presented with the opportunity to evacuate the children from their hideout in the mountains on October 26th, but we needed a place for them to go.

I contacted my friend, Nathan, in Gonaives on October 27th to tell him our situation. Before I could even ask for his help, he said, “Send them here, we’ll take care of them.”

Three days later, they were there! Coordinating pick up and drop off locations was complicated. The GPS coordinates had to be communicated and then changed as safety issues on the ground were evaluated and re-evaluated. Those complications have paled in comparison to merging two groups of children and adults, though!

Our desire is to put as little burden as possible on our hosts, but arriving with very little in our hands has made that difficult. 

Fortunately, many of you have responded to this great need, and we are beginning to purchase all the things we had to leave behind – clothes, shoes, backpacks, and books for their new school have all been purchased! We have also been able to purchase pots and pans, plates, utensils, and food because of your generosity.

We are still unsure of the condition of our home in Bercy or when we can return. Things are calm for the moment, and we are planning to reopen our schools on December 2nd. Yes – we will continue operating the schools as we are able, and hopefully, the churches will meet again soon.

While our hosts have been so gracious allowing us to remain with them for the last month, it is quite crowded. Our desire is to find our own space for the foreseeable future; however, that also comes with its own challenges. Finding rentals to accommodate our group is not only difficult to find and very expensive, it comes with the challenge of being located in the city. With that, safety, school options, and transportation become big concerns.

We have been presented with another option by our hosts to use available land they already have to build a home for our children. At this point, that is looking like our best option, though nothing has been decided yet. Not only would this option ensure our kids remain safe, they would have their own space, they could remain in the school they all just started, we could stay as long as needed without the extra burden to our hosts, it would create much needed jobs for local Haitians in the process; and if at any point we determine we are able to go back to our original location, our hosts would be able to continue to use that building to reach more Haitians for Christ.

That being said, the total estimated cost of building this new home is $150,000. On top of raising funds for construction, there are still many other costs that will come with relocating our children and continuing to provide for their needs in this new place, as you can imagine. All of this will be our primary focus for Giving Tuesday through the year-end giving campaigns we usually do. It’s a big goal, but we serve a big God! We have seen miracle after miracle in our nearly 30 years in Haiti, so we’re seeing this as an opportunity for growth.

While there are still many details and decisions to be worked out and prayed through, please join us in prayer and hopeful expectation of peace in Haiti; and consider how the Lord might be leading you to be involved this Giving Tuesday! 

Join us in turning crisis into opportunity for our children!