January

“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
Hebrews 13:15-16

Dear Friends in Christ,
This month is OSM’s 27 year anniversary! As many of you know, our family was in mission work before we started OSM. We began in full time ministry in 1992 with Ken working for Harvest International in Florida, we then lived and ministered in Haiti 1995-1997. It was very emotional for our family the end of 1997 when God brought us out of Haiti and back to the States. After moving to Texas OSM was started in January of 1998 and we began building homes in Mexico. Our plan had been to immediately return to Haiti, however, only our daughter Shelby returned in February of 1998. Shelby set up for OSM to sponsor our friend, Pastor Marc’s school and eventually to hire Lussage as our Haitian administrator. As this was happening in Haiti, our family soon began working with and under Pastor Isidro and then Pastor Santos, in Nava, Mexico. That was a wonderful season in ministry for us. We worked beside many of you, who came in teams with us to build a little over 100 homes, a church, a medical clinic, share Bibles, food, heaters, and the love of Jesus Christ in a very poor colonia of Nava. Our family saw God do many amazing things in His loving way in our years there.

While working in Nava, God brought a young boy into our lives. Little Jesús (pictured on the front page in 2008 with his parents) was only 10 years old, confined to a wheelchair, and had many serious physical and mental issues. His parents, Maria and Ramiro, were dear members of Pastor Santos’ church. Many of our team members would have met and may remember Jesús. Soon after meeting him, we realized he was in need of a seizure preventing medicine that his parents couldn’t afford. In Feb. 2008 we shared this need with you our sponsors and asked for help. Praise the Lord, one of you felt God’s leading to cover this $70 a month cost which has continued all these years! For 17 years his meds have been covered by you through OSM. Jesús’ Dad, Ramiro, passed away earlier in 2024. This left Maria alone to continue bathing, dressing, moving, feeding and caring for her precious almost 30-year-old son every day. This past month Jesús went Home to meet our Savior Jesus Christ and his body and mind were finally restored fully. We praise God for the privilege of allowing us to be a part of this young man and Maria’s life for all these years. Thank you OSM family for making this possible!

We would like to gift Maria with $800 to help with the cost of Jesús’ funeral and gravestone. We plan to continue helping Maria, who is now a poor widow, with the $70 monthly. If you would like to help with these needs, please let us know and designate your gift accordingly.

We praise God for the work that is finally happening at the school in Haiti! The construction work did not begin in December as we had planned and reported last month. The gangs caused travel to be closed for Hudson and the builders. Now, thankfully, they are at the school, and the smaller school building and Caretaker Home are underway.

After the Christmas and New Year’s break, the school is open again. Meals are being given to the chil-dren and the school is operating very well. The teachers and children are glad to be back! Being in a routine of receiving a meal and learning is very healthy for these children. When they are out of school, their lives can be very lack-ing and challenging. Their parent, parents or sometimes a grandparent, often do not have or spend quality time teaching or showing affection to-ward their children. The children long to be in school. This gives us the opportunity to love on them more, sharing Jesus and His love.

Nady’s new baby twin boys, Davidson and Daveson, are doing very well, praise the Lord. Nady’s wife, Jeanne is getting settled into a sched-ule with the boys and is happy to be home caring for her precious family.

One of our workers, Sepam, has been carrying buckets of water daily from the river to the school, for washing hands, dishes and other needs. He also helps carry food and materials when we send items to the school. This is very heavy and hard on his body as the loads are heavy and the trail is steep. Sepam has such a servants heart and is always in the background helping any way he can. He asked us to purchase a horse to help him with this strenuous job. We were able to find a good horse to purchase. This will be helpful for hauling not only the water but so many other supplies to the property as well. If you would like to help with this expense the cost of the horse is $500 and we plan to build a stall and small pen that will be an additional $1,500. Hudson and his crew will begin working on the stall when they finish the two buildings they are currently working on.

Little Woodsaiedmie has now received what we think is her final surgery. When they do a surgery, they must wait some time to see what the result will be for her. We are currently in that waiting process. In the mean time Woodsaiedmie is in school again. OSM is helping her Mom with the cost of school and we have covered each of her surgeries. Her school is $200 for the year if you would like to help with this expense.

What a blessing to partner with so many of you, through prayer and financial support, to accomplish a few things in God’s Kingdom. Each of these needs may seem small and inconsequential to us, but they are life changing to these precious families! The Lord is the One who brings these dear children and families into our lives. We look to Him and you to help make a difference that reflects Him. May each of you feel His arms of love and protection around you and your families in 2025!

Serving our Savior with you,
Ken and Debbi