Mango season

                                                            Many Hands for Haiti Campus

It's Mango season! For rural Haiti, this is known as the time of year when no one goes hungry. In the Central Plateau where Many Hands for Haiti campus is located there are numerous varieties of sweet, juicy mangoes to 'pick' from. OR, if you use the traditional Haitian method of obtaining mangoes, there are many varieties to 'throw a rock at' to get it from the tree, into your hand, into your mouth.

             Picking mangoes with an apple picker basket on the end of a LONG piece of Bamboo

Last week, we waited for the Missionary Flights International plane to arrive at the Pignon grass airstrip with a team of college students that were saying goodbye after a week of mission service with MH. The wait was longer than anticipated due to a delay in Port au Prince because the recently elected Haitian president was in transit.

While we waited there was time to enjoy one last delicious mango, or two, picked directly from the tree. The team marveled at this beautiful experience.
We wondered how many airports there are that could offer fresh picked mangoes right on the airstrip while passengers prepare for departure.
We concluded that this is the best airport in the world.

            Even a PET cart turns into an off road vehicle to travel on the roads during rainy season.

Jobs are scarce in Haiti no matter what the season but rainy season does provide an interesting job that needs to be done. The historic Citadel just outside of Milot, Haiti is the location. The job is scraping lichen off the brick and rock fortress walls, inside and out. Shown here a ladder is achored with 2 cannon balls.

                                                                   It is precarious work!

               

                     The moist, humid air is the perfect environment to produce these vivid colors

Many people must take resources they have and pair that up with an entrepreneurial approach.         "Kokoye", coconuts, and a macheti provide this young man with a bit of income.

With a macheti, the top of the coconut is 'whacked' off to create just the perfect opening from which to drink the coconut water inside. We have heard this liquid referred to as nature's Gatorade.

After the water has been drank the second step is to 'chop' the coconut in half, slice off a portion of the shell for a spoon, and procede to scoop the 'meat' to reap the remaining nutrutional benefit of the coconut. MH Chaplain, Pastor Lumanes, demonstrates the technique. Just another aspect of a cultural day trip to the Citadel.

A recent visit to Anglen, the woman who was pronounced dead and then reappeared after 2 years, 

provided her family with a gift of food and a time for a prayer of encouragement. She looks physically more healthy but we could see signs of a troubled woman, emotionally and mentally. She had some things to say but she did not want her family members and others that were in the yard at the time to hear. She was very welcoming to our American team but was visibly resistant to the Haitian people. 

This is understandable given her story of all she has experienced in the past. She invited Pastor Lumanes to visit one day soon to talk. 

        

The last Sunday of May is Mother's Day, "Bon Fet Manman".  Mothers at church Sunday morning were honored with a special song and a small gift: a ribbon pinned like a corsage along with a package of cookies wrapped in white paper and a piece of candy. 

A group of young people brought a Mother's Day gift to MH Campus Sunday afternoon. The basket contained six pineapples and three coconuts. The gift also included singing two special songs with a Mother's theme. 

A very special Mother's Day meal was delivered to this elderly couple. Their grandson helps care for them. As they saw the gift come into the yard they sat down right where they had been standing and quickly, desperately, unwrapped the food and began to divide everything 3 ways. Heartbreaking, yet what a pleasure to have the privilege of sharing such a simple gift that was recieved with such gratitude. This in itself was a treasured Mother's Day gift for the hands that delivered it. Thank you, Lord.

MH Head Security, Kalo, asked first thing one morning, "Tout bagay anfom?",  
Is everything OK? That morning the answer was realistic. NO, not everything is OK because           Satan is working very hard all day every day, creating challenges, causing trouble, using                   deception, causing doubt, fostering jealousy, taking pride and using it for his gain, stealing the focus that MUST remain on JESUS as the one and only thing that can fill lives with confidence, joy, LOVE.  

We MUST encourage each other for the sake of Jesus to remain steadfast and diligent in what God has called each of us to do. This is for family, friends, co-workers, co-workers at MH and acquaintences. Jesus light shines!       Can you see it?

The end of a beautiful day where Jesus shines light in the darkness.  

He, in turn, asks us to shine light in the darkness. 

Please take these words from 2 Thessalonians 1 as encouragement from God right where you are today, right where your challenges and persecution lie. These are words for each believer to hold on to every day when Satan shows himself.

Greetings from Paul

This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Dear brothers and sisters, we can't help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God's other churches about your endourance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you.

And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from Heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don't know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people - praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.

So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 New Living Translation