"A new day with no mistakes in it" --Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables

So now that I gave you the good, bad and the ugly about yesterday.....

Today Richard is on his way out to Verrettes to train about 40 leaders, mostly to use the Young Peacemaker book.

So Ricky and I helped him get ready.

Update on Baby saved from abortion

One day this summer Samuel, a former Lemuel soccer player, called Elysee and said he needed the equivalent of $20 US because he had a “problem”. His girlfriend, Shirley, was pregnant, and they wanted to get an abortion. Elysee took time out of his busy schedule (He works full time and has started a restaurant on the side) to counsel the couple. He patiently explained to them the moral and physical dangers (especially in Haiti) of abortion and reminded them that Jesus died to forgive our sins. Praise God, the couple listened to his counsel and the young lady decided to have the baby.

Now, the baby is due before the end of November and Elysee has been in touch with Samuel & Shirley again. Unfortunately, Shirley has not been living at home because her Father is an alcoholic and her Mom is afraid he might hit her and harm the baby. Both her parents were very upset when they heard the news she was pregnant because she is too young to have a child and they did not agree with her dating Samuel. So Shirley was living with a friend, but then the friend told her she had to leave because she had no money to pay for rent and food.

So now her Mom is looking for a place for Shirley to stay for a while until the baby is born. She and her Mom were not talking for a while, but Elysee got them together to work things out and now her mother is going to take Shirley to a free clinic this week for a pre-natal checkup. She also knows of a hospital where Shirley and give birth for free.

Elysee just met with the couple yesterday and they told him they would like to put the baby up for adoption, so we have hooked them up with a reliable orphanage we know about. We also gave Elysee some money to give them for transportation and food until the baby is born.

Please pray for Samuel and Shirley as they go through the process of the birth and giving up the baby for adoption. Neither one is finished high school and they have no way to take care for the baby financially, nor do their parents. That is why they wanted to get an abortion. Pray also for Elysee as he counsels them and their parents, that there would be a full reconciliation between the families involved and that God would provide a good Christian home for the baby, or whatever His will is. Thanks!

We visit Quebec

Tomorrow, July 19th, Carol and I will visit the Quebec Baptist Church in Quebec city and present our ministry. This has been a special trip for us since we visited many of the sites familiar to us when we studied French here over 10 years ago!

Yesterday we met with Ed Sweeney to discuss a partnership between a school where he works and the schools we are working with in Haiti. One of his students started to collect school supplies for schools in Haiti in May and now wants to expand the project through our partnership with them. It great to hear about young people wanting to help students who are less fortunate!

Please pray for Barbara

Please pray for Barbara, my (Carol) Mom's cousin, whose husband just died. She deals with very serious health issues on a daily basis and has no children, nor other relatives besides my Mom and her children. It will be difficult for her to deal with arrangements and the sadness. However, she would say that Jesus has gotten her through many things and He will get her through this too. Thanks

On their way to Port-de-Paix and Jean Rabel

Richard, Daniel, Sylvain and Elysee were off to the north yesterday. We got up at about 4:30 after a big night at school (Ricky in talent show & our BBall team winning the Championship...maybe another post). We packed books, soccer equipment, speakers, generator, food and water. They left at about 8:30 from our house, picked up Sylvain and Elysee and arrived safely in Port-de-Paix 10 hours later. For those of you who don't know Haiti so well, you're wondering how that can be in this small country. It's a matter of bad roads and loading and unloading people and luggage along the way.

Please pray for them to have a safe trip to Jean Rabel today and for the ministries up there to receive the encouragement and training they need. Also, be praying for the outreaches to be held this summer.

pray for Lt. Berretti

Well, I went back to the Navy Base on Monday since we didn't have school and Dr. Berretti adjusted me again. I feel great. BUT, please pray for Dr. Berretti, he caught a bad cough and was feeling terrible, but working anyway.

Prayer request for young couple

Please pray for a young couple who are having difficulties. We are planning to meet with them on Sunday. Pray for wisdom, that the HS will direct us and use us in their lives according to God's will-- and for hope and change for them.

Prayer request

Please pray for our daughter Joy -
1. for God's guidance about which college to attend, and
2. for her to be able to attend a CNA training program in June-July so that she can work as a CNA throughout her college years. It's going to be hard to get everything set up with us not being in PA because the Department on Aging has a lot of requirements. We're planning to get to PA around June 13th (and the program starts the 16th) because Joy graduates May 30th and she wants to do one last medical missions trip before spending most of her time in the US for a while.

Pray for Josh, MK who fell from a roof (22 feet)

Please pray with us for Josh Brumley, the son of missionaries here in Haiti who fell from the top of a building (22 feet) Sunday night. Ricky & Joy are friends with him through their youth group and through Worship teams for both youth & Sunday AM. Ricky & he have spent the night over each others' houses to get together because he lives about 40 minutes from us. Sunday morning Joy was just saying how much she appreciates him because of his commitment to the Lord and great attitude. She was considering him as the best one to take over the leadership of the worship team when she graduates even though he's Ricky's age.
I think it's amazing how well he's doing considering what happened, but I don't think he's out of the woods yet. He has 2 fractures in his skull and one in his nasal cavity. Here's an email from his parents to explain where he is at this point.
"Just a note to tell you that Josh had a good night last night and if he continues to improve, they will take his catheter out and let him get up a little. he still is having headaches (may for awhile), but they are not as severe as they were for a time and we are thankful for that. He is very sore all over and has bruises everywhere. His fall was about 22 feet and he landed on his shoulders and back of his head as far as our intern who was with him saw. It is pretty miraculous that he has no other broken bones. There is a chance he may have some hairline fractures in his back or ribs, but it wouldn't show up on an xray for awhile if he does.Thank you , thank you for all of your prayers and e-mails and offers of help. Thanks for putting him on prayer chains-he has been prayed for everywhere (all over the world) and we are overwhelmed with that.It means so much that you are all standing with us. We pray we are past having to airlift him and it won't be necessary-we still are watching him for a cerebral spinal fluid leak because of the fractured ethmoid sinus, but so far so good and every day that goes by lessens that chance. We are also watching for any signs of seizures-that can happen after a head injury. He has shown no signs of that and at this point the doctors don't think we have to put him on medication, but we need to have it at home in case it should happen.We will repeat the CAT scan tomorrow morning and if it looks okay, we hope to go home Saturday! Josh has wanted to go home since he got here and it's hard for him that we are here day after day, but we have no choice and we are encouraging him to hang in there.We will write more as we have internet (the hospital helped us get on their network-they have been very kind and accommodating and we are very appreciative).We love you all, Chris and Sheryl

Our neighbors

Please pray for our outreach in our neighborhood. I've been getting to know Sophia, who is only 16, but the mother of a 2 year old (Sophonie). She and 2 other families live in an unfinished, abandoned house down the street from us. Several children from that "house" come to visit us...James, Katie-Fleur, Katie Belle-Branche, Dodline and others. Please pray for wisdom in knowing how to react to their physical needs and how to connect with them about their spiritual needs. Hopefully I'll be able to post a picture of some of these cute, smiley faces soon.

Pray for Joy on a Medical Missions Trip

Joy was thrilled to be invited to go on a medical missions trip to Ile A Vache, an island off the coast of southern Haiti. Our school has a requirement for community service, so this kind can be approved depending on the circumstances. She had a ton of books to bring with her, but she's so excited to be going on this trip, it's fine.
One great thing about it is that she is the only teenager in the group--she's with Physician's Assistants, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, etc. So she'll probably learn a lot from them and maybe have a chance to hear about their careers, too.
I should have posted this before when I was praying for their safety driving down, etc. But it's not to late to join me. In spite of a flat tire, they made it down to Les Cayes just fine and the boat ride was fine too.
They actually get to stay in a nice hotel (with air conditioning!--I know "where can I sign up?" right?)
We really appreciate Ed Amos giving her this opportunity.
So...pray with us this week for the safety of the whole group, and for the patients they will see. She comes home Friday.