ONLY PICTURES!!!

as promised! Pictures!! they have short explanations but i have kept my ramblings to a minimum i hope you enjoy!!!

our Beautiful Library... we have floor to ceiling shelving on three walls, and just enough space to display our creative work! These posters have song Lyrics from the band Grits, My Life be Like, (ooh ahh) and Good Charlotte, The River. The kids worked together in small groups to translate the lyrics from English to Creole, and decorate the posters. Its awesome to have a place for them and be able to display all their hard work!
The kids hard at work in English class! The Library makes for a perfect fun time classroom complete with blackboard, white board, and sun filled windows, and HUGE tables for fun group work projects!!
Duck, Alex and Jacques (well Jacques' arm!) hard at work on their page for our A walk in Narnia book! thats right folks! they are reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe all in ENGLISH! having classroom discussions about the Biblical principles of the story, mostly in English! and writing, and drawing pictures for our classroom book to show the link between the story and the Gospel, also ALL in English!

Computer Class!!! All the kids of hfc are learning how to type, learning basic computer skills, and playing some fun games! We were very generously given 6 new laptops which have made lessons for all the children possible!!!The Jussaume family (Al, Joe and Pat)! with Jude and Ernso! The Jussaumes were almost half of the construction team who brought us the library and the new toilets downstairs. missing in this picture, but still always remembered and loved. My mom (Michealle) Shannon, Jean, Don and Hal.fun water balloon games with team #2!
this was one of the funnest games i have ever played!!! the kids were in teams of 6 and given a beach towel and a water balloon, the teams needed to bounce the balloon up and down on their towel without letting it fall! the first team to drop their balloon lost, and the winners received some fun prizes!
John enjoying the new Playstation 2! FIFA is the favorite game!!!



so there are our last three weeks in a nut shell!
thanks for checking in - -
love and blessings -
nikki

Back at Home!

After our short little hiatus in Thomassion at Dr. Bernards home we are back at the Orphanage now. Back to English classes, typing classes, Soccer practice and dance practice. It wasn’t until I was gone for a few days that I realized how much of my life, is now tied into these children and this life, and how much like home Bolosse really is. My first meal back with the kids, our first dance party, the first night back in my room, our first walk up to the soccer field it was like coming home. And despite the many amenities in Thomassion I missed greatly the home feeling we have in Bolosse.
I am trying super super hard not to think about the fact that I will be returning to the states in just 5 short weeks. I can not even imagine what life will be like when I am back home and without all these kids… I imagine at first it will be much like my first few days here when I was wondering what I was going to do without my parents, my friends, and my awesome sisters.
BUT! I have a plane ticket to come back, (thanks momma and noah!! I love you soooo much, and I appreciate how much you are understanding all of this!)… so to see the glass half full instead of half empty… I guess I could start counting 20 weeks until I come back, rather than 5 until I leave!!!

Blessings –
n

Visitors #3!!!

What an exciting summer it has been getting to meet so many people! But our last visitors were not strangers I haven’t met before, rather “family” I just hadn’t been able to see in a long time! Long time family friends of ours, who I have always referred to as Uncle Armand and Aunt Kathy, made their first trip to Haiti with all 4 of their biologically born teenage sons, to visit their 3 Haitian sons!!! Kathy and Armand are hosting John, Alex and Rennick, and were able to spend 4 fun filled days in Haiti getting to know their new sons! The boys, their family and myself stayed at Dr. Bernards home with some of the girls for almost a week! They spent the first day just hugging, smiling and getting to know each other. The next day they came to the orphanage to see where the kids live, meet the nannies, the other children and bless our shelves with some supplies! After all these teams our stock room is looking wonderful! The remainder of the time was spent talking about the boys, helping the family to get to know them, playing volleyball and soccer, and teaching Alex, Rennick, and John to play wiffle ball. All the Bergeron boys are big baseball players!! And Alex, Rennick and John were happy to learn and share that time with their brothers.
I was amazed to see how quickly God can tie together a family. It was a matter of hours before all the boys were playing practical jokes, and communicating in a sibling language only they could understand, despite the nerves, language barrier, and years of not knowing eachother – it seemed as though this family has always been! And something about the faces of the 3 boys here and the 4 boys in the states is very similar looking, I know that must sound a little funny. But I think its proof of how God has choosen these boys, for that family – and his plan is perfect.

During this stay we also met up with a woman named Amy who has adopted a 4 year old boy Kandsy, from Children of The Promise, COTP in Cap Haitien. Amy worked through New Life Link for her adoption and after 2 long and straining years, again God provided, and Kandsy and his family are now united in Colorado. We met Amy the night before her Visa appointment with Kandsy and they stayed two nights with us at Dr. Bernards house before leaving for the states. I was instantly attracted to Kandsy’s wonderful smile, bright eyes and Amazing LAUGH! Even though he had spent the whole day traveling and had been up since very early in the morning, as soon as I said hello and introduced myself in Creole he came running over and gave me a hug. Complete with new sneakers and a little blue back pack we were instantly buds. Kandsy speaks wonderful English!! And Amy did quite well with her Creole also! Last I heard they were on their way safely to the states. I need to email her for a new update and to say hello to Kandsy!! But please keep the progression and transition of their family, and Kandsy’s transition into life in the states, and leaving his ‘family’ in Haiti in your prayers. Meeting them reinstated in me how great the need is in Haiti – and how small of an island it is, but with so many to serve, Kandsy’s smile and laugh was really a trigger from God that has ignited a new fire within me.

Blessings –
n

Mission Team #2 for Summer 2007

Mission team two for the summer was a group of women, most of whom are adopting some of our wonderful children or are families of the children. It was great to see them all together. The children whose mother’s were here were able to sleep up at Dr. Bernard’s home with their mothers or family members which I know provided some wonderful, and much needed bonding time. I don’t think I was really aware though – until watching them all leave and say the tear-full good byes how hard it must be to have children who live literally a world away. I think I was unaware until this group came down at how much a parent can mourn for a child who is so far from them, and how much a family can miss when they are separated for long periods of time. We are all LUCKY though! Because God is good! And he provided these families with a chance to reunite, catch up, build even stronger bonds. And I am hopeful that with continued prayer God will provide a way for these children to get to their homes.
On a happier note - - -
While the team was here we had a blast. The spent their fist few hours in Haiti re-uniting with their kids and attending the kindergarten graduation! It was wonderful to have them here to rejoice in the celebration of our children with us. The spent some part of the next day working with the babies of NLL and praying over the nannies, they also gave the nannies much needed “grab bags” as gifts. The bags had pretty basic necessities inside, but luxuries the nannies often miss out on. Most of them received a new pair of shoes, or article of clothing, some great girly smelly body washes, hair ties and most importantly prayer! That same day a super surprise was revealed to the children when the team brought out a new TV, about 40 DVD’s, and a Playstation 2 with games! The Playstation is currently living in the boys house where it is loved very much and received huge amounts of attention. If you couldnt guess…. FIFA is the favorite game! The TV and DVD collection are staying at the girls house, and has been great on group movie night, and to watch the soccer games in a nice clear sharp picture. We spent a portion of the next day playing with Mary Kay samples the team brought down. The girls LOVE makeup and are quite good at the art of makeup also. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a makeup or hair artist but the girls do a wonderful job with me! I also got a hair cut!!! I had made a deal with a few of the boys who like to keep their fingernails exceptionally long! That if they cut their nails and let them remain short for 2 weeks I would cut my hair. So Angela, (mother to hfc kids, Jacques, Stephanie and Jude) gave me a hair cut! The boys were super excited to watch and happy that I held up my end of the deal, and they have all held up their end of the deal and kept their nails short! Many of the kids still hold onto a curly lock of my hair in a little black elastic as proof of what happened! But I have pictures to prove it…
For the rest of the day we played water balloon games before saying our good byes.
The afternoon was filled with hugs, tears, “I love you” and “see you soon” I don’t think one good bye was actually uttered because we are all hopeful that the day will be sooner rather than later when these kids can go home! It was a great trip! And an amazing experience to get to know all the wonderful women, and I am so pleased to know so many of our children have such wonderful families to call their own!

Blessings –
n

Mission Team #1 for Summer of 2007!!

Again a lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Will finished his visit, said his goodbyes and boarded a plane back to Chicago last Wednesday. The kids were sad to see him go especially many of the boys, the boys really appreciated him being here. The children have many great role models in the mission teams that come down, and in the people like Kim and Kez who are able to stay long term… but there is something lacking for the boys. All our long term missionaries have been women, and live in the girls house, and although we all love the boys very much, and build great relationships with them. It was great to see someone who was here for the boys. Great to see them interact with a man – because there are some things, some “guy” things that the women just cant provide for the boys, but that the boys still need. Will is a teacher in the states, and still not sure as to what God has called him to in Haiti – but he loved his time here and all the children very much.

On Sunday an amazing team of people came to join us down in the orphanage! The team was made up of some of the most hardworking, compassionate, real people I have ever met in my life! They are the same team that comes down a regular yearly basis to do construction projects on the HFC buildings! In the past 10 years they have built the complete second and third floors of the girl’s house. Two of the team members came down a few months ago to assess the needs of the orphanage, they saw need for more space and some updating on the boys house, need for flushing toilets for the school and the need for a library. The construction projects for the boys house would have needed more resources then they had for this summer and the need for toilets was more urgent. So in a week 8 people turned a second floor bedroom into a beautiful library, complete with built in shelving, two enormous work tables and 8 new computers! They also put in nine flushing toilets, and a cement wall to separate the stalls on the first floor!! The amount of work this team has to do prior to leaving, while they were here, and will still continue to do after they return home helps me to remember how real God is in our daily lives! I can not even begin to imagine the sleepless nights, the tiresome fundraising, the planning, and packing that went into this trip- but i do know, because I know all this people on a more personal level now, that every step was done in love and done through God. Despite some difficult travel, some difficult Haitian salesman at the hardware store, the heat, the hard and dirty work this team did amazing things for all our current children and for every child that will walk through the door of the Marion G. Austin school. “I think things are just as good as they are bad” (the ever popular statement, which many of you have read in letters I am sure!) was made real to us all, when we think to the numerous days the children will be blessed by these gifts, and listened to the heartfelt “thank you” and “we love you” from the children.
And no team!! I DON’T think “it’s easy!”

Plus my momma was here for a week!!!!

The same day (Saturday) that the construction team left, a team of adopting families came down! I am sure this will also be a great week for the children and the moms as they get an opportunity to connect, and catch up on lost time with their children.

Please lift praise to God for the gifts of Will, the construction team, all the sponsors, and all the parents and board members that make HFC possible. Please ask God for continued support and guidance, and that our resources will continue to be used wisely and provide a wonderful life for all our children. Please pray for the current team that they have a refreshing and loving time with their children and all the children here. Please pray also over the busy summer that we have here at the orphanage and that with all our wonderful visitors we will still find some valuable lesson time, and some structured programs that will help benefit the children.

Blessings -