The mission of Hope For The Hungry is to "Share the Bread of Life with a Starving World". God has called us to serve people who suffer from hunger that is both spiritual and physical. According to scriptural mandate, we offer food for the body and salvation for the spirit to those who do not know Jesus Christ and will suffer eternal death without Him.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Nothing but Bleu

Yesterday, we all did our best to not look like a smurf. After much discussion on the paint color, a decision was finally settled on blue (bleu). The paint arrived and jumped in, we attracted quite an audience throughout the day as the color rolled on throughout the mission center. We were able to get the entire first floor complete with the first coat. We will finish up today.

Jean Renald was of the boys in our boys home around twenty years ago. He has helped with numerous construction projects over the last few years and has been hard at work with us during this trip as well. While he has some physical setbacks of his own since birth, he is a very hard worker and as a true servants heart. Yesterday, he invited us to his home and while he lives from day to day like many Haitians he is filled with joy. You can see he is loved still by those within the community. We thank God for Jean Renald. He grew up in the boys home and that in itself was a blessing given his physical limitations, because he had a family who loved him. Today, he works as a mason, helping where he can to serve his community and you can see the peace of God in his life. God did not skip over Jean Renald, he too was created in the image of God and he leans on the same promises of Bible that you and I lean on. We invite you to pray for Jean Renald, pray that God would continue to bless this community through his life. He has been a true blessing to Hope for the Hungry over the years.  
 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Paint, Play, Repeat.

Yesterday was another busy day here in Guibert, Haiti. We continued painting the mission center and have made great progress overall, there is such good teamwork. After school we had a couple of other visitors from the children's home: Rony, Gardson, Ronald, Pouchon, Desilien, Willie and Angez all came to see us. After a few minutes, each of them had a paint brush and doing a great job of painting themselves... I mean the walls. Yesterday was also the day the team really stepped out and began playing and interacting more with the children. Their were plenty smiles on the faces of the younger children and great discussions with the older kids. This week the kids are taking exams at school and after we finished painting we hung out around the children's home and observed the older boys hard at work studying. Spanish, History, Math, French the kids poured over their study notes, were reciting vocabulary words aloud or were deep in their textbook seeking to do their best. You can see it in the eyes of the boys, they want to learn and they are doing amazing. We also played plenty with the younger kids after their tutoring session was complete. Today, we repeat.



Tuesday, December 10, 2013

From Handwriting to Painting

Yesterday was our first work day on the mission center and our objective was to begin painting the interior. Upon arrival we had a few minutes to take the beautiful mountains that surrounded us and took a tour of the school, children's home, church and the future mission center. We also spent some time with a group of local high school kids, they have exams this week and they were eager show and read with us in English. Their journals are packed with notes and as is typically the case their handwriting is very good. Once the paint arrived we jumped and began painting. Every person from our small team of six had a task and did it well. Before too long, one by one local help began to trickle in to the mission center to simply help. One thing you cannot deny is the work ethic of this culture. And today we saw it from the handwriting to painting. Of course, school was in session so we got to see, love and speak with many of them. Since we have two kids of our own on our team they were of particular interest by the Haitian children. They were especially interested in the braces on their teeth. We will continue painting throughout the week and building relationships along the way. Last night, we had a long reflection of the day and discussion on the history of Haiti. It is important to note, that despite the setbacks and devastation that have hurt this nation over the last couple of centuries, there is Hope. You can see it in there eyes, you can see it there efforts, you can see it in the progress all around. We must continue to reflect Jesus, we must continue to make disciples, we must continue to help provide an education to the children the Lord brings to our ministry. Why? Because, Each One Matters.    

Sunday, December 8, 2013

God's Steps

Winter has taken a toll on the majority of the United States over the last week and we certainly had to redirect our plans in order to arrive in Haiti today. I am reminded of the verse in Proverbs, In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9. It was a great reminder that God is in charge. The good news is we did arrive hear in Haiti today, and the eyes of our team were wide open to the sights and smells of this nation. Please pray for this trip as we rest tonight and get ready to work on the mission center tomorrow. Throughout this trip we acknowledge that God will establish our steps. Thank you for your support and prayers.