Dear
Friends and Family -
Happy
New Year!! I can’t believe that in 3 days it will be 2008!!
Where does the time go? The Lord has provided for us
and blessed us in so many ways this past year – we can’t wait to see what He
is going to do in this coming year!!
Here
are some fun stats for you. In the year 2007:
-
85+ volunteers
-
19 babies admitted
-
3 babies died
-
3 babies left on medical visas to
the United States
-
5 babies returned home to their
biological families here in Haiti
-
7 children went home to their
adoptive families in the States and Canada
-
All of this leaves us with a
total of 63 babies right now!!
And
that is our year in a nutshell!!
Now
for the month of December . . . .
Wich-Love
(pronounced week-love) was admitted to Children of the Promise on December 7.
She is from a nearby village. Her mother died a few
months ago and her father is unable to continue caring for her at this time.
We are caring for Wich-Love for the time being until her dad can get his
feet back under him and be able to provide and care for Wich-Love. Wich-Love
was born on June 2, 2007 making her 6 ½ months old now. When
she came she had no idea how to suck but now she is drinking from a bottle well.
She weighed almost 14lbs when she was admitted but some of that was due
to kwashikor (wet malnutrition). She’s lost some of that
“water weight” and is starting to gain it back now with healthy weight!
Henri
also c
ame to COTP in December. He was brought here by his
father on December 18. Henri was actually in our October
update. He has severe hydrocephalus. His
family had been caring for him up until his father brought him to us.
We are working on a medical visa for him and have already found a
hospital and doctor that have agreed to donate their care. We
are just finishing up the paperwork side of things here in Haiti
and it looks like he’ll be heading to the States at the end of January.
His father brought him to us because he was worried about Henri’s
health. As Henri’s head has grown larger and larger it had
become harder and harder for him to drink out of a bottle. On
admission, Henri was severely dehydrated and in critical condition. Henri
has now stabilized and is doing as well as can be expected. Pray
that he will stay stable until he can get his surgery at the beginning of
February.
Yanise
was admitted to Milot Hospital on December 9. 
She has sickle
cell anemia and was in a sickle cell crisis requiring IV antibiotics, IV fluids,
and oxygen. Never would I have thought, as I held her in my
arms right before she left for the hospital, that that would be the last time
I’d hold her and see her alive. Yanise was welcomed into
Jesus’ arms in the early morning hours of December 13. The
sickle crisis was too much and with the limited medical equipment and supplies
that the hospitals have in Haiti
she eventually gave up the fight. She was 8 months old.
She had so many struggles in her short life here on earth (including
cerebral palsy and sickle cell anemia) that we are comforted knowing that she is
now free from all pain and suffering. Yanise stayed with us
in our apartment for the 7 ½ months she lived at COTP (except for those times
when we would be out of the country) and we miss her dearly. We
are so thankful that when we grieve, we grieve with the hope of Heaven in our
hearts! Daryl and I were able to go to the hospital the
morning that she died to say goodbye to her and give her kisses. We
had to take our motorcycle (the truck was being fixed) and the roads were
covered in water and mud. By the time we arrived at the
hospital we were covered in water and mud, too! It turned
into a very long day with our motorcycle dying twice and having to be towed back
to COTP by another motorcycle!
Mathieu
and Jacques (Jack) went home to their adoptive families this past month!
Mathieu (4 years old) went home to Oregon
on December 6 and Jacques (3 years old) home to 
Iowa
on December 22. Both adoptive families were able to spend a
couple days at Children of the Promise before taking their kids home.
This is a great opportunity for adoptive families to see their child’s
home until this point, their nannies, and their friends. Mathieu
was at COTP for just over 4 years and Jacque was here for 2 years. Pray
for them as they transition into being with their forever families!
The
volunteers that have been coming to help us out have continued to be phenomenal.
We are so grateful for the many wonderful volunteers that we’ve been
blessed with this past year.
-
Mary was here at the beginning of
December for a week. She is from South
Carolina. Mary lived down here for the year that Daryl
and I were in the States after we got married. She loved
seeing all the babies again and giving them extra love and hugs!
-
Cheryl and Tamara, both from Ontario,
came down for almost two weeks over Christmas.
Cheryl volunteered at COTP in 2002 and 2003 so coming back 4 years later
and seeing all the changes was fun for her! Tamara kept us
laughing with her great sense of humor. They were both great
with the kids and we were blessed by their time here.
December
also meant Daryl celebrating his 27th birthday and me celebrating my
25th birthday. We took a weekend away and spent a
night at a hotel just south of St
Marc, Haiti. This was a 5 hour drive through Limbe,
Gonaives, St Marc, and other small towns along the way. We
saw everything from beautiful mountains and rivers to dry desert land with cacti
to the beautiful Artibonite valley which is known for it’s fertile soil and
rice fields. The hotel itself was nothing spectacular . . .
I’m sure it was nice in it’s day and time but it’s day and time are
definitely over!! That didn’t stop us from enjoying a
relaxing 2 days reading our books and playing games on our balcony overlooking
the ocean. On our way back, we stopped at an outdoor market
on top of one of the tallest mountains in Haiti
and bought oranges and grapefruit. It was cold and
many of the Haitians were dressed in coats and hats!! Such a
stark contrast from the hot valley that we live in!
Robin,
our adoption coordinator in the States, gave birth to a baby girl on December
19!! We rejoice with Robin and her husband Larry over their
precious firstborn, Evangeline Joelle. We have seen pictures
and she is beautiful!
Agape
Flights, the missionary organization based in FL
that flies in all of our mail and packages once a week, suffered a plane crash
on the Thursday before Christmas.
They were flying back home to FL when their engine stopped. The
pilots were able to make a crash landing in 25 feet of water near the Bahamas.
They were both able to escape from the plane, unharmed. We
are so thankful!! The pilots swam to a nearby boat which
brought them to a nearby island . . . they were picked up the next day by
another missionary airline service. Agape is working on
recovering their plane at this time. They are not sure what
is going to happen (if they will rent a plane, fundraise to buy a plane, etc.)
but they are working hard at getting things figured out! Until
then, we will have no incoming mail/packages. L
Be praying for wisdom for those at Agape making decisions and figuring
out what to do next. And be praying that they can have a
plane up and running again soon!
We
had a wonderful Christmas! We were able to enjoy a delicious
turkey meal within the company of our “COTP family”. Daryl
and I also enjoyed opening the gifts and Christmas
cards that our family and friends sent our way. Thank
you!! Because of so many generous people, all of our kids had
presents to open this year, too! But more importantly, it was
wonderful day to remind ourselves anew why we celebrate Christmas in the first
place. Jesus came to earth to give us eternal life . . . His love
is what really made our Christmas
wonderful. J
Nallie
continues to live with us in our apartment. As I write this,
she is struggling with what we think to be heart failure or aspiration
pneumonia. She started getting sick on Christmas
Eve day and has continued to struggle since then. We
were able to bring Nallie to PAP at the beginning of December for an
echocardiogram (ultrasound of her heart). This showed that
she does have an atrial septal defect (hole in her heart) but it appeared minor.
We’re puzzled as to why she would go into heart failure (if that is
what she is dealing with) but we are concerned that this is likely what she is
struggling with. She is dependent on oxygen right now and
also very fussy. Needless to say, she’s getting lots of
extra love and cuddling!! Please be praying for Nallie.
We know that our God is the Ultimate Physician and that He can heal her.
He doesn’t need all the conveniences of the modern day world and
medical equipment that other doctors need. We have limited
tests and medications here but we are doing the best we can with what we have.
Please be praying for wisdom for us (for Sara especially!) as we care for
Nallie. We love her so much and we can’t stand the thought
that she might not recover from this. Thank you!!
We
are thankful that adoptions are moving (even if it is slowly) and we are hoping
to send 7-10 more kids home to their adoptive families within the next month or
two. Pray specifically that everything will fall into place
for the following children to go home:
-
Jesse, Moise, and Isabelle home
to Minnesota
-
Pierre and Jeffley home to Washington
State
-
Micah and Rose home to Minnesota
-
Kassandra and Robert home to Missouri
-
Noah home to Illinois
We
have a big change coming up in our lives during the year 2008 that we’d like
to share with you. At the end of next summer we will be
leaving Haiti
to move back to the US. We spent a lot of time in prayer and
we both knew that it is time for us to move on. Our plan at
this point is to move back to Michigan
where Daryl will look for a Social Work job (if you have any connections let us
know!!). It was a tough decision for us to come to but we
know that this is where God is leading us. It is comforting
to be in His care! We will miss the babies and working with
the Haitian people. Brice and Sara Bakker (Bud and Jan
Bonnema’s daughter and son-in-law) are planning on moving to Children of the
Promise in June. We will also be looking for other volunteers
to be here full time. Please keep us in your prayers as we
begin this transition! Thank you for the support that you all
have been to us and will continue to be as we look ahead to this next year!
All
63 babies here at Children of the Promise are evidence that there is a God.
These beautiful Haitian children were created by Him, with His hands He
formed them!! They are His creation and they are crying it
out with their beautiful smiles, their irresistible eyes, their silly laughter,
and yes, even by the big tears rolling down their cheeks when they are upset.
We feel honored and privileged to be caring for these babies until they
go to their forever families. To be witnessing every day the
beauty of God’s creation in the lives of these precious children. This
is an excerpt from a song that is sung by a Christian group called “33
Miles”:
There
is a God
This
is the proof
That
all around the evidence is speaking the truth
From
the center of my soul
To
the edge of the universe
Creation
is crying out
Believe
it or not
There
is a God
Daryl and Sara Huinink J
