Merry Christmas!

"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10, 11

"Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace amonth those with whom he is pleased!" Luke 2:14

On behalf of all the staff at Adoration we would like to Wish you a Blessed Christmas as we celebrate our Savior's birth

Demolition

After we had our Christmas Program at the school Randy and the guys decided that vacation time was as good as any to get rid of the car port at the school. This car port was a little bit a hazard as it would shake if anybody walked on it but we also wanted to take it down so that we can level out the playing field to make more room for the students to play. So Randy rented some BIG equipment to get the job done.

Cadeau and Guerdeson would like you to think that we used these BIG machines to get the car port down....But in reality it was these ones And a typical job site... 5 supervisors and 1 person working

Au Revoir Car Port! Now we have a big field of dust... but thankfully a team is coming in February to help us concrete it all and fix it up nicely. We are eagerly looking forward to that.

Adoration's Christmas Program

On Sunday afternoon we were able to gather with teachers, students, parents and friends to celebrate Christ's birth as well as award students for a job well done in the second controle. The students put on a beautiful program, singing Christmas carols, reciting poems and acting out a drama. Randy was also able to share a short message with everyone on the angel revealing the SAVIOR to Joseph. Afterwards awards were given out to the top student in each class as well as to the student who put forth a lot of hard work. Also students who were never late or absent in the second controle were awarded. And to end it off the students and parents met with their teachers and were given their report cards and we had a time of fellowship with cookies and juice. What a blessing to celebrate Christ's birth with the Adoration community. Below are some of the highlights of the program

Kim welcoming students and parents Randy sharing a devotionThe Special Education program performing their dramaThe Grade 3 class reciting a poem Kindergarten students taking in the programAschelly resting after her big performanceMarline, Node and myself relaxing after the program

Christmas Vacation

The school year for this year is Fini! The students finished their exams on Thursday and today the teachers have to hand in their report cards. Sunday we will have a Christmas program, that the students have been practicing very hard for, and we will get the opportunity to celebrate, with our students and their families, Christ's birth. We are looking forward to that.
During the next two weeks Maia is going to miss her friends!

Baby Carle

Our grade 3 teacher, Alix, and his wife were blessed with a beautiful baby boy last weekend. They've named him Carle and he is cute and healthy. Kim, Maia and I had a chance to visit the family last week and meet baby Carle.

The Gift of Education

Looking for that perfect Christmas gift this holiday season? How about sponsoring a child in Haiti? At Adoration Christian Center we currently have about 200 students that need sponsorship. 120 of those students attend École Chrétienne Adoration and the other 80 are sponsored to go to other schools, either secondary school or a school geared to a specific special need. Right now only 141 of these students have a sponsor which means that we need 59 more sponsors.

When you sponsor these children you are giving them a chance at life. All of these students come from difficult living situations and probably wouldn't be going to school if it wasn't for the sponorship program. But because people have chosen to sponsor them they are receiving an Christian education. Our secondary students are receiving weekly Bible training as they attend a Reformed Bible Study led by the Pastors of the Presbyterian church. They are also learning responsibility as they come in once a week a clean the school. Their education is important to them too and so they put forth the effort to ensure that they continue in the program.

So are you interested in sponsoring a student? It's only $30 Canadian each month and that provides a child with a uniform, books, meals, class trips, and a Christian education. For more info or to sponosor a child check out CDIA's website http://www.cdiacanada.com/

Vehicles

I thought I should post about our frustrating vehicle situation, at least it was frustrating but things are starting to look up.
Our vehicle, vehicle #1, has been in the garage since Oct 6, so friends of ours kindly lent us vehicle #2 since they had just bought a new vehicle. But while we were borrowing vehicle #2 it had to go in for a wheel bearing change, no biggie, but it ended up being a biggie because the axil was actually broken! So vehicle #2 is out of service as well. Our co-worker, Kim, has a vehicle but her vehicle decides to break down the same time as ours so we are left with Randy's motorbike.... Maia does not like riding on the motorbike (nb we DO NOT take Maia on the motorbike). Thankfully we have these great neighbours who lent us vehicle #3 which we are using and enjoying and then we find out the insurance is up... no more vehicle #3 and we are back to the motorbike. But as of yesterday there is a good twist, Vehicle #2 is fixed, vehicle #3 is returned to the proper owners and we are still waiting (patiently) for vehicle #1.

Let the Games Begin!

We started our first basketball intramural tournament with our secondary students yesterday. Randy and some students made the teams and the schedule this past week and Monday they painted the lines on the court with the help of some more anxious secondary students and yesterday was the first official day. We have 36 guys playing and 20 girls playing, 6 guys teams and four girls teams. The games are happening every Tues and Thurs afternoon starting at 2:30. Yesterday there were big crowds and lots of excitement as the first games got underway. Twas exciting indeed!

And...

Maia training for Harvard

fRieNdS

Putting Right Along

Since the medical team left us we have putting right along with life. We were able to enjoy a spiritual retreat with the CRWRC here in Haiti, enjoying the beauty of Haiti, spending time in God's word and fellowshipping, it was a beautiful time! When we got back from that we were once again struck with some kind of bug, both Randy and I took a few days to recover from the nasty little bug and now we are getting right back into the swing of things. Thursday we celebrated Amercian Thanksgiving, one of the plus' to living here - double turkey dinners! We do have much to be thankful for, it was nice to gather with friends and remember all the good things that the Lord has done for us.

And while we've been putting along with life we have been encountering some tough stuff. People who are have been hurt and are broken, and sick.... it's hard. Life is tough. Please keep these people in your prayers, the Lord knows their names. Pray that they may be touched and healed and that their lives may once again be filled with hope.

Bye Bye!

Well the medical team has packed up and gone home. Thank you Uncle Hank, Karon, Samantha, Deanna, Jackie, Andrea, Sarah and Kim for giving of your time to serve here in Haiti. We know that you were a blessing here and we pray that you were blessed as well. Maia is missing having you all around as there is really not much entertainment anymore while she eats her brekkie and supper.

The advertisement on the door for the clinic at Adoration
The "pharmacy"Moms and babies waiting for their medication. Some ladies in Canada knitted and donated the little teddy bears for the children, they LOVED them.One little boy proudly holding his and his brothers teddy bears.While glancing through all of the pics that the medical team took I found a few of Maia, enjoying life, that brought a smile to my face...

More Medical Happenings

On Friday the day was spent in Croix des Bouquets out in a small church. Again 200 patients were seen and cared for. Here are some pics of team members seeing patients ...

Group Picture up at Fort Jacques

Medical Team

well... we haven't been very good about keeping you updated on the medical team but hopefully this post gives you a good idea of what they have been up toThe Medical Team has arrived... a couple of days ago now already... and has been hard at work first around the Delmas 31 area registering patients, assessing patients, diagnosing them, prescribing them meds, packaging meds and distruting meds. They've had some big clinic days, the first two days being at Adoration School seeing about 200 patients as well as doing 10 minor surgeries. And yesterday they were out by Delmas 10 at Pastor Leny's church running a clinic where I think they saw close to 300 patients. We pray that the medical treatment that was received will be blest - that the patients will be healed from their sicknesses and relieved of some of the pain that they deal with day in and day out.

I should introduce you to the wonderful doctor, nurses and paramedics that we have with us. Uncle Hank Scholtens, Samantha Jongsma, Deanna Oosterhoff, Andrea Hopman, Sarah Otten, Karen Gazeindam, Jackie Schakel, and Kim Hutten. They are a fantastic team who are doing an incredible job and we are having a lot of fun hosting them.

Today they were out a little ways seeing patients in Bon Repos. It was a clinic of 200 patients in a church associated with Pastor Leny. Although the church was a little furnace - tin roof - the team persevered through the heat and were even done earlier than usual. Only one more clinic day to go tomorrow in Croix des Bouquet tomorrow and then their clinical week here in Haiti is done. They've seen some tough stuff this week, some heartbreaking cases and some people who really have it tough. Our prayer as a team is that through the small amount of time they were with us in the clinic they felt loved and cared for and we pray that the medication may ease their pain and suffering.