Jesus in Haiti Ministries

Many of you will be interested in my observations of my two new little boys, Isreal Jony and Peterson.

FIRST DAY: Got ahold of food and water and did not let go. Jony carried a bag of bread around and even took it to bed. 2nd day he didn't do this. Water was important as they both carried water bottles around for about 4 days, they don't do that anymore, they know the dispenser always has water.

SLEEPING: They each have a mattress on the floor next to my bed. During the night, they both squirm off onto the tile floor. I put them back, they end up on the tile floor again. I know this is how they slept so this is what they are comfortable with. Should I care that they do this? Any tips on changing this?

SHARING: Simply amazing how they look after each other. Especially the older one Peter, who is 4, he always make sure Jony is okay and shares everything. I tested Peter tonight. I was cutting bread for supper and had a very small, soft piece. I broke it in half, I ate half and gave just a little piece to him. Sure enough, he went over to Jony and put half in Jony's mouth.

ENGLISH: Already they know what I say, or maybe it's the tone. When I say something, they do it, although I say much of it in English. When I brought home 5 year old Shadrach, 10 years ago, it took him 3 months to become fluent in English.

MEALTIME: This is not just mealtime, it is a celebration of life for these two little guys, an event. If I let them they will take 2 hours to eat. They sit and eat and break their bread and go as slow as they can. They talk the whole time and really enjoy this time.

PUNISHMENT: They are very sensitive to getting punished. A little slap on the behind and they act like they were getting killed. My rule is, they can cry if they have a reason, if not, no crying. I am gradually getting that across.

PLAYGROUND: When I take them outside our yard, the world is their playground. Their eyes are as big as golf balls and they take everything in. Just a walk to the park to watch soccer rocks their world.

TELEVISION: They have no need or interest in tv, much more fun to play or crawl on poppy. I hope to keep it that way.

BONES: They like every Haitian child that comes from an orphanage eats not only the chicken off the bone, they eat the whole bone.

STEPS: They just love our big steps. I worry a little about Jony going up and down but he is really good. These boys probably have never seen steps so just love to play on them all day long.

CHURCH: During our entire 3 hour service, they sit, they listen, they sing, they clap but they pay perfect attention.

SANDALS: Their sandals are very important to them. They either wear them or carry them.

There you have it, just some observations from 15 days of having these two little ones. tom

Thank you for your support


Tom Osbeck
Executive Director
Jesus in Haiti Ministries

For Contributions:
Jesus in Haiti Ministries, Inc. Suite 155 10214 Chestnut Plaza Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46814