Communiqué #039
TO MY PARTNERS in MINISTRY
to the PEOPLE of HAITI
May 13, 2007
A mission team, who came during the month of April, gave me a good excuse to spend some time in Carrefour Duclos, a village about 45 minutes from Les Cayes. During the days that Vacation Bible School was held, I stood watch at the doors of the church. It was from that post that I would encourage little ones to come into the church for Bible School. Many children showed up on the steps of the church. Some were carrying jugs, as they had been given the chore of fetching water for the family at a nearby well. Others came wearing no shoes or sandals. Still others came with no clothes, ragged clothes or soiled clothes. In Haiti, it is unheard of for anyone to enter the church unless they are properly dressed. Thus, it took repetitive invitations for some of these little ones to actually come in and sit down. They would shake their head no and then point out they could not come because their clothes were soiled or because they had no footwear. I gently told them, that to Jesus it did not matter if their clothes were soiled. Jesus loved them no matter what! Jesus wanted them to come, because He loved them. As a little girl mounted the church steps, I called out to her, “Come!” She pointed a finger to herself and in her native tongue, she questioned, “Me???” My reply was, “Yes, you!” Doesn’t that so remind you of what Jesus says to us? Doesn’t He want us to come to Him, even though our lives are soiled and stained? Doesn’t He want us, as dirty and sinful as we are? What a wonderful gracious God we have! It is my prayer that each child that entered the church that week for Bible School was somehow touched by the fact that Jesus wants their hearts too, no matter what!
May has proven to be an eventful month at the orphanage. A few of our children are in the very final stages of the long adoption process. Three girls will be going to Michigan to a husband and wife who have longed to be parents for several years. Their home will soon be filled with the voices and footsteps of some beautiful little ladies. Even though their departure brings some sadness at the orphanage, it is not long before new children’s faces fill our doorway and snuggle into the now available beds. We are excited to welcome our newest little one, an 18 month old boy. His name is Djones (Joan-us). He is coming to us following the recent death of his father, as a result of a fall from an apricot tree. His widow was left with five children she cannot feed. Once again, I watched as another mother came to our orphanage having to make the heart-wrenching decision of giving away her child, so that he could have a better chance of living beyond childhood. What kind of love does that take? It is the kind of love that is almost as indescribable as the kind of love God that has for us!
Djones was not the only arrival we would have! Léon’s dog presented us with five absolutely adorable puppies, Their mixture of white, grey and tan coloring certainly distinguish them for the usual “all dogs in Haiti look alike” breed that freely roam the streets here. We have mission team members and persons from the community all offering to take one or two of them home. In the meantime, we are all enjoying watching them grow into very playful, spirited puppies!
As if five new puppies were not enough, we were also blessed with the addition of a baby goat to our recently established goat herd started for the church community at Grann Plaine on Ile-a-Vache. Generous donors from the states of Michigan and Washington have made this possible. The hope is that the goat herd will provide both meat and an income for the church and the struggling village on this under-developed island. The herd now numbers six, with more goats being added throughout the upcoming months!
Please join me in giving thanks to God for his bountiful blessings! He continues to amaze me every day!
Nora Léon
Missionary to Haiti & the Dominican Republic Until next time ………….
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