Mid July HCH Mangine update

Dear Friends and Family,

Too much time has lapsed since our last update, and I am sorry. I have a new resolve to get my updates out on the 1st and 15th! Hold me to it.

One important housekeeping update!
You may have noticed our family website (www.haitianchildrenshome.org/mangine) has changed, and most of our content is gone. This past month the Haitian Children’s website has been redone, as we’ve recognized that HCH is doing so much more than the children’s homes we have! Therefore, we’re in the process of “rebranding” the larger organization as “Joy in Hope,” with Haitian Children’s Home being one of the ministries part of it. Check it out at www.haitianchildrenshome.org.. And also www.joyinhope.org. One of the things we’ve run into with this migration is that right now there is not currently a way to sign up to be on our support team. So, until we can get the rest of the content migrated, please feel free to email us at nick@haitianchildrenshome.org. We can email you all the info you need. We are still looking for people to commit to pray for us and support us financially. Thanks for being patient with us as we work to make this information better and more accessible to you.

This past month has been full of many ups and downs! One of this biggest struggles we faced this past month was that I got very sick at the end of June. I had some labwork done here in Haiti and was told I had malaria and a stomach infection. Even after treating for both, I remained sick. When two weeks of being sick had passed with little improvement, Nick and I made the choice for me to return to the US for a week to get some medical care and rest. It was a nice relaxing time. I am all better and SO HAPPY to be back in Haiti with my family. Many thanks to Nick’s family who took such great care of me, Darla Gallentine, who saw to my medical care, Kris Stoner, who met me in Miami, and Crosspointe, who helped us afford the trip!

We are starting to get into a groove here in Haiti—learning how to do things without calling the Pyes or the Altidors every five minutes. ☺ We’ve hired a woman named Esther who comes twice a week to do laundry. And we’ve also “hired” a coupe local teenage boys., Stanly and Yoslen, to come in and clean up our compound area (under direct supervision, of course.) With so many trees, there’s always a ton of leaves to be swept. They do other odd jobs too—like wash the car, and “fix” the kid’s bikes, clean the drains, and pick cherries, keneps and mangoes. I put the word “hire” in quotes, because we pay them about $1.25 each once a week for a day of work. And it helps keep things tidy around here.

Today is a special day in our family, as we celebrate having Nico in our family for TWO YEARS! Last week we took a trip to his former orphanage to visit his teacher and some of his old friends. We really do think that Nico remembered things a little bit. It was really fun.

As the days and weeks and months pass (we’re currently a week shy of being here three months,) we look forward to December when we hope to be in a place to accept children into our home. The depth of need here is overwhelming at times. We’ve already said, “no” to 11 children.. Everyday we have several people ask us for food or money. Young and old alike. Life is heavy here some days. But it is also very rewarding.

We ask that you’d keep our transition in your prayers. We’re still trying to come to a place where Haiti truly feels like our home. It is feeling that way more each day.. One of the hardest parts of the transition is that our children have been needing a lot of extra attention. At times we struggle to be gracious with this. Please pray we can love them and support them in all the ways they need to be loved and supported while retaining our sanity.! ☺

We love you and are every-thankful for you—

With grateful hearts,

The Mangine 5—Nick, Gwenn, Nia, Nico and Josiah

The new sign on painted on our front gate-- thanks to Jennifer, Carrie and Patrick for their careful attention to detail!

Yoslen, 13, a neighbor boy, helping to "fix" Nico's bike

Stanly, 14, another neighbor boy, with his big supply of kenep

Nico visiting his former orphanage. Pictured here with his old teacher, Jean.

Esther, our new employee who works really hard on our washing!