Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti

Our Felician brother in Christ, Yvon wrote us a beautiful comment and we want to share it with you.
“I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to serve the
Lord, my Good, in this capacity. What I received from you and
because of you, is far greater than what I could ever have given to
you. I know you have to go but I can’t help been sad. I feel the
pain of a father who is marrying his two daughters. But I am also
very happy for you, my daughters, who are accomplishing what you
set out to do. I am happy for the people you will be serving in
Jacmel; I am forever in your debt for helping me renew my
spirituality, for embracing “Pou Solèy Leve” as if it were your own
cause, for loving my children and everyone who is in my
environment. For strengthening my faith and the belief that one
always receives a lot more than one could ever give for it is by
giving that we receive. So go Sr. Marilyn and Sr. Inga with my
blessings, my appreciation and my love, know that you will always
have a place in my heart and my home. God Bless you.”

Today is our last day here in Port au Prince staying in Yvon’s house. These past three months have been a blessing. We have experienced so much in learning about the people, culture, and language. We have made many friends. We are very grateful Yvon and Joseph who helped us get started here in Haiti. Yvon is truly our Felician brother in Christ. “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3-6

Tomorrow we return to New Jersey for 10 days. During this time we will be preparing things for the container to be sent to Jacmel and giving a few presentations on our new mission in Haiti, one of them will be in Canada. We will keep you posted.

We will be returning to Port-au-Prince on December 18 and then moving to Jacmel on December 19. Please keep us in your prayers.

For the past four weeks we have spent Monday through Friday, 2 hours a day, with our teacher Sebastien, learning Haitian Creole. It is a great joy for us to be able to communicate with the people working in Yvon’s house, and to understand them when they speak slowly to us. Everyday we pray the Rosary in Creole. However, our greatest joy is that we can read allowed the Bib La, the Bible, and understand what we are reading in Creole.

“Lè sa a, Santespri a te fè kè Jezi kontan anpil.” Lik 10:21
Translation: “In that same hour, the Holy Spirit made Jesus’ heart very happy.” This is the literal translation of the first line of today’s Gospel from Luke10:21.

Sunday afternoon Yvon, Junior, and Sister Marilyn went for the parish family festival. Junior is a young man who Yvon mentors. We all had a great time but we missed Sister Inga who was home sick with a cold that she caught from all of us who had colds last week.

“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:36

We wish you a peaceful and hopeful Advent season. For us this season of Advent will be moving to and beginning our new mission in Jacmel. We ask you to remember us in your prayers. Vini non, Senyè Jezi!

Today Yvon surprised us and the Doctors with breakfast on the roof. A good Haitian breakfast is spaghetti. Everyone was delighted. Today we also had coconuts from the tree. We promise this is the last post about food. 😊

As we prepare for our new mission in Jacmel, we have been staying in Yvon’s home the past two months in Port au Prince. It is a house of hospitality and has many interesting guests, This week he housed five doctors from New York City, a medical team from ORSI Orthopedic Relief Services International, led by Dr. Ron Israelski, President and CEO of the organization. His parents were Holocaust survivors from Poland. Most of the members of his family died in concentration camps. He has a passion for humanity and shares that passion here in Haiti. His team of doctors work with resident doctors in the General Hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince. They perform surgeries and give lectures to the residents for the week. This hospital serves the poorest of the poor. Yesterday, we were in a conversation with someone from Haiti who said they would never go to this hospital because of its poor conditions. Dr. Israelski comes to Haiti with his team of doctors a few times a year to provide global educational infrastructural support. We invite you to check out the Youtube presentation he gave from the hospital last March.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=hX7OVHmtbaw&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DhX7OVHmtbaw&gl=PL

Yesterday, Dr. Israelski asked Yvon to host a reception for the residents from General Hospital in his home. There were 20 doctors gathered here, 15 Haitian and 5 from the States. It was a joy to watch and listen to the sharing of people who want to help heal the broken in body.

Everyone, including us, enjoyed the delicious Haitian rice, chicken and goat prepared by Claudette and her helpers.