Heart for Home Haiti

We have found many Blessings, Praise God!
Finally we have found a place to live in Port Salut. We have moved in and are settling.
Moving day:
Many people were happy to help move! Many of the staff at SEED were so happy to give back to Ricot, since he has taught and mentored in so many ways last year. Helping move was one way to show Ricot they care and appreciate him. Also, SEED Ministries let us borrow their big truck (see photo’s), free of charge.

Our House:
Our home has a nice big back yard that we are excited about! It’s nice to know there is a little space we have of our own. We have many trees in the back, like Papaya, coconut, breadfruit, passion fruit, mango, lime, sour orange, avocado, banana’s, also some beans. Be careful though, the coconuts fall day and night, watch your head  This is a blessing!! We are thankful!!
We have been doing some construction on our home. Ricot has been building shelves in the kitchen. Pray for our house, we know it’s getting old and was not made with the best material. It’s standing, but it’s not the strongest house.

Us in front of our new home

New Family member:
Our family has grown in the last few weeks. We now have a puppy! His name is Milo (Me-Low). He’s around 6-8 months. Luckily, God’s Blessings, a missionary veterinarian came to Haiti a few days after we had Milo. He was able to give him his shots, including Rabies, for free!
Milo was a good sport, he didn’t cry! I don’t even think he noticed when they gave him the shot.
He’s supposed to be our guard dog, but as of now, he’s pretty scared. He runs away when

Our Family

he thinks there is trouble, leaving us behind. Ha-ha. Pray that he get’s braver. (But he’s only a puppy yet, I have faith in him).

Our Ministry:
Ricot has gone to most of the schools in the community to advertise an English class we want to start with the Youth in the community. If you know Ricot, you know he loves the Youth, and know what potential he sees in them.
In Port Salut we have been observing since we’ve been here (3 and ½ weeks). From early in the morning, until late at night there are young people sitting on the side of the road, mostly young men. They are good kids but just need something to do. Please keep this in your prayers.
This weekend we will celebrate a Christmas party in Port Salut with the children. We are looking forward to games, food, prayer, songs and friendship. A group of 3 men from Cold Stream Church will be coming to Haiti on Friday. They will get to share in the celebration!! (Photo’s to come!)
We are still praying that the right people come our way to help in our ministry. We are praying for leaders to help us, but we know developing relationships take time. We want people that care genuinely for the souls for people. Please continue to pray for this. Pray that we don’t rush it, but listen to God’s leading in all we do.
Our Hearts:
Our Hearts are finally beginning to feel settled. After being in transition since our wedding in March 2008 we have been planning a move, moving or waiting to move. It’s nice to know we are here to stay, for a little while at least (Not that we have plans to move, by the way). We know God is good and has been with us all along the way.
We feel so blessed for the journey God has led us on! It hasn’t always been easy, but He is faithful!
Please continue to Pray for the Reinheart family (A missionary family from the U.S). For those of you who haven’t heard, there had been a tragic accident a month ago in Cayes. Their 5 year old son died in a motorcycle accident. The dad, Tim, and daughter, Sara (age 16) badly injured. They were able to leave the country that day, with the body and continue to receive hospital care for Sara and Tim. Their hearts are shattered, as well as the other missionary families here, and all of Cayes were devastated.
Last week the family has returned to Haiti after being away for 3 weeks. Tim and Sara’s physical health has improved beyond what one could imagine. They continue to take life one day at a time. They trust in God and know He knows what He is doing. Please pray for the family; Tim and Joan, Children; Sara (16), Bethany (14), Hannah (8), Faith (2)!
May God Bless you! Thank you for your Prayers and Support!! We can’t make this journey alone, we are thankful for your blessings!!

I am happy to say the transition into Haiti was smooth and easy! The airport seemed more organized and we were out, with all our bags, in no time! This is my fourth time entering into Haiti, and it was the best so far. Ricot and I both feel comfortable here, like we’ve never left…except for the heat, wow, it is hot!!
We met a worker at the American airport this morning. She was so excited and interested to hear about us, why we were going to Haiti, and about Ricot’s past. (How he was born in a remote village in the high mountains of Haiti. His mom died when he was two years old and his dad couldn’t provide fully for him, his fate was to die at an early age, of malnutrition. This would have been the case of it wasn’t for an American couple who chose to give up the life they knew in Florida, and move to Haiti (where they knew no one and didn’t speak the language) to raise 8 boys.
As we were about to board the plane, later, we found out that this lady, Amy, had upgraded us to a first class flight!! We were so very excited and shocked!! On the plane, we enjoyed our big seats, extra leg room, and the chance to experience one of God’s blessings once again!
Praise God for the peace and joy we feel about being back in Haiti!!

We left Haiti Friday June 12th and made it to Calgary Tuesday June 16th. What a long trip hey! Well not really that long. We stopped in Florida for the weekend and celebrated with my parents as they renewed their vows and celebrated their 50th wedding Anniversary. It was an amazing weekend to both Mandy and I.

We are now in Calgary and are looking forward to visit with many of you. We are looking forward to share our experiences, passion, and goals with you.

We will be in Canada until September 1st so if you would like for us to share at an event, church service, or just over coffee, we would love to do so. Please e-mail us: ricotl@gmail.com or ricot@oakpark.ca

Looking forward to hear from you.

Soon we’ll be in Canada! We are looking forward to see many of our, family, friends, supporters, and those whom we haven’t met. We are excited and have tons of stories to share with you.

It’s been a great year for us here in Haiti. We are more than happy to have had the chance to spend this year observing and learning so much about the culture. We have seen and talked to many missionaries, NGOs, and many other social AID programs. Our knowledge of how to help not only for short but also long-term has increased significantly. We can’t say we know everything because we don’t but we know for a fact that we are better equipped and are committed to live full-time in Haiti. It wont be easy but God wants us to be here.

Few things that I’ve learned this year:
1. 66% of the population are farmers but they contribute less than 25-26% to the economy
2. People in Haiti are extremely helpful, generous, and friendly
3. Haiti has some of the most beautiful views
4. Many young people want to know how they can help to stop deforestation
5. Providing cooking fuels, stoves, etc.. will not solve the tree cutting problem
6. It is more realistic to teach people how to make charcoals more responsibly
7. Most people who runs away from Haiti to a different country actually love Haiti

I would love to speak with you while I am in Canada, I would love to share my vision with you. I pray that the Lord will lead us to see each other.

Sometime it’s hard to know what season it is when you live in Haiti, matter affect, we don’t speak in term of winter, spring, summer and autumn. Instead we say: rainy season (spring), hurricane season (summer and autumn), and sunny season (all year long). We are 3 months away from our yearly hurricane season but we are experiencing many floods in the south part of Haiti. Here are some pictures I took on Tuesday after we had rain for 4 straight days, many people lost their gardens, and animals but so far I’ve not heard any deaths.

More water

We made it back to Haiti on the 21st of April. We feel that our time in the US went by fast; our time there was great and busy. It had been two years since I last saw dad and it was hard for me to see him in a hospital bed, weak, skinny, and powerless over his situation. He went through a lot but thanks to your prayers, he has been home for 15 days now. He is recovering slowly. Since he lost so much weight, and laid on a hospital bed for 70+ days, he is now using a walker to get around and will continue to use it until he regains his leg strength. His illness was not an accident because many in the hospital have been ministered too due to such situation.

We are excited! We are now counting days till our team gets here from our home church. Please pray for their preparation and that the time they will spend here be a great success.

We went to a small church this morning and pastor Frantz preached a sermon on ‘Faith,’ we feel that God spoke to us through it. We have to reach out by faith and claim his promises for us. So, I also encourage you as you read this post, ‘to reach out in faith and claim His many promises.’ God bless you all and please continue to keep us in your prayers.

We are excited! Since we made it here on Sunday visiting with the family, we have seen great progress. Dad hasn’t eaten anything by mouth for more then 6 weeks and this morning, the doctor told him he could have apple juice. He is using a walker to walk around the hospital now and for that we are grateful. A new nurse came in his room this morning saying, “Good morning mr. Burch, if you see me in your room today that means you will be going home soon.” I was so happy to hear these words

Mandy and I have been in the hospital ever since we got here. Mom lives an hour drive away from so since we got here, I have been her chauffeur driving her to and from Tampa, Fl. She is happy because before we came, she would spend most of her nights at the hospital in the waiting room on a chair. It is tiring driving back and forth but we are grateful that mom could go home at night and have a great night sleep on her own bed.

Thank you so much for your prayers, we know that you are praying and keep praying. God bless you all.

We made it to Florida and are visiting with my family. They were extremely happy to see us because it was a surprise to all of them. They didn’t know that if we were coming!

you can go on: www.caringbridge.org/visit/billburch to check on us and his progress. Drop a note if you can.