A Note from Michael at St. Joseph's Home

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010

Dear family,

My apologies for taking so long to personally get word to you. I know Renee has been getting word and photos to you. That has freed me to get some necessary tasks done here with a vision for resurrecting our beloved family. All of the children that had been living at St. Joseph's are now living at Trinity House in Jacmel. I will be going there later today to see how things are going for them and will send an update soon after I return. I was at Wings of Hope on Sunday and was encouraged by the joy of the children and the staff. They are temporarily renting a new living space due to structural damage done to Wings of Hope as a result of the earthquake. Many of the children at Wings took me to see the views they have found from their balconies. It was a day of great joy and hope for me.

Most of my post earthquake days have been spent helping take down beds, putting our furniture in storage, salvaging windows, doors, ceiling fans, light fixtures, paintings, etc. It is just Walnes and I who are standing guard over the home place. Due to the extreme damage done to the original St. Joseph's building, Walnes and I have taken up residence at the art center. A structural engineer from California came by to see us and assured us the art center is solid. We do feel safe here, even with the occasional aftershocks that visit us from time to time. Eventually Bill will be coming back to Haiti to join Walnes and I at the art center. For now Bill is in the US, recuperating from his earthquake injuries.

Our hope is to be able to have a resurrection experience and allow God to lift us up from this rubble to be stronger and better than before. Those of you who have been with us for many years know this is not our first resurrection challenge. We continue to live our lives joyfully trusting that with God all things are possible. Our dream is to be able to purchase the property that borders the St. Joseph's and Art Center property. If we are able to do this it will more than double our reconstruction space and enable us to go wider rather than higher. If any of you are interested in helping us raise the funds for this land purchase and our reconstruction of St. Joseph's, please contact me and I'll let you know how to properly direct those specially designated "resurrection funds".

Today as we were in the rubble of what was our former chapel we found two items that gave us messages of great hope. One was a framed print of Daniel in the lion's den. The glass was very dusty, but unbroken. This print reminded us that God is with us, we will not come to harm. Like Daniel we will survive this and be stronger in our faith because of it.

The second item that was raised from the rubble was a framed poem call RESURRECTION that was written by Renee Dietrich and used to hang in our chapel. Part of the poem reads: "The triumphs of life could not be possible without the tragedies. The joy means nothing without the pain. The scars are no longer hidden, but worn as badges of honor. For everything that brings us to this place was necessary. Struggle makes us strong. Faith makes us enduring. Perseverance makes the world a better place."

Thank you for all the ways you lift us up. Your prayerful presence in our lives gives us great hope. We are a resurrection people determined to do our part to make this world a better place.

Peace and all that is good!
Michael