Many many many thanks to the Licking Valley Church of Christ for designating their Thanksgiving offering towards funds needed for a Pavilion on the Invest Hope property in Peredo, Haiti!

They have given us a great start with a donation of $5600!

David is currently in Haiti visiting his family and doing work for Invest Hope. He called today and reported he had a meeting with our loan program participants and also with the School Match Savings program participants. I have to admit I am a little jealous he is getting to hang out with our friends and staff and eat some good Haitian food! But I am glad he is getting to spend time in his country with his family around this Christmas season. He had not been home since February so this trip is a much needed break for him. 

 David called and put me on speaker phone and I talked to our loan program participants! I can not tell you how much I miss these women. They are doing really well and anxious to receive new loans in the future.  I was worried how the repayment of loans might diminish once David and I left Haiti. However, the repayment rate has remained very high! I am so proud of them. 

We have raised the money needed to put a security wall around Invest Hope property! Early next year David will go to Haiti to oversee this project.  Thank you all for your continued support of Invest Hope and helping the people who live in the village of Peredo. They truly appreciate it and need it.

We are now raising the remaining amount of funds needed for the Pavilion which is to be built on the land. David is getting an estimate on building and labor costs while he is in country and will bring back the report.

 If your church or organization are interested in hearing more about this project, please email me at ginnyandrews@hotmail.com. 

It's that time of year...

For VBS and church camp of course!

David and I are signed up to be the missionaries at several VBS's and a church camp week this year.

We started out with Heath Church of Christ's VBS and it started with a bang! One day there were 229 kids in attendance! Thank goodness they had plenty of volunteers to help!

The kids learned how Haitian kid's chores differed from theirs.

David is showing them how to hand wash clothes.

 

Here they are practicing carrying water on their heads.

Amazing how much the kids loved these simple activities!

Here are the "Helping Hands" ladies!

Abby, Molly and Rosemary

 Here is the 5th and 6th grade class in front of their "Helping Hands" wall.

They memorized scripture all week and instead of earning prizes,

they earned items to send to Haiti to help kids go to school!

First week of VBS is all wrapped up and we are looking forward to a

couple more this summer!

Thanks Heath Church for the opportunity to teach your kids about

the things INVEST HOPE is doing in Haiti!

He's here!

Olan Page Andrews-Barreau made his appearance on April 1st. He weighed 9 lbs 1 oz and was 21 inches long. 

Omri is being a great big brother.

Thanks for all your prayers for a safe delivery.

Attention Amazon users!

Did you know Invest Hope can earn 0.5% of your purchase from Amazon? Through their program called Amazon Smile, you can sign up and help us earn money for microloans in Haiti at no additional cost to you!

Go to  https://smile.amazon.com/about  For more information.  You do have to start from the page www.smile.amazon.com for us to receive the donation. But Amazon guarantees you will find the SAME products and SAME low prices you find on www.amazon.com. Invest Hope can benefit from this little extra step in your shopping!

Search "Invest Hope" and choose our non profit listed under "Newark, Ohio" location and spread the word around to your friends!

Adoption update

Our family has been celebrating with each other over Skype the past couple days...

Odessa's petition to enter the US as my legally adopted child has been approved! This is what we have been waiting on since October!

There are still some additional housekeeping papers to be completed before her visa is issued...but we are still celebrating! And thankful. Thankful for all your prayers and words of encouragement.  And most importantly, thankful to our God who listens, calms and loves our Odessa more than we ever could.

Water project Finished!

Well...it has been for over a month now. I am so behind in blogging! 

Through a partnership with Hungry for Life Canada, Invest Hope worked with the community of Peredo in providing a water system using a natural spring in the mountains. Local community leaders came to David and I years ago asking for help in accessing clean water. Although we had no idea how to fund the project let alone complete it, God did! And although it took several years to find a partner, it did happen.

The community themselves put in A LOT of sweat equity into this project. My husband, David, managed the project and transported most materials from Jacmel to Peredo (an hours drive on rough terrain). 

Below are some pictures of the project and the Haitians working on a project in their own community that they and their families are now directly benefiting from!

Note: there is one Cistern at the source of the spring, 3 kiosk stations where people bring buckets to fill with clean spring water, 10 direct lines into yards of families.