Alex's House Goes to Beach Camp

After a busy schedule of mission groups this summer, we took the first week of August as a time of special celebration for our Alex's House Family-Beach Camp 2014!  The excitement started weeks ago when flyers were posted announcing camp.  Everyone hurried around to get the details of the upcoming event.  You could hear children reading the details out loud then running to tell their brothers and sisters the news.

We spent Monday and Tuesday at a camp site in Pierre Payen.  Each day we had an interactive Bible story, craft time, and recreation.  The children studied creation and the effects of sin;  they made pouches to carry fish and loaves from the story of Jesus feeding the 5000; and they played many games including jump rope races.

To end each day of camp, we spent time playing in the ocean.  The big kids swam out to stand on the barrier and the littles splashed in the shallow end with beach toys.

We used camp as a training opportunity for our older children.  On Wednesday, we spent time teaching them how to "put on" a day program.  They practiced teaching the creation story, aiding with a craft and directing game time.  

While the older children learned the program, the younger children practiced greeting guests and giving directions.  They also rehearsed a song to welcome visitors to our home.

On Thursday, we invited our friends from Pastor Louissant's Orphanage in Barboncourt to a day camp at our house.  They were greeted at the door by our whole family singing "bienvenue a tout"- welcome us all.  We sang together and opened in prayer.  The Alex's House children gave our visitors a tour of our home, then we started our program.  

We moved between four stations-Bible story, craft, creation book, recreation- and made it until almost the very end with all groups still intact!  Each of the stations were led by Alex's House children. Our kids did a PHENOMENAL job of leading.  They took their task to heart and did an excellent job of teaching our friends.

 We headed back to Pierre Payen on Friday for our final day of beach camp. It was a joyous time of singing together, learning more about our Savior and having fun as a family.  Everyone-kids and adults- had a wonderful time at camp.  A special thank you to the Howard family for coming and leading Beach Camp 2014!  Here's a final photo of us all enjoying our last day of camp.

Welcome to the Family

One great thing about Alex’s House is that we function as a family.  Many organizations that care for children operate as an institution.  Our children’s home, however is truly a family.  And we are a family that has grown.  We introduce to you our newest brother Cheridson.

Cheridson, or as many refer to him SonSon, came to our family a little over a month ago.  When he first arrived he weighed just over 9 pounds at almost 6 months old.  You can see from this photo that he was severely malnourished.  Each of his ribs showed and his arms with nothing but bones. (No worries as he now has a very plump belly and is getting some rolls on his legs!)

Since his arrival, Cheridson has really grown.  When he first arrived simply taking a bottle of milk was enough to exhaust him.  He’s gained several pounds.  SonSon  loves to touch your face and coos and giggles when you talk to him-he even recognizes his name.  He can sit up on his own and is very close to rolling over!  The signs of malnutrition are quickly fading away.  Cheridson has quickly adjusted to his new family. As you can tell they are very happy to have him around as well!  Everyone wants to pitch in and help care for the new baby.  Even Widna and Wislove like to "hold" and care for him!

Cheridson’s father passed away in a car accident.  The loss of income left his mother unable to care for him.  He was not receiving the food or care he needed.  Each child's story begins with some heartbreak.  It's never a good thing when a child has to leave their family.  However, here at Alex's House the story doesn't stop there!  Baby SonSon was welcomed here at Alex’s House the beginning of June with open loving arms by everyone.  What started from loss will be redeemed as Cheridson is raised in a family dedicated to training to make him a disciple of Christ.

Welcome to the family Cheridson!  We hope you get to come meet our newest brother soon.

A Pop of Color-Gate Mural

Each week team members come with special talents and gifts.  In June, we had a few team members from Welsh Baptist in Maryland were artists.  Erin & Barb designed a mural for the front gate of Alex's House.

They used the inspiration of the tropical backdrop of Haiti for the main portion of the mural.  They also designed silhouettes for around the outer edges of the door.

Over the course of the week team members helped prep the door, paint base coats, and outline silhouettes.  Next the artists went to work on the main focal point.  The mural adds a nice pop of color to our home.  After it was completed, many of the children would stand and gaze at the art!

Check out a few photos of our new mural.  Thanks to the team from Welsh Baptist for our beautiful new artwork!

A view down the drive before the mural was started.

The team prepped the door for the mural.

A team member works on one of the silhouettes.

Artists Erin & Barb put the finishing touches on the almost complete mural.

The finished mural adds a great backdrop to drive!

Project Playground: COMPLETE

Project Playground: COMPLETE
The kids have a fun new place to play.  Like many things at Alex's House, our new playground was a team effort!  It was the work of many that together created a beautiful new play structure for our children.




Many committed to raising money through our latest fundraiser.  VBSs and children's ministries  took the challenge to help raise the money to build the playground.

Team member after team member worked hard to clear the grounds of rubble.  In between ministry sites teams would shovel buckets of rocks to make a clearing for the new playground.








Building plans were sketched and drawn out weeks in advance.  And then of course, thrown out and completely reworked once the project started!
















Truck loads of supplies were brought in from Port au Prince.  The JAC truck was so weighed down with materials, it took an extra to get home from Port one day.  Several trips were made to the hardware store to collect everything needed for the project!

A team from The Gathering in Illinois welded, measured, sawed, and hammered.  Their blood, sweat and tears were poured into the playground.  The team did a great job of working quickly to get the project completed in one week!

And all the hard work paid off when the final results were unveiled!  We see many years of squeals, smiles and laughters!

The playground has a rope ladder, baby swings, trapeze bar, climbing ladder, bridge, and big kid swings!

Let's Build a Playground!

Alex's House has started developing the lot beside the York House!  The land has been walled in, the transition home foundation has started and the land is being cleared.  What will go on the land being cleared?  A NEW PLAYGROUND!  Our children are going to be so excited to have a place to play in the afternoons.

Is your children's ministry or church's VBS program looking for a fun way to invest and get your children involved in missions?  If so, join us in building the playground for the Alex's House children.  Children participating in the fundraiser will commit to praying for an AH child, raise money for the playground and perform an act of kindness.  They will participate in global and local missions all at once!

We have play money designed for the children to sell to friends, family, neighbors, etc to raise money for the playground.  On their play money, the will also write the name of their AH child to encourage others to be praying for the child as well.

All the materials are designed and ready for you -flyers, play money, and fundraiser instructions.  We just need your church to get involved. If your church would like to participate email kendall@alexshouseorphanage today to request the materials.  Together we can build a playground!

I love it when God works like that-Widow's Ministry

Alex's House is excited to announce a new ministry for widows in our surrounding communities.  Read about this new focus from the words of co-director Debbie Weeks.  Debbie has traveled to Haiti multiple times serving on medical, construction, Bible School and teaching conference teams.

There are times in my life (when considering a certain ministry opportunity)that I wonder, "Is it God's will for me to do this certain thing, at this time?".  There are other times,  it seems

 as if the Lord is very clearly, NO DOUBT, saying, "This is what I want you to do!"...I love it when God works like that!  That is the way God spoke to me about helping 

to set up the widow's ministry for Alex's House. 

The background...

One reason I began learning the Haitian Creole language, was that I wanted to be prepared for when God would give me the opportunity to talk with some of the dear widows there.  I wanted to be able to talk with them "friend to friend", "face to face", in their language. Each time I have gone, I have always been drawn to the dear ladies of Haiti, but have never really had the chance to spend any time with them, until the summer of 2013.  One afternoon, our team was able to provide lunch for a group of widows.  We prayed with them, rubbed their hands and feet with lotion, and praised the Lord together with them in song for a couple of hours.  Let me tell you, I left a part of my heart with those dear ladies!  As we prayed, sang, and cried together, I knew I would never be the same. I knew God was giving me a longing to build relationships with them.

The burden...

One morning, the end of last year, I awoke very burdened for the Haitian widows.  As I stood at my kitchen sink, staring out the window, I began to feel discouraged, as I wondered if I would ever get to minister to the Haitian widows again. (At the time, Alex's House did not yet have an "official widow's ministry" set up).  I had not yet checked my email for the day.  This was unusual for me, as it is usually the first thing I do.  I just prayed that the Lord would meet their needs and If it was His will I would get to  minister again to some of them.

After praying, I checked by email and noticed that there was an email from Bill Howard, asking me if I would consider co-directing the new "Widow's Ministry" for Alex's House!  Wow, God is so good!  God was working behind the scenes working out the details to begin a ministry to widows, and at the same time, placing a desire in my heart for those widows!   

I agreed to help organize and set up a plan for widow's ministry in Haiti.  Leah Wagner and myself are co-directing this effort, with help from Missions Director Kendall Moss.  Please join us in praying for this ministry and these dear widows.  Pray that we will follow the Lord's direction in how to best love, serve, and most importantly, point them to our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I am so very thankful for our God, who calls us and equips us!  Praise His name! 

Debbie Weeks  

NOTE: God has filled all four scheduled widow's ministry weeks for 2014!  We have a few open slots.  If you are interested, contact Kendall at kendall@alexshouseorphanage.org.

New Sponsorship Opportunity

You can change the life of a child beyond the walls of Alex’s House in Haiti!  We need sponsors for our Education Sponsorship Program in Arachaie.  Barboncourt is one of our partnering churches that also runs an orphanage with 33 children.  Also, the church runs a school that provides education to over 100 children.

We recently secured a water storage tank and filters so these children will have clean water to drink.  With the help of your sponsorship money, we will be able to send these children to school and provide them with one hot meal a day.  What a wonderful gift you can give to them! 

For clarity: This sponsorship program is totally autonomous, and is not part of Alex’s House. These children are in our surrounding community and not under the roof of Alex’s House.  This  Education Sponsorship Program will not lend itself to sending and receiving letters. However, there will be periodic updates about the orphanage as a whole and you will have the opportunity to visit your child while on a mission trip to Alex’s House. 

Please view the pictures of these children(by clicking on the photo below), and pray about the difference you will make as their  education sponsor.  Jesus said “let the little children come to me….for such is the Kingdom of Heaven.”   Please help Alex’s House reach beyond our walls to feed and educate these precious children.

Contact Monica A. Langdale, Sponsorship Director, for more information about this Education Sponsor opportunity.  We need your help!

Alex's House Celebrates Four Years

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ALEX'S HOUSE!

February marked the 4 year anniversary of Alex's House!  The first week of March our Haitian staff planned a "fet" (Creole for party) to celebrate our birthday. We decorated Vaught Dining Hall, cooked up a fine meal and invited our partnering church leaders, our Haitian builders(those who constructed our buildings) and members of the community. We hope you enjoy a few snapshots from our party!

We put on our party dresses and shiniest shoes!

Everyone shared a meal of fried chicken, rice and beans, plantains and salad.  The kids especially enjoyed the Cokes and juice.  What a treat for them!

Papa Bill cut the birthday cake after we sang Happy Birthday to the cake.  Yep you read that correctly!  Haitian fets include singing Happy Birthday to the cake after you sing to the birthday boy/girl.

The whole party was centered on bringing praise to our Lord and Savior.  Papa Bill shared the story of how God lead him to start Alex's House.  Our director's Jimmy and Patrick shared updates on what God is doing in the lives of our children.  Each of our house parents spoke a few words of thanks and encouragement for how God is working.  A very special time was when our children sang several songs of praise to our Father.  You can see the video of our children singing here on our Facebook page.

Thank you for being a part of our last four years.  We look forward to many good years ahead!

Raise & Rescue 2014

Praise the Lord!  $116,000 has already been given towards our budget for 2014.  Another $50,00 will be given throughout the year by our faithful Partnering Churches.  That will put us over the $144,420 needed to provide for our children this year!  Meci Jezi!

Alex's House is so grateful for our wonderful Partnering Churches and so many faithful supporter like yourself.  You are making an incredible difference in the lives of our children and in the lives of those in the surrounding communities.  God is doing great things through Alex's House!  You are a great blessing to us!

Thank your for your faithfulness!

New Cottage and Dining Hall Signs

Alex's House's cottages and dining hall have a new look with a special meaning.  We would like to thank several of our supporters for their deep generosity in housing and feeding our children.

The Malachi Cottage - funded by Rick & Lynette Owens in memory and honor of Rev. Robert 

Malachi Owens.

The Martha Cottage - funded by Rick & Susan Mann in memory of Martha Mann -

"A NOBLE woman."

The Teresa Cottage - funded by Carl & Birgit Lumpkin in memory of Carl's sister Teresa -                  "a beautiful sister and daughter who is loved and missed greatly."

Vaught Dining Hall - funded by the generosity of Mike & Gwen Vaught

The older boys cottage is in need of a sponsor

Praise the Lord for our wonderful supporters.  

We are grateful for you!

Rescue & Raise Almost Halfway!

Our Rescue & Raise '14 is still going strong.  Over $70,000 has been raised so far.  With these donations, we have raised almost half of our budget for 2014. Thank you to EVERYONE who has given!  If you have not given yet, we need your support.  

Our budget supports our 32 children at Alex's House, as well as, the other several hundred others we minister to through our partner churches.  Your donations have a far reach, and we appreciate each person who gives.

To meet our 2014 budget, we need to raise $144,420.  That leaves us with $74,020 to go!  Learn more about our 2014 Raise & Rescue Campaign here and make your donation today!

Alex's House appreciates your continued support to Rescue & Raise our children!

Christmas Tradition

Every family has their own holiday traditions and that's no different with Alex's House!  We hope you'll enjoy  a few of our traditions as you spend the day honoring your's with your families today. 

We have a tree that we decorate in our dining hall.  (This year it was decorated the day after Thanksgiving because that's when Mama Kendall always put her tree up with her family!)

 The children made ornaments and paper chains to hang on the tree.

Our sponsor's come and bring presents for the children.  LOTS of presents!

Everyone gets their very own Christmas present picked especially for them by their sponsor!

We've got baby dolls, skateboards, games and soccer balls galore!

And just as any time we receive gifts, we take time to thank our sponsors with handwritten thank you notes!

Thank you for your love and support this year! So from Our Family at Alex's House to you and yours:

Big News From Two Of Our Dearest Friends!

Please read the following announcement from our dear friend Amy Hobbs:

 Hello everyone! This may be one of the hardest updates I've ever written, but I wanted to inform everyone of my decision at the same time. You are each a vital part of Alex's House and give so much of your time and energy to our children -- whether in the US or on the field in Haiti.  

Unfortunately, I no longer have a peace about serving at Alex's House's Mission Director.  Every since my trip in September, I have struggled and prayed over this "lack of peace" hoping that the Lord would provide the peace needed to continue. However, He has not granted the peace. 

Instead, He has affirmed my decision to resign through numerous avenues. For me to continue as AH Missions Director would be to disobey further especially since He has made it so clear.

Words cannot describe how much I love Alex's House! There is so much of Alex's House in my home that there is not a day that passes that I'm not reminded of my loved ones in Haiti!   I have learned so much through Haiti, the children and the Alex's House ministry.  The road has been difficult but the sacrifice as been worth every minute! I am forever grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside of each of you, and have learned so much from each of you --- what a blessing! Thank you for your patience and continued love . . . despite Haiti exposing the "uglies of my heart"! I'm a better follower of Christ having served with Alex's House, but still have a long way to go!  

Bill, I'll be happy to serve and provide guidance for the January teams in order to help in the transition and tie up any loose ends that are needed by you and/or Alex's House staff.  Monica, our family still plans to sponsor Willie, and we look forward to updates on him and the other children!  Perhaps, I can join a team every once in awhile to see the children! Well, the floodgates have opened, so I need to grab some tissue.  

                  Love to each of you!! May the Lord continue to bless Alex's House!

In response to Amy’s decision, our founder Bill Howard wrote:

Amy - you have been a tremendous blessing to Alex's House and a great support to me.  You came on at a crucial time and provided a great foundation for our mission ministry.  Thank you for your professionalism, your friendship and the untold hours of ministry you provided - all out of the goodness of your heart and from the overflow of your love for Jesus.  You will always be a part of Alex's House and we are forever grateful for the time the Lord allowed us to serve together.  

We will pray for you as you follow the Lord in the future He is unfolding. We know that you will continue to serve Him with passion - wherever He may lead.  

God bless you friend!  

Everyone, please join us in saying thank you to Amy from the wonderful two years of ministry she gave us.  She will always have a special place in our hearts and we look forward to our continued friendship.

In other exciting news – let’s also thank the Lord or providing Amy’s replacement!

We have just recently become aware that IBESR (Haiti’s governing body for orphanages) does not allow a non-Haitian to serve as a house parent.  Therefore, we were looking for other avenues of ministry for Kendall Moss.

In addition to leading our School Partnership Program, Kendall has agreed step in and fill the position of Missions Director.  Due to the solid groundwork provided by Amy Hobbs, we will now have an even more streamlined service for our future mission teams.  Once a church/group contacts Alex’s House for a possible trip, Kendall will be the one person to schedule the trip, answer all their questions, meet the group at the airport, settle them into the York House, take them on their daily mission projects, and then deliver them safe and sound back to the airport for their departing flight!  It will be a very smooth process for our supporting groups. 

Kendall is very qualified to serve in this capacity.  Before coming to Alex’s House in July of this year, she worked for Families Outreach as the Director of Public Relations.  Families Outreach partners with orphanages in Haiti, South Africa, Ethiopia and China.  Part of her responsibilities included planning and leading teams to these countries.  Since 2009 she has led/traveled on teams to Kenya, Thailand, the Philippines, Haiti, Zambia, Uganda and South Africa.

Welcome Kendall!  We look forward to you serving in this capacity!

32 Kids of Thankfulness

If you are on social media at all during the month of November,  you have surely seen an overload of thankful posts, tweets, photos, etc.  We thought we'd join in so here is Alex's House spin on #31daysofthankfulness with our 32 Children of Thanks.  Enjoy!

Each kids was asked "What do you say thank you to Jesus for?".  Here are the responses we received:

"My birthday because we got to eat cookies," Job. Vander said, "for eating cookies at Job's birthday party."  Birthday parties leave a big impression around here!

Many more are thankful for school, lessons, learning and homework. Their thankfulness for learning makes you stop and think what's really important.  (Not a one mentioned toys!)
Louis Pierre my mind that helps me learn at school
Estemania for a head that let's me do good homework
Jeff because I can learn
Mike because Jesus let's me go to school
Mitchina because I can know my lessons
Jerry I am thankful Jesus sent me to school and brought me back home after having a good day.
Dawens for my school.  He gave me a head to learn.
Wilkens because you gave me a mind to learn with
Remy Thank you Jesus for school.
Rosemitha Thank you Jesus for my lessons.
Micky because I can go to school
Diaca because I can do work.  Thank you Jesus for everything you do for me.
Woody Thank you Jesus I can go to school.
Nadege because you give me everything.  You make it so that I can go to school.

Many are thankful for school...and FOOD!

Renel for school and for food
Zachary food, because he gives me and all the kids here food.
Lougens for the food you gave me and for Jesus
Wawens for the food you give me
Jenny for the food you give me and my school
Pierre my school and food
Sterline  for lessons and homework and for food
Widna food, FOOD, FOOD!
Carline Thank you Jesus because I have food.  Thank you Jesus because I can go to school.


Of course the youngest in our family have cute answers.  The are short and sweet, but from the heart!
Kindy for my whole family here
Wislove for my hat
Brenkley for singing
Willie for juice




A few of the older kids gave answers that were in a category of their own! 
Jersey for school and books and sunshine and my house
Yveline because he sends me to school, he lets me play, and he lets me know my lesson and do homework
Ephesien because he gives the missionaries money so that they can send us to school(Mama Kendall teared up as I wrote this one down.  Without a missed beat this was his first response.  YOU make a difference every day in the life our children!)

Raise & Rescue is off to a Great Start!

Thank you to EVERYONE who has given to our Rescue & Raise '14 Campaign to raise our budget for the coming year.  As you know, we have 32 children of our own and several hundred others we are ministering to through our seven partnering Haitian churches.  So far we have 32 people/families giving a total of $32,394!  If you haven't made your year-end donation, please do so today.  We greatly need and appreciate your support.


To meet our 2014 budget, we need to raise $144,420.  That leaves us with $112,026 to go!  Learn more about our 2014 Raise & Rescue Campaign here and make your donation today!

Thank you for your support in helping us rescue and raise the children of Haiti!

Raise & Rescue 2014

Hello Family and Friends of Alex's House! I pray that you've had a wonderful year and are anticipating a wonderful holiday season. This is the time of entering into a season of Thanksgiving for the blessings our Lord has given us. Then we move into the season where we thank Him for the greatest blessing of all - sending Jesus into the world as our Savior. Praise the Lord! I'm grateful and I'm blessed! During this season, I'm asking that you would make a financial gift to be a blessing to our children at Alex's House. We are in our second annual Rescue and Raise campaign and are asking everyone who loves Alex's House to make an end of the year donation to provide for our children in 2014. My goal is to have 500 people who will stand with us and make a generous donation. I know this is a ridiculous goal as it would take nearly everyone making a gift. Yet - I know that God is faithful and I know that you love the children of Alex's House. So - please help. Click the Golden Button below and read about the wonderful things going on at Alex's House. Then give from the blessings the Lord has given you. Let's be faithful to the vision the Lord has given us of rescuing and raising our children to be radical followers of Jesus! Thank you friends! I love you and I'm so grateful for your support. "......for the least of these." Mt. 25:40 -Bill