CHE Training spreads to the mainland

As a result of our March mission trip, we have a team of CHE trained leaders from Pastor Agones’ school traveling to the mainland to Ste Michelle to host a 5 day training for local leaders. As Pastor Agones says, “Everyone on La Gonave knows about CHE!” So now we will spread the word to the mainland where Pastor Joseph has 40 churches. We introduced the CHE program (Community, Health and Evanglism) back in March, and this team will now continue in depth classes. It is important for the Haitians to be teaching other Haitians, learning that they have the ability to change their lives for the better. They do not need to wait for relief or handouts. Another team, led by Pastor Gabriel, will be going from Ti Palmeste’s Church of the New Jerusalem to the village of Segur for the same purpose. God’s Face Haiti Mission is funding these outreaches with transportation and lodging costs. In reciprocation, Pastor Joseph is sending a team of evangelists to Ti Palmeste for a crusade/revival for 4 days. This community is struggling spiritually after the death of their leader and church founder, Pastor Amboiz. He was a very well respected man in this community, and he is sorely missed. Our plans for the future include returning to do Pastor training and Bible study, an area where there is much need. The young man taking over from Pastor Amboiz are still in seminary training, and many pastors of small churches in the area have very little training. Our prayers go with Pastor Agones and Pastor Gabriel as they travel.

Mission Accomplished on Latest Trip

The view was incredible, to the right a sheer drop down the mountain, to the left, another sheer drop. We were on a narrow road that snaked along the very top of the mountain. We had been climbing up mountains and descending into valleys with streams running through for several hours now as we explored a new area of Haiti, the northern Artibonite River Valley. When viewed from afar the mountains looked brown and inhospitable. We labored up the sides on rocky switchbacks, but what a sight when we looked back! There were green valleys and hillsides dotted with crops. Amazing! On one large hill our truck shuddered to a stop after hitting some rather big rock. Looking down, the last village was a long way away. Looking up, the next village was seven or eight miles. Ugh. We prayed, and waited, thinking of all the abandoned vehicles we had seen on our travels. The truck cooled off, and then started. Thank goodness, as there is no AAA out here! We never even saw another car or truck the whole way up this mountain, just a few motorcycles. Pastor Joseph did a great job driving, as we traveled with him for a week, visiting many of the churches he had started over the last 35 years. Arriving in Nan Paul, we spot a very pink house with a newer vehicle out front, and hope this is Pastor Sainvil’s home. We had met Pastor Sainvil in Naples where he is a pastor of El Shaddai church of Grace at Covenant Presbyterian Church. We were there to do a two day training in CHE for leaders from Pastor Sainvil’s church and also from Pastor Joseph’s churches. There were 53 in all, and they were really connected to what Ed was teaching. CHE stands for Community, Health and Evangelism, and is a holistic approach to third world countries who need the basics of sanitation and community development. After traveling with the Youth for Orphans group on Pastor Agones sailboat over to la Gonave, we headed up the mountain to check on Ti Palmeste. Things ok here after the passing of Pastor Amboiz, but the people seem sad. It was hard to lose such a popular leader. Pastor Gabriel took good care of us for the night and we have a good meeting with his CHE team. They are excited about the moringa tree and all that it can do to improve the health of the people, even starting micorbusinesses selling the powder in the market! They will make great trainers for the people over on the mainland. And Pastor Joseph had a great idea. He will send a team of four evangelists over to spend several days in Ti Palmeste visiting people and holding a revival. They need spiritual nourishment right now. In return, Ti Palmeste will send a team to Segur, Pastor Joseph’s home town to teach CHE. What an awesome exchange of ideas and resources. This is what CHE is all about, sharing of information so all may have a chance to learn and improve their communities. Meeting with Pastor Agones’s CHE leaders, we presented the plan to them about traveling to the mainland to Ste Michelle to train the leaders of Pastor Joseph’s churches there. As Pastor Agones said, ”Everyone on La Gonave knows about CHE!”

Mission Update January 2014

Despite the passing of Pastor Amboiz last summer, the church of the New Jerusalem in Ti Palmeste is doing well. The goats are flourishing, and the school which is now supported by the goat farm, is growing. We have been invited by the pastors to visit the four other mission churches they have started. Two young men share the church leadership, and are attending seminary classes in Port-au-Prince. In Baie de Tortue, Pastor Agones’ school is doing very well, and they will graduate a fifth grade class this year for the first time! He now has 7 grades, pre-k through 5th. This success is due to the support of teachers salaries we have provided over the last four years. This support has been necessary because of the severe lack of education in this area. It will take a little time to improve the conditions here. Several leaders are teaching the others in their community using the CHE method, which we introduced two years ago. Already they have improved sanitation, added many more latrines, and started several micro businesses. Of special concern here is the termination of Pastor Agones’ lease in May. He owns a piece of land and has donated it to the school. There is a project underway to build a combined school/church. Mattituck Presbyterian Church on Long Island, NY is taking the lead in this, and is sending a team this month to do a video which they hope will raise a portion of the needed funds. We will partner with them, along with Estero UMC and South Dade Haitian UMC to make this a reality. A new aspect of our mission will begin next month when we travel with Pastor Joseph of Naples Goshen Church of God, who has been praying for us to help in his area for several years . We will visit the Artibonite River Valley area where many of the churches he has started are located. ( he has over 40 in total) We will meet up with Pastor Sainvel of the El Shaddai of Grace Church, and do a combined CHE program for the people they have selected as leaders. This is an area of very great need and much suffering of the people. We visited the site of this new church in Petit Rivere in June of 2010. It now has a roof, but is still in need of a floor. CHE stands for Community, Health and Evangelism, and is designed for Haitians to help other Haitians. Instead of handouts, our mission offers mentoring and development of their communities. One of the things we do provide when we visit is a hot meal to all who attend the all day trainings. This is CHE, we must feed, develop community and teach God’s principles and how they can change their lives. It is not enough to offer food, and no encouragement, or to preach the gospel when the people are starving. All three aspects must be addressed in a holistic manner. The three legged stool will stand. Our goal is to show them they can solve many of their problems themselves. This has worked really well in Ti Palmeste, where we have been involved for five years. They have become a model for others to follow, which was our plan.. We will use leaders from this area to help teach others. For more information on any aspect of our mission, visit our blog at godsfacehaitimission.blogspot.com or call us. We would love to talk to you about it! Thank you for helping us share God’s love to the beautiful people of Haiti. Ed and Sally Ritter Ed-239-404-0934 Sally-239-595-7283 gfhaitimission@gmail.com

Success stories from our last trip, March 2013

Points of praise for God's Face Haiti Mission as of March 2013 on the Island of La Gonave Ti Palmeste-Church of the New Jerusalem (mountains Church attendance on Sunday very good, church is well kept and clean. Twenty men in pastor/Bible study class that Ed led. They are eager and hungry for more. Fifteen ladies in Bible study, studying the Apostles Creed The goat farm has over 50 goats now, and arrangements were made for the Nubian male goat. He will produce a superior breed that will bring more money. Farm ready for planting School (which they started on their own), now has 75 children CHE(Community, Health, Evangelism) is spreading in the community Four mission churches (plan to visit them next time) Purchased a case of children's Bibles. Mme Amboise is going to help organize classes for children. Also gave a Bible to all ladies and men attending classes. Baie de Tortue-Pastor Agones (Village School East) Lease extended one more year till May 2014, which gives us one year to develop construction on Agones property, working with Estero UMC and Mattituck Presbyterian on Long Island. School has 85 children, 4th grade will graduate this year, so next year will be a 5th grade! CHE leader, Wilson Alexander, has completed the latrine bases for 46 families. CHE is spreading in the community. Reinforced the need for water conservation and harvesting with gutters and cisterns. Pastor Agones sailboat is completed, and was used to transport us back and forth to the island. The two micro businesses we started last March are being fully paid off as of this month. This will open up funds for two more. In addition, we funded two more as well. Pastor Agones has a plan for the local people to help raise money for the school. We took embroidery thread over for them to make cloth embroideries. They will also paint pictures. Agones plans to bring these items over at the end of summer, and to have an event to showcase and raise money.  Thank you for all your wonderful support, encouragement and prayers! You have made a difference in this community!!! Ed and Sally Ritter and the Haiti Mission Team North Naples United Methodist Church 6000 Goodlette Rd Naples, FL 34109 Sally Ritter 593-7600 ext 248 email: sritter@nnumc.org or esritter90@gmail.com

Update 2013

It has been a difficult year for the Haitian people, but they are recovering from the effects of having too little water (summer drought) and then too much water (Hurricane Irene). They are a resilient people, who continually pick themselves up and get on with life. When food became scarce in the mountains, people migrated to the cities. Now with new crops planted, they are returning to their homes. We are putting together a team for our next trip which will be March 8th to 16th. Part of our time will be spent in Ti Palmeste (Church of the New Jerusalem) with pastor training and Bible study. We will see completed goat farm and the baby goats! Then on to Baie de Tortue where Pastor Agones has his church and school (Village School East). In 2012 we made two trips here teaching CHE ( Community, Health and Evangelism/Education). There are now several trained community leaders who go into the community to teach their fellow Haitians. Several micro businesses were started here and we will try to expand this program. The building that Agones rents has been sold, and he will have to relocate his school. He had purchased a piece of land nearby and will donate it to build the church and school. An engineering study has been funded, and we will soon have an estimate as to what it will cost. One multi use building will be constructed first as a church, with classrooms added as money is available. Education is the key to escaping the life of poverty in this community. The families want to be self supporting. They are asking for job training and help in starting small businesses. They are learning the value of the education their children are receiving. Without this school, these children would not have an education. Before Agones, they stayed home with no money for school and no clothing to wear. We have helped him to make a huge difference in the lives of these children. Thank you for all of your wonderful support, encouragement and prayers! Amidst all of the negative publicity about Haiti, it is awesome to see progress, even in just one small area! We can make a difference in Haiti, one small community at a time. You have helped to make that difference!

Good News!

After a difficult summer of drought and loss of food, followed by Hurricane Sandy, we have finally received some good news! It seems nature gives Haiti too little or too much. The hurricane that cost many lives also gave much needed water to the island. The water table was dangerously low and needed a major rain event. Life is never easy in Haiti. We were concerned over the goat farm after we learned that the area had been severely affected by the drought. Many people had to leave their homes to find food. They have begun to return, and the goat farm is thriving with the first new baby goats being born. Hallejulia! Pastor Agones lost one boat, but the one with the new motors is safe and intact. He will be able to transport us next time we visit. We had planned a trip for November, but thought it too soon from all the issues that they have suffered with. The next trip is now planned for March. By then food production will be back to normal. There are now several CHE trained leaders who are actively out teaching other members of the community about the basics of hygiene and community issues. This is how CHE (Community, Health and Evangelism Education) works. We train a few leaders, and they train the community. We continue to support the teachers as much as we can. Education is the key to escaping a life of poverty. We pray that as families have jobs and earn money, they will be able to help with their childrens education. This will take a little time, but we have made great progress. Thank you for all your wonderful support, encouragement and prayers! You have made a difference in the lives of these communities!

Meeting for ladies in training for micro businesses

Pastor Agones visit in July

Pastor Agones presented Jamie Baker of the Village School with a hand carved Haiti globe during his visit here in July. He was very thankful for all the Village School has done for his school in Baie de Tortue, La Gonave, Haiti. At the end of this school year, the school donated all of their used uniforms for Pastor Agones's children in Haiti. The initial donation of uniforms a year and a half ago allowed an additional 50 children to attend school who were unable to attend due to lack of clothing. Pastor Agones spent a Sunday with Estero Methodist Church, speaking at all three of their services, and being hosted for lunch and dinner. Three members of Estero UMC, Debra Haley, Carol Hadley and Margie Campbell traveled to Haiti to visit Pastor Agones school in January. Pastor Agones told us that the building and property he uses now for school and church has been sold. He has a year, but then must move his school He personally purchased a piece of property next door, and hopes to be able to raise funds to build a school and church there. There are 80 children attending, who otherwise would be at home, unable to attend school. He has been a true blessing to this community. We are looking for people to partner with us to turn this dream into a reality. Please pray for this ministry that is making such a huge difference in the lives of some of the poorest people in Haiti.

Uniforms for the Village School East!

Ginger Sauter and the Village School of North Naples UMC have donated all of their used uniforms to our Haiti mission to send to Pastor Agones in Baie de Tortue. What a blessing as this will give the children more than one set of school clothing. Thank you Village School!!!! Pastor Joseph of the Church of God will be loading another container this month so we will be able to ship the uniforms over with him. He will make sure they go to La Gonave for Pastor Agones. Pastor Agones is arriving here tomorrow, July 6th, for a five day visit. He will then travel on to New York where he is hoping to obtain some Rotary support to help with a school building. God is working in wonderful ways. Many hands together accomplish many things.

More Blessings!!!

At the end of our trip in March, we arrived at Port-au-Prince airport earlier than expected. Our driver, George Bordeau, had come to pick us up in a large air conditioned van! He had been hired by a gorup of doctors, and they had allowed him to use this vehicle. He even had a policeman with him! This was great as we were giving a ride to a friend form Scotland we had met, Alan McDonnough. We had warned him the ride would be cramped and hot, and here we were riding in style! Because we had a policeman with us, we used the special middle lane of the road, and so zipped to the airport. On arriving, who should we run into but our old friend and partner, Aunel Bellany from Miami! He was with a group from Homosassa Springs UMC who had just completed mission work on the mainland in Peit Goave. We met Janet Petro and her husband, and the rest of their group. Aunel had been telling them about our mission, and the first thing they asked was, "Can we buy some goats?" So they bought three right then and there! More of their friends and family sent money for goats until they purchased 11 goats! Here are the mission supporters and the names they selected for their goats: Janet and John Petro- "Julie" George and Cary Pratt- "Magpie" John and Joan Griffin-"Gertie" Margaret Kruelle- "Rafiki" and "Mustafa" Andrew and Stacy Geis-"Mortimer" Don and Micki Archer and Paul and Cathy Hazzard were on the mission trip and gave us money in Port-au Prince airport- It is not late to name your goats!!! And your other one Janet!! Gloria Hampton also bought two goats. What a blessed conicidence to meet up in Haiti!!Thank you Homosassa Springs UMC for believing in our mission!!!!

Goats and Blessings!

During our trip in March we had the pleasure to stay at the Wesleyan Compound in Ansagale on la Gonave. This place was BUSY!! They have three major projects going on, all at the same time. The dormitory building on the property is almost complete, and is built to earthquake proof specificaitons. Accross the street, the hospital is getting a much needed reconstruction. And out by the airport and Pastor Agone's school, they have broken ground on a new orphange for Mme. Soleil and the children at Les Enfantes de Jesus Orphanage. This is a God send, because the existing home is vastly over crowded with almost 80 children on two floors, with no outside play area as it is on a city street. This is the group of children we hosted for a day of play down at the Wesleyan Compound. The name of the project overseeing the construction is "Okipe" which means to care for. They can be found on the web with a video of the project. Rika Lively and I shared a room with four wonderful ladies from Pennsylvania. Althougth we only spent one night together, we bonded through much mission discussion. Janet Little, from Abundant Life Baptist Church in Washington, PA, was one of these ladies who was helping work on the building at the compound. We told of the goat farm, and of empowering the Haitians to help themselves, and create businesses to help support the school they wished to start. She liked the idea that we did not just hand out money or food. I just received $810 from Janet and a group of her friends to buy goats!!That is 16 more goats to add to our herd! Thank you to Janet Little and her friends from Abundant Life Baptist Church for believing in our mission. God is good!!!

REPORT ON THE MISSION 2012

As of last July, the Church of the New Jerusalem in Ti Palmeste was finished; painted, decorated, even landscaped! They now serve 150 people each week, covering a large area in this rural community. They have started four mission churches, and they are teaching the CHE methods of community, leadership and sanitation to these other areas. CHE stands for Community, Health and Evangelism/Education, a program of Equip International designed especially for third world nations. The Bellany family formally deeded the land and house to the church to use as farm for goats and various crops including peanuts and peas. Gabriel the caretaker and head teacher, lives there with his family.

In January, the fence was being constructed, and in March it was finished. Funds for the cistern have been sent and it will be constructed this month. Funds were sent to AAPLAG to purchase 30 goats in April, a good month to purchase them. We have agreed to pay the salary for one year for a security guard to protect the goats. The cost is $65 a month. They have opened a school with 50 students with the money they made from investing in peanuts.

In January, we turned our attention to Baie deTortue and Pastor Agones Jean Jacque, a young pastor running a school for very poor kids, has become a trusted friend after our first coincidental meeting two years ago when we first began our mission on La Gonave. He has helped us up in the mountains as guide and translator, and has helped us with travel plans as well. At our first meeting he had 30 kids, poorly dressed, and the rest of the community was too poor to have the proper clothes for school. As we worked on our church and mission in Ti Palmeste, it was also put on our hearts to bring clothes to the children of Baie de Tortue. The Village School at NNUMC donated boxes and boxes of uniforms, as well as much needed underwear, which were sent by container.

This community is very poor and very uneducated. Education is supremely important to the kids and the parents if this community is too move forward. The challenge now is to pay the teachers salaries until the community can find work or start microbusinesses.

In January, John Puig was part of our team, and he is well versed in water testing and quality, and wells. After testing the ground well where the community got its water, it was discovered it was 50% salt and had fecal contamination. Children were dying from this water. Two broken wells were used to make one workable one, a closed well with low salt and no contamination. With just guidance from John, the Haitians made all the repairs themselves. They are very thankful for this water, as now they do not have to walk three miles to get potable water. We made connections and taught water conservation, stressing that water must be cherished and not a drop to be wasted. All water on an island is a gift form God, and it is not limitless.

This idea was shared at a meeting of the leaders of the island, including World Vision, Concern, PLAADIG, WISH, a judge, the head of the department of education and others. John explained the idea of the lens of fresh water that floats on top of the salt under the island. As wells become salty, this means the lens of water is shrinking. Once it is depleted completely, as has happened in the Bahamas, the only solution is an RO system, which is cost prohibitive. It can take 100 years to replenish the water supply.

In March, we held a day long kids program with food, that was enjoyed by all. Rika taught them a song about how deep, how high, how long and how wide God’s love is for us. They loved it! The next three days were spent on CHE training. The first day was understanding community and how they can work together for the common good, helping them get over the relief and hand out mentality. Using skits helped them to visualize the ideas. They then formed into groups to brainstorm and come up with their own answers to the problems they had listed. All the CHE lessons are biblically based, as we shared what the Bible says about these issues. In Acts2:42 Christ’s followers ate, studied, prayed and fellowshipped together, and in Acts 4:32 they provided for the needs of each other. Psalm 82:3 says to provide for the weak and maintain the rights of the afflicted. God’s view of man and community is shown in Genesis 1:26; Man is made in God’s image and likeness, so all have value and worth. Romans 4:25 says God delivered us, and all men have worth and love. 1 Corinthians 12:12-16 tells us that we are all part of one body and cannot function with out each other.

The second day was all about leadership and what makes a bad or good leader. Philippians 2:6-8 describes Jesus as humble, a servant leader who gave up his rights, and in Matthew 10:16-22 he realtically prepared his people and taught them to depend upon God, to stand firm and have hope for the future. Mark 3:13-16 shows us how to develop organization, delegate authority and carefully select your team. Don’t go it alone, prepare and train your trusted team.

The play “Crossing the Water” really explained how missionaries are here only a short while and cannot “carry” or do everything for them. The real answer is for the missionary to train Haitians, and for them to train each other. This is the basis of CHE. We helped correct many misconceptions they had about paying for school. They thought Pastor Agones was getting all the money he needed from friends in the U.S. We corrected that misinformation, explaining we are not rich with endless supplies of money. We also explained that here everyone supports education, whether they have children or not. It is a communities obligation. They must take ownership of their childrens’ education, as it is the only way out of the grinding poverty. Too many of these children are hungry, often to the point that they cannot even attend school.

The people of Baie de Tortue are now beginning to feel empowered to help themselves and to know that they can change their community. This is where we will need to return and reinforce these ideas and continue the education process.

We paid the teachers two months salary, for which they were very grateful. This is one of the areas of need right now until they become more self supporting. There are no jobs, so therefore no food. No food means no school for the kids.

Job training is one of their requests, and help with micro credit businesses. We sent $500 to fund two businesses. The micro credit is being supervised by AAPLAG (all educated Haitians) and the money will be paid back to help others get started. It is a great program, and much needed in this community.

We will continue to support Pastor Agones as he reaches out to his own home community. He grew up like these kids, very poor and without education until the age of 12, when he was fortunate enough to catch the eye of an American who saw his potential and gave him an education all the way through college and seminary!


Sally Ritter
April, 2012

Sharing God's love with our Haitian brothers and sisters

This picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

What an incredible week we had!!

The blessings just kept coming during our week on La Gonave. Rika Lively and Terry Hand proved very able team mates who helped impact the community of Baie de Tortue, where Pastor Agones has his school (Village School East) and church. We connected through worship on Sunday morning, music, a fun day with the kids and leadership training for 25 community leaders. Using the CHE program, Ed lead them through leadership and community training using simple dramas and teams to brainstorm. This method allows the Haitians to come up with their own answers to many community problems. We backed it all up with the Bible, showing what God's word says about community and leadership. The last day we focused on health and sanitation, the trash problem and water quality.

On Friday,we hosted 41 orphans at he Wesleyan Compound for an afternoon of soccer, frisbees and jumprope, as well as coloring and making salvation bracelets. A big pink and white cake finished off the day. Having no play area at the orphanage, they all thoroughly emjoyed being outside.

Rika Lively with some of the orphans

Learning how deep, and high and long and wide is the love of God.

Dresses made by Jessie and Seasonal Plus Circles at NNUMC.

Sunday Worship

Kids at the repaired well, glad to have a healthier water supply

Team gets ready for March 10th to 17th trip to LaGonave

Well, it is that time again. Time to try to stuff ten bags of stuff into eight bags. Just when it all looks perfect, I think of something else to add! AARGH! I have to stop thinking!

In the pile of stuff that used to be a bedroom, are 80 tennis balls, 10 frisbees, jumpropes, 4 soccer balls, coloring pages, crayons, candy, costumes for plays, beads, and stuffed animals. Add to that toiletries, sheets for water purification, first aid supplies, program materials, books, Bibles, Bible studies and Evangecubes.

One day will be spent with the kids at "Village School East". We will share with them the book made by the 4th and 5th graders of North Naples UMC. The plan is to make a sketch book with a page for as many children as we can,( there are 80!) including a tracing of their hand, a picture and something about them. This way our kids here can write to a specific child.

On Friday, we will host a group from Les Enfants Orphanage in Ansagale at the Wesleyan Complex where we will be staying. They are in a city building with no play area. The conditions are very overcrowded. This will be a day to run and play outside, have Bible stories and CAKE!

Monday is the day we will visit with the Church of the New Jerusalem up the mountain in Ti Palmeste. we have heard that the goat farm is finished! Complete with cistern and goat shed! Can't wait to see it.

Wednesday to Friday mornings will be spent teaching CHE (community, Health, evangelism) and working with the first group of micro businesses we are sponsoring.
Other afternoons will be spent meeting with the church council and newly formed community council to address problems with water and sanitation, and other community issues.

I will be sure to post updates as soon as we return! Prayers are welcome! We are traveling to the island by 1st century wooden sailboat, and that is always an adventure! I always expect to see Jesus on board.

Submitted by
Sally Ritter
Team: Terry Hand, Rika Lively, Ed Ritter and Sally Ritter

The January trip exceeded our expectations!!

Sally Ritter, Janice Coffey and John Puig from North Naples UMC with Debra Haley, Margie Campbell and Carol Hadley from Estero UMC accomplished a training program on health and sanitation for forty women and a day with the kids from "Village School East".

We also found that the well that the community has been using is very contaminated with bacteria and salt water. (See above) The well is an open surface well so anything on the ground would wash into it including animal waste,as you can see behind the well in the above picture.

They have two closed wells but the two pumps had quit working. When John asked if they had tried at least to make one good pump from the two, they said they had not thought of that. So with a little work they (the Haitians) took the two pumps apart and could repair one. Now they have a lot better water. The well they were using was very high in salinity, while the closed wells still have a slight salt problem, the water is far less salty and drinkable without the contamination.

In all this process, John checked other wells farther up the hill and found they too were getting salty. They also need to build troughs to take spill over water a safe distance away for the animals to drink, thus avoiding contamination.

We shared our findings with the farm cooperative we partner with (they are all Haitians from the island and have been in operation for 25 years; the leaders have all been trained overseas in South America and at Echo in the new and proper farming and fishing techniques). They were quite concerned so they put together an emergency meeting with 16 of the island's leaders including 2 government officials, the head of the organization that oversees World Vision, Concern International, Christian Services and all the other NGOs on the Island of LaGonave. They wanted us to share our findings, which I believe actually affirmed what they suspected already. They asked us what could be done and we answered that only through educating the public and strong conservation methods things could turn around. They are very grateful and want to continue to work with us to help them with this problem.

We will be returning March 10th through 17th, taking several youth from our church. It will be exciting to further this mission, as we continue with education in community development and sanitation.

Pastor Agones has a group of 15 ladies selected to start microbusinesses. The start up for each business is about $250. Once their initial debt has been repaid, more ladies and men can participate. There is a severe lack of jobs. Jobs and training were the two things they need the most, after clean water.

Thank you for all your wonderful support,encouragement and prayers!

Below is a picture of 3 year old Betchwenda Charles who survived the same illness that killed her 11 year old sister, thanks to our help in obtaining medical care. Hallejulia!

Some of the faces of Pastor Agones's school

Team gets ready for January trip

A team of six will travel to Anse-A-Galet, La Gonave to work with Pastor Agones school and the community of Baie de Tortue, a very poor area out near the airport. The team is comprised of three from Estero Methodist Church; Debra Haley, Carol Hadley and Margie Campbell and three from North Naples UMC; Sally Ritter, Janice Coffey and John Puig.

We will take water filtration supplies and our CHE training to promote better sanitation awareness. Sanitation of water using sunlight, proper storing of dishes and utensils, and simple hygiene will be some of the topics. John has just completed his CHE training, so is fresh for the job. CHE stands for Community, Health and Evangelism/Education and is a course designed for third world countries using simple plays and demonstrations to get information across. The team will gather information on the community to assist in planning the trip in March. At that time, we will be taking mid high and senior high youth with us!

Traveling up the mountain to Ti Palmeste one day, we will visit New Jerusalem Church and see the progress on the goat farm. The fence should be completed and hopefully the cistern. Hopefully, there will be time to meet with the ladies and have a Bible study. We have certificates for the ladies who attended in July.

Please pray for our mission, and for Pastor Agones. As more children have clothing to wear (most donated from the Village School), he faces increased needs in teachers salaries and daily meals for the kids. Often this is the only meal they will have. "Nothing is impossible with God", and we know that His hand is upon this mission. May God bless you for all your prayers and support!

Mission Trip January 2nd to 7th, 2012

A team is traveling to Baie de Tortue, to spend time with Pastor Agones school, College Ralph C. Tuthill, which we call Village School East. This school is in a very poor area of Ansagale on the island of La Gonave. Most of our mission focus has been on Ti Palmeste up in the mountains, but I had a calling to spend time in this area. After I spoke to Pastor Agones to see if we could set up CHE (community, health and evangelism/education) for his children's families, he gave me the sad news that an eleven year old girl had just died due lack of sanitation. Her three year old sister was also very ill and could not afford treatment in Port au Prince. Ed and I sent money to help her, and committed to doing what we could for these people.

This is an area of extreme lack of education and resulting poverty. Families are very large, often 12 or 14 , and only one or two will go to school. Pastor Agones grew up here with parents so poor that he had to have a stepfather care for him. His bio is on the blog. We admire the fact that he has devoted his life to helping the other children here in Baie de Tortue.

The team will include members of Estero United Methodist Church, who have an mission on the mainland of Haiti. This will be their first time on the island of La Gonave. In addition to the health and hygiene training, we will also spend a day with the school kids,who are learning English. We will also evangelize and spread the good news of Jesus!

Please pray for this mission!
----Sally Ritter

MISSION CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM IS OFFICIALLY DEDICATED!

July 17th 2011 was an awesome day, as several hundred people attended the four hour service highlighted by testimonies from the various people involved from the inception of the church. Visionary ideas of a few years ago came to completion on this day. Since our last trip in November, the church as been painted, the name is on the front and a church full of benches have been built.

Reverend Montreuil Milord, pastor of South Dade United Methodist Church in Homestead presided over the dedication. It was a great pleasure for us to have him there.

The church leaders were very proud to take their part in the dedication ceremony. The Mission Church of the New Jerualem has a strong council of five men and two women. They have shown good accountability and they sincerely want to be leaders not just in their church, but in the community.

Aunl Bellany's team from Homestead, Florida attending the dedication included Vicky Ballany, Maria Milord and Ipomene Valbrun. This team put on a two day medical clinic for the community.

Three weddings were held on Saturday!! What a blessing as these couples made the commitment to each other with God's blessing. The ceremonies were beautiful, as were the brides.

The ladies two day Bible study was well received by the 35 women who attended. We studied lessons that were applicable to the issues in their lives. We all had a very spiritual time sharing with these wonderful women. A talk about serving ended with the women on our team applying hand cream to all of the ladies attending. It was a bonding time that focused on our similarities, and not on what makes us different. We taught the use of the Evangecube for witnessing for Jesus, and gave several to each church represented. There were women from eight different churches present. A real ecumenical gathering!

The team from North Naples United Methodist Church, Janice Coffey, Linda Scott and Sally Ritter with the ladies Bible group.

Team getting ready for Church Dedication July 17th

The team from North Naples United Methodist is looking forward to the July trip celebrating the dedicaton of the Church of the New Jerusalem in Ti Palmeste on La Gonave.

Aunel Bellany from South Dade UMC will arrive July 11th with his team, which includes his wife Vicky and Marie Milord, as well as mission friends from Canada and France. Since Vicky and Marie are both nurses, they will host a medical clinic for the area. World Vision, which has a complex right next to our Guest House, has allowed us full use of their facility, to house part of the team and to host the clinic.

Sally and Ed Ritter, Janice Coffey and Linda Scott (NNUMC) will arrive Friday the 15th and stay the week. Saturday, the day before the dedication, will be a special day of weddings and thanksgiving services. Sunday will be the ceremony, with many supporters in attendance. On Monday and Wednesday, this team will continue with ladies Bible studies, and with follow up for the recently trained CHE grads from Ti Palmeste.

We have already purchased 48 Kreyol bibles so each of our ladies will receive one.

Church members are busy buildng benches, to accomadate all the visitors, but also to do double duty as school benches when the school opens in the fall. We will be discussing that as well as checking out the progess on the farm and the fenced area for the goats.

Pastor Agones will join us in Ti Palmeste, and we will spend some time visiting his school the end of the week.

Goats, Goats and more Goats!

We have almost 20 goats purchased for our goat farm! After Camille made a guest appearance at North Naples UMW meeting last month, the ladies circles are getting together to purchase their own goat. Camille, a lovely brown and white goat, behaved like a lady during her appearance. The following is a list of goat sponsors and the names they have selected. Each goat costs $50.

The Naomi Circle with Camille.


Mike and Melba Arthur-2 goats, "Mike and Mel"
Frank Avanzato-"Francesca"
Fort Myers Beach United Methodist-"Betty"
Shirley Horner- 2 goats"Mutt and Jeff"
Tom and dorothy Jamieson-"Jamie"
Mark Middleton- 2 goats "Sparky and Missy"
Oliver Scott-"Ms Linda"
Linda Scott- "Butterscotch"
Mary Jo Wortman-"Jo"
Joan Wurfele-"Rojo"
Rebecca Circle-NNUMC " Rebecca"
Naomi Circle-NNUMC-"Naomi"
Jan Ellison
Pete Stafford
Patrick Seay
Carole Levick
Berry Altamonte
Vicki Newell "Rob"

Thank you all! We have sent the money for fencing for the "Goat Park", and will purchase the goats in the next month after the fence is installed, This is very important to protect the goats from predators, and to protect the vegetables from the goats.