Dear Loved Ones,

 

Greeting. This week has been the most stressful for us. The beginning of school year puts pressure on many parents who can not afford, specially the college education costs. Many of those turn to us hoping to find help for their children studies. The knock-knocks don't stop at our door.

 

 I have new students, new classes to teach. This challenges me to keep up with our teaching. The biggest is my new freshmen class with 200 students.

 

At the eye clinic, the air conditioning we just installed has jacked up the cost of the state run electricity. The monthly cost has gone from almost US $ 200 to US $ 600. And they are telling me that it is still going to go up. I still have the second half of the building to manage in order to use it.

 

The Jela community has been in misery of not having water. Women and small girls have to walk miles to fetch water for the daily use. When the Bible talks about the living water, one has to come over here to realize the importance of water. 

 

We have gone many months with no rain. The humidity has been soaring. Everybody was crying for water. We started digging the well at the entrance of Jela Community. I was there daily from the beginning to the finish to follow the progress. At the end, the community members who were present and I held hands as I led the thanksgiving prayer. When everybody said Amen to my prayer, I felt some energy entering my entire body. 

 

All the fatigue, the stress of the week were gone, and a new joy invaded my body.

 

Please, accept the many thanks of our people who are very grateful to you for the water of life.

 

In Haiti,

 

Nzunga & Kihomi

 

Dear Friends,

 

Jesus said anyone giving you a cup of water in his name would not lose their reward. (Mk 9:41)  The lack of clean water is still a major cause of death and disease in the 21^st century.  In fact it is the number one cause in many areas.  Nzunga is getting more and more involved in trying to rectify this situation where he can.

 

As you can tell by this journal, missionaries have many causes for stress.  Sometimes we forget what they go thru daily.  The demands of poor people trying to help their children when you have limited resources is one of the most heart wrenching.  Then you have to get ready to teach, administer the expanding eye clinic, buy goats and pigs to give away, decide where the next place that is desperate for water, mentor struggling college kids, preach on many Sundays, keep headquarters appraised of the use of funds, and on and on.  I didn’t even list what Kihomi is doing running all over the island to organize and train the women of the HBC plus the many she mentors.   

 

Maybe now you can understand why they covet our prayers and why Nzunga needed to hear from God as a new energy surged thru him.  They could not be there without your financial support but they need your spiritual support as well.

 

In His name,

 

Dennis Shewell

Mission Partnership Team Communications Advocate and Convener

Nzunga and Kihomi Ministry

E-mail: deshewell@gmail.com

Phone: 812-569-1352

 

Other team Members:

Les Roberson

Diana Peysha

Terry Bivens-Fry

Charles Newman