November 2009

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise;

give thanks to Him and praise His name.

Psalm 100:4

We are Thankful because…

…we were with Josiah for his senior year of high school.  …he graduated and is blessed to attend Berea  College with Jacques for a year.  …we saw a couple of his college soccer games before returning to Haiti.  …we got to spend half of his 18^th year with him.

…we saw Jacques more than usual since we weren’t living too many hours away from him for the year.  …we cheered him on at a couple of his college soccer games.  …I am enjoying reading several of his college assigned readings frat he left with us.

…Lemec spent several months with us in Atlanta where he had a good job.  …he has friends in California who helped him get a life going there again after our time in Atlanta was over.  …he is living with a former college roommate and working at a senior retirement home as a maintenance technician learning lots of useful life skills.

… we saw both Manise and Fonia in Atlanta and in their own settings several times and seeing how well their lives are progressing.  …Fonia is living with her husband and two sons and working in a suburb of New Orleans. …Manise is in her last year of dental school at Meharry Dental College in Nashville.

…modern technology allows us to communicate with our children in several forms as often as we want or need.

…we attended a family reunion (Joy’s mom’s side) where we saw and visited many cousins whom we see only every few years.

…of good health for both of us in spite of a couple health issues on my part during the year.

…of two really good HCDF boardmeetings to encourage us and the board members forward into the furture.

…our new home in Haiti is so cute in such a tranquil setting.

…our pets are finally becoming comfortable in their new setting.

…all our 6^th graders passed and L’Exode and the Genesis schools are off to a good new start.

…we were welcomed back with love from our year away.

…of the many friends we met at Midway Community Church and the groups that have visited from there and those coming and their VBS that so generously donated items to HCDF schools.

…Jean still has all his fingers even after all the carpentry work he has been doing on our new home.

…the money for the bulldozer was donated and Jean found just the one he needed with help from friends.

…the new bridge at the Perrine ravine where the road became a river so often in the past.

…our administrative staff: Jean Francois and his wife, Ruth, Naomie, Rose Laure, and our new Pastor, Yves, are all showing their love for Christ through their excellent service to the people of Fond-des-Blancs.

…three amazing musicians agreed to do a fundraising concert they called Bach to Bulldozin’.  It was an amazing, heart-warming evening of fabulous music .

…of  a lady sitting next to me on an airplane that would not stop questioning me about my life and ended the flight by handing over a check for our ministry.  Her curiosity became our blessing.

As I was thinking of what to put on this list, I realized that the list I became even more aware of our countless blessings. There have been lots of changes in Jean’s and my life this year, but we feel blessed as ever with blessings from our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We are thankful He chose us to be His servants in serving others.

We are thankful for all of you.  We could not have this life or do what we do without you.  Thank you for being partners with us whether it has been for years or a short time.

Your friend in Christ,

Joy Thomas