20 Apr...2:59p

Thank you to everyone for praying that we might have safe travels today!  You got what you asked for!  (And I'm kinda glad about that!) 

Tonight, we're staying at the guest house attached to the New Life Childrens Home (NLCH) in Port au Prince (PaP), Haiti.  It's quite interesting that NLCH is located right next to the airport, and yet it's at least a 30- to 45-minute drive from the airport.  Go figure that one out!  I guess with the traffic, the top speed in PaP (if you're not walking leisurely or riding a motorcycle) is still hovering at around one mile every five weeks.  ;op

Marriam, the founder of NLCH, has been stateside this month doing fundraising and awareness outreach.  We were told by Sarah, who's been living and serving here for about a year and a half, that Marriam should be back toward the end of next week.  As such, we may get to see her when we stay here next Thursday night.

The guest house is really nice.  The four guys are in room 1 (the green door), and the six ladies are in room 2 (the yellow door).

Dinner is at 5p tonight, and breakfast will be at 8a tomorrow morning.

While we were with Sarah, earlier, we learned that this is the first year that Haiti adopted daylight savings time.  It's taken them quite a while to get the word out.  In fact, American Airlines still thinks it's an hour earlier.  Perhaps one of you reading this could call them and let them know.  They just might appreciate the info.

It was nice to hear a little bit more about the orphanage here.  Here's a brief run-down...

Currently, NLCH serves about 100 children, about a dozen of which have special needs.

Each child goes to school M-F, eats three meals a day, attends devotions every night at 7p, and goes to church every Sunday morning.

The top three child-development priorities at the home are as follows (and in this order!):

1. Discipleship in the things of God;
2. Education (through high school); and
3. Instruction in gardening, animal husbandry, and some kind of trade like carpentry, welding, electrical wiring/repair, etc.

The central thoughts behind these priorities are as follows:

1. If the children know Jesus, well...they'll live in the security of His love, friendship, provision, and training;
2. If they get an education, they'll have a much greater chance of landing a job as an adult; and
3. If they learn a trade and how to farm, even if they can't land a job, they can move to the mountains, farm, work at their trade, and, most likely, create rewarding lives for themselves.

I asked Sarah what she thought the financial need was for each of the 100 children living at the home.  She said they're working to develop a much better understanding of what that exact cost is.  After pressing her a little, she said she thinks it's somewhere around $200/child/month.  For 100 children, that's a budget of about $20K/month or $240K/year.  That figure covers everything related to running the home, paying the staff, and sending the children to school.  BTW...as most schools in Haiti are private, school costs about $400/year/child here in PaP.

Okay...I think that's all I'll write for now.

Take care, everyone...Lord-willing, I'll be back in touch soon.

In Him,

Dave

BTW...If any of you wish to leave a message on this site, please feel free to do so, and I'll read them to the team each night and morning.  Please know, though, that if you do leave a message, everyone will be able to read it!  Peace...

Oh...and a special thanks to PBK for the message, blessing, and prayer he left on my phone last night.  The team loved it, my brother!