August

“Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all.”
I Chron. 29:11

We give all glory, honor and praise to our loving Heavenly Father, who has lavished us with His love through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is our reason to work in Haiti and Mexico, even when times are difficult there. He is our eternal hope and we deeply desire to share His gospel of peace with the people to whom we minister. Edgard Debbi and I took 260 school backpacks to MFI (Missionary Flights International) in Ft. Pierce to go on a plane to be delivered for our school children for this year. There were several of you, who helped make this possible. We had 2 churches collect gently used backpacks, some people bought new ones and one dear Sister in Christ purchased a large number at a local thrift store on a 50% off day. This was a huge help and blessing for the children. We had so many backpacks that we were able to share 60 of them with another ministry who reaches children in another very poor and needy area of Haiti. Along with the backpacks we took a diaper bag full of clothes and items for Nady’s new baby boys, Davidson Nady Kaloulou Unloading cargo in Pignon, Haiti and Daveson. Serving our Savior with you, Ken and Debbi Also, we took 5 totes full of supplies and clothes for the 5 girls who have left our school to go on to 7th grade in Mirebalais. Our school only goes through the 6th grade. OSM has paid their school fees for this upcoming year. Hallelujah! What a wonderful gift for these precious children to receive! Thank you to so many of you who helped make all this happen!

The Lord has opened up a possibility for us to move the school to another property. This is very exciting! Kaloulou and Edgard (pictured on front page and below on this page) went out to the school to talk to a land owner about us purchasing a piece of land located close to our existing school. This would make it possible to keep our same children and teachers, which is very important to us. It would also give us much more space to hopefully minister to more children and allow our school staff to administer as we all feel it should be done. Each year, we have to turn away many children who would love to attend this school, because we just don’t have the room in our present location. We also had a few issues with the church where the school is now located. We had Nady (our school administrator) and our teachers appeal to them in behalf of OSM and it did not change anything. Therefore, the teachers are “on board” with this idea. This is happening slowly but we are prayerfully, carefully and fearfully moving in this direction.

School in Haiti will begin in October. The government has moved the beginning date back because of the danger that some children must go through to get to their schools. So far, our school children have not had these issues as they are in the country and not in heavily populated areas. Also, there are no roads out there for the gangs to stop traffic, which is often how they “work”. There are some gang members who live close to the school, they just don’t operate in our area, praise God.

We have pictures of more of our school children here on these 2 pages. They are looking happy and healthy compared to when we first started the school. Many of our children were not able to get even 1 nutritious meal a day, so the feeding program helps many parents care for their children in this way. Below is a picture of Achlina and her family. Nady is also pictured beside her. He went to their home to check on her Grandmother and siblings. Achlina’s parents died when she was 7 years old and left her and her siblings to be cared for by her Grandmother. Her Grandmother has no job and is partially disabled. She cares for Achlina’s family along with some cousins. She does not have the means to provide even a meal a day for these little ones. This coming year Achlina will be moving to the school in Mirebalais. Her Grandmother will send more of her siblings to the school, where they too will receive an education and a daily meal. Thank you for making this all available for this dear family! 

It is hard to see the faces of these little ones and not fall in love with them. Knowing there are many other children in the area who need a meal and an education helps us look forward to a better location for the school. Eventually, we hope to have a small medical clinic  on the school property as well. It would be used to care for the school children and their siblings and as we can, we would Nady &  Achlina help with others in the village. These are our thoughts and ideas and we need a lot of direction and provision from the Lord for all of this to happen. Please pray with us that we are following God’s leading and that it is honoring and pleasing to Him. Pray also for these precious little ones as we hope to share Jesus Christ with them. We know that with Him, all these things are possible!

Pastor Santos and his wife, Fini, have been busy this summer. They minister to local families and especially children as much as they can. There are so many difficult situations that they help with each day. Families are torn apart by drug cartels offering young people money to do very bad things. The children in the colonias are especially targeted as they live in very poor conditions and need money and jobs. Satan comes to seek and destroy. The drugs are rampant in these depressed areas, ruining families, Pastor Santos demonstrating how to net fish with a Biblical analogy.  and parents need spiritual and emotional help continuously. This is the non-stop type of counseling that Santos and Fini deal with often. Broken families, marriages, and relationships which need much prayer and wisdom. As with most of these types of problems, only the love of Jesus Christ can penetrate the hard walls that get built up with these problems. Please keep these 2 servants of Christ in your prayers for spiritual, emotional and physical strength to battle satan and pour into these dear families.

The children remain precious and hopeful even in the midst of tremendous problems. They love to laugh, play and sing with Santos and Fini, giving them many opportunities to share the love of Christ with them. It doesn’t take a lot to point them in the direction of the cross of Jesus so that one day they will know where to turn if or when they have problems in their lives. With school beginning soon, Santos and Fini took time to have the children out to the Ranch of Faith to relax and have a wonderful time together. They always share the gospel of Christ with the children, while playing games, making crafts, providing a meal, hiking, teaching responsibility with animals and having memorable times together.

This has been a wonderful month of looking to our awesome Savior to take care of the many needs we encounter. He has and still does provide through you, our family of Believers, who care for these precious and beautiful children and their families. We are so grateful to you for your prayers, encouraging notes and financial support to make all of this happen. We are the feet and hands, while you, our supporters are the heart of OSM to keep our vision moving forward. We ask for your prayers for the school in Haiti and for Pastor Santos and Fini as they minister in so many difficult and different ways in Mexico. Thank you for standing with us to share His love to these precious ones in Haiti and Mexico. May each of you feel and see His love in your lives. 

Serving our Savior with you, 
Ken and Debbi