September

Ah, Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and by Thine outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for Thee.
Jeremiah 32:17

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Lord has blessed OSM and our family again with His strong arm of protection this month. We are happy to share and testify of His loving protection.

The OSM team from Port-au-Prince (PAP) went out to our school and over the mountain to visit the Pourrier (pool yay) school this month. The team, Pastor Bertho, Edgard, Ernest, Kaloulou and a possible new English teacher, were able to meet with Nady and the school teachers to dis-cuss the upcoming school year. Many details were talked about between them all. They were also able to meet with the church leadership committee. Many ideas were discussed for the future of the church and school.

The next day, our team went to meet with Pastor Osner at the Pourrier church school. This school is too far for children to walk from our school, yet it is close as the crow flies, and they have a very nice facility there. We have helped them with gift bags and a medical clinic in the past. Pastor Osner had been in PAP but was not able to get to the school to talk with our team because of so much danger on the roads. Pastor Bertho reported that they found a man who lived in the area and discussed what was happening at the school with him. He said the school has been closed due to lack of support, from the states. We are sad to see things in such a bad situation there, especially for the chil-dren. One of the previous teachers there is trying to use the facility to teach some of the children this year.

This trip out to the school was the first time we have hired security to travel with our team. They stayed together on the way out, but they did not return to travel back with the team when it was time to leave. Our team started driving back home and they ran into a very bad situation on the road. A local pastor had preached against the gangs close to where many problems were happening. The gangs came and took that pastor and some of his congregation and made an example of them in a horrifying way in front of the people on the roads. It was shocking and heart breaking what they did, which we know is done to stir up fear and anxiety. This was all happening as our team was driving through and they were understandably fearful for their lives. Even Kaloulou, who usually stays calm and doesn’t get nervous in these situations, was afraid for their safety. He had to drive very quickly, getting off the road to escape the area. The front end of their vehicle was torn up very badly, but praise the Lord Jesus, our team was all safe. We believe the prayers of our prayer partners allowed our loving Father to hold out His arm of protection over the team and keep them under the radar!

A couple of weeks later, the team went back to our school. A lot of beginning of the year paperwork had to be filled out for our 167 children and they went to help. They also delivered school supplies and food for the month. Thank you all for your gifts which make this possible!

On a personal note, we praise the Lord for His protection and love over Laissa and Kenny as they welcomed their 3rd precious baby boy, Kohlten Oren Kennedy. He was born on August 24th weighing 6 pounds. He ar-rived just before they could load up into their car to drive to the birthing center, where they had planned to go to for the delivery. Kenny and their doula, walking to their car, turned around just in time to catch him as he arrived. Laissa and Kohlten are both doing very well. Again, we saw the Lord’s outstretched arm of protection. Praise the Lord for His faithful care over Laissa and Kohlten!

The past couple of months, we have been collecting gently used backpacks. We met a dear Sister in Christ at a local thrift store and she purchased a large amount of backpacks for our school. Several of you had your churches and friends give backpacks to you and we collected them. Praise the Lord, He provided all that we needed plus a few extras through your kind love. We delivered them and 3 donated guitars to MFI to go to the school this month. Thank you all so much!

We stand in awe of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is our Provider and Protector. May He pour out His many blessings over you and your families, drawing your hearts close to His.

Serving our Savior with you, Ken & Debbi