This was our school greeting at our annual Christmas Bazaar here at QCS. It was created by the elementary students. It is a reminder once again for the reason of the season - Jesus Christ. In Him we all have life and LIFE eternal. It is our prayer that you experience His presence each and every day as you continue to work in His kingdom and especially during this Christmas season. It is our prayer that you go forward each day living for Jesus wherever He has placed you for His service.

This is boss Vivien at QCS putting the finishing touches on the cement of the new septic tank cover. He is the 'boss' for all the national workers and does not like to do physical labour. Two men dug the 5 foot square hole through the rock with pic and shovel and pail 25 feet down in a week's time. The earth was so hard that the workers dug slots in the side to climb up the side of the septic system. With the earth as hard as rocks, I wonder how the absorption will be. Mary left her signature in the cement :-)

This past Friday the staff of Quisqueya Christian School gathered at deBlaeij's (CRWRC people) house once again for the traditional annual Christian dinner and caroling evening. Coby deBlaiij, teaches pre-kindergarten. There were at least 50 people present that night enjoying the fellowship, food and festive songs. The food for the evening was somewhat pot luck, with soups, chili, buns and of course the desserts after the caroling. We look forward to this event of fellowship and song each year. God is great. God is good. We thank him daily for His presence (presents) in our lives.

The children of the the church we attend, presented the Christmas concert entitled Jesus, There's Something About That Name, this Sonday evening. A 12 member choir sang the message of the new born King. The church was filled and enjoyed the Christmas message. We all need to remember the name of Jesus, because that name is above every name. Jesus!

May we all go forward in the power of that name every day as we live each day for Jesus.

'The Ravine'

All along both sides of this ravine in the lower part of Port Au Prince, people have built 'houses' for their families. Since it is the dry season, the water is very low. During torrential downpours the water gets much higher washing all the trash and garbage from the higher parts of Port Au Prince out to the ocean. The ravine is government property and the people building these houses and living in them are squatters. They have no money to buy property so have made their own little space along the ravine. Some of these houses are as small as 8' by 8'. Inside you may see a double mattress or some sleeping mats that will be sleeping space for the whole family. Others are larger with a few rooms. This view is the back of the houses. You can see some of them have windows. Between the houses there are narrow little passageways some as narrow as 18". Most have no doors, just a sheet or a curtain hung up for privacy. There is no electricity or running water. As you walk along the narrow ledge on the one side of the houses you pass women with five gallon pails of water balanced on their heads, the dripping water on their faces glistening in the sun as they take home the water for cooking, washing and laundry. For one mother expecting her ninth child, it must be a daunting task on a daily basis.

'Give us this day our daily bread.'

Some days, a small peice of bread is the only food many children in Haiti have to eat. This baby living in one of the ravine houses is a healthy looking child. There is a feeding program in this ravine that brings food to a number of very small children every day. This food is given directly to each individual child in or near their home. It is put in the child's cup or bowl and the child eats or drinks it then and there. You may wonder 'why do they not just give the parents the food to feed the children'?. Well, it may be hard to imagine but the parents just might sell the food or even eat it themselves! More about the feeding program later.

Baby Fritznon

Sometimes babies are brought to missionaries when it is much too late. Fritznon was brought to Dorothy Pearce's 'Faith, Hope and Love Infant Rescue Centre" by Karen Bultje. He was two months old, weighed five pounds, half of which was fluid in his belly and a very enlarged kidney. He was so dehydrated that the wrinkled skin on his face made him look like a little old man. I put a nasal gastic tube into his stomach to feed him since he was too weak to suck. We brought him to the hospital for x-rays and an ultrasound. The doctor did not give him any hope. We took him to the lab to get some blood work done but his little body did not have much blood to give. Thetechnicians only got a few drops. The only thing to do was keep him comfortable. Fritznon died on Friday morning from harsh unforgiving Haiti into the arms of Jesus. His mother was with him at the time. Jesus said "Let the little children come to me, ......for of such is the kingdom of heaven".

Matt. 19:14.

'New Life in the Ravine'

This new healthy baby is just two weeks old. When we walked along the ravine houses, many mothers or grandmothers brought their children out to see the nurse. Nancy Brickell is a Registered Nurse who goes to the ravine every week to see sick children. This past Wednesday I went with her. Nancy is here until the adoption of her little girl is final. That may be a few weeks or a few months. We spent a few hours examining children, advising mothers what to do and giving out medication for fevers. All of these children are followed closely on a weekly basis to see if there is improvement. If not a visit to the doctor or hospital is recommended. Names, diagnosis, teaching and what medicines were given are all recorded in a book that is taken along on each clinic. For many of the children here there is hope, 'Hope for Haiti, .....one child at a time."

Last week we had a beautiful drive through the beautiful mountainous countyside to Jacmel for the CRC retreat. It took as long to get out of Port Au Prince as it did through the mountains - a 100km winding up and down drive with about 300 curves in 4 hours. We hit the morning rush hour traffic at 6:30 A.M. There were no postings of 'watch for fallen rock', but we did come across some huge boulders on our journey. We were told that these boulders have been there for several weeks. Here you see our Hyundai Tuscan driving on the wrong side of the road to get around the obstruction. The travelling was excellent with good roads and enjoying God's presence in His beautiful creation.

This will give you an idea of the incline we drove in order to get to a waterfall about a half hour away from Jacmel. In the distance you can see PAP. This was the road where we had to fill the huge deep ruts with rocks in order for the three vehicles to cross. There were at least three different areas where the passengers had to get out because of the impass. The torrential rains had done a great deal of damage to the roads in this area, making travel a difficulty. The torrential rains here can be so violent that whole sections of mountainsides end up in the ravine at the bottom.

This was a view from our room in Jacmel. These fishermen would catch the fish for the resort. They would catch the fish in the morning and we would have them for dinner. Talk about fresh fish! There was a small beach but with the huge waves, it was murky and not suitable for swimming. It was a great get-away, hearing the Word of the Lord on things that do not perish - faith, hope and love! Thank You Lord for the lessons learned. Thank You Lord for Your Love to us as we enter the Advent season once again.

This is our adventure of the river crossing on our way to the waterfalls last week. As you can see, it was an experience! Our trek up the mountain was also a real adventure. Roads were nearly impassable at times with trees, mud from mudslides and deep ruts in the road - that we had to pile rocks in the ruts in order to continue our journey.