LOVEY & MASON & DANNY!!!
The is one of the best camera shots ever and you gotta believe that
#1. it was the only shot
#2. I didn't stage it!
Lovey is motoring around like she owns the place and potty training herself, much like Mason did. Can you believe that
Mason, Michael and Romise will be 5 in a few months? Wow! ....and the last guy, Danny is getting very big and what a comic! I'll admit, they're just plain cute! |
| Front gate entry to a very green and beautiful yard. We have worked so hard on playspace. |
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| The grass has finally come alive! Our kids love to roll around and play in it and well they should. The last two years they have raked and picked rock......lots of rock!.....and picked a lot of weeds to get it clear for the grass to grow. Ask anyone that's been here....these children are eager to work. |
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| Romise and Michael are as best of buddies as you can find and into the legos as always. Notice too, that the shakoun (sha-coon) is now the play room as it was designed to be. |
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Many late afternoons, before dinner, we kick around the football-Haitian style!
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| Nadia helps Ray cook the weekend meals and this Saturday we made potato chips for brunch! |
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| William, Christian and Darlensky did a super job clearing for our new sidewalks in the courtyard! |
ENTER: Dorka & Idalberto!
GOD put this couple in our hands to move
this ministry forward. They have been with us now for over three months.
Idal has the language and social skills that third world people understand
and a veracious drive to bring folks to Christ. We need to do all we can to
increase the kingdom.
They showed up with no means of support. They are from
Cuba. There is no support that can substantially support them from there.
Haiti Comfort needs to increase it’s budget. I need to feed them, house
and cloth them.
They have three children and we are now preparing to get 2 of
them here. If they move back to Cuba, their passports will be taken and
they will never be allowed to leave again. We won’t let that happen.
In only 3 months, we have made major changes to our ministry:
· We are establishing a
steady course in evangelism. We
initiated this earlier, but AIDS babies
kept coming and babies take a lot time!
Idalberto is “on fire” for spreading the Word! He’s already working a large mountain area
behind our home. We will begin building a small shelter here on the property to hold worship and Bible studies.
· All four of us split
teaching duties: We cannot send our
children to Haitian schools. We
also have a promise from a donor in NYC that will pay a
teacher and we’re looking. We’re
looking. We teach everything in
English…..it is our childrens’ first language. They are also fluent in Kreyol,
because of the few Haitians that work for us.
· We also feed people, who
are in need with rice and beans we receive from Food For The Poor.
· In total, Dorka and Idal
spell relief for Trisha and Ray! After 9 years and over 20 children, we were getting weary……..we’re both in our
early 60’s. Idal and Dorka are in their
40’s!
Our Present Project: (and monetarily, it will be a squeeze) is to add on our dining room.
We are preparing for their boys: ages 14 & 21. We will be able to cordon off the end of the room to accomodate a bedroom. We will move into the dining room!
We need to raise support $8000 to finish the final third of the 2nd floor deck. After that, the short walls need to be finished at 8 ft and then block walls,.....$800 bond beams w/asst rebar, sand and cement,......$2000 steel security windows, doors and rails, ......$4500 the trusses (20)......$2800, steel nailers and steel roofing.....$4000 and labor......$4000
We built the steel re-enforcing mesh for the stairs a few months ago and they are ready to be poured, but we ran out of building money. In April, we began our seventh year of construction.
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| Zoe and Mika |
and
DAISY! (and she is with children!)
It's gonna take some sacrifice and prayer to keep us going in support this new & exciting reach for new Christians. It's going on now. Every other day, Idal heads for the mountains with a 50 lb pack of rice and beans on his back and preaches. He often takes Dorka or one of the Haitians. That's the biggest and very best thing that we do!
Our equipment is stressed out! We have one vehicle, a 19 yr old dump truck, broke down and awaiting for a $1000 starter from Japan. Our van is officially dead, so we take the kids to the hospital in the truck or by taptap thirty miles away. We need to increase the capacity of our already stretched electrical equipment. Our inverter is almost 9 years old and half the capacity, our battery bank is one third of what we need. The electrical updating is a $5000 debit. We are awaiting our new washer, but have been doing clothes by hand for 8 months now.
Now, we have a family of four to feed and raise funds for. The 14 yr old boy will probably go to high school in either PAP or the Dominican Republic, but this family will be out of Cuba. We have 14 children now, 10 with AIDS and they are just great! They are growing faster than weeds! But they eat! Right now, what keeps us afloat, is my $1700 a month retirement check. I have given all $20K a year for two years now to augment donor support.
You say "Ray, you want to do this, go ahead!" It's not a case of wanting anything, this is for the kingdom of God! We really don't look for anything but prayer, financial support and visitors now and then. We are where we are supposed to be. All guts-no glory.....the glory all goes to HIM! Praise be His Holy Name! Please help in the Great Commission!
Please, please step up to the plate and help.
Please come down and see what God is doing. We have all the Comforts of home!
