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January 2008 Newsletter
I just found this in Don’s prayer book:
A New Year Prayer
I DID IT!With the support of our kids—Wendy, Perard and Linda, I did it. I made my first trip to Haiti without Don! Many of you won’t recognize those names, but in the late 70’s they were household words for Don and I in Indianapolis. Don felt strongly drawn to this little family and helped them—made sure they were eating properly, made sure they all three went to school and even moved them with their mother from Pilate to Cap Haitien so they could get their high school educations.
He worked with them, trained them in the ways of helping their people without enabling them to become dependent. They have all worked side by side with Don over the years and then gone their separate ways with Linda coming to the states, getting her medical education, marrying a wonderful Godly man and having three beautiful children while she holds a responsible position at a hospital in Orlando.
Perard has also helped in various areas over the years and is now working with us as Peacemaker and Coordinator at the headquarters, especially when Roseline is stateside to give the staff better continuity than they have had in recent years with Roseline coming to Florida and then being back in Haiti.
Wendy has been working for the past 14 years in Port au Prince. He has a wife and three children; but flew up with us while Linda and I were down there recently and has agreed to help me with the administrative duties flying up once or twice a month working with his brother.
To me this is “our kids coming home” - Don’s love reaching through the generations and showing the fruits of the labor of love to a needy family back when he was working heavy construction in Indianapolis and supporting the work in Haiti out of his own earned income.
Roseline has been working very hard, but this trip proved what I had suspected, that she was simply too young to take on the entire work load/responsibilities of For Haiti with Love. I commend her for stepping up to the plate and giving it her best while I dealt with my grief of losing Don, now I thank God for the strength and courage to take the reigns of my responsibility and getting things totally back on track. She will be doing the purchasing, the coordinating between Florida and Haiti, the travel and other things while she learns the Florida portion of the responsibilities. She has done a great job but it is simply too big a job for one so young and a female in that culture and now she has the support she needs.
Linda and Roseline work with a burn patient on Sunday afternoon.
LEGAL CHECK-UPSince Don always handled all of the legal aspects of the Haiti end of this Lord’s work, one of the important things we did on this trip was to meet with our new lady lawyer and make sure that all accounts are in order, that all government forms have been filed and that For Haiti with Love is up to date on all legal requirements of Haiti to be a non-governmental organization (ONG), to do the philanthropic work for the underprivileged.
 Mme Josette Georges
CLEAN UP—FIX UPSince the contributions have been down of late—partly because of our friends the Lord has called home and partly I believe because of the general economy, there haven't been extra funds to send down on a regular basis. SOOOO, there are a lot of things that need done around the headquarters. Most of the screens are torn or totally gone. Since there has been a lot of rain, these need repaired to keep mosquitoes out of the headquarters and the clinic setting.
Nothing had been painted since Don got sick, so they had tried to start putting the primer on the metal roof so they could paint and do the outside walls and the wall across the drive—but then Olga the storm shut that project down for a while.
There were a lot of fallen trees, flooding and mud slides from the storm, but as I write I haven't gotten a full report yet because it just passed.
Food ProgramWhen the cards were full for the families getting food, the cards had been collected and no new ones distributed. That has now been corrected and the food program is back on track for a 3 day-a-week distribution to the blind, the elderly, the malnourished mothers and others who truly need the food right now.
This lady was too old and weak to lift the food, but she was determined to get it and feed her grandchildren who have been left to her care. Don was always partial to his “old Moms.” This is a ministry that is very close to my heart. So often not only are they not cared for by their families, but they are left the responsibility of their grand children and even great grand children with no possible way to provide for them.
FORMULA PROGRAMThis project was exhausting, rewarding and at times really funny. This father was at the clinic to get formula for his 4-month old whose mother has typhoid and cannot nurse her. She was added.
Another situation was a very well endowed mother whose baby started crying, she immediately started nursing the baby who settled right in and we were to believe that this lady needed formula? Roseline just nudged me and said “see that show and tell?” We had a situation where the mother had milk but the baby just refused to nurse—someone had donated breast pumps and Linda taught the mother how to use it to get her baby breast milk.
Thank you all!I could feel all of the prayers and know that God went before me to prepare the way. I knew the first time down would be the most difficult but there were so many needs that I was too busy to really think about it and that was a good thing.
We really need your help to get the details back in order to start taking teams again. Any extra you can spare will be a real blessing.
REMEMBER, your 2007 gifts need to be postmarked by December 31st to be deductible in 2007.
Take a moment to sign our Guestbook. Thank you!
e-mail us:  Mission Field Worker: Roseline DeHart Newsletter Editor: Eva DeHart
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