Dominique Levy-Job Transition

Alex’s House sends it’s blessing with Dominique Levy as she transitions her ministry location from Haiti back to the U.S.  For the last 11 months, Dominique has served Alex’s House as a houseparent to our girls and as Life Skills Director. 

Our president Bill Howard says:

“We are a stronger ministry because of the time Dominique gave us in Haiti.  She came at a critical time for us and helped develop policies and routines that improved our kitchen, financial accountability and life skill ministry.  Then of course, her greatest contribution was pouring love into the lives of our children, especially the girls.”

Dominique will be returning to South Carolina with her children and grand children and will continue to serve Alex’s House as our Life Skills Director.  We look forward to all the Lord will do through her ministry in the future.

How can you help?

• ·      Pray for our staff as they are in the process of seeking the Lord’s will for the person/couple who will come in and be a vital part of raising our girls.
• ·      Pray that the Lord would prepare the heart of this individual/couple.
• ·      Pray that the Lord would protect the hearts of the children during this transition. 
• ·      Pray that the Lord would bless Dominique as she transitions back to the U.S.
• ·      Pray for the desperate children of Haiti whom the Lord will add to our home this year. Pray that they would be protected and that the Lord will lead us to them in His timing. 

Get in the Game

Enter to win a signed football from your favorite team!

To support our Rescue & Raise Campaign for 2013, we are auctioning off footballs from some of your favorite schools!  We have balls signed by the head coaches of Alabama, Auburn, Carolina, Clemson & UGA!

Visit our raffle page here to enter to win.  Tickets are $10 each and when you buy 10 tickets, you get 3 FREE.  Winners will be announced on December 15th.  Spread the word to all the football lovers you know!

Twas the night before Back to School

Last night at Alex’s House was like the equivalent of Christmas Eve.  Instead of stockings, we had new school uniforms laid out.

And in place of neatly wrapped presents, we had fresh backpacks and shiny new shoes.

Our morning started extra early today.  Everyone needed an extra slab of lotion, a spritz of spray and an extra comb of the hair.

By 6:45 all the children were in the dining hall eating their oatmeal.  Some were so excited for school, they could barely finish their breakfast.

At 7:05, we gathered to sing praises, thank The Lord and pray His blessings on our day.

With backpacks in place,

socks neatly folded over,

and new hairbows tightly fastened;

it’s time to load the bus!

Pray today as our children take light into darkness.  Haiti is a dark place, but Alex’s House is raising up disciples who can change this country.

Calling all Interns!

Alex’s House is now accepting applications for 2014 Interns / Associates. If you have felt the desire to serve for an extended time at Alex’s House, now is the time to take action!

Serving at Alex’s House is a wonderful privilege and can provide a life changing experience. However remember, Haiti is a very difficult place to live and minister. To serve with us is an adventure of taking the light into the darkness. There is fun, excitement, and the opportunity to serve Christ and your fellow man in new and meaningful ways. Yet, there is also plenty of hard work and very often, challenging spiritual warfare. Interns and Associates must be spiritually mature and ready for the roller coaster experience of life and ministry in Haiti.

If you’re up for a great challenge and want to learn more about serving with us - click the link below for the Intern/Associate packet!

Intern/Associate Information Packet

We look forward to serving with you in Haiti!

Alex's House Welcomes Our New Partner VOCO Apparel

We are excited to announce a new partnership with VOCO Apparel, a new clothing line recently launched by supporter David Cain.  VOCO is not simply a clothing company, but an organization seeking to inspire people to make a difference while doing great things around the world.  A portion of each sale will be donated to help support the mission of Alex’s House.

David visited Alex’s House for the first time this summer.  He has always had a passion to serve orphans around the globe so he joined a mission team from his sister’s church.  Throughout the week he saw the investment of Alex’s Houses in our children and Bill’s heart for ministering to the surrounding community.  He was already in the process of launching VOCO but had not yet identified his partnering organization. 

During his trip, David recognized that God is doing a tremendous work in our children as he saw their spiritual, emotional and social development compared to that of children in neighboring villages.  Supporting orphans has always been the driving force of VOCO, and after his visit David knew God was calling him to partner with Alex’s House.  A few of David’s favorite memories from his trip include the children’s smiles and excitement for interacting with visitors, playing a game of soccer or four square, and witnessing the children’s desire to learn more about the Lord.

VOCO was chosen as the name of the clothing company because it means called or summoned in Latin; and we all have a calling.  If we answer that calling, God will work through us to have a massive impact on a broken and hurting world. Visit www.vocoapparel.com to find out more about this new company and how you can help them in their mission.  You can also like them on Facebook, www.facebook.com/VOCOapparel for daily encouraging and challenging messages.  Please help us as we welcome them to the Alex’s House family!

Teachers' Summit 2013!

Alex's House partnered with GLOW Haiti to participate in the 2013 Haiti Teachers' Summit for the second year in a row. God blessed us dearly by sending us over 80 Haitian teachers who were passionate about growing academically as well as spiritually! Beautiful testimonies were shared right alongside interactive lessons. Creative teaching techniques and application skills were taught with games, songs, and by using the word of God! The three day Summit ended too quickly! So many wonderful relationships developed along with an affirmation of the special impact that teachers make in the lives of their students everywhere in the world! With God's Divine guidance we are changing the world one child at a time!

Our teacher team along with some children from Alex' s House also had the incredible opportunity to minister to a group of Haitian widows. Approximately 60 widows gathered in the front yard of Pastor Morvann's home. We shared the Word of God and led them in some praise songs. In turn they sang Haitian praise songs with unbridled passion! We sang, laughed, and danced together. After our time of worship, we showed these shunned widows that we love and care about them by massaging theirs dry, worn out arms, necks, shoulders, legs, and feet with sweet scented lotion. We touched them tenderly and kissed their soft cheeks when we finished. It was so unbelievably humbling.

We were also able to present them with gift bags containing crocheted head covering and washcloths lovingly made by an elderly group of women from Georgia. Their excitement was contagious! God is so good! Finally we shared a delicious meal with each widow. God calls us to care for orphans and widows and in that one gathering we had an opportunity to do both! Mesi, Jezi! Thank you for our dear sisters in Christ...faithful women at the cross!

A big thank you to Deb Young for a wonderful write-up to memorialize our week together! If you are an educator (current or retired) and are interested in participating in next year's conference, please contact Amy Hobbs at amy@alexshouseorphanage.org.

Heaven welcomes our beloved Guerda - July 2, 2013

A month has passed, but our love for Guerda has grown even deeper as we have reflected on the legacy of Christ she left behind! On July 2, 2013, our dear friend and cook, Guerda, suddenly passed early in the morning. She wasn't feeling well, so Jimmy took her to the hospital. However, she did not make it. The doctors indicated that she had a stroke. Her last words were spoken praising the Lord and translated into "Jesus' blood is alive!!" 

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with the children about Guerda and what they missed most about her.  Several of the children spoke of her big, contagious smile, but most of them talked about how she read the Bible to them and prayed with them every day!  Personally, I miss the way she danced around the kitchen, with her hands lifted high, as she cooked praising her Lord as if He was standing before her.  What a blessing she was to us!

For all those who know Guerda, she exemplified Christ to our children and our teams in how she loved us, served us and laughed with us. She was part of our family, and words can not describe the loss our hearts have felt over the past month. Please lift up our children and staff as we continue to miss her dearly.

With the hope that only Christ offers, we rejoice knowing that she is standing before the KING OF ALL KINGS with lifted hands praising and dancing!

Kendall Moss joins Alex's House - Director of School Partnerships!

Alex’s House is excited to announce Kendall Moss will be joining our team as our volunteer Director of School Partnerships. Kendall will provide leadership and vision to our school partnership program, which will partner US schools with Haitian schools for multifaceted communication exchange.  In addition, she will be serving as a House Parent when she arrives on the ground in Haiti mid-July!

Kendall is an Arkansas native who was born and raised in Jonesboro, AK. She graduated from Arkansas State University with a degree in Public Relations, which she put to good use as the Director of Public Relations for Families Outreach, an Alex’s House Partnering organization that provides resources and grants to families wishing to adopt locally and/or internationally.  As the Director of PR at Families Outreach, Kendall’s responsibilities included planning and leading mission teams to various orphanages, maintaining the website, producing communication pieces and organizing community outreach events.  As you can expect, Kendall will be a great asset and tremendous blessing to our ministry. 

Kendall is the proud aunt of 3 nieces and 2 nephews, and enjoys cooking, cross fit, and Disney World.  When asked what sold her on Alex’s House, she responded, “the selling point for me was during my trip over  Spring Break when I saw that Alex’s House is dedicated to creating passionate disciples of Jesus Christ. We go beyond providing a place to live, food, and an education and go deeper to the heart!” 

Kendall, welcome on board!  If you are interested in the Director of School Partnership or sponsoring Kendall, you may contact Kendall at kendall@alexshouseorphanage.org!

New Water Filtration System Installed!!!

Fact:  1.8 million children DIE every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation.  This amounts to 5000 deaths a day, one every 20 seconds!

On April 20, 2013, on behalf of Water Missions International, Cedar Creek Church (Aiken, SC) and TrueNorth (North Augusta, SC), a team of six traveled down to Haiti to install a new water filtration system.  

This installation had been in the works for months as Cedar Creek and TrueNorth Church raised the necessary $18,000.00 to provide for this system through TrueNorth's partnership with Water Missions International in Charleston, SC!  In God's faithfulness, the April departure date arrived, and the system was fully installed and working properly within 3 days!!! Proper training was provided to our Alex's House staff to ensure proper procedures where followed to ensure the system was maintained and used properly.  

Our new water system will provide long-lasting safe water for our children, our teams and our Kalico community!  What a blessing and source of life this will be for Alex's House -- we can't even comprehend the ministry doors that clean water will open in the community while also quenching the thirst of our Alex's House children. When asked how this system will positively impact Alex's House, Mike Fielder (TrueNorth's Missions Pastor) remarked: "While the obvious one is the financial burden that has been lifted off of Alex’s house, the exciting one is the impact that this can have on the entire community. What I love most about Bill Howard is his understanding that Mercy Ministries and Humanitarian Aid alone have been ineffective in Haiti. I believe very strongly that his vision for creating disciples combined with his vision for community development are the perfect formula for what the country needs. This system will allow Bill unprecedented access for relationship building in the Kalico community." 

We stand in awe of God's continued faithfulness as we trust Him to meet our needs hour after hour, day after day! There is no greater feeling to be in His will following His call while He provides every step of the way while opening the doors and softening the hearts of the community.  God is good! 

On behalf of Alex's House, we are forever grateful for all the generous supporters and prayer warriors that God used to make this possible! 

Alex's House welcomes a new Financial Director to our staff!

I’m so excited to announce that Cammie Hayes has officially joined our staff at Alex’s House as our new Financial Director.  She brings a sweet personality and disposition and is always ready to help. She currently resides in North Augusta, South Carolina with her husband Kevin. She is an Accountant for the City of Aiken, South Carolina, and brings years of accounting experience and great expertise to the Alex’s House family.

Cammie also demonstrated her wonderful leadership skills as she recently served as our Race Director for our very first Alex's House 5K Walk/Run, where she and her team raised over $5,000.00 for our children.  We are already looking forward to next year's 5K in North Augusta, S.C. under Cammie's leadership!

In her spare time, Cammie enjoys spending time with her family and friends, along with her two dogs - Mackie and Jasper. She and her husband attend TrueNorth Church in North Augusta, SC, were she faithfully serves in the infant room weekly along with leading one of the biggest "small groups" at TrueNorth! When asked "what sold you on Alex's House," Cammie responded: "The passion of its leadership to reach the least of  these.  After being apart of what God was doing through Alex's House in Haiti, how could you not be sold?? The smiles and laughter from the children tell a pretty good story."

In His faithfulness, God continues to bring us just the right person at just the right time.  Cammie is a great addition to our team, and we give thanks to the Lord for her willingness to serve alongside of us.    Cammie will be replacing Jennifer Howard, who has faithfully served as our interim Financial Director over the past 3 years until the Lord provided a permanent person for the position.  Thank you, Jennifer, for all the great work and service -- words can not adequately express our gratitude. 

Like all of our stateside staff, Cammie is volunteering her time - serving the ministry of Alex's House out of the goodness of her heart. What a blessing she will be to our ministry, and we look forward to many years together! God is good!

Seeds planted!

"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow!" 1 Corin. 3:6

Our children recently started their first garden by planting seeds for tomatoes, watermelons, cucumbers and carrots!  Dominique challenged our children to think abstractly by guessing what seed would make a seedling first, second, third and fourth, and how many days they expected it to take before the seedlings appeared.  Our children then made a list of names according to their guesses.  

The next day, our children were asked to make a chart of the number of children that guessed a certain way.  Dominique then encouraged them to graph the information, which was a new concept for all the children. The "best" graph would be displayed as the children waited for the first seed to grow into a seedling! 

Our children were then taught to count the number of days until the first seedling appeared by using tally marks for counting.  Another new concept for our children!

On the sixth day, the cucumber seedling appeared!!!  And, this sweet smile says it alll!

Pray for Alex's House and the areas we serve . . . the fields are ripe for harvest!

Girls just wanna have fun!

"Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith and your purity!" 1 Timothy 4:12

Many times it has been said that we learn life lessons from children!  Boy, is this true!  Observe children for a day, and you will definitely learn! Over the past year, we have learned a few lessons from local girls stepping up in their peer groups and schools across the United States to take a stand for orphans! 

We have learned that these girls definitely just wanna have fun, and they know how to throw a good party to benefit Alex's House! We have been blown away by their generosity and willing to sacrifice at such a young age. It has warmed our hearts as story after story has come our way! While we have had support among many children of various ages and places, here are few of examples of "cheerful givers" the Lord has blessed us with in recent months! We hope it encourages your heart as much as it has ours at Alex's House!

Matéa (Yellow Shirt)

WOOD-TV8 Interview

Matéa recently celebrated her 11th birthday with sweet friends. She asked her friends to refrain from bringing her a gift, and asked them to consider donating money for our Alex's House kids.  Together, these sweet girls raised $125.00 for Alex's House! Then, the media got a hold of the story, and invited Matea to the local TV station for an interview on WOOD-TV8, where she got to share her passion for the Lord's work at Alex's House publicly.

Mary Michael

Mary Michael rose to the occasion on two of her birthdays - 7th and 8th - to benefit Haiti orphans!   Collectively, she raised over $500.00 plus kitchen utensils for our "Stock the Kitchen Fundraiser"!  

Ansley

Last year, Ansley approached her school principal at Springdale Elementary School in Macon, Georgia to ask if her school could do a "Hats for Haiti Day."  For every child who brought a $1.00 to school for Alex's House, they could wear their favorite hat! Two "Hats for Haiti" later, Springdale raised $544.00! Thanks, Ansley, for your boldness and leadership!

Ashlyn

New Shoes for Haiti

For Ashlyn's 7th Birthday, she asked her birthday party goers to bring shoes for the children at Alex's House to her party! What a sweet blessing from a sweet little girl!

Savannah and Ansley's sweet 13 party!

It only takes a spark to get a fire going!  Savannah and Ansley shared their 13th birthday party and invited their entire 7th grade class from First Presbyterian Day School in Macon, Georgia. In lieu of gifts, the kids were asked to donate money to Alex's House! They raised about $800.00 for our children! Happy 13 to Savannah and Ansley!

Lessons learned:   Girls just wanna have fun!! Girls really know how to throw a good party!!!  

Alex's House is gratefully blessed! If you have a cool story to share about your kids helping Alex's House, please send to amyshobbs@me.com!