News from Haiti

(Karl and Ann Olsson are CCCC missionaries serving in Port au Prince, Haiti with Convoy of Hope. Following are portions of recent newsletters to their friends and supporters.)

Greetings from Port Au Prince

Karl and Ann Olsson

Springfield, Missouri — We had a wonderful time attending a week-long meeting with Convoy of Hope (COH) in Springfield, Missouri at the end of March! We met with other international partners from Nicaragua, Bolivia, El Salvador, Europe, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and the Philippines. We thoroughly enjoyed listening to the reports of each country director — exciting things are going on! There was snow for a few days and most of these directors had never seen snow before, so Karl had fun throwing snowballs at them.

Convoy Guesthouse — We have such a wonderful staff working with us at Convoy Guesthouse, and we are so grateful for each of them: Jude — guesthouse manager, Mme Marie, Mme Belize, Nicholi, Milot, and Geneste. It’s been a “happening” place, with pastors, donors, and others who “come and see” what is going on. When people have visited schools and orphanages of COH services, they see other needs and want to help by sending work-teams. COH then decided to establish another guesthouse with its own staff, to host the work-teams coming down this year! We are very excited about this! We began our adventure with Haiti in 1984 by joining work-teams for many years before moving here. Therefore, we understand how serving others in such desperate circumstances can change lives as it did ours.

Agricultural Initiative — with Dr. Jason and four Haitian agronomists, it’s going well as the rice harvests yield more and more each harvest. This helps these farmers to better sustain their own families and to put funds aside for new/better equipment and repairs. Other farmers are growing crops such as beets, beans, sorghum and watermelons with improving success. Another component is planting much-needed trees, for shade and to stop the soil from washing away with the rain.

Water Initiative — This is a new initiative, and the link below shows the beginnings of this important component for the people. The story is that three Haitian men — Max, Eddie, and Babe — asked if they could talk to Karl about their desire to help a community of people in the countryside. Max lives here in Port au Prince, Eddie grew up in this community but found a job in PAP and now lives here with his family, and Babe grew up in the community and still lives there with his family. This community has a plentiful water source but the people are sick all the time. They want to help the people have safe and clean water to drink and for cooking food. This initiative is especially exciting because their talking with Karl was its beginning, and they are wanting to help their own people. This is wonderful! Of course we can help, but they are responsible for what they are doing. One of COH’s videographers created a blog from our humble photos, and we want to share it with you. Check it out, at h.ope.is/115GtOp

Furlough — We will be in the States from June 19–August 28 and look forward to seeing our wonderful family, and many of you as well. Maybe we will see you at your church, or gatherings in homes, to thank you for your faithful support, sharing more about our work, and answer any questions you may have.

Please Pray:
*for someone to stay in our home while we’re gone, as this is important.
*for the Convoy Guesthouse and the staff during our absence.
*for our speaking opportunities while on furlough:
June 30 – Community Bible Chapel, Brattleboro, Vermont
July 21 – Colrain Church, Colrain, Massachusetts
July 28 – Danville Baptist Church, Danville, New Hampshire
August 11 – Bedford Foursquare Church, Bedford, New Hampshire

Praises
*for those who support us financially and with prayers — THANK YOU!
*for both of us having good health.
*for wonderful people giving us housing in Vermont for the summer.

In everything let us give thanks to the Lord for His many blessings,

In HIM,

Karl and Ann