THANKS TO OUR FRIENDS IN PA

With all the construction projects over the past two years, Cowman's budget has been continually stretched to the max. We've done some great fundraisers and seen some generous gifts come our way in that time. Even so, we often find ourselves in the position where we are stretching dollars to barely cover concrete, steel, paint, light fixtures and labor, with precious little remaining to actually furnish the new spaces. 

So when my cousin Jennifer put me in contact with the Children's Ministry Coordinator at her church back in June, with the prospect of Cowman becoming their summer VBS mission project, I was elated. Grace UMC of Coal Center, Pennsylvania wanted to know what Cowman could really use and Melissa and I suggested it would be great (and necessary) to have enough chairs to cover our five new classrooms for this school year. 

In late July, we had the privilege of attending Grace UMC on the morning of their VBS closing service and were delighted to hear they had already raised $1,500 and would continue gathering donations until Labor Day! 

Church programs involving kids can often be incredibly cute (and funny!) and this one at Grace did not disappoint! There were some big personalities on that platform...

All told, Grace raised $2,400 for Cowman - enough to buy and ship 42 sturdy chairs. (Sometimes people assume that everything is dirt cheap in Haiti. And mangoes and avocados are, but anything that is not grown or manufactured in country tends to be quite expensive after shipping costs and customs taxes are added into the mix.)

We started the school year with a couple dozen borrowed chairs but yesterday, after the day's final bell, the 42 chairs arrived!

31 of them went into my classroom - so that all the middle schoolers have a place to sit for my afternoon writing class. (Don't they look sharp?)

The remaining 11 went into Mr. Love's math room.

Today, we started breaking them in...

Here's hoping for many years of good use!

Many thanks to the kids and leadership (especially Andrea) of Grace UMC for raising the funds. And thanks to Pastor Ken for inviting us to worship and to share about Haiti with the congregation. 

And, last but not least, our sincere thanks to my cousin Jennifer and her husband Michael and their family for their hospitality and for connecting us to this church family in the first place! God works in mysterious and wonderful ways.

P.S. For those who have been praying for the Love Family, we're glad to say they arrived back in Haiti yesterday after a rather quick trip to Indiana for Jeff's dad's funeral. Please continue to pray for them as they (re-)readjust to life in Haiti and catching up with work while still in the midst of the grieving process.