Thede Haiti Fall Newsletter-text.

If you would like to see the pictures and get this newsletter via. E-mail just let us know. Or snail mail. 

Summer Conferences

All four conferences on campus proceeded well. Men, women (some with children) , district leaders, and youth all enjoyed time for fellowship and learning this summer on the Fauche campus.  Helping to host included: providing electricity, water, sharing fruit and seeds, and selling trees and health books. Supporting the national Christians remains a priority of our ministry in Haiti. Encouraging to hear about how books and trees bless people in other areas of Haiti.  The National Conference and a Youth Leadership Conference followed in August at other locations. 

We enjoy getting news about the ministries on LaGonave. On October 1st, the new Wesleyan College of Nursing Science opened. The first class consists of 31 students, 20 chosen by Compassion International along with 11 chosen by the Wesleyan committee. The staff continue to work hard toward the big hospital move into the new building, hopefully in October.   Many additional projects continue involving: clean water, public library, agriculture, community health, education, dentistry and more...

We praise the Lord that the first Haitian missionaries arrived in Africa, mid-September, to serve for three months teaching and ministering in a predominately Muslim area. One of the three young men comes from the Northern District and we’ve enjoyed getting to know him over the years during his visits from seminary. Please pray for Wendel, Emilio and Edwise. 

One practical way we enjoyed supporting the work on LaGonave this summer involved hosting Dr. Bob and Marcia Vermaire.  They visited for a month of Creole study before moving to partner with the medical work.

Prayers

• Internet equipment problems.
• Adoption: for improvements in the process.
• School: Eli’s Senior year!
• Finishing the Agricultural/Natural Medicine book.
• National Elections-delayed.
• Moving the LaGonave hospital into new building.
• Language study: Especially new team members.
• Helping a team in Cap Haitian the end of October.

Praises

• Good District and National Conferences.
• New missionaries in Haiti.
• Start of College of Nursing Science on LaGonave.
• Eli accepted by Calvin College for Fall 2015.
• Three Haitian missionaries serving in Africa.
• Good rains. No hurricanes. 
• Chikungunya past peak. People slowly recovering.
• Family health after summer illnesses/chikungunya.

Celebrating 16 Years in Haiti. September 11 started our 17th year in Haiti! Major events include: Prayers. Support team. Creole. Culture. LaGonave hospital. Nurses. Moringa. A new millennium.  Anna joining our family! Date palms. 9-11 Attacks. Homeschool. The 2004 political coup/evacuation. Kidnappings. New mission team mates. Moving to Fauche. Kids Club. Bananas. Earthquake of January 2010, Health book published. Breadfruit and peach palm trees. Literacy classes. Agricultural book. Adoption Paperwork.  Hurricanes. Road blocks. Riots. Missionary Retreats. Travel. Losses. Gains.Visiting Teams. Personal growth and increased faith! More blessings than we can count!!

Creole Books

Wonderful progress made on the agricultural, medicinal plant book! Lord willing, we will be able to send the completed book to the printer in the next month or so. Cory and Met. Alert spent many hours editing the Creole and working on the context.  A team working in the mountains of LaGonave ordered 200 health books for their trip in December.  A young man who attends school in Port-au-Prince stopped by this summer to let us know that he was promoting the first book and waiting anxiously for the second book to be printed. Motivating to know that people who enjoyed the Konsey book are already anticipating the second book!

Agriculture

Several dozen peach palm trees are thriving on campus and six have bloomed. We hope for a first harvest in December. The young peach palms from seeds collected in Costa Rica in April are also growing fast now and are almost ready for field planting.

 Star fruit trees continue to attract interest. To help encourage this Cory and the guys loaded up some trees and sample fruit this summer and spent a morning at our local market. We also gave a few bushels of fruit to share with the Port Margot church members hoping that those with interest and land will plant the seeds.

Recently on market day, the guys set up outside the campus gate, selling fruit trees and health books. A couple of men working with USAID stopped in to see the nursery and gardens, being interested in agricultural projects and already working with chocolate and a few other commercial crops. They set up a time to return to show additional staff Cory’s trees. 

Starfysh reports that during their first month of operation of the LaGonave moringa garden, now “Life Garden” 200 bags of moringa powder were harvested, prepared and sold, exhausting the supply. Jean Paul Donn is the lead agriculturist for the project . He was born and raised on LaGonave and has a university degree.

January Team Kris’s folks will be spending Christmas with us but plan to extend their trip. This would be an excellent time to join us for a visit. If seriously interested and can travel for a couple of weeks around January 6-22nd, let us know. 

DEAR SUPPORT TEAM

Together we make a positive difference in this suffering world. Thanks to encouraging people like you, people can still experience  hope and courage during hard times.  Thank you. Serving the Lord with your help. Cory, Kris, Eli and Anna Thede

This and that...

Middle of the week and middle of the month. 

We enjoyed celebrating Cory's birthday on Sunday which included watching a new video for us about Rich Mullins' life. Thankfully we finished right before we needed to unplug all electronics and turn off the power due to a very powerful thunderstorm.

A repeat thunderstorm occurred on Monday night again causing us to protect all electronics. Thankfully no lightning strikes in our area.

Monday we worked on finishing up the newsletters as well as starting our school week. Cory took the completed newsletters to Cap Haitian yesterday and did some shopping.

Now will try to get out the e-mail copies of the newsletter on our spotty and slow internet! Very thankful for our faithful support team. 

With Cory's birthday and Thanksgiving in Canada being completed the season of Christmas music starts in our home. This year with family coming for Christmas week we look forward to many fun family memories.

Yesterday marked our 9th month in IBESR. So if you think in terms of a 9 month pregnancy then we've waited that long for one of the children. Still praying we receive our referral soon so we can know more about our children and pray specifically. 

Cory took his guys and a truck load of trees to the Port Margot market today to increase awareness and education about some of the new trees. 

Work on the book continues...starting to check the fonts, numbering, contents and making sure everything made it in that we wanted included. Found a few missing items that we'll now translate and edit. Getting closer!

Haiti April Update & Exciting Announcement

Prayer Requests

• Road Protests turned violent in Port Margot
• Pray for food, housing, and economic needs in Haiti.
• Scott visiting April 10-24
• Haiti improving the adoption process. http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/andlifegoeson/2013/04/08/adoption-news-5/
• Book Projects. Revision of Health book almost done.
• Cory trip to LaGonave Tuesday-Thursday week.
• Dr. Winick's dental ministry
• See Exciting Announcement.

Praises

• Good Kentwood Community Church team!
• Book Herder Grand Opening.
• New timber bamboos are growing well
• Love a Child Orphanage started over 8,000 Moringa trees.
• Progress on the Konsey book editing 
• Continued building of the Fauche church

Travel: KCC Team visits to Port Margot and beyond occurred at the beginning of the week providentially as road protests the rest of the week would have canceled all travel. Both their and Scott's international travel went well. Cory, Genner, and Scott plan to travel to LaGonave for a couple of nights. [They are having a good time after a good trip. Should be home tomorrow]

Agricultural: The defoliation from travel of the timber bamboo caused us to pray once it arrived but both types grew new leaves and passed the danger point. Cory attempted to pollinate a few vanilla blossoms and it appears that one succeeded. Six trays of baby Artemesa plants grow under the house eaves. We hope they will grow well after they are distributed to heal many cases of malaria and other diseases. Cory and the guys spent a day at Children of The Promise Orphanage near Cap Haitian landscaping a new group house with edible landscaping. [He met the new house Dad only 4 days after the family moved to Haiti and found out he went to college with Cory's sister and brother-in-law.] [Several groups recently asked about visits!]

Advice Books: Making progress on the Konsey health book editing. While there is no word yet about how to send some of the remaining books to the Dominican Republic, Cory is delivering 500 books to LaGonave this week. If things continue to move well in the next 4-6 weeks the edited book with a few new topics added will be ready to be reprinted. [2 requests in last 2 days for books]

Book Herder Project: The KCC team joined us for the Grand Opening of the Book Herder Project. The committee set up a short program to dedicate the project which included prayer, singing, a short speech by Eli, review of the rules, question and answer time and the formal declaration of opening. People can check out books on Tuesday or Thursday and keep them for 1 week. Cory and Eli also purchased 33 additional books including reference text books from the 7th Day Adventist bookstore in Cap Haitian. 

Medical: With the KCC team we once again headed out to pray for the sick and elderly. One home we revisited this time we saw a young man we'd prayed for while he was gone for testing in Port au Prince. We learned that Hugue was told he has blood cancer and needs treatment in the USA or Dominican Republic. Two other houses had good news - the lady recently released from the hospital continues to make progress and accepted the Lord, and the 92 year old blind lady wasn't home as she was feeling well enough to be out visiting neighbors at the time of our second visit. 

Dr. Winick continues to see patients but shared with the team that there is a place in Port Margot with someone who pulls teeth cheaper. Please pray for Dr. Winick as he adjusts to his dental and church ministries. He now meets with Eli once a week to work on his English pronunciation, while helping Eli's French and Creole. 

Kid's Club/KCC Team Visit: The KCC team shared the Easter story through a skit, taught a verse, worked on crafts and had a great time interacting with 5 different groups of children over 4 visits. Splitting up into two teams we also spent one afternoon visiting homes and praying. We matched a few families with new prayer partners and as soon as I organize and confirm names we will be matching a few more with KCC families. 

The team also painted a few school rooms down at the school. Although their visit lasted only one week we enjoyed this team and they encouraged the folks of Fauche. We celebrated Easter Sunday with the local church and 2 Port Margot Kid's Clubs. They visited the market, bakery, beach, a few Wesleyan churches, and Cory's garden. They chatted with our local pastor, hospital administrator, school and kid's club directors in addition to talking a lot with us about Haiti, missions, and the Lord.

 

Exciting Announcement!! Announcing a second blog! Grafting Treasures Why?? Because our family's adoption journey deserves it's own space. This blog will not replace our ministry blog and will not be updated nearly as often but we wanted a space to share specifically about this new part of our lives and prayer requests. We are waiting for our second application packet from a US adoption agency to arrive by mail.  We know this can be a many year long process with no guaranties so we covet your prayers. Want details- check out the blog.

Thank you to those who support us financially and in prayer. Thank you especially for those who prayed and supported the recent team members!

Serving the Lord in Haiti with your help,

Cory, Kris, Eli and Anna Thede

Timing

Timing. Yes timing often makes a bit difference in this life of ours: paying of bills, diagnoses of disease, when a storm hits, accidents.

Old Faithful. 

Even in this day of rapid communications timing still matters. This morning Cory's opportunity to serve came via a doctor asking him to transport a pregnant lady with eclampsia [high blood pressure induced seizures] to Cap Haitian. Timing in eclampsia means the difference of life and death both for the baby and the mother.  [Most of Haiti does not have any kind of ambulance or emergency services.]

Unfortunately by the time Cory and the doctor returned to clinic her family members could not be found as they were out looking for medications and a ride. Hard when you know medically that every minute counts to wait. In the end Cory did not drive as they located a driver but he did finance the trip.

Delay in this case to borrow the money from various family members or friends would of decreased the chances of saving the lives of this lady and child. We will likely never know on this earth if they lived or not. But we know we did our best. The kids and I prayed for her and her family-may they feel the touch of God's love today.

Thankful for our support team who enable us to be here to give assistance in a timely fashion in cases like this one.

Sunday's sermon talked about how we do not know the timing of the Lord's return so we should not be negligent in doing what we know we should be doing.  I admit I like a bit of warning before visitors arrive. Scary to think that the Lord could come at a time when I'm being more human than Christ-like. Motivation to keep working on my character!

Being intentional should help not to put off tasks that should be completed in a timely fashion. Lord, help me to not put off the tasks that need to be done today. Lord, help me not to push ahead of your timing but to wait on Your direction when I'm impatient.

Pray: Lady and family. Cory's trip to Cap Haitian tomorrow for cargo. Beth's reaction to chemo.
Praise: Able to help. For those praying for my blue mood.

Tribute to my folks.

Today my dear Dad celebrates his 70th birthday and together with Mom 44 years of marriage. WOW.
We celebrated as a family last month together but will celebrate today anyway.

I realize the blessing of having supportive parents. Good byes may be harder but we look forward to the Hellos. I sometimes say that perhaps the Lord only gave my folks two children because He knew how much prayer Todd and my families would need and our folks only have so many hours in a day.

We are in the ministries that we are because of our parents examples, prayers and upbringing. Back in the 70's folks generally did not pack up their 2 and 5 year olds for a couple week mission trip to Haiti. My dad still lives within a mile of where his mother grew up on the farm and where he also grew up on the family farm but despite generational roots my global view lead me back to Haiti. Now my children being the forth generation of my family to be impacted by this country.

 Through laughter and tears they support us. Even just in the last 13 they shared a lot of experiences with us:

• Good byes and welcomes-even if only 2 majors a year that's now over 26.
• Storms of life-hurricanes, political uprisings, earthquakes.
• Ups and downs of homeschooling and parenting.
• Miscarriage and minor health problems.
• 2004 Evacuation -which they shared in person!
• Teams
• Family Drama: including missionary family.
• Road trips. Family time.
• Sharing a house both in Haiti and Michigan.
• and much more....

But the biggest thing they share and live out as examples to each of us daily is their walk with our Lord both as a couple and individuals. A legacy and heritage that I'm so very grateful to have as my own and for my children. They touched and continue to impact deeply many people's lives with the Love of God through out the world.

Thank you Lord for my folks.

7 May Books Arrived & Patient Packs Ready

A nice Saturday morning during which we tackled the project of putting Creole Health Books in each of the patient packets that the kids and I stored this week. Cory helped too. We have almost 400 patient packets that will be divided between hospital patients, Kid's club members and pastors [to share on visits to the sick].

Cory asked John Pierre yesterday to stop in Cap Haitian and ask about the arrival of the Creole health books as he knew that 10,000+ books takes up a lot of space. John Pierre called Cory late morning to ask if he could come to Cap as the books were to clear customs that day and later they learned that the warehouse is full.

So Cory and 2 guys went into Cap. Thankfully the one mission who ordered 2,000 books could come get their boxes of books. Most of the books are being stored in a warehouse just outside of Cap while Cory brought a truck load to Fauche.

Each box holds 52 books. Cory now plans to deliver a truck load of books for LaGonave and Port the week after next. The books look great-almost identical to the first ones we had printed but cheaper so that we can sell the books here for $1 each.

Join us in prayer that these books can reach the farthest corners of Haiti, touching people with the Lord's love. We pray that the books can help to lift some of the physical suffering so prevalent in Haiti and maybe prevent at least a few deaths.

Special thank you to Wesleyan Publishing House, Wesleyan Women International, a family from the River Church, Shunem Ministries and others for helping make the second printing happen.

Thank you to ECHO's bookstore for carrying the health book for folks in the USA who want a copy or two.

[The freezer to the right is a merchant's business location while the books made a barrier in the side street. The crowding in Cap Haitian is amazing]

1 April Date Palms find home.

The week continues to wind down..as we continue to work on Newsletters and updating our Prayer Partner list.

The ankle swelling reduced with the helpful care I received and I'm beginning to space out the pain medications.

No walking on it yet and it's an interesting purple color in places. I'm hoping that this time as I'm able really rest my ankle that it will heal faster.

School went well this week.

Cory found homes for close to 60 Date palms today close to the coast where it sunnier than Fauche so they should do well. These palm trees started out on LaGonave but remained in pots.

The largest location received 21, with additional locations receiving 20, 7, 2, 1, 7.

By protecting these trees in a year or so the owners will be able to receive additional banana plants or fruit trees.

We don't know yet if the climate here will allow the date palms to fruit more regularly than it did on LaGonave.

With good conditions the trees should be able to start producing fruit in about 4 years.