Nov. 27, 2008
Early Christmas Greetings to you all, our family, friends and faithful supporters!
We are sending out Christmas greetings early this year as we want to do it before we all get so deep into the Christmas Season that you don’t have time to read it because of busy-ness.
It is hard to believe that it has already been a couple months since we were on our September trip to Haiti, and it is less than a month to Christmas. Wow, as they say, time sure flies!
Always “EXPECT A MIRACLE”
We struggled with fund raising through out last winter, just barely staying ahead of our commitments to Haiti as many fund raising events got cancelled due to snow storms. We continued to struggle throughout much of the year, to the point where over the summer we questioned if God was releasing us from this work. When God called us to this work, He told us that whom He calls, He provides for. We have always believed that if He stopped “providing for”, then He was releasing us from the work, and that He would raise others up to continue.
While preparing to go to Haiti in September, we talked about telling the folks there that this would be our final year, unless God showed us differently. Well, PRAISE THE LORD, He showed us differently! We ended up having a very successful fund raising drive this late summer and early fall, which shows us that God still wants us there. We are glad, because we could not imagine doing anything else with our time and energies. Through this God has reminded us to always “EXPECT A MIRACLE”
We are heading back to Haiti in January to take a look at how our school in Raymond is doing after being wiped out by hurricanes 2 times within 10 months. We were able to find a 4 room house about a week before school was to start and get school going without any time being lost. But it is on the edge of the wash out and probably won't survive the next rainy season.
We are hoping to meet with the staff and finally get a feeding program up and running in that school. We also want to visit the rest of the community to see how it is recovering from the devastation of the hurricanes, and see how we can help further.
We are actively fundraising to build a school in the community of Raymond in an area that is not prone to flooding. We have been watching this land for 7 years and it always does well during hurricane season. The cost to build a school will be about $25,000US. With the current exchange rate that would be about $30,000CDN. We need to get these funds raised as soon as possible so that we can have the building up and ready for school by next September and avoid another possible relocation of the school due to floods from hurricanes. While this seems like an insurmountable goal, we know that we are working for a God who does miracles. If any of you folks would like to contribute to this building project, please contact us. Remember, “little is much when God is in it.”
We have had some folks ask about a couple things and so I thought I’d mention them. The first is giving a gift to Haiti on behalf of someone else. We think that is an awesome idea. If you have a loved one that you have no clue what to get, who seems to have everything, you can make a donation to BLAIR HOPE INTERNATIONAL on their behalf! We will do up a lovely card with some photos enclosed and some info on what we do, and send it directly out to them, or send it to you to deliver yourself. You can do this by through secure donation thru PAYPAL or by putting a cheque in the mail with your instructions. (Under SUPPORT THIS MINISTRY) This is an awesome way to make your gift giving have eternal consequences!
Another thing we have been asked about is the ability to correspond with your sponsored child. When we go to Haiti in January we will be looking into that and hope to have it in place soon.
We were able to raise about $1000US to go toward this years’ CHRISTMAS PARTY on Christmas Eve Day. The children and their families will have a fun time with music, skits, a good meal, and treats and gifts, and each student will be presented with their report card. This gives them a day of not having to think about all the hardship and devastation they have been through this past year and just be kids. (PHOTOS of last years Christmas Party on website)
A final thought for you for the holidays is a quote from Bono, he says,
"Where you live, should not decide whether you live or whether you die." It is a sad fact of life though that it does. People are dying all over this planet from hunger related diseases, while many of us in North America go and pay money to learn how to lose weight. We are killing ourselves with EXCESS while most of the world is dying of starvation. Jesus said, “Do you love me, feed my sheep”. He also said “the poor will be with you always.” Does this means we should do nothing to help? No it gives us an OPPORTUNITY, a RESPONSIBILITY to help. I’m not saying this so you won’t have a good holiday season, but while you are, instead of having two desserts, two boxes of chocolates, two Christmas trees fully trimmed, why not use some of that EXCESS to share with the poor of the world."
Well must close for now, our next newsletter will be after our trip to Haiti in January. Please feel free to contact us at anytime through any of our contact info. Please pray for all these concerns and have an awesome Christmas!
Take care and God Bless
Miles & Rosemary Blair
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