August Activities

The kids getting what we call “Ti karòl” (a sweet juice frozen in little bags, like a homemade popsicle), this was their reward for a successful morning of “summer classes”.

We love August at the HOH. The kids are off school, the difficult exams are finished, and everyone can catch a break and take a rest. Taking a rest in a family of at least 80 kids looks different than most might imagine! Activity best describes us these days. How to keep everyone busy and out of trouble is foremost on our staff and leaders’ minds.

Lately, Linda and one of our boys, Wedsen have been keeping the younger students busy with refresher math and grammer instruction in the morning.

Some of the older boys then fill in the afternoons with games. And as always, there is work to do to keep the house clean and in good repair. Today, I hear, there is painting going on for the ceiling tiles we replaced earlier in the year.  In any case, we are thankful for a month to catch our breath and get ready for the upcoming school year.

One of our biggest activities earlier this summer was the marriage of one of our adult kids, Agate.  She grew up at the HOH and has lived with us for many years. These past few years, she has helped out by working with our babies & little kids. Both Agate and her husband are hearing impaired, and we are thankful for the Lord bringing them together. We pray for them as they begin to build a life together in a country that has so many difficult challenges.

Jenny, Lord willing, is going to be on the road again visiting HOH supporters in and around Florida in the month of September and early October. If you are in Florida and haven’t heard from her, but would like to see her, please get in touch.

One last activity we’d like to write you about today is one we call “Koukouwouj”. It is the Haitian word for “Firefly”, and also a word kids use when playing hide-and-seek. But, at the HOH it is often used as a call for help. Whenever there is a big job that needs to be done and the person can’t do it alone, they will call out “koukouwouj” and others will come running to lend a hand.

We are at a moment where we are needing to call out “Koukouwouj” to you all, our faithful parnters in ministry. The past few years have been tough financially. The expense of keeping the HOH going has risen dramatically; due to the difficult situations going on in Haiti. God has been so faithful in providing for us, and we had some reserve that we were able to draw on. We no longer have that and now really need help to try and just make ends meet. We remain confident in our good and loving Father to take care of our needs and ask that you all keep this as a matter of prayer alongside us.

If you are able to help financially with this need, please send gifts to ER International (marked for House of Hope). Online giving instructions can be found here. And checks can be made out to ER International (or ER Canada) and to:

ER International: PO Box 345 Snellville, GA 30078-0345 USA 

Extreme Response Canada: PO Box 1013 Simcoe, ON N3Y 5B3 Canada

Maybe you aren’t able to help in that way, but you can help us either pray or cry out “Koukouwouj” to others who might be able to help as well! Thank you for the way you partnered with us so faithfully. We are blessed to have each one of you!