Creating living wage jobs

"Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.2 Cor 4

When I read this passage, it struck me on many different levels. First, knowing so many friends and family members who are suffering from physical afflictions, loss, division, and separation, it encouraged me with the promise of a better life with my Lord and Savior. Second, it led me once again to reflect on the blight of the Haitian people and all those around the world that live with the uncertainty of the future. 'We are not discouraged'.

St Anthony of the Desert told us that there are three traps that Satan uses to steal our Joy and Peace. The first is regretting our past. The second is fear for our future and the third is ingratitude for our present. How true to those are in this present day. So many people are focused backwards. We all need to seek forgiveness for the things of the past, trust God with our future and be thankful for the day we are in.' Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.' The gifts from our many blessings that God has bestowed on us are cause for thanksgiving and they overflow for those who benefit from them (not just those who receive but also those who give), and we do it for the glory of God and not something seen, but something unseen.' Therefore, we are not discouraged but rather we are being renewed day by day'.

We pray that you and your families are doing well and that you have time to spend a moment we us on Friday mornings for a moment of prayer and thanksgiving for the people of Haiti and the rest of the developing world. You can make a difference. Our team recently started the annual work of building a berm around all our crops. This ten to fifteen foot berm is needed as a fire break. Why? Living in an area with no lights, no lights on the road, no lights on the pathways through the hills, no lights in the homes, no ambient light from a town or city makes it difficult to make it home in the dark. This is a phenomenon that few of us experience every day. How do these people walking in the dark find their way? They light the grass at the edge of the pathway. This light protects them on their journey much like the Light of Christ leading us to Heaven. But the effect on the fields is that they can catch fire and burn all night. We like so many of our neighbors who have lost crops in the past due to this practice.So, we must be proactive and prepare for the inevitable. It is like keeping a vigil, which are workers also do, to keep watch for what they hope they never see. It is also not unlike being proactive and prepared for the second coming. Are we ready, every day for what will come our way, or do we move through the darkness cursing the stones that block our way?

“No act of kindness no matter how small is never wasted.” – Aesop

Our work continues even at this time and that work benefits those we serve. The crops are growing well during this rainy season, but they will need to tend throughout the coming dry season. I remember the first planting we did ten years ago and having to hand water 250,000 plants every day by hand. Shuttling water from the river over a quarter mile away and climbing six hundred feet with buckets and pales. The community worked together to make sure that these little sprigs would have a chance to grow, and some day benefit them with fuel and income.Today we have many food crops growing in the area including the newest fields of corn and sugar cane. The small tree farm is also taking root and in years to come with grace the hills that surround our communities.I ask you to consider donating to this cause today and to remember to mark your calendars for December 3rd and Giving Tuesday. Did you know that over 70% of charitable giving takes place in the last two months of the year? We are in that window now and the need is at its greatest moving forward. Help us to bringing Joy and Peace to those we serve and to those who show gratitude in the present, without fear of the future and not regretting their past.

Thank you.