The nursery is almost finished with a wild jungle theme including monkeys, palm trees and the King of the Jungle.

The new pews to add to the church are almost done as well – thanks to the men and ladies who worked on those!

Yesterday closed with an afternoon at the beach—it was some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen in Haiti, the aqua water was cool and refreshing. The beach was made up of smooth stones, starting with larger ones, down to smaller pebbles as it met the surf. The water was so salty that you barely had to paddle to stay afloat. The breeze, the coolness of the water and the happy songs of the Haitians rowing in boats just beyond the swimmers kept things lively. The children loved splashing in the waves and enjoying watermelon together.

This morning was spent in worship at church and many members of the team will leave shortly to go door to door visiting and presenting the gospel.

Tonight the team will visit Wahoo Bay for a closing dinner and thoughts from the week. It’s bittersweet to consider the week over. Although we all miss our families, and are tired and hot—Haiti has etched itself into our consciousness, and perhaps even our hearts. In some ways, we have been changed by this week. In some ways we won’t ever be the same. I thank God for this week, and for Mike and Bonnie Snider, as well as the JBA—and the opportunity they have all given us to serve this week together.

The clinic was a small one by some standards, but the nurses and workers managed to see about 70 patients. Complaints covered a wide range of ailments, but special care and consideration was given to each Haitian who came for care. Care was free today, and the love of Christ was shown in a very tangible way–by meeting a very basic physical need for medical care. Thankfully, only 1 woman needed to be referred to a hospital, with a blood pressure of 217/111. A special thanks to the team from People for Haiti for the use of their supplies today….

The men worked on the roof of the school and the van that the children’s home uses on a daily basis.

If anyone ever feels led to donate a 15 passenger van…..I’m sure they’d take it!

The team is currently being entertained by the antics of one 7 year old “Sassy Frassy” and have plans to play progressive uno to pass the time.

Tomorrow the team will head to Te Nwa to do another medical clinic, as well as attend church there midday.

Thanks for the continued prayers, please continue to pray for strength for the team and opportunities to share Christ.

Today the team split up again….this time in at least three groups. One team made up of the men worked on the school addition. Time was spent putting doors on the latrines for the children, as well as working on the gutters which will collect rain water for the cistern.

Yet another team began work on what will be a new nursery for the smallest of the children. Walls were scrubbed and primed for the new paint, and one wall was painted a sunshiny yellow.

The last team worked on preparation for the medical clinic which will be held on the CBCH grounds tomorrow. Plans are to see many patients from the area beginning at 9am.

One thing becomes very clear—although we may come from very different backgrounds, and possess different talents~~all the talents are needed to do God’s work here. God chose this team for this week for a specific purpose. Please continue in prayer for us all as we seek to fulfill God’s perfect will this week.

The group that visited the mountain mission did a variety of work including medical as well as malnutrition screening. As always, the stark beauty of the mountains framed against the bright blue of the Haitian sky & the heat of the sun was stunning.

The group which procured supplies got to experience traffic in Port Au Prince first hand, with no less than a 5 hour drive through the streets and byways of the sprawling city. I’m told that many prayers were offered up as the trip went on! (ha!)  Traffic in Port can be a bit harrowing for first time visitors—although not that different from that in many parts of the world I’m told. There don’t seem to be particular traffic laws, nor lines, nor lights to govern the stream of tap-taps and larger school buses that are loaded down with humanity and supplies. The supplies, once obtained, were returned to the orphanage for use on the school addition, which the men will work on in the next several days.

Today our day ended on a lighter note, taking measure of the “funny things” that had happened during the day, and appreciating the laughter and humor that can be found in each moment.

What will tomorrow bring? Who knows….but I am sure that God has a plan for it.

We arrived safely in Haiti yesterday, to the open arms of the children here at the orphanage & Mike & Bonnie.

First day sights and sounds can be overwhelming. The noises, smells and experiences tend to overwhelm. So our first night was kind of quiet (like all teams are I’m sure).

This morning Kim began our week with a devotion titled: Beauty from Ashes. Since our real work begins today–I thought it would be an appropriate way to begin this week’s experiences.

“My friend and I were talking earlier about Haiti. We were talking about something pretty specific, and she used the term “Beauty from Ashes”–to describe the country and the people and just the general way of life there.

Until you’ve been there, that phrase just sounds like another platitude uttered by white people in a land where beauty is measured by the kind of car you drive, your status in the world, by your perfect smile, perfect hair, and remodeled body. It’s not difficult to associate smoke and ashes with Haiti. The smell is pervasive–the plume of smoke fills the air at times in some areas.

But beauty–that’s even easier. Beauty in this land is in the scenes that you will miss if you only see the tragedy.

Beauty is in the faces of the children, who are like children everywhere. Who want to play, and sing and laugh and are full of joy and love.

Beauty is in the mothers and fathers who work hard every day all day to provide, yet are limited by their place within the hemisphere. By the decisions of governments that are bigger than theirs have made…by the decisions of politicians and sometimes madmen….

Haiti is full of beauty. It is my hope that the beauty of Jesus Christ will go with our team in the next week, and that we will shine His light and beauty on anyone who is willing to receive Him.”

To our families who are wondering, we are all happy and healthy. We are excited and looking for that beauty today!

“Oceanway Baptist arrived yesterday! Lorelei is teaching English for summer secondary school that started today! The men are building concrete walls for four new latrines at the school. Awesome group!”

We have a sweet team from Ft. Caroline Baptist Church this week.
Bonnie traveled home to Haiti with them from Jacksonville.  Pastor Ricky has
come with his church team and will preach at our church on Sunday!  The men have
been doing very hard labor digging, preparing, and pouring a slab for our school
addition since Tuesday.  They have said that the Haitian men work very hard and
are still hungry after eating their rice and beans that we provide for them for
lunch each day.

Therefore this got us to thinking together last night and and we
devised a plan to both feed their stomachs and their souls. After finishing
breakfast today, the ladies made brownies and sandwiches so that the men could
share their lunches with the workers.  We also cut up some sweet and
delicious fresh pineapple and the pastor shared the gospel with the 20 Haitian
workers today at lunch.  They have been invited to church on Sunday.

On Tuesday (first full day for the team), the ladies sorted the
school uniforms and shoes that have been donated for school, as well as other
clothing, diapers, toiletries and supplies for the orphanage children.  It took
all morning for six people to sort and put everything away.

We are so thankful for all the gracious donations!!!  There have not
been many white polo shirts donated, and the ones we have gotten have been
dingy, so we have changed the color of the polo shirts for the primary school,
K3 (three-year-olds) through sixth grade to light blue, and are still asking for
navy blue pants for the boys with skirts, skorts, or jumpers for the girls.  Our
secondary school children will be wearing the white polo shirts and navy blue
pants, skirts, skorts, or jumpers for the girls and in addition can wear blue
denim in good condition as part of their uniform.  All of our children will wear
black tennis or dress shoes in good condition.

Our school plans on giving two sets of uniforms (tops and bottoms,
shoes, underwear (and a backpack if we can) to each child (350 primary, as well
as 50 at our mountain school and 150 secondary school students.)  Anyone wishing
to donate uniforms can contact the JBA office in Jacksonville, Florida.  Keep in
mind you will be doing so much more than sending clothing, you will be changing
their lives and those of their families forever.  The parents will be making a
great sacrifice to pay for tuition and books for their children.  School
supplies are also needed and JBA maintains a list of needed items.

Mike and I took the four FCBC ladies in the group to Bon Repo (which
means ‘Good Rest’)  today so that we could buy sugar to make iced tea
(man-style, i.e., lots of sugar) and a few other staples.  The ladies were so
happy to get a few minutes of air conditioning!  Carlos, Ronald and
Wilguens came along for the ride.  We were all impressed with Mike’s driving
skills with how he maneuvers the van on the poorly-paved streets.  On the way
home we stopped by the market (marche) in Cabaret and bought mangoes,
pineapples, watermelon, and cantaloupe.

Part of the team is helping our church members clean and trim the grounds
surrounding our church.  Some of the older orphanage children have been helping
in this effort as well.  All of this was started by our church and we are glad
that they are taking the initiative to take care of their place of worship.

Carlos, from THE (Through His Eyes) Mission Haiti, is staying with us this
month and is playing soccer with the kids every day.  He is a great role-model
and wants to share the source of his strength, Jesus (Jezi) with them.  Christa
and Gabby with THE Mission Haiti are staying nearby and come every day to help
the older girls with Bible study and journaling.  They have provided each of
these girls with their own journal.  Our children’s lives will be forever
blessed by the time and teaching they get from the many teams and individuals
that choose to invest their time and resources with us.

Our church has recently hired a new pastor (Pastor Gary) to replace Pastor
Nathan, who recently stepped down.  Rev. Rick Wheeler, new chief of the
Jacksonville Baptist Association, stopped by to tour our facility and speak to
Mike about the Cabaret Baptist Children’s Home and associated ministries in
Haiti.  He was in Haiti for a few days meeting with the Florida Baptist Convention.
Our future as a mission has always been in God’s hands and he is directing our
paths moment by moment for His glory.

We know that it is difficult to come here and impossible for some.
Everyone can at least pray for us, our orphanage children,  workers and their
families, as well as our church and school.  God has given us clear direction to
start a secondary school, offering grades 7 – 9 this year, and then adding one
grade each year until we reach the end of high school (which is called college
in Haiti.)

Grace and peace to each of you,

Mike and Bonnie Snider
Directors
Cabaret Baptist Children’s Home
Bercy, Haiti