Sacred Work of their Hands

It is amazing to watch the Trade School grow!  I am not talking about a building but the community of artisans that continue to expand.  Last month a new “guild’ was formed.  This one using fabric…fiber art. This is the fourth guild, following the Jewelry, Journals, and Baskets.  The women are SO EAGER.  As soon as we set a general design, the work floods in.  Each one has their own style and flair with color.  We are in the process of creating some truly artful pieces…soon to be revealed!  This is a dream come true — to watch women literally walk out of desperate poverty by the sacred work of their hands.

Medical Provision and Needs

Our nurses Keziah Furth and Grace Deal (pictured above) have joined Martha Hanna to work side by side with the local doctors and nurses in the Providence Hospital here is Gonaives.   In our meetings with the director of the hosptial he has suggested that we focus on the ER.  On Jan. 14, Dr. Cupo (an ER doc from Brunswick, GA) will be here to lend his expertise!  It is our goal to be a help in real tangible ways.  The Emergency Room in the hospital is in need of the following basic items: fans, chairs, thermometers, trash cans, a nebulizer, oxygen tanks, regulators and tubing, blood sugar monitor (gloucometer), scissors, gloves, and bandage supplies.  All of these items can be purchased here!  For those who would like to invest in helping with these needs, please note “medical supplies” with your contribution.  Thank you!

St. Simons teenager teaches Haitian women to make Christmas ornaments

St. Simons teenager teaches Haitian women to make Christmas ornaments
Article from Jacksonvill.com by Terry Dickson

ST. SIMONS ISLAND – Most teenagers who won $1,000 in an essay contest would shop for iPads or maybe finance a ski trip. Althea Cupo, 16, used part of her winnings to fly to Haiti and teach impoverished women to make Christmas ornaments of glass and copper wire that they can sell. It’s hard to call any trip to Haiti anything but a mission, and Althea’s started months earlier when she took a class in cabochon, jewelry made from glass beads. She used the cabochon skills to make jewelry that she intended to sell at the former Much Ministries store in Waynesville, where owners Kathy and Beaver Brooks raised money to send to Haiti.

To read the entire article, go to http://goo.gl/MhrJP

Real Leaders

Back in the summer, I began praying for one “servant leader” among the women in the Marketable Art Guild.  A young wife and mother, Mafi emerged .  She has been a friend to me and a respected leader among her peers (who happen to be a strongly opinionated group of women).  Recently, some money went missing that I had left in her care.  It was a fairly large sum of money in Haiti.

Mafi was deeply disturbed. She insisted on paying me back for it. I said, “No. You will not.”  I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that she did not steal it.  We talked for a while and she said, ever so humbly, “Mama Kati, in order for us to have a real friendship, a strong friendship, I have to pay this money to you.”  So, I conceded.  Wow. I was blown away. Integrity!  I’m so thankful that God has shown me who the real leader in our group would be.

A similar thing happened with Benson, the young man who leads a group of 10 in building the Journals.  I nearly over payed him by about 30 US dollars on the last order.  He stopped me and corrected my math.  Thank you God for bringing us these folks to work with!

The truth is that in our community stuff does get stolen.  Last week, an iPod went missing. It was so dis- heartening because we were fairly certain who took it.  But, as they were confronted, an unpleasant scene evolved, and it was just sad. I prayed that God would show us what to do.  I  ended up in Romans 12 — Never avenge yourselves.  Leave it all to God.  Feed those who steal from you and try to help them in other ways.   Wow!  That is so easy to read and so hard to live! But, it is the way of the kingdom.  The only way of life.  So we follow! And yes, we sent food.

Love your neighbor

Slowly we are focusing on “love your neighbor as your self,” but as you know poverty here can make it challenging.  However, love can overcome the obstacles.

Who do we invest in?

When we came to live and work in a nation with overwhelming needs, we asked God, “Who do we invest in?”  We have a constant flow of people asking and a myriad of others that don’t ask, but we can feel hunger all around.  How do we know who to help?  It seemed God said, “the ones who have been faithful with what they have already.” If we invest in them, the entire community is blessed. We have found that to be true. Likewise we aim to be faithful with every small thing God puts in our hands and to use every resource we have from a bag of shells given to us by a 10 year old child in Jubilee to a financial  gift sent electronically through PayPal.  We are everyday grateful for the privileged of living and working here in Gonaives, and we give thanks to God for the support we receive.

The Power of Knowledge

We have never been more aware of the difference knowledge can make.  In the last 10 weeks, we have literally seen lives saved as those with knowledge and training have come to share.  So much needless pain and suffering has been relieved! A huge “thank you” to Martha Hanna as she wraps up this week the Community Medical Classes, CNA training, and her classes at the Gonaives Nursing School. Please pray for Martha and the rest of the team here that are headed to the states for the holidays!

Journals, Baskets, Jewelry and more

JOURNALS: We are thrilled with the Journals that are being made right in the middle of Jubilee. Mr. Benson, the owner of the business, is working toward having ten full time employees. That’s HUGE! They produce each journal by hand…cutting and sewing the pages, gluing the seams and making the covers. He has saved up enough money to begin building his own workshop in his family ‘s compound, which he desperately needs.

BASKETS: We recently had our first Basket Making Class. We have fifteen students and Mr Samuel, a local artisan, is our teacher. We gathered in the gazebo with a nice breeze to begin learning the basics of cutting the plant material and the initial weaving process. I love the look on the women’s faces as they begin to see the possibilities! Mr. Samuel makes really beautiful baskets…ones that are hard to find here. We are SO thankful he is willing to teach for us. We may very well see a basket co-op soon.

JEWELRY: “bijou “Jewelry classes are going strong. We are blessed to have Jade Jacobs here helping to teach for a few weeks. These ladies are creating some amazing earrings using wire, handmade paper beads and tumbled glass. We also have some beautiful necklaces and Christmas Ornaments coming.  A HUGE thanks to Wake Up Coffee Shop on St Simons Isle and Lei Lei’s in Brunswick for carrying these goods produced in the heart of Jubilee.

Solar Lights

We have seen ads for some effective solar lights. We are presently researching the costs and best products to use here. It’d be wonderful to be able to provide light in the darkness, and maybe allow the self-appointed guards at night to get some rest!

Addison Addressed the Crowd

We recently had a “town hall” gathering in the gazebo to introduce the new guys: Josh, Isaac, Kara, Chris, and Ben. It was so moving to hear our Haitian brother, Addison, address the crowd. He talked about the day when everyone in the community felt shame and were hopeless for change. He recounted the day Emory and Mary showed up, and the time when Brian joined them. He talked about how all of Gonaives now knows that though everyone else may have forgotten Jubilee, God never did. He burst with belief that God is making something for all to marvel at here.

The crowd cheered every time he spoke the name of Jesus. It was so very moving. So very real.  Addison said that for those of us who know Christ, if we die, we die. It is no problem to die. So he does security every night around the houses. We all laughed with him when he explained that is why he has to sleep in the mornings!