New home for Frantzy (Haiti)

Dear friends, 

My name is Ryan, and I traveled to Haiti on a mission trip with my church after the damage from Hurricaine Katrina. Some of you know me, but only 1 or 2 of you know Frantzy. I want to share with you about my Haitian friend that I have known for many years now. 

I met Frantzy on this trip, where he served our crew as an interpreter. Fluent in multiple languages, Frantzy worked very hard with our mission team, met us every day to translate and helped us administer basic medical care in different villages. Frantzy has a beautiful family with two children, Josué Donovan (9 months old), Brandon (5 years old), and his wife, Francine Noré. Frantzy is a strong Christian, seeks to follow God in his daily life and through his family, and is a shining witness in his community. To this, I can attest first-hand. 

Friends, Frantzy now needs our help more than ever. Hurricaine Matthew destroyed his home, as it did the homes of so many other Haitians this year. Take a moment to look at these images of what remains of Frantzy's house; this is not the house you live in. Probably, most of you reading this have never even spent a day in the kind of world you see pictured here.

Dear friends, we live in great luxury not afforded to the vast majority of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe. 

I am seeking your help on behalf of Frantzy and his family, who do not have the same internet access that we do. Frantzy and I are asking for your help to raise money that will help him and his family rebuild their lives after the devastation caused by Matthew. With our help, Frantzy will be able to buy rocks, bricks, rebar, cement, nails, sheet metal, and other supplies to rebuild a house. 

In addition, it will cost him $600 USD to send his son Brandon to school for the year. Funds for schooling have been Frantzy's top priority lately. 

The estimate of $9,000 USD is an assessment Frantzy put together based on the price and quantity of building materials for his house and the schooling fees for this year. Brothers and sisters, our homes here in the US are all worth much more than $8,400, yet we take the very roof over our heads for granted when we lie down to sleep. Frantzy and his family do not live in that world. 

Obviously, these funds are needed as soon as possible. And I would not ask you to do something that I would not; my family will be personally contributing to help Frantzy as well. 

With our help, Frantzy can provide a safe place for his family to live and escape the elements in Haiti. With our help, Frantzy can ensure that his children receive an education-- vital for finding work and prosperity in Haiti. And Frantzy does not ask for our help without his; he is a hard worker and often holds multiple jobs. But jobs are scarce and volitile in Haiti, and work is often transient and even dangerous in their crumbling economy. 

With our support, Frantzy can continue to be the shining light for Jesus that is so desperately needed in his community and country. Frantzy is a strong Christian witness on a daily basis, and conducts his businesses in a manner pleasing to his Lord, in spite of corruption in business that surrounds him. If every one of my facebook friends and I gave $16 in support of Frantzy, we could raise every bit of this support today. Some will give more, and some will give less, and that is between each of us and God. I do not even need ask you to inconvenience yourselves-- most of us could offer a few bucks simply by giving up a daily commodity for a week. 

I am reminded of the words of II Corinthians 8, and with these words I leave you: 
"...[Y]ou were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: 'The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.' "