Dear Friends and Prayer Partners…
Well…another month has already zipped by. I don’t know about you and where you are living, but this winter has been quite a different one for us here in Ohio. Even today I am sending out this email with a clear and sunshiny day outside with the temperature hitting the low 60’s. We still keep asking, “When is winter really going to hit us?”
January has once again proven to be a busy month with ESMI. As in the past, as the holidays slip into our past we start hitting the road running. I hope and pray that you enjoy hearing about some of our activities from the Projects and Development perspective and that you will continue to keep us in your prayers.
Projects/Construction
Homes for Pastors and Widows
Pastor Jean Edouard's New Home |
We were able to finish our 13th home this past month. This home was built for Pastor Jean Edouard and his family. This family lives in the Bois-Gaman area near Gressier. We sincerely appreciate the efforts of our friends at Christ Presbyterian Church in Richmond, IN for raising the funds to help this family receive a home and move out of their tent…two years after the earthquake. Please continue to pray for this Pastor as he also tries to rebuild his church that was lost in that earthquake.
Pastor Jean Augustin and Family |
We were also able to start construction on home #14 this past week. Our friends at Boynton Beach Community Church in Boynton Beach, FL provided the funds for this home and they also have a construction team in Haiti helping to build it this week. Pastor Jean Augustin is the recipient of this home. He has a family of 5 children and is the pastor of a church with 350 members.
We are so excited that our partners are still providing funds and short-term teams to build these homes. Not only are we able to help families move from temporary structures into permanent homes, we are also able to keep 6 to 7 Haitian workers fully employed and able to support their families. Thank you for your contributions and prayers for this part of our ministry.
Facility Modifications and Upgrades
School of Joy Under Construction |
Leadership Development
Pastor Training in Jeremie |
Micro-Businesses
As I mentioned in one of my earlier newsletters we are doing a lot of work in the area of identifying micro-businesses that we can establish with our churches across Haiti. We have several friends and partners of the ministry that are working with us as we investigate poultry farming, fish farming, and ice factories as businesses. Please keep me in your prayers as I begin to develop business plans for these, identify locations best fitted for them, and seek to secure funding to make these happen. These will become a critical component for our work in Haiti because through these micro-businesses we can help our churches become self-sufficient as well as create centers where valuable training can be provided to the people of Haiti.
Upcoming Travel
I will be heading done to the Les Cayes area February 17ththrough 25th. While there I will be participating with our friends from First United Methodist Church (FUMC)and Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, LA on a vision trip. This team will be assessing some of our facilities as a place to stay for future trips and together we will be coming up with a plan for them to do some great work at some of our orphan villages throughout the year. FUMC and Centenary have a great partnership and will be putting together some summer long teaching activities at our facilities in the Les Cayes area teaching English and French. We are very excited about building this relationship and reaching the people of Haiti in much broader and deeper areas.
I will also be meeting up with one of our short-term teams comprised of members from churches in the Chicago, IL and Las Vega, NV areas. They come down on a regular basis and do some awesome work through neighborhood medical clinics. One of the activities that I will be doing with this team is assessing the River Bank Repair at Cherette and see how it weathered last year’ storms and what we can do to take it to the next step.
Coming up in March I have a mission’s conference that I am attending at our partner First Presbyterian Church in Macon, GA and then heading to Jeremie the end of March to help with the installation of the solar solution at the University. Please keep us in your prayers as I do this travel, and especially Laura as I leave her here in Ohio.
Personal Fundraising Status
Once again, Laura and I would like to thank you for your prayers, your thoughts and your financial support in our work with ESMI. We are so blessed to have friends and family like you standing behind us in this work. We have so much work before us and your support is what is making it possible to maintain focus and energy.
For those of you that have been following our progress on raising our support we are currently at 36% of our monthly support. I am active in the fundraising process and seek your prayers while I reach out to people that I know for support consideration.
Remember... In all that you do: Walk with God and Follow your Heart!!!
God bless you and have an awesome day!!!
Esse Quam Videri
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