And more Birthdays...

Little Levi Wayne Gephart, posing quite effectively as Spiderman =) He was one of the three November birthdays we celebrated this past Wednesday night, along with Roberteau (our one and only Port-Run driver these days) and Shelly Nettles. Here, he looks quite dry. But by the end of the evening, our tradition of pool-throwing had him drenched and running around giving everyone wet Levi-hugs.



And here we have the "Men in Black" - Kristian and Samuel Snow - helping set up the tables and hang the birthday banner before our celebrations begin.


Here is the DTS from St. Croix! After 10 days of helping us distribute food and aid badges to the sinistre of the 5th section (hardest hit area of St. Marc), presenting dramas for our church service and L.A. chapel service, and bringing a lot of youthful energy to this base, they were able to join us for this night of fun before they flew home Thanksgiving morning.


This was our version of cake for the November birthday bash - we figured that cupcakes would be a fun alternative to Shelly's impressive cakes (which we could never quite compete with...), AND they were easy to clean up =) I made my favorite Yum-Yum Cupcakes and Lindsay made some scrumptious red velvet ones. They were a real hit! But I must admit, I look forward to baking Christmas cookies in my mom's oven in a few short weeks, where I have a temperature gauge that actually works, and more than one rack to bake on. It took me over two hours to make this batch of cupcakes! So I'm glad they were appreciated...



Upon request from the Haitian staff, we played another rousing game of Train Wreck for our Birthday Night game. But this time, in keeping with the Thanksgiving theme, we had to say "I am thankful for everyone with sandals on..." etc. etc. And instead of yelling out, "Train Wreck!" we changed the phrase to, "Pumpkin Pie!" By the time we got to our dessert table on Thanksgiving evening, everyone knew what pumpkin pie was =)

Birthdays, Birthdays ...

Alex, third from the right, has been sick for so much of our school year that a lot of the students had to get reacquainted with him when he came back at the beginning of November. He even spent several weeks in the states, so he could see a doctor that could give him better care than he would have received here in Haiti. But it's been a joy having him in our L.A. family again - student number 7 in Miss Lindsay's class =) He had a birthday in the middle of the month as well, and invited the entire Liberty Academy to come celebrate with him! Sadly, I was under the weather with my bout of Dengue Fever, so I couldn't go. But Miss B and Miss Lindsay went in my stead, and they had a great time!

The fet was held at his dad's restaurant - one of the nicest here in St. Marc. And as these pictures show, students and teachers alike had a great time!


Miss Lindsay, lookin' beautiful next to Eli's two sisters, Miriam and Rachel. It's been such a blessing getting to know these three siblings. Eli is one of my guitar students, and a best buddy to Samuel and Lizzie Snow. He often comes to our Sunday evening church services as well, playing the hand drums along with our worship songs. His heart is so sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and I love watching him blossom as a leader among the other students. Miriam and Rachel are lovely young women too ... they both stop by my classroom in the mornings to see how I'm doing. Miriam has taken to giving me huge bear hugs from behind me, when I'm not looking. I love it =) I enjoyed the opportunity to hang out with both of these girls last Saturday, as we spent the day at the open market doing some Haitian style 'window shopping' (I guess you'd call it 'booth shopping' here) for Christmas. We also bought a few things, but most of what you find here in the city has been imported from the U.S., China, or the D.R. There is almost NOTHING that reflects the real cultural roots of these people. I am saddened to see it ... on the reed mats, next to the colorful piles of fruits, vegetables, rice, and sugar, you see pile after pile of eclectic plastic containers, beat-up boomboxes, sneakers, used jeans, jumbled stacks of silverware ... the list could go on. But the only thing I've found in this city that is even close to a souvenir, is a set of dusty postcards from S.D. supermarket. You ccould tell that no one had even taken a minute's time to glance through them for months, maybe even years. But I bought a dozen of them. Because the series of photographs, showing women and men, from young to old, captured SO well the spirit and life of the Haitian people. I just wish these people had more opportunity to realize and then use their skills to make their OWN crafts and clothing and tools. There is so much untapped potential in this nation ... It's gonna blow the world away when they finally start sharing who they really are with the nations around them. We are missing out!


Shakinah (Miss B) and Lilly, dancing a waltz at Alex's birthday part. I love watching these children dance. Lilly and her siblings along with all the Haitian children at our school and Sunday evening worship services. They have a true gift... and when they are using it to honor God, it is absolutely breathtaking! Miss B is incorporating some dance into our Christmas Rap with the students. I've already been moved, almost to tears, just watching them practice. When they are ready to perform, in just under 3 weeks, their program will be very powerful... Please pray that it will touch all those who come with a new understanding of God's amazing love for them.


Birthday boy number two! Jephte (center) had his 9th birthday on November 17th. The Monday after my bout with Dengue. And by God's grace and healing touch, I was able to celebrate with my class as planned: birthday hats, a birthday game (a round of "Drip, Drip, Drop" - an awesome version of "Duck, Duck, Goose" that involves water... learned it from Pastor Curtiss during our 6 Day Clubs this summer. Thank you, Curtiss!), Strawberry-Orange Tang, and freshly made funnel cakes from Lancaster County! They look pretty happy, don't they? =)



Especially this little guy! Mario, my 6 year-old, is ready to dig into his sugar-coated funnel cake. I got a special cake mix for making these fried treats way back in the beginning of October, when the PA team brought down a duffel with some gifts from my family, Stu, and even a few notes from my old students at LAMS (by the way, thank you to Jared Gingrich and Sasha Carpenter and family for your notes! I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to write back yet ... but look at it this way - now you get to be on my blog - by name! ;). In among the gifts was the funnel cake mix. A piece of the Ephrata Fair experience that I was missing out on and Stu so creatively remedied! I hadn't gotten around to making the cakes for over a month, but when Jephte's birthday rolled around, I knew this would be the perfect use for them. And the kids LOVED every bite! So thank you, Stu - from Miss Laura and ALL of her students ;)

The L.A. Family ...

Mariam and Tamara: two of my favorite middle school girls (of four) at the Liberty Academy.



Kai and Harry: two of my four math students (combined 4th and 5th grades). Because of the different grade levels, the students are working through their books at their own pace. I love the more relaxed teaching atmosphere - more like tutoring than whole classroom instruction. Makes for a nice break in the middle of my day (after our 10 o'clock snack break), as I am quite involved in the instruction in my ESL classroom the rest of the day.


And here are my kiddos: Jephte, Mario, Valens, and Woodeline. All present except Scheydline. I'm not quite sure why she's been absent the past week, as Illioney hasn't been able to get in touch with her uncle. But apparently, he was having trouble coming up with the money to pay for her tuition. I'm praying she'll be able to join us again soon. We miss her!


When our photopier was out of commission for over a week, I had to think outside the box for how to go about teaching English to my students. I had recently received an email from Deni May, the cooperating teacher I worked with during my student teaching in Honduras, way back in 2002. She had suggested that I take time to make books with my students sometime in the the weeks before Christmas, so this was the perfect opportunity to try it out! I printed out a title page and template for each of their 'chapters' about their life and my students set out to write autobiographies =) They LOVED it. We were able to put into practice a lot of the common English phrases and vocabulary that they've learned so far about themselves, their families, their interests, their dreams for the future... And then we enjoyed sharing our books with their book buddies in Miss Lindsay's 3rd grade class. I was very proud of my students and the fine work they did. And I was very thankful that God used Deni May to give me some much needed creativity in the midst of our paperless week of teaching.



Shakinah, giving direction to our students during our second practice for the Christmas Rap that we are preparing for December 19th. This is a production that her father wrote years ago, when Shak was in middle school! But it is a perfect fit for our students and I love watching them practice ... I'm trying to help coordinate the 2nd graders for their part in acting out the Nativity, as well as choreographing some songs for the kids to sing after the Christmas Rap is over (it's a fairly short drama...). Those are two things on my "To Do" list this weekend, along with decorating my classroom for Christmas and writing my next newsletter. I can't believe that it's the end of my 4th month here already! In exactly three weeks, I'll be in the air, flying home to be with my loved ones in Lancaster County ... =)

Thanksgiving at the Liberty Academy

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Lindsay, Rhodes and I were going through some of the school supplies in the storage room behind our old school building. The foot-plus of mud that had been sitting in there for over a month after the flood has finally been removed, but a lot of the supplies that were kept there have been damaged. We were thrilled, however, when we found an entire box of Thanksgiving supplies, that (other than some mold and water damage) were salvageable for use in our classrooms during the coming week! It almost felt like Christmas =) This leather outfit that Mario is showing off was in the box, along with the reed flute he is 'playing.' My students loved seeing all of these items on display on our back table, and it made for the perfect Thanksgiving vocabulary lesson.


Lilly is helping Katia, our cleaning lady, decorate Miss Lindsay's board for Thanksgiving.



She planned a very special day for her students, complete with the Indian headresses and Pilgrim outfits. They came around to all the other classes to introduce themselves and let us experience a little piece of their trip back in time...


Alyssa and Morgan, two Lancaster County girls from the St. Croix YWAM DTS, helped out in Lindsay's classroom for the morning. They had a great time helping the 3rd graders make their hats, eat their food, and play a few rounds of Thanksgiving Bingo. Each student contributed something to the meal, which even included some succotash that Lindsay and I made in the wee hours of the morning (after letting the lima beans soak overnight). I enjoyed trying some of the leftovers after the students went home - at noon ;) I love half-days ...


And this is the 3rd grade Thanksgiving spread: succotash, popcorn, bisuits, chocolate chip cookies (?), a cornmeal muffin, and juice. Pretty starchy, but that is exactly how the Haitians eat most of their meals so it was quite authentic. Lindsay made a point of sharing with her class how special it is that a class of Americans and Haitians could come together for their Thanksgiving meal in 2008, just like the Pilgrims and Indians came together in friendship on that first Thanksgiving so many years ago.

This was definitely something we noticed at our own Thanksgiving feast on Thursday evening. Jan Thompson had set up two tables as part of the decorations, one for displaying the culture and people of the United States and one for the nation of Haiti. It was very special to come together as two nations like this to celebrate the goodness of God, to ALL of his children.

Give Thanks to the Lord

Shelly and Shakinah, ready to eat and lookin' good in their autumn colors =)


The Thanksgiving spread ... we even had enough left over to let each staff member take a plateful of food for their lunch on Friday. God is good.


Lilly and Shelby, one of Jan Thompson's daughters, making their way through the abundance of food on the two tables we had set up. Right now they're dishing up some of Lindsay's homemade stuffing =) Good stuff...

When I was checking my email earlier that morning, the Thompsons arrived on the base and got started with the decorating, which was their contribution for the day. They did an awesome job! But before they got to work, the two girls (Amanda and Shelby) got online to check their facebook, myspace, and email accounts. As I chatted with them, I found out that they had not been on the internet for over two months! The city where they are currently living and working for YWAM, Gonaives, was the hardest hit from the hurricanes that ripped through Haiti this fall. They informed me that the electricity in the city had just come on TWO days before Thanksgiving, after a total of 9 months without it! Wow ... that put things into perspective for me on this day of giving thanks. I have been so easily frustrated in the past few weeks by the little things that are not going right or not working yet, ie. photocopiers without toner, electricity that is only on for 5 hours a day (the norm now), internet cables that haven't been wired to our apartments YET, even though it's been on the "To Do" list since the flood in early September... But when I think about those who have so much less than me, and realize that in the big scheme of things, I have SO much to be thankful for, it really puts me in my place. Amanda and Shelby were thrilled beyond belief just to be online, finally reconnecting with their friends around the world. And here I was, wishing I didn't have to walk down to the computer lab every day to be on the internet... God, teach us to count our blessings. Help us to remember that we have nothing 'coming to us' that doesn't come directly from your hand. You are Good.


Shakinah and me, with our stomachs full of good food. We saved the desserts for our movie, but boy, were they ever worth the wait! Pumpkin pie, pecan pie, flan, Oh's cereal bars ... I was very happy with how the pies turned out. Even Lindsay and Shakinah, who don't usually like pumpkin pie, enjoyed eating it! That made me feel good =) Mom, your recipe is awesome!


Now THIS brought back good memories... Our family always pulls out jigsaw puzzles after the Thanksgiving meal. They are the perfect thing for spawning good fellowship and conversation. Here I am working with Jacob, the youngest of the Thompson family. He's a real talker, but it was fun to chat with him and hear him talk about some of his dreams and hopes for the future.
We only got the edge pieces together before it was time for the movie, but it didn't really matter. I just enjoyed the process of piecing together a puzzle again ;)

Preparing for the Feast...

I spent most of my Thanksgiving afternoon making the crusts and carefully mixing the spicy filling for 5 delicious pumpkin pies. Lilly, our resident baking apprentice, was my helper for the day. She has learned how to make a lot of other baked goods from assisting Lindsay in her baking projects each weekend, but pies were a new item on her list. And she did so well! It was a lot of fun teaching her how to make them ... it brought back so many memories of the days when my own mother taught me how to do it. =)

The biggest challenge was the lack of real temperature gauges on our ovens. My two pies that were baking in Rhodes' oven took just over an hour - and they almost burnt before I got there! The 5th pie that I made was baking in our oven during the actual Thanksgiving meal - I planned to check on it around 6:15. But the meal took much longer than I thought it would, and I completely lost track of time! I glanced at my watch at 7pm and suddenly remembered my pie ... with visions of smoke pouring from our small gas oven, I raced back to our apartment, flung open the door, and was greeted only with the delicious aroma of pumpkin pie! As I opened the oven door, I saw the best of my 5 pies looking back at me. So last night, after our long day of shopping in Port-au-Prince, we enjoyed eating yet more pumpkin pie. We even got to share some of it with Jude and Philipson (two of the guys on staff here), who were visiting us at the time. I love hosting people and pumpkin pies make that so much easier ... ;)


Shak, busy preparing a tasty fruit and veggie salad for our dinner. I think that the number one thing I miss about food in the states is the easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables... My students made a small Thanksgiving bulletin board this past week - they each created several different kinds of fruit and veggies from construction paper (this was our vocabulary for the week as well) and then on each one, wrote something they are thankful for. One of mine read, "Fresh Fruit." I can't wait to enjoy the riches of Lancaster County produce next summer when I return home!


Freeman Nettles was busy most of the morning making this creative barbecue pit from cement block and then cooking four juicy pork roasts. I haven't asked him what spices and seasonings he used on it, but the meat was amazing... And I was surprised to find a platter full of roast turkey at our Thanksgiving table as well! Apparently Shelly and Freeman had one in their freezer that they didn't have the opportunity to cook yet for their family, so that meant that our entire YWAM family got to enjoy some real turkey for our evening feast! That made my day =)


Ingvild make several batches of dinner rolls to go along with the many other dishes that were a part of our feast. Faince (one of our kitchen staff) even made a large pot of rice, for the Haitians who don't take as much to the American fare as those of us who eat it every year ... It was so fun pulling together like this as a YWAM base and seeing how everyone contributed in one way or another to make the evening so special. The women did the majority of the baking, and the men were put on kitchen clean-up afterwards. The Thompson family (on staff in Gonaives) did an incredible job transforming the cafeteria with various decorations from families and classrooms here on the base. And our evening ended with a special showing of Wall-E, which Kristian Snow set up for us in the open air of the cafeteria.


Lindsay and Me, dressed and ready to go enjoy some good eats! We were finishing up our last project of mixing up some teas for everyone to drink with their meal. We recruited the help of some of the kids to carry all of our food to the cafeteria, and then ... the feasting began!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It has been ages since I last posted on here... The month of November is almost over. I've completed my 8th week of teaching at the Liberty Academy (though it was a short one, since we observe the Thanksgiving holiday). The weather has actually begun to cool off a little bit too! Enough for me to want jeans and a long-sleeve shirt in the evenings when I come to dinner...

I am feeling very nostalgic these days. Thinking about all of my family and friends who will be gathering around their turkey feasts tomorrow... knowing that I'll soon be SEEING those family and friends, when I fly home on December 20th. Only 24 days away! Today was slightly overcast and the breeze that started to blow last Thursday, bringing with it a cold front that has lasted nearly a week already, was finally starting to ebb. But I spent my afternoon hours in our small apartment, doors propped open, baking 3 dozen yum-yum cupcakes for our November birthday night celebration tonight. I was listening to music on my laptop (thanks to Stu, I now have two batteries that I can trade back and forth when the electricity isn't being very reliable - which is MOST of the time!), feeling very festive and more than ready to celebrate the Christmas season. I think that living in the tropics makes me crave the sights and sounds (and smells) of Christmas. Shakinah has been wanting to watch Christmas movies for over 3 weeks now... we especially love seeing the snowy landscapes and all the scrumptious food...

But tomorrow, we get to enjoy a feast of our own, here in St. Marc, Haiti! The women of the base plan and serve a full-fledged Thanksgiving dinner every year for the staff. I'm in charge of the pumpkin pies - my favorite! So I spent the last few days rounding up the ingredients and supplies... whole wheat flour from Port-au-Prince, so I can make my mom's delicious pie crusts; canned pumpkin from Ingvild Snow, which she had imported from the states; molasses, brown sugar ... I am just hoping that with our fickle gas-oven, I'll be able to produce something close to what I love eating so much at home. I decided to make four pies. That way I can enjoy eating the leftovers for breakfast =)

And on Friday, we also have a vacation day from school. So Lindsay, Shakinah, Rhodes and I are taking the day to enjoy some Christmas shopping in Port-au-Prince. I guess you can get in on the Black Friday rush even here in Haiti. Though I don't think we'll be able to get any discounts... unless we use our bartering skills! Which I've never been very good at.

There has been a lot going on in the past several weeks. I guess that's why I haven't found the time to write much on here recently. I came down with a bad case of Dengue Fever, but by God's grace, and due to many of your prayers, I was only down for two days! I couldn't believe how quickly my body was healed from the rash, fever, and muscle aches. And I knew it could've been much worse, especially after hearing stories from other friends and family who've had bouts of it in the past. Praise God for his healing touch. All told, I only missed half a day of school from it!

Our base has finally been coming back to life as well, with the Nettle's and the Georges' returning from their two month stays in the states. It has been so good having them with us again... it gives us even more reason to celebrate and give thanks tomorrow. =) AND, I have my camera back again (which I lent to Peterson and Lucy Georges during their trip), so that's another reason I'm finally posting on here. I actually have pictures to share again!

I think they'll be coming in another installment, since I need to get back to my apartment to get the cupcakes so I'll be ready for our birthday night at 7. Maybe in the midst of baking my 4 pumpkin pies tomorrow morning, I can post some of them.

Until then, I hope you all enjoy some very special time with family and friends tomorrow, remembering to thank our God for ALL the blessings he so richly pours out on us. Deserving or undeserving as we may be. God bless you!

a brief escape from reality

Last weekend was Rhodes and Rodney's wedding anniversary. It was also the only weekend that Jay and Daryl were here in Haiti, and thus our only chance to take them to the beach. We wanted to take them to Club Indigo, a fairly pricey but absolutely BEAUTIFUL (tre bel, as they would say here in Haiti) beach resort a short 45 minute drive from here. It was a fun day. Other than the bumpy ride in the back of the pick-up truck ... we had 5 adults and three kids back there, with only some beach towels and an old tire for padding and protection from the rutted roads. But we survied the ride (which ended up being nearly 2 hours on the way there, because we had tried a handful of 'cheaper' beaches first, just to find out that they were privately run, devoid of sand, or full of garbage) and we were MORE than ready to jump in the ocean and cool off when we finally pulled into the parking lot at Club Indigo.

You could tell right away that it was a pretty ritzy place. The parking lot was full of shiny white UN vehicles, and the front gate was guarded by a gentleman in uniform (and with a gun). As soon as we walked into the club, we felt like we'd left the country of Haiti behind us and walked into some other-wordly experience. It was a treat for one day, but the experience definitely left us wondering how many of Haiti's poor even know such a place exists ...


Shakinah and the Gephart kids, warding off the sun's bright rays during our long, dusty ride to the beach. At one point, when we hit a speed bump that Rodney failed to see, or slow down for, Levi (in blue) and I nearly flew OUT of the truck! Thankfully the direction of our driving threw us forward, and not back, so we landed on top of Lindsay, Daryl and Jay, rather than on the road.



One beauty showing off another. We were so glad that Rhodes and Rodney could get away for a day with their family. After recently finishing and moving into their new house here on the base, they more than deserved the time off.



This is just a glimpse of some of the extravagance of Club Indigo. The pool was amazing, and it led right up to the beach. The resort also held an open air theater, an expansive dining area (where we enjoyed a scrumptious mid-day meal!), and hotel accomodations. Visiting this place, after living for 3 months among the lower class of St. Marc, was such a shock to the system. Most of the visitors here were from the upper elite of Haitian society (many of French descent), visitors from other countries, or UN soldiers. Or poor misisonaries that needed a weekend away from the harsh realities of life after the flood =)


Daryl and Jay enjoyed playing some volleyball with some of the men on the beach before our 1 o'clock dinner on the patio.


And here we are on the ride home. Weary and sun-burnt, but happy =)

things are finally back to normal...

This Thursday, after our staff meeting, a bunch of the guys started kicking a soccer ball around on the newly cleared 'mud quad' in the middle of our base. It has been exactly two months since the rains of Hurricane Hanna started falling on our tin roofs. And while there are still some piles of dirt around the fringes of the base (and one still blocking the back door to the sanctuary), the central hub of this base looks almost back to normal! The grass is beginning to green things up and the sidewalks are cleared ... It does my heart so much good to see it. I sensed a renewed excitement and passion among the staff this weekend. I think it started during that soccer scrimmage - it actually reminded me a bit of the scene on "Lost" when the survivors decided to build a golf course for themselves on the island. For two months, we've been working so hard to dig out from the mud and to bring aid to the flood victims of St. Marc and surrounding communities. And it has completely worn us out. We've almost forgotten how to relax, take it easy, and have fun! But thankfully, that is changing.



Even life on the street outside of our base is getting back to normal. The 'machin yo' (vehicles) are up and running again, the vendors are busy selling their goods, and the streets are once again turning to dust.


A view of the newly landscaped base - thanks to the Ohio team that came this past Saturday to help out with the surveying process. The ground is now level with the sidewalks, and it is raised higher as you walk towards the cafeteria - hopefully this will prevent the sitting water that always bred mosquitoes in front of the dining area!



Now that the school year is getting under way as well, and lesson plans and grading papers are becoming more routine, Shakinah is finally finding the time to go out on the streets and talk with the children of St. Marc - something she's been praying about since she first set foot on the base on September 8th. This picture was taken last Saturday afternoon - Patrick (one of our staff members) accompanied her, to provide 'protection' and translation =) The two of them also invited a lot of new children and families to come to the base for Kid's Church on Sunday afternoon and for the Family Night service at 6 o'clock. And many of them did! We had a full house this past week, and one of the best worship services yet since I've been here. God's Spirit was definitely present and we left the service feeling both challenged and encouraged.

Terry spoke about the importance of maintenance, in both our physical and our spiritual lives. He shared from the parable of the 10 virgins and challenged us to look around at our lives, our homes, our streets, our places of work ... to see what state they are in. If we are living in a state of disarray and unpreparedness, that is also a reflection of the state of our hearts. We need to get our spiritual lives back on track if we want to see any kind of change in our lives or the lives of those around us.


A beautiful mother and child who live along the main street by the water's edge, just outside the gate of our base.



Even the zipline is fixed! This was one of many small, yet significant 'fix-up' jobs that Daryl and Jay did on the base while they were here. It brought much joy to the missionary kids, who LOVE playing with this thing ... Another 'little fix-up' job was putting up real basketball nets on the basketball hoops in the arena. The middle schoolers had more fun out there this week than I've ever seen them have before. The nets gave them dignity and made them feel like REALLY playing. When they put their minds to it, they're actually quite good =)

Miss Lindsay's 3rd grade class

Yesterday Lindsay went along to Port so she could spend some final hours with Daryl and Jay before they flew back to the states. That meant her class was without a teacher ... so I got to teach 10 children yesterday, instead of my usual 5! It made for a fun day, as we were able to buddy up and do a lot of fun activities that helped my students immensely, both to HEAR good English being spoken and to practice their own English conversational skills. But it was quite the day ... especially with Miss B gone right now (she's at home in CA for her grandfather's funeral). At one point during the day, I looked next door in Mr. Illioney's room to see what he was doing, to find out that his students were doing some independent work and I was the ONLY teaching in the building! Thankfully the students were well behaved and I didn't have anything to worry about.

I wanted to just post some pictures that Lindsay took of her class last week, so that you can enjoy meeting a few more of the students at the Liberty Academy. And so you can pray for them, by name, if you'd like to...


Stacy, Lilly, Deivee, Ethan (he only comes part-time, when Ingvild isn't homeschooling him), Talannie, and Erwann



Deivee - the little perfectionist, Mr. Bible scholar, and classroom-helper extraordinaire



Stacy - little Miss bookworm ... still needs a bit of humility to accompany her bright intellect =)


Erwann (pronounced like "Aaron" by most of his classmates) - this young man can pull out more dance moves than anyone I know! He and my little Mario can really put the groove on during our Friday morning chapels... He struggles with a learning disability, but has a VERY keen mind.



Daryl got to give Miss Lindsay's class a math lesson and a spelling test while he was here. He was a natural =) And according to Lilly, he tried stealing things from the class prize basket too!

another week, come and gone

This week has me completely worn out. Tonight, we had our girls’ night with the staff and by 8 o’clock, we were all ready to call it quits and go home to our comfortable beds! Today marks the end of our FOURTH week of school! It’s hard to believe that so many days have passed by since we first opened our doors on October 6… It’s been a good week, though very draining. I feel like I’m finally making some academic headway with my kids, now that I’m figuring out how to work with the varied age and ability levels in my classroom. And I think that my students are figuring out our routines, despite the constant language barrier. I thank God every day for my dear little Woodeline, the 5^th grader in my group of 5 students, as she serves as my translator off and on throughout the day. I am trying to do most of the teaching in straight English, but when I’m telling a story, teaching a Bible lesson, or trying explain the meaning of a new word or idea, her Creole translating forms a vital bridge for my students to actually comprehend what’s going on. Good listening skills are hard to come by in our classrooms right now. It seems to be a very pervasive problem – one that has deep cultural and spiritual roots in this nation. Last week, during our time of prayer for girls’ night, Rhodes shared a scripture passage from Isaiah that God had put on her heart to be praying over her group of preschoolers (who, big surprise … don’t know how to listen). The passage describes a people who have worshiped idols for much of their life, becoming LIKE those idols – having eyes, but not being able to see, having ears, but not being able to hear. I can’t tell you how frustrating, discouraging, and even angering it can become to try teaching and explaining things to a group of kids whose eyes are glazed over, whose heads are turned every which way, whose hands are continually playing with something, and who don’t even begin to grasp the idea of reading or following directions. Even in week four of school, I have children who don’t know to keep their mouth shut when the teacher is talking, who don’t know how to wait their turn to do or say something, who don’t know how to do a worksheet … I gave my two youngest boys a worksheet to help review their colors this past Monday, for their morning work. It was a worksheet they had done once before, but struggled with, so I thought it would be a fun one for them to repeat, perhaps with more success. It had about 6 rows of little fish, each one with a two-color pattern going on. Blue, green, blue, green, blue, green, etc. Or orange, purple, orange, purple … I helped them do the first row just to get them started, and I could tell they remembered doing the sheet. But by the time I got back to check on their progress, I saw two worksheets that were covered with a rainbow of colored fish. No rhyme or reason to anything they had done! And they knew it. I asked them why they didn’t follow the directions, but they didn’t seem to comprehend my question (even with the translation). Honestly, I think these children just like doing their own thing and they don’t know what it means to do what is asked of them, to follow someone else’s lead or guidance. This isn’t true all the time, but it certainly seems to be the norm. And not just with the children. I see it all around us. It really seems to be a cultural and spiritual stronghold … It reminds me of some of the reading I did before coming down here. On the history of this nation, and specifically the history of education. So much of the Haitian population is uneducated, and those who are have been educated in a system that only cares about rote memorization and drill & practice. The people are taught to regurgitate information, but never to think for themselves. And honestly, many of the upper class, the elite who rule this nation, like it that way. Makes the masses easier to control. Keep the people in ignorance, and they won’t cause trouble, right? But this also means that they will never contribute anything of value to their nation either! It’s a problem that goes so much further than the four walls of a classroom…

So I just ask you to pray. Please pray for wisdom for me, and for all the other teachers here at the Liberty Academy. That we would know how to battle this ‘deafness’ of mind and heart that we face day in and day out with our students. It can be very disheartening. Also, please pray for God to open the ears and the eyes of the people all across this nation – that they will no longer be bound by fear and ignorance. Fear of death (stemming from the voodoo religion), fear of generational curses, and ignorance of God’s truth and the freedom he longs to bring to them!

We had our first meeting with the parents after school today – in the midst of a downpour. TIH (this is Haiti). I think it went well, but it was hard to tell, as Illioney conducted it entirely in Creole. I guess there were too many parents there whose English wasn’t quite up to par… thus the challenge we face in trying to help our children learn the English language. Many of them aren’t even hearing it at home! But one of the things he really wanted to bring home to these parents was the importance of their relationship with their children. Especially their words and their discipline. We’ve been hearing many stories from our kids in the last several weeks – some that really break our hearts. I think that most of the children at the Liberty Academy have at least one immediate family member (for many, it is a parent!) living in the states. And you can tell they are grieving this loss every day, whether their young minds and hearts would recognize it or not. I think most of the behavior problems I see among these students stem from this brokenness in the homes. Many of these young children haven’t seen their mother (or father) for a year or more! Sometimes it is only a few months, but that is not much better! During the second week of school, many of Mr. Illioney’s middle school students started opening up to him about some of these things, and he could see the sharp pain in their eyes, in their countenance… the next week, Miss B’s (Shakinah) class of 3 boys ended up crying and praying for over an hour, after a Bible lesson about God’s promises sparked some of the pain and hopelessness they felt in not having parents that were present to love, affirm and guide them into adulthood. Of my five students, one has neither of his parents at home (they both work in Miami), one lives with her grandmother, and one has to say goodbye to her mom every year because she works in New York City. My heart grieves for them! They are a fatherless and motherless generation who need to experience the love that God has for them, because they certainly aren’t finding it in the home.

Last week, as I was praying about this problem, and specifically for my students, God led me to pick up a book by Walter Wangerin Jr. off the bookshelf here at the Nettles’ home (where we’re currently housesitting). It was called Ragman, and it was a collection of short stories – the first of which is a VERY powerful metaphor of the transformation that Christ wants to bring to the lives of his children. I was in tears as I read it, and I knew why God nudged me to pick it up. Our students NEEDED to hear this. So I talked to Illioney about it, and the very next day, we started our school day with some story time in Miss B’s room. I read the story and Mr. Illioney translated. It was powerful! We could see God speaking directly to the students through the words of this story, and following the story, we spent some time in prayer together. The prayers that some of those kids prayed … they took my breath away and left me weeping. For the pain they’ve had to experience in their young lives. For the ‘hope and a future’ that so many of them don’t think belongs to them… Eli, one of my guitar students, prayed first. And I was so glad he did. He’s a leader among the students. A quiet leader, but a leader none the less. He told God, “This story is so beautiful. Thank you for letting me hear this story. I want so much to be a part of it – it was just like … heaven! Please God, let me be in this story. Amen.” Oh God, please bring healing to this nation. Please bring healing to the aching hearts of these young students. Please use us to show them just how much you love them.

One of my little girls, Scheydline, spent all of her 45 minute PE class the other week crying on my shoulder. And not merely crying, she was sobbing, her entire body shaking uncontrollably as I held her on my lap in the purple bean bag in the back of my room. It took her until nearly 3pm to finally tell me why she was so sad (she hadn’t been herself all day, so I knew something was bothering her). It was because of her mom. And her dad. She told me that she never heard them tell her that they loved her. And when I tried encouraging her to start by loving THEM and telling THEM that she loves them, and seeing if God uses her to awaken THEIR hearts to his love, she started sobbing all the more. And then she told me that her mom wasn’t even home. She was in New York City and the dear little girl missed her terribly. So I told her that maybe God brought me here this year to be her mommy, and that she can always come to me for a hug or to cry on my shoulder when she needs to. She’s already taken me up on the offer to cry on me (this Tuesday again, because she apparently didn’t have any food to bring with her for lunch and her stomach hurt, and then again just this morning, because she felt badly about her spelling test). And I get hugs from her many times a day. They do me a lot of good too =)

But I beg of you to join me in praying for the lives of these children. That they would grow to understand God’s love for them, no matter what difficulties and pains life brings their way. And that God would use this school year to bring transformation to their little hearts and souls. My heart is often very heavy when I come to the end of a day. It fits in well with the wilted feeling I have after surviving six hours plus in the heat of our classrooms… but I know that the fatigue I am experiencing every day is just part of the package – part of the battle we’re engaged in for the lives of these young people. A battle for the future of a nation. A battle that will not fight itself. We MUST engage. We must get in there and do some warfare – with our prayers, with our determination to walk alongside these students and love them, encourage them, and open their minds to what God wants for them to see and learn. It’s the battle of a lifetime, and despite how often I feel like giving up and giving in, I know that I can’t. So I also ask that you pray for me. Please pray for strength to stand against the spirit of apathy and ignorance that surrounds us here in Haiti. Please pray for Godly wisdom – that I would NEVER rely on my own wisdom as I teach and interact with my students. And please pray for a complete and daily surrender of my will to God. Only HE can do what needs to be done. Only HE can bring the victory.