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Tree News “Reduced Calorie” labeling would not impress here. The average Haitian food shopper prefers to maximize calories per dollar spent, therefore their choice foods are drier and denser than what would be chosen in the USA. Bread, potatoes and squash tend to be dry. Haitian corn on the cob is so mature it is hard to chew. So we focus on high yield, high calorie, health promoting new fruits to improve the diet. Bananas, breadfruit, mango and peach palm are a few that look the most promising.
The new Ma’afala breadfruit should start fruiting this year. The “mother plants” remain too small to yield as much propagating material as we would like at this time. Cory shows the owner of each new plant how to make their own cuttings and produce more trees. [Tree pictured below one year after planting]
Beautiful peach palm trees [pictured on right] are growing like weeds on the campus’ hard clay soil. Some will be 4 years old this year so they could start producing soon. Fruit can be prepared to eat by boiling in salted water.
Read about one of the new introduced mango, Choc Anon on the blog.
Some of the disease resistant banana varieties we distributed over the past few years have done exceptionally well, producing good sweet crops even where the local varieties barely survive. A couple varieties of cooking banana produced well but are not as tasty as the local variety, limiting their use. A few turned out to be unproductive. We do not plan to buy more banana plants but will depend on the plants on campus and scattered across North Haiti to multiply.
Four more local families have prayer partners.
Eli’s testing and Anna’s dental extractions went well
Miles of safe travel connecting with our team!
LaGonave hospital & NGO meetings.
PRAYER REQUESTS
•Haiti Teams/Visitors:
Travel, projects
Eli & Anna: school
• Rain for the gardens.
Medical Ministries: increase spiritual impact
LaGonave Hospital:
Leadership, building, goals
Health & Agricultural books. Translations.
Propagation of thousands of breadfruit trees.
Finding additional land / partners for trees & plants.
Haiti Adoption Policies
Five families need prayer partners
Health Book
In two year’s time over 9,000 Creole health books moved from shipping boxes into Haitian homes. Nearing the end of the supply we look forward to publishing a new edition of the book. We plan to simplify and correct the Creole by partnering with our French teacher, and add an appendix which will contain a few new topics before reprinting.
Book Two. Natural Medicine / Agriculture.
The work on the second book continues slowly. College students and agricultural missionaries need to divide their days between many areas, reducing the time spent sitting at computers or editing. Despite time limits the second book continues to take shape. Hearing a couple of stories about the positive impact that the first book made motivates us to complete the second. Good nutrition remains the foundation of good health. Good health allows people to effectively accomplish the tasks that God put them on earth to do.
Children’s Book.
A children’s book author, after hearing us speak this fall in Michigan, proposed we partner with her to translate her book Eternity Express into Creole and print a few hundred copies for the Haitian children. This book explains in simple terms how to accept Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior. The now completed Creole translation is being incorporated into a new bilingual edition.
Additional Fauche Campus Building & Projects
The campus often rings with the sounds of hammers these days with the rebuild of the church occurring as well as the building of a campus bookstore right across the driveway from the church. The Thede house now holds solar panels capable of producing about 2 Kw of power under full sun. This provides daytime electrical power for our house, the school, clinic and pumping water while charging batteries to power our house and the clinic at night.The His Hands Team will work on cabinets, volleyball judge stands, some landscaping, school and helping Cory. March’s Warsaw Team plans to do some ministry with the local children as well as some school projects. Thank you Teams and the Home Teams who supported their trips!
The start of the Book Herder Library.
Some high schools in the USA require students to chose and develop a project to benefit others in their community as part of a well rounded education. Eli chose to develop and organize a library for the Fauche students [children and adult literacy] to encourage learning and expand horizons.
In September he supervised a bookmark project that consisted of printing, having local children color, and then laminating the book markers. During our visit to the USA Eli explained his project to friends, family and supporters and used the book markers as thank you gifts for donations. With these funds he located and purchased on line some French books as well as visited a Christian book store near Port au Prince in December.
A bookshelf in the Dearest House will be the ‘library’ once Eli sets up a schedule. Children, literacy students and pastors will be able to come and check out a book. The library contains a few books in Creole and English as well as French. People and language skills will be needed as he educates on proper book care, timely returns, and responsibility for other’s belongings. Please pray for Eli as he works to monitor the book loans and maintain the library.
Cory Anticipating: Harvest of new mangos, breadfruit & peach palm.
Prayer: teams, translations, ministry opportunities
Kris Anticipating: teams & visitors, ministry opportunities, family time, school days.
Prayer: Translations, school, character shaping & growth.
Eli Anticipating: teams & visitors, school, soccer and reading good books.
Prayer: Writing and language skills, Book Herder Project.
Anna Anticipating: visitors including grandparents, turning 12, and travel to LaGonave.
Prayer: school, attitude, volleyball and French.
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