January 2009
Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray you are all well and looking forward to another year of service to the Lord:
We got back from Haiti on Thursday and as usual there is so much to tell.
We had some struggles to get there and back with storms making flights late, which caused missed connections etc. We ended up spending a couple nights in airports, but we had a wonderful time while on the ground in Haiti and came home with a real sense of accomplishment.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early to go church. It always feels like home with our brothers and sisters in Jacmel church greeting us with hugs and kisses to welcome us again.
Monday we visited Raymond school to see the students and teachers in class and observe. The small classes are so crowded. There are only two teachers that have room in their class for even a chair to sit on, the rest have to stand all day or sit on the edge of one of the student desks. We noticed one teacher who when he got one of the children to write on the blackboard, actually stood outside the class and looked in thru the door to see what she was doing. We are in such urgent need of a proper school. At a cost of approximately $50,000 it will take a miracle, but we do know that God is in to miracles!
Tuesday we had a team arrive from Canada along with our friend Bob Davisson of Lifeline Haiti and Glory Bound Ministries. We were the first team hosted at the Mission House and we all came with things to help get it set up. Bedding, towels, kitchen utensils, cutlery etc. The team took one look at the kitchen and decided to renovate. They took out an old industrial propane cook system that had been replaced by a new propane cook stove, complete with oven. Then knocked out a monstrosity that was supposed be a sink and replaced it with a double stainless steel sink. Wow what a transformation! Miles and I got a chance to help with the demolition. What a wonderful feeling of TEAM we had the whole time.
Since we were staying at the Mission House, I was able to cook for Miles and I, and avoid the usual 3 days of diarrhea we usually contend with.
We spent the rest of our time getting the feeding program for Raymond School set up and uniforms delivered. When we arrived with the food on the back of a truck, the children all just whooped with excitement.
The next day when we watched the first meal served, there was a Holy hush over the entire school. The children sang grace in English first and then in Creole, they sang, “Come into my heart, come into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in today, come in to stay, come into my heart Lord Jesus. Each class sang, as the others were lining up to get their food. So for about a ½ hour, the were singing this song.
We stood with our eyes full of tears and watched the children eat. One of the teachers saw me crying and asked me if I was OK, I said, “Yes, I am crying with Joy at being able to see what the Lord has done”. He told me, “We really appreciate what you are doing, this is very important for these children. Many of them don’t get to eat because there is no food at home, and often ask me for money to buy a couple biscuits from someone near the school. Thank you.” (I had goosebumps all over me). We only have funds to do the feeding 3 days per week but are hoping the Lord provides funds to do it 5 days per week.
We also delivered uniforms that day for the boys as the girls uniforms were not quite ready. We have been assured that they will be delivered this Monday. We really need to take time here to thank each of you who have sponsored children and supported this mission. We also thank Danny Pye, & Nixon and Sandra Altidor for all the work they do in the daily operation of this school, it could not run without them. You all truly have helped us to “do this unto the least of these”. We should have individual photos of each of the children available in the next couple weeks.
We spent Saturday at the beach with the children from HAITIAN CHILDREN’S HOME. (These are the children some of you folks have met or sponsored at the orphanage Jerry O’Leary used to own) The house parents Danny & Leann Pye are doing a wonderful job and instead of seeing an orphanage in operation, we saw a very large family, caring for the needs of each other from the youngest to the oldest. It is a beautiful model of what family should be. The children are all growing and doing well. We sat and talked with some of them and they remember when Miles & I lived there when they were small.
Our final Sunday there we went to church at Chabin along with the whole team. This was our first time to church there since we built that building 3 years ago. What a change. The congregation used to be about 20 and now it is over 100, with a youth group of around 20. I (Rosemary) preached a sermon about how were are all part of the body of Christ and we all have a job to do in this body. I used the scripture 1 Cor. 12: 12-27, I found out the next day that this passage of scripture is the foundational scripture of that church and verse 27, they have paraphrased to “THE LORD MADE US ONE”, it is the verse they use to remind themselves of the whole passage. I knew the Lord had told me to preach it to those folks, but I was amazed at how He knit the whole message together to really speak to the soul of the people.
After church the Youth Choir was practicing. They were singing, “Come now is the time to Worship”, in Creole. I stood and worshipped with them. I told Pastor Placide, “They are so good”. He said, “They are practicing for a large Youth Rally in November when there will be over 1000 Youth at the Chabin church for a week. That is so awesome to think that so many youth will be there and all worshipping God. He said, “All the choirs have t-shirts each to represent a different choir, but that the youth at Chabin could not afford them. I gave him the money for the t-shirts, and told the Youth to say, “Thank you Jesus!
Our final morning I was up early about 5am getting ready for our trip home. I was thinking about all the things we had accomplished on the trip. At that time of day, ours was the only building I could see with lights on. I could hear music off in the distance somewhere in the neighborhood. I went to edge of the balcony to listen closer. It sounded like maybe 3 or 4 young men. I recognized the tune they were singing, it was “Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”. I thought, “That is so true, look at all the things Miles and I have been able to accomplish, because we were willing to trust and obey. And look at all the children and families affected by it. We have no way of knowing how many until we get to heaven.”
We are so blessed to be alive after the lives we have lived, but to able to be called by God to do anything, daily, overwhelms us with gratitude. If you would like to help us labor along side with God, please contact us at any of the above contact information.
Take care and God Bless
Miles & Rosemary Blair
Highlights of needs are:
*Prayer for the whole country and all involved in the work there, so much has been done, but there is still so much to do.
*Prayer for the Youth rally, we still believe we are raising a future president, and so do they.
*More funds so that we can increase the feeding program to 5 days per week.
*Someone or many people to get the burden to provide funds to build a new school building in Raymond, as the one we are in will probably not survive the rainy season.
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