The past several weeks have been busy and have flown by! While there have been lots of highlights--including securing an incredible grant for a breakfast program for Hope For Life Children's Home--I was hugely blessed to have my dad and stepmom down here last month! They came with three guys from their church, Dotson Memorial Baptist--Sean, David, and Don. We had a wonderful time together!

I felt like a travel agent and event planner scheduling their days while they were here. We were able to see a lot and get quite a bit accomplished during their trip. I think a highlight for everyone was the time spent at the children's home. They knew that those kids have my heart and so I know my parents especially were eager to meet those special kids. The other guys fell in love too. Little Olrich quickly became Don's buddy!

The guys wanted to try and knock out a construction project and Kelly was excited to do some crafts with the kids. The activities pavilion including the storage area have had a bit of a makeover already this summer--with money raised from many of you to put a floor down and build up some walls. The floor and walls still needed finishing so they sent down some funds before their trip to get that done. Thank you! And then while they were here they built some great and helpful shelves that my dad designed especially for the storage area space. They knocked those out in just a few hours and had Pastor Jean Marc's Haitian buds working right alongside them. Such a beautiful sight! Meanwhile, Kelly did a number of crafts with the kids including some adorable picture frames with custom photos of each of the kids to put in them and a bag with buttons she sewed on for them. The guys also took turns telling Bible stories and had the kids act out the story of Abraham and Isaac. And as if that we're enough, they also built an outdoor shade space area that I think the pastor is now turning into an outdoor classroom! :)

We attended two churches while they were here. One was the church on the children's home property and the other was Pastor Benois' church. Pastor Benois has been a friend of mine for over a year now. He's an incredible man of God and I've been blessed to get to know him even more since being back this year. He has such a heart for evangelism and discipleship and I thought my dad's group would enjoy spending some time with him and learning more about his ministry. Indeed they did. Church with him was a bit interesting as our tender ears are not exactly used to the blaring sound system of some Haitian churches, but we shared a sweet time with him on their last day, prayerwalking around his neighborhood, sharing about Christ with those who were interested, and encouraging the believers we met.

We also visited two other organizations, Family Health Ministries and myLIFEspeaks. And they spent a day seeing CNP's programs--our nutrition clinic in Leogane and then we took a wild ride up the mountains to see our fixed clinic in Ti Harpon and a Hearth session in Belloc. They loved being up in the mountains--I thought they would. The air was cool and breezy. And they found a bunch of young boys (and one girl) and took the opportunity to share some Bible stories with them. They had them acting out a skit about Zacchaeus wanting to see Jesus. 

It was a great week and a special week! My only complaint is that it went by too quickly! It is always a special blessing to me when those closest to me are able to come and experience a bit of where I'm serving and meet the people and see what I see on a regular basis. I think this goes without saying, but I love Haiti and those I'm working with and trying to help and so to share this country and these people with the people I love most from home means a lot to me. It's an encouragement and it also means that from now on when we email and talk on the phone and I mention this or that or this person or that person, they know what and who I'm talking about... and that's such a nice connection to have with my family and friends back home. So THANK YOU for taking the time and more to come down here and meet and experience Haiti and the special people here! I hope you'll have the opportunity to come back soon!!