Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; Deuteronomy 7:9

Happy New Year
As we ring in a New Year, we want to take a moment and thank each one of you who visits this website and say “merci" for your prayer support. Satan is always around to discourage each one of us, especially in this country of Haiti. We truly need the prayers of those we love. May 2008 be a year of drawing even closer to our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s keep things simple…reflecting Jesus as directed by the Word, and striving to glorify Him and not self. Each day is a day to sacrifice ourselves for the Gospel of Christ. As His return nears, let’s be found faithful.

Although there seems to be plenty of “sad” stories in Haiti, we are always thankful to hear of faithful believers who are living the Word and standing for truth. Recently we’ve become acquainted with a Pastor and his wife who live nearby. It is evident from his sermons that he loves the Lord and is striving to teach the flock to daily come closer to Jesus. A hydro-cephalic baby was dropped off at the Clinic doorstep a few months ago. It is wonderful to hear how the community has loved this little girl named Hope. I am told that Baby Hope has many people who have come to help bring love into her young life. God is alive.

Jan, Alisha and Mark enjoyed some of the beauty of Haiti

What’s up with Us?
We are in the heart of the “team” season. This month we will see 2 construction teams, a AWA Team, and Loving Shepherd Ministries. Although we are not directly involved with the SEED Team, we enjoy their fellowship during the week. Each team brings an unique set of people and experiences. By the end of the week we feel a special bond with them. Team members are often moved by many of their experiences. I was just talking with one of our ministers about some of his past trips. He said he remembered a time when the voodoo band sat outside the church making lots of noise. But, when he began to preach, they became quiet. The Holy Spirit has the ultimate power! Pray for us that we can be effective as each team arrives to do the work. We always need to guard our family time, and that often is a challenge. Continue to pray for the safety of the teams.

The beginnings of a Orphanage home by Loving Shepherd Ministries

Metz Visit
It was great fun to show my parents around Haiti. It was a good trip for them and they are so thankful to see what we are doing and where we live. It was great to make cookies with Grandma for the Holidays. Christmas morning we made a trip to the Simon Orphanage to drop off some gifts for the children. It was touching as we realized that these were most likely the only gifts the children were given. After realizing they were low on food, Jan and Dad Metz took a load of food that had come from the Francesville HDC down to help make their day special. This was a special treat for my dad who works on the HDC Board.

Christmas morning down at the Simone Orphanage. We enjoyed several Christmas Carols together

Enjoying Val's parents spending a week with us during the Christmas season.  The Haitian girl in the picture is Jan's parents sponsor child. We enjoy her visits.

Looking Ahead
Winter will go fast as the team schedule gets into full swing. Pray for the communities that are receiving a new roof for their building that they have worked hard to prepare. It is a real boost to them. May they see Jesus in our teams as they work together in the final construction phase. In the trade school arena, we trust that the students are working hard and taking serious their studies. Many are supported by you in the States, and could not do what they are doing without your support. Pray with us as MEBSH would love to see more trade schools in different areas of Haiti. Right now a location is being researched and we trust the Lord’s guidance in this endeavor. On the well-drilling side, the AWA team has had to spend many hours re-working the well-drilling system. Pray for the Tremont brothers who are working to better use God’s funds for water in Haiti. It is not an easy job, but we trust in the end, God will be glorified and many more Haitians will benefit from clean water. Loving Shepherd Ministries is working on a second “group home” about 20 minutes from our home. It will be exciting to see the end of construction and the beginning of the “ministry” for 12 or so needy children. On the personal side, we are looking forward to Jan’s sister Joan coming in March for Easter and staying for 2 weeks. Derek is already asking how soon is Easter?

Joel and his friend Faith growing up together!

Further Updates
As with many of you, finding time to do things that come around every month often seems to be lacking. With six children, a nursing baby, home-schooling, and a host of other things I am responsible for, doing updates for the Website is not particularly on my top priority list! During this time in my life, I am going to have to cut back writing updates to one every 2-3 months. I would like to develop a list of people who would like an email whenever I do send “news” to the website or just want to email out some prayer requests. There are several in our Francesville Church who don’t do email, so I am considering doing a quarterly update that would be sent out as a PDF via email, and put on the website if possible. If Brett has health issues, we’d use the list to keep people informed of prayer requests and day to day news. Please email us at jvgutwein@sugardog.com if you care to be put on a list. I will send a general email out to many in my address book.

MAY GOD BE YOUR RICH REWARDER IN 2008 AS YOU SUBMIT TO THE WORD AND TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. IT IS ONLY IN DOING THIS THAT WE CAN FIND TRUE PEACE IN THE MIDST OF TURMOIL.

We love you all and appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and notes of encouragement. To our Francesville Church...we miss you all and love being part of the services via the Internet.