Building Hope

Hope. Such a simple word for something that causes the human heart to soar above the harshness of reality.

We couldn't live a day without it. God gives us hope for our eternity and his selfless missionaries offer hope for tomorrow.

The Arkansas team got down and dirty today repairing a bridge pad in Darbonne. Every step taken toward rebuilding lives and replacing lost property offers hope. I thank God for these dedicated workers who left the comfort of their everyday lives to be God's hands and feet amid this heat, filth, and despair.


Ever Hopeful,
Roody

Reflecting on God's Love

Children all over the world are precious but there is just something about the children here that captures the heart. Missionaries from all over the world melt when they look into the expectant eyes of Haiti's children - so sad yet hopeful at the same time. It's difficult to explain but I never tire of watching the open, reciprocated love that shines through whenever missionaries and the children come together.

The kids at the orphanage have no toys or play equipment so they were thrilled to have the chance to just be kids as they shared laughter and games of soccer and Frisbee with the huffing and puffing adults from America. Several of the children opted out of playing and chose, instead, to quietly snuggle into loving laps.

All of these activities were enjoyed by both the missionaries and the kids. Although balls and toys are fun, time is the best thing we can give our kids and this was truly obvious today. You can see that the children feel valued - I know scenes like this make Jesus smile.

Tomorrow we will move onto more pragmatic things - repairing a bridge - but today we just enjoyed being loving, connected humans reaching out to "the least of these".

Reflecting On His Lavish Love,

Roody

Goodbye Living Waters Team, Hello Arkansas Team

Another really busy day! The team from Living Waters will be leaving tomorrow so I was busy closing out our business with them while also beginning to work with a missions team from Arkansas.

It will be sad to see the guys from LW leave - we have had a great time working together and I have really enjoyed spending time with them learning all about the system they installed for us.

At the same time, I am happy to have the chance to spend time with the folks from Arkansas. They have a translator with them, so I can relax and just speak English with them - it is a refreshing change from always having to translate.

Tomorrow I will drop the LW team off at the airport and then backtrack through Leogane and travel on into Darbonne where the Arkansas team will be visiting and orphanage and doing some construction work.

Signing off now to go to bed. I've had a long day today and have another one ahead of me tomorrow.

Thankful for Productivity and Rest,

Roody

Water Purification Station Inauguration Today

What a glorious day we had in Leogane today!!
After church the community came together with the dedicated team from Living Waters for the World to celebrate the completion of our partnership project - the most modern water purification system that has yet to be installed in Haiti.

I am so honored to be part of this amazing blessing for the people of this area. Having clean water will make such a vital difference in so many peoples' lives.

A special honor was to be able to meet and spend time with our funding partner, William "Bill" Mendenhall and project director, Chris McRae (in photo at right). Their dedication to bringing hope through health is truly inspiring. On behalf of Promised Provision Ministries, I thank all of the members of the team who gave up the comfort of their lives in the U.S. to toil in the filth and heat of Leogane to provide this awesome gift.

Grateful for Partners in the Lord's Work,
Roody

Thanks to Ruth McRea and Her Crew for Health Class

It never ceases to amaze me how God weaves peoples ' lives together for His glory!

We were blessed by God's linking us with the wonderful folks from Living Waters for the World who found their way to us from the U.S. They not only installed for us their first-ever state-of-the-art, solar-powered water purification system that will serve the clean water needs of about 5000+ families, but Ruth McRea, LPN, and her team also taught a health class that emphasized the use of soap and water for improved health and well-being.

The filth of the camps has increased the need for personal cleanliness about a thousand-fold. If disease gets a foothold on people living so close together in such rainy, wet conditions, something of epidemic proportions could be set in motion. Hopefully, the students who attended Ruth's class will pass on the knowledge they gained today to others in the name of Jesus.

Forever In Awe of Him,

Roody

PPM's Second Transitional Community In Progress

I write to you today with so much joy!!! There are already 28 families moved into our first transitional housing community and our second one is under way. The rest will be moving in as soon as the water and sanitation facilities are complete.

As of this coming Monday, two more of our boys (Carlos and Ted) will be employed constructing the little houses. What a blessing to have meaningful, paying work for our young men!

We are all working from sun up to sun down trying to get these places ready for the new residents. The majority of the people moving into our commnities will be single mothers, elderly folks and handicapped people. There will even be a designated play area for the children. Even though the houses are temporary in nature, for many people, the facilities here will be a big improvement over what they had before the earthquake.

Tired But Full of Praise,

Roody

Water Purification Plant Almost Complete

The group of 14 folks who came here from Living Waters for the World have been busy, busy, busy finishing the installation of this 100% solar -powered water plant. The leading-edge technology developed by Living Waters for the World specifically for Haiti is called "Solar Under the Sun". Promised Provision is truly honored to be the first recipient of this technology.

The water plant will be dedicated tomorrow. Marie Michelle (who was so instrumental in helping me deliver baby formula following the earthquake) and one elderly woman will be employed to man the plant during its hours of operation from 8:00am to 5:00pm each day. They have received training so they can troubleshoot and maintain it as needed.

Having clean water readily accessible will have untold advantageous long-term health effects in this community. Please join me in praying for the people here to take this wonderful opportunity seriously and for them to work hard to keep it operational for years to come. I am so grateful to the folks from Living Waters for bringing this dream to life and for choosing us to install their first revolutionary solar-powered system.


Thankful for His Abundant Provision,
Roody

God Always Has a Plan B

One of our boys, Edy, has been experiencing pain while working to construct the transitional houses. I had a doctor look at him and he was told that he has a pre-mature hernia. This means that he will develop a full-blown hernia if he continues to do heavy work.

As always, God has His hand on Edy. Instead of letting him go because of his inability to do the work they hired him to do, the supervisors of the project reassigned him so he can continue to earn money. He is now working with site security personnel checking ID's, ensuring that only authorized people get into and out of the work site and supplies areas, and guarding construction supplies and equipment.

God is so good ALL of the time!

Witnessing Miracles,
Roody

Busy, Busy, Busy...

It has been a while since I have provided a decent update, but things here are still really difficult(and will be for a VERY long time). I have been really busy negotiating land acquisitions for the transitional shelter communities.

Some of the large aid organizations made life harder than it should be for many smaller ministires and relief organizations such as us because they came in here with lots of money and paid ridiculously high rates for everything they purchased or rented from the local people. The result is that the local economy in many areas is so skewed that many Haitians now place such unrealistically high values on things such as their land, trucks, wheelbarrows, etc. that little guys like us can't compete.

But God is God and has His own unique ways of going about His work. He is using the facts that we are small and local to enable us to do many things the large international organizations find difficult. One such area in which we have an advantage is when it comes to securing year-long leases from property owners to use their land as transitional housing communities for the next year.

While some property owners were approached by and readily accepted the big dollar offers of the "deep-pocket guys", many folks around here aren't so ready to trust people they do not personally know. We still have the advantage of having established relationships with many people in Leogane. They trust us and know we were working alongside of their people to enhance their community long before the earthquake hit. These people are more willing to work with us and to let us have the use of their properties for far more reasonable prices than the big-money guys paid.

So far, PPM has secured two carels of land (approximately 15+ acres each) for this purpose and those properties will house 550+ families once the temp shelters have been erected and the sanitation/water facilities are operational.

At the same time that I have been meeting with my United Nations cluster groups, other aid organizations and land owners, I have still been making deliveries of Bibles and Proclaimers and witnessing to anyone who will sit and talk with me. It is so wonderful that people are willing to listen and to see lives being changed by Christ's abiding love and relentless pursuit of His people.

Well, I'm off to another meeting to discuss acquisition of another parcel of land. Pray that we are successful in obtaining leases for at least three more such properties (my personal goal, but I'll be thrilled if we can obtain more!). This is all to His Glory because there is NO WAY we could be doing any of this alone.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and for supporting me so generously. I am truly blessed to be part of the PPM family of missionaries and supporters. None of what I do would be possible without your love and steadfast support.

His Servant,
Roody