March

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”

Matthew 25:35-36

Dear Friends in Christ,

We are blessed beyond anything we could ever hope for by the love and mercy of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. We have had such a diverse and beautiful month. Our weather has been all over the thermometer, yet spring is here in Texas. The bluebonnets and other wildflowers are out, making it obvious we have an amazing Creator! We hope you are enjoying some of the same beauty we are.

Our school in Haiti is doing well, by God’s protection. Each day the children begin their day with prayer. They hold a Bible study each Friday. It is encouraging to see these precious little ones learning to read and beginning to study God’s Word! Please pray with us that the Holy Spirit would make the Word true and alive for them and they give their hearts to Jesus Christ. Our purpose for feeding these children physically is to have the opportunity to feed them spiritually as well.

The children took exams this month, and our teachers told us they did well. Amadeau took student photos of each of the children. Although this is late in the year for student pictures, we were happy to get them any time. We often take communication for granted, but when we consider where our school is located, in such a remote area of Haiti, their communications are a huge blessing. We will be printing these pictures for the children, putting them in folders, and sending them back to them. This is a big deal, as there is nowhere close to their village to have prints made. The children always enjoy getting their new school pictures to take home to their families, putting them out to display them in their homes.

Our girls, Holly and Laissa, have been such a huge help in getting all of Woodson’s paperwork filled out, translated, and sent to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital (SJCH), the Haitian government, and the US embassy. I am not great at that type of work, so thankfully, the girls have stepped in and done an excellent job. Our friend, Edgard, took Woodson to PAP for his interview with the US embassy. This appointment was a miracle in that online it said we would have to go to the Bahamas to get the interview. This would have added quite a bit of time and expense to our endeavor, so we were grateful the Lord allowed us to get the papers and interview done in PAP. During the interview, the embassy kept Woodson’s passport which we understand to be a good thing. We are now waiting and praying each day to hear from them soon and that Woodson will be cleared to leave Haiti. Our prayer team has been praying for each of these steps, as as have many of you. The hard part is the waiting, but we are trusting in the Father’s loving plan for Woodson. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Though Woodson’s parents are back home in their village near our school, Woodson stayed with Laissa’s relatives near Petion-ville. (Some of you may not know that Laissa is our son Kenny’s wife, our daughter-in-law). Woodson is being fed well, he sees Pastor Bertho and his daughter, Dr. Berthola almost daily and is being very well loved by Laissa’s family. They can speak into his life, preparing him for his journey and take better care of him physically until we can get him to the states. For his sake, we pray that can happen soon. Some of you have asked about OSM’s expenses for him. There will be some that are not covered by SJCH. We are covering his expenses in Haiti along with paying costs for his parents as they have needed to travel some for signing paperwork. There have been some fees for translations for official documents as well. We will need to pay for flights for caregivers, and some food, clothing, and supplies for him once he is here stateside. Woodson’s precious little smile has caught the hearts of so many people. If you would like to make a donation to help cover some of his expenses, please designate your wishes and we are keeping those funds set aside for his future care.

Pastor Bertho had a surgery this month, but praise the Lord he is recovering well. Amadeau and Nady both had motorcycle accidents, Amadeau had injuries and is healing well. Nady, fortunately, wasn’t injured. Ken also had surgery this month, and he is healing fast and doing well. Praise the Lord for His protection and care for each of these men and their outcomes!

Pastor Santos and his wife, Fini, remain busy in and around Nava, MX. We recently met a man named Edgar who travels to Nava from San Antonio twice a week. Since December we had accumulated several boxes of Bibles and tracts that we have wanted to get to Nava. Now, Edgar is slowly taking the boxes down as he goes. He lives in San Antonio, so he is close to us. We were glad to meet this new friend. It’s amazing that God will make a way for our needs to be met, sometimes before those needs arise!

For several years, the transformer on our property outside of Nava, which is connected to the Ranch of Faith, has been out. Last month the Lord enabled us to get it repaired. In June of 2006, we built a windmill on OSM’s property. Both, the transformer and the windmill, are a great help for the function of the Ranch of Faith, which is still being used by Pastor Santos and Sister Fini to minister to many children and families in the community. This helps fill time and energy for young teens and youth in the colonia who are always watched by the local gangs. They (the gang members) love to entice anyone, but especially young people, with time on their hands, to bring them into the gangs. This is a very bad situation. Yet, Pastor Santos and Fini try to fill that time with useful projects and jobs, directing their hearts and minds to Jesus Christ. Please keep them and Lety in your prayers. Lety ministers to the girls in the colonia, doing sewing projects and crafts and runs the Dorcas House.

Though our country has plenty of problems, we still live where we can go where we want, when we want, and worship Jesus Christ without fear. This is an awesome gift in our world today. We are grateful for each of you and the encouragement you are to us. We hope you enjoy seeing what the Lord is doing through you and us, in Haiti and Mexico. May we lift Him up, as a light in darkness, wherever we go. Have a wonderful celebration of our risen Lord and Savior on Resurrection Sunday. May He bless and keep you and your family in His love and care.

Serving our Savior with you,
Ken and Debbi