Celebrating Faith and Love

The Summer season ended on a great note, with the championship soccer match last Sunday. The field was full of spectators. The winning team (Thozin) and runner up (Adoken) were thrilled to receive their awards. A great time of community rejoicing was experienced by all. All of us at MOHI felt so blessed to be able to provide the venue for this summer-long event.

Back to school time at MOHI has been a joy to witness! Our older students had a change of uniform this year, as the school's administration chose an orange and grey color scheme. Attendance was amazing (not the norm when school starts up in Haiti) and school spirit very was high.

We changed the school entrance this year so that everyone enters by what was previously the back gate. With the expansion of the Thozin campus, students no longer need to gather on the main highway. They enter into the new lot, where they can congregate without danger from the road. Once the school day begins, the gate is kept locked, providing a greater sense of security in the school yard.

The extra space on campus means Fridays are soccer day. Haitians LOVE soccer. I suspect absenteeism on Fridays will be at an all time low this year!

I think the most exciting thing about the start of school is the enthusiasm of our teachers. The seminar the Charlotte Christian School and Bless Back Worldwide put on for our teachers impacted them so deeply. They are coming to school with more confidence and already employing the techniques they learned to manage their classrooms. We are so grateful for the investment these Charlotte teachers made and for their continued support for education at MOHI.

We celebrated Love on Thursday at the marriage union of Davidson and Baby. Both have been a part of the MOHI church in Thozin since the mission started in 2000. Davidson attended the MOHI school that first year in second grade and continued until he graduated in our second graduating senior class. Baby is working as a nurse in our medical clinic. Davidson and Baby have been an item since their school days. We all were overjoyed to celebrate their love!

We celebrated Faith on Friday. Andrew and Angie Sutton came to Haiti to work with the Hands and Feet Project when Faith was less than 2 months old. Today, Faith is 8 years old. She called Pastor Lex earlier in the week to tell him she'd like to be baptized. He talked with Faith and her parents and it was agreed that she was ready and determined to commit her ways to Jesus. Faith was baptized on Friday in the presence of family and friends. Lex was so honored to be a part of this special moment.

As Lex was enjoying all the excitement in Haiti, I drove to Maine to celebrate love with our sweet Alicia D'Olimpio! (Alicia was with us for a year in Haiti as the teacher for our local missionary kids.) She and Dan Smith were married yesterday in a beautiful outdoor ceremony. Angie Shepherd (spent over a year with us in Haiti, runing the medical clinic - pictured below with the newlyweds) flew in from Florida for the special occasion. We are so happy for Dan and Alicia and wish them a long and fulfilling life as one.