September

Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

Dear Friends in Christ,

What a mighty God we serve, angels bow before Him, heaven and earth adore Him, what a mighty God we serve! Knowing our Savior, having His strength and grace over our lives, makes us want to share Him with others, especially those who have followed satan and are trapped in his web of lies. We are grateful to partner with you to share the light of Jesus Christ with others who need Him so much.

This has been a great month with the new school year beginning! As we have often shared, each day our school is open is a miracle and gift from God. Many schools around ours have closed because of gangs, only Jesus has allowed our school to continue. We believe it is God’s protection and a direct answer to yours and our prayers for this to be possible. He has upheld us with His righteous right hand!

Our teachers and students took a couple of weeks off before school started again. During this time, we hired construction workers to come and make repairs to the buildings, paint them and build more benches and tables for the children. As you can imagine, the cost of getting workers and supplies there is very high because of where our school is located. Materials were purchased further away than in the past because Mirebalais is still closed because of the gangs. Wooden buildings do not hold up well in Haiti because of termites, and it was our intention when we built the school to rebuild with block as soon as possible. Our people in Port-au-Prince still cannot get there, which has made things much more difficult for us. Yet, God has made a way for us to remain open and running.

Our school administrator, Nady and one of our teachers, Amadeau, purchased books and school supplies, along with a month’s supply of food and had this all delivered before school began. There were 165 excited children ready to begin school, with prayer, then they go into their classrooms. We praise the Lord for each child!

The tailor is still making the children’s uniforms. He should be finished soon, hopefully by the end of the month. They will use their old uniforms or hand them down to another student if they are in good enough shape. Nothing gets wasted there.

In the past we shared that all the water they need to use must be brought up from the river. This is no longer necessary, as a well which has been dug, now provides enough wa-ter for the needs of the school. The horse we purchased for hauling water is in good shape, and we just learned that she is pregnant again. Hopefully this foal will do well, her last foal died unexpectedly at birth. Our cooks, use charcoal stoves to cook food for all the children and teachers. (Years ago, we tried to offer propane stoves, but that did not work, so they went back to what they were used to using, charcoal.) Every meal and every drop of water is a blessing and takes a lot of work. Thank you for your prayers and support which help make all this possible for these precious children, our teachers, and other needed workers!

Woodson was also excited to begin school this month. He lives with Edgard and his family now. We are very grateful that Woodson’s full expenses, which we shared with you last month, have been covered for the year by one of you, praise the Lord! Though Woodson’s Mom has not been able to go and see him yet, he is doing very well. The area they live in had a lot of gang violence this past month. Many people were killed and others kidnapped by the gangs to try to take control of Petionville, a town very close to where Pastor Bertho and Edgard live. They said they will kill the hostages unless the police stand down. It is a very difficult and heartbreaking situation. Please pray for our friends who live there to be safe as they go about their already difficult lives. This affects all the schools in this area as gangs can target places where people are gathered. They can sadly be heartless in the things they do for control.

We took 180 backpacks to Ft. Pierce, Florida to Missionary Flights International (MFI) this month and they will be delivered to Pignon, which is still safe for them to land their planes, thankfully. This is where our daughter Holly was able to pick up and return Woodson a few months ago. Nady and Amadeau will meet the plane and pay taptap motorcycles to take the backpacks and other assorted supplies back to the school soon. If their old backpacks are still usable, someone in their family will inherit and use it, nothing that is still good is thrown out, it is always passed on to others. The children look forward to receiving their backpack each year!

This trip, sending backpacks and supplies in on MFI, we are trying a new strategy to see if it will help with costs. All the MFI planes carrying people or supplies land in Cap Haitien before they fly to Pignon. When Holly was coming out with Woodson, she met a man in Cap Haitian, Karinsky who was her driver. He was very good with handling all the judges and government people she had to go before. She said she would not have been able to get Woodson out without his help. We will have Karinsky fly from Cap Haitian to Pignon with our supplies to negotiate the cost of our backpacks and supplies going in. It may or may not make a difference, but customs can be quite expensive. Once the supplies land in Pignon, the customs agents go to each ministry and charge them for the supplies they shipped in. This fee can be negotiated, and we pray that Ka-rinsky will be able to help lower that cost. This could also be very helpful when we send Christ-mas gift bags for the children in December, customs is always expensive. Praying this is helpful.

In Nava, Mexico, Pastor Santos and his wife Fini continue to minister to many people at the Ranch of Faith. OSM helped him build his home and the dairy on the ranch, so it is great to see it being used to encourage men, women and children. They have Bible studies for couples in their home and bring children to the ranch to get them out of the colonies and the bad influences, which have a very negative impact. Pastor Santos and Fini welcome visitors and use these opportunities to share Christ often. Satan will target families, knowing if he can get the hearts of the husband or father of a family, he can destroy the family. It was a blessing to see so many men come together to have a time of prayer and a meal with Pastor Santos and his son Paco. In the very poor colonias around Nava, many women live with children and no father in the home. Pastor Santos and Fini serve and do everything they can to help these struggling and dear families.

Once again, this is the reason for the Dorcas House in the colonia. Lety stays busy helping young girls make crafts and sew each day. She can speak into their lives and share the love of Jesus Christ with these precious little girls. We are blessed and encouraged to see how God continues to use the Dorcas House to reach these girls with the gospel.

It is a blessing to see the ministry move forward. God is so good and we are encouraged by Him and many of you who pray and bless OSM financially. May He use our newsletters to show what a big and mighty God we have and to encourage you in your walk with Him. Thank you for partnering with us. To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Serving our Savior with you,
Ken and Debbi