The Final Stretch: 50 for 50

At the end of July, Jon and Arrow took a trip to Agape Flights in Florida. They dropped off a load of boxes to be shipped to our Haiti house and assisted with the annual inspection of Hope From Above’s Piper Aztec.

Arrow had the opportunity to really get his hands dirty working on a plane for the first time. There will definitely be more aircraft work in his future.

We are in the final stretch of preparing to move to Haiti: sorting all our household goods and deciding what to pack and ship and what to store, with the largest pile given away! It is so much more fun to give away good stuff than to hold on to it or try to sell it on Facebook Marketplace.

We still have fundraising goals to hit, so we’re starting a campaign called 50 for 50: we’re looking for 50 people or families to partner with us for $50 a month. If you’re interested in being one of our 50, you can sign up on our Servants International page. When we meet this goal, we are good to move and get to work!

In August Jon got to test-drive a completely rebuilt 1986 five-ton army truck that the hospital purchased and will ship to Haiti. It’s purpose-built to haul shipping containers from Cap-Haïtien to Bombardopolis. Jon will likely get the joy of driving that route regularly. It’s mostly rough dirt and rock paths with many holes, a few mountains, and low-water crossings throughout.

Ashley and the kids got a running start on the school year in anticipation of the move. Ashley has been trying her hand at Haitian cooking, making a cuisine essential: epis, the seasoning base for many dishes, including a rice dish known as diri djon djon.

Ashley also decided to learn the basics of sewing as one more skill to take along. We are always looking to grow our skill sets! Plus, look at the cute matching pants!

Jon is still flying as much as he can. One day while he was working on a helicopter, another student pilot asked him about being a missionary and what we’d be doing. Jon filled him in, then mentioned the hours he’d built toward his fixed-wing license and his one hour in a helicopter. The Lord had sent this man with a desire to pay for Jon’s pilot instruction, for both fixed wing and helicopter! Such a huge answer to prayer!