Hi Friends,

Seems like this last week actually slowed down and we felt like we caught up on a few things...including all of the wash that had piled up. Steve was able to hook up my washing machine to both house electricity (when the big generator is running) and also water from the roof. We attached a smaller pipe from the tanks on the roof and ran it down to the washing machine. There isn't sufficient pressure to have it run my machine automatically, but I can turn the water off and on and run it into the machine with a hose, which sure beats hauling buckets of water from the roof and pouring it into the machine two times for each load!!!!! Much better! So I am totally excited about that. Makes washing so much easier for me and also for Benit! It always amazes me how the little things make a huge difference here.

Today I went to visit Pastor Plaisir and took some pictures of the women that we give food to twice a month! In March we started a program for some of the elderly women in the church at Marfranc that gives them a sack of food twice a month. Pastor has always helped theses women when they don't have enough to eat...gives them a little when he can. This program has enabled them to receive food twice a month (rice, oil, beans, maggi, spaghetti, tomato paste, matches and sometimes other things) and they don't need to ask Pastor for help. We started with 9 women. Last month Columbia Church of God wrote to us and said they would like to help support this program. With their help we have been able to add 3 more people (1 is actually a guy!) which is great. Columbia asked if I could take pictures of the women, so they could put their names and faces on their church bulletin board and pray for them each week! Amazing! So Pastor and I did that today! It was great visiting the women and seeing where they live. I'll include just a couple of pictures, these faces have seen so much! One of the women is 88 years old!

Pastor Plaisir also had a birthday on July 23rd. The women of the church had a birthday celebration for him the Sunday after that. Steve and I were both sick, so we didn't stay long or eat any of the wonderful food they prepared, but it was a great celebration. I made a couple of sheet cakes for the party and 2 of the women of the church came to my house and made the rest of the cakes in my oven! It took them forever to do it, but that was okay! Erlande's foster mom came to help bake, so I got to take care of Erlande, which was fine by me!

Speaking of Erlande....she will be 4 months old on Thursday! She is getting so big. I went over to their house today to give Darline some formula and also see how much Erlande weighed at her check up last week. She looks like she has gotten so much bigger, but she is only weighs 12 lbs. She didn't gain much this last month, but she looks bigger to me! She was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her up....Darline says she loves to eat...and has just started to eat cereal with a spoon and can't seem to get enough! She is so strong and loves to jump on her legs when you hold her up! She's such a beautiful baby!

Of course, I do have to mention Bouki! He will be 5 months old on Thursday! Sometimes it seems like we have had him forever and that he has always been a part of our lives...then there are times like this afternoon when he won't listen at all and is up on your lap, in your face wanting to play that makes Steve say, "I'm not sure I have enough energy to live until Bouki grows up!" He just has so much puppy energy. He is getting so big that we forget he is only 5 mo. old and is still such a puppy, puppy! He listens when he wants to (not!) and is so stubborn and yet so wonderful, lovable and wants to please! He is losing his baby teeth and getting his big ones (they are huge) and is chewing on everything and anything...nothing is safe! We keep finding blood on things, then will notice a big hole where a tooth was...and the tip of the big teeth coming in! We will be glad when this is over with. This picture is not on my screen saver....he looks so big in this picture!

We pray you have a great week.....enjoy the end of your summer, seems like school in the states is started earlier and earlier each year! Seems like summer just started and I know kids are getting ready to go back to school already! Hope it isn't too hot at your house....but then I guess you have AC huh? ha!

Love to you all...

Ke Bon Dieu beni ou!

Joline

Hi Friends!

Guess time is going way too fast, didn't realize it had been so long since I wrote an entry. I'm sorry! I like to do this once a week, and just didn't even think about it!

When I stop to think about it, it doesn't seem like much is going on...there have been a few things, but time just seems to fly.

Before I forget to do it again....I want to tell you a little bit more about the great Youth Camp that we had at the end of July! I know it's been over while, and I know I mentioned that the team that was here had fun interacting with the youth, but I wanted to let you see a few more pictures and also tell you a little bit more about the camp. I have appreciated so much the donations that came in for camp and because of these donations we were able to feed the kids really well and add the special things that they like. We also have enough money now for the whole year and they can plan for a fun day in November and then their Mardi Gras Camp in February, they love both of those and will be glad to hear that they can start to plan those! Thank you again for everything that you do for the youth. I can't help but believe that they are the ones that are going to change the world they live in. We have to somehow make a big impact on them and get them to change the way things are done. We are hoping that during the camp some of these kids will see the changes that need to be made and be leaders of their country one day! With integrity and honor!

The camp was for 4 days....They arrived on Thursday afternoon and left on Monday morning! There were several speakers during the camp, a dentist and an agricultural specialist. They enjoyed talking to the kids and the kids learned a lot from them. Pastor Plaisir also did a morning session for 2 mornings and his oldest son Vegenio did several sessions with the kids as well. Vegenio loves music and young people, he was great with the kids! We had two special events that we had not done before. Pastor Mark (Pastor Dave's son and new Director of their mission in Jeremie) his wife, Lacey, and their 1 1/2 yr. old son Barak came for 2 afternoons to help out at camp. Friday afternoon Pastor Mark and the 3 men from the visiting team played sports with the kids. The guys played soccer with Pastor Mark and then the team guys played American Football and also Volleyball with the girls. They had a great time and the girls actually got to where they could play a game, instead of just hitting it and catching it and throwing it back over the net! On Saturday afternoon Lacey, Jill and I helped 37 girls paint their fingernails and toenails! What a blast. Jill brought enough polish that they each got to pick their color and take it home with them. We had special paint and decals for their nails! They also got to take home a gift pack of costume jewelry that Jill had gotten donated! They loved it. I really think the highlight for me was Sunday night when we went to hear them praise and worship God. Each evening they have a worship service, but Sunday night is the finale! They have special groups that sing and they have praise songs that they sing with so much energy and love and praise. There are no words to express the joy and love that surrounds them when they are praising God! It is truly awesome and it is during this time that I know they are capable of great and wonderful things! I wish each of you could join us for a camp....you would be totally amazed at how much fun you would have! Thanks again for your participation.

The building continues at the school in Marfranc and at the clinic room at the St. Theresa Catholic Church. The two projects that Steve is working on right now are well underway. With us leaving for vacation on Sept. 14th....he wants to get them at a point he can quit while we are gone. The school in Marfranc is getting a second floor put on to the new building that was just completed this year. We found out that if we got the walls up, that ACC (Apostolic Christian Church) would put a roof on the building! As you can see in the picture, the block is mostly up and all that needs to be completed before the roof can be done, is the poto's (columns) and the top concrete sill....that goes on top of the block. (there is a technical word for that, I just can't remember it! ha!). I think that work will be done this week and then anything else that can get finished before we leave will be extra. Steve is hoping that they will be able to at least get 1 coat of finishing cement on the blocks before we leave town. This is very exciting because you can see the new part from the street and it's pretty impressive!

The other project is a storage depot (room) that has been added to the side of the old church. Eventually the entire church will be renovated, with the front that is falling down, demolished and made into a waiting area...and the interior repaired and walls fixed and floor poured to be even etc. They will add a few exam rooms, paint it and have a great place for the church to use and also for the clinic to be held when the medical team arrives once or twice a year. At some point in the future, they would like to have a full-time clinic there...so there is a lot of work to do. The next medical team arrives on Oct. 1st and Steve is planning on having the depot completed and a sink added to it so that they will have water to wash things and use as needed. When we return, he will add a water storage tank on the hill so they will have running water as well, for this clinic they will still have to bucket water, however. The room will be used to store the many medical things that they use each year and is attached to the room they use as a pharmacy when they do their clinic. It will be a blessing to have things right there, instead of stacked in a storage place up the hill. It takes Barbara several days of loading things back and forth to get ready for the clinic, this storage room will save time and energy! The walls are up, the interior and walls have their first coat of concrete and the outside is about 1/2 done with the first coat. This week Steve hopes to get the final coat of concrete on the walls, so that after that the roof can be put on! We are getting there...3 weeks to go and it has to be done!

Steve just got back from a trip over the mountains to Cayes. It is only about 62 miles on the road and 42 miles as the crow flies across the peninsula, but it takes about 6 to 7 hours to drive that distance! You can calculate it...about 10 miles an hour! And I know for a fact you can only go 5 mph or creep for a lot of it! You transverse about 5 mountain ridges and it seems like you go uphill both ways. It is a 1 lane dirt....okay, rock road that make it impossible to pass other vehicles in many areas. It is very dangerous and I am so glad he is home. Pastor Mark went with him and for the first and he says LAST time...they left at 4:00 AM and returned the same day at 8:30 PM....Steve drove over 14 hours in one day on the worst roads in Haiti! Those of you that got our prayer request...thank you for your prayers! We are thankful for their safe journey!

We will be leaving for the states on Sept. 14th for a vacation until Oct. 29th. Steve's youngest daughter, Beth, is getting married on Sept. 20th in Portland, Oregon. We are looking forward to going to the wedding. We will be flying into Seattle, Washington, where 2 of my kids live, picking up the car and then driving to Steve's mom's house on the Oregon Coast. We'll visit there for a few days, then drive with his mom to Portland for the wedding. My daughter, Robin and her husband, Rhodel, will be meeting us in Portland on Monday and we'll exchange Steve's mom for their dog, Oscar! We'll be taking Oscar home with us for the week, while they visit Steve's mom and have a few days of vacation! We will be missing Bouki I'm sure, so we'll have fun with Oscar (he's a yellow lab). Steve will be going hunting in October, something he is looking forward to, he hasn't been hunting for several years and is very, very ready to kill a dear or an elk! I'm looking forward to sewing and relaxing and visiting with friends while he is out killing something! ha!

I know that we will both miss Bouki terribly much. He is hitting his terrible twos (okay, his terrible 6 mo. age!!!!!) I think this is why you see so many lab puppies in the adoption places that are 5 - 8 months old!!!! He is starting to really not listen and do what HE wants to do instead of what YOU want him to do! He has decided that playing very, very hard is a lot of fun, jumping up on you then running away, or jumping up on you and then trying to get you with his teeth is even worse...they whole time just laughing (yes, you can see a dog laugh, just pay attention!!!). We have resorted to putting him in his kennel when he gets totally out of control, something he doesn’t like, but it works! It's hard to get him in the kennel when he's fighting you tooth and nail, but it seems to be the only thing that calms him down! I think I'll try running him to death outside tonight and see what happens! I know he'll outgrow this...right now he's sleeping under my feet and he's SOOOOOO CUTE!!!!! ha!

We pray that you have a great week! we pray that it cools off a little and we get some rain so that we aren't so hot. It's been really, really hot and horribly humid!

Ke Bon Dieu Beni Ou,

Much love and prayers,

Joline