We think Seguin was not greatly impacted

I dont have confirmation on this yet but Seguin does not seem to have felt the quake very much. Seguin is the home of 5 of our 6 boys. I hope to hear soon whether their families are well.

Mackenson is in the North of Haiti, safe and sound with his family

Keep praying and giving-Mackenson is well

Thanks to God we did hear from Mackenson. He is fine, and was in the north of Haiti where the Quake was not felt. Praise the Lord that he is fine. He was encouraged by our amazing JIH team to stay with his family.

The boys are in Seguin, JIH Director sent them with money for transportation as well as help for their families. We are so thankful. Seguin is relatively close to Port Au Prince as well and is high in the mountains. We pray that their families are allright. You can look on the mountains for Seguin. Nixon pinpointed it between Kenscoff and Marigot, under the capital of Port Au Prince.

Our hearts are with our boys.

Joy In Hope team is doing their best to help the people in the Jacmel area. They need finances to do so though.

Joy In HopeEarthquake Relief - Donate at http://www.joyinhope.org/donate.asp and select "Immediate Needs" (or mail checks to JIH - Earthquake, 2731 NC Hwy 55 #251, Cary, NC 27519) to help provide much needed food and supplies to those affected by today's earthquake.

We hope to hear from Mackenson soon

Dearest friends and family, January 14, 2010
Greetings in the name of our Lord. Nixon and I are doing well. We are trying to keep busy, keeping informed as to what is happening back home and trying to raise awareness as well as funds for our area. We understand that Port is in terrible shape but the surrounding areas were also greatly impacted. Our concern is that the majority of the help will go to Port and the surrounding areas will be the last to get aid. Jacmel, the small city in which we work is in devastated. Our goal right now is to get funds sent over there to help in the relief efforts made to help the city of Jacmel as well as it’s surrounding areas. Here is how you can get funds to Joy In Hope.
Earthquake Relief - Donate at http://www.joyinhope.org/donate.asp and select "Immediate Needs" (or mail checks to JIH - Earthquake, 2731 NC Hwy 55 #251, Cary, NC 27519) to help provide much needed food and supplies to those affected by the earthquake.

Joy In Hope has a facebook page as well.

Our boys spent their first night at the Mangine house, sleeping under the stars.

Yesterday morning the boys went up into the mountains of Seguin, about two hours east of Jacmel, in order to check on their own families. Nixon and I expected that. We are a concerned about Mackenson, one of our boys in the Boy’s Home. He was having trouble finding the finances to come down and go back to school so he had not arrived back to Jacmel. We are hoping and praying that Mackenson was in the northern part of Haiti and was not at all affected by the Earthquake. Please keep Mackenson in your prayers.

The earthquake

Nixon and I are in N.C. right now and are getting ready to head back to Haiti. Right now we don't know when we will go back to Haiti. If we can fly into the Dominican Republic we could get into Port Au Prince but we are questioning whether we can get to Jacmel since the roads are in terrible shape.
The Rue Petion building which houses the Boy's Home, guest house, and our home has been evacuated. The boys have been relocated to the Mangine house and we are eternally grateful. We have not been able to talk to our boys or any of the JIH staff since the phone lines are down. Thanks to the grace of God, the internet has been up and we have been able to receive updates.
We hope to communicate with our boys tomorrow. Our prayers are with our people in Haiti.
We feel so helpless and yet we are selfishly thankful that our boys and all JIH are ok.
I will keep posting updates as we know more.
Please visit joyinhope.org to help. Haiti will need so much help in the near future.

The last of week before the boy's went home-by the Riegel's

This has been exam week for all the boys. With exam week comes a lot of changes around the home. Usually during the week the boys go to school around 6:30am and are home in time for lunch, but with exams, their schedule is different. Different grades in school go to class at different times during the day, different schools have different times and different days, so this week, it has been hit or miss with the boys during the day, but like always we all come together in the evening to pray and read scripture. The boys are very serious about this time; this is THEIR time together and together with God. Please continue to pray for the boys as the semester ends and they prepare to go visit their families until school starts again in January. The boys travel a lot during this time and though they are anxious to see their families and we encourage this time, we pray and anticipate for a safe return in January so they can continue with the second half of school. We will miss them while they are home with their families.
Whiskey- Whiskey has really stepped up over the past few weeks with exams and school coming to a break. Whiskey celebrated his 21st birthday on the Dec. 5th with his cake and his closest friends. Whiskey is like the big brother of the boy’s home and we appreciate his help so much.
Jocelyn- Jocelyn has been the silent type this week. Every morning (early) we can hear Jocelyn climbing the stares to go on the roof with his books to get that extra quite time to study and listen to God. Jocelyn always has good incite during our devotions and seems to be really diving in to what God has for him as a young man of God.
Jn. Robert- Jn. Robert has been in his books a lot lately preparing for his tests. He has been really busy keeping up with his studying and his chores, but Jn. Robert always finds a little bit of time in the evening for a quick game of Dominoes.
Mackenson- Like Jn. Robert, Mackenson has been caught in his books a little more than normal these past few days, also preparing for exams, Mackenson is stepping up to hit next semester running !
Elira- This boy is all smiles, all the time, even with the pressures of tests and school, Elira is not sweating it. Elira brings joy and laughter everywhere he is and is always willing to give out the extra hand!.
Jacky- Jacky was giving the short end of the stick this exam week (not a short-joke). He is the only boy that has to be at the school before 7am. While the other boys have that extra couple of hours in the morning, Jacky is up, dressed and out the door. Go get’em Jacky!
The boys have been really good with the Rigel's in our absence. They absolutely adore Blayn (the Rigel’s 11 month old son) and are having a blast the Rogelet (the Rigel’s 11 year old son). Rogelet fits in just fine playing games and watching cheesy Kung foo movies.
God has really begun to turn this house into a home, giving these boys a safe place to learn and grow. This home is a family, and they keep it that way. Of coarse all brother argue and step on each others toes, but you will not find a better group of young men seeking out what God has for them and taking advantage of such a great opportunity that they have been given. May God bless these boys!

It is interesting to see what other's see. Nixon and I ache to see our boy's again. We will be back in Haiti before we know it. Our prayer is always the same for our boys, that they would grow up to be super close to our Lord. He loves them so. Our love for them is only a teeny tiny piece of His love for them.

Our boys are missed

More than ever Nixon and I realize what an important role the boys play in our lives.

We knew that having the boys gave us a great sense of satisfaction and fulfillement.

We knew that the most important role we feel we play with Joy In Hope is having the Boy's Home. But just like there is a point when we go from knowing God to REALLY KNOWING God, we have come to the REALLY KNOWING that we love our boys.

We miss their unique personalities and hearing them downstairs. Yeah, I even miss their spending all weekend in our house, sometimes even in our room strewn all over our bed.

I find myself wondering what they are doing and how they are really feeling. Every time we call they say they are doing fine. I know they are, I just miss them.

Praise the Lord for Georgette and Mike who are there for our boys. Praise the Lord that they could do this for them, and for us. Thank you both for that, I know you are doing a fantastic job.

Saturday was Jacky's birthday! We kept calling the digicel numbers and somehow we were not able to get through so I was disappointed. We celebrated before we left though. I am glad we did.

More than ever I pray that our boys grow into responsible, mature men. I pray that they will have a heart that beats for the Lord. This is the greatest wish that a person could ever have for another. I pray we all have that heart.

Whiskey's birthday

Whiskey's birthday will pass us by when Nixon and I are gone and so we wanted to make sure and celebrate with the boys.

I made his cake and then Whiskey requested us not to eat his cake so he could celebrate on his birth day.

I said ok. I gave him his cake and he asked if i could keep it. I was hesitating. Nixon said ok.

He opened his present and said he preferred a long sleeve shirt.

Later i found out Nixon said he would exchange it.

Ok, I am glad we got to celebrate but this is getting ridiculous. It happens so quickly, so sneakily. You start good and then you love em and it becomes "give them a hand, and someone will take the foot".

Whiskey will be turning 21. Though 21 is not the same as in the States. It is 21 nonetheless.

Happy Birthday to Whiskey. We still love him and will pray till the cows come home.

Nixon and I had a long talk about this the next morning. We have to tighten the reigns again.

Starting with, "you get what you get", as a present.

God help us as we try to do what is best for our boys. It just all comes back to getting on our knees. And that is a good thing.