Team Canada; Surrey Alliance Church Youth Group

August 18th-28th we hosted a 16 member youth group from the Surrey Alliance Church, Surrey, BC Canada. Shortly after arriving, hurricane "Dean" passed over the south of Haiti which made for a very rainy Sunday morning. Waiting out the hardest morning rains, the team left for services late but had a great time of ministry to those of the congregation who decided to "weather the storm" with them.

Monday morning everyone was excited to start work at the village of Dumay, home of MTM's second school. First, they had to cross the river, swollen by the hurrican rains (twice each day this was done)...

My poor (tough) car!

Guides must be used (walking in front of the truck) to know where to cross the river at.

Once in the village, the team set to work to begin accomplishing what they came to do...

Helping with the construction of 3 additional classrooms. Here they are pouring a concrete roof.

...David Charles helps the hard working, mighty rock brigade as they fill in the floor...

...it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it! Stephen Charles helps out too!...

Soccer was on the agenda & soccer, they did play!...

The donkey chose to stay on the side lines :)...

...is that someone not working?! Yes, but he is taking time to hang out with a new freind...

Backpacks that the Surrey church had previously filled & sent to us on a supply trailer were handed out to students that will be starting school soon. Rice & dried soup mix were given to local families during a seperate distribution time.

All of this to the glory of God!

Thank you, Surrey Alliance Church, for entrusting your youth into our ministry here in Haiti.

Thank you, Hungry for Life-Canada, for facilitating this team.

May God bless you!

Summer Time Stateside...

Here we go!

Is summer past already?!

June 18th our family left Haiti to meet up with some special friends at Walt Disney World. For 5 days we played, ate, visited & enjoyed all that the parks had to offer. It was consuming, but in a very good "God" way! Praise be to God for creating that time for us.

After driving from Florida to Indiana, it was time for some boys to visit with Grandma & big brother! All are doing well. Casey will soon finish up his associates degree in civil engineering as he continues with his National Guard committment.

Coming with us from Haiti this summer was Micka Hyppolite. Some of you know her as one of our workers in the village of Gramothe. This was her first trip ever to the U.S. & she was overwhelmed, but very blessed with how she was recieved & by all that she got to see & do. Boating & fishing were not exactly her cup of tea, but she still had fun :) Thanks everyone for making her time special.

After being in Indiana for just 5 days after our Disney trip, we hopped in the car for a 36 hour (driving time)-12 day road trip to Chilliwack, B.C. Canada. The scenery was breathtaking as we drove thru the badlands of S.Dakota & Wyoming.

Once in Chilliwack we were hosted by a most gracous family who introduced us to others & made our family a part of theirs. A short drive on Sunday took us into the city of Surrey, near Vancouver, where we visited a church that was to bring a team of youth to our mission shortly after our return to Haiti.

Visiting all that there was to see; our trip on the Frazier River, White Rock & more plus all the fine people that we met will never be forgotten! Thanks for making our time in Canada special & memorable!

Praise God for our brothers & sisters in the Lord. As we work together (the tillers, the planters, the waterers & the harvesters...) the lost will be saved; God's work will be done here on earth!

A great big thanks to all of our partnering churches there in the states who brought us into their fold this summer, allowing us to share what God is doing in Haiti. Thanks also to those pastors who brought us into their churches for the first time. Thanks to those of you who help to make a difference in Haiti either by praying for us, for supporting us financially &/or for taking time throughout the year to come to Haiti & encourage us. It was fun being with all of you. Our time stateside is always a busy time, but a very valuable time that we enjoy & cherish always.

Names & places not mentioned, but not forgotten. You know who you are & you know the blessings that you bring to us. Thank you for being humble servants of the Most High.

Thank you all for helping us to make some really great family memories :)

Sincerely in Christ Jesus,

Willem, Beth, Stephen & David

June Update!

Happy Birthday David (#7)!

Summer time play!

Gramothe kindergarten students pose for a picture.

Hello everyone, sorry it has been a while since we've updated. There is certainly much to tell about!

Today we are finishing up as we pack to leave for the states on Monday. God is good & we're ready for a rest! We are blessed to be spending the first 5 days of our trip with family friends at Disney World in Orlando, FL, thanks guys for make that possible!

We have a busy schedule this summer, but are hoping to see as many of you as possible while we are out. I'll write more about that (our schedule) at another time. For now, let's back-track & see what's been going on....

For our MTM student sponsors you should have gotten your May/June correspondence, or should recieve them within the next week at the very least. If you did not recieve one, please email us. For everyone else, our annual newsletter will go out while we are stateside this summer.

It was a busy time getting pictures together with names and grades from both schools of nearly 800 students! Whew, I'm glad that is done for another year! I love seeing their faces & matching them with their sponsors as I prepare them to mail. Some of our students were absent when pictures were taken & some have left the school. Those notes were enclosed too. Any questions, please let us know.

Stephen & David have had a great start to their summer. Recently, they've found a clear water pool in the river bed. Unseasonal rains & natural springs are to thank for that! Again today they have hiked down with friends to partake in the refreshing play. (See 2nd & 3rd pictures)

Casey is at summer camp with the National Guard. He'll be finished about the time that we arrive in Terre Haute. He continues to live the busy life of work, Guard & college.

June 6th was not only David's birthay, but also the last day of school. We shared goodies at school with his classmates & a classmate who shares David's birth date. Also, their first grade teacher was ending her 20 year missionary career in Haiti. (See 1st picture)

It can't be summer without puppies! We have 7 rotty puppies that are just as cute as they can be. It's fun watching to boys get attached & be detirmined to keep all of them (um, plus the 5 already within our yard!).

As we prepare to leave Haiti for a short time, please keep our family in prayer. Our number 1 request is that we are able to kick back, rest & enjoy ourselves together at Disney before we set off on our busy schedule once arriving in Terre Haute. We are blessed to be in 5 new churches this summer presenting our work & delivering a word of encouragement. Please pray that ears would be opened & that the Holy Spirit would use us to challenge & bless those around us. Please pray for traveling mercies, continued good health & again, rest both physically & spiritually.

While traveling & speaking we'll be sharing more about the future surgical & dental centre that is under construction in Gramothe, additions at the Dumay school, the building of our family home & how God is blessing the church in Gramothe. Accompanying us this trip is Miss Micka Hyppolite, a native of Haiti that calls the village of Gramothe home. Micka, as many of you know, works with us in the medical clinic, at the orphanage 2 days each week & she also leads praise & worship in the church. Her eyes are big thinking about coming to the United States for the first time, but I imagine they'll get even bigger as she climbs the steps to board that big jet plane!

Ok, that's it for now, time to go do some more packing :) We're looking forward to seeing everyone & of course, the boys are ready for a "McDonald's"!

Blessings to all!
Willem, Beth, Stephen & David

Happy Mother's Day!

A big happy mother's day to all those special moms out there. I especially remember those who've been a "surrogate" mom to Casey through the years. Thank you.
To warm your heart on this mother's day, check out this online story about some close friends of ours http://www.theindychannel.com/news/13300966/detail.html.
God bless all of our mothers!

Praise the Lord!

Just to let you all know that we are giving praises to God as Stephen has just completed a full week of school headache free! This is the first since early November and this was a stressful week as his class participated in a week long standardized testing. God is definatley great and greatly to be praised! We are greatful for your prayers as you have stood with us during this time.

It's a beautiful day in Haiti as the sun is shining brightly. May God bless you abundantly!

Sincerely,
Willem & Beth

A Little Update

Happy 11th birthday Stephen!

Greetings Everyone!
We have our tickets in hand & our travel dates for the summer are 6/18-8/8. That will enclude a 5 day "blessing trip" to Orlando, FL Disney World for our family and a drive to B.C., Canada, both of which we are very excited about!

Before we leave Haiti there is still much work to be done.
Beth continues to plug away at scheduling for the summer, student correspondence for June, being mom & wife.
Willem continues overseeing the roof line that is being constructed on the new mission house(see some great pics @ www.gohardcore.blogsite.com ) as the workers wait for the ground to be dry enough to work on the clinic expansion site in Gramothe. Also in the works is continued work in Dumay as we plan & prepare for 3 new classrooms to be built in August!
Let's not forget one of our last big teams of the season in May, along with 3 smaller individual groups that will "float" in during next month as well.

Stephen was well satisfied with his birthday (4/21) celebration as he treated his classmates to a noon meal of pizza, root beer & birthday cake on Friday. We spent Saturday at his school campus as all of his friends gathered there for the schools' family picnic day. It was alot of good "play" time for all.

David was the happiest boy at school last week as his mommy was the substitute teacher all week long! We had fun learning our memory verses, working in the school garden & yes, that sub was a real drill sergeant ensuring that all the work the teacher left behind got done!

Casey continues to school, work, & work some more in Charleston, IL. He is just 2 semesters away from finishing his degree. We are looking forward to spending time with him this summer. Early in February we were very proud to learn that Casey had recieved his promotion of sergeant with the IL National Guard.

Our dear friend & new family member, Paul DenHaan, is off to the Congo. As some of you know he's been using MTM as a "home base" while he travels & works with a few other missions here in Haiti. We are dearly greatful for Paul being here & being such a huge help to us in many areas of our lives & in ministry. We are blessed to know him & to refer you to his blogsite (address above) to see what he's been doing here in Haiti.

The rainy season is appearing to catch up to us here on the mountain. It is a beautiful time of year to see everything turning green & beginning to flower.

We desperately need your prayers for a worker/liason for Beth to help with the student correspondence. This is a very important role that not just anyone can fill. Please pray spacifically for an energetic, reliable person who can read, write & speak Creole, English & French that is also willing to work at both of our schools. Both schools are off the main road & are not always easy to get to.
Thank you in advance for standing in prayer with us for this request.

May God bless each of you & make his face to shine upon you!
Willem & Beth

Here he is!

I promised some pictures of baby Christian so here they are! The first is when he was just minutes old, the second he is snug in his mother's home at just one day old. Praise the Lord!