Thank you to all who have supported us through this difficult year. We thank God to know each and everyone of you. We feel blessed to have you sharing the love of Jesus with us in the country of Haiti. Thank you for your financial support and thank you for your prayers. Together we are making a difference in Haiti.
This year has been the most eventful of our lives so far that is for sure!. The devastating earthquake in January, disaster relief coordination of the aftermath (one of the greatest human tragedy's of our time), mass trauma accidents (without enough resources), building of temporary hospital's and living quarters, building new homes for those that have lost theirs, our girls adoptions and Canadian visa's, their first trip to Canada, the cholera epidemic, the death of our girls Haitian mother (will write more on the next blog) and now election turmoil violence and blockades. We are not done yet with this 2010 year as our girls VISA's are expired and they are again stuck in Haiti until Canada issues us their passports (a delay due to election rioting). Whew. It has been an emotionally draining and character building year, but we hold on to those experiences and thank God for helping us grow through them. We thank God for creating better people out of us through the events of this year.
Despite all the death and trauma and homelessness and constant troubles the Haitian people have to endure, today was a great day of celebration. All throughout our area, people had smiles on their faces with a joy that reached their eyes and deep within their hearts. They were celebrating the birth of Jesus and thanking God for the blessings in their lives. It was a great day of hugging your neighbour and wishing them Merry Christmas. A great day of telling others how much you appreciate them and glad you are they are in your life. For so many, they are praising God for the sheer fact that they have made it through this year alive. Let us tell you in this country this year, that truly is a blessing. All in all it was a great day of friends and family and well wishes.
We pray that you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. We pray that you will not get too caught up in the materialism of the season and that you will realize how intensely blessed you are to be alive (300 000 in Haiti died this year from earthquake related deaths). How intensely blessed you are to have a home (1.2 million people in Haiti are newly homeless). How intensely blessed you are to have a job (80% of Haitian's are unemployed and the average person lives on $2/day). We pray that you realize how intensely blessed you are to have a family that loves you (there are 800 000 orphans in Haiti) and how blessed you are to be free (even the few Haitian people that get a passport still need to pass rigorous standards for a visa to enter any country in the world). We pray that God speaks to your heart this Christmas and sets a fire of intense love for Him and His people. That He will show you His purpose for your life in this world and that you will act on that. There is no greater gift than the gift of salvation God has given you through the birth of His son Jesus and we pray that you will have the courage to tell others.
We wish you the best of Christmases and a great start to 2011.
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