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Lespri was so touched by the amount of aide that poured in from all over the USA to meet the needs of both our local families affected by the hurricane here in Leogane and in the harder-hit regions of Haiti. Thank you so much for this privilege of serving the poor at such a pivotal, vulnerable time. In honor of you, we would like to dedicate a page of our website to the impact that your giving has made in Haiti and the lives you have encouraged and changed. Thank you so much for your support & enjoy the stories you made possible below.

10/14: Lespri Feeds 5 Additional Families with Quality Groceries

Lespri is continuing to pass out quality grocery outreaches like these pictured here to truly needy families suffering from the impact of the hurricane. One of the 3 grocery shops you see here was given away to a woman who's home half-collapsed during the hurricane. Two additional families were fed with remaining bags from the school distribution. It is beyond a privilege to be able to distribute food to the poor at such a pivotal time: thank you so much for this!

10/21: From Wooden Shelter to Sturdy Cement: Lespri Rents a Proper Home for a
Needy Family 

This afternoon, Lespri rented a new home for a needy single-mom family with multiple children. This family was living in a rented shelter-box home for the last year. A tree fell through a panel of their roof during the hurricane- so Lespri rented this home (very inexpensively too- about $153.00 USD) for this family for the next 5 years! What a blessing! Thank you for this Lespri Family for blessing this family with a much better, hurricane-proof home! Blessings!

10/21: Lespri Feeds 5 More Starving Families with Quality Groceries in Leogane

Here are yet more groceries for starving families affected by the hurricane in Haiti! Yes! This is 5 more beautiful grocery outreaches to families that were affected by the hurricane here in Leogane! These distributions will go to families from our local church of Eglise de Dieu that Lespri partners with from time to time. Such a blessing for these needy families: thank you!

10/22: Lespri Begins Plans to Build a House for a Dear Family in the Mountains of Tom Gato

I cannot personally imagine what surviving the hurricane was like for families trapped in mountains like this one! Some of our Haitian friends told us that houses even "slide and fall off the mountain sides" during storms like this. So when we drove up the mountain to Tom Gato, none of us knew what to expect.

As Lespri ascended the mountain, dried-up mudslides, fallen trees, thinned (once very beautiful) forests, and missing roof tops were everywhere. When we arrived at this family's home, the cement pillar foundation of the corner of the home was somewhat uprooted from its position and even slightly turned: that's how intense the winds were up here! "When the hurricane ripped the roof top off of our higher house, we all huddled inside the wooden shelter box to weather the rest of the storm." Words don't even begin to describe the experience this must have been. When asked 'how the hurricane went' for them, one family member said, "We didn't die." Lespri began plans to build a proper, sturdy block home for this family upon arrival and building materials will begin to be purchased and shipped up the mountain to them throughout the rest of this week. This is privilege beyond words to be able  

10/24: Lespri Rents a Home for a Family Evicted after the Hurricane Damaged their Rental

Can you imagine being evicted from your home after a hurricane, with no place to go? Today Lespri rented the beautiful house below for one amazing family with multiple children. The hurricane completely blew the roof off the top of their tin-siding home (pictured above), damaging the structure too much to be able to be lived-in again without major repairs. Due to the extent of the damages, the landlord of the house chose to evict the young family! Goodness! Lespri was honored to be able to rent the beautiful home you see below

11/2: The Foundation is laid! Lespri Starts to Build a Home for One of Our Dedicated Teachers

Remember earlier we talked about building a home for Madame Cenat? Well, this is the foundation! I personally am just glorifying God today. I came to Haiti with 2 suitcases in my hands and now- Lespri is in the process of building a house! If you have ever needed evidence that God is real- here is some! Many blessings from us all in Haiti!

10/14: 105+ Bags of Food Feed Over 70 Hungry Families in Leogane @ Lespri's School

Lespri started our relief efforts in our home-town of Leogane, Haiti! Leogane & Santo were not hit “hard” by the hurricane in comparison to other cities in Haiti, but that does not mean the community here was not strongly affected by it. In Leogane, the effects of the hurricane were not counted so much in fallen houses but in starving families. When asked, "How many of you went hungry during the hurricane?" 75% of Lespri's students' hands went up. Lespri responded to this need with one gigantic, 105+ bag distribution of rice, beans, oil, spaghetti (the staples of a Haitian table), and soap and toothpaste for all. Over 70 families received aide- with one woman coming up to us afterwards and holding me (Elaine) tightly for 2 minutes just whispering, "Thank you... thank you... thank you..." over and over. Lespri Family: thank you for this distribution and for the encouragement this brought to our local community! Thank you so much!

10/15: Lespri Begins to Build a Badly-Needed Permanent Home for one of
Our Dedicated Teachers

Madame Cenat of Lespri's very dedicated teaching staff lost the roof and sides of her home during Hurricane Matthew while she and her family were still inside it. Can you imagine? As of 10/15 Lespri has started to purchase cement and block materials to build Madame Cenat and her family a proper, permanent home- one that cannot be blown away in a hurricane ever again! Thank you for your prayers for this tremendous woman who has been such a blessing to Lespri over the last several years. We love you Madame Cenat! More posts coming as progress is made on her new home! 

10/21: Lespri Begins to Plan Large Outreach Trip
to Jeremie, Haiti

Lespri is currently starting to plan a BIG outreach to one of the zones hardest-hit by the hurricane: Jeremie, Haiti. Jeremie is located on the south-western-most tip of Haiti and, from the reports we are hearing, it was absolutely devastated. "It was like a desert," one of our friends who visited Jeremie to see his family reported. "There were no trees, no buildings, no plants- [it was like] everything was flat. There was [not even any] shade. It was like a desert." We are working on logistics for a large trip complete with building materials, food & supplies, and more to take to Jeremie very soon. Please keep us in your prayers as we begin to plan this gigantic, 4 day outreach. Jeremie used to be 6.5 hours away from Lespri's hometown of Leogane before the hurricane hit and damaged roads, so this trip will be significant for us to make. Thank you so much for your prayers! 

10/21: Lespri Rents a New Home for Another Needy Family

Do you see the large tree that fell on this house (pictured below)? Late this afternoon Lespri was privileged to assist in renting this (pictured above): a beautiful, sturdy home for a family who had half of their previous house (pictured below) start to crumble/break in half due to the hurricane. "It looks like the walls could have fallen on them at any time..." As you can see- the walls were still "standing" but completely broken away at some of the middle points, corners, and even some of the roof. They have been living in the "standing half" on the other side to make sure the walls did not fall on the children. This family has multiple children including an orphan that they've chosen to care for out of good will. Lespri has been faithfully supporting them with groceries for the last few months. Praise God for this! He takes care of the widowed and the orphan! Thank you so much for this privilege! This family has a fantastic, sturdy new rental that will not cave in on them thanks to you! 

10/25: Lespri Buys Materials & Helps Repair a Hurricane-Damaged Home for a Young
Family of Four

Today is our third-year anniversary as a mission and, thanks to you- we had the privilege of purchasing materials and repairing a badly-flood-damaged home in our local area of Leogane! Praise God! Lespri restored rotten/mold-potential planks with fresh lumber in the home's newly relocated location. Glory to God!

11/4: The Biggest Distribution in Lespri's History- Preparations for the Trip to the Outskirts of Hardest-Hit Jeremie, Haiti

Wow! Thanks to so many who have donated, Lespri was enabled to do this: the largest distribution in the history of our organization! This is over 270 2x4 planks, over 180 pieces of roofing tin, hammers, nails, saws, and groceries for 20 families! Praise God!