May

He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, And He will repay him for his good deed.
Proverbs 19:17

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Lord has been faithful to move in ways we never thought possible for OSM in Haiti this month. We are happy and excited once again to share another change that took place with our team there. Not only has God provided protection for our people ministering there but He has brought another team member who is a wonderful addition to those who are already at work with us.

It is a blessing to have Pastor Bertho (Ber tow) Eugene now working with OSM. He is the pastor of a Baptist Haiti Mission Church. He is Lussade’s brother and pastor, Edgard’s brother-in-law and pastor, Ernest’s pastor, and Kaloulou’s Dad and pastor. While living in Haiti, we attended his church sometimes, he even married Kenny and Laissa. So, he is a long-time friend and brother in Christ for whom we have a lot of respect.

It is our desire to “introduce” you to Pastor Bertho in this newsletter, so you can understand and appreciate his input as we move forward. He will be able to fill in some gaps that will help OSM in Haiti. He can oversee the school with more of an un-derstanding of the laws and regulations there. His church has been near Petionville for many years, and they also have a small school which gives him a better grasp of the Haitian legal matters for a school.

Edgard, Kaloulou and Ernest took Pastor Bertho out to the school early this month to introduce him to the elders, Nady (our school administra-tor) and the teachers. He had several meetings with the church and school leaders, they received him very favora-bly and he was very happy with the meetings. Since he is their pastor, the rest of the team were honored to bring him to the church and school and have the people there meet him. They had a lot of good input which helped Pas-tor Bertho feel that he was brought into the whole group with open arms and hearts. Pastor Bertho is already giving us ideas and suggestions for how we can function better with the school and those who are a part of the team. Edgard brings an outgoing personality and much experience in teaching Bible and sharing the gospel. He also had experience working with Lussade and learning from him in ministry with OSM. We met Ernest last month in Pignon and were impressed with his ability to share the gospel, play the guitar and lead sing-ing. Kaloulou is a great driver and has mechanical training along with being skilled at negotiating around gangs and troubled areas. He has a sense of when the group may need to take an alternative route get-ting where they need to go. These men all together make up what we feel is the best team to minister to-gether for OSM. We thank the Lord Jesus for putting this group together and making this possible for us!

Edgard has been able to get out to the school weekly to continue Bible classes for the children and to share the gospel with the students’ families and others close by the church. He and Ernest have done a lot of visiting people and sharing the love of Jesus in that community. He continues to give away Bibles when it is possible and encourage and check on those who he has met in the past. He knows that follow up is important for these people who are living in a very heavy satanic/voodoo area.

Pastor Bertho sent a report of the events when Edgard and Ernest went to Mirebalais the following week.

Each of the men took their own motorcycle and part way out Ernest had a flat tire. They were able to repair it and still arrive at the school at 10:00 a.m. They did some activi-ties with the children; singing, pray-ing, teaching Biblical creation of mankind by God, and about Adam and Eve. Then they sang some more and the deacon prayed for the children. They spent some time visiting local people, to pray for and encourage them. Then they re-turned to their homes near Port-au-Prince safely. Praise the Lord!

This month, May 31st is the 18th anniversary of our dear and sweet daughter Shelby going Home to her Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. We still miss her very much, but we know with each passing year we are a little closer to joining her in Heaven to worship our Savior with her. Many of you knew Shelby from going on teams with our family. She was a major part of OSM , among other gifts she was a great help on teams with her ability to speak Creole and Spanish. Like ripples in water, Shelby hoped to leave a legacy with her life, so that others would see Jesus in her. We praise the Lord that through the Shelby Kennedy Foundation and the National Bible Bee, many young people, who have never met her, have been im-pacted by her life testimony. We continue to remember and miss Shelby each and every day.

Pastor Santos and Sister Fini continue to minister to the children of the colonia in Nava. They take these children to the Ranch of Faith and spend time teaching them to care for animals and (pictured above) teaching them to make goat cheese and prepare cactus leaves to be cooked, along with spending time in prayer and in the Word. Sister Lety continues to minister to the girls in the colonia at the Dorcas House. The girls come together after school and they make crafts, sew items and spend time in God’s Word. Both of these ministries are supported by OSM and are still happening. Pastor Santos has been experiencing verigo symptoms off and on. Please pray for him and his wife Fini as they both have had health issues and it has definitely affected their energy levels and what they can do.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support for OSM and our ministry teams, as well as for our family. If any of you would like to share our newsletter with others, please contact us and we will provide you with extras. We understand that the costs of everything has gone up tremendously here in the states, as it has also in Haiti and Mexico. With increased living costs, giving is down, which affects everything we do. If others join us, maybe they could make up the difference of in-come for OSM. We pray the Lord’s many amazing blessings over each of you, your homes and your families.

Because of Christ, Ken and Debbi