On the Road to Lasting Positive Change
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings to you in the name of Our Lord and Savior: JESUS!!!
Nothing worth doing is easy! It does not matter the domain in question. Whenever one decides to do something with great positive impact, expect challenges, trouble, setbacks, misunderstanding and fierce opposition from both physical and spiritual forces to name just a few.
At Living Water we have enjoyed fourteen years of great progress in all fronts. But we have had quite a few battles to fight along the way. We are happy to report to you that God has always kept His promise to all HIS servants, which is: “I will be with you,” even unto us. And because we don’t plan on quitting, we are fighting and we will continue to fight. We will make sure that God is on our side all the way to the end.
Contrary to the newsletter we sent last month, which focused mostly on people, this one will emphasize infrastructure, without neglecting the people we are serving. Since God sent us to Highland we have come a long, long way. God has helped us overcome all the hurdles. Now we are making great progress on the school and church building for Highland.
One of the most recent decisions we made was to make sure we can work even when it is raining. When it rains you must leave the village as quickly as possible or your vehicle will be stuck for three or four days before you can get it out, if it does not rain the following days.
The Lord has made arrangements for us to hire a company to dump gravel/stone on the road for us and to use their equipment to spread and compact it as well. We got the best deal possible. We praise God for that. But they had trouble. One dump truck fell into the irrigation canal. Another one sunk into the soft ground. Every imaginable trouble came along the way. But now the job is done and we can work without fearing the rain, as it is the rainy season now. The first three pictures will give you an idea of the road construction and the progress on the school building. Those of you who have been in Highland will appreciate the changes.
Last year, when Hurricane Matthew went through, it devastated the makeshift house of our dear sister Christiane. Some people sent relief funds for Matthew. We used some of it to feed people and part of it was used to start the house of sister Christiane. And with one recent donation from my brother Paul and sister, we were able to finish the house and she moved in a week ago. The house cost about 7,000 USD. We have done our best to keep a very low profile while building this because we don’t want to attract people’s attention, thus bring about more expectation. I have yet to pay a visit to the project from start to finish. There were a few bumps along the way, but that comes with all efforts for lasting positive change.
Again this year Destinie Pierre was chosen to be the spokesperson for the student body during the 14th anniversary of the school. They did something different this year. They selected people on the spot to speak. She did an incredible job and made everyone laugh with her jokes that you won’t believe came from a 6th grader. There is still a long way ahead of us before Destinie can graduate from High School. But one thing is certain, she will turn her world upside down for Jesus. Please pray for her.
Living Water is working diligently so Haitians can proudly take care of themselves and help others as well. We have already seen great lasting positive changes in the last fourteen years, especially during the last four to five years. However on the road toward that we need to feed as many as we can and as often as we can, for the glory of God, so they can be there to be the actors of the future lasting positive change in Haiti.
Last September I met with brother Darrell Konneman. He introduced me to brother Jerry Lantz, both of Global Compassion Ministries. I think I can say that they are a partner institution of Kids Against Hunger. Out of that meeting brother Darrell and brother Jerry have agreed to help us feed a few. Last year on November 16, I believe, they delivered about 21,000 meals at Living Water. Since then those meals have fed kids in the cafeteria, cafeteria staff, church members in Gonaives and we made two distributions in Highland with those meals. They are scheduled to make another delivery to us sometime soon. Tomorrow will be better than today in Haiti. Today is better than yesterday. Those who have been coming to Haiti can testify to that. Again there is a big price to pay and I am grateful to all the organizations and individuals who have said yes to paying the price.
This month is one of the toughest months for us. We lost Papa Arnold, Gine’s dad. The funeral service was held at Living Water and a lot of people attended. I was not privileged to see him in his last hours, because I was in Oklahoma visiting with churches and friends. I shortened my trip to come do family things. While we are confident he is with the Lord, we still grieve his death. Please pray for the whole family, particularly for Gine and mom. He was a great man.
We anticipate many more kindergarten kids next school year. Part of the price to pay to train them is to build facilities. We were blessed with an offering from little kids of Stillwater, OK back in February, a gift from my brother Paul and his wife Karen, and a memorial gift in honor of brother Richard Kirkman from BCC, in Iowa. Those gifts and others have made possible the progress on the second floor of the building. Thanks be to God!
We need your prayers as we continue to serve our people here. The enemy is working hard against us. We know God is with us and that’s all we need. In your personal life, stick to Jesus when challenges arrive, you will find them at many [turning] points on your road to success. Don’t rationalize your challenges, go to Jesus with them.
May God bless you and yours,
Salonique and Team