Family and Haiti Update - June 13, 2014
  
                                                from: Kendra and the boys     
Dear Friends and Family,
 
Hello!  At least three trips to Haiti have come and gone since I last updated you - Please forgive me for the time lapse!  The boys are doing well and counting down to June 19th which marks the beginning of their summer break.  Landon is currently taking drivers training - Michigan drivers on alert! 
A mid-winter hot dog roast  and cross country skiing kept us active while waiting for Spring.
 
 
Many things are progressing in "New Life Village".  New Life Village is currently the focus project of Vision4Word, the non-profit organization which I am forming.  Work on the village began one year after the January 12, 2010 earthquake which devastated the city of Port-au-Prince.  The Village was needed because families of the tent camp at Delmas 6, where I began coordinating relief efforts after the quake, were being evicted.  
 
I have been reading a book by Dr Paul Farmer called, In the Company of the Poor.  I have been challenged by this thought from the book.
 
"Accompaniment of the lonely poor involves walking with - not behind or in front of - but beside a real person on his or her own particular journey...accompanying others in their struggles for survival does not have a beginning and end, and there is no outside plan to be imposed.  It often means being present to terrible suffering, being thrown into chaotic circumstances, encountering unexpected problems and difficult situations with no easy solutions.  And yet, accompaniment, the act of "walking with another" is...always a fundamentally religious sacramental act."
 
Let me share a few of the things that have been happening:
    
1.)  May 2014 - A team of 5 people from Davison Free Methodist Church accompanied me in painting the 28 homes in the village.  Thank-you DFMC!
We applied 140 gallons of oil-based paint and 40 tubes of caulking to preserve the plywood with which the 28 homes were built.  We caught it just in time - termites, sun, rain were taking a toll! 
Don Smith - Hard at work!
Marty Trepus rolling away! 
          
Russ Colthorp, Linda Drake, Susan Ranney, Don Smith and Marty Trepus- A Great Team!
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2.)  Attending to the medical needs in the village...severe skin infections, pink eye, 2 new babies, two nursing moms and three children sick with the new Chikungunya virus, a child with mumps,hign blood pressure & diabetes...
Doing a health teaching on Chikungunya virus prevention and distributing mosquito nets.
This new little baby was a twin but his sister died just before birth.  Mom and baby (2 wks) had high fevers from the Chikungunya virus   

There were several children in the village with skin infections.  Precious little Daniki (above) had the worst case.  After proper treatment recommended by my friends at the Paraguayan UN, Daniki was healing very well by the time I left.  She is special! 

 
Mumps
Pink Eye
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3.)  Working with the expansion of livelihood options in the Village...the Garden....purchasing 23 turkeys and 4 goats 
The solar system for water is working well and the 3 acre Village Garden was fully planted and producing!!  Don Smith and Marty Trepus who helped install the solar irrigation system a year earlier are inspecting!!

A Davison Free Methodist church offering gave New Life Village $600 to buy farm animals.  Since cows were being stolen in the area, the people decided that Turkeys and goats were the best options!!  Turkeys produce eggs and off spring with a high resale value.  The people were delighted!!


  
 
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4.)  Spiritual Progress - In March, four people from one family committed their lives to following Jesus Christ.  Pray with me for a pastor to come and work in the village.
  
 
I prayed with Mr. Fritz along with his wife and two of their seven children to accept Jesus into their lives.
 
Mr. Fritz is bed-ridden much of the time.  He is diabetic and also suffers from hyper-tension.  Please pray for his health and that he would find adequate and on-going medical care which he can afford.  He struggles with not being well enough to work and provide for his family. 
 
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5.)  Repair of three solar lights in the village
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Would you consider giving toward the replacement of the batteries for three of the solar lights?  The replacement cost would be about $250 per battery.  There is no electricity in the village so having these solar area lamps functioning becomes very important for the security and well being of the villagers.   
 
 
A Christian group of UN peacekeepers from the bases of Paraguay and Peru came to help us on their day off.  What a blessing they were!!  They helped us paint and checked three of the solar lights that are not working.
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6.)  Thanks to those who donated school supplies and soccer balls!  Special thanks to "We Care Haiti" who occasionally give us vitamin enriched rice packs for the village!
 
Miss Coutard, who directs the school near the village was greatly encouraged to receive the school supplies.  The temporary school was constructed by USAID two years after the earthquake.
The soccer balls were well used and greatly appreciated by the village kids
                                                                       
Passing out vitamin enriched food from "We Care Haiti".
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Thanks for praying for our family and New Life Village.
 
 
Another thought I have been reflecting on from the book In the Company of the Poor.  
"We know that it is possible globally to create systems of health and development, we also know that systemic poverty is not an accident or a fate.  Correcting the injustice of poverty must involve both accompaniment of the locally poor and advocacy of the globally powerful ....accompaniment of the poor has resonance with the message of the gospel."  
   
Thank-you for your Care, Support and Prayers.
 
 Landon, Andersen, Kendra and Nathan Luna

  Make a Donation     * If you want to donate immediately through pay pal click the donate button.

 

  ***  If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to help the village families as we create self-sustaining livelihood opportunities, please drop us a quick e-mail at kendra.luna5@gmail.com   You can send your tax-deductible gift to: Davison Free Methodist Church, 502 Church St Davison MI 48423.  You should attach a note that says "Haiti Relief."    

If you are Interested in seeing what has happened in the village previously or forwarding them to a friend, please click on the link below...
                               Click Here for Previous Updates 
 Contact                                                  MAIL                              Kendra.luna5@gmail.com
Cell 810-820-1794                          3205 N Washburn Rd              
                                                      Davison MI 48423

 

                                                                                         Facebook:   Vison4Word                             
Skype: Kendra.Beth.Luna                                                    Facebook:  Kendra Trepus Luna       

Tax-deductible donations can be sent to:
Kendra Luna - Vision4Word
C/O Davison Free Methodist Church
502 Church St.
Davison MI 48423 
  
****Please attach a note stating "Kendra Luna - Vision4Word".  More to come on Vision4Word.
Our deepest appreciation extends to those who have loved with their actions, prayers and given so generously! 
 
Kendra & the Haiti Team
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