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Dear FGIM Family,
Remember that toilet paper shortage and the feeling you had when all of a sudden you couldn’t leave your house? That feeling you had when your kids couldn’t go to school? That feeling you had when you couldn’t go into your office? Well, replace “toilet paper” with food, water, gas, diesel, and electricity, and that my friends are what nearly every Haitian is facing right now.
Food prices have skyrocketed (40% inflation), and there are shortages of different food staples across the country. Gas and diesel are nonexistent and the main receiving point has been blocked by gangs. No one knows when school will start back again because no one knows when they will be even given the opportunity to purchase gas to transport their kids to school. Or if teachers will even be able to afford the gas or taxis they need to get to work. And y’all, we aren’t talking about an Uber share taxi with ac and seatbelts. Their taxis are motorcycles. Kids book bags and all head to school when it’s in session mostly via a motorcycle taxi. Rain or shine, these motorcycles are the transportation that they joyfully ride!
I say this all to say, pray for Haiti. Take a second and put yourself in these people's shoes that are facing this day in and day out. They haven’t done anything wrong to deserve this, they are just like you. They WANT to go to work, they desire to send their kids to the best school money can afford. They want to live without worrying about where their next meal will come from. They want to live with hope for their child’s future. Prayer for Haiti. May His mercy and grace abound in Haiti today! Thankfully because of God and your support we have been able to have security to keep the children safe, put food on the table, and provide care to the children at FGIM. The Church continues to grow, serve the community, and proclaim the hope of Jesus Christ. We are thankful for all your support.
In Christ,
The St Louis Family
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The Faith House is always echoing with laughter and chatter. During the month of June, the girls of the Faith House participated in a summer camp where they learned new things such as topics based on how to take care of your body, how to love our homeland, as well as learning new games like handball. They also had a barbecue party with the transition girls, then they went for a little walk with one of their big sisters and they enjoyed the walk so much. The children went to the beach and participated in VBS this summer as well. We are so thankful for our summer intern Raegan Metcalf, who planned activities for the children, led devotionals, and loved them. It was a great summer!!! And at the end of September, they had a Bible competition between each room. They had about 70 Bible verses to memorize for the competition in less than 3 weeks and they did amazing. We are so proud of these girls. During the summer we had 5 of the kids at the Faith House identify with the Lord through baptism (Sarafina, Danie, Anshela, Shedline, & Michael) and we praise the Lord for his continued work in their hearts. The children are safe but have still not been able to start back to school due to the unrest in Haiti. We are not really sure when that will happen. They have been busy playing outside on the new playground. Please pray as we try to keep them learning and active during this very hard time in Haiti.
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Sarafina, Danie, Anshela, Shedline, & Michael
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Missionary Kimmey leading weekly devotional.
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Everyone learning about God's Word.
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| Transistion Home Girls
During the summer the Girls of the Transition Home had the chance to organize activities such as a barbecue evening with the little girls of Faith House. They planned a small competition called Haiti Chanté, similar to America's Got Talent but on a much lower scale. The girls had so much fun during the summer break. They had many trips to the beach and ate some good fish and fried Plantains. They had weekly Bible studies with our summer intern, Reagan, and the theme was: “Love one another as we love ourselves.” They also had a Bible study sessions with Kimmey called “My identity In Christ" by Priscilla Shirer. Karine, one of our girls at the transition home, was our translator and she did a great job. During the summer Karine was able to fill in for our FGIM secretary for over two months. It melted our hearts to see how some of our girls are flourishing and growing into wonderful young women.
In May Weslene, RoseBerline, and Daphcarline all graduated from cosmetology school. They spent two years learning this trade on top of their high school studies.
The transition girls had the chance to go to a weeklong summer camp in July. The camp was spiritual, cultural, and instructive. There were several guest speakers who talked about different topics like "How to love your Country", "how to behave in public", and as a girl "how to behave towards the opposite sex" and "same-sex attraction". Our girls really enjoyed the opportunity to go to camp and were able to make new friends too.
For many years church groups from America have traveled to Haiti and hosted Vacation Bible School for our Faith House Orphanage children. Those years not only sparked a desire to learn more about Jesus but also instilled in them the desire to lead vacation Bible schools for children in Haiti. In July, our Faith House Transition Home girls lead vacation Bible school for about 130 children in a small rural community that does not have many opportunities for such activities. It was beautiful to see these young women serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus!
Marie Christelle received a one-year scholarship to continue learning violin and performing with the Jacmel Orchestra!
The girls have still not been able to start back to school due to the unrest in Haiti. We are not really sure when that will happen. Please pray as we try to keep them learning and active during this very hard time in Haiti.
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CHRISTMAS Fund
Help us bring Christmas to Jacmel, Haiti. Giving to the FGIM Christmas Fund will help us provide Christmas gifts to the Faith House & Transition Home Children, provide a nice Christmas Dinner for the children and their caregivers, and provide a financial gift to all our Haitian Staff who care for the children. Thank you for sending Christmas to Haiti!
With Haiti’s current unrest, it is difficult to ship any gifts into Haiti at this time. It is our desire to still provide our Faith House Family with a lovely Christmas Day celebrating Jesus’s birth by purchasing items in the country that will also help local Haitians. Our goal is to raise $4,000 and we have raised $3,377 so far.
If you would like to send a Christmas card or message:
Cards can be mailed to:
FGIM
PO Box 934
Cowpens, SC 29330
Or email a message and/or picture to amie@fgimwitness.org
We will send these virtually to the children until we can get mail to Haiti again.
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Urgent FOOD Need
We need your help to purchase an emergency food supply for two months for Faith House Orphanage & Transition Home. Because of the continued political unrest in Haiti, food supplies are diminishing in Jacmel. It is vital that we be wise and prepare to have enough food on hand to feed our Faith House Orphanage children. It is our desire to have enough nutritious food to serve to our children & the current cost is about $5,900. Please pray God will provide these funds quickly and that our staff on the ground will be able to safely receive the money to purchase all the necessary food safely.
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Construction with Chase
The orphanage playground was completed this year and the kids are thoroughly enjoying the swings and slides. Along with the playground, soccer goals, tetherball poles, corn hole boards, and a basketball goal were installed. We are thankful all of these things are available for the kids to stay busy since school has not been able to start due to political unrest.
The church construction was started in August and the guys have been working hard to complete the first phase. Progress has been slow due to the instability in the country and it’s been hard to find the construction supplies needed. Currently, the foundation has been completed in phase one and the walls and columns are 60% complete. We are still raising funds for the Church building.
The ministry received a donation of two extra lithium batteries in August for the church. The timing was divinely perfect as Jacmel stopped receiving fuel shipments in early September and we could no longer run generators for the church or office. The guys have re-wired the campus to distribute power from the orphanage to feed the church, office, maintenance building, and church office. The ministry has been able to go without a generator or city power now for three months.
-Chase
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New playground being enjoyed
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The children are enjoying the 3 new swings
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Powerbox for solar panels
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Working on the dump truck, because it gets a lot of use.
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The Church continues to grow even under the current harsh circumstances. During the summer we had about 12 baptisms and the church is still growing and ministering to the community. The youth continued to stay active despite all the challenges that the country is facing. They organized different activities for the youth over the summer to keep them busy and growing, like football and volleyball, as well as camp. The Church did two VBS programs over the summer with about 200 kids at each camp.
In August we held our second annual Beauty & Grace women’s conference. It was amazing and God was at work in the midst of over 400 ladies. It was very beautiful and the women were very excited to be there. We had a young girls panel for all single ladies for a few hours before the conference and the young women were eager to learn. On Saturday afternoon we had a panel for married couples and wow were we surprised to see how many couples showed up ready to learn how to strengthen their marriage and how to embrace God's design for them in their marriages. Every night for three days we had two guest speakers and worship before each speaker. The theme was “the God who sees me” Isaiah 43:1. We had so many hearts restored, that turned away from their sins, and gave their lives to Christ. At the end of the conference, we had a survey for them to feel out and it was amazing to read those surveys and see how encouraging those women were and how they cannot wait for next year. We had a young man that was filming for us who had left the church for about 4 months and God restored that relationship during the conference. He testifies after the session was over, he felt that God was speaking directly to him, what a great God we serve. We are so thankful to all the donors that made this conference possible and pray for God's blessings over all of them.
We had our first men’s conference which was amazing also. It was a one-day conference but so much was covered during that one day. They had two guest speakers talking about marriage and family. According to their testimony, they had a good time, and it was refreshing. It looked like the men were so eager to learn about those topics. They had over 100 men participate, and we are praising God for that. The topics they covered were, "How to Be A Good Husband" and "How to Be A Good Father". It was really an awesome time for those men!
As you can see from all the tarps hanging around our temporary shelter, we are in need of a church structure where people can be protected from the elements during worship. Please consider giving to our church building fund that we are currently building.
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Wonderful time of worship
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Short-term Mission Team This summer we were blessed to have a team from Alabama come and serve at FGIM. They built fences and shelters for pigs and goats, fixed vehicles and generators, held a conference for local church leaders, and put on a great water day for the children. They did so much to bless FGIM in one week. Thank you.
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| WAYS TO GIVE
Your generosity enables us to do effective ministry in our community. Without your prayers and support, we would not be able to do the things that we do.
Your gift allows us to advance the work of Jesus Christ to the current and future generation in this country. Future Generation International Missions Inc., is a registered 501(c)3. 100% of charitable gifts are tax-deductible.
If you would like to give a gift, click on the link below or you can mail a check to the following address:
Future Generation International Missions Inc., P.O. Box 934, Cowpens, SC 29330
Thank you for your love and support!
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