Board Chair Trains Pastors and Women’s Programs Leader Holds Weekend Seminar

RHI board chairman Alan Lutz traveled to our La Plaine mission compound in January for a weekend trip, accompanied by Linda Maphet and a new friend of our ministry — Esther Pierre. The weekend trip was very successful. Linda and Esther spend concentrated time with the orphans on Friday morning, then led a women’s seminar on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The seminar was well received and will be the first of three planned for this year alone. Esther turned out to be a real gem and a tremendous help with her translation skills and the connection she enjoys with her native Haitian people.

Pastor Lutz conducted a focused pastoral seminar on eschatology with about 60 students attending on Friday and 50 on Saturday. The January team also saw the new farmland and were thrilled to see it plowed along with the land across the road using our tractors. The new basketball court is excellent and quite a hit with the orphans and with the staff and church members as well. Alan’s team also delivered art supplies for some of the women to use in developing salable art and the handmade sundresses from Grace Owen were distributed among the girls. How very cute the girls were in their new dresses!

Church of the Messiah Reaches 75 Percent Mark of Kitchen Project Goal

We are thrilled to report that Canton’s Church of the Messiah has nearly achieved their $20,000 project goal for the purchase of a large generator and kitchen appliances for installation in our new kitchen, planned for the Haiti orphanage this year. The 44 kw diesel generator has already been obtained (at half price!) through the efforts of this team and God’s provision. The next logistical step will be to have the generator and the appliances shipped successfully to Haiti and through customs. Also, our partners at Pacific Crossroads Church in Santa Monica have caught the kitchen and dining hall vision as well and are working toward other items needed by the orphanage to operate the kitchen and the adjoining dining area. Many thanks to both these churches for their tireless and compassionate kingdom commitments to Reformation Hope and the gospel in Haiti!

HDS Vans and Mobility Complete Van Customization

Michael Dresdner and his skilled team at HDS have finished their customization of the large transport van they are donating to our La Plaine ministry. This much-needed van will be delivered to Jean Paul and representatives from RHI in a ceremony this month in Marietta, Geogia. HDS Vans and Mobility didn’t stop with providing just a practically new van to our ministry. They also obtained donations of many spare parts, extra spare tires, and numerous wheel chairs to benefit the handicapped in Haiti.

2012 Objectives: Improving Orphan Nutrition and Community Health Care

Reformation Hope will begin the Harvest of Hope agriculture project in March with the completion of the leasing agreements with the local government necessary to take possession of the land for cultivation. At the same time, Pastor Paul has obtained a small plot of land near to the orphanage for the starting of the goat farm, a project that many of you have helped raise funds to support. We hope to begin purchasing goats and placing them on this property in March. Thanks to many of you (and a lot of eager school children’s pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters) we will be able to provide both milk and meat regularly for our Haitian orphans. We have also been blessed by a benefactor from the meat supplier and shipping industry here in the U.S., partnering with an interested Haitian supplier, who are arranging it so that we are able to provide a regular supply of chicken to our children at the orphanage.

The newest opportunity before us in Haiti is now a medical clinic which will be able to meet the immediate needs of our children, church members and staff, and also the nearby community. Made possible through a confluence of a faithful and generous ministry partner and the know-how of several experienced medical missionary doctors, the facility’s services could be available as early as the fall of this year. This clinic will provide diagnostics and be connected via satellite uplink by The Haiti 10-Year Commission’s Telehealth in Haiti Project to medical professionals in the U.S. who will be able to provide accurate diagnoses and provide instructions for treatment or prescriptions for necessary medications. If hospital or other specialized referrals are necessary, these can be handled as well.