Great article

If you work or volunteer for a Christian organization, you should read this Article.

I have been in this situation and unfortunatly, "outsiders" usually don't know anything is going on.

Newest Hope Project!

Baby boy and mama were released from the Maternity Center yesterday!

Thanks to education and encouragement from the midwives there,
especially Melinda (pictured above),

mom is successfully breastfeeding and baby boy is gaining weight!

Arriving home was bittersweet for Momma.

She was so happy to see her other children and family members.

Yet at the same time, saddened to see the storm damage to the house she lived in again.

And remember, this tree hit her in the back!

She has a broken tail bone but doctor's say will heal fine.

Invest Hope is interested in helping this family rebuild their home.

Helping. Not completely doing.

There are no men living in the house but they have cousins and nephews and friends willing to help.

Would you like to help us with funding this Hope Project?

Honestly their house was not well built in the first place. They constantly experienced leaks and had several large holes in the walls where rodents could come in pretty easy.

There are 2 adult women, an elderly grandmother and a handful of children, including Baby boy in this household.

We are using this building project as a tool to show the love of our heavenly father to them and the Hope they have if they give their lives to him!

Donations for this Hope Project can be sent to:

Licking Valley Church of Christ

1578 Dayton Rd

Newark, OH 43055

please write "Invest Hope-house project" in the memo

I'm usually not up this late bc I get up so early and the Haiti heat has a way if sucking the energy right out of ya.

But tonight I am sitting up in bed, once again scared that Odessa's adoption may not go through.

I went to Port au Prince this week to sign The last of the adoption papers to go into process here in Haiti. I was told everything was done.

Today at 11 am our lawyer called and said that IBESR ( Children's Services in Haiti) would not accept it due to my age. Current Haitian law says you have to be 35 years old to adopt in Haiti. I knew this but since word is the age law is changing next month, IBESR was going to accept our paperwork a little early.

Wrong.

And then more bad news.

Haiti has accepted the Hague Convention (which is set to go into affect Monday). So my paperwork needs to be turned in by tomorrow. As I am not eligible to adopt Odessa under those laws.

However, they don't want to accept it based on my age.

This makes Odessa's adoption impossible.  I have been waiting to be eligible age wise under Haitian law. Now another law is being put into place before I get the chance to be that age.

So tonight my head is pounding from trying to comb through laws and make phone calls trying to find a sympathetic ear.

On May 8,  2010 I became Odessa's mommy in my heart and hers.  I have kissed all her boo boo's, went to all her preschool parent teacher meetings, made sure she gets good food in a country full of malnourished people and read her bedtime stories every night.

She has brought out the momma bear in me I never knew existed, given me many more grey hairs than I already had, and melted my heart Everytime she puts her arms around my neck.

So tonight I made her peanut butter sandwich a little slower, let her play in the bubbles a little longer and rocked her long after she fell asleep.

Because there is a deadline tomorrow...

Made by the same people who have told me to wait until I meet the requirements to adopt in Haiti.

The same people who gave me guardianship 28 months ago.

So please be praying with us tomorrow.

My God is big.

Bigger than mountains and oceans.  Bigger than adoption laws and governments.

My hope is in Him.

4.3 pounds to 5.5 pounds!

Look at Baby Boy!

Some of you have asked how he is doing.

Melinda at Olive Tree Projects, is taking great care of him and mom.

Mom is breast feeding and baby is thriving and oh so cute!

The day we brought him in to The Maternity Center, he weighed 1.96 kg (4.3 lbs).

Today he weighed in at 2.5 kg! (5.5 lbs)

Continue to send prayers up for Baby Boy and Mama.

Tonight I am going to bed thankful for the small part God allowed me to play in this story and thankful for fellow missionary friends, like those at Olive Tree Projects, who have done so much to help this mother and her baby.

Post hurricane post

Thanks to everyone who has emailed and prayed for us and the Haitians in Jacmel this past week.

The hurricane hit early Saturday morning (about 2am). David and I laid in bed listening to the wind howl and objects flying around outside hitting the house.

Then our phones started ringing.

People in Peredo started calling us. The storm had hit there also and they were getting the worse of it. 

As we laid in our sturdy house, in our dry bed, we listened to our friends and the people we serve telling us about roofs getting blown off, tress crashing into houses and their gardens (aka their livelihoods) being destroyed.

I felt helpless.

The river was finally safe for us to cross (see picture! ha!) on Thursday. We left the truck on this side of the river. The water was so high that it could only be crossed on someone's shoulders.  Those of you who have been to Peredo know how wide the river was...it is even wider now.

Genio, David's cousin, had called that morning about a sick newborn. I have learned in the 4 years I have known Genio that if he asks me to come out to see a sick person, then the person is REALLY sick.

So we got there and he led us to this house.

 

 Or what was left of it anyways. The lady who lived there was pregnant and this tree crashed through the rook and hit her on the back, knocking her down. They got word to the Red Cross who contacted the UN who took her to Leogane (almost to Port au Prince) by boat.

She delivered a baby boy and they sent her home. 

I show up at her house 3 days later.

This is what Baby Boy looked like.

 

 He looked bad. He was totally lethargic and not crying at all when I was pinching his skin. He had that glazed over faraway look in his eyes. Mom stated she had breast problems and couldn't breastfeed.

I asked the question I didn't want to know the answer to.

"What have you been giving him to eat/drink?"

The answer: sugar water

For the last 3 days. His first 3 days of life.

I knew we had an hour drive back into town plus the time it was going to take us to walk back to the truck with mom and baby (about another hour). So I decided it would be better to walk into the main street of Peredo and buy some formula first.

When I first put the nipple in his mouth he chowed down like he was starving to death...because he actually was starving to death.

I called one of my missionary friends, Sarah at Olive Tree Projects and told her about the situation. She said to get them to her clinic ASAP. 

I went and visited Baby boy and mom at Sarah's clinic yesterday. The midwives are taking fabulous care of them! Here is Baby boy's picture 24 hours after getting formula.

Peredo needed lots of help before.

Now they need even more.

Here are some pics David took walking to and from Baby Boy's house.

We prayed with lots of people. We tried to give them hope.

 Haiti is still hard. Haiti is still heavy.  

But Haiti still has hope.

Baby Boy is proof of that.

 Romans 12:12

 Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times.

Invest Hope is praying about the right course of action to help the people of Peredo.

If you would like to help with the cost of helping a family rebuild, please email me at ginnyandrews@hotmail.com

On a side note...Job's house is 99% done (we just have to put in the front door and paint the house). It had no damage from the storm. Praise the Lord!