The Beginnings of “Club Istwa LaBib Jezi”!!

At the end of our last update, we had been warned “officially” that the gangs were planning on striking Les Cayes.  That did not materialize, thank the Lord!.  Bill legally had to come home from Haiti then but recently was able to return toward the end of July. It was a challenging trip, taking three days instead of two due to mechanical difficulties with the jet, delayed flights, and other issues, but he finally made it. 

You may remember the old man, Er, who asked for a mattress. So many folks sleep on the floor of their huts or on a pile of rags. Bill was able to find a used mattress and box springs and bring it from Les Cayes to Ile a Vache by boat. (You can read about Er in the update from Sept. 24, 2023 – https://justmercy.org/WordPress/?p=6782). Bill and some helpers managed to get it up the hill to Er’s house, not an easy task, but what a change having that bed will be for him!

Er with the mattress set

We are excited to be starting a new “project”.  One of the best things we do is give people work in a nearly jobless economy. That usually involves employing men to do construction work.  However, this is different.  We will be “employing” some young women in three of the villages we work in to start three “Club Istwa LaBib Jezi”, Jesus Bible Story Clubs that will meet weekly! At the first meeting in Raket on Saturday, July 26, 13 children came!! The children loved hearing the stories and were anxious to come back the next week. We knew there would be more coming as the word spread.  

The first Bible Club meeting in Raket

The women who are doing the teaching started working on the Bible story lesson for the following week. They decided to have the kids from the village of Tou Mel Ye come to Raket and teach them all together. Tou Mel Ye is not far, and the children can easily walk here.  

They thought the kids needed their Bible memory verse written down so they could read it to memorize.  The first one is John 3:16.  Supplies are scarce, so they spent time writing the verse down over and over in a notebook and then cutting the verses out individually to give to the children. (We hope to find some note cards to buy in Les Cayes, as something a little sturdier than a piece of paper would be helpful.)

Writing the memory verses out for the children

Just Mercy decided to feed the children each week when they attend. People are so hungry! Mango, breadfruit, and avocado season is almost over, which often provides food for those who can’t buy it. We were talking with the teachers about how many children we could feed.   Originally, we thought we would have to limit it to 20 children in each club due to limited funds to buy the food and have it cooked. 

That’s when one of the women offered to take the $20 we were going to pay her to do the teaching and use it to buy food for more children! Bill immediately thought of the story of the widow and two mites. These women have nothing themselves but were willing to give what they were going to have to help feed the children!!! So, we are going to set a goal of enrolling up to 100 children in the clubs and providing a meal for them, Lord willing. 

One of the local children was so excited on Friday night about having the Bible Club the next day that she couldn’t sleep!! The next day, Raket had 38 children and Kaykok had 24!! One of the teachers at the combined group in Raket was engaging with the children so well that their Bible class lasted for 2 1/2 hours!!

2nd week of the Jesus Bible Story Club

Bill was working this past week on getting some benches made for the children to sit on. On Thursday, he and some helpers went to Les Cayes to buy food in bulk for the Bible Clubs for a month’s supply of rice, beans, etc.

Benches Bill built for the Jesus Bible Story Clubs

The Bible Clubs met for the third time on August 9.  There were 54 children in Raket and 50 in Kaykok!

3rd week of the Jesus Bible Story Club

Bill wrote:

“You know, we talk about three square meals a day. What if it was one square meal a week?  Pretty rough times here in Haiti right now. Hate to see the kids so hungry. 

I guess Jesus had kind of a Bible club. He taught folks who came, healed their hurts, then didn’t want to see them go away hungry, so He fed them. 

These hungry kids come. We pray with them, sing, read from God’s word, memorize Bible verses, and even heal some hurts. A little boy came with an injured eye so we gave his grandmother some ophthalmic cream. Most of the children have worms so they will be given dewormer brought from Blessings International and we pray the “ Great Physician” will touch them. 

We feed them their one square meal for the week. Had enough this week but more children are coming. 100+ this week.  Jesus was better at this as in all things. For us, how can we multiply the food? Or shall we turn some away? But which one? A dilemma. Perhaps if we could multiply the food. We just don’t have the heart to send them away hungry.” 

Feeding the children in Raket

If you who read this update would consider giving and also to share the need…. telling friends you know who might be willing to give to help feed the children, we would be grateful.  It is going to take more funds to keep it going than we normally receive.  If you have any questions about it, feel free to e-mail.  We are so grateful to those of you who have given faithfully for so long who have enabled JUST MERCY to keep giving and being a light in a very dark place.  God is faithful and we are so grateful for those of you who give that others might live.  God bless you all.

Dishing up the meal. Most women squat when cooking over the fire outdoors and even when serving.

Just Mercy operates solely on donations from generous folks like yourself.  God takes those gifts and multiplies them in order to serve the multitude.  As cost of living continues to rise in all of our worlds, we don’t take your gift for granted and want you to know the people in Haiti are shown the love of Jesus and His gracious gifts of provision are from people who have been blessed and choose to bless others. Thank you in advance for all you do to keep the work of Just Mercy continuing in these villages of Haiti.