Author: Randy

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.

Continue reading “Time Away for Self Care”

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!!

Continue reading “September Update – Schools and Roadblocks”

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.

Continue reading “Village Values Weekend”

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.

Continue reading “Hands and Feet Project 15 Year Anniversary & Our Summer Season Update”

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.

Continue reading “Congratulations to Our First Graduate!”

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!

Continue reading “Open House & Fundraiser at Panera in Penfield”

May in Rochester

What are your plans for May? Here are some of ours:

  1. Lilac Festival at Highland Park
  2. Rochester Public Market
  3. Rochester Twilight Criterium bike race
  4. Animal Adventure Park visit (think giraffes!)
  5. Dunkin’ Donuts latte
  6. Coldstone Creamery ice cream
  7. Wegmans Food Market grocery store
  8. Panera Bread Company Open House
  9. Church and small group conversations
  10. Time with family, friends and our awesome supporters
Visiting Rochester, New York Lilac Festival at Highland Park
Continue reading “May in Rochester”

Campus Life Spring Update

Fun with glasses on the Big House porchAs we approach the end of our 2nd year in Haiti, there are some successes that bring us a great deal of joy.  Our relationships with the kids continue to grow as they see that we’re not packing up our belongings and leaving Haiti.  That’s been a topic of conversation with some of our kids as many of our predecessors left before the 18-month mark.  It’s also exciting to see 12-15 of our  older kids wanting to go with us to church and wanting to also attend church youth group Continue reading “Campus Life Spring Update”

Time Away and Visiting Us in Haiti

We returned to Haiti on January 10 after a restful furlough. We had a great time visiting with many family, friends and supporters during our time in upstate New York and on both coasts of Florida, and wish we could have visited with many more of you!  We also intentionally built in a good time of rest for us. Self-care. We have learned the value of that, big time!  We are so glad we did!

On our trip back to Haiti, we traveled with an intern from Alabama. Graham is here with us for 3 months Continue reading “Time Away and Visiting Us in Haiti”