SHILOH CHILDREN’S HOME
The Schmidt Family in Haiti
January 2011
“”And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”
~ Colossians 3:23 ~
As we write this Prayer Letter, we marvel at all the Lord has done in our lives this past year. Today marks the 1st
Anniversary of the devastating Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake. It is estimated that more than 300,000 souls lost their lives
in those 30+ seconds! At least another 300,000 were critically injured. There are still millions who are living in tents
and tarp covered stick frame “shanties”, trying to carry on…
The Lord led our family to move back to Haiti to open a Christ Centered Home for handicapped children and those
youngsters who lost a limb in the earthquake. Our goal is to provide Christ’s love in a family setting; Biblical instruction,
a complete education in Creole, French, English and Spanish as well as skills for future employment. In June
2010, we found a place to rent and moved to our present location, 38 mi. north of Port-au-Prince.
June, July and August were very busy months, getting our ‘85 Suburban
cleared from customs, the property ready for the work to be done,
helping with reconstruction work for earthquake victims, and building the
three temporary structures for Shiloh Children’s Home. We had two teams
come in during that time who were such an encouragement and blessing
to us! In Sept. and Oct. we had our third and fourth teams, as well as
two other groups of visitors. They were all such a blessing! They helped
paint our new buildings, built 3 more buildings for another needy orphanage
and have been very instrumental in getting much of the preliminaries
done for Shiloh Children’s Home. Near the end of Oct. we got our first two children! Jason (5) and Caleb (4) were
abandoned at Grace Children’s Hospital in Port-au-Prince, in 2009 and lived there for over 1½ yrs. Neither can walk
or talk, but Jason is progressing well and should be walking soon! Caleb has more issues; he is on medication for
seizures and appears to have severe brain damage. He is a sweet, smiley little
boy, and we have seen some improvements in him already. We finally were
able to get an EEG for him this week. It was interesting seeing him hooked up
to 23 electrodes all over his head, as they examined his brain waves, while he
lay fast asleep. We should have the results later in the week, which, Lord willing,
will give us a clearer picture of his problems and how best to help him (i.e.
types of medications that will work best for him, exercises and stimulation that
will help him reach his full potential; whatever that might be). We know that
the Lord has made this little guy and we feel privileged to be able to love and
care for him, as he is. Still, we want to include him in every activity possible to
allow him as much opportunity as we can.
Maurice came to us in early Nov. He is 2 yrs. old and was abandoned on a pile of garbage, where the rats were eating
on him! A Pastor’s daughter found him and was taking care of him the best she could, until she got a job and was no
longer able to. He also cannot walk, talk or coordinate his movements well. We have been working with him for two
months now and he is greatly improved! He’s gained some much needed weight, can almost roll over and is beginning
to say some words! Praise the Lord!
In Nov. we had our 5th great team! They got so much accomplished, helping
us get the roof on our new Multi-Purpose Building among other things! The
ladies on that team did a dental clinic for the children in the neighborhood
and helped to medically evaluate our three little boys. What a blessing they
all were!!
In mid-Nov. Ginger and JoHannah were able to go to the states to help our
daughter, Kimber-Leigh and family when they had their third baby: Ephraim
Frank Maxson, born on 11/29/2010. Isaiah turned 3 while we were there
and Renae 17 mos. We were so glad to be able to see all of our children and
grandchildren, and be of some help to them. We now have 11 precious grandchildren
on earth and 4 in heaven; as Tj and Susan recently lost one. The Lord
has been so gracious to us; through blessings and trials, always faithful! We
are so rich in Christ! II Cor. 12:9
Tom, Jeremy and Joshua stayed in Haiti taking care of the three little boys, and
our newest resident, a little girl, who came shortly after Ginger and JoH left
for the states. Betty turned 2 on 12/30. She is from another mission organization,
awaiting adoption. She doesn’t walk or talk yet, but seems to be developing
normally, just a little delayed. She is quite jolly and a big encouragement
to Maurice, who watches her every move and tries to copy all she does!
The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful helper for a few months! Alayna, a young lady from our church, felt led of
the Lord, along with her parents, to come down and give of her time and talents to help us out! What a blessing she
is, helping with all the daily tasks as well as spending time helping the children learn new skills!!
On the home front, the Schmidt family continues to grow! We have been blessed
with 3 new grandsons in 2010 (Katie & Justin’s, Becky & Joe’s, and Kim &Ben’s)
and we have another granddaughter due in April 2011 (Katie and Justin’s third).
Matthew and, the love of his life, Frances are engaged to be married on Sept. 3,
2011, so we will be in the states for that Blessed event!!
We also plan to visit some churches while stateside. Anyone interested in having us come and share about our work
here, please contact us so we can plan our time in Sept and Oct.
Please continue to pray for Haiti as they try to settle the election results and work towards rebuilding this broken nation.
We would also appreciate prayer for the hired help we so desperately need as well as a permanent location for
Shiloh Children’s Home.
In Christ’s love,
Tom, Ginger, JoHannah, Jeremy and Joshua
“But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
~ Matthew 19:14 ~
