Author: Randy

2020 Vision for Health & Growth

2019 in Review

Looking back at 2019, it has been a year of hope and promise, but also of challenges and obstacles. It was another year of endless learning opportunities for us that we’ve tried to capitalize on. We’ve learned so much more about the Haitian people and culture, yet we know there’s still so much more. The history and heritage of the Haitian people is rich and yet challenging. The year ended with health challenges that sent us to Florida for resolution.

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Hello and Merry Christmas!  We hope and pray that you have an enjoyable Christmas season and that you take time to reflect on the birth of Jesus, the hope of the world!  We wanted to share information about our Christmas adventures with you so you can keep us in your prayers.  

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Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday!

Give the gift of care this Christmas
Giving Tuesday heart logo #GivingTuesday

How were your Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday? Can you believe tomorrow has yet another special name? It’s Giving Tuesday! And Christmas is coming soon! (If you’re not familiar with Giving Tuesday, you can find information about it here.)

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Thanksgiving 2019 Update

A warm hello and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from the Caribbean! 

We try to take time here and there to remind ourselves of the beauty in Haiti and not to just take it for granted.  As the USA has dealt with some very cold weather already, we are thankful for a little break from the heat and not seeing many temperatures above 90 F.  Thanksgiving FoodIn this season of Thanksgiving, we want to reflect on other things that we’re thankful for….and it starts with the amazing donors, supporters and friends that are all essential to making this journey possible!  Thanks for all your prayers, financial assistance, encouragement, conversations, care packages, and sharing our social media posts.  We can’t do this without you and really appreciate each and every one of you.

We’re thankful for the wonderful Thanksgiving dinner we had with local friends old and new.  It was great to get together and enjoy a turkey dinner with a variety of other foods and people!  There was an amazing spread of dinner and dessert items!  

We’re thankful for power!  As I sit and write, we are enjoying power from the local electric company.  We have endured 14 weeks of ongoing protests about government corruption and the many side effects of money not being spent where it would best help the people and the country. Continue reading “Thanksgiving 2019 Update”

Time Away for Self Care

Down time, time away, vacation, staycation, relaxation…call it what you may, but it’s critical for each of us to stay balanced, effective and to maintain relationships. This is especially important for us as we have very little down time in our day to day lives since we live on campus with our 60 kids!

During our time away this Fall, we’ve already been out to Arizona to see family and friends, and we’re currently in Florida visiting more of Denise’s family. It’s always hard to plan trips to the States because there’s never enough time to see all the people we want to see, and stopping in more than 2 places each trip gets expensive. During our visit to Arizona, we were blessed to be able to visit the Grand Canyon for a few days thanks to some special donations made. What an amazing show of God’s beauty and creativity! The pictures never do it justice. It’s so immense that it’s hard to describe. When we were in Arizona previously, we went as far north as Flagstaff but this was our first time to the Grand Canyon.

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September Update – Schools and Roadblocks

September is always a very busy month in Haiti. The final preparations for school usually fill the first week, including delivery of new school uniforms, finalizing school shoes for everyone, getting haircuts, purchasing and laminating the last of the school books, loading and distributing school backpacks, and planning routes to get all the kids to their various schools on time. By the time September rolls around, the kids are often ready to return to school…and so are the staff!!

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Village Values Weekend

Celebrating character and growth with all of our Hands and Feet Project kids and staff from our Jacmel and Thozin campuses

Derek Minor and Canon on stage with our Hands and Feet Project musicians

Every year in the late summer, Hands and Feet Project wraps up the summer with a celebration we call Village Values Weekend. It’s a time when everyone comes together in one location to have a little end of summer party. We celebrate the kids and staff who exemplify love, responsibility, honesty and obedience throughout the year. We also have some great Christian musicians come to entertain, challenge and even teach us and our kids. This year the event is on our campus in Jacmel, and Christian rap / hip hop artists Derek Minor and Canon were here. Derek has been to HAFP in the past, and many of the kids really like his music.

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Hands and Feet Project 15 Year Anniversary & Our Summer Season Update

Hands and Feet Project 15 year anniversary banner
Drex and Jo Stuart

Hands and Feet Project is celebrating 15 years of working in Haiti. What better way to celebrate than have people that originally started taking in and caring for orphaned kids in Jacmel come visit us along with people that came to visit within the first few years? This was our first time to meet the first Hands and Feet Project missionaries, Drex and Jo Stuart (parents of Mark Stuart), and we had a great time hearing stories about early successes and challenges that they faced. And with them came many people who came on teams in those early days.

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Congratulations to Our First Graduate!

This weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate the first high school graduation from one of our kids within the Hands and Feet Project (HAFP) organization! Congratulations to Marvensky for making it through 13th grade (Filo) and we pray that he will continue with his educational success and fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor!  He is currently looking at universities in Port au Prince where he can continue his education.

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Open House & Fundraiser at Panera in Penfield

Panera Bread Company logo

As we mentioned in a previous post, we’re having another open house at Panera in Penfield. These events have been highlights of our visits to Rochester because so many people stop by that we wouldn’t get to see otherwise. The next one will be on Friday, May 17th from 4-8pm. This event will be an official fundraiser. For those who present our fundraiser flyer to the cashier, Panera will donate 20% of your purchase price towards our support!

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