Our life at the Village

I would love to start posting some blogs again, haven't done it in such a long time. Life here in Haiti is busy in a very different way. And in almost 1 year since our marriage, we have gone through a lot of ups and downs. But i must testify to the fact that the Lord has been more than faithful.This was our life at the Village. We spent the first 9 months of our married life together here. Nixon's day consisted of leaving our little two room house at seven or eight in the morning.

He would leave to do his HCH ministry stuff. He would run around all day and depending on how busy his day was, he would come home between two or five.

Then he would catch up on our day and visit with the elderly. We ussually did not have electric till eight so we would sit and sing or just talk to the old folks.

They were nice peaceful nights. The village of hope" was in Cyvadier, in the outskirts of Jacmel. We loved the peace and Quiet at our dear "Village of Hope". We miss it.

My day consisted of waking up at 6am. I would make my hubby a nice breakfast then i would give the elderly their medication as well as sit with Benoz, to lift some songs up to the Lord in prayer. They were special times. Often i would give my elderly women a pedicure or just sit and talk for a while, giving them some TLC. Then it was off to handwash clothes, iron, or clean house apart from try to find time to go somewhere where i could have internet access so I could answer emails and write updates.

Pluses: having peace and quiet and being able to do things at my own pace.

Downside: Was a bit lonely at times. And we were always on call.

We loved our Village home and we continue to love our elderly.

In August of 2008, Hurricane Dean swept through and when we heard the wind dying down, the mountain broke and we found ourselves in the middle of a mudslide as well as a flashflood. The Village of Hope was lost on that day and Nixon and I lost our little home.

With that came a lot of changes. Strangely, those changes turned out to be wonderful ones.

Helping our Community

Everywhere we go in Cyvadier, children call out our names. It would seem that the Lord is preparing us to be able to impact lives for Jesus. The other day one boy came to the Village to ask for Nixon. The little boy explained that he was not being allowed to go to school anymore because he did not have shoes. He showed Nixon his torn shoes and Nixon then shared it with our good friend Michelle who gave the boy shoes. The Lord is opening up all sorts of doors for us to be able to do good in our area and give the Lord all the credit for that.

Lancia is a 15 year old girl in our community. She is the girlfriend of one of our good friends who has gone to the Dominican Republic in search of a good job and steady income. Two months after he left, his mother approached Nixon with a problem, that her son's girlfriend thought she was pregnant. Leann, HCH, gave Nixon a pregnancy test and I did it. Lancia tested positive and has a bad home environment, no money, and no real support. Madam Robert is the mother of our friend Schiller, the baby's father. She really wanted the baby aborted and Nixon convinced her that that was not an option. Danny, Director of HCH, gave us all his support in helping Lancia. Since then, Lancia is now 5 months pregnant and Nixon and I try to find things for her to do and we pay her a little every week. Though our finances are tight, we want to put the "put others ahead of ourselves" into practice. We are grateful that the Lord is giving us opportunities to help those in our community. Blessed be the Lord. May it be for His glory and not our own.

Haiti

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere though it was once called the Pearl of the Carribean. It began as a French colony and thrived in the 18th century due to importation of large members of African slaves. Slaves revolted and declared their independence in 1804. Since then unrest and political turmoil are common to see. It's poverty is striking, 80% live in poverty. The people are plagued by a lack of education, many times due to not having enough money to pay for tuition, uniforms and the books needed to get an education. There isn't enough work and so many families are starving. Yellow hair on children is common to see. The Haitian people very often are involved in voodoo, looking for that chance to escape misery. It seems like one voodoo holiday after another around here. And yet it is an island in the Carribean. The water is beautiful and (where there isn't deforestation) it is lush. The weather is always warm, too warm and humid for me. The people are friendly and curious when it comes to foreigners(blancs). And Haitians are very hardworking, it always surprises me that even though life is so hard for them (having to haul water daily, cook on coals, and handwash) they still smile so much and often sing as they work. There is nothing like Haiti and I know that the Lord Jesus longs for all His Haitian children to come back to Him. This is why my husband and I are serving in Haiti, to reach the Haitian people for Christ.

The Children of Haiti

They are beautiful! They run and play and yet they are accustomed to work as well. Many of them haul water and the girls handwash at an early age. They are better than I am at the handwashing thing. It is also common to see the children taking care of their siblings. They walk miles and miles to get to school. Sadly, many stop going to school at an early age. And sadly, many eat once or no times a day. Hunger is an epidemic in Haiti. Way too many children are malnourished and have yellow hair as well as bloated tumies, ussually filled with worms. They are very beautiful. Michelle, a fellow missionary friend, and I often talk about these Haitian children being the most beautiful children we've ever seen. Nixon and I both love children. They often come to the gate of the Village and yell out "Monsieur Nixon" in hopes that Nixon will give them candy. No matter what happens, they always seem to be smiling. Nixon and I had the opportunity to work with children when we were working with YWAM Jacmel and since then have had the opportunity to teach them English and we are now taking charge of a Junior church program at the church we attend here in Haiti. We are proud to say that we have 50-80 kids on a weekly basis, who are learning more about who God is. We are assisted with our Junior church program by HCH, Directors, Larry, and the children of HCH. We have a lot of fun with the kids, often doing skits, learning choreographies, and doing little presentations for the church who meets downstairs. Originally we started the program because the church had grown so much and the children no longer fit downstairs. You never know what the Lord has in store. Nixon and I will also be starting a children's Bible hour on Saturday mornings and taking advantage of that love that the children have for us so that we can introduce them to One that is SO MUCH GREATER!! AMEN?!

Nixon's Birthday!

April 20th was Nixon's Birthday! On this same day is actually my mom's birthday as well. How weird huh? And it was also Adolph Hitler's birthday. Ok, that was way out there.

The 20th was a Sunday so we started with our junior church program. I had made Nixon a little cake witch turned out to be a disaster. I have made so many cakes in Haiti. I am known as a very good baker and the cake i made for my husband broke so badly. Go figure. But it was good. We had a piece with strong Haitian coffee. Good stuff. Then we went to lunch at the Cyvadier Plage hotel. Nixon had a nice fish platter. It was yummy. The whole time i am trying to hide the fact that our HCH family is going to throw Nixon a special birthday bash. We were to have a meeting at HCH on Monday but Danny supposedly just could not fit us in on Monday so it had to be Sunday. Nixon was so disappointed that we had to attend a meeting on his birthday. After lunch we gave our seniors a piece of cake and then off to the meeting we went. Oh wait, we called momma earlier to wish her a happy birthday but then Norma called us at mom's birthday party and passed the phone around to my sisters and grandma and brothers so they could say Happy Birthday to Nixon. This means so much to Nixon, especially because onlya small piece of the family has met him. Nixon even got to talk to his much loved niece whom he also has not met, Juli. She makes him smile. He was still floating on clouds when off to the meeting we went. We started our meeting when Leann, Danny's wife flies in the office and shouts that the kids are fighting upstairs. The whole time shouts and screams are coming from upstairs. Nixon flew out the door and up the stairs and had Surprise, Happy Birthday flung at him, along with lots of laughs. It was definitely a surprise. He loved it. His best friend Larry funded the party. Danny supplied drinks. And our dear friend as well as one of the nannies of HCH, Naomi, made the spagetti and cake. We all had a great time. God graced us so much. It was a wonderful, blessed day for my wonderful husband. May God bless him with a life of love and dedication to Him.

Our Junior Church Program

We have a junior church program that we put together each week for anywhere from 50-100 kids. We ussually average 70 now. It is like a weekly VBS program. Nixon starts with worship, then Sandra does the lesson/story and then we break the kids up into 3 groups. We then transtition each group into the different classes until the children have had an opportunity to do all the activities. Ussually we have a craft room, a game room (ussually attached to the scripture of the week, and another activity such as choreography or drama. This program takes a lot of time to prepare but it is definitely rewarding to see these children learn more about Jesus.

Joy In Hope/Haitian Children's Home

Nixon works with Haitian Childrens Home/Joy in Hope Ministries. Nixon is the Director of outreach ministries. Haitian Children's Home is the name of the orphanage under Joy in Hope Ministries. The ministry consists of an orphanage, a school sponsorship program, two schools, vbs's, and children's programs. This ministrie's dream is to own a piece of land not too far from our home at the Village. After purchasing this land, a new home would be built for Haitian Children's Home and Danny Pye's (director's)family. Afterwards, another home would be built for Nick and Gwen's orphanage and then eventually build 6 more homes to act as orphanages for 6 years and up kids. These kids are ussually unwanted and there are not many orphanages in Haiti that will take them. The land would develop into a Christian community that would eventually have a vocational training school, a clinic, a school, and a pastoral training center. HCH would also want to stay involved in the Haitian communities around the land, keeping sponsorship programs and youth programs going that would benefit the community and be a light for Christ. This is a wonderful ministry and though Nixon is more involved, I am involved as i can be with the kids, the Pye's and vbs's, as well as the children's programs. We are very proud to be a part of this ministry and their dream to reach Haiti for Christ. To see more pictures and info on our kids, visit haitianchildrenshome.org.

Who are we?

I am Sandra, Nixon's wife, and i am from El Paso, Texas in the United States. I am Mexican American. And I am Nixon Altidor, husband to my beautiful "gordita". I am from Port Au Prince. I am Haitian. Together, we work with Haitian Children's Home and The Village of Hope. We love the Lord and want to do our best as we serve in Haiti, to make Christ known to these people. And we want the Haitian people to turn away from satan, who often satisfies that immediate gratification that these people are looking for. We both know that we are meant to serve as missionaries here in Haiti. Is it for a time? We don't know, but we want to be faithful with the task that the Lord has given us. We love each other, we love the Lord, (and even though it is hard many times) we love being missionaries here in Haiti.

Married on December 08, 2007 in Jacmel, Haiti

Nixon and I met in April of 2007. We were both on staff at the YWAM mission in Jacmel. We became good friends and later prayed about starting a relationship that would lead to marriage. We were good friends for 3 months, dated for 3 months, were engaged for 3 months and then got married on December 08, 2007. My mother, my friend Yoli, my best friend Norma, and my sweet grandmother joined us in Haiti. Nixon's father who lives here in Jacmel, attended as well. We have been married for 4 months and are on a journey to know God and each other. Our goal is to be a light for Christ in Haiti. We want the people or Haiti to turn away from satan and to Jesus Christ. We want them to have the joy and satisfaction that we have as a result of belonging to our Lord Jesus.