And then there were three! We have one completed cabin that the girls of the Children of Israel Orphanage are living in. We have a second cabin, the Mark Eden Memorial cabin which has most of the walls finished. The third cabin is now in the process of placing the blocks for the walls. And we have photos of it all!

Adrianne Schmidt just returned from staying at the Children of Israel Orphanage for the last two weeks of February. There is so much going on at the orphanage, it’s amazing!

A couple weeks ago the third cabin was just flat slab and foundation, but now it has walls!

Adrianne along with a team from Holy Cross in Jension, Michigan came to work at the Children of Israel Orphanage in February, and man did they work hard! It’s been amazing to see the progress happening on the property in Torbeck! Who would have thought that in just two years that much could be accomplished??

All we can say is, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

Our goal now is to have these cabins finished by June! Yes, it’s a big dream, but we know together and with faith we can make it happen!

Remember, we can’t do anything without the love, support, and prayers from all of you! If you are interested in supporting the Children of Israel Orphanage in construction or for operational costs, please send cash or checks with a note specifying it’s for CIO to:

Firmly Rooted Ministries

PO Box 751

Oxford, MI 48371

Here’s a few photos of the progress at Torbeck!

The Mark Eden Memorial Cabin

The First Girls Cabin

The view of the Torbeck property from the back wall!

The third cabin at the end of the trip!

We thought you might want to see some video of what’s going on on the ground at the Children of Israel Orphanage!

Today we started pouring the cement on kids cabin #1!! How exciting! Here’s a video of our harding working Haitian friends pouring the cement! We love them so much.

We can’t believe how fast the next two cabins are coming along!! Huge shout out to the First Trinity teams and all the Haitian men working long hours every day to get this done! We can’t even begin to express our appreciation.

Here’s some more photos of what’s been happening at CIO! Hope you enjoy and feel moved to make a difference at CIO! Visit the donation page if you’re interested in how you can help make this beautiful vision a reality!

Lener and Papouch! Two of our dedicated workers. Their smiles make the work a little more bearable!

foundation started and (almost!) finished by the First Trinity teams!

First Trinity members working hard!

Dominique setting up the electric wires in the foundation!

some colors of CIO.

We thought it would be pretty cool to post a before and after picture of what God’s doing at CIO! The first is from September 2010 and the second is from just a couple days ago!

September 2010 to January 2012

So much work is being done at the Children of Israel Orphanage in the new year. Every day we are amazed at how God is at work here and at the dedication of the people He’s sent to us!

Currently, the first team of two from First Trinity in New York is staying at the Children of Israel Orphanage. It’s a team of 11 hardworking people and we are so excited to have them with us!

This teams main projects include completing the foundation for the third kids cabin, and, man, have they been working hard! They have carried countless buckets of cement and even more rocks!! Thanks to their hard work, sweat, and love we’ve been able to complete the foundation to the point of filling it with gravel!! We’d like to give a HUGE thank you to the First Trinity team!

First Trinity's Work on the 3rd Foundation!

The next First Trinity team, which we’re sure will be just as awesome as the first, will be pouring cement on the foundation of the third cabin and hopefully will be able to begin placing blocks!!

God is blessing CIO in big ways and we are amazed already at the work He is doing at the orphanage in 2012.

We look forward to all the teams traveling to Haiti this year. After the second First Trinity team, a team from the Grand Rapids area is traveling to Haiti with Nancy Eden as their leader.

This will be a very memorable and special team. They will be building the walls for the Mark Eden Memorial Cabin. It has been an emotional and bittersweet project, but we are so thankful.

Mark with Modler Haiti 2008

Mark always said he was “in his element” in Haiti. Anyone who knew him was forever touched by his humor, his heart, and his love for his Creator. He will forever be remembered and loved by many, and we can’t think of a better way to to honor him than with a home for the children in Haiti he loved and who loved him dearly. We miss you more than you could ever know, Mark.

Nancy’s team will be in Haiti from the 27th of January to the 5th of February. Please keep their team in your prayers!

The next team will be coming from Holy Cross Lutheran Church. They will be in Haiti from February 20th – February 27th. They will be continuing the construction on the cabins and doing any work available! We can’t wait to see how much all the teams get accomplished at CIO!

I am so very very VERY excited to announce on behalf of Firmly Rooted, that we have officially be chosen and approved by Glenn Merrit and LCMS World Relief and Human Care for the matching funds grant from LWML! Firmly Rooted Ministries has been awarded a $25,000 matching grant from LWML to go towards orphanage support. If you would like to contribute to the matching funds, please send your cash or check donation to:

Firmly Rooted Minitries

P.O. BOX 751

Oxford, MI 48371

Please include a note stating the donation is intended for the matching funds grant. Thank you for all your support! We can’t wait to see how the orphanage is blessed from this grant!

We can’t express enough how thankful we are for all of you and all of your hard work. Your dedication and love leaves us speechless. Please keep the kids, the teams, the Izidors, and the project in your thoughts and prayers. We can’t wait to continue this journey with all of you in 2012.

Claudine, Marie Anscha, Dina, and Ruth in their new room!

It’s official! We are overjoyed to announce that all 14 girls are moved into their new cabin and their new rooms! God is able and God is good!

The Children of Israel Orphanage has had a busy end to 2011.

We had a four person team from A Little Grace from Michigan visit the orphanage in November. They did a VBS with the children and also sanded, primed, and painted the four bedrooms for the girls in the new cabin. They also built a teeter-totter for the kids. We were so thankful to have them there!

Then we got the girls moved into their new home the first week of December! This was such a powerful and amazing moment for us. So many people have worked and prayed SO hard to make this a reality and now it’s finally here!

On December 9th, a team from Firmly Rooted Ministries traveled to the orphanage. they painted the living room of the girls cabin, sanded, primed, and painted the outside of the cabin, staked the next foundation and began working on the next foundation, and set up electricity for the cabin! This team worked so hard and got so much accomplished for such a small team and for only being there for a week. We were so blessed to have them with us!

Ezechias, Ketura, and her friend Thao Ta arrived at CIO the day before FR’s team was leaving. Adrianne Schmidt also stayed for an extra week at CIO. With a lot of sweat, hard work, and muscles they were able to almost completely finish the foundation for the Mark Eden Memorial cabin before Adrianne left on the 23rd.

We will begin staking for the next cabin foundation in the next couple weeks. We are anxiously awaiting the first team of 2012! We have a great lineup of teams coming in the next few months and we are so thankful for all of their commitment and love for the kids of CIO!

Mainly, these teams will be working on further construction of the next two cabins. Can’t wait to see what God has in store for these teams and for the Children of Israel Orphanage in 2012! We thank you all again for your commitment, love, and support for the CIO. We thank God every day for placing people like you in our lives!

first girl's cabin!

We also had a couple birthdays over the past month or so! Jean Winchell turned 10 while Adrianne was in Haiti on December 20th. Dilano’s birthday is on December 30th and Mikenson’s birthday will be on December 31st! Bonne Fête, ti gason! Nou renmen nou anpil anpil!

Can you believe it?? The time has finally come! The kids will be moving into the first children’s cabin in the next week!! PRAISE BE TO OUR UNFAILING AND MERCIFUL GOD.

We absolutely cannot wait to post photos of some of kids FINALLY in their new home! This is a HUGE moment that we have all been praying about and hoping for for as long as we can remember!! This is dream that started with Pastor Israel and has lived on through his beautiful family and all the committed donors, supporters, and missionaries. We cannot even begin to how much your love and support means to us. We thank God for each and every one of you and keep you all in our prayers. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

the latest photo (about a week ago) of the construction being completed on the first kid's cabin! porch is almost complete!

So here’s some details on the current situation at the Children of Israel Orphanage in Torbeck, Haiti.

We are currently working together with many of the churches who support CIO to get a sea container (which i mentioned in the last post!) to Torbeck! We found one! The sea container we’ve found is filled with supplies sent from Firmly Rooted Ministries and will be transported to the Torbeck property.

The supplies sent from FR include: two generators, a sound system, school supplies, office supplies, tools, and a bunch of other great stuff! Once we get the sea container to the Torbeck property, we will empty it of the supplies and use it as a temporary storage area for construction materials.

We are hoping to get the container moved to the property within the next week, but we need to first pour a concrete slab for the storage container to sit on on the property. So we’ve still got some work to do in preparation! I guess you could say Israelson has his hands full!

ps. Thank you, Israelson, for all you do! We are so incredibly proud of you and the work you’re doing for the CIO and the amazing man of God you have become . We get more and more proud of you each and every day! We love you, Is!

Anyways, the little grace team from MI is currently at CIO. They are doing some activities with the kids at the orphanage and are also keeping busy with lots of sanding and priming! We are hoping that they will be able to finish all the painting of the inside of the first kid’s cabin. Once the painting is finished we can MOVE THE KIDS IN. I just can’t say enough how incredibly EXCITED we are!!! Man. How cool!!!

The CIO construction team has also made a bold goal: we want to have TWO foundations laid for TWO more kid’s cabins by the end of January!! Bold? Yes! But we are called to be bold with our faith in Him! So we are praying boldly, asking boldly, and having faith that God will provide for CIO and for each and every one of those beautiful children and their new homes!

“Because of our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.”

Ephesians 3:12

Please keep this ambitious goal in your thoughts and prayers! We are so extremely excited to begin this big adventure and can’t wait to see how God continues to bless all the work being done at the Children of Israel Orphanage.

Now moving on to what we all want to hear about: the kids!! We had a few more birthdays in October and some coming up in November. October holds the birthdays of three of the kids at CIO. Modler celebrated his 11th birthday on October 10th! Claudine’s birthday was on the 16th, and Kendy celebrated his 15th birthday the next day on October 17th! Bonne Fête, ti moun!

Only two of the kids at CIO have birthdays in November. Samuel’s birthday was on the 4th of November and Marie Anscha’s birthday is on the 16th! Bonne Fête, Anscha e Samuel!

Please take a second to say a quick prayer for each and every one of these beautiful children at the CIO. As so many of you know, these kids are so special, so unique, so gifted, and such beautiful children of God. They are a light in the darkness wherever they go. You should be so extremely proud of these kids. Their un shaking happiness and admirable faith in God is humbling. Nou mankem. Map sonje nou e m renmen nou anpil anpil anpil anpil.

Also, today Modler took a little tumble out of one of the windows of the bus. Not sure how this happened, what the situation was, but I’m assuming he was excited and too impatient to wait his turn to get off the bus, so out the window was definitely the easiest choice for him! Silly kid. He was taken to the ER (threw up in Israelson’s car on the way… ;] ), was waiting to get an x-ray taken, but then the doctor decided it wasn’t necessary. Please keep this sweet little boy in your prayers as he recovers from quite the shakeup today! And thank God for keeping him safe in a situation that could have ended much worse!

Again, I know I say it all the time, but we cannot thank you enough for all your love, support, and most importantly, prayers. We ask that you continue to support CIO and we can’t wait to see what God has in store for us! We know that He is our Provider and He will never fail us! May God bless each and every one of you.

First of all, thank you so much for visiting the Children of Israel Orphanage site! Because of interest, love, prayers, and support from people like you, we are able to do the work God’s chosen for us! We truly love you all and thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

To begin, we do have some unfortunate news. Due to lower donations in the past few months, the Children of Israel’s budget was cut immensely. Our budget was cut almost a third. This is a huge hit to us and those trying to care for these kids to the best of their ability. As discouraging as this is, we have hope in the Lord and are keeping our eyes on Him and what is important: these children. Caring for them is of the most importance. We urge you that if you are moved to do so, donate to the Children of Israel Orphanage so we can continue to care for these 27 beautiful and  growing children and meet all of their needs. If you feel moved to donate and are willing and able, please send cash or checks to:

Firmly Rooted Ministries

Tom Donnelly

PO Box 751

Oxford, MI 48371

Please just include a note or memo that the donation is a general donation and meant for the Children of Israel Orphanage. Remember, Firmly Rooted is a 501c3 so all donations are tax deductable. Thank you in advance for your love and support.

On a brighter note, construction has been underway at CIO and we are now close to completing the first of ten kids cabins! We could not be more excited about this project and about starting to move the kids into their permanent home!

Recently, the finishing layer of stucco was put on the ceiling. And this past week, the stucco on the inside of the cabin was completed, minus the floor. We will finish that this coming week and then beginning on the final layer of stucco on the outside of the building.

putting the finishing touches on the ceiling of the first kids cabin!

It is looking like after this is completed, the house will be fit for the children to move in! How cool is that?! As soon as we have pictures of the kids moving in, we will be posting them here!

Please keep in mind, that while you may not be physically in Haiti putting the stucco on yourself, none of this work would be possible without supporters like YOU! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! May God continually bless you for all the love and support you have shown the Children of Israel Orphanage!

a photo of lorianna in front of the first kids cabin at the end of august! looking good! KIDS WILL LIVE HERE.

Once we’ve got the kids moved in, we do not want to waste anytime! We will immediately begin construction of the second childrens’ cabin! This is big stuff, people! And we are committed to getting all of these homes built for these beautiful children!

We have so many teams lined up to come and serve on the Torbeck property. They will be doing SO much to help these kids and to help the construction continue smoothly.

The next team visiting CIO is a small team from Clinton Township, Michigan. They are working through a non-profit organization called A Little Grace. We can’t wait to see all they do at the orphanage! They will be visiting from November 4th – 14th. Can’t wait to have them here and please keep them in your prayers!

The CIO is also working to get a sea container onto the Torbeck property. This will be used as a temporary (or permanent if it works nicely!) storage container for construction supplies. With this container, we can protect our supplies from being stolen. It will save a lot of time and money seeing as right now, we can only purchase small quantities of supplies at a time to prevent more being stolen. This container will allow Israelson to buy supplies in bulk which will save us more money, which means more money spent on things we need!! Exciting, right??

Also, we have a couple birthdays this month at CIO! September 17th was Cardonal’s birthday! Even though he’s not with us at the orphanage anymore, we want to remember how special he was to us in the time we spent together and all the joy he brought to so many people! Bonne fête, Cardonal! And tomorrow, September 30th, is Jean Junio’s birthday! He will be turning 15! Can’t believe how fast time flies! Bonne fête, Jean Junio!! Nou renmen nou anpil!!

The kids at CIO are also getting ready for an exciting time: BACK TO SCHOOL! The kids were scheduled to begin school in the middle of September, but the first day of school was pushed back to the 3rd of October. Please keep this kids in your thoughts and prayers as they begin all their hard work and effort again towards a better education! Also, if you are interested in sponsoring one of the older children so they can continue getting a great education, please contact Adrianne Schmidt at aeschmi2@gmail.com and she will send you more information as this program begins!

Please continue to keep all the hard work being done at CIO in your prayers. Some days we just sit back and are in awe at God’s hand at work here. Just a few years ago, many of us traveled to the “future site of CIO” with dreams and pictures in our head of what would one day be there. So hard to believe that we’ve been so blessed to have it being constructed and completed before our eyes! Our God is good, our God is mighty, and our God is able!! Only through Him could all of this become a reality.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, love, and support. They mean the world to us! May God bless you and keep you.

Things are a little different at the Children of Israel Orphanage now. Cardonal, the youngest of the boys at CIO, has left the orphanage to live with his father again.

As many of you know, Cardonal’s mother was killed during the earthquake and he joined us in April 2010 . His father did not have the resources to care for Cardonal alone. The father and the mother’s relatives have decided that they want Cardonal back and now have the ability to care for him.

It was amazing to see how Cardonal grew both physically, spiritually, and socially while he was with us. He came to us quiet, confused, and always wanting to be held. Now, he is always laughing, smiling, playing, and showing off his gymnastic moves. We are so thankful for the time we got to spend with Cardonal. He touched so many lives in his time here.

It is always a bittersweet time when a child leaves the orphanage. It has been difficult for both us and the children at the orphanage. It is always hard to see one of them go, but we are confident that his father and his Heavenly Father will watch over Him and care for him.

Days are not as sweet without his beautiful face and his contagious giggle. We miss him, think of him constantly, and will always keep him in our prayers, as we hope you will too.

“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’”

Matthew 19:14

So much is happening at CIO this summer!

Just this past week, the roof of the first children’s cabin was poured! We are so excited about this! Can’t wait to finish this one and start on the next!

The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church team was here from May 28th to June 6th. They accomplished so much, despite the almost constant rain while they were here! The team cleared rocks, weeds, and trash out of the playground area and built soccer nets for the kids! These will be such a blessing for the kids who never had much room to play before!

The team also brought down new shoes for each of the children at CIO. We are so thankful for the team!

A team from Prince of Peace Church in Illinois will be arriving in Haiti on Saturday and they will be here for a little over a week. We can’t wait to meet all of them and see God working through them throughout their time with us!

Right now we have a couple girls here working at CIO, Tracey Archibald from Ohio and Emily Ruhter from Colorado. We have been working on sanding Leonie’s house to prep it for painting and also spreading dirt on the soccer field to level it so the kids can play safely! We are loving having them here!

The younger kids at CIO finished school last week and the older children will be finished this Friday! Please keep them in your prayers as they have over 15 exams to take this week!

Again, we can’t thank you enough for all of your love and support!! We have been so unbelievably blessed!!

Big things are in motion at the Children of Israel Orphanage! God has been blessing our efforts in big ways!

The kids are all doing so well. For some, they’re having a hard time in school, but they are committed to finishing and doing well. The little boys are still adorable and goofy as ever. Always finding some trouble to get into to…

The older boys are still always playing soccer. The mission team from Good Shepherd is going to build some soccer nets for them next week when they are here. The boys are going to be so excited, but we’re keeping it a surprise until then.

The older girls are so grown up now. They are so responsible and always caring for the little ones. It’s a beautiful thing to see. The younger girls are always running around, always smiling, and always laughing.

The joy at CIO is overflowing and contagious.

As most of you know we have begun work on the first childrens’ cabin on the Torbeck property. Right now we are working on the carpentry for the roof. We have completed most of the stucco for the walls. Next week we hope to pour the roof.

We also started working on the construction of the guest cafeteria. The roof still needs to be finished.

Yelline and Genet are also constructing another guesthouse on the property. They are currently finishing the foundation and will pour the floor this week.

The team from Cadillac did a lot of work on the driveway, but there’s still work to be done. That’s a project that teams coming to Haiti soon can work on.

We are so excited about this project! We can’t wait to finish the first cabin and begin on the next!

There is currently a mission team staying at the orphanage. There are 12 members from 6 different churches. They are in Haiti to learn about all the different projects going on at CIO, Ile-a-Vache, and other projects around Les Cayes. We are so excited to have them here! They have done a lot of work on the driveway and have also repaired the screens for the windows in the house the boys are staying in. We are so grateful for their hard work and passion for helping in Haiti.

Thursday they head to Ile-a-Vache to learn more about the Grace orphanage and school.

This team leaves Saturday and the team from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church arrives on Saturday. We can’t wait to see all that both teams accomplish!

Again, thank you so much for your support and all of your prayers! None of this would be possible without all your hard work and love.

“According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 3:10-11

First, let me say how abundantly God has provided for the Children of Israel Orphanage!! In the past few months, He has truly shined His light on the CIO and completely blessed our efforts. We are so incredibly thankful for such a loving and providing God.

Big things are happening at the Children of Israel Orphanage, and I also want to take a moment to thank every single one of you who has cared for, prayed for, and supported the CIO!!

First of all, the CIO was able to purchase their very first vehicle!! Firmly Rooted and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church raised enough money to purchase a motorcycle for the orphanage! We are extremely thankful, and it truly is a blessing to everyone working with the orphanage.

On Friday, February 18th, the foam for the first children’s cabin was purchased and brought to the property! The foam was purchased in the Dominican Republic.

On March 6th, a team led by Lynn Scheerhorn, came to CIO to do a medical check up on all the children. They are all doing very well!

A team from First Trinity Lutheran Church in New York arrived in Torbeck on March 7th. They have been there all week and will leave Haiti tomorrow. This team has been working on building the very first Children’s Cabin on the Torbeck property!!

After only a few days of working, the team got all of the interior walls up, and at least three of the exterior walls up!! A second team from First Trinity arrives in Haiti tomorrow. They will continue any work that needs to be done on the first cabin!

The CIO and all of its’ supporters can’t thank the members of these two teams enough for all their hard work for our God and these beautiful children!! As Yelline said, “This cabin is our hope that the others will be built.”

And they will be built because our Father always provides!! We at CIO are so incredibly thankful and excited for the future!

Please continue to keep the Children of Israel Orphanage in your thoughts and prayers!