MERRY CHRISTMAS

Children served their parents a treat.

The boys sang with gusto!

These cupcakes are called Pumkats, a little sweet cake sort of like pound cake. No icing. Much loved. We bought 275 and not one was left over.

Jackie Mark was dressed like he was going to preach!

We ran out of chairs for the audience.

By the time the sun went down there were more people.

Introducing staff. Dan has been a wonderful high school teacher. He's given the boys in his class a desire to do something with their lives and they are working toward those goals. They read every day at break, stay after school to study, and it's because Mr. Dan has instilled in them the need to work hard!

Al and Bev handed out the gifts. This is Pablo. He was our youngest until we got a little one younger than him.

Which one is Mary? Or Joseph? Where is the baby under all that glitter. We had nothing to do with the way this was put together other than providing costumes. Our Haitian teachers did it all.

We have a wonderful band director, in the lower part of picture playing the trumpet. He is the kindest man, very patient and loved by all the students and staff. He goes to the police station every morning to play while they raise the Haitian flag, then he comes to work at El Shaddai.

He's got the whole world in His hands!

With the Christmas program behind us, Al, Bev and Dan visiting family in the States, Gary and I are wondering what to do with ourselves. Well, not really. We have plenty to do but things are a bit quiet with no one around. The Christmas program went very well and the children were proud of their performance and excited about their gifts. We had about 75 parents and family in the audience and one mother who has had her child in school for several years was beside herself with excitement. She couldn't get over how the school has grown. With 50 childrens voices, we certainly did have a choir as they sang the cantata, Lord I Lift Your Name on High. They did too! I had to stop and think about the parents listening to their children singing song after song in English. That must have made them quite proud! The band played three numbers and the pre-schoolers sang two songs then dressed up for the manger scene which is always the focus. We are thankful no one is telling us we cannot celebrate the birth of Jesus and sing publicly to His glory!

I'm going to post the pictures provided the internet cooperates and let you enjoy looking at them. In the meantime, thank you for your giving, making Christmas possible for our school and for a lot of children who would never get anything. We will feed at least 1500 kids this Christmas.

The Lord bless your time with family and may you draw closer to Him in the coming year.

We pray supernatural provision for you this year. Whether it be jobs, health, reconcilations, whatever you need our God is more than able to supply!

Merry Christmas and a Happy Prosperous New Year.

Gary and Carolyn

Dan was every where needed. The building was full of people!



Bev took good care of the patients making sure their glasses were clean and well fitted.

John learned to look at the Word only.

Jan learned a lot about eye exams........

Handling the gate was a huge job for Al, the people began to push and shove, and nearly knocked the gate down.

Elizabeth helping a child. We hired her to work in the Pre School room and the smile on her face is what we always see.

Dr Phillips, Jessica and Cleo.......putting in a long day!

Marko gets glasses!

Pictures

Dr Phillips doing eye exams for glaucoma.

Petit Homme and many others did the preliminary work.

Steve looked like a Dr in his scrub suit.

Cleo never stopped working!

Jennifer had her room all set up for people to get reading glasses.

Peggy sponsors Kerwine and got the opportunity to have him as her interpreter.

FAMILY HARVEST TEAM WOW!!!

Ellen played a game with the kids, they had a blast!

We had a wonderful week with the Family Harvest eye clinic team from Tinley Park, Il. We laughed and we cried, we worked until we dropped. Dr Phillips and Cleo are relentless, they never stop. They saw over 800 people in four days! Many got glasses, seeing things clearly for the first time in years. So many stories to tell. Dr Mark Friend taught at the Bible school seminar, challenging the thinking of all our students (100 attended) and had to answer many questions and brought them back to the subject. Jan Meyers taught briefly on Authority and Submission. I don't think any of us will forget the students singing "How Great Thou Art" of course in Creole but we were lifted from the dust and grime outside the resort to a heavenly plane with their singing.

I got to reacquaint myself with Ellen Mytnick after many years. Peggy Phaby and I had our usual laughs about the need for botox and face lifts, and on a more serious level the need to stay firm on the Word of God. Ellen taught our El Shaddai children for three hours on Monday.....they were exceedingly blessed! The bonding with new acquaintances was wonderful, Steve Osborn, Jessica, Jennifer, Carlet, Beverly.........all dear to my heart. I stated that when they left I'd have to spend time regrouping to get back in the groove of routines and it wasn't easy getting my mind back to being without friends but necessary nonetheless.

I'm going to attempt to put all the pics I can on the blog. Love, Carolyn