from Rich and Carmi

Well, Christ-mas is just around the corner. We hope that each of you are having a great Christmas Season! We always love it when Christmas falls on the same day that we have church services. Great time to celebrate the birth of our Savior with fellow Christians.

The following is an update of our lives in 2010.

Seven Years of Marriage
In May we celebrated seven years of marriage. Every year gets better and better. We certainly have our challenges (being involved in addiction ministry can bring much stress,lack of finances, lack of time together), but we continue to grow in our love for each other. Both of us are growing older, but not too old to have fun and be silly with each other. Laughter is good medicine.

A few months ago Carmi had a bout with terrible head pain. Some of the symptoms made us think she had an infected tooth, but that once not the case. The pain got worse. We thought she was getting migraines but that was not the case. The pain was becoming unbearable to her. It would last for several hours. Many times she could not sleep. Pain pills were barely helping. The neurologist thought maybe there was an artery in her brain that got close to a nerve that was overly sensitive. She said there is nothing that can be done. Just take pain pills and hope it will go away. Carmi had a brain scan and MRI. Before we got the results of the tests (came back negative-no tumor or anything else), we were at church and the pain was becoming unbearable. During the church service Carmi got pray and the symptoms have never come back. Praise God!.

On March 7, 2011 Carmi became a naturalized citizen. It was a very exciting moment for her and myself.

Joshua Dover
Late 2010 Joshua completed his five years in the Marines. While in the Marines he had two tours of duty in Iraq. He finished his time in the Marines being stationed in Japan. Joshua left the Marines with many awards and as a Sergeant. Rich is so proud of Joshua. All of you should also feel good with his service in the military. He saved the Marines (thus the government and us) multitudes of money by bringing efficiency in his department (working on optical equipment). Also I am sure he saved the lives of Marines while in Iraq. The optics of the weapons they were using had a 80% failure rate when Joshua took over his post. When he left they had a 90% success rate. Joshua is now attending college in Klammath Falls, OR. He is obtaining a degree in Information Technology.

Carmi's Dad-Rufino
Rufino came back to the U.S. Sept of last year. It was very challenging for him during the cold winter we had last year. Needless to say we were reminded many times how warm it is in the Philippines. When he found out that I grew up in Southern California he could not figure out why anybody would live in Washington. (He spent years living in Southern California.)
Mt. Rainier Pictures

Carmi's brother Dick arrives in USA
In July Dick finally made it to the USA. Fifteen years ago Carmi's Dad had petitioned for him to be able to move here. Needless to say, this was exciting for everyone. Dick and Rufino stayed in Seattle until the end of October. They are now living in Fullerton, CA and are loving the warmer climate.
Canada Trip
Summer Trip

Fall Vacation
We had a fantastic Fall vacation. It was one of the best we ever had. We were able to take Carmi's Dad and brother on a tour of Oregon and do many fun things. It was really special because Rich's long time friend Liz and her husband joined with us. We did all kinds of sightseeing, hiking, fishing, and tons of laughing. What a wonderful time. Check out our pictures of the trip.

Rich is still the Program Director of Fairhaven House (a non-profit low income, faith based, clean & sober housing and discipleship program). In fact, late last year he became the President of the non-profit. Rich now oversees 23 men in three homes. Many lives have been changed through this ministry. Click here to read some of the testimonials.

In the last two years Rich, by God's grace, he has been able to reduce expenses and increase income to the point of saving the ministry over $10,000 a year. Praise God! Rich always reminds the men at the houses that their sincere desire to live a life free from addiction is why the ministry is successful.

With all this good news, we are facing some major challenges in 2012. Here in Washington State funding for those who are in treatment and transitional housing has been drastically reduced. In early 2012 much of the funding is going away completely. This can adversely affect Fairhaven House. Several of our clients currently receive some kind of State funding. Many
of our potential clients are able to live at our houses because of State funding. Unless we receive funds from other sources we will have to remove some men from the houses because they will not have funds for membership dues (rent). It will be much harder to replace them since most of the potential clients will not have funds for membership dues. Vacancies mean loss of income, but we still have to pay for leases, utilities, etc. We are in desperate need of donations to continue this ministry. Can you help out. Click here to make a donation. Any amount will be greatly appreciated. Your Donation Can Make a Difference.

In March, 2010 we started There is Hope Radio, a weekly one hour live talk show that focuses on addiction and recovery. In March of 2011 we were able to expand the show to two hours a week. Anyone who listens to the show says it is obvious that one of Rich's gifts is to be a radio host. We are excited to say many lives have been touched by the radio ministry over the last 20 months. Click here to read just a few of the testimonials.

Our radio ministry is facing a major challenge in just a couple of weeks. Our largest sponsor for the last 20 months will no longer be sponsoring the show. That is a $3,000 loss of funds (50% of the cost of There is Hope). There is no way we can continue There is Hope with this shortage. By December 31 we need to raise a large percentage of the $3,000. Please pray for the funds to come in. Click here if you would like to make a donation to help keep There is Hope on the air in 2012.

Community of Hope Recovery Church Service
In June of this year Rich was strongly thinking of starting a small church fellowship for those struggling with addictions. Something close to our houses where some of our men could go to and a place to invite others. Instead we found a church in Burien, WA that had its own recovery church service and its own recovery house on church property. Rich is now the outreach pastor of Seattle Open Door Church, the pastor of Community of Hope church service, and oversees the recovery house. The church is only 10 minutes from all of our home and other Fairhaven House home.

Carmi's Work
Carmi still works at a bank. Rich does not receive an income for any of the ministries he oversees. Thus Carmi's meager income is our main source of income. Rich at times subcontracts out to do grounds maintenance work, but with all of his ministry obligations (all volunteer) he has very little time for anything else.

The year 2011 has certainly been a year of faith. We certainly need a turn around in 2012. Sad to say we are ending 2011 with more personal bills than 2010. The income just has not been there. With all of Rich's ministry responsibilities it is hard for him to have time for the web business he has had as a source of income in the past.

So needless to say we have been extremely busy in 2011. At times too busy, but God has given us His grace and strength once again. For 2012 we are praying that we will start to see more volunteers for our various ministries, donations to come in to make up for the shortages we have experienced, and more lives touched more than ever before. Please pray for us.

Stay updated with our lives by going to our Facebook Accounts:
Rich Facebook
Carmi Facebook

Be sure and check out Fairhaven House, There is Hope, Community of Hope.

If you would like to make a donation towards Fairhaven House, Fairhaven House Treatment, or There is Hope, you can do so via Pay Pal, through our on-line store, or by mailing a check made out to Fairhaven House.
Fairhaven House
P.O. Box 58512
Seattle, WA 98138

How about adding your picture to our web site? As many of you know, Rich is a webmaster and he has added technology to this site so that you can add your picture to our web site in just a few minutes. Check it out-Click Here!