Jesus in Haiti Ministries
December 31st, 2008

Dear friends,

I promise you this, this will be my last email of this year. No more e-mails until next year, promise. Those of you who have been with me awhile know that I sometimes get myself in trouble. The problem with sharing the good, the bad and the ugly is, it gets me in trouble. Here are some of the examples of me getting in trouble over the years:

My april fools email saying I had met a 16 year old girl from the Dominican and we got married (I should not joke, my word should be my bond)
Telling you about the Haitian Gospel choir singing "shake your booty in the name of the Lord"
Not being a King James Version only person
Suggesting that God might be an overweight Black woman
And others that you might remember.
I have a feeling I might add to that list with this email but I'm going to make you play dectective and figure out what might get me in trouble in the following email. Might as well send 2008 out with a bang right?

This past year, 6 of my boys and 3 other teenage boys from our church started a club. They call it JFS. It is a Christian club with Christian values. They do community work, hang out and at Christmas time, they have an all night party. These kinds of clubs are very common in Haiti. Kind of a group of best friends.

JFS has been working, saving and raising money so they can have their little party, which happened last night. These things go from 8pm until 5am. That is too late for me to be 25 miles from home, but I said I would come at 7, check out the decorations and stuff and head home. Once I got there, I realized I was like on a water slide and once you make the drop, there is no return.

I was escorted to a chair up front while they finished last minute things with the sound system. About 8:30 the party began. Realize this, all the boys have suits and ties on and the girls their best dresses. It is very formal. They start and I open in prayer, they have some poems read, a fashion show and other fun stuff. Our praise and worship Leader sang a praise song honoring Jesus.

Then out came some young girls, doing a dance routine to "shake your boom thing". Well, number one, I didn't know what a boom thing was until I saw the routine. My only thought was, "Lord end this quick". Now, it wasn't obscene so don't have a stroke but it was the words and the fact that the boom things did get shook. I kept saying, let this be over but it dragged on and on to the delight of the over 100 people that were there. Finally the girls exited, for which I was relieved.

Of course as soon as that was over, it was "Tom's time, Pastor Tom's time. After 10 years in Haiti I have figured out how to make them laugh and I sure did when the first words out of my mouth were "don't worry, I'm not going to shake my boom thing". They roared.

Okay, lighten up, don't put a hold on that check. I did a couple other one liners to get laughs then I got serious. I had the chance to tell how proud I was of these young men for the fact that their main desire was to follow Christ. I had a chance to share the Gospel to over 100 very attentive ears. Some of you will be so focused on the boom thing, you won't even grasp that. That is part of the problem with Christians. If we put our energy into winning souls, the non-important stuff would be just that.

After I shared the Gospel and encouraged these folks, I was given a nice plaque with my name on it thanking me for all I do for the youth of Source Matles. By this time it was nearly midnight. I have never been out this late, so far from home, in Haiti. They hadn't eaten yet and had much more to do, but I excused myself and with Manel and Claismay, I headed home. The fun part was I was the only one on the road and was able to drive about 80 all the way home.

Today I went back to pick the boys up and our sound system. They were very tired. And, I did have a chance to talk to them about the boom boom routine and whether that would please God or not. We had a good discussion and although I know that is very cultural, what I want them to think about is what is Godly, not cultural.

As another year starts, I am very excited for what lies ahead. The problem is, I need your help more than ever.
I am not asking you to move away from your friends and family to live in a 3rd world country.
I am not asking you to live under the threat of kidnapping, rioting and mob unruliness.
I am not asking you to live in extreme heat, most of the year, with no AC.
I am not asking you to live without fast food, milk, Krogers or Wal-mart.
I am not asking you to wake up some mornings with a hundred bug bites.
I am not asking you to every Holiday be away from the ones you love so much.
I am not asking you to decide which requests you will grant to allow people to eat, out of the dozens each week.
I am not asking you to look out your window and see one of your staff holding a newborn baby who is bleeding to death because of the cord not being tied.
I am not asking you to pass 9 kidney stones, 8 at home with no medicine, or have the gout over 50 times so bad you can't walk.
I am not asking you to take in 19 people into your home, to love, to care for and to teach Godly values.
I am not asking you to do any of the above, I am doing it, and I do it willingly for the cause of Christ.

What I am asking you to do, is to make the above possible, so I can continue to bring the life changing message of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying nation. We have made a difference, we are making a difference and we will continue to be JESUS in Haiti.

Thank you for your support and please, help this ministry to continue strong in 2009.

May God bless you! tominhaiti

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

Jesus in Haiti Ministries
December 28th, 2008

2008, a look back.......................

Everyone I talk to can't wait for this year to end. It has been a very tough year for all of us, and most people around the world.

It began for me with one of my son's stealing some money from me, leaving home and being gone for 6 months. His restoration process has gone well the past 6 months but we still have a long way to go.

Of course the 4 hurricanes/storms in 17 days brought devastation to Haiti which affected all who live here. Prices before the hurricanes had doubled and tripled for rice, gas and other daily items. After the hurricanes the prices went through the roof.

Many challenges have faced our ministry, family and staff. The battles have taken a toll, but we have stood strong, continuing to be Jesus in Haiti, to these wonderful folks. The rising prices have set us back with our church project but we are praying for the funds to come so we can be in our new building in 2009.

What excites me is that for all the struggles that have hit us all, our 5 points of light have never stopped shining the light of our Lord Jesus Christ. The kids from school, the orphans, our church family, the folks in the dump have been cared for without missing a beat, even with prices up and donations down.

Let me close with the story of Franzdy. I met this young man 9 years ago while working at another mission. I was running a basketball program and Franzdy was on one of the teams. Franzdy was involved very heavily in voodoo and worked closely with a voodoo master. When Franzdy met me, we formed a friendship, and a spiritual conflict began in his life. He wanted to be with me and our program, yet the voodoo master said to stay away from me or he would be killed.

I remember during one basketball game, I was the referee and I had to kick Franzdy out of the game for fighting. He went and got a machete and came and stood 10 feet behind me. Everyone thought I would run. I didn't flinch, for over an hour he stood there glaring at me holding that long knife. He later told me the fact I wasn't scared of him gave him respect for me.

Franzdy found a way to sneak to youth group and even make trips to town with me, until the voodoo master found out. Franzdy's life was threatened and he left the village in the middle of the night. I never saw him again, until today.

To my shock, I found out he is the father of Stephanie's daughter, who is Mommy Tia's caregiver. Franzdy came to visit his daughter today and we met again. He is trying to get his life back together and even said he would come to church. He has broken from the voodoo folks. Pray for Franzdy as I renew a friendship with the purpose of guiding this young man to Christ.

The thing I don't like about these emails is asking for money but I also know that it is something that I must do, for us to continue to shine our light. If you can help with a year end gift, it would be a huge blessing. We are not in debt, nor are we starving but things are tight and if we don't come up with some funds, we will have to make cuts in staff and ministry and that is the last thing I ever want to do. I used to say 100% of what you gives come to Haiti but that has changed, we do have some mailing costs and I do have insurance now. Other than that, nobody gets paid and all funds come to this ministry here in Haiti.

I promised you when I came here that I would be a good steward with the funds you trusted me with. I am trying to do that in a Godly, loving way. Personally we have done the following to keep the budget on track:

Electricity only at night, except city power like we have now, this saves on fuel
We have switched from Culligan drinking water to a cheap well water, saves me $3 per day
Cooking the free rice we get, 6 nights per week for supper, hotdogs the other meal.
And many more little things which all add up. However, we need you more than ever. If the hundreds of you who read these emails but don't support us, could just send $25 per month, it would make all the difference in the world. Please pray about how you can help us to continue to be Jesus in Haiti.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

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

Jesus in Haiti Ministries
December 26th, 2008

Hi from Haiti,

I trust each of you had a wonderful Christmas time with you family. Here is a Christmas update from this side of the ocean, please let me know about yours.

Grace Emmanuel School: Last week we took 87 gifts for the students, gift boxes from Samaritans Purse, packed by our friends at Sonrise Church in Fort Wayne. The kids were so happy with these gifts and I enjoyed so much watching their happiness. The teachers got a little cash bonus and a box of rice.

Victory Bible Church: Saturday night was the finals of our Singing Contest. We had a jam packed church, plus people outside looking in. We did our normal service, than had the finalists sing, and the congregation vote for the winner. It was a blessed time, a time where we all experienced God in a very powerful way, all 4 hours of it. The winners were two young men who might even got a nod from Simon Cowell. (if you don't know Simon, you are better off)

Good Samaritan orphanage: Thanks to many of you, and our friends at Love a Child Mission, we had over 150 gifts for the kids and staff. We had so much fun. We had a staging area and had 4 tables set up, little boys, little girls, big boys, little boys. They would get to go to the table, take as long as they wanted and pick a really nice toy. What a thrill that was. Of course the dolls and matchbox toys went first.

New Roads Orphanage: We have been able to help individual families from the dump which has been such a blessing to help these precious people. Thanks to those of you who made this possible.

First Point of Light, my home: As you can imagine, trying to "thrill" 25 people at Christmas with limited funds is a real challenge. However, thanks to many of you, including some board members, we had an unbelievable Christmas. Some nice cell phones were donated for my older boys, along with some ipods and the boys were so happy. For those of you who donated these items, thanks so much. During this year, between family and staff, I would encourage you to save any cell phones or outdated electronic items or video games that you have. Don't toss them, send them to our development director, Linda Neal and she will make sure they get used next Christmas. (also old laptops would be awesome!)

We did the traditional Osbeck Christmas. Our big night is Christmas eve. We ate grill edcheese sandwiches for supper then the festivities began. Around 8 we had a praise and worship time, then the reading of the Christmas story, then a time when I remind our family how blessed we are. We also take a time to welcome new members to the family, who are with us for their first Christmas. This year that included Betsie, Betsie's daughter Kayly, Ricardo, Altimae, Roger and Maxim. We gained 5 but of course lost the 5 Jeanty's to Ohio so we had the same amount as last year. Then a prayer before we open presents.

When we open presents, we start with the youngest and everyone watches that person until they open their 3 or 4 presents, then we move to the next. Kayly was first as she is only 3. When Betsie's (NEWS FLASH, NEWS FLASH. I found out Betsie is her nickname and that she prefers her birthname of Stephanie) daughter began to open her first present, she couldn't get the paper off, one of the boys said "hurry up". After a reprimand to him, we sat and watched her big smile as she finally got it open. Her 2nd gift was a doll, almost as big as her that came from our friends at Love a Child. Kayly was so happy, she never put that doll down, even now she is still holding it. Second was Ricardo, I have to tell you, I had tears as I saw this little boy tear open his fire truck with a huge smile. To me, to think of this little boy, who a couple months ago was sitting in a garbage dump, and now was here, just overwhelmed me.

Then it was on to Steven, Jay and all the rest. It was a precious hour or so watching 25 people open gifts and be so happy. After we were done, I said we had one more surprise. I then walked them back to an outside store room where we had the big weight machines set up. I had to be first so I could watch each face as they walked in. Each was speechless as they saw something they ALL have wanted for years.

Of course they began right then lifting and haven't stopped since. If any of you know a program I should use for them please email me. I am sure there is a correct way to train, I just don't know it. I know it is hard to believe that a perfect specimen like me wouldn't know this but.............

Before we opened the presents, I called Marco and DeAnna in Ohio and put the phone on speaker phone. We wished each other merry Christmas and the little kids, Calvin and Kaylyn in Ohio had a ball talking to all of us. I think it meant a lot to them knowing we did not forget them.

That covers it all: There you have it, our Haiti Christmas. I am simply overjoyed at the happiness we were able to bring to hundreds of people this Christmas. First and foremost, reminding all of them that the reason for our celebration is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. When our God loved us so much, that He left Heaven, to come to walk among us, and to die for us, for our sins. Then to rise from the dead, to be our living Savior. What a message, what a thrill to share it with so many. Thanks so much to all of you who support us financially and in prayer.

2008 was a very difficult year for most of us, please pray for the new year as we continue to meet the challenges and needs of these wonderful people. Pray for our finances, this month is way down for us which will present some real problems for our ministry. I am praying that we don't have to make any ministry cuts, or staff cuts in the upcoming months. I know you all are having a tough time, as well as all Americans. However we continue to trust God to meet our needs. I am on vacation until January 5th and am so looking forward to a time of rest and to be with family here.

God bless you, tominhaiti

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

Jesus in Haiti Ministries
December 15th, 2008

Dear Friends,

For most of you, what I am about to tell you will come as a complete shock. There has been no attempt to hide this from anyone, just trying to be sensitive to all involved.

Marco and DeAnna and family have moved from Haiti and are now living in Cincinnati, Ohio. A month or so ago they came to this decision. It might have been sudden to me but they had been talking and praying about it for some time. As for the "why", it is for family reasons. Both kids are ready to start school and this was very difficult and unaffordable for them in Haiti. We are talking 3-4 hours of driving per day and about $300 per month, per child. Both Marco and DeAnna also want to pursue their education.

In January of 2007, the Jeanty's agreed to move back to Haiti from their home in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl and serve with the JESUS in HAITI MINISTRIES. They made a 20 month commitment to me and our board. They were here for 22 months. I thank them for honoring the promise they made to us. In the 20 months that Marco was here, here is a list of just some of his accomplishments:

The hiring of Pastor Jackie
The building of the best Worship team in Haiti
Mentoring his replacement, Roger Rood
Hiring and training our 16 person staff at Grace Emmanuel School
The stabilizing of our ministry team
Weekly work with the Good Samaritan orphanage
Mentoring,training and hiring Pierre Abbdias to work full time at the Good Samaritan orphanage
The buying of our 8 acres of land, a 15 month process
Helping plan and finishing phase one of our church building program
Being a solid example and mentor to my family of boys
Building lasting friendships in the New Road garbage dump
Helping with Americans adopting children
Hosting hundreds of YOU who visited
Being a friend, mentor and great Christian example to thousands

I could go on and on but will stop. My heart aches not having my daughter, my grand kids, my son-in-law, and my ministry partner with me but, I know God has a plan for their lives.

Marco sent me one of the most encouraging, loving letters I have ever read thanking me for all I done for him and he said I was his hero. I'm sure no hero, but the love I have for this family can't be measured. Part of my heart now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The board of directors at JiHM thank and honor Marco and DeAnna for their faithful service to this country, these people, this ministry but most of all, to God!

These things happen in ministry. Our great loss is someone's great gain.

The awesome thing in all of this is our ministry didn't lose a beat. One thing that has always been important to Marco and I is that we replace ourselves in this ministry so it can carry on long after us. Marco did this. He will be missed, our work load will be heavier but with the help of God, we go on.

Thank you Marco, thank you DeAnna, take care of Calvin, Kaylyn and Jayden for me, as I know you will. We love you and applaud you, Heaven applauds you. poppy

If you would like either Marco or DeAnna's email, please write me and I will be glad to give it to you, I am sure they would like to hear from their friends. tominhaiti

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

Jesus in Haiti Ministries
December 14th, 2008

JiHM UPDATE Sunday night, December 14th

FRIDAY MOVIE NIGHT: On Friday nights I take the boys, 10 of them and we show a movie in the village. I also take the grill and they sell hotdogs to make some money. It is really fun teaching them about business and how to organize and do something like this. This past Friday, we had over 200 teens and children come to the movie. This really is a big operation bringing the generator, seating, sound equipment, grill and so much more. What a great night we had. Some of the time I would stand off in a dark corner and just watch. Watch the people enjoying the movie, watch my boys, as the people would come in, flirting with the girls, tussling with the guys and just having fun. I once heard it said, "I will preach the Gospel always, and sometimes use words if need be". Ministry is preaching, preaching is being Jesus to people and seeing my boys do this, warmed my heart.

RICARDO: As you know, Ricardo is the little boy, somewhere between 7-11 years old that I brought home from the garbage dump. We know he is really slow mentally and didn't know why. He can only count to 4, sometimes and if you ask him a question he can't process it, only says yes or now, can't choose. I have Altimae teaching him everyday to get him ready for school. We thought January but now think probably not until next fall. In talking to him, Ricardo told Altimae that his mom's boyfriend used to hit him with a stick in the head all the time. I wonder if that did damage. However, this is the most loving, happy little boy I have ever met and we all love him so.

HELP NEEDED: You know Daniel made it big translating dreams so if you can figure this out, let me know what it means will ya? I had a dream I had a sidewalk cyber café with 3 computers. Haitians were lined up to use them. A white man walked up and said in anger "looks like you need more computers". My reply to him was "hey, I have 3 more than you do", as he walked away. Later in the dream there were 4 teens playing on a computer game, sitting around a table. One was standing. I said "we only have this Ohio state chair, would you like to use it. At that moment I heard the heat come on in the furnace, and woke up. That heat coming on was actually our power. We had slept the night with no power in the houses and at 8am, (yes I was still sleeping) city power came on, the humming of the fans woke me up, but in my dream I thought it was the heat ducts coming to life. I know some of you creative people will tell me exactly what this dream means.

CHRISTMAS: Last year we received 150 shoeboxes full of toys and supplies from Samaritans purse for our school kids and orphans. This year that number was 80, just enough to cover our school kids. Last Tuesday I said to our board chairman that we needed about 500 dollars so we could go out and buy 100, $5 gifts for the orphans. Nothing more was said. Two days later, someone he didn't know and I had only met once emailed me saying "we are sending $450 for the orphans so you can buy them $5 gifts. Wow, isn't God something, you would think He knew what I needed and when. So this money and others that some of you have sent was taken to town Friday and nearly 100 gifts were bought, nice items the kids will love. It was funny, Ricardo was with me and I wanted to know if a boy would like certain things so I would ask Ricardo if he liked the item. At one point with two full shopping carts, I heard a little boy ask Ricardo if all the toys were for him, which he smiled and said "yes". I had to explain that they were for other children, not him.

SHOE BOXES: Speaking of the above said shoeboxes, we have been trying for 4 days to get them out of customs. Tomorrow is supposed to be go day, with us paying the customs taxes and getting the toys. Pray we can afford the taxes and bring home the shoeboxes.

DON'T DIE: I cashed a check Friday at the big French grocery store and by mistake put Monday's date. The lady said "yikes, you put the wrong date, please don't die before Monday so we can get our money". She then told me a story of someone who put the wrong day, died and the spouse stopped payment. I promised her I wouldn't die before Monday and figured if I broke that promise, what could she do, sue me. Only 4 more hours.

CHURCH LAST NIGHT: To me church is a place where you experience God. Last night this happened on another level. Two weeks ago our pastor and staff decided that I would be in charge of "PR" for the church. I told the pastor that I would get them in, he needed to feed and care for them. That week we had had 186 people.

My first week, reaching into my bag of tricks to "lure" people to church, we had 225. This past Saturday I pulled out all the stops. Every December we have our own version of American Idol, singing Christian songs of course. Saturday night we brought the final 5 singers. During church they each sang. It was awesome, I had goosebumps it was so exciting, There was electricity in the air as these very talented young people sang. We had 3 judges from other churches doing the judging. Next Saturday the final two face off and the congregation gets to vote the winner.

We also gave away 20 gift bags of rice/oil. We had registration tables out front and then drew 20 names from the registrations. I told the folks when I drew their name they had to stand, wave their hands and yell "wooooooooooooooo". That was funny and they did it.

With the singing contest and the gift bags, we had a jam packed church, over 400 people with some having to stand outside. We better get our 700 seat church down quick, we are going to need it.

One thing that touched me more than anything was that the spirit of God that was so present. At one point there were 3 young men on stage, leading the praise and worship time. I realized these were 3 young men whom I have poured my life into. Jony my son and Roger and Altimae who are the nanny's for my boys (if you know the male term, please let me know). To see these 3 giving their lives to do ministry, was such a blessing. Last night at home after church, we had our grill out and we were all sitting around the table and I got everyone quiet. It just so happened that Roger, Altimae and Jony were sitting next to each other. I reminded the boys how blessed we were to have these 3 men of God in our home, at our table. They all agreed. This week my goal is 500 for the contest finale.

I get thumped when I talk about numbers but guess what, for some reason Jesus mentioned how many he had, 5000, 3000, etc. so numbers were important to him. I was told once that God punished David in the Old Testament for counting his people so I should not. I did get a kick out of that. I believe this with all my heart, the more people in the building mean more people hearing the Gospel, more people hearing the Gospel means more people coming to know our Savior. It is about numbers, it is about fighting satan for the mind, body and soul of every person in our area. I hope you are doing the same.

During the service as I stood there praising God, in the midst of hundreds of like minded believers, I was so in awe of God. I remembered thinking "I don't really care if I die before Monday or not". "If Heaven is better than this, and we know it is, then I'm ready to make that trip.

I hope you understand if you don't hear much from me the last couple weeks of the year. I will be taking a couple weeks off from "program ministry" and will enjoy being at home, relaxing with friends who are coming and family. Just because you don't hear from me doesn't mean ministry isn't happening. People will still get fed, medical needs met and much more. As always, please keep me and our staff in your prayers as we continue to be Jesus in Haiti. Do the same where you live will ya?

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

Jesus in Haiti Ministries
December 7th, 2008

Ministry Update

Victory Bible Church, last night: Church was interesting. At our weekly staff meeting, we talked about getting in a rut and becoming a little boring at times so I asked the pastor if I could take the role of "getting the sheep in the pen, and then he feeds and cares for them". After much discussion, we agreed on that. We were in a rut of scripture, one song, prayer, announcements, offering, message. No fellowship time, no birthdays, no nothing extra. To perk things up, I had the ushers put name tags on everyone coming into church, and then during visitor time, I asked everyone to find 2 people whose name started with the same as theirs, and stand by them. It was a ball seeing a couple hundred people looking for others and getting in a group, laughing, hugging and having a ball.

I also gave away 5 meals to a new restaurant near our church. That was exciting. I had only given tickets to the folks who were on time, which was about 20. The other 200 were late and I bet you next week they are on time. My personal opinion is church should be a place that you want to come because you feel loved, you enjoy it, you get to worship God and you are taught from the Word of God.

At our meeting, as I was talking about giving some rice away or meals from time to time, Roger piped up and shared the fact that his girlfriend's two sisters came to church last summer for one reason, and one reason only, we were giving away 2 boxes of rice. These are the two girls who became demon possessed at church, accepted Christ as their personal Savior, and have not missed a service since. I believe in using any tool we can, as long as it honors God to get people to hear God's word.

I had the privilege of preaching from John chapter 4 and the response was good. Last night after getting home, I received a text message from Fondi, our school director. It touched me so, I thought it might touch some of you, now, this is not about me being a great preacher, it 's about what God can do THROUGH an uneducated, country boy. Read it, and see how God works, when we let him:

"Tom, I congradulate you for your message, every message you preach it's goes right in my heart as an injection. You know what, I don't like to congratulate bosses because they might think I do that to catch his attention or beause of money, Negative, I miss your teaching, I only hear your voice at church, you always talk with a high Christian philosophy that pleasing me. When you talk, I bless, I don't know the reason I love you my hero you deserve it from fondi (there was lots of misspelled words but my spell checker fixed them)

These are the words of encouragement that keep me going, in some very tough times.

MY FRIDAY; Friday was quite a day. We had some wonderful friends from Minnesota (even though their team beat my Lions today) who are adopting a little girl come visit for 3 days. They came to see Auddy, but ended up meeting her friend, and decided to adopt her also. Don and Tamala Sperr, thanks for coming, and for leaving, part of your heart with these two girls. I can't wait until you get to bring them home. While visiting Auddy at the orphanage she is in, I had the chance to see a little baby, 4 pounds, 2 weeks old that had been found in the garbage dump. Hal and Chris Nungster run HIS HOME for Children and this little baby who had been discarded, was brought to them. The precious little girl had rat bites all over her feet. I had the chance to meet her, touch her precious body and be reminded that yes, God really does care about these little ones. Thank you Hal and Chris for being Jesus to this little girl, and 135 others, in your home. You are my heroes.

While there, Chris shared with me that Rodrick had just left for the states to adoptive parents. Rodrick was the little boy who 3 years ago was found by one of my staff, in the garbage dump. Have ya figured out why we are here, why we do what we do, why we need you folks to continue to help make this possible? To me this is the ultimate giving of life, from dying in a garbage dump, all alone, to a home, a family, a life. Praise God!

After taking the Sperr's to our school, new property and our home, I had them to the airport by 2 p.m. Then it is home to get my boys, load the truck and head to the village with generator, projector and all the equipment. We had movie night and cooked a couple hundred hotdogs and had over 200 teens. We were home by 10 p.m. and I was beat, but a good day.

Misc: I think I shared this, but we made our budget thanks to all of you who gave. I have to tell you, when I look over the financial sheet each month, I pray for each of you who give, that God will bless you 100 times for what you do for this ministry. I don't think I ever get through this prayer without shedding a few tears. I see your name, I think of you, the memories with most of you and it humbles me to know you are making this happen in such a large way. Thank you so much.

Closing: Last night I closed my sermon with this story: A little boy whose house was on fire, managed to climb through an attic to the roof. The entire house was on fire. He was on the 3rd floor. He was crying and then he heard his father's voice on the ground. His dad said "jump son, I will catch you". The darkness below prevented the son from seeing his dad, he yelled, "I can't jump dad, I can't see you." His father yelled back "it is not important that you see me, what is important is, I SEE YOU, jump.". Anyone reading this need to jump? He will catch you, He promises that.

Take care my friends, tominhaiti

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

Jesus in Haiti Ministries

December 3rd, 2008

Dear friends, UPDATE

Mommy Tia: She is doing very well, since we hired Betsie to be her caregiver, her spirits are better and she even seems healthier. She has been going to church with us and today took her first walk with Betsie and Ricardo about a half mile to get some spices for the rice.

Grace Emmanuel School: Last month as you know two schools collapsed in Haiti which prompted the government to overreact like in most cases. They have begun to inspect all of the thousands of little schools in Haiti and say they will bulldoze them to the ground if they are unsafe and not allow school. The mayor of our town told our director that since our school is right next to the river that floods, our school might be on the list to be closed/demolished. The good news is: we don't own it and are just renting but the bad news is, we may have 90 students to find a school for at any point. Pray that this works out for the glory of God.

Christmas gift: I was so excited to see within 48 hours money came in for me to buy the weight set for the boys. I always know when something is of God by how quickly things happen. Roger and I went to get the weight set and we ended up with TWO items. A bench, the bar with all the weights and a state of the are machine that has the pulley cords that you pull the bars and it lifts the weights. I am sure it has a name, but it sure is nice. I can't wait until Christmas Eve. Roger and I had to beat the boys home from school and quickly hide it in a locked storage room and put a tarp on them. Nobody knows, please don't email the boys to ruin my surprise. They will love it. Thank you for making this happen! Now about that big screen tv I wanted.

Claudy: As I told you, my son Claudy has been in Fort Wayne, Indiana for the past couple weeks and is loving the snow, 3 Thanksgiving meals and all the other fun stuff that America has. I have even been offered a bribe from the family he is with to let him stay and live with them. Hmm, I sure do want that big screen tv.

School sponsorships/matching grant: Okay, for the 10 of you who didn't skip this topic, we still have about 9 students that do not have sponsors. You can see their picture and choose one at www.jesusinhaiti.com Also we are still a few thousand short of meeting our matching grant total of $30,000. If you would like to make a year end donation to help us reach our goal, that would be awesome.

Spirit is good: The spirit in the ministry is really high, of course Christmas has this affect here but all the ministries are going well, people are happy and we are doing our best to meet the needs of those God has put in our life.

Quiz night: Monday night is family night and this week we split the older boys up 6 on 6 and had a Bible quiz, for 2 hours, over 200 questions. What a blast we had as they went toe to toe. The winning team got ice cream, the losing team got ice cream. I enjoyed being the MC and seeing their love for something like this. Try where you live to get 12 teenagers together for 2 hours for a Bible quiz, let me know how that turns out. I am blessed.

Friday night at the movies: This Friday we are showing another movie in the village and taking the grill to make hotdogs which we will sell for $1 Haitian dollar (12 cents)

Day at the dump: Since our church is on Saturday night, Saturday is our Lord's day. This means Sunday is work day/family day. As a family we work for a couple hours in the morning then it is a family day of rest. This past Sunday we loaded up the truck with our month's garbage bags and took them to the dump. I also took our packaged rice we have. After the people unloaded the trash and swept my truck, all on their own volition, I had them line up and we gave them the rice. At that moment, I was so pleased to be doing what I do. The love I felt from them and the love I had for them was almost too much to handle. They were so happy with that rice, so appreciative. Ricardo was with me and he stood with his arm around his older brother the whole time. We got ready to leave though and he did not miss his ride out. Thank you for making it possible for me to minister to these wonderful people. I can't wait for the day we can feed them every day, instead of a couple times per week.

Take care all, tominhaiti

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