Gonaives bon mache Fire...

Hello

Mary and I spent the first two weeks in May visiting with friends and family in Waynesville and working on packing containers. On the 13th of May the Kids Against Hunger food which was packaged in Arizona arrived and we placed it on the container also. The containers are almost ready to ship. Please be in prayer concerning the containers shipping and receiving. On the 14th of May I returned to Haiti and Mary stayed for a procedure on her neck which she had completed yesterday morning. She will be returning on Saturday. Please continue to pray for her healing, travel, and transition.

Brian arrived on the 9th of may to continue working on the houses. It is awesome to see how God continues to work. What a blessing it is to see the reality of those who have, meeting with those who have not. Such a beautiful picture of who God is and how the Body of Christ works together. In addition to the 10 houses which are occupied, there are 8 more with roof trusses on them which need paint and metal roof installed prior to occupation. In addition to those there are 8 more with walls installed and currently working on placing the trusses. in addition to these, there are 5 more foundations ready. It is hopeful that when Brian leaves on the 10th of May there will be 26 completed and several more partially completed. Please continue to pray for this effort and discernment from the Holy Spirit as people in need are placed in houses.

The school year ended with a blast having graduation on Tuesday evening and water day on Wednesday. I do not know who had the most fun, the children or the adults. We are continuing the construction on the school building and looking forward to school starting back. We will begin a first grade with kids in school all day. Doreen has given me a budget for the curriculum and it is $6,500 for next year. If you have not already given towards this and would like to, it would be a blessing to the school. Please pray for the school, construction, funding, and teachers.

The (bon mache) or market building in Gonaives burned Friday night. The fire destroyed everything in the building and the roof, though the walls are still standing. There was somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 vendors whose livelihood depended upon this market. The vendors would leave their inventory in the market at night and it would be locked up. Many of the vendors lost everything they had. The new president visited on Sunday to encourage the people and also gave them some hope about replacing the roof on the market. Sunday afternoon as I was looking at it, there were many people looking in with bewilderment and unbelief, as some picked through the still smoldering debris from the fire looking for any valuable remnants. Please pray for those in need as they start over again.

It was a great blessing to have Beaver and Kathy Brooks walking in our stead while we passed time with family and friends in the states. Seeing the change and new relationships is awesome. It is a tremendous thing which God is doing here and the way He moves people as He pleases, to do His will. Kathy and Beaver believes that God is leading them to Haiti full time now. The last few weeks have been bittersweet for them as they make preparations to come. It is always difficult to leave family and friends, but is more important to be in Gods will anywhere than anywhere out of His will. I just read the book written by the wife of Jim Eliot and seen the commitment which he the others with him had to God. The statement he made "he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to keep what he cannot lose" gave such a since of committing his life to God's cause. I believe it is important as Christians for our life and material things of this world to be less important than identifying with God's interest in other people. May we seek this purpose in our lives as followers of Christ. Beaver and Kathy are tying up loose ends and making preparations to come in August. Please pray for them and their family.

Love in Christ,

Prayer request

Mary's neck, travel and transition.

Containers shipping and receiving.

Home construction. people placement.

Kathy and Beaver as they complete transition.

Persons who were negatively effected by fire in market building.

School construction, curriculum funding, and teachers.