God always moves on time. For some time I had been expecting a change in leadership to take place in the ministry of HCM. After the earthquake that killed thousands, my body could no longer cope with the load. I was depressed when I saw the devastation and the loss of precious lives. Also, my left leg has become paralyzed with pain. It is often swollen and I have been diagnosed with a foot drop. I was looking for someone to pick up the load as I can no longer go up to the mountains.

Following the earthquake, my son, Edwens Keller Prophete, came to Haiti and saw the disaster. As a result, he decided to put his master's degree on the back burner in order to help the mission. His call came right when I needed him the most. At the last HCM board meeting on May 26, 2011, he accepted the proposal of becoming the Executive Director of the mission. On July 21, 2011, during our annual convention in Fonds Parisien, he publicly accepted the position. Over a thousand people were present including HCM board members Dr. John Caldwell (chairman of the board), Dr. Serge Geffrard, Joanie Grimm, Brenda Durham and Mike Tvedt.

I praise God for this transition which I believe will greatly aid in the expansion and advancement of the mission. I have been working for 37 years. It is time that another voice be heard. Edwens is the right person for this job. He meets no stranger in his life. He is smart, educated, visionary and compassionate. I may sound biased when talking about him, but time will tell and people will say that I am right. He and Wendy Zehner, newly named Director of Operations, pair well in the task of making and maintaining contact with people.

This transition works out good. Although the board has given me the new title of Founder/Consultant, this position will free me to translate more books and train more translators. The Haitian ministry needs good books for learning, expansion and permanency. A ministry is a serious thing because it builds lives for eternity. I also want to continue to do fundraising for the mission as I work on translation. I thank all of you for sustaining my ministry. I pray that you will support Edwens' ministry even more.

"Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits." (Ps.103:1-2) God has done great things for us and we are glad. 

Our annual convention this year was exceptional. Most of HCM's board members came. Dr. John Caldwell, the board chairman, did a lot of preaching and teaching. Joanie Grimm, who has been with the Mission since 1975 and has raised money for many projects including the church at Fonds Parisien, was the guest speaker for the women's sessions. She is such a good teacher; the ladies asked for her to come back next year.  

Between 900 and 1100 people attended each of the evening sessions and the 5 am Sunday service. Thanks to donations from our supporters and our three kitchens all in operation, everyone who attended was fed two meals each day. Saturday we had twenty-four baptisms. All of those people received a Bible. More than 200 Bibles, which we were able to purchase with money raised by VBS children, were distributed during the convention.

Comments heard during those few days included:

"There is a sense of excitement here this year." 

"It feels like family."

"We praise God for all he is doing through HCM."

Saturday afternoon four couples were united in holy matrimony. It was a fun time. By the way, if anyone has a wedding dress they don't use, you could send it to HCM. Some couples have been together for years and have several children. They want to get married but their economic situation holds them back. $150.00 will help someone to get married.

The 21st of July was an unforgettable day for us. Etienne passed the torch to Edwens as the Executive Director of HCM. The greatest thing for us is to see our children follow in our footsteps. May the LORD give Edwens a wise and discerning heart to continue His work!

"You are the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden."

We had a youth group from Kissimmee, Florida serving with us and we took them up the hill to see the homes that HCM has been building along with IDES and Bethel Church. When we arrived we were met by Rodrigo who was more than happy to show us around and invite us in to see his new home.  

"You are the salt of the earth..."

After the tour Rodrigo asked if I would like to meet one of his neighbors. I told him that of course I would and asked where they lived. He began leading us over the hill and into the bush.

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God..."

"They are having some problems and I thought you would want to meet them. We have been helping them when we can," Rodrigo shared.  As we approached the thatched hut in the middle of nowhere our eyes were wide and our mouths dropped open. Emilise met us with four of her six children standing outside their home. Rodrigo introduced us and then began sharing her story. She was pregnant with her 7th child and her husband had died from cholera only two and a half weeks earlier. They had nothing. Now our eyes were filled with tears and we were speechless. "Some problems?!" I said and thanked him for bringing us there.

Well, you can imagine the rest. We prayed, we cried, we went back to get basic provisions but then, "...but if the salt looses it saltiness, how can it be made salty again?" This group would not be caught without taste. Our eyes were lifted up and our mouths sang praises and we witnessed God unfold His plan. Emilise shared that she had been a Christian and that her husband had led her away. He believed in voodoo. She shared that her children had asked to go to church with Rodrigo's children who had been inviting them but she told them they would have to have clothes to go. She saw in these gifts that Jesus was giving her a second chance to have a relationship with Him.

Emilise now lives in a tent donated by one of HCM's translators right on the campus in Fonds Parisien. She and her children have been given medical care and have access to water. Her school-aged children are sponsored to go to school in September and she is right where she needs to be to deliver her 7th child. They are going to church at Pastor Thomas's church in Fonds and have a community of believers to support them. The youth group from Kissimmee is working to build her a permanent home and we are even hopeful she can get a job. Her children would be able to go to a new daycare we are opening this fall with the non-profit organization Rise 2 Shine.

"In the same way let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven."

Thanks to Rodrigo and his family for shining the light of Christ from their home on the hill.

"My case was complicated. The first hospital in Port-au-Prince turned me away after I spent three days lying there not even able to go the bathroom. My husband carried me to HCM's Christ For All Clinic in Fonds Parisien. I had broken teeth and two broken legs and was unable to move. I had nothing for pain. There I saw Dr. Becky for the first time." Rose was sharing her story while sitting on the porch at the mission house. She was there to attend the convention she had heard so much about. I did not even recognize her. I had met her during the days she spent at the clinic after the earthquake. 

Rose's case was complicated and the doctors did not know if she would walk again.

She was taken to the Hospital at Jimani, Dominican Republic where she underwent several operations. Rose now lives with her husband in a tent city in Carrefour, west of Port-au-Prince.   He has some work as an electrician; she's still in therapy and is seeing a counselor.

"I really enjoy it here. We do not have friends in the tent city. It is dangerous. I have felt so happy here at the convention," she expressed with her face beaming. She spoke about her struggle to push through the emotional scars left from her and her husband's ordeal. You may have heard her story. After the earthquake, this woman held her twin boys under the rubble unable to move. Both children died in her arms as her husband desperately tried to dig them out. Rose talked about meeting Pastor Prophete and sharing her feelings of helplessness with him. "He prayed with me, comforted me, and came to see me every day. I told him that I was alive to give testimony to God." She still believes that! Rose is pregnant again and she and her husband are so excited. Even with all the obstacles they still have to face, you can see a sense of hope and joy as they look to the future. Rose spoke a little about her husband. "I thought I would not get married but I kept praying. When we met he was everything I had prayed for. Not all of my family was happy but I knew he was my gift. Now look at how he has cared for me and how faithful he has stayed to God."

Rose was going to be returning to the tent city after spending a week at the mission. I too felt hope for her family's future. I could see God's provisions for them even in the darkest of times. In HCM's saddest times, her story moved so many to give financially to help the work. Her story inspired others to keep the faith and to look for God's hand. Her story reminded and still reminds us to be a witness in all circumstances. I took a moment to say thank you to her for testifying as she promised God she would and thanked her for allowing us to share her story. I wanted her to know what a great impact she was having for God and the mission.

Thank you, Rose.