April

For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Deut. 20:4

Dear Friends in Christ,

What an amazing month! I (Debbi) wrote this newsletter text on a plane. I am reminded again that good and bad run on parallel tracks and often ar-rive about the same time. By the end of this newsletter, you will under-stand what I mean, we had sad news on the heels of our great trip to Haiti.

The Lord gave us much encouragement in going to Pignon (pee yon),Haiti this month. It was a privilege to have a good friend of ours, Dar-rell Tonsing, join us to interpret as we met with our leadership team. Our first night there, we locked the door and fell asleep feeling safe and pro-tected. The next morning, we realized we slept with our key in the outside lock of the room door. Ha! This reminded us that we are in the Lord’s hands no matter where we are, He alone is our Shield and Protector!

The next day our team from Port-au-Prince (PAP) arrived. Edgard (ed gur), Kaloulou (kal-u-loo), Ernest (ernst), Hudson (ed son), Pascale (Pas cal), and Ketsia (ketcha) all drove from Petionville. Their drive is danger-ous because they must travel through PAP which is like a warzone, with the gangs in control of much of the city. A few days later our school administrator, Nady (nod gee) and the deacon from the church, Samuel, also came to join us so we could get their input about the school, the children and the church.

Darrell was present with us during all the meetings we had with them. There were some things that we needed to discuss with them face to face. With Darrell’s input and our time with the group, we felt better than ever that we have a strong Christian team working with OSM on the projects we have in Haiti! We praise the Lord for putting this excellent team together.

It was great to be there while Pascale (a nurse) and Ketsia gave meds to treat parasites, did a general checkup and we gave dental packets to 80 children at Darrell’s home. One sweet family pictured below & left, in pink Chrisline, in blue dress Rithnie and smaller children, Chrisnie and Benjean Saint Fleurs, had a very sad story. Their family moved to Pignon because gangs took over their home in PAP. Can you imagine how traumatic that must have been for these little ones?!

After the clinic, we gave away more dental packets to needy children in Pignon. My local dentist donated 140 very nice children’s dental packets for us to give away. These were very helpful gifts. Please pray with us for these children to see the
love of Christ by the things that were done for them. Thank you Bulverde Hills Dental for making this happen!

We gave a Mission ball with the plan of salvation in Creole to some local boys, who then used it and played soccer each day
we were there. They were out of school for their Easter/Spring break. Darrell prayed with the little boy to the right, to receive
Jesus Christ into his heart. May the Lord use the words that were spoken to him that day to change his life to serve our Savior. Who knows how God might use him one day, it is for us to share the gospel and for God to change the hearts.

Below, Ken is pumping water at a well in front of Darrell’s church, Edgard is getting a cool drink. This well serves many families in that area. It is truly a blessing when water can be found and provide for local families. In Haiti, you often see women and children walking beside roads with jugs of water to supply the needs in their homes. How would you like to walk sometimes a mile or more, to get all the water needs for your home?! While at the church, we also met this lovely lady, Md. Flaurette, and
gave her a Bible. She sang a song during the service and we saw the sweet spirit of Jesus in her as she sang. We enjoyed worshiping Christ with this church.

Two of the biggest needs that Nady had for the school were water and teacher’s pay. It was a much better time to discuss this as we didn’t feel that the teachers were forcing our hand for a raise, so we agreed to make that happen. Pray that we can do this and continue with these extra costs on a monthly basis.

Praise the Lord, this month Woodsaiedmie (wood sy me) had another surgery. She came through it just fine and is healing well. We look forward to this precious little one to be able to walk, run and play just like the other children she is around. Please keep her in your prayers.

Ken and I had just arrived home from Florida, very excit-ed about our trip to Haiti, when we received news that his stepmom had passed away the night before. She, Barba-ra Kennedy was 90 years old. She was a wonderful Mom to Ken and a great Mema Kennedy to our children as they grew up. It was a blessing to get to be at her service and we are glad she is now with Ken’s Dad, Papa Kennedy, in Heaven.

I am finishing the newsletter while flying back to San Antonio. We just received word that things are even worse in Haiti. A small town outside of Port-au-Prince, Caberet, was taken by gangs. An orphanage there put their children on a boat to take them to a safe area, the boat sank and 30 babies/children lost their lives in the water. The same day, Pascale’s husband’s best friend was killed in a gang related car incident along with 2 other people near their home. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti.

We ask His blessings over you and your families, your homes, and workplace. Thank you for your prayers and support which makes these things possible. May Jesus Christ be glorified in the things we do togeth-er with OSM.

In His service, Ken and Debbi