Malnutrition is a very serious problem here in Haiti. It “has been serious” for many years, but now, due to the violence, the gangs, higher prices of basic foods, and the fact that many are not safe on the streets, to sell.
Our Malnutrition Clinic is free of charge. Mothers bring their babies first, to our Jesus Healing Center. From there, the doctor determines if the child needs to go to our clinic. That child will need to stay until he or she reaches their desired weight and is released by our doctor. When the child comes with the mother, he is examined again, weighed, measured, (they don’t like this! Ha), and is put on a very strict formula and is fed at exactly certain times of the day and night. We have “around the clock,” nurses, and “mommies” tending to them. They “love” these children!
When they are much better, they can eat the Feed My Starving Children rice, designed for malnourished children. When they are ready to go home, they are given special milk formula, and also Feed My Starving Children food. This food can be shared with other children in the family because if not, the mother will be giving the “expensive milk formula,” to her other hungry children!
We wish to thank Joyce Meyer Ministries — Hand of Hope for sponsoring the building of the Malnutrition Clinic and for their gift to provide the items needed, (furnishings). We wish to thank our partners who sponsor this clinic monthly, with gifts large and small. Every gift counts when a child’s life is at stake. When we all do what we can, we can save lives! God bless you, Sherry
“A friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24
Jesus is that friend who sticketh closer than a brother. Jesus will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5
We’ve all had friends who have left us, who really weren’t a friend to begin with. A true friend will stick with you during the good times and the bad times. Job had three friends of whom, when he went through the greatest trial of life, criticized him, talked against him, tried to discourage him. They brought more misery into his life. Read about these three “so-called friends” starting in Job 2:11
“Jesus had a friend who betrayed him with a kiss.” Luke 22:48
“But Amnon the son of King David, had a friend named Jonadab, he was a very subtil man.” He brought Amnon great destruction. 2 Samuel 13:3
Be careful, some may come to you and say they are your friend. They are not, Satan sent them. Yet, King David had a friend named Jonathan who would have given his life for David. Jonathan loved David as his own soul. 1 Samuel 18:1-3
Jesus loves us today when we are deep in the valley and on the mountain top. Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. Jesus is our true friend. He is a friend that “sticketh closer than a brother.”
Kristela… What can I say? She’s a pistol and full of energy! She is one unusual kid!!
Here she is smiling, as always, getting ready to prepare chicken in the kitchen. She loves to cook!! She loves to teach praise dances, and she loves Christian music! It is her job to turn on the praise music at 4:40 a.m. and get everyone up! (She likes the #10 loud button!!!) She is “always smiling, always laughing!” Kristela is not afraid to get her hands dirty! She can look pretty, but she will do any job that is asked of her and never complain. She is in high school right now and is considering a job working with children, but she is not the “studying type!” Ha!
We first found Kristela’s mother while doing a Mobile Medical Clinic in Savaan Pit, Haiti, far in the mountains. Her mother was very sick and deeply involved in Voodoo, along with her grandmother. We won her mother to the Lord, but she died 12 days later after giving birth to Kristela. A short time later, her father arrived at our orphanage and asked us to take her because he could not care for her. She had severe malnutrition, but after a lot of good care and love, she has survived. We all love Kristela. Our home would be “very quiet” without her! Ha!
For the people of Haiti, living here is a “life risk” every day. At the moment, there are no jobs and more unemployment, hunger, gangs, and sudden death. Haitian people are living with sadness, discouragement, and grief on a daily basis. Madamn Dorius Viergine is 22 years old. She came to our Birthing Center from Boulay, which is a village inside the area of Fond Parisien. Her mother and father died when she was a year old. All her life, her job has been to wash clothes for other people, and then go to work in the field under the hot sun.
At 22, she met a man whom she thought could take her out of her misery. When she became pregnant, her husband lost all hope because he was barely making a living. He only made enough money for himself and Dorius to eat a little each day. He had no money to pay a doctor or a clinic for the baby coming. They lost all hope! Someone told them about the Love A Child Birthing Center where they will not pay a dime, but they will have consultations, find all the medicine they need, and will have their baby in a beautiful Christian atmosphere. They will even be able to get a birth certificate for their baby, and this is a complicated thing for the poor here in Haiti.
Yesterday, she gave birth to a baby boy, weighing 2.7 kilos. She has no money for clothes for the baby, but our Love A Child partners sent in nice baby clothing, blankets, and anything the baby needs. (This kit came from B. Gagnon! Thank you so much!!!) For a poor mother and father to have a baby born in a maternity clinic, that only rich people could go to, is a dream come true! We treat all the poor as though they are rich!
For those of you who sponsor our Birthing Center each month, thank you! You can see the joy on this mother’s face and know that “you put that smile on her face!”
Thousands of people lost their homes in Haiti’s earthquake. The elderly are at a major disadvantage when it comes to rebuilding what they’ve lost; Casimi Elismene is just one of these many stories. Go to www.loveachild.com and join us as we provide these people with permanent houses.
In spite of the lack of fuel, in spite of the gangs on the street, in spite of roadblocks and burning tires, God has made a way for our food distributions to continue, thanks to our container driver, Casimi. The food situation here in Haiti is critical. Just yesterday, two of our employees were robbed and what little money they had was taken. This is happening every day. So, if a mother is selling items on the street, and after a long day she leaves at 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m., and then if she happens to be on the wrong road at the wrong time… “gangs!” When we manage to get food through, the mothers are so happy for their children and family.
This village is not far from us, but it is not that easy to get to. It is the village of Nan Gaya. We usually give out 200 food tickets to mothers in the village, but there are more families than this. The good thing is that Haitians share their food! We always estimate that on average each family will have about five children, and if they do not then their neighbors have children.
This food comes from Feed My Starving Children. We have partnered with them for many, many years. They work hard to donate the food, but our partners, like you, pay the expenses to bring it all the way to Haiti, get it released from Haitian Customs (not easy), and bring it here to Love A Child. This food must go through dangerous areas!! So, thank you, Feed My Starving Children, and thank you, partners, for making this possible.
This morning, as we were on vacation with our family, we looked at one of the majesties of God… the Grand Canyon! If you have never had the experience of seeing this awesome, beautiful majestic formation, it is indescribable! Words cannot explain it! Anyone standing there gazing must be thinking, “Look at these colors! Look at what God created! God is a big God!”
The Psalmist, David, felt the same way, when he looked up at the moon, the stars, the heavens, “hanging on nothing,” he wrote, “When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon, and the stars, which thou has ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visits him?” Psalm 8:3,4
He truly is “big enough” to solve any problem we have today or any other day! He is truly “big enough” to solve your problem, today! Have a great day, because you are loved by a great God!
James is a quiet guy. He is small for his age, and whenever all the kids are home, he is so quiet you would never know he is here!! James and his brother, Kidney, came to us from another orphanage when they lost their mother. James has always been a “quiet guy.” He is not a troublemaker, and he does not care for people’s attention. He is intelligent and loves to play jokes on people! He loves soccer and basketball, but in school, math is his subject! He later decided to take economics and accounting. He is doing very well. He is just an amazing young man!!
James has passed his first year of economics and accounting with “flying colors.” And so, he will go on to his second year in economics and accounting. We hope that he can work for Love A Child someday!!
When he is home, he is almost “invisible!!” We love James!
Well, here we have little Ginyia, Noah, and Lionel with our turkeys! Ginyia is a brave little girl, and Noah was right on the trail of the turkey!! These children are from our Love A Child Children’s Home, and this is our backyard. The turkeys, well, we are growing them, and they are big!! However, there is a chance that this one might get the “Presidential Pardon!”
We are so thankful to the Lord for all His blessings… For our wonderful children in the States (a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren), for good health so that we can work in Haiti (the poorest country in the western hemisphere), and for our ability to help children and feed the hungry. We are thankful for you, our friends, and partners, who make everything we do in Haiti possible! Most of all, we are thankful to our Lord who loves us, who gave His life for us, who is with us every minute of every day.
We are thankful for the meals being distributed to the very poor area of Sou Moulen, Haiti. Each box that you see has 216 nourishing meals inside full of rice, peas, carrots, onions, and soy. It’s enough protein as a chicken breast. Plus, minerals and many vitamins. The Haitians love these meals from Feed My Starving Children. They call it “ti pa nou,” just a little for us.
Each 40-foot container donated to Love A Child contains 272,000 meals. Each container costs Feed My Starving Children $65,000 to pack the meals. It costs Love A Child around $10,000 to ship each container to Haiti, bring it through Customs, and then have it distributed. Feed My Starving Children ships us 11 containers per month.
We wish we could buy more rice in Haiti, but it’s difficult to find and more expensive. We also ship in beans to give to the Haitian people. It’s very difficult to find beans in Haiti, and they are very, very expensive. The price of all food products, along with everything else, has skyrocketed in Haiti.
Thank you to all our friends who help give to make all this possible. The shipping of the meals and getting them out of Customs each month is our biggest load and burden. We believe in the Lord for the money. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
