When Jose & I got married in Haiti in 2001 – instead of wedding gifts –  we asked for our friends & family  to make tax-deductible donations to our housing fund. We lived with my parents while I was finishing nursing school just so we could put every penny we had towards that house.

Throughout our 10 years on that campus – we took in over 17 children. One of the rooms –  we used for little children that needed IV’s or extra medical care. They would often live with us from a few days to a few weeks. I had babies in incubators inside my bedroom! We had a room for my parents to live in. We filled the other rooms with children that we now call our own! Our home was always full of people – both Haitians & Americans! We hosted special dinners & devotions and small groups with missionaries & Haitians! We LOVE to host! It was the hang-out place for the interns & even many of the missionaries.

When we moved to the Mole we were unable to take our home with us! That concrete just isn’t easy to move! 🙂

We have spent the last 3 years renting a little complex here in Mole – which included our apartment, the group kitchen, Miss Beth’s room, the school room, the group’s eating area, & a small dorm.

Our complex is actually pretty dangerous for our children as there are so many steps & unsecured areas where they could fall off the roof. Asher has already gotten stitches from one of these falls. Since it’s not our home – we are unable to fix those things to make it better. We have dogs that go through our trash every night – dogs that bark all night long outside our windows – folks who often like to just “look” inside our windows as they walk down the path beside our bedroom. There are leaks when it rains –  and windows & doors that are falling apart. Seven of our children sleep in one room. Honestly – it really is SO depressing to live here. Yet I know we are blessed to have a roof over our head no matter what.

We have already been told that this year’s rent which is due in May will be $15,000.00. For that amount of money we could build our own home.  We desperately miss our own home. As missionaries we have very little. Our home in St. Louis was the only thing we could call our own. After a hard day of ministry – it was nice to be able to just walk into our home & find rest. It gave us just a few moments where we could not think about the suffering around us and just breathe.

We want to live on the property where all our programs are. We need to be by the abuse center & medical clinic  – especially at night. I already have countless women who come to me with their children asking for a safe place to sleep while their boyfriends/husbands calm down. Because of the culture that we live in – this will need to be ran by Americans for the first several months. They need to know that we can keep their secrets and protect them.

We need to be on the property so we can make sure that all the programs are running with excellence. We want to be closer to the church & the orphanage & the school. We have plans to build an elderly folks program so we can care for those that live on the streets. We want to be there to offer quality control in every aspect of ministry there.

Right now we have the ability to move everything in our complex over to the property – using the cafeteria for teams to eat out of & using a few rooms in the school as a dorm. But our family & Miss Beth have NO place to go.

When we go to speak at Churches or with teams or other organizations –  we never feel comfortable asking for ourselves. We know there are so many needs in Haiti.

The mission simply doesn’t have the funds to continue renting & we are DESPERATE to get our home built before the rent is due this May. I know this is a MIRACLE request. It’s so big that ONLY GOD could make it happen.

We need $4000.00 to build the school room, $6000.00 to build Miss Beth’s apartment, & 20,000.00 to build our home.

Please circle this with us in prayer! Pray for God to bring a miracle to this situation!