Moringa leaves: packed with micronutrients and complete proteins, these hold promise for helping combat malnutrition in Haiti.
“There! There!!” shouted all seven moms, pointing to a large lush tree just off the dirt path we were traveling down. A moringa tree! With leaves rich in vitamins and minerals, and a rare plant source of complete protein, the moringa tree holds promise for combating malnutrition, a condition so rampant in Haiti. I was pleased to have come across a moringa tree while on our way back from the market in Cap Haitien, but I was even more pleased to know that the orphanage’s house moms knew of the nutritional promise it held and how to harvest the leaves.
Candice leading nutrition workshops with Kids Alive International orphanage staff. Click here to read more.Late November I (Candice) spent nine days in Haiti on a 10-person work team. We served at a partner ministry, Kids Alive International, an orphanage caring for children, most of whom were orphaned after the earthquake of early 2010. Our work team ran a medical clinic, worked on construction projects, and I headed up various nutrition workshops. I am thankful for the time I got to spend empowering and encouraging Haitian women who pour their hearts into caring for children at risk. I know in my heart this is the start of a long-term relationship, and for this I am very thankful. I am much less thankful for the tarantula we found in the kitchen and the four-foot snake on the construction site, but I guess that just comes with the territory of being on a mission field.
Water pump monitoring engineering and design team. Click here to read more.Back home in Elkhart Tom and his engineering team continue to put their heads together and pour their hearts into water pump monitors. A team member just returned from Kenya where he helped install water pumps with monitor units in various rural villages. The monitoring units are now installed and working in five different countries. It has been awesome to witness what can be accomplished when godly men set their sites on meeting others’ basic human needs.
We have now wrapped up work at the office for the year and have hit the highway as a family. We are visiting our supporting churches, family and friends in the Manitoba area over the Christmas season and into late January. We are very much excited for this time of reconnecting and keeping you up to date on your investments with us in the mission field. If you are in the area, we’d love to get together! Please drop us a line so we can set something up: candice.and.tom@gmail.com
Also, as we approach year-end, we’d love it if you’d consider supporting us with a special one-time gift. I am hoping to take the distance course Principles and Practices of Community Health, to expand my knowledge of community development from a Christian perspective. The course is $600 and I’m required to raise the funds prior to starting the course. Year-end giving could mean an early new-year start! Click here for easy giving online and more information.
Thank you so much for your friendship, support, and encouragement in 2014. It has been an incredible year for us and we are so thankful you have been along for the ride. We wish you all the best in this beautiful Christmas season and may God bless you in 2015. Thank you for being part of our lives!