We start the month of August with the training of 8 teams on the island of La Gonave that sits in the middle of the bay of Port-au-Prince.
Futsal is 5-a-side soccer that in some ways is similar to basketball. It is played with four players and a goalie.
We are trying to introduce Futsal to our schools because it is easier to play and learn than 11-a-side soccer, more closely resembles the way Haitians play soccer in the street, and will cost less to equip each team, since a complete futsal team only has 12 players.
We are also training chaplains and administrators to help manage the teams and provide spiritual instruction!
So please pray for us as we travel and train!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Haitian National Amputee Soccer Team sings at Quisqueya Chapel
This morning, July 28, 2013, six members of the Haitian National Amputee Soccer Team sang at the English-speaking church in Port-au-Prince that Carol and usually attend (Quisqueya Chapel) I had the privilege of leading worship this morning and as always, my Haitian brothers added a wonderful dimension to our worship. They sang two songs, one of which was the universal favorite, Amazing Grace.
Afterwards we sold hotdogs to raise funds for their upcoming trip to Brazil to play in the Copa America Amputee soccer tournament. They still need about $18,000 by mid-august, but nothing is impossible with God!
Monday, July 22, 2013
Lexi comes home!
Our beloved Black Lab, Lexi, came home much thinner and not quite right in the head, but still as lovable as ever.
She had a "doggie hysterectomy" and did not come out of the anesthesia normally.
You can see where they had to shave her hair off for the operation in the picture.
So we are looking for another guard dog or puppy!
She had a "doggie hysterectomy" and did not come out of the anesthesia normally.
You can see where they had to shave her hair off for the operation in the picture.
So we are looking for another guard dog or puppy!
Haiti National Amputee Soccer Team Prepares!
Last Saturday I helped out with a practice of the Haitian National Amputee Soccer team. The team is hoping against hope to raise the $20,000 US it needs to attend the Copa America 24 aug. in Brazil which starts around August 15th, but they only have $2,500 so far.
A better bet is for them to play in the next Amputee world cup which will take place in Mexico 8 Oct. 2014.
In the meantime, we are trying to raise funds for them just to practice at a team. Each practice costs about $100 US due to transportation costs and water, etc.
This Sunday Quisqueya Chapel has invited them to sing and sell food after church as a fund raiser.
So continue to pray for this team, and for funds for them to be able to go to the next Amputee World Cup.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Live report from Gensis Goat Project training Final Exam
June and July are exam times in Haiti. All students in Rheto (12th grade) and Philo (13th grade) must take a national exam to graduate. If they don't pass these two exams they cannot graduate high school, so there is lots of stress and everywhere you see students studying under street lights late into the night.
But today our leaders are taking their final exam for the Genesis Goat project. Unlike the national exams going on elsewhere, this exam tests practical knowledge of how to raise a goat. We want to know if our leaders are prepared to teach their players how to raise goats.
They are taking the exam by team, with 2-3 leaders answering the questions together. That is why you see them sitting together in the pictures.
At the end of August we should be ready to give these trained leaders their goats so they can use them as examples of goat raising. Theory is one way to learn, but practice is perhaps the best way to apply book knowledge.
So far we have funding to give our 60 leaders goats, plus one zone of 4 teams. This is our pilot project, so please pray as our leaders and players apply what they learn!
Saturday, July 13, 2013
First visit to La Gonave
I visited the island of La Gonave today in preparation for a team of Canadians who suggested we introduce soccer ministry to the schools here last summer.
On the boat-ride over we saw some dolphins jumping beside the boat.
We sailed over on a former lobster boat from Canada
Of course the views of the mountains in Haiti are stunning from the ocean.
There are still some Mangrove forests left on the coastline
The new hospital
The Wesleyans are building a beautiful hospital and guesthouse on their campus. This is the New patient pavilion
Johny, the guesthouse manager at the Wesleyan church compound on the island situated in the bay of Port-au-Prince, was very nice and gave us a warm welcome.
This is the school where we will do our training in August
I meet with two pastors and a school director and they are excited about Ambassadors Football providing training for them in August and sponsoring a tournament when the Canadian team comes from August 17 to 22.
On the boat-ride over we saw some dolphins jumping beside the boat.
We sailed over on a former lobster boat from Canada
Of course the views of the mountains in Haiti are stunning from the ocean.
There are still some Mangrove forests left on the coastline
The new hospital
The Wesleyans are building a beautiful hospital and guesthouse on their campus. This is the New patient pavilion
Johny, the guesthouse manager at the Wesleyan church compound on the island situated in the bay of Port-au-Prince, was very nice and gave us a warm welcome.
This is the school where we will do our training in August
I meet with two pastors and a school director and they are excited about Ambassadors Football providing training for them in August and sponsoring a tournament when the Canadian team comes from August 17 to 22.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
In Haiti, we never know what good works God has in store for us to do.
After a month full of ministry and activity, Carol and I decided to take a long weekend at the Ortlip Ministry center which is right on the bay overlooking the island of La Gonave. As it turned out we were there alone for the weekend and there were no other visitors. Ah!, peace and quiet! (except for the roosters crowing at 5 AM!). We relaxed at the guesthouse on Friday, but on Saturday we decided to visit a beach resort nearby for the day.
In the middle of the day, Carol and I were feeling very hot and decided to take a dip in the ocean. As we were talking softly we heard a woman sobbing a few yards away. These were not little sniffle sobs, but gut-wrenching, from deep within sobs. So Carol went over and asked if the woman was alright. At first she answered through her crying a muffled “yes”. But Carol could see that she was emotionally upset, and so started walking toward her asked her a few questions and she calmed down enough to explain what was going on.
It turns out that the woman was a nurse practitioner who had just spend a week helping very poor people in Cite Soleil, one of the poorest parts of Port-au-Prince. This was her first trip to Haiti--she had never seen such poverty and she was very tired. But the main thing on her mind was her son who is to drugs and she had not heard from him for 8 days.
After Carol talked to her a few minutes, the woman’s husband came over and then I joined the group as well. After listening to their story, we all prayed together right there in the middle of the water!
Later I saw the couple a few times during the day and tried to encourage them in the Lord. at 8 PM (remember that 9 PM is missionary midnight), our friend who stayed with us after the earthquake, Venita, showed up at our gate. She said that her husband has not been around for over a month, and has not been providing for their 4 children. In addition, this week her school deposited her paycheck into her bank, and her husband withdrew the money and only gave her 40% of it back. She said her children had hardly had anything to eat for the past few days. So as Carol listened and prayed with her, I prepared a care package of cooked food for them to eat.
So these are some of the “good works” God prepared for us to do over the past week or so.
All the GLory goes to HIM!
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
In Haiti, we never know what good works God has in store for us to do.
After a month full of ministry and activity, Carol and I decided to take a long weekend at the Ortlip Ministry center which is right on the bay overlooking the island of La Gonave. As it turned out we were there alone for the weekend and there were no other visitors. Ah!, peace and quiet! (except for the roosters crowing at 5 AM!). We relaxed at the guesthouse on Friday, but on Saturday we decided to visit a beach resort nearby for the day.
In the middle of the day, Carol and I were feeling very hot and decided to take a dip in the ocean. As we were talking softly we heard a woman sobbing a few yards away. These were not little sniffle sobs, but gut-wrenching, from deep within sobs. So Carol went over and asked if the woman was alright. At first she answered through her crying a muffled “yes”. But Carol could see that she was emotionally upset, and so started walking toward her asked her a few questions and she calmed down enough to explain what was going on.
It turns out that the woman was a nurse practitioner who had just spend a week helping very poor people in Cite Soleil, one of the poorest parts of Port-au-Prince. This was her first trip to Haiti--she had never seen such poverty and she was very tired. But the main thing on her mind was her son who is to drugs and she had not heard from him for 8 days.
After Carol talked to her a few minutes, the woman’s husband came over and then I joined the group as well. After listening to their story, we all prayed together right there in the middle of the water!
Later I saw the couple a few times during the day and tried to encourage them in the Lord. at 8 PM (remember that 9 PM is missionary midnight), our friend who stayed with us after the earthquake, Venita, showed up at our gate. She said that her husband has not been around for over a month, and has not been providing for their 4 children. In addition, this week her school deposited her paycheck into her bank, and her husband withdrew the money and only gave her 40% of it back. She said her children had hardly had anything to eat for the past few days. So as Carol listened and prayed with her, I prepared a care package of cooked food for them to eat.
So these are some of the “good works” God prepared for us to do over the past week or so.
All the GLory goes to HIM!
A Great week training Leaders in Soccer Ministry
Getting up early for Exercise before breakfast.
Coach Rich shows how to teach children how to dribble a soccer ball by pretending to be a duck.
Fenick shares with the group
Fenick teaches about Discipleship
This week my summer intern and I, Fenick Beldor, have trained leaders from a large denomination in Haiti how to use soccer to reach children and youth with the Gospel.
We shared with them the concept that Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 9:22 “…I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” Soccer is just one way we can build relationships with children and youth in Haiti. Clearly there are other ways, but few attract the young more in Haiti than soccer!
So we showed them some coaching techniques for children and youth and also how they can use a soccer ball as an illustration of spiritual concepts.
We also showed them Neil Cole’s “Life Transformation Groups” (www.cmaresources.org) concepts as a way of discipling young believers and helping keep themselves accountable as well.
While we were not teaching, I took some time with my staff to plan how to train our teams in Futsal, or 5-a-side soccer. We plan to use this type of soccer with our teams in the future.
In all it was a great week of training and enjoying God’s creation by the Ocean.
Soccer by the Sea
The Crystal Clear Caribbean water
Friday, July 5, 2013
Following up with those who heard the Gospel at our soccer outreaches!
Following up with those who heard the Gospel at our soccer outreaches!
As we have followed up over the past month with those who filled out response cards at our three evangelistic soccer games in May, we have been encouraged.
Our summer intern from the seminary in Port-au-Prince, Fenick, has been calling people on the phone and then referring them to volunteers in the town where they live to invite them to Bible study and church.
Fenick has a way of making people feel at ease on the phone and has had several good conversations with people. In one case he talked to a woman who has gone to church all her life, but was never sure that she was going to heaven. Fenick had the opportunity to share what the Bible says about religion vs. relationship!
In another case, he called up a number and asked for Garina. The woman on the phone said that she was the Mother of Garina. So Fenick explained to the Mom why he was calling and she gave him permission to talk to Garina who turned out to be a 14 year old girl. Garina seemed to understand the Gospel well and had the desire to go to church, but felt like she did not have the proper clothes to wear. (In Haiti, most people feel they have to “dress up” to go to church and churches are more traditional in this sense.) So after he talked to Garina, he asked to talk to her Mom again and got a chance to share the Gospel with her as well. The Mom was so excited about the Good News, that she said she would buy some clothes for Garina so she could go to church. (We are praying that the Mom will also go!).
So please continue to pray as we follow up!
As we have followed up over the past month with those who filled out response cards at our three evangelistic soccer games in May, we have been encouraged.
Our summer intern from the seminary in Port-au-Prince, Fenick, has been calling people on the phone and then referring them to volunteers in the town where they live to invite them to Bible study and church.
Fenick has a way of making people feel at ease on the phone and has had several good conversations with people. In one case he talked to a woman who has gone to church all her life, but was never sure that she was going to heaven. Fenick had the opportunity to share what the Bible says about religion vs. relationship!
In another case, he called up a number and asked for Garina. The woman on the phone said that she was the Mother of Garina. So Fenick explained to the Mom why he was calling and she gave him permission to talk to Garina who turned out to be a 14 year old girl. Garina seemed to understand the Gospel well and had the desire to go to church, but felt like she did not have the proper clothes to wear. (In Haiti, most people feel they have to “dress up” to go to church and churches are more traditional in this sense.) So after he talked to Garina, he asked to talk to her Mom again and got a chance to share the Gospel with her as well. The Mom was so excited about the Good News, that she said she would buy some clothes for Garina so she could go to church. (We are praying that the Mom will also go!).
So please continue to pray as we follow up!
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