Greetings from Haiti.  Our country is no longer in the international news, which could mean there are no major bad news to report. The new government has completed its first 100 days. The partisan political opposition is, of course, still critical.  But as a private citizen, I am grateful for improvements in the electricity distribution (10+ hours daily), more competence in the government, increased respect for human rights, and less police brutality.  We were hit by flooding in the southeast (Mapou and Fonds Verrettes) and we have had several cases of (presumed) arson affecting the downtown business area. We do need to continue to pray for the peace of this nation, so that we may live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity (Jeremiah 29:7; 1 Timothy 2:2).

Quietly Dominique and I have completed 11 years of marriage on July 3^rd.  That day our children were both playing at a music recital.  We went afterwards to a Chinese restaurant because they both had excellent report cards.  The food was good but the kids were more interested in learning how to eat with the sticks.  On Sunday my sister's family came over for lunch.  Dominique bought a cake and had asked the lady at the bakery to write "11 Years of Happiness" on the dessert.  She challenged my wife on the possibility of being happily married for that long.  But she replied that though there may have been hard times, the overall characteristic of our marriage experience has been good and happy.  We thank the Lord for this blessing and we hope to be an encouragement to younger couples observing our life together.

At STEP seminary, we are grateful for another academic year that came safely to its end.  The months of December through February had been very difficult with much social unrest. But we were able to hold graduation on June 6^th, even though one month later than usual.  On the financial side, I am responsible to manage one of our major fundraising projects: it’s a matching grant that challenges the Haitian constituency of our seminary. This year we need to raise $25000 by August 31^st.  We have received over $24000 so far and we are confident that we will complete this challenge even though this year had been difficult for the Haitian economy.  Truly this is another miracle of God’s grace. 

I also lead the community outreach at the seminary.  We received a grant to help hungry families in our neighborhood.  With the help of our social worker and volunteers from the student body, we were able to serve over 200 families with a food bucket.  The response was overwhelming.  One of the bene­fic­iaries blessed the Lord and said, “who am I that a seminary student would hand carry a food bucket all the way to my house!”  Our goal is to mobilize this community and help it organize itself in order that the residents might enjoy a more decent life.  They know we are doing it because of the love of Jesus.

The last week of June I was invited to be the guest speaker at the staff retreat of a large Christian organization.  The theme was The Intentional Christian Life, adapted from Rick Warren’s book The Purpose-Driven Life. I was happy to review and teach these basic principles of the spiritual life.  I am grateful that the message was well received by the group.  We did a fun exercise to do an inventory of our SHAPE (Spiritual gifts, Heart passions, Abilities, Personality and Experience) and then to find compatible giftedness in the group.  It was refreshing to see the abundance of resources that the Lord has put among us.  If we could just learn to unleash all this in order to impact our world!  There were several pastors and church leaders in the group.  Hopefully this will impact not only their personal life and their work environment, but some have already told me they are going to be sharing the teaching with their churches.  The book begins with the statement, “It’s not about you.”  Indeed, not unto us but to His name be the glory, in our lives and all over the world.

Grace to you,

Edner Jeanty