December 13-15 was the 4th Annual Charismatic Conference for the Diocese of Jacme,l held at Immaculate Conception Parish in Zoranje, Haiti. Everybody talks about the conference for months before it happens, and every Catholic attends. It seems as though Charismatic prayer is the prayer of our Haitian brothers and sisters. Hundreds of people, young and old, attend this great holy event. We participated two days of the three-day event. Lwanj pou Jezi! Praise the Lord! Alleluia!
Thank you, Christine Millington and family, for donating these beautiful t-shirts! What a touching idea that your family did this as your Christmas gifts to one another!
DuDu is a young teenage boy who lives with his father; his mother is deceased. He loves to learn, so he started school in September but could not continue because he could not pay for school. He came to us for help the day before Sr. Francis arrived in Jacmel. We told him that we are not able to help him at that time, but we would pray that he would be able to finish school. The next day, Sr. Francis arrived not knowing about the situation with DuDu. Imagine our surprise when she gave us a donation from St. Michael’s Convent and said the sisters would be happy if this would be used for someone to go to school. It was an answer to our prayers and to DuDu’s prayers! Thank you, Sisters from St. Michael’s Convent, Livonia, MI!
Sr. Francis got right down to work, sharing her love for art and painting. Using various colors, the kids entered our Franciscan spirit by painting Brother Sun and Sister Moon…
We continue to prepare for the mobile clinic here and in the States. Thanks to Sr. Giovanni’s participation on the States side, we will be receiving many medical items and supplies from the Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, which is located in Illinois. Sr. Giovanni’s brother, John, went with a truck from Michigan to Illinois to pick up the donated items. These, together with some other supplies, will be on there way to East Amherst, NY. From there, the items will be shipped to Haiti. We thank you, John, for your help and assistance; you are truly a part of this mission!
A few days ago, Alberto, one of our boys, came to our house when he should have been in school.
We asked him why he was not in school, and he responded: “I have no shoes; they are broken.” To go to school in Haiti, you need to have a pair of black shoes. After checking and discovering that he was telling us the truth, we went to buy him a new pair of black shoes. We never before realized how much a pair of good shoes can change a person’s life. On that same day, he went to church with us because he had a pair of good shoes. He even behaved differently and was more responsible. Now he seeks different company. He feels important and worth something. A pair of shoes has given him dignity that to some degree had been taken away by his poverty.
To celebrate the First Sunday of Advent, we went to St. Michael’s Parish. We like to attend liturgy there because the whole Mass is in Creole. Before we went into the place of worship (because they don’t have a Church), we noticed many people gathered outside dressed in purple. They really enter the liturgical season even by what they wear. We each said to ourselves, “Too bad we don’t have purple on for today.” We wish we could share with you a video we took of the choir singing; it is so beautiful. Our Creole teacher, Madam Omanie, is the choir director.
We wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving. We want to take time today to say THANK YOU…first to God, for His faithful love and provident care of this mission in Haiti; and to each of you, for your prayers and support that make us feel we are not alone! Be assured of our heartfelt prayers and thanks for you. And guess what? We had turkey too! 😊
Today’s Mass intention was in thanksgiving for all our friends and benefactors of the Felician Haiti mission.
For weeks now, we have been sharing with you about the new home Lebrun built for his family. A few days ago, we visited them and saw what he had built. He had received donations from one of our benefactors. Now he is working on their outside toilet. After that, he will install some pipes and a barrel to collect rain water. There is no running water near their home, so they need to walk a distance for water, which is very needed. The rain water will help them, even if only a little bit. Next to the house, on the little piece of land they own, Lebrun has already planted some corn. They are waiting for the mango tree above the house to bear fruit. They are happy that they have a home of their own with their own land.
Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti 