24 December 2021
During the Christmas party, the school staff put on a skit incorporating realities of the fuel crisis of this past year.
Dear Friends, Family, and Lemuel Supporters,
God, who is able to make a way, never leaves us stranded. He never ceases to show us that no matter the situation, He is at work. He is working through the outreaches of Lemuel, and He is working through your prayers, encouragement, and financial support that enable us to carry on each day.
I want to thank each of you for your generosity. You have made it possible for us to pay our teachers so that our students can get a good education. You have made it possible for our students and staff to eat a hot meal each day—for some their only meal of the day. You have made it possible for us to invest in the lives of youth and kids through our Fòmasyon activites. You have made it possible for us to daily invest in our leaders and staff, both on a spiritual level and a practical life skills level. You have made it possible for us to continue digging rainwater catchment holes that have sustained thousands of people through an increasingly tough drought.
Work being done in one of the newest water holes.
Did you know that our water holes are bringing glory to God? Each time I visit the work site where a group of men are digging out new holes near the ones currently full of water, I see men driving their cows to water, women taking their laundry to wash, and children with bucket-laden donkeys going to get water for the day. When they see me they all say, “Thank you, Mèt Manis, for these water holes. If we did not have this water, what would we do?” And each time I tell them, “Give your thanks to God. Were it not for Him, I would not be here. It is His love that has brought me here and His love that has shown me how to help you. Give glory to Him!” And I often hear them doing just that.
The news coming out of Haiti today is discouraging—political crisis, kidnapping crisis, economic crisis, health crisis, drought crisis, hunger crisis, gang crisis…just crisis after crisis. Most young people are looking for any way out—willing to put their own lives at serious risk for the possibility of escaping the dark future they see ahead of them in Haiti. Recently, a family close to us lost five extended family members when their boat capsized off the coast of Providenciales. They had been living in Port-au-Prince and were pushed out of their home by a gang. After months of moving from place to place, living with friends and with no hope of getting their feet back under them, they decided to try to get to another country. As the saying goes here in Haiti: “In searching for a life, they lost their lives.”
But God has been so gracious to us in our community. We are grateful to have peace and to be able to continue to function. It has been a difficult time economically and stressful whenever we have to travel to the cities for supplies, but God has provided for us to be able to continue to manifest Christ’s love in reaching out to our community. We are so grateful!
I cannot count the number of young people who have told me that if Lemuel were not here, they would probably be in a gang or would have tried to leave the country—possibly losing their lives in one or the other. This makes me want to invest in them even more to help them find ways to make a life for themselves with dignity and honesty and then to be able to help their families and their community as well.
Thank you for continuing to stand with us in this. We desperately need your prayers and so greatly appreciate your notes of encouragement and financial support of our work.
May the amazing love of God that we commemorate in this Christmas season shine through each of us into the darkness of the hurting world around us.
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