Update on the apartment…

September 29 – October 7th

Timothy Rudolph, Christen Beiler and Lowell Miller went down to Grand Fond, Haiti to help Michael put up the second story apartment! They were able to get a lot done!  We praise the Lord for their safety as they worked on the upper story framing, roofing, mounting solar panels, etc.  God blessed their time in so many ways. Before they left the US for Haiti, it had been pouring rain in Grand Fond every day; which, if that continued,  it would have made it very difficult to get done what they needed to get done. The whole time they were down there it did not rain, and we believe this was a direct answer to prayer.  They were able to accomplish all this team went to do.

Pictures below!

The first wall up!
The first wall is up!

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More walls up!
More walls are up!
Framing the walls inside.
Framing the walls inside. A bathroom is on the left, and a bedroom on the right.
Building the rafters for the roof.
Working on the roof.
A picture from the far corner of the property.  It's looking more like a house :)
A picture from the far corner of the property. It’s looking more like a house 🙂
This was Christen Beiler's third trip down to help with the house.
This was Christen Beiler’s third trip down to help with the house.
Michael and Timothy after a long and hard but successful week.
Michael and Timothy after a long and hard but successful week.

Thank you so much to the guys who gave so much of their time and energy to help with this project!

Open House Fundraiser

(By Rebekah Rudolph)

This last Saturday, September 27, was the annual Open House Day hosted by the Swiss Pantry in Belvidere, TN. We once again used it as an opportunity to do some fund-raising for Haiti.

First, of course, there was the yard sale, with items donated primarily from Watson’s Rental.  It was a large set-up again this year with a wide variety of stuff.  Miriam Rudolph and Sara Kelly took care of seeing to it all day from 7:00am to 3:00pm.

The yard sale
The yard sale
Miriam Rudolph and Sara Kelly
Miriam Rudolph and Sara Kelly

Right next to the yard sale was the apple butter cook-off. For several years now we have cooked apple butter over a fire in a large copper kettle that has been in the Rudolph family for generations.  It is about an eight hour process just to cook it down, with constant stirring, but the finished product is so worth it! Next to the kettle is our stand where we sell previously cooked and jarred apple butter and also pure honey from Michael’s bee hives that are here at home.

Making apple butter
Making apple butter
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Apple butter!
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The apple butter and honey stand.

This year, also, the Chris Beiler family, from the Believer’s Chapel in Tullahoma, did the annual BBQ stand, the entire proceeds of which went into completing the second story of the house in Haiti, so Michael and Breanna will have a place to live when they are married.  At the BBQ stand you can get an excellent lunch of either chicken or BBQ’D pulled pork and baked beans, cole slaw, dinner rolls, and your choice of soft drink, water, or sweet tea, or you can buy chicken and pork by the pound and take it home and share it (if it lasts that long).  The stand was serving from 10:00am to 3:00pm and was donations-only for the food, which was a step of faith, but the Lord blessed it and enough money was raised to complete the house to livability!

Poster board and information stand.
Poster board and information stand.
The food line
The food line
Food line
Food line
The wonderful volunteers!
The wonderful volunteers!

A huge thank-you to the Beilers and all the other volunteers who worked so hard to bring it all together! We were all exhausted by the end of the day, but it was good.  So come and join us next year!

-Rebekah Rudolph