We need help!

We've been here for ten years this year and have a wonderfully growing family of AIDS children......and they continue to come.....we are up 15 children!

Our home is not completed, we have no vehicle and need a wall around our property.

PLEASE GO TO 

Haiti Comfort, INC on FACEBOOK

and "LIKE"!!!

I put entries on most days and our ministry is easiest to follow there and post. 

 Off and away! Two motos, five kids (10,6,5,3,3), two adults,and two drivers on their way to Mirabalais for hospital appointment. We live in kind of a no mans land for taptaps and you can wait on the street for hours for a truck. No, it's not safe by any stretch of the imagination, but everyone does it.

well, they went and turned around and came back......It's Haitian Labor Day! who knew? Momma's butt is sore as well.

This is what over and hour ride does to a three year old......this is ridiculous. Lovey's whipped.

APR 16..........We've been watching as mechanics come and go and our truck is not fixed from not getting it back together right. They were gonna send someone to tear out the transmission today, because they thought that it may be the problem.....all that was done was to replace a head gasket! We put a stop to the mechanic go around. Now we gotta get the dump back down in it's place and probably head for Port to find a wrecker to pull it to the Isuzu dealer IF they will work on it......so the vehicle woes continue while Momma loads 7 kids in a taptap for their doctors appt in Mirabalais.

APR 28.......Well, the truck saga continues........finally after many mechanics they got it running only to find that it won't climb the slightest of hills! The head has been over planed and now they talking two gaskets.......can you do that? I don't know, but we're managing to see some money come together to drive this mission in a correct manner.....7000 back pay on T's retirement, 2000 from old van, 3000 donation. Only 118,000 to go! Actually less, cause we lowered our sights on a vehicle purchase by about 9K. Can't do anything, because I'm not sure what the Lord wants......we hurt in so many places. Help me pray.....

APR 30th.......well, I've made a decision to not do anything until I have a better vision on where do go.......I have to stop spending money.....it's so tough at times here, and right now, I just feel raked over the coals......and I'm tired.

Well, it's time to protect and use what is ours. Protection is for my children. We have a very open property right now, it is tromped on, trespassed, damaged incurred and we just don't have the warm and fuzzy about it's security. To boot, haiti is We've planned this for 8 years and I did extensive take-off (estimate) on it and the price was then 22K with two gates.....One thing is that we now have a dump truck, which will keep our sand and foundation rock costs fairly cheap. Other material like cement and steel has seen at least a 40% hike in costs. I've talked to a contractor and his total price for all is over $30K (I touch nothing) I still have 10 bedrooms and a roof and gallery to add to the house......my plate is full! We are ready to expand our farming endeavors, to include chickens (we now have pigs), but can't because it will all just get stolen. People have had at a lot of my trees already. I want to expand my kids area to enclose all that we own. This is very normal here for ministries to do this here. We are used to it! We are growing.

Spring is springing!!!

Easter and Holy Week 

......are really special times here because we dive deeper into what happened right on up to The Risen Christ. Tonight, Thursday for instance, we explored the Last Supper of what Jesus had to say to the apostles and what that means for us......a long time later. 

Nadia and Christian making tortilla shells.

We have no running vehicle right now and for the foreseeable future.          It has been a comedy of errors, but no one is laughing here.  A week ago, we only wanted to remedy the overheating of the truck, which was attributed to a broken head gasket.  Once the truck got back together and was started, a cacophony of loud grinding sounds.....two camshaft gears were practically toothless, which meant the engine was put together wrong.  Mechanics came and went for almost a week, and yesterday, we put a stop to it. It became obvious that they were stumped. So there it is.....dump stuck open and I will probably have it towed to the Isuzu dealer in Port.

This is a Series 70 Toyota Landcruiser and has bench seats and
will seat 8-10 kids safely.  The suspension and ground clearance is
tough enough for Haiti's roads. We are looking to buy new or very
 little used.

We were able to sell the van for $2000 and that is the start of our vehicle fundraising. Momma Trisha is now doing hospital appts by loading up tap taps with 5-7 kids to Mirabalais. Food For the Poor runs for rice and beans in Port au Prince are out for awhile. We will spend money to replace what we have been getting for free.

This is a "kid" team, in that shows up year
after year for the sole reason of our kids,
shortly after Christmas.  This time we had
three days of kids from town to join us.

Some these teens from Texas have been here
3 years in a row and some are now expressing a
desire to help during the summer.

It's always fun for the timouns when Amarillo, Texas comes to town!

                                            

KEEP COMING BACK!!!

Michael and Lovey

             It's not like going down the street to Publix and shopping for what you need.  90% of the food we buy comes from a primitive market that we have here. Every Wed/Sat we buy at the market and clean everything on down to lettuce leaves in bleach water.  Everything here is prepared from scratch and we even make our own peanut butter and ground beef!

Both of our much used kitchen machines have given it all and are now kaput.  Both machines

were a little underpowered for our kind of use. The mixer we want is a $700 one with an ice cream attachment......the nearest ice cream is 2 hours away!  The main use is making specialty breads

like hot dogs rolls, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, tortilla shells, pizza dough and bread. We have the attachment for pureeing fruit and vegetables for juices and sauces.  

The food processor sees use almost every single day.  We process everything from peanut butter to ground beef and a lot of veggies.....we had one a little smaller household version with  plastic casing and gears and they can't take the pounding. This is one is made with metal.....it's about $350.

We need to train our socks to do this!

Red is the present barricade and green is what we want barrier put in.

             We are really very private people here, a lot of that due to the culture.  Our privacy has always been invaded by people cutting our trees, stealing out of our garden, young teen boys verbally abusing my wife and kids and marching voudou parades on our property.  We want to expand our farming and we want to enclose our entire property.  We are not asking the unusual, in fact we've gone the last four years in this environment. 

          Our kids and a bunch of local kids were just entertained a few weeks ago by a team of teens that visits every year from Texas.  My kids removed themselves from many of the activities because of the rough and tumble of the local kids.  Our children are very kind and considerate of others and that was the best surprise of that event for Momma and I. They don't go to school due to the mob mentality of the people and their ignorance of AIDS. We home school.     

        I want to provide more garden and grazing space, a mini soccer field and add chickens.  We can't because the grounds are insecure. That will cost 30K, but we are continuing to take more children......and we've always planned this down the road......down the road is now.

This is an old panorama several years ago, but gives you the idea of what we own here.  We bound the river on two sides and it is very clean, by anyones' standards.  IT is small, spring fed and provides a lot of enjoyment for our kids when it gets steamy.

.....with a small effort right now, we can get a small percentage of what you purchase from a whole mess of online retailers. Just request this little icon that will recognize that

 You, Igive.com and Haiti Comfort are partners!

It is no cost to you!

A Whole Lotta Joy!

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

 

......and it's quieter, cleaner and dry!  It took almost 2 weeks to prepare and only 7 hours to pour. It ends the process started over a year and half ago, with four pours and over $20K worth of steel, cement and labor.  Most importantly it's a family room and we've never had one.  It will be a gathering place for the whole family. A place to sit and watch movies, put together puzzles, read and just be together.  We're so very thankful for the effort put forth by the wonderful team that put it together!

         They also augmented Christmas packs for all the kids and did tie dye shirts and decorated our house and tower with lites!  God bless you Laura, Karen, Gary, Will, Kevin, Nick and John! John has a vision for us and surrounds himself with these folks that have loved us!  Heather couldn't make it, but sent a large stack of reading and Math books for us.

          The biggest surprise came with the many Haitians that came and stood to see the lights.....they were really very happy about it!

                   I think the kids were more than a little amazed when we bought the new refrigerator and it was just so big after having an apartment model for all this this time! This is from a very lovely lady in the great white north.....Canada! The old one was starting to rust out and not sealing very good......the freezer was another appliance that is gone and we will buy another very soon.  A gentleman in Florida gave us money specifically for that reason. God is GOOD!!

We were also blessed by a doctor, who among all the time he gives to kid's health in this country, funded our new inverter and battery bank!  Here's Momma with her baby, Speckles and $3500 worth of new electric supplies, which will make a drastic cut in our fuel usage for electricity.

We now have the funds to bring our dining room into reality!  The floor was done over a year ago by the folks from Colorado and we've now got funds enough for ceiling, windows and doors and even a new floor.  Watch our progress on Facebook "Haiti Comfort, INC"

           Here's Nadia and I teaching the 5 yr olds to print....they like school and can be very tenacious learning new skills.  I could not do it alone, if it weren't for Nadia.  I am out a teacher, so I'm taxed extra hard this year.  I have my first five, who I am working hard with reading.(Nadia, William, Christian, Louvensky and Darlensky)  These four pictured with primary skills (Mason, Marissa, Michael and Romise) and Kevins, the new kid has grasped English pretty quick and stubborn Elda is finally coming around make up my third class.  I really could use some help and really would love a missionary to come and run a chunk of what we do here, to include evangelism.  The Cubans really weren't up to basic standards of teaching or fostering new Christians.  Cuba is a quasi-Third World country, much like everything else in the Carribean. Suffice to say, I really would love an American who loves the Lord!  It would take a little time to get spun up on Kreyol, but all my kids speak and are taught in English.

Help.....

SUMMER 2013

                     

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.

     

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.

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.

 Many late afternoons, before dinner, we kick around the football-Haitian style!

Nadia helps Ray cook the weekend meals and this Saturday
we made potato chips for brunch!

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.

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!