December 2011 Postings

12.27.11 john b. - My Haitian Home...

 I have been going to Haiti and staying at the Saint Joseph homes for 25 years, and always it has felt as if I was returning home.  After ten years I had to ask Michael for special consideration: “please, no singing and flowers on my arrival”.  It was too much glorification of me, or maybe beatification of me.  I am more of a back door, sleep on the roof, kind of a guy, and of course Michael totally accommodated my needs: mattress, pillow, blanket and first pick for a good spot on the roof. Hospitality is the hallmark of St Joseph’s, beginning with the children and extending to the guests. On every visit there have been interesting people staying there, missionaries, tourists, or wayfarers and all are treated as though they were returning family. The boys in the beginning carried water and took care of the rooms. They danced and sang and were schooled in the arts. Much in contrast to the general outside population, Saint Joseph’s boys were clean and well fed and all could read and write. It was originally just a few boys and as the years went on the building and population grew and grew. And the love grew. I doubted that it could be sustainable. I even joked with Michael, “ what would happen if Haiti ran out of orphans?”  His answer then and now, even after the horrible earthquake, “God leads and we follow”.  The fallen concrete and broken walls were everywhere. Michael rescued his plants and stacked the concrete blocks into a beautiful rock garden with flowering plants tucked in all around. We sat and sipped cold water as if the earthquake were only a minor disturbance and life would proceed according to God’s will, unquestioned.

12.22.11 renee d. - Wings Christmas Extravananza;

The Wings of Hope Christmas Extravaganza was a huge success. Not only did all the Wings of Hope kids participate, but the joy was extended to children from several neighboring orphanages who were invited to join in the celebration, as well as our brothers from St. Joseph's Home for Boys and Trinity House. The day started out with a Christmas pageant by the Wings of Hope kids and staff. They've been rehearsing for a month and it was fantastic --- from the first message to Mary from the angel Gabriel, all the way to the laughter-filled carnage at the end (what, doesn't every Christmas pageant end with Herod's massacre of the innocents?). Then it was time for dancing, worship, more dancing, singing and generally anyone who wanted to perform to take center stage for their moment in the spotlight. Then on to games, with musical chairs, a limbo contest and an eating contest. Next up, pinatas. And, last, but not least, a visit from Santa Claus! A busy, fun-filled day celebrating family and full of joy! Go to our st. Joseph Family page on Facebook to view the corresponding Christmas photo album.

12.17.11 renee d. - Christmas week at Wings;
Thanks for following the adventures at Wings of Hope this week as we celebrate the holiday season. Next week will be the big Christmas service/pageant/party extravaganza... Go to the following st. joseph facebook page link (below) for pictures...

https://www.facebook.com/stjoseph

friday dec 16 = Sharing the Joy! The annual Wings of Hope Christmas treat give-away. = Friday morning some of the Wings of Hope children and staff walked around the neighborhood handing out 100 "Golden Tickets" to the children of Fermathe. The tickets came with the instructions to come to Wings of Hope in the afternoon for Christmas treats. An hour before the give-away the line, and the excitement, started forming outside the Wings of Hope gates. After the Wings kids quickly ate their lunches, they arranged tables near the gate with all of the cookies they made yesterday and many of the toys left over from the Christmas boutique. With the Wings security guard at the gate for crowd control, the lucky ticket holders were allowed in a few at the time. They were given a bag and got to collect two cookies and several toys before they headed back out the gate and the next group came in. The Wings kids were overjoyed to be able to share Christmas goodies with the neighborhood children. The neighborhood children were very happy, if a little overwhelmed, to be on the receiving end of such generosity by children they have been taught to fear. Hopefully, the gifts of kindness and sharing brightened their season and showed them that kids are all the same, no matter what their abilities are.

thursday dec 15 = Christmas cookie-making day; AKA "It takes a village to bake a cookie" = Today was Christmas cooking-making day at Wings of Hope. It was an all-day process involving 32 kids, a dozen staff and volunteers, four types of cookies, the goal of making 400 cookies and one oven. Our incredible staff made sure everyone participated — not an easy task when working with children and young adults whose bodies don't always function like they want and minds that have a hard time working normally. The adults wrapped their hands around small and misshapen hands to help them follow the steps of combining ingredients, mixing the dough and forming the cookies. Patience reigned as children who have a hard time following directions were taken through the steps one at a time, and repeatedly, so everyone was able to take part. And a cheering section stood around the tables praising each child and each step in the process. Tomorrow comes the joy of being able to share their creations with the children in the neighborhood.

wednesday dec 14 = Christmas Boutique Day!!! ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!! = The kids picked each other's names out of a bowl and then "shopped" for gifts for each other. Every kid will have a Christmas sack with seven toys in it delivered by Santa next week during the Wings of Hope Christmas party. After all the kids were done, the employees were allowed to choose for their kids (or kids in their lives). With things still left over, we pulled small toys to give away to the neighborhood kids on Friday with the cookie give-away and put everything else in the regular toy boutique for the Wings kids. We were blessed with abundance of toys this year, which leads to an abundance of giving and joy (both in the giving and the receiving). Thanks to all the groups and individuals who brought toys to us this fall for this special boutique. I was so proud of the kids this year. We've been doing this for a few years and sometimes it is a struggle to get them to understand that they are picking toys for someone else, and not just point out everything that they want (and sometimes try to walk out the door with). This year everyone "got it", and their joy in being able to give and how seriously they took making their decisions about what to pick was amazing to watch. A special shout-out goes to our volunteers and staff who helped organize the boutique and were the personal shopper helpers for the kids.

tuesday dec 13 = Pinata making day at Wings of Hope. They'll be used at the Christmas party next week.

monday dec 12 = It is Christmas prep week at Wings of Hope = daily pageant practice, tree decorating, house decorating, pinata making, cookie baking, neighborhood cookie give-away and Christmas boutique. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

12.06.11 - jane k. - dear sjf;

It was quite an honor to be able to stay at St. Joseph’s house, and to also visit and experience Wings of Hope and Trinity House. Also, it was such a privilege to hear Michael’s, Bill’s, and Renee’s stories of testimony, and to hang out with Walnes and the boys when they were home from school, hear music, and experience the life of the house. And the children at Wings----they are such a joy! No matter what you come to Haiti to accomplish, do, or help with, be prepared to receive more than you can ever give. God is quite well and hard at work in Haiti, and being with SJF one can experience that on a daily basis. It is really difficult to put that into words, actually. From the moment one walks up to the home and is handed a cold glass of water, to worshiping under the leadership of the boys, and with the neighbors, having a fine meal together, to lifting a bucket of rubble or a few, there is a strong feeling of being at home, with the people of God, and feeling comfortable and present to that. There is a lot of tragedy and injustice in Haiti and her history, but being there with the Saint Joseph’s Family gave me a great deal of hope --- easy for me to say perhaps, but there it is.

12.05.11 roy h. - advent good news story;

If anyone knows what it means actually to live on the edge of the Advent tension of hope and fulfillment it is the people of Haiti. Karl Barth once said that the world is filled with parables and we must train our minds to perceive the presence of God in these ordinary human parables. Let me give you a few that I perceived while in Haiti. At Wings of Hope, the home for severely disabled children with whom we are in mission partnership, we met Laza standing erect strapped to a board that supported him. It was disturbing until we learned he could not stand at all were it not for this board supporting him upright. This boy, whose name echoes that of Lazaurus, is severely afflicted with cerebral palsy. Though they love him dearly, his impoverished parents could not care for him, so they brought him to Wings of Hope. I stood next to him with his occupational therapist as Laza strained to control his spasms to touch just the right key on the keyboard. The therapist restrained himself from doing it for him. The courage and hope onLaza’s face broke my heart. When he completed his sentence on that keyboard with a delightful shriek and a twisted smile, I wanted to cry. I witnessed him experiencing the sharp borderline of hope and fulfillment. In this respect his is my mentor. He is a parable of hope pressing on beyond what anyone considers possible. And this is our calling too. At St. Joseph’s Home for boys in Petionville, we spend several days hauling away rubble from the site of the new building. Ours was a bucket brigade, receiving the rubble from those digging it out. It was unglamorous work in the hot sun, yet absolutely necessary. At one point it occurred to me that this is the resurrection from the rubble, one bucket at a time. We all laughed at that thought, then I realized that it was true: on January 28, 2012 the new St. Joseph’s Home for Boys and Leadership Center will be dedicated! This is how the resurrection occurs in ordinary life – not glamorous or heroic, but one bucket at a time. Much of life, including the spiritual life, is lived one bucket at a time. We pay attention to these moments with Laza and with each another day by day carrying our buckets in one large bucket brigade. This is how life is lived as the old world falls away while a new one is coming into being. God’s way is always hidden in one disguise or another.