Happy 9th Birthday Ederson!

Dear Ederson,

Happy Birthday! I hope you have a good birthday. I am praying for you to have a great birthday and to have a good school year.

I am 8 years old, a year younger than you, and my birthday is in September too.

I am sending you balloons, stickers, and a paper airplane. I hope you like them!

Your friend,

Benjamin

The Boy Who Changed the World by Andy Andrews

The Boy Who Changed the World is a book about helping and sharing. Norman helped the world by growing special seeds that fed two billion people. Henry Wallace helped by telling Norman to make the seeds. Henry became the vice president of the United States! George Washington Carver helped Henry by teaching him about plants. But George couldn't have helped without Moses, his adopted father, who saved him.
This book was a very good book. It was about helping and about sharing food. It taught me that what we do is important and can help others.

My mom received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Letter to Ederson

"Dear Ederson,
My name is Benjamin. I live in Texas, USA. I am 7 years old and in 1st grade. I am homeschooled by my parents. I have 3 brothers and 1 sister. I am the youngest of my family. i like to play outside when it is not snowing or cold. i like to ride my skateboard. What do you like to do? I have been praying for you since the earthquake. I hope you are okay and to hear from you.
Your friend,
Benjamin"

New Friend

I have a new friend in Haiti! His name is Ederson Pettit. Gary and I are supporting him. He lives in the mountains in Guibert, Haiti. His father makes handcrafts for a living and his mother sells produce from the family garden. He helps his family by gathering firewood. He has two brothers and one sister. He goes to the same school Ti-Fam went to and is in 3rd grade. He is 8 years old. Will you pray for him with me?

Challenge

Thank you, everyone, for helping me help Haiti. I hope that more and more people come and help Haiti. I am going to sell some of my toys to my mom and dad so I can make more money for Haiti. I challenge other kids to read to help kids in Haiti!

Pray for Haiti!

Love, Benjamin

Grand Total

Benjamin read for 22 hours, making the total

$1,500

raised for Baptist Haiti Mission as of today!!

I know I've said it before, but I can not thank you enough for your support in helping us to raise money for Haiti! Your response and generosity has been overwhelming. THANK YOU!!

I have had a couple of people ask how to make payments for their pledges. We are simply asking you to go to the mission website and donate directly to them. (Their banner is at the top of this web page) Also, Living Water, a benevolence ministry in Borger,TX has agreed to be our liaison. So, if you wish, you can donate through them. Just make sure that you mark the donation as being for Baptist Haiti Mission. Their address is : 103 W. 4Th St., Borger, TX 79007. Those who have mailed or wish to send checks to us, rest assured, we will make sure they are forwarded to the mission. Once again, THANK YOU!! We could not have done any of this without your support.

We'll end this post with a phrase we read on one mission blog in Haiti,
Nou p'ap bliye ou
With deep gratitude

One more Day!!

Guest blogger: Mom
Tomorrow (Feb. 7th) is Ben's last day of reading for Haiti. Have you noticed the counter on the side? He is almost to his goal of 21 hours! Way to go, Ben, we're so proud of you!!
We will post his total hours and more info soon.

We hope you have a great, blessed weekend!

Dear John,

I really like the book you recommended.

The book Are you My Mother? is a very good book.

I thought it was funny that the baby bird called the bulldozer a snort and thought it was his mother. It was one of the best books I have ever read. Thank you for telling me about it.

Do you like my hat?

Love,

Benjamin

New book

I got a new book in the mail and I have read it twice. It was about imagining things. Its' name is Oh the Thinks You Can Think by Dr. Seuss. There was a page about a kid riding a boat with a city behind him, and there was a page about people bringing food to them. Part of the food was schlopp with a cherry on top. It was a really good book and fun to read. Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart for the book! It was nice of you to do that.
Love,
Benjamin

Miracles

The mission was running out of water supply. Then, two or three days later they started to have more than they needed. They started to overflow a lot and had extra water. God caused a good miracle.

On Wednesday, two babies were born at the mission. One of them was born with a C-section and one beat the doctors before they could get there! They are probably going to name the girl Hope and the boy is named Woodson. It made everyone happy that the babies were born.

Birthday

Happy Birthday, Aunt Amy!

Bugs!

Today I finished my bug book. I learned about bees, wasps and spiders. Did you know that wasps made paper before people did? Did you know that wasps would sting the spiders so their children would have food to eat until they could go out and get their own. I read more than one hour today. My Mom wasn't even paying attention to the clock. I got a new book in the mail. I will tell you about it tomorrow!

Paper wasps

New sponsors!

A big thank you to our newest sponsors!

Joanne & Sam and
Jim & Jan

That brings the total up to $67.71 an hour if Ben reads the full 21 hours!
Thanks so much!!

Reading

Last night I finished the book "Danny and the Dinosaur" by Syd Hoff. Danny went to the museum and he saw bunches of things. It was telling about a dinosaur and Danny. The dinosaur came to life and Danny played with him all day. They played hide and go seek with Danny's friends and they watched a baseball game. If you notice, when you have a dinosaur you wouldn't have to pay to watch the game because a dinosaur could lift you up! The kids kept on winning at hide and go seek. But then they thought of something. It was to imagine that the dinosaur wasn't there so that the dinosaur would win. Then the kids just gave up because they couldn't find him. Danny asked the dinosaur if he could come home but he couldn't so he just watched until the dinosaur was out of sight.

About Me

I want to tell you a little about me. I like to do puzzles and I like to ride my Rip stick.

My Dad likes to watch a lot of football. He hopes Indianapolis wins in the Super Bowl. My Dad and I like to go target shooting and fishing.

I have three brothers and one sister. I am the youngest of all of them. One brother is 18, one is 15 and the other is 14. My sister is the oldest. She is 21. My brother Aaron likes Lego's and Nathan likes to play video games. Scott likes to sleep a lot. My sister, Sarah, likes to read.

I like spending lots of time with my friends.

These are some of my friends. One of them is named Dalton and one is Eric. The other one is named Matthew and that one in the camouflage pants is me. Some of my friends have moved. Eric liked to swim and also liked to play games. He was the one that moved.

This is me in TaeKwon Do when I was a white belt. I was going for my white/yellow belt. I now am one belt past the white & yellow belt. Now I am a yellow belt. I like Tae Kw0n Do because it is fun.

Apology and Announcement

I missed listing a couple of very special contributors:

Corbin (age 11)
Bryson (age 4)
and their father
Derek

I am so sorry I missed listing you guys!! We appreciate your support. THANK YOU!

As of today, Ben is making $30 an hour reading for Haiti plus $442 in contributions and sponsoring a child in Haiti for a year. If we take all the contributions and divide by the 21 hours Benjamin is planning on reading, that makes the total $65.33 an hour!! Sponsoring a child for the year will be an ongoing endeavor for Benjamin to be inspired by and learn from. Thank you to everyone for all your help!

If you are just now discovering our site, welcome! It isn't too late to get in on the fun, if you wish to contribute, just leave a message in the comments section. Thanks again for your support!

*Drawing by Bill Watterson

Thank you

We just wanted to send out a BIG thank you to Ben's newest sponsors:

George
Larry & Gloria
John
Sally
Gail, Mark, Savanna, & Collin

If you have committed to donate and don't see your name on the list, please let me know!

We are very touched that so many have agreed to donate to such a good cause and to encourage our son. Words are not enough, but we want to thank you. I expected Ben to tire of the reading, but each morning the first thing he wants to do is see how many have stopped by to read his blog. He LOVES seeing the numbers go up further and further.

I'll add all the donations up tomorrow and let you know how much he is making per hour.

Thanks again!!

A kid that is 14 is about to have surgery. I hope that you pray for the 14 year old boy. He became a Christian one day.

This is a truck. It is 10 years old. The truck keeps falling apart. They take water with them so that the radiator works. They trust God for the truck to work. It was hard for them to get around before the earthquake. Then there was a earthquake and now it's even harder for them to get around. Pray that God will make enough room for the planes to get there safely and for the cars to get around safely.

This is the people that are helping Dr.s in Haiti. I ask that you would pray for the people that are hurt just to get way better. There are just many people that are hurt I ask that you would pray for all the people in Haiti just to stay healthy and not get hurt and if they are hurt that they will get better.

I have read one hour and 14 minutes today. Thank you for helping me!

Love, Benjamin

Update by Mom:

Ben finished his reading tonight - with a total of 1 hour 10 minutes today. (We're keeping up with EVERY second! LOL) He's hoping to make up for the 30 minutes we missed on the first day. Our day of reading includes him reading at least 1/2 of the hour with books on his level. The other 1/2 can be books above his reading level if he helps read what he can from that book. I'd love ideas on more books to read. Any suggestions?

How I'm Reading (2nd post)

On the first day it started to amaze me how many people joined on the first and second day. There are about 20 people and so far it has all been well.

I have been reading a bug book called "The First Book of Bugs" by Margaret Willamson. Did you know that bugs can trick birds and other animals? Like a butterfly can trick a bird that it isn't a butterfly so the bird won't eat it. I bet you didn't know that! Did you know that kids in China carry crickets in cages around their necks? They think that crickets are good luck. Did you know diving beetles have holes under their wings so they can store air in a bubble so they can breathe underwater where they catch their food? Didn't God make bugs cool? Except for flies! Did you know that they are very, very dirty and they lay their eggs on garbage?

I was only able to read 30 minutes on the first day, but I'm planning on reading more to make it up!

Yesterday I read 1 hour and 3 minutes. One book I read was "Go Dog, Go!"by P.D. Eastman
It was about dogs messing around. I thought it was funny that one dog kept worrying about her hat.

So far today I've read 30 minutes. I read more on the bug book.

This little girl is 2 years old. Her name is Celestin. They helped her at the Baptist Haiti Mission. Her parents are very glad that they could get help at the hospital. This is a time for people to definitely help her. Will you help her? If you do, I will be very glad at you. I hope we get enough money for everyone just to get better and for everyone to get their houses fixed.

This person is hurt. Will you help me get enough to help everyone that is hurt there? I really wish for more and more people to join so we could raise enough money for them. I hope that everyone and everyone around the world will help Haiti. Thank you for your help.

Love, Benjamin

THANK YOU!

Here is a list of those who are now partnering with Ben to raise money for earthquake victims in Haiti:
3 year old Hudson
Isaac (age 7)
Josiah (age 4 )
Ryan(age 5)
Addie (age 4)
Aunt Becky
Uncle Gary
local Good News Club
Granny
Kristi and parents (Kristi, would you contact me, please?)
Ember
Marcy and Craig
Jerry & Freda
Gail
Todd and Rhonda
Debbie
*If I've omitted anyone, please let me know!

So far, Benjamin will be making ......(drum roll, please!)......

$27 per hour of reading for the relief fund !!

We are deeply grateful for all who have committed to helping Benjamin in his efforts to raise money for Haiti. When he began, we thought it would be great for him to raise a few dollars. Now, he will be earning over $25 an hour for Ti-Fam's mission plus other donations not tied to how much he reads. Is that not amazing?!!? It is all because of you and your generosity and we thank you! There are even 5 children helping him as young as 3 years old. How awesome!! Ben will be blogging about the books he is reading, things he is learning about Haiti and whatever else comes from his active 7 year old imagination. Please follow along and feel free to share this blog with others who might be interested.

It's not too late to help! If you want to donate, please leave a comment and let us know! Benjamin is very excited. He told me he wished he could read 14 hours a day to help the kids who are hurt. We're excited too. Thanks again!

Haiti

This is what it looked like in Haiti before the earthquake. It looked better before the earthqake, but then after the earthquake it looked very bad.
After the earthquake, they are handing out plastic tents for the people to sleep and live in until they can get help. This is the Baptist Haiti Mission where Ti-Fam went.

Even after the earthquake, people were praising and thanking God for those who didn't die. These people had lost family members, moms and dads died, so the kids need help. Would you help me raise money so I can help them? I will be reading books one hour everyday so we can raise money for Haiti so the kids won't be lost and they will have people to take care of them and so they will have plenty of food to eat. Would you please help me by sponsoring me? You can pay so much for each hour I read for the next 3 weeks. Or whatever you want to send. We will give the money to Baptist Haiti Mission. All of the money will go to help with the earthquake. Please pray every day for God to take care of every single person in Haiti, especially the kids that are hurt. Mom and Dads too for them to find their kids. The End

Guest blogger - Mom

Our 7 year old son, Benjamin, along with the help of our family, has decided to raise money for the relief efforts in Haiti. He heard the story of "Ti-Fam", a book about a young girl in Haiti, in Good News Club last year. That acquainted him with Haiti before the earthquake. So...he's going to help. I believe that God has placed this mission on our family's heart. Benjamin is going to raise money to send to Ti-Fam's mission. He's going to read books, along with the help of his brothers (who will read books to him that are above his reading level). We are looking for supporters for each hour of reading from Jan. 18th through Feb. 7th. Please follow along on our journey!

This mission is a great ministry that has been in Haiti since 1943. And they're doing a great work. They're overwhelmed with rescue operations right now. They have over 300 people in a 150-person clinic. And the staff are inundated with helping those who are suffering. So...if you can help Benjamin, just comment on one of his blogs and commit dollars(or cents!) to his hours of reading and send him words of encouragement. (He plans on reading 1 hour a day for 21 days.) You'll make one little boy very happy. And you'll be helping Haiti.