May 25, 2009
It has been waaaay too long since our last Newsletter. We have no excuse except one word, busy-ness. We trust you are all well and survived the winter.
We have so much to tell it is hard to know where to start, so I’ll jump right in. First a re-cap for those who are getting our Newsletter for the first time.
When we were there in September, the whole trip, we just felt like crying from the devastation, but we were amazed at the Haitian people’s ability to continue
In September, our school in Raymond, on the outskirts of Jacmel, Haiti, was wiped out by hurricane fed flash flooding, for the second time in 10 months; along with 18 homes. The whole village was affected as those whose homes were not wiped out, were cut off or they ended up taking in families who had lost their homes. More info and pics see our website www.blairhope.com. In Canada and the US, when something like this happens, we look to the government to FIX it, to make it right. In Haiti, the government does not even consider helping, unless it is an election year, it wasn’t.
We were not sure we would be able to open the school this year since our building was gone, but, were able to find a house in the community on the edge of the washout. We added a canopy to it and are using it for a school, for now. Since it is on the edge of the washout, the chances of this building surviving this fall’s hurricanes are very low. It will be a miracle if the school is still standing by the end of the hurricane season. We are working toward building a new building on a piece of land that is not so prone to flooding at a cost of about $50,000.
After the hurricanes, the families who were already unbelievably poor, were left even poorer. After much prayer we felt we were to start up a feeding program at our school. Although we did not have funds raised ahead, we decided to start it on faith.
We began in January feeding 3 days per week. That is 3 meals per week, not 3 per day. It seemed so small, could it make a difference? The Lord showed us a long time ago that even though what we are doing doesn’t seem to be much to us, for those who are getting school, school supplies, uniforms, medical, dental, and vision care and now food, it is a BIG thing.
The reports from the teachers say the health and energy of the children is remarkably better since the feeding program. Like here in Canada, children learn better, when fed. Just imagine how much better it could be if we had the funds to feed everyday of the week.
Like schools in Canada, the school year in Haiti is coming to a close soon, around the 3rd week of June. To end off the school year, they will be having a Picnic and Party day at the school. They will have this party day as a respite before starting exams. This gives them a time of refreshing after a frustrating and busy year.
School was late getting started due to the hurricanes and flooding, and so they had to work extra hard to catch up so that school could finish up at it’s normal time. The cost for this party day is about $250 Cdn. If you’d like to contribute to this, let us know.
We are hoping to be able to keep the feeding program going though out the summer, and are raising funds as fast as we can. During the summer, it is usually difficult for us to get into churches to do presentations as pastors think folks will be away. We aren’t concerned about the numbers. We have always believed that those who are supposed to be there, will be there to hear the message that God is still working in the world today & how they can help Him to fill the need in Haiti
We are still working on making it possible for sponsors to contact their children. When we visit in September, we will talk to the children and their parents about the fact that much of the funding for the school is done by having the children individually sponsored. We will get them to do pictures, and letters to their sponsors, telling them about their life in Haiti, and their hopes and dreams for the future. While the children are already praying for Canada, we will also get them to pray individually for their sponsors, and sponsoring churches.
This is where you come in. As I said, much of our funds come from the individual sponsors who are sponsoring either children or just the work in general on a monthly basis. It costs $1 a day to sponsor a child, that is less than the cost of a cup of coffee. Maybe you are interested in helping this mission, but can’t afford $30 per month, you can sponsor the work monthly for as little as $5 per month, or get a group of friends or Sunday school class to contribute together to sponsor a child. We are also praying that the Lord will build a team of volunteers to help us in fund raising. Sometimes folks don’t get involved because they think I can only help a little, well every little bit helps. $1 provides so much to a child for 1 day.
We are having a Fund raising Concert in McAdam (Miles hometown) at McAdam High School this Saturday night, May 30th at 6:30 pm. Any of you in this area are welcome to attend. Hope to see you there!
This concert is FEATURING Barb Prosser-Winder, Mark Murchison, Sterling Peterson, McAdam's Own Alley Cats, Kerri Jewett, & us.
LIVE BAND Bev Jewett - Steel & Lead Guitar, Murray Gordon – Piano, Andy Waugh - Drums, Doug Smith – Bass. Admission $10 at the Door.
SPONSORED BY Tony's Music Box, D'vine Designs Floral Expressions, Mr T's Service Center, Maxon & Associates, Thornes Flowers, G & K Auto Sales,
Capital Community Church, RLI Manufacturing, Gladstone Mission Church,
Victory Tabernacle Church, Rivers of Restoration, Life Tabernacle Church.
We thank all of these friends and sponsors for help with this and many other concerts. We thank all of you so much for your Support and ask that you continue to hold us, and the country of Haiti up in Prayer. We could not do any of this with out your help.
Immediate needs: PRAYER, FUNDS to expand the FEEDING PROGRAM to 7 days per week, FUNDS for a permanent BUILDING, FUNDS for PARTY DAY.
Take care and God Bless
Miles & Rosemary Blair
BLAIR HOPE INTERNATIONAL INC.
PS
We will be traveling in the next couple weeks, attending conferences and visiting family and a Jamaican church in Toronto. Please keep us in prayer for safe travel and that the Lord will have His way in all this.
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