Giving Hope

There are some days when God says "sit back and let me show you how I work". We had one of those days this week.

We have had a team here from NC this week helping us. We were able to do eye clinics and distributions, and lots of painting at The Mission. We painted the two girls rooms pink and purple and the two boys rooms blue and green. We want to thank all of you that had a part in that trip!

Joy and I were sitting on our porch getting ready to leave when a little young women came walking down the path through our yard carrying a baby. You could tell by the mother's body language that she was not doing very well. She came to me and I immediately saw that the little baby she was carrying had a severely scarred cornea in her left eye. They were both in tattered clothes and malnourished. Joy got the mom some food and I took the baby to check her eyes. We found out that the mother was a single mom- as always- and really struggling to care for her baby. We asked her to spend the morning with us and we listened to her story- as much as she was willing to share.

She says she is 20 years old but I am doubtful she is older than 15 or 16. She was living with a man that kicked her out when he found out she was pregnant. The baby was born with normal vision but 3 days after birth the eye became infected and she was unable to pay to take her to the doctor. Now 6 months later the eye is severely scarred. This young lady was one of the most heartbreaking we have encountered. I have never seen someone so beaten down. She would not look at us. She just sat there expressionless. Jaxon kept giving her crackers the entire morning. It was as though he could even tell she was hurting deeply.


I finally sent her to have an HIV and syphilis test for the baby to see if we could determine the cause of the eye disease. Then I was having her meet us at The Mission to check the baby's eyes in the clinic. I then left for a walk to see one of our projects at Dago's business where some steps were being built. On the way I bought 2 dozen freshly roasted conch to give to the workers once I arrived at the work site. After a visit there I began to walk home. I passed Jeanmoy on the street on his way to school...late. Then I had another encounter with a young mother.

This young lady we have helped in the past. We have given her bottles and formula and rice at times before. The last time she came to see Joy she tried to get Joy to take her 8 month old baby. Joy did not feel like that was the best option and felt like we should just continue to help the mother. But when she came to me she was desperate for help and again trying to get me to take the baby. I told her to meet us at the mission and let us sit down and see what we could do.


She showed up about the same time as the mother with the eye problem. Joy and I sat down and talked to her as she told us her story. At 17 she was married with a one month old baby and living in Port Au Prince at the time of the earth quake. Her husband was killed during the quake and they escaped and moved to Montrouis to live with an aunt. The aunt is unable to help with the her needs and the baby and she has no one else. She wanted to keep her baby but the baby is malnourished and she has no way of providing for her.

So there we were. Two teenage moms at their wits end ready to give away their babies out of desperation. So instead of taking the babies and raising them for the mothers to let them go back out and make the same mistakes and end up in the same situation again, we decided to take in the mothers and the babies. For a specified period of time they will live at The Mission and help with the daily tasks there. We will help them with their basic needs and disciple them in being good mothers and how to find God's plan for their lives. So Joy fixed up the purple girl's room with beds and a place for the babies and it was...right...and good. We loaded them in the bus and went to their houses to get their things. One of the mothers was sleeping in a mud hut on the dirt floor with her baby. Just seeing how she was living broke our hearts even more. We are so thankful for the chance to impact these young ladies and their babies. Please keep them in your prayers.

The same day...we had a call about a 14 year old boy that we had met the week before that is an orphan locally. His mother and father both died and he was living with an uncle. The uncle was beating him and now we found out the uncle accused him of stealing some money and kicked him out into the street. So the next day he came over and we let him spend the night. Then yesterday he went to PAP with us and we spent the day talking and sharing. So today we moved him into The Mission and moved one of the guys into a room with him. His nick name was Ti Kabrit which means little goat in kreole. He hates it but that is what everyone calls him. The people he was living with after his uncle kicked him out did not even know his real name. We call him Aldilson...his real name. He is so happy to have a place to live and a bed to call his own. Baz- one of our staff guys- is his room mate and mentor at The Mission. Keep them in your prayers too.