New York Trip
Hello friends! We want to give you a summer update. Denise & Randy are heading to New York in June. We will be in the Rochester area the second week in June for a memorial service. While we are there, we would love to see as many of you as possible!
We will share about our work in Haiti on Sunday, June 7 at LifeTree Fellowship church at 10AM. LifeTree meets at the historic sanctuary of Bethel Christian Fellowship at 321 East Ave. The door is on Anson Place, closest to East Ave.
For those of you in the Finger Lakes region, we will be at Faith Community Church in Geneva on Sunday, June 14 at 10AM. Faith Community meets at 10AM and is located at 90 Lewis Street, Geneva, NY.
We would love to see you at either (or both!) of those services to share an update, say hello, and catch up. We will also have our traditional open house time on Friday, June 12 at Tom Wahl’s in Bushnell’s Basin. That location is just off 490 and has been a convenient spot for people to meet. We will be there from 5 to 7PM. Stop by for dinner, ice cream, or just come hang out with us!
If none of those time work, or if you’d like a more personal update, please reach out and we will set something up.
Haiti Conditions
We really appreciate all of your faithful prayers for Haiti. The current situation there is that the gangs are still battling for control of different parts of the Port au Prince region. Some gangs are moving to regions beyond Port au Prince. You may have seen in the news that Doctors Without Borders had to close their hospital near Port au Prince recently due to gang violence. There are new plans to help Haiti with the gang problems according to some sources, but there’s not a good track record of results.
The Jacmel area, where we lived, is facing growing challenges from gangs. We continue to pray for peace and safety for all of those in that region, but especially for the children, families we support, and our amazing Haitian staff who manage every detail on the ground there. Please join us in praying for a peaceful resolution to the problems Haiti is facing.
Ongoing Aid
We continue to stretch our resources to assist as many families as possible, especially around the Grand Goave Hand & Feet Project location. We are so grateful for everyone who supports our various programs, focusing on caring for children through educational, nutritional and medical resources. All of those provide opportunities to share our faith and help others along their faith journeys towards becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
Randy’s Role
Randy’s role with H&FP continues to evolve, as often happens with any small organization. His current job title is “Haiti Finance & Compliance Lead.” He wears many hats, but primarily works with the Haitian bookkeepers to ensure there is money available for expenses in Haiti; approve, track and verify expenses; and balances the accounts every month. H&FP is working with a new partner to assist with the finances. Randy is working alongside them to help with budgeting, account structures, and adjustments to historical processes and procedures. Doesn’t that sound like fun?
Our Haitian bookkeepers continue to do a great job of requesting, distributing and tracking funds for each of our programs. Our ability to communicate with them on a daily basis is essential for us to move forward together. We are so thankful for the power systems, internet, computers and network that have been working well despite a few hiccups here and there.
Resource – Mother’s Devotional
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. We just passed Mother’s Day in the USA, and Mother’s Day in Haiti is coming up on Sunday, May 31st. Our amazing H&FP staff put together a very insightful devotional for mothers. Click here if you would like to read it. There’s also an opportunity to sign up for updates and to read more about the devotional using this link. It’s a unique perspective to see firsthand everything that moms in Haiti do to care for their families.
Donations For Our Support
For those of you who make donations online, you will be happy to know that some web site changes have made things a little easier for you to find us. The Hands & Feet Project web site was updated so that when you are on the Give page (available from the top of the home page) we are now listed in the Purpose dropdown menu. You can also go to any page on our web site and click on the Donate Now link at the top of the page.
We are so appreciative of every prayer that is said, every dollar donated, and every word of encouragement shared by our amazing family of supporters. Thank you!
Summer Is Almost Here!
What do you all look forward to during the summer? The kids in our care in Haiti all look forward to Vacation Bible School, Summer Camp, and Village Values weekend. The staff in Haiti and in the USA are working on organizing all of these activities. As God leads, please pray for these activities to draw children and families closer to God. VBS will be held in July, Village Values weekend is in August, and Summer Camp happens at different times for different age groups over the summer. Thank you for your prayers and donations to help make all of this possible. May God bless each of you in a special way.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement
give you the same attitude of mind
toward each other that Christ Jesus had,
so that with one mind and one voice
you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-- Romans 15:5-6