2013 Postings & Visitor Comments

Visitor Comments 2013

Very humbling experience. Look forward to coming back again in the future to see the progress. — Travis, NE

A wonderful mission with wonderful people! Thank you for the amazing care and for being Jesus to me! May God bless you and keep you in his peace always! — Kenny, FL

Had a very pleasant visit. Thank you for all the wonderful food. — Todd, OH

Thank you so much for your wonderful hospitality once again. Your generosity, welcome and love are much appreciated each year. We look forward to bringing another group of young people to visit you, our family, next year! God bless you in your continued work. — David, Canada

It was great being here! I loved all the kids and I think it is great what is going on here! I will be praying for all of you. Take care! — Jeffrey, NC

You are absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing life with me this week — opening your arms, doors and hearts. I look forward to returning many times in the future. I always feel at home when I am here. Mesi pou tout baggy! — Kelly, NC

Beautiful children. Beautiful week. Mesi!!! — Savannah, NC

I appreciate everything you do. I'll be thinking of everyone. — PJ, NC

Incredible week. Thank you so much! — Michael, NC

You guys rock! Great stay! Awesome week! Gratitude! Thank you so much! — Group comments, NC

We had a wonderful time! — Carol, MA

‘St. Joseph's Home for Boys is a wonderful place to visit and to stay at. There is a feeling of peace, calm and love here. The boys who live here are treated with respect and are given trust and responsibility. They are given love, time and attention. Their response to this is overwhelming; they made us feel welcome and wanted! We visited 'Wings of Hope' yesterday and we were deeply moved by what we saw. The dedication of the St. Joseph’s graduates is a testimony to all that being at St Joseph’s has achieved for them. The commitment of the 3 American Missionaries made us feel very humbled. The whole experience moved us to tears. Thank you so much for all you've given us and, by the way, the food was great!’ - SJF visitor from the UK

‘As someone who has worked with individuals with disabilities for almost eleven years I was truly impressed by the quality of care and education each individual receives. I was particularly impressed with the fact the children are taken out into the community on the regular basis. There are residential facilities in the US that hardly ever take their residents into the community. I also loved the equine therapy. I found it inspiring to see all of the kids interact with one another.’ - SJF visitor from IL

‘I've never been on a service trip where I've interacted with so many children, especially those with handicaps but it was such an amazing experience and I loved it so much. I've learned so much from all the children, what they can do continues to amaze me. Thank you so much for having us! I'm so glad to have had such a life changing experience like this where I learned so much where I didn’t necessarily think I would.’ - SJF visitor from TX

‘Thank you Renee for the wonderful stay, it has been an amazing experience! I fell in love with the kids and Haiti, I'll definitely be back again to visit. I wish everyone the best of luck building the new Wings in Jacmel and will be asking friends and family to make donations to Hearts with Haiti and informing them of your incredible mission!’ - SJF visitor from MA

‘We stayed overnight at Wings. The accommodations were wonderful as always. Thank you for another great experience.’
- SJF visitor from MA

‘Loved staying here the boys are wonderful, well-behaved and very loving. Michael you are such a joy and made me feel so welcome. Guichard and Walnes are wonderful role models for the boys. Eres was such a great driver and very calm. Love the work that you are doing and continue to do good work and stay blessed.’
- SJF visitor from MD

‘This has been a joy. The love, support and discipline displayed by the boys and the staff touched my heart. The hospitality and lodging met our needs and left a lasting impression that I hope to experience again. Thank you!’ - SJF visitor from VA

‘My stay here has been enlightening, rewarding and pleasant. I will share the experience with others who I know will be anxious to contribute to the work being done here. I intend to return and support the work of St. Joseph family. Thank you Michael for all that you do and have done. P.S. the food has been great!’
- SJF visitor from VA

‘See you next year. This St. Joseph Family is MY family.’ - SJF visitor from VA

‘As always we had a wonderful and blessed stay here at St. Joseph’s. The hospitality, the food, the fellow travelers were all great! Our room #7 was very comfortable and had a beautiful view. Thank you again for your hospitality and your ministry.
- SJF visitors from VA and AB

‘It was good to see Michael and the boys again. I have not been to St. Joseph's since before the earthquake. Everything has changed and nothing has changed. I have always enjoyed the hospitality. The food is always great. The boys are always courteous and quick to give a hug and a greeting. I always look forward to coming. Thanks!’ - SJF visitor from NC

‘What a wonderful place to stay. The staff was excellent and the kids were amazing!! This is truly a special place. All the kids seem very happy. The roof top is personally my favorite place. All the art and plants bring lots of life and color. Thank you for a great visit.’ - SJF visitor from NC

‘Facility is beautiful and clean! When I think of St. Joseph’s I'll picture a safe haven filled with art, color, and beauty in the midst of Haiti. The boys are well-behaved and happy! I loved watching them complete their chores, giving them ownership in their home. Food was outstanding!!!’ - SJF visitor from NC

‘Brief but great stay. Good food, friendly people. Would stay again.’ - SJF visitor from MA

‘Oasis in the middle of Haiti. Thanks a lot!’ - SJF visitor from Turkey

‘St. Joseph's accommodations were wonderful. The roof garden was a highlight and the food was great. Wings was a well-received respite from the village.’
- SJF visitor from IA

‘Wonderful, friendly people. Great meals! What very dedicated and giving people, always willing to help with great smiles.’ - SJF visitor from IA

‘It is always a wonderful stay at both S.J. and Wings. We are so very well taken care of and all of our "unplanned" problems are made easier by Renee.’ - SJF visitor from IA

‘This is a great place! I loved seeing what is here. You have a great staff and the children are wonderful!’ - SJF visitor from VA

‘We had a wonderful stay. SJF was extremely accommodating and helpful during our stay in Port-au-Prince.’ - SJF visitor from NY

‘What your organization has done for these kids is so inspirational. I hope to one day have the opportunity to give back like you guys are doing now. I want to do all I can to make a difference in this world. Whether it's saving one life or one thousand it's all a huge impact. Thanks for all that you do and all my prayers and blessings go out to your future plans.’ - SJF visitor from MA

‘This program has truly made me feel like there is a great opportunity here for all these kids. They already have the great leaders here and the smiles they had when we arrived made me feel like I was doing a great thing. I will really miss this place and the kids have really made my time here wonderful. Josephine, Steve, Lulu and all the other kids here will always have a great place in my heart and I will always remember them.’ - SJF visitor from NC

‘Thank you, Jacky, for sharing your story with us and thank you all for being Christ's love incarnate. For loving these Wings of Hope kids as children of God and not "disposables" or "demons". God bless.’ - SJF visitor from NJ

03.2013 - matthew - family to family;My wife, Marie and I, owe our family to the St. Joseph Family. In 2008, Marie made her first trip to Haiti with a woman from our church, Lyn, who had been the one-woman drum major for our church’s mission ties there. Marie got to visit all three homes and came away with a profound sense of the work being done by the SJF and the great need that existed. A year-and-a-half later, I got my introduction when we took a Living Waters for the World survey team to Jacmel to look into the possibility of helping Trinity House build a clean water system to serve their neighbors. We were all set to bring our full Living Waters team down to build the system when the earthquake hit in 2010. Having spent time with the St. Joseph Family and witnessed the living conditions of the Haitian people, our hearts went out for the thousands of children made orphans by this disaster. There would be no international adoptions out of Haiti, however, after the quake. But it had been a wake-up call for us to the thousands upon thousands of children around the world in need of a loving family. We took the leap and after waiting nearly two years, we welcomed our son from Ethiopia into our family this past summer. Michael Geilenfeld and the St. Joseph Family showed us what it means to be a family and it changed ours forever.

02.2013 - shelley - past, future and right now;
The past, the future, and this very moment now: all three relate to why I said yes to serving as the President of the Board of Trustees of Hearts with Haiti, and in all three I see the faith and hope and love of God lived out. The past: for 16 years I have been spending time with the St. Joseph family, staying at St. Joseph’s Home for Boys whenever I visited Haiti, bringing groups of people of many ages to participate in the lives of all the boys, and then growing to love and participate and stay with the children and residents at Wings of Hope. When the family responded to the call to establish a new residence in Jacmel, and Trinity House was born, I was gratified by their commitment, and to the way that became another outpouring of love when they established Lekòl Sen Triniti. The way the children are lifted up from lives of the worst kind of poverty, from the suffering of various disabilities, or from the brutal wounds of servitude and homelessness and brought into a family filled with music and laughter and prayer and education and daily chores and dance and more prayer and, well, family, fills me with love and hope for all of these children, and even for Haiti. The future: you often hear now that the earthquake changed everything, and I see the truth in that. Fortunately, because so many people reached out through Hearts with Haiti and other supporters of the St. Joseph Family, the changes for them are resoundingly positive. Just two years after the earthquake there was a wonderful service to dedicate the new St. Joseph’s Home for Boys building, which was nearly complete, and by this past September, 17 boys were able to take up residence and return to the routine of life in this busy family: prayers, chores, school, relaxation, group time, working for guests, and studies. Their future is back on a firm footing, with Bill and Walnes as their leaders, and the guest house remains a place of love and community. Trinity House continues to operate as a home, but also as the location of Nouvo Vi, the bakery now under the leadership of Daniel. And the future holds great promise for the children, older residents, and staff of Wings of Hope, and for the opportunity to provide them with the care and home-life that makes a difference in their world. And that leads to the present: I am so excited to in this role at Hearts With Haiti as we  begin a campaign to help raise the money to build the New Wings of Hope facility. I am dazzled by the leadership of the St. Joseph Family, (including those already mentioned, and Maya, Jacky, Melchi, Michael and Renee), which responded to the needs of these children and the reality of these economic times by making the decision to move Wings of Hope to Jacmel and thus build a much more economical building on the level ground they already owned next door to Trinity House. This is such an exciting time to be part of Hearts With Haiti. We have new people on the board who bring us more excitement and vision, and we stand with the St. Joseph Family, ready to do all that we can to help ensure that their mission to care for the forgotten children of Haiti grows even stronger. From the very first moment I arrived at St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in January of 1997 and was greeted with a cup of cold water, a welcome song, and a handful of flowers, I have felt the power of their lives of prayer and their dedication to each other and to their community and country. They make a difference. If you would like to be part of an organization that helps change the world, one life at a time, I invite you to join us.

01.2013 - renee - resolve to change lives in 2013; It's the time for New Year’s resolutions. Most of the time these are our best intentions that quickly fall by the wayside by mid-January. We keep trying, year after year, but life often gets in the way and making new habits and changing our lives is hard work. If you are making resolutions to lose weight, live more intentionally, quit smoking, or anything else that will make 2013 amazing for you, we at the St. Joseph Family wish you luck. We also want to invite you to be intentional in your resolutions this year — whether you make resolutions and work to keep them, or have given up resolutions in the past because they were too hard to keep. And we want to give you the opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of the St. Joseph Family at the same time. This year we are challenging you to be intentional in your resolutions and in your giving and to make a real difference in the lives of some very deserving children. The St. Joseph Family is about to embark on a new and exciting journey for the Wings of Hope children. 2013 will be the start of the building project that will give the Wings of Hope children a new home and a new future in Jacmel. We have the plans and we are ready to start, but we need the money to pay for the construction, furnishings and move. The architects tell us they can do the project in about a year, but only if we have the funds available to work straight through. Will you resolve to help us in an on-going and deliberate way in 2013? Will you resolve to go online TODAY and make a reoccurring gift through your credit card for the Wings of Hope Rebuilding Fund? Will you make the commitment of giving $10, $25, $50, $100, or any other amount you are comfortable with, every month for the next year? Maybe you'll resolve to give a dollar a day. Maybe you'll resolve to give up your daily Starbucks or cola purchase. Maybe you'll skip the drive-thru window at McDonald's and give that savings to the Wings reconstruction. Maybe you'll turn your night out to a night at home once a month and give the savings to the Wings reconstruction. Maybe you'll save your change every night and gift that to the Wings reconstruction at the end of every month. Whatever you decide to do, we thank you. Your commitment to a monthly gift will allow us to budget for our on-going construction and get us closer to our goal of getting the Wings of Hope children into their new home as soon as possible. Online giving through Hearts with Haiti is secure and signing up for automatic monthly payments is easy. Go to heartswithhaiti.org to make a donation, and be sure to choose the option of making your donation recurring on a monthly basis. There is a Haitian proverb that says, "Little, by little, the bird makes its nest". We are challenging you, our friends, family and fans, to help us make that new nest for the Wings of Hope children. The St. Joseph Family has 4,000 fans on Facebook. If each of those fans makes a resolution to make a monthly donation to the Wings reconstruction fund every month in 2013 we would be so thankful and we would be able to work on the new Wings of Hope facility all year. Thank you for your on-going support, friendship and love! We wish you all the excitement, blessings and joy that 2013 will bring.

September 2012 Postings

09.19.12 - art ross - reflections on psalm 139:1-6, 13-18;
This Pastoral Reflection began sitting on the roof as dawn was breaking over Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Haiti is said to be the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Two weeks earlier, troublemakers filled the streets, smashing thousands of windows, overturning countless garbage cans, looting stores. Food prices were going up; incomes were going down. By our arrival, all was back to normal – normal chaos, normal poverty and exploitation, normal crowded streets.

As first light gleamed behind the mountains, the air was cool, roosters were crowing, shoe shine men were ringing their bells, donkeys were braying. Jumbled homes, built almost on top of one another, women going to the well for water, and animal sounds, created a vision of first century Palestine, a land of unstable, often violent, political forces; a land of poverty and faith, a land of hunger and hope. The words of Psalm 139 spoke with a different power than would have been possible at home.

Imagine various settings in which the Psalm has been heard, will be heard: a hospital room – awaiting surgery, or after first holding a new born child, or following a death; in a prison cell, at the beach on vacation, or, as morning comes to Haiti. Imagine, and listen as the Psalmist shares the conviction that God knows us, wherever we may be. That conviction is the heart of Biblical revelation.

God searches us, sees us as we are, where we are. God accepts us. Acceptance is not the same as approval; grace bridges the gap. Haiti came into being through the slave trade. Haiti became a free nation before slavery ended in the United States. Freedom for slaves in Haiti stirred up fear in our own nation. Remember that fact and ask, “What does it mean to be known by God, searched by God, to realize that God is “acquainted with all our ways,” both personally and as a nation.

When we see the gap, the gap between acceptance by the love of God, and lack of approval, a lack of approval that leads to the judgment of God, we begin to see the gap, the divide, and to know the power of costly grace that bridges the gap. Such knowledge “hems us in” even as it becomes “too wonderful” for us to grasp. Such knowledge becomes “the hand of God upon us.”

The power of Psalm 139 is its honesty. The Psalm is like a mirror: the Psalm reveals us as we are: “fearfully and wonderfully made.” God, our creator, has instilled both attributes within us. We are fearfully made - because God has created us and not we ourselves. We are finite, limited and that knowledge stirs up fear. We have the capacity to make choices, but we cannot choose the consequences of our choices; that knowledge stirs up fear. Consequences of the slave trade in Haiti and in our own nation are tragic reminders of that truth.

We are wonderfully made: we have a unique capacity for wonder, prayer, song, friendship, love, and redemption. Morning worship at the guest house where we stay in Haiti is a reminder of that truth. As first light filled the sky, a bell rang. I left my rooftop perch for the next level below, the chapel, to join about 20 boys and young men who live in the home. All came as orphans or children rescued from abuse. They begin each day with worship: psalms, prayer, and song, followed by shared embraces. Then they are off to do assigned chores, share breakfast, and attend school.

 I have been coming to this home for eight years; I have watched shared worship, shared support, shared education, shared friendship give these boys and young men a life beyond anything they could otherwise have imagined. In a country that often reveals all that stirs up fear in human life, I have seen shared faith and friendship create wondrous joy and hope.

Bill Nathan, who first came to the home at the age of eight, is now 24 and the resident director. Muscular, calm, athletic, and artistic, Bill leads worship. I have known Bill for almost a decade. When we visit, he quietly shares his faith, his certain trust that God directs the path of his life; that God is acquainted with all his ways.

Bill was born in the mountain city of Hinche; his father died first, then his mother. He was sent to live with a woman who beat him and turned him into her personal servant. Roman Catholic nuns rescued him and sent him to the home in Port-au-Prince. Before her death, his mother had shared her strong faith with her son. Her conviction that “God is good” has shaped Bill’s faith, become an anchor for his life.

Over the years, visitors to the home recognized his gifts as a drummer and his intelligence as a maturing man. Bill has now performed in North Carolina, New York City, Brazil, Zambia and for the Pope on his visit to Canada a few years ago. Bill knows fear and Bill knows wonder.

Bill can help us hear the closing words of the Psalm. Bill lives in a land of poverty and instability; he is surrounded by boys who are victims of tragedy and cruelty; he is a descendant of slaves. Yet, Bill can praise God, confident that God has knit his life together, woven in the depths of the earth; Bill is convinced that God’s eyes beheld his unformed substance, and that God’s thoughts for him are greater than the sand on the Haitian beaches, and that at the end – whatever that end may be – God will still be with him. Bill becomes a witness, a witness to peace-filled faith.


Worship is over; the boys scatter. I return to the rooftop. The sun is now above the mountains. A new day has arrived, a day in which we are called to go forward, trusting the God who has searched us and known us, the God we praise, knowing very well that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

09.19.12 - jarrett mclaughlin - Bondye bon - God is good;
The first time I went to St. Joseph's Home for Boys, I was a 20-year-old college student on a ten day trip to Haiti.  I still remember that cup of cold water and the boys singing and bringing us flowers upon our arrival.  I remember making Michael write the words to "This Is The Day" for me in Kreyol so I could learn to sing along for at least one song (I still carry that one with me).  I remember meeting my prayer partner Lucson and how I quickly befriended him and his brother Melchi.  I remember at the end of my trip, we exchanged the crosses we wore around our necks.  I have a number of crosses from a number of different places in the world, but I have a special place in my heart for that one. 
I remember Michael telling our group that if we ever wanted to come back and stay - to just get to Port-au-Prince and they'd take care of us if we'd work with them.

A few years later, after I graduated, I remembered that offer.  Before long, I found myself living and working at Wings - terrified out of my mind, but open to the blessings of this special home.  From Esther, I learned the humble power of what it means to feed somebody else.  From Gesner, I learned the practice of watching...of just watching the people walk by in the street.  From Celeste I learned just how much joy could be packed into the word "Yeah!"  I learned more than I could ever put in words. 

Bondye Bon...God is good indeed.

April 2012 Postings

04.12.12 - wane.com news - Former child slave shares story;
Bill Nathan raises awareness about growing problem.. FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) When Bill Nathan’s mother suddenly died when he was 6, he had hopes of being adopted into a loving family. Instead the Haitian child was adopted into slavery. “Slavery still exists and now days we have 27 million living in slavery throughout the world and mostly are children,” said Nathan. Thursday, he was at The University of St. Francis sharing his story and his music. He told the crowd he endured years of abuse and was forced to wait on his new family. He slept in an outbuilding with no bedding and ate scraps of food off the table. He said one of his worst memories is walking miles with 5 gallon buckets to get water. “She (his adopted parent) would spit on the ground and she would say I expect you to come back before the spit dries. So I have to run and get the water and if not she would beat me up,” said Nathan. But even through the abuse, he kept his love for music. “Every time I went to the water fountain and put it upside down and played on the bottom of the bucket,” he said. At age 11, his mistreatment drew the attention of Sister Caroline in the city of Hinche, and he was sent to St. Joseph's Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince, where he was educated and became a leader. He now directs the home and another home to 16 former street children. Nathan is now a professional drummer who performs at churches and universities in the United States. He performed for Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day in Toronto, and spent six weeks in Bahia, Brazil teaching dance and drumming at a school of the arts for Brazilian street children. The experience led to an opportunity to go to Africa to study drumming under the drum masters of The Gambia and Senegal. In 2008 he performed at Duke University as part of a fundraising carnival to benefit a Durham center for disadvantaged children. He has also served as a voice for the slave children of Haiti at the Telluride Film Festival. Nathan will also be a featured musician for the fourth annual Formula for Life, a 5k walk-run and silent auction which took place at USF on Sunday, April 15, and raised funds to provide food for a Haitian orphanage for the next year.


04.08.12 - renee d. - Walnes and our mural;
Walnes has been in the Atlanta, GA area painting a huge mural to help promote our SJF Warrior's Brew coffee project. Walnes proved himself to be not only a gifted painter but also a passionate and effective ambassador for SJF.  Below is a recent email I received from our Pastor lauding Walnes not only as a talented painter, but also for his quality of character. Walnes arrived home this afternoon ---all smiles. At prayer this evening he spoke of always doing your best for God and for the SJ Family. He told our guys how stressed he was to do this mural, but he knew it was something God was calling him to do. He told how he always paints in water colors and this mural was in acrylics. He also spoke of how large and overwhelming the wall space was. Then he spoke of how much larger than the wall his faith in God is. He told of praying and asking God to join him in painting the mural and to bless the work for God's glory. Walnes spoke of starting the painting early every morning and often working until 11:00 at night. Walnes told our guys to remember that when God calls them to do something that seems beyond their ability, that they need to accept and embrace the call --- then call on Jesus for the strength and grace to accomplish the task at hand, remembering that with God all things are possible. In addition to gifted painter and amazing ambassador I think we can add that Walnes is also a powerful mentor to the youth of St. Joseph's.

Read and rejoice with us:  I need to say to you that Walnes is an amazing ambassador for the Saint Joseph's family and is a product of your longtime investment in him. We will deeply miss having him among us.  He has truly endeared himself to the people of Epiphany with his smile, work ethic, his team play, his faith, his talent, his humor, and his humility. Not only has he spent untold hours in our coffee cafe creating his project, he has played the drum for us during worship, and had the leading role as a dancing Jesus in our Palm Sunday passion narrative. It was apropos that our very first worship service in our new (but not quite finished) worship space featured Walnes and our relationship with you. You know that I have watched Walnes grow and mature for over ten years. It has been a great blessing to me to be in this fine young man's life, and his being here has been a fabulous gift to our congregation. I know that he is anxious to return home, and we send him with our love and best wishes for you all and for your own celebration of the empty tomb! Thank you for sharing him with us.

04.08.12 - renee d. - Easter 2012;
Photos from the Easter celebrations at two of the three St. Joseph Family homes today. Starting the day with a sunrise service on the new roof at St. Joseph's Home for Boys was both beautiful and sacred. Next it was Wings of Hope for the traditional child-led service and decorating of the cross with flowers. Then on to the Wings egg hunt, or rather three egg  hunts — one for the wheelchair kids, one for the walkers and one for the employees. We don't have pictures of the celebration at Trinity House, but know it was spirit-filled and family-centered. The St. Joseph Family wishes a very blessed celebration of resurrection to ALL!  Pictures from the St. Joseph's and Wings of Hope have been posted to the St. Joseph Family, Haiti Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com




04.05.12 - rick b. - Easter 2012;
Walnes has been in the Atlanta, GA area painting a huge mural to help promote our SJF Warrior's Brew coffee project. Walnes proved himself to be not only a gifted painter but also a passionate and effective ambassador for SJF.  Below is a recent email I received from our Pastor lauding Walnes not only as a talented painter, but also for his quality of character. Walnes arrived home this afternoon ---all smiles. At prayer this evening he spoke of always doing your best for God and for the SJ Family. He told our guys how stressed he was to do this mural, but he knew it was something God was calling him to do. He told how he always paints in water colors and this mural was in acrylics. He also spoke of how large and overwhelming the wall space was. Then he spoke of how much larger than the wall his faith in God is. He told of praying and asking God to join him in painting the mural and to bless the work for God's glory. Walnes spoke of starting the painting early every morning and often working until 11:00 at night. Walnes told our guys to remember that when God calls them to do something that seems beyond their ability, that they need to accept and embrace the call --- then call on Jesus for the strength and grace to accomplish the task at hand, remembering that with God all things are possible. In addition to gifted painter and amazing ambassador I think we can add that Walnes is also a powerful mentor to the youth of St. Joseph's.

Read and rejoice with us:  I need to say to you that Walnes is an amazing ambassador for the Saint Joseph's family and is a product of your longtime investment in him. We will deeply miss having him among us.  He has truly endeared himself to the people of Epiphany with his smile, work ethic, his team play, his faith, his talent, his humor, and his humility. Not only has he spent untold hours in our coffee cafe creating his project, he has played the drum for us during worship, and had the leading role as a dancing Jesus in our Palm Sunday passion narrative. It was apropos that our very first worship service in our new (but not quite finished) worship space featured Walnes and our relationship with you. You know that I have watched Walnes grow and mature for over ten years. It has been a great blessing to me to be in this fine young man's life, and his being here has been a fabulous gift to our congregation. I know that he is anxious to return home, and we send him with our love and best wishes for you all and for your own celebration of the empty tomb! Thank you for sharing him with us.


04.04.12 - renee d. - holy thursday at wings of hope;
The Holy Thursday foot washing tradition continues at Wings of Hope, with the children and staff serving each other in this show of friendship and love. Pictures of this week's activities are posted on the St. Joseph Family, Haiti Facebook page. Here is the address for the updated pictures from Holy Thursday.



04.04.12 - renee d. - holy week at wings of hope;
Holy Week activities are underway at Wings of Hope. On Tuesday the Wings kids learned about the traditions of the Jewish faith with a Seder meal, knowing that is something Jesus and his disciples would have shared. Pictures of this week's activities will be posted on the St. Joseph Family, Haiti Facebook page. Here are the pictures from the Seder meal yesterday:

http://www.facebook.com


04.02.12 - renee d. - greetings from gesner & friends;
Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Be like Gesner and all the kids at Wings of Hope who are on the autism spectrum — embrace life and live it to its fullest! Possibilities, Not Disabilities! Thank you for your support and friendship to the children of Wings of Hope and the entire St. Joseph Family.

03.28.12 - renee d. - trinity house and LST;
I had the opportunity to head to Jacmel yesterday for a day trip to do some work. There are so many exciting developments happening there. Pictures of the progress and the life at Trinity House and Lekòl Sen Trinite have been posted to the St. Joseph Family, Haiti Facebook page. Enjoy and thank you for your support!

 03.23.12 - renee d. - wear your heart on your sleeve;
Are you ready to show off some St. Joseph Family pride? We just created a marketplace on Cafe Press to market St. Joseph Family merchandise — shirts, sweatshirts, bags, cups, water bottles, hats, and a bunch of other things. The cool thing about Cafe Press is that they print to order, so there are no start-up or inventory costs, and we will receive a commission on every product ordered. They do all the work, we do the promotion, and everybody wins.
We have started out with a few designs on a selection of products, and will keep adding more. To see what we have for sale and buy some treats for yourself, your family and your friends, go to:

http://www.cafepress.com/

Please promote this opportunity with your friends and family. The more shirts, hats, bags, water bottles, etc., that are out there, the more opportunities our friends and supporters will have to share the story of the SJF.


03.28.12 - geoffrey h. - march 2012 earthquake;
For Haitians in and around Port-au-Prince, last night's moderate 4.6 earthquake was an all too familiar feeling and an eerie reminder of the terror of Jan 12th, 2010 and its aftermath. Since the majority of Haitians do not live or work in earthquake-resistant dwellings, even a slight shaking must be a terrifying. That is why Hearts with Haiti and the St. Joseph Family have made rebuilding earthquake-resistant facilities such a priority. These buildings are not cheap and don't go up in a day, but they will stand the test of time, come rain or shine. We owe it to our partners to bring about a stronger future by building strong structures. Anything else is too much of a risk in an earthquake-prone country.