Call to Prayer

Dear Supporters and Prayer Warriors,

Tonight after church, as several of us young staff were visiting over pates (delicious fried pastries the vendors sell on the streets here), our friends Junior and Alain asked if they could share something with us. Just this past Friday, they had a meeting with the leadership of our base and found out that their staff fees have reached $1,000 – in the red. If they do not find support within the next few weeks, they will be asked to leave them mission. It broke my heart to hear this. These young men are two of the hardest working, joy-filled people I know. Alain works in grounds maintenance, and Junior in the kitchen. More than once a day, I see Alain dancing as he works out in the lawn, and Junior always has a song in his heart, and often on his lips, whether he’s cutting up potatoes or mopping the floors. Our mission will experience a great loss if they leave … We asked them tonight where they feel God is calling them to be. Both of them want to be in the mission. And I can see as they work day in and day out, that they are indeed working as if for the Lord, and not for men. They give their all in everything they do.

So, the rest of us, when we heard their story, felt compelled to share it. We will be spending our day tomorrow in prayer and fasting about this. Several of them, and their fellow Haitian staff, have already been doing so. If you would like to join us in prayer, please do. If you feel God compelling you to give anything towards the support for either of these young men, it can be made out to YWAM Haiti and sent directly to YWAM Haiti, PO Box 236, Akron, PA 17501. Their name should not be on the check itself, but on a separate note. It should be specified on the note that this is for their staff fees. Thank you for praying about this and seeking God’s will in how you can be a part of lifting up and supporting these brothers of ours.

All because of Jesus,

Laura J. Hess

p.s. At Christmas, when I was home, they both sent along letters introducing themselves and sharing their heart for ministry. They also mentioned their need for financial support. I shared these with the young adults at my church, but did not feel like there were open doors to do so elsewhere. I also had little time … I will be posting these letters on my blog tomorrow, along with one for Junior’s brother, Patrick. He is not in the red yet, but along with several other staff, he is close. So please keep all of the young Haitian staff in your prayers. This is a time when we need to stand together, as members of the family of God, sharing whit we have with those who have not. If you’re interested in seeing these letters, you can go to www.laurajeaninhaiti.blogspot.com

For those of you who are here already, ignore that last part ;)

Junior Ovilmar


This is Junior's Letter ...

Alaindo (Alain) Dosthene



And here is Alain's ... in two parts


Patrick Ovilmar, Junior's older brother


And here is Patrick's letter ...




The Ovilmar brothers - Junior, sporting his Amish garb (a gift from a young man from PA) and Patrick sharing his Ipod =)



Alain, still as happy as a lark, even after cleaning out the sewage system in the midst of our flood-mud-recovery back in September! This young man has more joy in his heart than anyone else I know ...

mardigras, dancing, and more ...

The impressive set-up on the YWAM pick-up, ready to hit the streets for our week of outreach during Carnival. The float that we constructed on the trailer, in the back of the truck, consisted of wooden boards, colored lights, and a fog machine. I'm sure you can see the speakers rigged up, Haitian style, behind the generator. It was a miracle that we (and the truck) survived the week. God was definitely holding us in the palm of his hands!



Here's a close-up of the crazy, rigged up sound system. It was POWERful! Our goal was for the gospel, the dramas, and the worship music to overpower the words, drums, and music of the Mardigras (and pre-Mardigras, ie: Carnival) celebrations. And it worked! God really used this week of ministry to spread his light and his truth among the people of St. Marc.


The DTS students performing, "Freedom" - one of their most powerful dramas. It was amazing to see the crowds that were drawn out by these performances. When we began, the streets were almost empty, with just a handful of children and adults walking towards the Boulevard in downtown St. Marc, where most of the festivities took place. But within minutes, they were coming out of the woodwork, crowding up close to the float, intrigued by the loud music, the lights, and the color-coordinated DTSers. Drama is something very new for most Haitians - they usually respond with laughter! They aren't used to seeing people acting ... it makes them wonder if we do the same things in every day life too ;)


Part of "The Cage" drama, in which each student represents a Haitian from a specific sector of society (a single young mother, a businessman, a gang member, a politician, etc.). As they make their way around the cage, they cry out for freedom from the lives they find themselves trapped inside of... the close of the drama brings Jesus to the stage, as one by one, he offers them "LIBETE!!!" This was a powerful message for the people of St. Marc. I pray that it stays in their minds and hearts in the weeks and months to come.



Esther, Junior, Gras (Philipson and Peterson's little sister), and Mike on the back of the float. You can tell we were enjoying ourselves ;) As we drove from place to place, blaring our Haitian worship music, we were usually up on our feet, dancing and clapping and praising the Lord for all to see. But when the roads got to bumpy, we sat down for our own safety. This must've been taken then ...


At one point, the actual Mardigras parade passed by us, coming in the opposite direction. I have NEVER seen so many Haitians in one place before. There were thousands of them streaming by us, with brightly colored clothing, masks, trumpets, drums ... Many of them were from St. Marc, but hundreds came from surrounding villages as well. It was a night to remember. Especially as we watched the crowds leave their rum and their zanmi yo (friends) to watch our dramas unfold on the Boulevard. Wes, one of the DTS students from Tennessee, also shared his testimony on Tuesday night, the biggest night of Carnival. It was amazing to see how much the gospel attracted these people ... it was more appealing than anything else they had experienced that week. Praise the Lord!


Taking a breather and a soda break in front of SD (the market we frequent in downtown St. Marc, also right across the street from the park). It was probably around 11pm at this point, and we were still going strong! We returned between 12:30 and 1:30 am each night during Carnival. And the next several nights, we kept wandering down to the cafeteria and finding half of the DTSers and staff, wide awake, well after midnight. It took a while for our bodies to get used to a regular sleep cycle again ... =)


And this was the Mardigras float that led the way during the parade.


Elizabeth Snow has been working with this group of young ladies for about a year now. She teaches them dances to a variety of Christian songs that they share in the Sunday evening church services, and this spring, on the float as a part of the Carnival celebrations. But Lizzie has been frustrated with the lack of respect and love that they show her, and one another, as they work on their dances every Wednesday and Friday. So when God put it on Rhodes' heart to begin a weekly Bible study with them, Lizzie was more than eager to see it happen! Our women's small group had also been praying for ways to ministery together in the local community, so this was an awesome opportunity for us as well.

We have been taking turns teaching the girls each Friday and having one-on-one time with them afterwards, to answer questions, listen to their hearts, and pray for them. I was so struck during our first evening together, when Rhodes was teaching on the Father heart of God. She asked how many of the girls live with their birth father. One out of the ten girls raised her hand. ONE! It is my prayer that these dear girls, who have felt so abandoned by their earthly fathers, will come to understand the unconditional love of their heavenly Father.

These pictures were taken after the girls had each received a gift of new Old Navy flip-flops, from Lindsay. They were so excited!!! We read the verse to them about how beautiful their feet are if they bring the good news to others, and as they left, we encouraged them to do just that =)

Next time we meet (probably after Easter), we hope to give them each their own Creole Bible. We are seeing such transformation in these girls, in their attitudes and their actions. It will be neat to see how this 15 week study will impact their dance ministry as well. Watch out St. Marc, here comes the "Hearts of Angels" Dance Troup! And now, they have hearts to match their name.


A close-up of all the 'beautiful feet.'


Two young boys who rode up to greet us as we paid a visit to Luben - the neighborhood in the 5th section where we are building a new church and school. There is a team from Tyler, Texas coming in next week to join forces with our DTS to do this work. They will also be holding a crusade in this area, April 5-9. Although I will be teaching for much of that time, we will be holding next week's worship service out there, for the opening night.

There is a real hunger among these people - not just physically, but spiritually as well. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for them! And for the rest of St. Marc. From the way God has already been working this year, it looks like He may use these people, the poorest of the poor in St. Marc, to touch the rest of the city and bring them back to God. I love seeing God's upside down Kingdom at work!


Some dear little ones, showing their excitement and surprise at so many 'blans' entering their small village.


Because of the many individuals and families who have been turning from their voudou practices and coming to God, there is a real need for discipleship here in Luben. God placed a call on Jude's heart (in blue, with guitar) to meet with the people of Luben every weekend, just to see how they are doing, to worship and share God's word with them, and to better know how to pray for them. This set of pictures was taken from our first visit, over a month ago. Here, Jude and Rodney are beginning to talk with the people to see where we should meet.


After a time of singing, we marched our way (to the lively Creole song, "Mache"...) to the small church building that the community had erected for us earlier that week.


Here, the worship continued. There was another pastor with us that morning as well, from a neighboring community. Apparently, God had put the same thing on his heart! So, while this made things a little confusing and awkward at first, it was exciting to see how God was providing shepherds and pastors for these new Christians in such abundance!


Here, Jude blesses the young congregation (this was their first EVER worship service here in Luben!) with his gift of music.


Women and children of Luben sitting on some make-shift benches in the make-shift church. It was a very exciting morning, but the humidity, flies, and 90 plus temperatures made it a little hard to stay focused on the pastor's sermon ...


Lindsay with an adorable little girl whose mother gave her into our care during the worship service. Lindsay, Esther, and I all took turns holding her. But by the end of the morning, when the mother still hadn't showed up, we were getting a little worried. It is not uncommon for mothers to just hand over their babies to white people like us, hoping we will have pity on them and adopt them. To our relief, she did come back for the little girl =)


Mike, having some fun trying out one of the kid's bikes (bekan).


The children were sad to see us go ... especially after a rousing game of soccer with Clayton, Mike, and Lindsay.


Back on the YWAM base. Elage and Anacias, two of our DTS students, working hard to build a stone wall that will protect our front yard from wandering pigs and goats.



Holly Auker, who was with us for the month of March, helped the grounds maintenance crew with some landscaping around the base. Looking good, guys!

notes from the desk of Miss Laura ...

After Christmas, I started a new routine with my students after their lunch break. We circle up our chairs by the window (because at this point, the power has usually gone off and the kids are sweating up a storm from their intense soccer playing...) and read from the devotional, "Keys for Kids." We have all come to appreciate this time to regroup for the afternoon, to talk about any issues that came up over recess (and there are plenty!), and to read the Bible together.

My students love setting up this little circle of chairs before I get to the room. Especially if I'm running a bit late ... They send a messenger to the front door when I enter the school building, who after asking me to close my eyes, leads me to my seat in the newly formed circle. ;)

This picture was taken during one of the last days that Jephte was with us in class. He is now in 3rd grade with Miss Lindsay, full time! And having a wonderful time.



Working with Mario on some word families that we have been learning (with the help of the fish cut outs you see on my lap). The students have their own set of smaller fish, which they wrote the words on as well. And when we had finished our first six word families, we played a fishing game with them ... each student made a piece of oceanscape on large blue poster board, we taped them to our back table, put paper clips on each of the fish, dropped them behind the table, and then went fishing with a yard stick and magnet. It was the first time any of them had ever experienced anything close to fishing with a pole (most of the fisherman they know, here in St. Marc, use hand-woven nets and wooden boats for their daily catch) and they loved it!



Introducing Christelle Romelus, my new student from the 2nd grade classroom. It's good to have a girl to balance out the rammy-ness of my two little boys. And I can tell that she is benefitting a lot from being the 'advanced' one in the class. It was a needed boost to her self-esteem, as well as being a motivator for the boys in their reading progress. Never thought I'd be teaching a classroom with just 3 students ... but they keep my hands full! God knew what I could handle, and he also knew how much individual attention these little ones need. =)



Harry and Kai, goofing off before school ;) I think they miss having me as their math teacher this term. Leo (the other 5th grade boy in their class) has taken to giving me morning hugs every day, because he doesn't see me much otherwise. I don't mind =)

The posters you see behind them are part of the first big art project I did with my students this winter. I traced their bodies, then they colored them in with the outfits they were wearing for the day, and we labeled all the body parts they had learned during science class.

I kept Jephte and Woodeline's up for a quite a while after they left my classroom ... but I soon started getting reports from teachers and students alike that the posters scared them when they walked through my room, because they always saw them out of the corner of their eye and thought someone was actually in there! So I took them down.



Valens and Mario lookin' cool in front of their former classmates =) These little boys are sooooo cute! I am gonna miss them coming June 12 (graduation day)...



Lillyana showing off her new Bible, with special page of dedication from Miss Lindsay and a picture and explanation of her name's meaning. These 3rd graders are not only learning to read this year, they are learning to love God and love reading his Word. Thanks to their teacher ;)



Alex. Another proud owner of his very first Bible ...



Deivee and April, the two children I work with every Tuesday and Thursday, 'relearning' their alphabet as they create their own letters out of Play-Doh. We are also doing a lot of work with sight words, fluency, and decoding skills. They are a fun reading duo =) And every Friday, April and Lilly (her playmate, and a very strong reader) come and find me before dinner so that we can do some reading just for fun. Up in the large climbing tree in front of the Snow's house.




And this is Eli, the young man I am tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays. He just turned 17 this month, but is still struggling to keep up with the 6th grade curriculum. Especially in reading and math. So Miss Esther is helping him with his math after day after lunch and I am working with him on reading after school. We're making a lot of progress, which is exciting to see ... but we also have fun with our guitars. He was one of my first students here on the base (even though he already know how to play a little bit), and he has taught me as much as I've taught him! This is an old guitar that he was in the middle of refurbishing. It is now finished, and looks wonderful =) Yesterday at lunch, he loosened the strings and asked me to sign the inside of it. I was honored. I guess he thinks I must have taught him something ... We have lessons again tonight, at 6:30. Right after dinner. Followed by our Wednesday evening worship. Our lessons have become more of a jam session, since he and Samuel are playing as well as I am these days. But they are also a lot more fun! ;)

Ah - the dinner bell just rang. I'd better sign off so that I don't miss out on any rice 'n' beans!

Valentine's Day and more ...

After the PA team left, a bunch of the staff decided to take a hike down the road a little bit to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful evening ...


With good friends ...


And good music! Philipson brought along his guitar because we were planning to have a time of worship along the water's edge. But as soon as we arrived, all the white faces in our group drew the attention of the neighbors. So we soon had an audience =)


And with Philipson's dynamic worship leading, the audience didn't take long to warm up and join in with the singing...


... and dancing! And let me tell you, it is NOT easy trying to dance on rocks like this ;)


Some of the children who hung out with us for the evening.


This group of 'ti moun' (children) made a new friend - the cool 'blan' in sunglasses =)


And this was the sunset. Wow ... we decided after that evening that we need to get out more often to enjoy this view. It was my first time out during the entire 6 months I've been here! So tragic ...


Ok, those pictures were part of the 'and more..." This was taken during our Valentine's Day party with the Liberty Academy students. We played a balloon relay with them, as well as a spoon relay where they had to keep 10 red cinnamon hearts from falling onto the dirty arena floor. But what we forgot to tell them was that they shouldn't try eating the hearts after they fell ... ;) The kids had a great time though, and enjoyed the chance to hang out with the whole school in a setting other than chapel.


Miss Lindsay's class celebrating ... all of our students picked names and exchanged gifts with each other. Teachers were included. I got the most elaborate home-made card from Lillyana Gephart. She told me she spent 2 hours making it! I felt the love ... =)


And THIS ... Stu's gift to me, straight from an artisan at the Club Indigo beach resort in Montrouis. I had been eyeing it before Christmas, but didn't think I could or should buy it at the time. But I kept going on and on about it (according to Lindsay...), so after consulting with her over email, Stu decided this was IT =) And it made my day!


This was where I found it, hidden away in my bedroom. Beautiful, eh?


I spent my day hearing bits and pieces from Stu's adventures back in Lancaster County, where he was on an all-day scavenger hunt I had planned for him. I couldn't have pulled it off without my mom and dad, who prepared and strategically placed all my gifts, letters, and clues, OR without the PA team, who delivered some of the necessary parts of the plan when the traveled home the week before.

By the end of the day, I was ready to enjoy some homemade pizza =) Thanks, Lindsay!


I also enjoyed playing some computer games with the kids afterwards ... good way to wind down a good day.


Random shot of a dragonfly on a georgeous pink blossom.


Another random shot of Mike, doing a front flip into the swimming pool.


Hiking to Amani beach ... Marc, Esther, and Clayton.


It was great hike with amazing views the whole way ...


And the walking paid off! We paid a total of $1.75 US to be at this resort. There was no food included, but it's a far cry cheaper than Club Indigo, who have upped their prices to $40 US in the last several months. Don't think I'll be going there any time soon!

a visit from PA

This group came to visit us the second week of February, and they brought with them many, many memories ... It was one year ago that I first set foot in Haiti, with a group just like this, from the Ephrata Community Church. And now, one year later, I am living here!


We went out for ice cream one night at Jeffel Bar & Resto, a restaurant and ice cream shop owned by the father of one of my little students, Valens. We ate upstairs in the 'Love Room' - and here you can see Jonathan and Richard enjoying some time with their 'white mom,' Marsha Petery. It was a real treat to have her with us for the week, because she was with me on my first trip here to Haiti, and has quickly become a good friend of mine. Oh, she also brought along a lot of goodies from home ... including a new pillow (not bed-bug infested), my running shoes (so I can run farther and faster every morning, and not trip so much over the rocks and wandering goats and chickens), and some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Thank you, Marsha!


Some of the women from the team brought greetings to me from my old school - Lititz Area Mennonite - where their grandchildren attend. It was special to connect with them and to hear how their grandchildren are doing. It is weird to think of life going on as usual without me back home ... but it does. And in 100 days, I will be part of it again! My, how time flies...


One of the young men on the team was a huge blessing to us during their week-long stay on the base - Brandon Kepple. He was injured in a car accident when he was 11 years old, and now at 23, he is still full of life and energy and one of the best senses of humor I've ever encountered. He touched people's lives everywhere he went - from hanging out with kids at the Sunday evening church service (as you can see here in the picture), to making us laugh at mealtimes on the base, from teaching sign language to our students during a morning assembly, to sharing his story and joi de viv with people from the 5th section. Thanks for visiting us Brandon! We will never forget you.


By the end of the week, Marvin had challenged nearly everyone to an arm-wrestling match - and won! He is one strong man ...



The team also got busy rerouting our road here on the base, right outside our classrooms! At lunchtime, they were apologizing for making so much noise, and we were all in shock. There is always noise around on the base, making it very hard to teach at times, but we've never been apologized to before! It was kind of nice =)


Another big project that this team tackled was repainting the cafeteria. In was in sore need of some attention ... Marsha and Ingvild coordinated all the painters, and by the end of the week, it looked like a new place!


Eli and Lizzie even got recruited when school was over to help with some of the special blue accenting on the windows. Looking good!


And this was Marsha's masterpiece - the stairway leading up to the guys and girls dorms. It looks beautiful!!! And every day it makes us think of you, Marsha =)


And this was the fruit of their labors on the new school. Roof complete. Walls yet to be built. And about $16,000 from our goal of completion. Keep lifting this dream up in your prayers! I can't wait to see it become a reality ... the new Liberty Academy =)


Lilly and April enjoying one of their first long walks to the new school. Notice the dust on the road ... this was a result of two months with little to no rain. Praise God, we had two rainstorms just this past week. The parched ground soaked it right up ...

Terry and Ingvild, looking very work-weary and happy at the end of a long week's work.


Lindsay and Brandon rode the bus together back in the day, so she enjoyed introducing him to our students at the Liberty Academy.


And he enjoyed teaching us how to speak in sign language. The kids didn't want him to leave at the end of the week. They still talk about him.


And here are some of his new friends on the base. From the looks on these faces, I'd say he definitely brought a lot of joy to our lives =)



Marsha posing with the young women of the base - just so she doesn't forget us! ;)


Driving away in the old white bus ... goodbye, PA! See you in June! =)