Sak Pase: Adventures in the Land of Ayiti

A Time for Change

2009-06-14T15:19:00.001-07:00

The last several days have been FULL of activity. Graduation. Goodbyes. Packing up and organizing my classroom. Cleaning our dusty apartment from top to bottom. In the midst of all this activity, I’ve also been trying to wrap my mind around the changes that are to come. I feel like I’m living in a dream world. As much as I long to come home, to see my friends and family, to finally be with Stu again … I’ve been looking forward to it for so long that it hardly seems real. And I am beginning to realize just how much I will miss the routines and relationships I’ve established on the base here in St. Marc. Change is good, and I’m more than ready for it. But it is never easy…

As my time here in Haiti comes to a close, I’ve been trying to gear myself up for the transition home. But not to life as I knew it. This coming year holds so many changes, I sometimes wonder if God sent me to Haiti just to prepare me for them. ;) Over my two shorts months of summer (which will only feel like a continuation of the YEAR of summer I’ve just lived through), I’ll be preparing for my wedding in September, setting up our new home, transitioning into my new position at the Millersville International House, and gradually taking on a new leadership role at my home church.

But after 6 years of teaching (and being single) I am more than ready for these changes. And with all the new lessons and experiences from this past year (the new wine that God has poured into my life), I feel ready to embrace these changes as the new wineskin that God has provided to pour them into.

I’d really appreciate your prayers as I make this transition. The journey is not over yet! Please pray that God would give me the words to speak as I share about my time living and serving here in St. Marc. As I share about God’s vision for the Liberty Academy and the need for new teachers, funds to complete the new building, supplies, etc. And please pray that my life would reflect the changes that these months of living in Haiti have had one me. That I will continue to walk in step with the Spirit and seek God’s direction as my life path takes these new turns.

Thank you for partnering with me in this journey. I look forward to staying in touch, even after I return home to the states. Blogging has been a wonderful way for me to process my experiences, and share them with those around me. And I have a feeling it will continue, in some form, as I transition into my ministry at the international house. God bless you all, and thanks for being a blessing!

I'm coming home tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

school picture day!

2009-06-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

I'm going to just post our school pictures for now, because the internet connection on the base has been pretty sketchy the last several weeks. It is taking forEVER for me to upload pictures ... But I have more on the way. I'll try to post them after I get home.

But as I write this, our students are all graduated, goodbyes have been said, and my room is packed up. As my kids kept saying all of last week, "So sad..." And yet, I know God has amazing things in store for these children. Not just for the summer and coming school year, but for the rest of their lives! I look forward to seeing where God takes them, as they allow him to grow and water the seeds that have been planted in their hearts.

Praise God for an amazing school year! It was truly a year of new beginnings, flood and all =)

My students looked so sharp when they walked in on Friday morning, all ready for their school pictures... I couldn't resist taking some of my own shots. This one is in front of the tree we made to hang our fruits of the Spirit on, after we learned about each one.

Their favorite pose - "Peace, man!"

This is where my students would rush every morning, to check on the growth of their little sunflower plants. As you can see, they are doing quite well! I'm hoping they'll be in full bloom come September...

Valens (also goes by Fabrice) Fadael, lookin' cool =)

And my beautiful princess - Christelle Romelus

And my favorite little Haitian boy - Mario Dupiton. His smile just melts my heart...

Enjoying a good laugh, and warming up their smiling muscles for the upcoming pictures =)

Stacy and Christelle - two little girls that have a special bond of friendship (and pain). They both have missing parent figures who have left a big void in their heart...

Lovely ladies in yellow dresses (Abigail - Illioney's daughter, and Lillyana Gephart)

Lilly and Tamarah, waiting for their turn

Deivee LeFevre - one of Lindz's favorite boys =) Who I get to read with twice a week!

Goofy 3rd grade boys - Ethan Paul and Alex Foun

Nori - this little boy has the cutest smile in the whole school...

The Liberty Academy teachers. You can tell it's the end of a long school year ;)

Miss Lindsay's amazing group of 3rd graders - her first and best class ever

Miss Esther and the boys (and Woodeline ;) - the 4th and 5th grade class

Miss Laura's ESL class. Quite the studious bunch...

Or not so studious ;)

Mrs. Rhodes and her preschoolers - they are quite the handful!

Mr. Claudy and his 2nd graders (plus Levi, who is in 1st grade)

And last but not least, Mr. Illioney's class. Our school wouldn't be the same without them...

And here is the whole school - Liberty Academy, 2008-2009

Cap Haitien

2009-05-24T16:12:00.001-07:00

Haitian Flag Day is observed on May 18th, and this year, that happened to fall on a Monday. And of course, that means ... a 3 day weekend! Illioney was hoping to do something special with all of the teachers before the close of the school year, and several of us had been talking about how much we'd like to travel to the north coast of Haiti to see the Citadelle... so put all these things together, and you have an amazing three-day road trip with a bunch of teachers ;) What could be better?!

The drive to Cap Haitien was amazing ... I saw a side of Haiti I never knew existed before. Lush green forests, little mountain villages nestled away amongst large Neem and mango trees... the air was fresh and cool, and there was NO DUST! It was a welcome break for my eyes (even though I still can't wear my contacts ... I've resigned myself to wearing glasses until I get home and have a good eye check-up).

Our white Toyota truck, which we borrowed from a fellow mission in Montrouis, held up very well on the winding, pot-holed roads. But the bumps and bangs must've worn a few bolts loose, because we nearly lost our back bumper at the top of one of the mountains. Thankfully, with the help of a young boy who was sitting on the side of the road, we got some wire that held us together for the remainder of our drive. And Illioney got the vehicle repaired in Cap before our return trip.

We left at daybreak (about 5 am) on Saturday morning so that we could make it here by early afternoon: the historic site of the Palace Sans Souci and the Henri Cristoph's renowned fortrees, the Citadelle. There was a big event commemorating 27 years of AIDS work in Haiti, which drew quite a crowd, but by American standards, it was nothing. We had no lines to wait in and plenty of horses and guides at our disposal. =)

We decided to save some money and just get one horse for the ride up and down the mountain. So we took turns riding him. His name was "Zazookoo " (spelling?), and he was such a gentle creature... It's been so long since I've ridden on horseback, and I loved every minute of it! Although, coming down the mountain, when the young boys kept whipping the poor beast to get him moving, I told them, "Oh, it's quite alright. I think he's going fast enough, isn't he?" ;) I thought he was ... I prayed my way down the mountain, hoping that he wouldn't lose his footing.

Esther, enjoying her turn - and taking pictures too!

This is why I was nervous about the ride down the mountain ... We came across this accident on our way up to the Citadelle, and it was just getting cleaned up when we hiked down. By the time we made it to our truck, the smashed truck arrived at the trail's entrance, in tow behind another vehicle. Thankfully no one was injured. And seeing how precariously this truck was perched on the edge of the trail, we could tell that God's hand of protection had definitely been on them...

Rachel, enjoying the company of our young horse-lads. They were so much fun to talk to - the older of the two spoke four different languages! So he and I enjoyed conversing in both English and Spanish (with a little Kreyol thrown in). I think they enjoyed us as well. They usually make just one-trip up the mountain, on a good day. And it only cost us about $1o US.

A breath-taking view, mid-way up the mountain.

And we made it! Thankfully, we had quite a bit of cloud-cover all day (which later turned to heavy fog, and then rain), so none of us got very dehydrated or sunburnt on the long hike.

But we still needed a breather once we reached the top. Here's the whole gang: Esther, Rachel, me, Lindsay, Mr. Claudy, Samson (friend of Illioney's), and Illioney St. Fleur - our school director

When we entered the Citadelle, we were greeted by swarms of school students who were visiting on some kind of field trip. It looked like fun (for the students), although I'm not too sure how the teachers were handling it ... I was glad to be there on a teachers-only trip ;)

Our tour guide, giving us an overview of the history of the Citadelle. It was a bit hard to understand him, but he did his job well.

Playing on the old cannons ;) I can only imagine the man-power it took to haul all of these cannons and cannonballs up the steep mountain paths ... not to mention all the rocks and cement for constructing the actual fortress! It truly is a marvel. And it was never used. Built shortly after Haiti's fight for independence against the French, in 1804, it was to be a defense and protection against further attack. Which never came. I won't bore you with further details, but if you're interested in reading more of the Haitian history, you can find it easily on the interet somewhere ;)

Resting at the top. This is supposedly the walkway where Henri Cristophe ordered his soldiers to march, march, march, until they wore out and some fell to their deaths, many feet below. Don't know if that's true or just a long-standing tale, but we heard it from several sources ...

But we couldn't resist getting close to the edge ;)

It was an awesome place for a photo shoot too ...

And I loved the mountains of rusting cannonballs!

Showing off our brute strength =) I guess that's what you get after 1o months of floods, heat, mosquitoes, and teaching ...

Some of them wouldn't budge.

We slept SO well in our hotel that night. And on Sunday morning, we enjoyed a simple breakfast of mangoes and leftover banana bread before heading off to church. We attended a small church just outside Cap Haitien, where Illioney's friend, Matthew, was pastor. The worship was wonderful (many familiar hymns and choruses, sung in French and Kreyol) and Claudy shared a very powerful message based on the story of David and Goliath. As frustrated as I've been with my lack of Kreyol-knowledge, I think I understood the majority of the sermon that morning! But I think a lot of that was God - the message spoke directly to a lot of things I'm facing right now, and I needed to hear it.

Matthew invited us over for lunch afterwards, but before we knew it, all the kids from the church were coming along too! AND all the chairs! So we piled in, Haitian style, and once again, prayed our way to our destination. When we arrived at his house, the kids all went their separate ways. And we headed on to his house...

Posing for a photo shoot in Matthew's banana tree 'garden' - which he was very proud of =)

And relaxing under the mango tree while dinner was prepared. Here you see Matthew on the far right, and then a blind gentleman from his congregation, who is an AMAZING accordian player! Illioney and Claudy enjoyed showing off some of their skills on it as well, but then we were treated to a mini concert from our new friend - mostly old hymns that he had learned from his years of attending church and meeting missionaries. He played "Majesty" (one of the first worship songs to came out in the 80's) at one point, and got such a kick out of it when we all started humming along. When he finished playing it, he told us that ALL the missionaries he meets know that song. So he calls it his missionary song ;)

Rachel and Lindz, with one of Matthew's friends, killing time before lunch ;)

And this is our distinguished group of teachers (minus Rhodes, who was in the D.R. at the time, with the DTS students).

Lindsay was happy to meet and hold yet another Haitian baby, before we left Matthew's neighborhood. What a cutie ... (take your pick ;)

A monument commemorating the war of independence, in downtown Cap.

A view of the wild and windy north coast of Haiti.

After church, we drove up to Labadie - a well-known beach resort on the outskirts of the city. We were sad to find out that the actual beach-front was closed for a year, due to renovations. But we did manage to hire out this small boat to take us on a little tour of the area.

Part of the Labadie beach resort - NOT what you'd expect to see in Haiti!

Nor this!

We had so much fun spending this weekend with Illioney. He's been under so much stress and spiritual attack this year, on many fronts. And it just did our hearts good to see him having so much fun - laughing, posing for pictures, being goofy, hanging out with his buddies ... It was a good way to bring closure to our year together.

And the beautiful blue-green water made for some fun pictures too ;)

Haitian sisters - Lindz and Laura (both LJH's ... but not for long!)

And we made it back to shore.

A view of our hotel, early Monday morning. If you look closely, you can see me off in the distance, having my quiet time (with a view). ;)

And I also got to see this - children making their way downtown for a Haitian Flag Day parade.

Rachel and I rode in the back of the pick-up for most of our drive back to St. Marc. We saw some amazing views and enjoyed the fresh mountain air. And got a little sun-burnt ...

And we even bore the Haitian flag (bandana style) for the world to see ;)

God, thank you for all these amazing opportunities to travel during my short year in Haiti. To see so many parts of this rich, yet imoverished nation. We pray that you would continue to fulfill the destiny of this people...

As we read in Zechariah 8:13 (the verse God gave to YWAM Haiti over 15 years ago) - "As you have been an object of cursing among the nations, so I will save you and make you a blessing."

Life in Haiti

2009-05-10T15:32:00.001-07:00

Here are a few random snapshots of life over the past few months. I haven't done too well at keeping you up to date with my life on a day to day basis, so most of my blog entries have been related to travel or other 'big' happenings here in Haiti. Now it's time for the little stuff...

One weekend, I joined Helena (previous teacher at the Liberty Academy) for a short day trip into Port-au-Prince to pick up Miss Susie. She was a teacher at the Liberty Academy last year, and was the reason for my meeting with Illioney last March, which led to me coming to teach this year! It was fun to connect base with her again and to share some stories about her old students (Scheydline and Christelle were both in her class). Here we are enjoying some more than melted raspberry popsicles at the Eagle Market in town. Yum, yum, yum!

And THIS was what I found at the missionary guest house in Port where we picked Susie up! I was in heaven ... I played for a few minutes, as everyone else toured the dining area, and it didn't take long before a small crowd had gathered to listen ;) It has only been by God's grace that I have survived this entire year without having a piano to play. I hardly even think about it most days, but I am VERY excited to play again when I get home!

Lindsay has been putting her hairdressing skills to use here in Haiti. Nothing like free trims =)

Soft pretzels! Not quite Auntie Anne's, but they came close. =)

Mango season is here again! But sadly, Mike is allergic to the oils in the mango skin. So even though he LOVES eating them, and always does, it is never a very pleasant experience =)

Lindsay, swinging away the cares of the day. It was on this swing that God confirmed my call to come and teach here in Haiti. I still prefer the wooden swings (because they don't squeeze your hips so much), but any swing is better than none!

The climbing tree! This is a hot spot for the missionary kids on the base, as well as the location for my Friday afternoon reading with Lilly and April. It sheds its leaves about twice a year, and the last time that happened, I was sitting nearby at the pool ... there was a strong breeze blowing as well, and with the sound of the dry leaves rustling in the background, it almost felt like fall! Minus the 80 degree temperatures ;) And then, within days, the seasons change and it looks like spring as the branches push forth small leaves and then, less than a week later, full-sized ones take their place.

Esther's friend, Tamar, cooked an amazing Haitian dinner for us one Saturday evening. Dodo, her boyfriend, joined us for the meal of fried plantains, boulette (herb-filled meat balls), cooked carrots, red beets, peas, and mac and cheese (our addition) ;) What a treat!

Clayton (our friend from Pella, Illinois) - covered with dust and cement after a long day of work out in the 5th section. This was supposed to be his birthday dinner, and it still was ... but they vehicles had trouble getting them home on time (a usual occurence here in Haiti), so he ate his meal like this =) I guess the food tasted just as good. WE certainly enjoyed it!

Esther and Mark, our resident chefs, preparing Clayton's dinner of egg noodles and beef stroganoff. Mmm mmm ... good =)

Another night of Mark's cooking - this time for HIS birthday! Nothing beats good ol' Italian cooking...

And a fun-filled trip to our favorite beach - Amani. I have yet to experience a more beautiful beach here in Haiti, and it costs less than $3 US for the day. This is one part of life in a 3rd world country that I will definitely miss when I go home!

Mike kept us entertained with his sea shore antics ... playing with hermit crabs, catching and 'eating' lizards, building sandcastles, and the like. It's fun having him around. He's like a little brother to all of us, and we're definitely gonna miss him when he goes back home to Ontario at the end of May =(

Another haircut - this time, for Wes. He was in sore need of one before the DTS left for their outreach in the 5th section.

4 cockroaches and a spider. Our nightly kill. (This is a record, I believe...)

This was what my Valentine's Day package looked like by the time it arrived in St. Marc. The rats enjoyed some of the goodies that my church sent down for me, but at least 2/3 of them were still edible. And they were delicious!

And this is what happens to our bread and rolls when they sit for a few days without refrigeration. When our power goes out for hours on end, it is hard to keep ANYthing from going moldy. At one point, even our margarine was growing mold!

Enjoying a last guitar lesson with Samuel Snow. Now we've moved on to keyboard, and he is doing an amazing job! I'll expect to see him up front leading worship when I visit the base again.

Ah... backrubs =) This was pre-birthday night entertainment. A good ending to a long week.

The masseuses, from left to right: Levi, April, Merlin - DTS student - me, Rachel, and Lilly

And with spring came some new life on the base - rabbits! Ethan, Lilly and April proudly showing off their pets.

And more new life. Stu sent some sunflower seeds down to Haiti with my parents so that I could plant them with my students, as part of our science curriculum. They sprouted within days, which was quite exciting for my students to see (especially as we didn't know how good the soil was...). After a week, they were ready to transplant outside! Sadly, the chickens got to them and we had to plant new seeds. Several times ... but these are now growing happily, and with the help of some tomato wiring that Freeman lent to us, they are on their way to bearing some beautiful, golden sunflowers =)

April and Lilly have birthdays a week apart, in the month of April. And they both turned 9 this year! So they invited the teachers and several other staff over for a little party. And we were supposed to dress up ... so we did!

Lindsay, the Mary Kay lady, is doing make-up for Rhodes, the soccer mom ;)

And here are the birthday girls, Lilly (the cheerleader) and April (the bookworm ;)

It is now rainy season again. I welcome the cloud-cover over our school roof, especially on these hot, sultry afternoons. And even though I don't enjoy sloshing through the mud everywhere I go on the base, I LOVE the rain. The pounding on the tin roofs. The newly-washed leaves and wet soil... and the free sandal-cleaning service on our front stoop ;)

And the fun of carrying umbrellas with us everywhere we go =) This was a Sunday evening just before our community church service.

Gonaives

2009-05-10T09:43:00.001-07:00

At the end of April, the four of us girls were invited to spend a weekend with some missionary friends in the city of Gonaives. Due to a busy weekend in the office, Rachel (far left) couldn't join us for our Jacmel trip, so we were very excited that she could come along this time. It was by far one of the best weekends of my entire stay here in Haiti ...

And this is the family we stayed with -Jan's clan ;)

On the far left, you have Jiffy (I forget his real name, but as you can see, he was nicknamed for a brand of tasty peanut butter!). He has been living with the Thompson family ever since his family lost their home during the flood this past September.

Next is Jan. She is originally from Kansas, and has an AMAZING testimony. I have not met many women who have faced the kind of hardship and tragedy that she has lived through and who have come out so strong on the other side. God is using her to do amazing things here in Haiti ... she is a rock, if I ever met one!

Then we have Jacob - the youngest of Jan's three teenagers. They were all adopted, as a sibling set, when they were quite young. But they've give Jan her share of headaches over the years ;) Jacob is the talker of the family now (though they all have the gift), and he made sure we never had a moment's boredom during our short stay with them.

Shelby - the drama queen, animal lover, artist and poet. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her. She showed me how to use Crest toothpaste to make a simple (but effective) face mask, she shared poetry with me, and even helped me pick out flowers for my wedding!

Amanda/Manda is the oldest of the three. She is much more reserved than the other two, but has a real wild streak in her! She is learning the guitar and hopes to start a worship band that can lead worship in the local park. She was also the daredevil who climbed the tower on top of prayer mountain with me ;)

Last but not least is Donald - family friend, translator, chauffeur, and body guard =) He was a trip. While he was born in Haiti, he spend most of his years living in the Bronx (which his accent quickly gives away!). We had a lot of fun with him, and we especially thankful for his good driving skills when he brought us home through a thunderstorm on Sunday afternoon.

This was a sight that we were not prepared for. Over 6 months after the floodwaters of Hurricane Hanna, this city was still full of mud! Disasters like this take so much manpower and time to clean up ... and he were are at the start of yet another rainy season. God, please spare this city from any major hurricanes this year.

On Saturday morning, the Thompsons gave us a short tour of the city and then brought us to the home of Christopher - a young autistic boy (who is also deaf) that they care for every weekend. They have recently started a ministry to help young children like him who need special care and education, beyond what the Haitian schools can provide. He was such a delight to meet! Full of joy, with a constant grin on his face ... he showed us the little bit of sign language that he's been learning at the deaf school he just started attending this year. But we all felt bad when we had to leave without him - he thought he was coming along, and had already started taking a bucket bath so that he'd be clean and ready to go! You can see him in the orange t-shirt on the far left of this picture =)

These are some the neighborhood children around Christopher's home. This area was one of the hardest hit during the floods and hurricanes. Most of the houses were under water and many had to be rebuilt or dug out after the mud dried.

Rachel and I climb up a hand-made ladder to visit some more friends of the Thompsons. This particular family was still living up on their roof, due to the severe flood-damage to their home. They were also housing several of their friends and family members, totalling 16 people in their small metal-shanty. At the time we visited, several of the young women were fighting off the chicken poxs. Thankfully, most of us had them when we were young, so we were able to visit with them without the fear of becoming infected ourselves.

Shelby and Manda are quite fluent in Kreyol, so they visited with the young women while the rest of us explored the flood damage from the vantage point of the roof.

This included some more exciting ladder-walking. Go, Esther - you're almost there!

At the peak of the flooding, the water level rose to the top of the porch railing of this home. It was over 15 feet in some places ...

Shelby, having some fun with what the flood waters left behind! Jacob found the neck of the guitar as well, which he took with him - he plans to clean it up and create a wall-hanging for his sister Manda on her birthday.

Lindsay brought along some of the Old Navy sandals to give to the families we met. This little girl was in love with her bright blue pair ;)

We then made our way to the prison, where Jan makes weekly visits to the prisoners. This particular day we brought along laundry soap, toilet paper, and sandals to give to them. They were very grateful for the gifts, and enjoyed seeing Jan and her clan (plus visitors). The gentleman to Jan's right in this picture is a pastor from Gonaives who has been imprisoned for over a year now, without any prospects of a court in the near future. He and the other young men in his cell sang a hymn for us in Kreyol before we left. It was beautiful ...

Lindsay and Jiffy handing out new sandals to the men through the prison bars.

After visiting the two cells where the men were being held, we stopped by the women's cell. We were greeted with a wave of steamy, putrid air. It must have been over 100 degrees in these cells - no wonder many of them women had stripped down to almost nothing! And I don't see how they could breathe in that stench every day ... some of us had to step back from the cell door just to keep our breakfast from coming up.

They were a strong group of women though. Many of them in prison simply because they were present when their husbands were arrested, and the police assumed that they might have been accomplices in the crime. When we first set foot in the prison, we heard singing coming from this cell. This led into a time of prayer, which we didn't want to interrupt. So we saved our visit with them until last.

After our visit at each cell, one of us prayed with and for the prisoners. I had the privelege of praying here with the pastor and his group of cell mates. But talk about needing the Spirit to intercede with groans that words cannot express ... how do you pray for a group of inmates who may or may not know God? Who may or may not feel conviction for their crime? Who may or may not even be guilty for that crime? I prayed that God would bring them true justice, and that he would give them strength to face each day, and that he would bless them - even in the dark valleys that they are walking in right now.

As I thought about Jan's faithfulness in visiting these prisoners, it made my heart go out to those who are incarcerated in my own hometown. I don't know many Christians who make a habit of visiting those in prison, as Christ commanded us to - to be quite honest, in the midst of my busy weeks, the thought doesn't even cross my mind! This is something that I hope will change when I come back home again...

After grabbing a bite of lunch and taking a short nap, we headed up to prayer mountain (one of the many large mountains surrounding Gonaives) for a hike. It was a beautiful day, with a strong breeze that kept us from overheating on our intense climb. The Thompson children have made this trip many times, so they led the way =)

A view of the city from our half-way point up the mountain.

And at the top! The young boy on the far right joined us for most of our hike, and he enjoyed posing for pictures as well ;)

Having fun with the late-afternoon sunlight and shadows. The message was common theme among this group, who have many loved ones at home that we miss ...

I joined Manda for a fun climb up to the top of this tower, where we wrote our names in permanent marker for the world to see. Stu's is there as well =) While he wasn't with me in person, he was definitely in my thoughts and prayers all weekend ...

The amazing view from the top!

On the hike up, we ran across some large Aloe-like plants that had become another place for people to leave their mark. We found Jan's name from a year before, when she made this crazy hike on her 40th birthday (her kids' idea!). So I decided to put our names here too ;)

Manda and her new friend - the young boy who joined us for our hike. Here he is having a great time sharing Manda's ipod and listening to her music (though I don't know how much of the lyrics he actually understood!).

After our hike, we came home to an amazing dinner of hot stew. Then, after a movie, we enjoyed some Haitian ice cream sundaes. They were delicious! The girls' faces might look a bit stiff here, due to the face masks we pampered ourselves with that evening ;)

Even Jacob joined in on the fun!

Playing Manda's guitar and having a little time of worship on the Thompson's front porch. Looks like Hurricane Hanna (their dog - found as a puppy during the flood) was doing a little dance to join in on the worship!

We attended church with the Thompsons that morning, and got to hear this group of young orphan boys sing a hymn, accompanied by some awesome dance steps. Jan was invited to share the message, and did a phenomenal job. She is a true mouthpiece for the Lord - I think every person in that church building left with a challenge to walk more closely with God and to become more like Him.

On our way home, we got stuck behind a funeral in the streets of St. Marc. What a way to end our trip =) But it was a wonderful get-away. A weekend full of fun, fellowship, refreshment, exericise, and ministry. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to go!

Easter in Jacmel

2009-04-19T18:03:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Haiti, Mom and Dad! After for waiting over an hour outside of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, I saw my parents walk through the glass doors, luggage in tow, looking like they were ready to go on an African safari =) It was about 4:30 in the afternoon on April 9th. Just the beginning of our adventures...

But I'm glad they were prepared. Because the little white combi (a small bus) that we had 'reserved' for our trip to Jacmel was already full and had left without us. So we made our way to the very Haitian 'bus station' in a somewhat sketchy part of town and proceeded to sit for over an hour until the bus seats were full and the driver willing to leave for our destination.

Just to give some context to our ride - Haitian buses are not FULL until you have 6 people to a row. 2 on a seat, with a 3rd squeezed uncomfortably on the end of each, with half of their bum on the seat and half in the aisle. I was one of the privileged aisle sitters ;)

We were sitting shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip with hot, sweaty Haitians (we were the only blans on the bus, and we definitely stood out...), a random chicken or two, some guy chewing on sugar cane (and spitting the chewed up fiber on the floor of the bus), and to top it all of, I heard a poor little goat bleating away on top of us. He must've been thrown up there with all the luggage.

I always wanted to experience public transportation in Haiti, but had NO idea what it would really feel like. And it wasn't all that bad ... for the three of us young 'uns. But I felt awful for my parents. Yes, they've lived in Africa. And I am so glad they did! But, after a long flight, I'm sure a 4 hour trip in a bus was NOT on their top ten list of things to do. (one of those hours, we were just sitting in heat of the sun, till it set and left us in the dark, noisy chaos of Port au Prince).

By the time we pulled into Jacmel around 10pm that night, we were more than ready to crash in our beds. And all I could say to my parents was, "Well, this is the REAL Haiti." ;)

The three teachers, at the beginning of our much-needed and adventure-filled Easter break. To help keep our minds off the long, uncomfortable bus ride, we tried getting our fellow travelers to join us in some upbeat Kreyol worship songs. But after a round of "Amen, Allelujah, Amen ..." we were singing alone. So we stopped ;) And enjoyed the rest of the time to just talk, attempt short naps on each other's shoulders, and eat leftover pizza from Esther's class party earlier that day. It was quite the trip ...

And these were our 'chauffers.' Amos and his brother - friends of Esther's from Jacmel, when she worked at the YWAM orphanage this past fall. Here, they are trying marshmallow peeps for the first time - the little little green bunny ones ;) I think they liked them too!

And these are the mountains we drove over to get to Jacmel. But on the trip DOWN, we did this in the dark. And the rain. And it felt like we were about to careen over a cliff's edge with almost every twist or turn we made. I think it was a blessing we made the first trip in the dark...

But on the way back, my poor mother got the 'bench' seat right by the open door! She had a great view, but I know she was getting a bit concerned when the two guys hanging on the outside of the door started falling asleep... I guess they were looking out for each other though, because neither one fell off, and she stayed safely seated inside the bus until we pulled into Port au Prince once again.

These were our beds after the long night of travel. But despite their humble appearances, they made us feel like royalty when we crashed onto them close to midnight. Lindz, Esther and I tried draggingours outside to sleep under the stars, but an hour later, it started to rain. So, half-awake, we pulled our wet selves back into this room and slept the rest of the night away.

And in the morning, this is where we found ourselves. The YWAM orphanage of Jacmel. The previous YWAM base in the city was destroyed in the floods and hurricanes this fall, so this house was a new addition. But it was beautiful and perfectly suited for the children and workers who lived there.

We enjoyed meeting the kids, hugging them, playing with them, and taking pictures of them, before we headed out on a morning tour of Jacmel.

Two of the young men in the orphanage, lounging around and looking cool.

The small ones - not too cool yet, and more than eager to hang all over us ;)

The little boy on the right was one of my favorites ... he loved playing hide and seek with me ;) But it was so hard to see how frail his little body was. He was six years old, and hardly looked a day older than 4! His parents, who live in the mountains above Jacmel, were not able to take care of him, so they sent him to the orphanage to receive care and schooling. This was the story of many of the 'orphans' here. Their parents would try to visit occasionally, but I think the children still felt pretty orphaned ...

Lindsay brought along some new Old Navy sandals for the young women here - some orphans and some staff. It felt like Christmas!

They wanted to show off their beautiful feet. =)

And this was the beginning of our walking tour of the city. I LOVED the steep roads and walkways! We didn't really have a map or tour guide to show us around, so we just decided to walk down - towards the ocean =) And we ended up finding some pretty amazing stuff!

Old run-down buildings.

A large, open-air market that was not in use because of Good Friday observances (actually, the whole town felt pretty dead, due to the holiday weekend).

Taking a water break =) Gotta love Haitian water-in-a-bag. It's quite the experience! Kind of like the milk bags we used to get in high school ...

We met up with Esther's friend, Sony, during our walking tour as well. As a local, he told us about a few things we could do or see as well, but we were getting pretty worn out at this point. The tropical sun is quite hot by early April ...

This is Sony, hard at work in his barber shop. We didn't go inside (Esther took this), but I thought you might enjoy peeking in anyway ;)

I loved the colorful buildings of Jacmel. Much less dreary and industrial looking than St. Marc ... Even this Funeral Parlor! Not the color scheme I would come up with for such a place!

And the flowers! Breathtaking. Mom and Dad loved seeing these bouganvilla, which they had seen all over southern Africa when they lived there in the late 70's.

But THIS was, by far, our most exciting discovery of the morning. An old, run-down hotel that overlooked the ocean. We stumbled upon it from the street below, when Lindsay, Esther and I spotted their beautiful tumbled-down gardens. And as we were inspecting the gate, a young college student came along and offered to show us around!

While we were inside with him, the caretaker and his boys stopped by, and he offered to give us a tour of the inside! Technically, I guess this all was 'free.' But we gave the caretaker some goudes before we left, as a thank you for his time and generosity in opening up the place to us. What a treat!

The view from below.

And from the stone staircase...

And the stone bridge ...

A random turkey that I heard gobbling away in the garden when we were walking around the hotel. I didn't think it could be really be a turkey, but there he was! Proud as anything, walking around as if he owned the place =) Maybe he did ... apparently, the previous owner died within the four walls of the hotel, and no one wants to buy it now because they believe the place is haunted by a zombie. Such a shame...

Resting on an awesome green chair that we found. Gotta love digital camera technology...

And the view from the hotel of the porch. Amazing!

Walking from the main road, back towards the YWAM house.

Enjoying lunch at Se Sa Net - the little internet cafe that Lubens opened about a year ago. He is currently the director of YWAM Jacmel. He and his wife, Andie, run the orphanage as well.

After our quick lunch, Lubens drove my parents and me and Lindz to our final destination - the Hotel Cyvadier beach resort! It was so exciting to finally settle in to our rooms, take naps, read books, walk down by the beach ...

Relax by the pool ...

Hike around the bay ...

Walk up gated staircases ...

And pose for pictures =)

And play with fun pieces of fan coral ...

We also enjoyed writing our names in the sand. =) Mom and dad were celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary, so they went first...

And Stu and I were celebrating the one year anniversary of our first date, so we went next ;)

And Lindz and Daryl were celebrating 11 months =)

It was such a blessing to have my cell phone along, even though the connection was awful ... Kristine, David, Melissa (my siblings and my brother's girlfriend) and Stu were all together in the windy city of Chicago over Easter, so it was fun to stay in touch with them. When we talked, it almost felt like our whole family was together again!

Lindsay and I really enjoyed getting to know the vendors along the beachfront. They were happy to sell us the few little things that we bought, but it was also a lot of fun to use the little Kreyol that I know to just chat with them.

Mom and Dad, checking out some of the paintings.

Now the food at the hotel was another story ... I have NEVER eaten so well in my life! Not only was the food good, well-seasoned, and healthy, it was so inexpensive! The manager of the hotel was also the chef, and he did a great job =)

The fresh fruit juices were my favorite. Mango, grapefruit ...

And every morning for breakfast, we had a side of fresh fruit. Again, the mango won me over...

Easter morning! We coordinated without even trying it =) Must be the effect of the tropics...

And Lindz's favorite purchase from our beachside vendors. A Haitian hat!

We also loved the little lizards that we saw running around everywhere. This little guy kept crawling in and out of the pipe under mom and dad's balcony when we were trying to have our Easter morning service up there. He kept us entertained =)

So after our lovely weekend, we took the long bus ride back to Port. This time, in the day light. This colorful tap tap drove by as we waited along the street for the YWAM bus to pick us up in Port. We were almost home!

And once we got in the bus, this was some of the exciting scenery we drove past, as Freeman tried to find his way out of the city (from the station, an area he had never been in before). Another 'welcome to Haiti' moment...

And yet another! We made a short stop at the house in Port where the DTS was staying during their 2 week outreach there. And we were all in need of a bathroom stop, so ... we took one ;)

But the ride home took longer than expected, because our 'trusty' bus broke down just 45 minutes outside of Port. We sat for about an hour before someone came with the van to rescue us and tow us back to St. Marc. Our 'should-have-been' 5 hour trip from Jacmel ended up taking 13 hours! Poor mom ...

But we finally made it. Once again, at like 10pm. They saved dinner for us (my favorite - Monday night white rice and legum), and then I walked mom and dad over to the guest apartment where they would be staying the next two nights. We were greeted with the most amazing blast of cold air, and it didn't take me long to decided to crash on their couch ;)

The day before mom and dad left (you can see other pics of their visit in my classroom on the other Easter post), we did a quick tour of St. Marc. We visited the little grocery store where we buy our groceries, drove through the local market, and then stopped by the park so they could see the 10 Commandments monument.

Saying goodbye!

There are many more stories to tell and pictures to show, but I've probably overloaded you as it is. So I'll stop here =) Thanks for listening!

Crusade in the 5th Section

2009-04-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

The long dusty ride forced us to look gangsta, even if it wasn't our style =) Here is Rachel, the new personal secretary for Terry Snow (now that Lucy is on outreach with the DTS and making plans to start the new base in Port au Prince with her husband, come September).

Once again, we enjoyed seeing the lush green rice fields and the many livestock grazing by the side of the road. This brown jersey made Lindsay especially happy, as it reminded her of home (dairy farm in PA).

The typical construction of homes in the 5th section. Mud and grass. This one fared better than most during the rains and floods of Hurricane Hanna. The only homes that survived without much damage were the cement block homes that were built during the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But they were so expensive, that few families were able to afford them...

A Rah-Rah that we encountered on our drive into the crusade on Sunday night. Rah-Rah season lasts the entire Lenten season, and is basically a mockery of the Christian story of Jesus' death and resurrection. The word "rah-rah" has no meaning of its own, but is just a sound to represent jeering and laughter. These Rah-Rahs are not very well attended in St. Marc anymore, but in the more rural areas, where voodoo has a stronger presence, they were unavoidable. Especially on the weekend before Easter.

We were a little concerned for our safety as we slowly made our way through this crowd. It didn't help that our driver was a 'blan' ... They yelled and spit at us, kicking the side of the bus and pounding against the windows with their fists. But we simply moved ourselves towards the inside aisle of the bus, played it cool, and silently prayed for God's protection. And He provided it. This was the last Rah-Rah that we dealt with all week.

Playing soccer with kids from the 5th section. On this particular day, Clayton (a short-term staffer from Illionois) and Kai Gephart were playing with these guys for over two hours! By the time the local women had finished cooking their dinner of rice and beans, they had worked up quite the appetite =)

This little tent set-tup was 'home base' for the SOE (School of Evangelism) from Tyler, Texas and our DTS students during the week of the crusade. They came here to eat meals in the shade, and some of them slept on bunk beds (from our dorm) that were set up under a tarp nearby. The DTS students slept on the actual trailer that was used as a stage during the evening crusades. Definitely roughing it ... but all in all, it was a great week!

One of the SOE students teaching some sign language to the children.

The wood you see was for the construction of a church/school - the first one ever built in Luben 4! That was the primary work project during the day, and then, every night, the crusades were held down the road a little ways in an open field.

This is a picture of the community leader of Luben 4, and his family. They are very warm and welcoming, and they fell in love with Clayton! He worked alongside Rodney for many long days in the weeks leading up to this crusade, so they got to know him very well.

They even named their baby after him! Little Clayton =) Just a few weeks ago, Clayton returned home to the states to be with his family and his fiance, but he will not be forgotten in the 5th section for years to come!

This is where the teams bathed ;) I was kind of thankful to having teaching duties every day, so that I could enjoy the crusades in the evenings, but could still go home to the comfort of my shower and mosquito netting!

Along the road, people lined up to watch the lights and stage go up. By evening, the crowd grew even more. But, in typical Haitian style, most people showed up well after the event had started. I guess they were waiting for the music to start ...

This was TV for the neighborhood kids each night ;)

Clayton, me (Laura), Lindsay, and Rachel chilling and waiting for the crusade to begin

Esther shows off her beautiful feet after a few minutes of walking through the dusty fields ...

The DTS, heading off in our YWAM truck to grab some dinner before they got on stage for the evening of worship, drama, and testimonies.

The crowds, the lights ... each evening was a little different, but they were all very special. Terry invited every section to share something each night - a song, a drama, etc. The group that won the loudest applause each night won a soccerball for their community =)

One of the singing groups that performed. I wish I had some audio on here ... there is nothing like the rhythm and spirit of Haitian music. I'm definitely gonna miss it when I go home to Lancaster County this summer!

Easter at Liberty Academy, and other fun things...

2009-04-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

The week preceding Easter was our first four-day week since Christmas, so we weren't about to let it go unnoticed! Esther, Lindsay, and I planned a school spirit week and the kids, though quite confused by the idea at first, soon took to it like flies on a mango ;)

It was a little embarrassing walking into staff prayer dressed like this on Monday morning... but I wasn't the only one who turned some heads! (this was for backwards day). We even had the kids who are home-schooled join in on the fun.

Harry (4th), Caleb and April (Freeman and Shelly's youngest), Kai and Leo (5th) and Eli (6th by grade level, but 17 years of age) - showing off their backward clothing for all to see

And here is my little class. They didn't want to come to school dressed like this (too embarrassing, I guess...), so they all proceeded to turn their clothes around IN the classroom, after they got there! I'm not sure which is more embarrassing ...

They were most excited about this day. They wore their backpacks backwards, walked backwards to prayer, sat backwards in their chairs ... the day was a good addition to our ESL curriculum as well, as I'm sure ALL of my kids will remember what backwards means now ;)

Tuesday - Gangster Day. Poster designed by Mr. Illioney's class. Miss Esther fits in quite well, doesn't she!?

The whole group of gangstas, lookin' kool for the camera.

And... Miss Lindsay's 3rd grade class showing off their Hats for Hat Day.

And Miss Esther's 4th and 5th graders =) My students made the poster. Not bad, eh?

And Thursday was pajama day! We had a half day, before school dismissed for the Easter break. It was a great way to end the week on a more relaxed note...

Friday morning chapel. The kids LOVE this time of corporate worship. Illioney leads on guitar, Leo and Samuel play along, and the other students sing and dance their hearts out. They also love to play along on their rhythm instruments. You can see Ethan (far left) brandishing his 'drum' and stick high in the air ;)

And here is a nice shot of the teachers. Illioney St. Fleur (middle and h.s. teacher and school director), Helena (teacher from 2 years ago, visiting with us for a month), Claudy Cherubin (2nd grade teacher), Miss Laura (that'd be me), Miss Lindsay (3rd grade), Rhodes Gephart (preschool), and Esther Dodge (4th and 5th)

During the months of March and April, we hosted a series of two parenting workshops for the families of the Liberty Academy. Many of the adults present were not moms or dads (there were uncles, cousins, tutors, friends...), but we were still thankful for this opportunity to share with them some solid, Biblical teaching about important topics such as respect, obedience, and discipline. It was also neat to connect with the parents who came - I met Valens' mother for the first time, as well as Mario's tutor (who is now helping me with Mario's spelling and reading!) and Christelle's uncle. It helps me to know how to better pray for them too...

When my mom and dad came to visit over Easter, my first two guitar students planned a mini-concert for them. It was so much fun just to sit back and listen to them. To hear how far they've come, and to worship with them as we sang along. Just a few weeks ago, they were even invited to play on a local radio station! That made me proud =)

It was also fun to have mom and dad here to take action shots of me in my teaching. Here, I am reading a diary of a sunflower to my students. For part of our plant unit, we planted sunflower seeds that Stu sent down here in a care package with my parents. They have been doing very well in the climate here (as long as my students remember to water them in the morning!), and it is fun to see these kids learn to care for and respect the natural world. Something that definitely isn't encouraged or modeled in many Haitian families.

It's also been fun to do this with them, because when I come home this summer, Stu and I plan to plant a garden full of sunflowers as well. For our upcoming wedding =)

My students were thrilled to get some small gifts from Sandi Harnish (from my church). They especially loved these sticker books... I remember the days of sticker BOOKS, from the mid-80's. Wonder if they'll ever come back? ...

You can also see my mom here, in the background, taking a look around the classrooms. It was such a treat to have them here! They even spent an afternoon sharing some stories of Africa (Tanzania and Lesotho) with my students plus the 3rd through 5th graders.

Valens kind of surprised me in his eagerness to meet and love on my mom and dad. He talked about April 14 for weeks ahead of time (we had written the day of their visit on our calendars), and when my dad first walked into the classroom, Valens made a beeline for him and gave him a HUGE hug =) He also made sure to tell my mom, before she left that room, that she was very 'bel!" Beautiful.

Finishing up a unit on the seasons. Each of the students made one of these posters and then picked their favorite season (in this case, not an actual favorite, but the one they wish they could experience ;) to write a short paragraph on. I was so proud of their hard work. Especially when they shared the posters with Miss Lindsay's class and had their very first experience of public speaking in English! They did very well =)

Back in March, our older students threw a party for the L.A. students (4th grade and up) and teachers. They thought a bit bigger than their budget, which made for some awkward 'fundraising' attempts, but all in all, it was a fun event. My favorite part was the pudding pie ;)

Call to Prayer

2009-03-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Supporters and Prayer Warriors,

Tonight after church, as several of us young staff were visiting over pates (delicious fried pastries the vendors sell on the streets here), our friends Junior and Alain asked if they could share something with us. Just this past Friday, they had a meeting with the leadership of our base and found out that their staff fees have reached $1,000 – in the red. If they do not find support within the next few weeks, they will be asked to leave them mission. It broke my heart to hear this. These young men are two of the hardest working, joy-filled people I know. Alain works in grounds maintenance, and Junior in the kitchen. More than once a day, I see Alain dancing as he works out in the lawn, and Junior always has a song in his heart, and often on his lips, whether he’s cutting up potatoes or mopping the floors. Our mission will experience a great loss if they leave … We asked them tonight where they feel God is calling them to be. Both of them want to be in the mission. And I can see as they work day in and day out, that they are indeed working as if for the Lord, and not for men. They give their all in everything they do.

So, the rest of us, when we heard their story, felt compelled to share it. We will be spending our day tomorrow in prayer and fasting about this. Several of them, and their fellow Haitian staff, have already been doing so. If you would like to join us in prayer, please do. If you feel God compelling you to give anything towards the support for either of these young men, it can be made out to YWAM Haiti and sent directly to YWAM Haiti, PO Box 236, Akron, PA 17501. Their name should not be on the check itself, but on a separate note. It should be specified on the note that this is for their staff fees. Thank you for praying about this and seeking God’s will in how you can be a part of lifting up and supporting these brothers of ours.

All because of Jesus,

Laura J. Hess

p.s. At Christmas, when I was home, they both sent along letters introducing themselves and sharing their heart for ministry. They also mentioned their need for financial support. I shared these with the young adults at my church, but did not feel like there were open doors to do so elsewhere. I also had little time … I will be posting these letters on my blog tomorrow, along with one for Junior’s brother, Patrick. He is not in the red yet, but along with several other staff, he is close. So please keep all of the young Haitian staff in your prayers. This is a time when we need to stand together, as members of the family of God, sharing whit we have with those who have not. If you’re interested in seeing these letters, you can go to www.laurajeaninhaiti.blogspot.com

For those of you who are here already, ignore that last part ;)

Junior Ovilmar

This is Junior's Letter ...

Alaindo (Alain) Dosthene

And here is Alain's ... in two parts

Patrick Ovilmar, Junior's older brother

And here is Patrick's letter ...

The Ovilmar brothers - Junior, sporting his Amish garb (a gift from a young man from PA) and Patrick sharing his Ipod =)

Alain, still as happy as a lark, even after cleaning out the sewage system in the midst of our flood-mud-recovery back in September! This young man has more joy in his heart than anyone else I know ...

mardigras, dancing, and more ...

2009-03-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

The impressive set-up on the YWAM pick-up, ready to hit the streets for our week of outreach during Carnival. The float that we constructed on the trailer, in the back of the truck, consisted of wooden boards, colored lights, and a fog machine. I'm sure you can see the speakers rigged up, Haitian style, behind the generator. It was a miracle that we (and the truck) survived the week. God was definitely holding us in the palm of his hands!

Here's a close-up of the crazy, rigged up sound system. It was POWERful! Our goal was for the gospel, the dramas, and the worship music to overpower the words, drums, and music of the Mardigras (and pre-Mardigras, ie: Carnival) celebrations. And it worked! God really used this week of ministry to spread his light and his truth among the people of St. Marc.

The DTS students performing, "Freedom" - one of their most powerful dramas. It was amazing to see the crowds that were drawn out by these performances. When we began, the streets were almost empty, with just a handful of children and adults walking towards the Boulevard in downtown St. Marc, where most of the festivities took place. But within minutes, they were coming out of the woodwork, crowding up close to the float, intrigued by the loud music, the lights, and the color-coordinated DTSers. Drama is something very new for most Haitians - they usually respond with laughter! They aren't used to seeing people acting ... it makes them wonder if we do the same things in every day life too ;)

Part of "The Cage" drama, in which each student represents a Haitian from a specific sector of society (a single young mother, a businessman, a gang member, a politician, etc.). As they make their way around the cage, they cry out for freedom from the lives they find themselves trapped inside of... the close of the drama brings Jesus to the stage, as one by one, he offers them "LIBETE!!!" This was a powerful message for the people of St. Marc. I pray that it stays in their minds and hearts in the weeks and months to come.

Esther, Junior, Gras (Philipson and Peterson's little sister), and Mike on the back of the float. You can tell we were enjoying ourselves ;) As we drove from place to place, blaring our Haitian worship music, we were usually up on our feet, dancing and clapping and praising the Lord for all to see. But when the roads got to bumpy, we sat down for our own safety. This must've been taken then ...

At one point, the actual Mardigras parade passed by us, coming in the opposite direction. I have NEVER seen so many Haitians in one place before. There were thousands of them streaming by us, with brightly colored clothing, masks, trumpets, drums ... Many of them were from St. Marc, but hundreds came from surrounding villages as well. It was a night to remember. Especially as we watched the crowds leave their rum and their zanmi yo (friends) to watch our dramas unfold on the Boulevard. Wes, one of the DTS students from Tennessee, also shared his testimony on Tuesday night, the biggest night of Carnival. It was amazing to see how much the gospel attracted these people ... it was more appealing than anything else they had experienced that week. Praise the Lord!

Taking a breather and a soda break in front of SD (the market we frequent in downtown St. Marc, also right across the street from the park). It was probably around 11pm at this point, and we were still going strong! We returned between 12:30 and 1:30 am each night during Carnival. And the next several nights, we kept wandering down to the cafeteria and finding half of the DTSers and staff, wide awake, well after midnight. It took a while for our bodies to get used to a regular sleep cycle again ... =)

And this was the Mardigras float that led the way during the parade.

Elizabeth Snow has been working with this group of young ladies for about a year now. She teaches them dances to a variety of Christian songs that they share in the Sunday evening church services, and this spring, on the float as a part of the Carnival celebrations. But Lizzie has been frustrated with the lack of respect and love that they show her, and one another, as they work on their dances every Wednesday and Friday. So when God put it on Rhodes' heart to begin a weekly Bible study with them, Lizzie was more than eager to see it happen! Our women's small group had also been praying for ways to ministery together in the local community, so this was an awesome opportunity for us as well.

We have been taking turns teaching the girls each Friday and having one-on-one time with them afterwards, to answer questions, listen to their hearts, and pray for them. I was so struck during our first evening together, when Rhodes was teaching on the Father heart of God. She asked how many of the girls live with their birth father. One out of the ten girls raised her hand. ONE! It is my prayer that these dear girls, who have felt so abandoned by their earthly fathers, will come to understand the unconditional love of their heavenly Father.

These pictures were taken after the girls had each received a gift of new Old Navy flip-flops, from Lindsay. They were so excited!!! We read the verse to them about how beautiful their feet are if they bring the good news to others, and as they left, we encouraged them to do just that =)

Next time we meet (probably after Easter), we hope to give them each their own Creole Bible. We are seeing such transformation in these girls, in their attitudes and their actions. It will be neat to see how this 15 week study will impact their dance ministry as well. Watch out St. Marc, here comes the "Hearts of Angels" Dance Troup! And now, they have hearts to match their name.

A close-up of all the 'beautiful feet.'

Two young boys who rode up to greet us as we paid a visit to Luben - the neighborhood in the 5th section where we are building a new church and school. There is a team from Tyler, Texas coming in next week to join forces with our DTS to do this work. They will also be holding a crusade in this area, April 5-9. Although I will be teaching for much of that time, we will be holding next week's worship service out there, for the opening night.

There is a real hunger among these people - not just physically, but spiritually as well. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for them! And for the rest of St. Marc. From the way God has already been working this year, it looks like He may use these people, the poorest of the poor in St. Marc, to touch the rest of the city and bring them back to God. I love seeing God's upside down Kingdom at work!

Some dear little ones, showing their excitement and surprise at so many 'blans' entering their small village.

Because of the many individuals and families who have been turning from their voudou practices and coming to God, there is a real need for discipleship here in Luben. God placed a call on Jude's heart (in blue, with guitar) to meet with the people of Luben every weekend, just to see how they are doing, to worship and share God's word with them, and to better know how to pray for them. This set of pictures was taken from our first visit, over a month ago. Here, Jude and Rodney are beginning to talk with the people to see where we should meet.

After a time of singing, we marched our way (to the lively Creole song, "Mache"...) to the small church building that the community had erected for us earlier that week.

Here, the worship continued. There was another pastor with us that morning as well, from a neighboring community. Apparently, God had put the same thing on his heart! So, while this made things a little confusing and awkward at first, it was exciting to see how God was providing shepherds and pastors for these new Christians in such abundance!

Here, Jude blesses the young congregation (this was their first EVER worship service here in Luben!) with his gift of music.

Women and children of Luben sitting on some make-shift benches in the make-shift church. It was a very exciting morning, but the humidity, flies, and 90 plus temperatures made it a little hard to stay focused on the pastor's sermon ...

Lindsay with an adorable little girl whose mother gave her into our care during the worship service. Lindsay, Esther, and I all took turns holding her. But by the end of the morning, when the mother still hadn't showed up, we were getting a little worried. It is not uncommon for mothers to just hand over their babies to white people like us, hoping we will have pity on them and adopt them. To our relief, she did come back for the little girl =)

Mike, having some fun trying out one of the kid's bikes (bekan).

The children were sad to see us go ... especially after a rousing game of soccer with Clayton, Mike, and Lindsay.

Back on the YWAM base. Elage and Anacias, two of our DTS students, working hard to build a stone wall that will protect our front yard from wandering pigs and goats.

Holly Auker, who was with us for the month of March, helped the grounds maintenance crew with some landscaping around the base. Looking good, guys!

notes from the desk of Miss Laura ...

2009-03-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

After Christmas, I started a new routine with my students after their lunch break. We circle up our chairs by the window (because at this point, the power has usually gone off and the kids are sweating up a storm from their intense soccer playing...) and read from the devotional, "Keys for Kids." We have all come to appreciate this time to regroup for the afternoon, to talk about any issues that came up over recess (and there are plenty!), and to read the Bible together.

My students love setting up this little circle of chairs before I get to the room. Especially if I'm running a bit late ... They send a messenger to the front door when I enter the school building, who after asking me to close my eyes, leads me to my seat in the newly formed circle. ;)

This picture was taken during one of the last days that Jephte was with us in class. He is now in 3rd grade with Miss Lindsay, full time! And having a wonderful time.

Working with Mario on some word families that we have been learning (with the help of the fish cut outs you see on my lap). The students have their own set of smaller fish, which they wrote the words on as well. And when we had finished our first six word families, we played a fishing game with them ... each student made a piece of oceanscape on large blue poster board, we taped them to our back table, put paper clips on each of the fish, dropped them behind the table, and then went fishing with a yard stick and magnet. It was the first time any of them had ever experienced anything close to fishing with a pole (most of the fisherman they know, here in St. Marc, use hand-woven nets and wooden boats for their daily catch) and they loved it!

Introducing Christelle Romelus, my new student from the 2nd grade classroom. It's good to have a girl to balance out the rammy-ness of my two little boys. And I can tell that she is benefitting a lot from being the 'advanced' one in the class. It was a needed boost to her self-esteem, as well as being a motivator for the boys in their reading progress. Never thought I'd be teaching a classroom with just 3 students ... but they keep my hands full! God knew what I could handle, and he also knew how much individual attention these little ones need. =)

Harry and Kai, goofing off before school ;) I think they miss having me as their math teacher this term. Leo (the other 5th grade boy in their class) has taken to giving me morning hugs every day, because he doesn't see me much otherwise. I don't mind =)

The posters you see behind them are part of the first big art project I did with my students this winter. I traced their bodies, then they colored them in with the outfits they were wearing for the day, and we labeled all the body parts they had learned during science class.

I kept Jephte and Woodeline's up for a quite a while after they left my classroom ... but I soon started getting reports from teachers and students alike that the posters scared them when they walked through my room, because they always saw them out of the corner of their eye and thought someone was actually in there! So I took them down.

Valens and Mario lookin' cool in front of their former classmates =) These little boys are sooooo cute! I am gonna miss them coming June 12 (graduation day)...

Lillyana showing off her new Bible, with special page of dedication from Miss Lindsay and a picture and explanation of her name's meaning. These 3rd graders are not only learning to read this year, they are learning to love God and love reading his Word. Thanks to their teacher ;)

Alex. Another proud owner of his very first Bible ...

Deivee and April, the two children I work with every Tuesday and Thursday, 'relearning' their alphabet as they create their own letters out of Play-Doh. We are also doing a lot of work with sight words, fluency, and decoding skills. They are a fun reading duo =) And every Friday, April and Lilly (her playmate, and a very strong reader) come and find me before dinner so that we can do some reading just for fun. Up in the large climbing tree in front of the Snow's house.

And this is Eli, the young man I am tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays. He just turned 17 this month, but is still struggling to keep up with the 6th grade curriculum. Especially in reading and math. So Miss Esther is helping him with his math after day after lunch and I am working with him on reading after school. We're making a lot of progress, which is exciting to see ... but we also have fun with our guitars. He was one of my first students here on the base (even though he already know how to play a little bit), and he has taught me as much as I've taught him! This is an old guitar that he was in the middle of refurbishing. It is now finished, and looks wonderful =) Yesterday at lunch, he loosened the strings and asked me to sign the inside of it. I was honored. I guess he thinks I must have taught him something ... We have lessons again tonight, at 6:30. Right after dinner. Followed by our Wednesday evening worship. Our lessons have become more of a jam session, since he and Samuel are playing as well as I am these days. But they are also a lot more fun! ;)

Ah - the dinner bell just rang. I'd better sign off so that I don't miss out on any rice 'n' beans!

Valentine's Day and more ...

2009-03-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

After the PA team left, a bunch of the staff decided to take a hike down the road a little bit to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful evening ...

With good friends ...

And good music! Philipson brought along his guitar because we were planning to have a time of worship along the water's edge. But as soon as we arrived, all the white faces in our group drew the attention of the neighbors. So we soon had an audience =)

And with Philipson's dynamic worship leading, the audience didn't take long to warm up and join in with the singing...

... and dancing! And let me tell you, it is NOT easy trying to dance on rocks like this ;)

Some of the children who hung out with us for the evening.

This group of 'ti moun' (children) made a new friend - the cool 'blan' in sunglasses =)

And this was the sunset. Wow ... we decided after that evening that we need to get out more often to enjoy this view. It was my first time out during the entire 6 months I've been here! So tragic ...

Ok, those pictures were part of the 'and more..." This was taken during our Valentine's Day party with the Liberty Academy students. We played a balloon relay with them, as well as a spoon relay where they had to keep 10 red cinnamon hearts from falling onto the dirty arena floor. But what we forgot to tell them was that they shouldn't try eating the hearts after they fell ... ;) The kids had a great time though, and enjoyed the chance to hang out with the whole school in a setting other than chapel.

Miss Lindsay's class celebrating ... all of our students picked names and exchanged gifts with each other. Teachers were included. I got the most elaborate home-made card from Lillyana Gephart. She told me she spent 2 hours making it! I felt the love ... =)

And THIS ... Stu's gift to me, straight from an artisan at the Club Indigo beach resort in Montrouis. I had been eyeing it before Christmas, but didn't think I could or should buy it at the time. But I kept going on and on about it (according to Lindsay...), so after consulting with her over email, Stu decided this was IT =) And it made my day!

This was where I found it, hidden away in my bedroom. Beautiful, eh?

I spent my day hearing bits and pieces from Stu's adventures back in Lancaster County, where he was on an all-day scavenger hunt I had planned for him. I couldn't have pulled it off without my mom and dad, who prepared and strategically placed all my gifts, letters, and clues, OR without the PA team, who delivered some of the necessary parts of the plan when the traveled home the week before.

By the end of the day, I was ready to enjoy some homemade pizza =) Thanks, Lindsay!

I also enjoyed playing some computer games with the kids afterwards ... good way to wind down a good day.

Random shot of a dragonfly on a georgeous pink blossom.

Another random shot of Mike, doing a front flip into the swimming pool.

Hiking to Amani beach ... Marc, Esther, and Clayton.

It was great hike with amazing views the whole way ...

And the walking paid off! We paid a total of $1.75 US to be at this resort. There was no food included, but it's a far cry cheaper than Club Indigo, who have upped their prices to $40 US in the last several months. Don't think I'll be going there any time soon!

a visit from PA

2009-03-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

This group came to visit us the second week of February, and they brought with them many, many memories ... It was one year ago that I first set foot in Haiti, with a group just like this, from the Ephrata Community Church. And now, one year later, I am living here!

We went out for ice cream one night at Jeffel Bar & Resto, a restaurant and ice cream shop owned by the father of one of my little students, Valens. We ate upstairs in the 'Love Room' - and here you can see Jonathan and Richard enjoying some time with their 'white mom,' Marsha Petery. It was a real treat to have her with us for the week, because she was with me on my first trip here to Haiti, and has quickly become a good friend of mine. Oh, she also brought along a lot of goodies from home ... including a new pillow (not bed-bug infested), my running shoes (so I can run farther and faster every morning, and not trip so much over the rocks and wandering goats and chickens), and some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Thank you, Marsha!

Some of the women from the team brought greetings to me from my old school - Lititz Area Mennonite - where their grandchildren attend. It was special to connect with them and to hear how their grandchildren are doing. It is weird to think of life going on as usual without me back home ... but it does. And in 100 days, I will be part of it again! My, how time flies...

One of the young men on the team was a huge blessing to us during their week-long stay on the base - Brandon Kepple. He was injured in a car accident when he was 11 years old, and now at 23, he is still full of life and energy and one of the best senses of humor I've ever encountered. He touched people's lives everywhere he went - from hanging out with kids at the Sunday evening church service (as you can see here in the picture), to making us laugh at mealtimes on the base, from teaching sign language to our students during a morning assembly, to sharing his story and joi de viv with people from the 5th section. Thanks for visiting us Brandon! We will never forget you.

By the end of the week, Marvin had challenged nearly everyone to an arm-wrestling match - and won! He is one strong man ...

The team also got busy rerouting our road here on the base, right outside our classrooms! At lunchtime, they were apologizing for making so much noise, and we were all in shock. There is always noise around on the base, making it very hard to teach at times, but we've never been apologized to before! It was kind of nice =)

Another big project that this team tackled was repainting the cafeteria. In was in sore need of some attention ... Marsha and Ingvild coordinated all the painters, and by the end of the week, it looked like a new place!

Eli and Lizzie even got recruited when school was over to help with some of the special blue accenting on the windows. Looking good!

And this was Marsha's masterpiece - the stairway leading up to the guys and girls dorms. It looks beautiful!!! And every day it makes us think of you, Marsha =)

And this was the fruit of their labors on the new school. Roof complete. Walls yet to be built. And about $16,000 from our goal of completion. Keep lifting this dream up in your prayers! I can't wait to see it become a reality ... the new Liberty Academy =)

Lilly and April enjoying one of their first long walks to the new school. Notice the dust on the road ... this was a result of two months with little to no rain. Praise God, we had two rainstorms just this past week. The parched ground soaked it right up ...

Terry and Ingvild, looking very work-weary and happy at the end of a long week's work.

Lindsay and Brandon rode the bus together back in the day, so she enjoyed introducing him to our students at the Liberty Academy.

And he enjoyed teaching us how to speak in sign language. The kids didn't want him to leave at the end of the week. They still talk about him.

And here are some of his new friends on the base. From the looks on these faces, I'd say he definitely brought a lot of joy to our lives =)

Marsha posing with the young women of the base - just so she doesn't forget us! ;)

Driving away in the old white bus ... goodbye, PA! See you in June! =)

Life is too busy sometimes ... a belated entry from early February

2009-02-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

Due to all the pusye (dust) in the air these days, the cold that I got shortly after coming back to Haiti in early January has only JUST left me. One day after school, when I was working in my classroom and coughing up a storm, Kathia told me that I should make a tea from the flowers that grow just outside our apartment - Hisbiscus. So that is just what I did. The tea was ... interesting. It was not very flavorful, but apparently it had a lot of vitamin C, so I guess it did the trick! This week, I've been feeling great =)

Fried chicken! Must mean it's a Friday night =) Last week, Lindsay spent some time in the kitchen learning the tricks of the trade so that she can do some real Haitian cooking when she goes back home to the states. And she snapped these photos of our Friday evening fare. Good stuff! Or as they say in Creole, "Bon Bagay!"

Faince, our head cook. He took over for MacKendy, when he left the base back in November. And he does a wonderful job keeping us well-fed and serving up some tasty dishes with very limited resources... Keep up the good work!

Fried plantains - or bannan, as they call it here. The bananas that we usually eat are known here as "bannan fig."

And our salad. I usually go for the iceberg lettuce minus the purple stuff ... but it's all quite delicious. I've just never been a fan of mayo-based salads =) Some things never change...

Shopping for groceries in the market. I love this picture, with the chickens just sitting there, in complete ignorance of the fact that they are about to become someone's dinner ...

Miss Esther and her 4th and 5th grade class, studying and catching up on homework during the lunch hour. (Kai is the only one missing...)

And here they are sharing their newly constructed tabernacle model with Miss Lindsay's class. They also shared it with my students, just after we had finished studying it ourselves. I enjoyed telling them about the full-scale model where I work part-time back in Lancaster County. And I had even picked up some postcards and posters (and real incense!) there when I was home over Christmas. So that really helped us all as we studied this powerful piece of the Biblical narrative.

Here's a close-up. It's amazing what you can do with a little cardboard, paint, craft sticks, and some creativity =)

This is a project that my students have been working on the past three weeks as part of our science curriculum. We walked around the base and did an inventory of the trees growing on our property. We took leaf samples and did bark rubbings for each one. One day, Freeman Nettles took us outside again to tell us about some of the nutritional and medicinal uses for each tree's leaves, bark, roots, seeds, and twigs. This was a lot of fun for the students, as they already knew some of these things from growing up here in Haiti. It made them feel pretty intelligent =)

This past week, we began to piece together a "Trees of Haiti" book with our findings. And I would like to encourage the students to begin planting trees in their yards and around their neighborhoods as well. There are so few around here ...

Mario and Valens climbing the mango tree to find some nice green leaves for our collection.

Mario, posing and looking quite studly, in front of the same mango tree. Each of the students wanted a picture like this, but his is the only one that turned out this well. So it's the only one I'm going to post. =)

Eli, me, and Myriam after the church service last Sunday. These two students and their sister, Rachelle, often hang out on the base in the evenings and on the weekends. This is like their second home. And we love it =) They are wonderful kids. It'll be hard to say goodbye to them coming June ...

Wilna JUST finished braiding Lindsay's hair and putting extensions in it. It took over15 hours! But now she doesn't have to worry about doing it every morning, so I guess some of that time is being made up... and it was an experience she will never forget. Looks good on her too - she's our African queen in the apartment now =)

The worship practice kept her entertained for a few hours of the braiding process. They usually practice Saturday and Sunday afternoons, but I've been joining them for just the Sunday practices. It is SO much fun for me to have the chance to play my violin with a group like this, and not to be stuck on the keyboard the whole time. It brings me great joy =)

Fiddling around during practice ... For most of our songs, Philipson has these amazing violin parts that are running through his head as he hears the song, so he hums them and then teaches them to me. I wish I had his compositional genius to take with me back home ... Guess I'll just have to learn from him what I can while I'm here =)

Lindsay bonding with a young baby and her mother at the Sunday evening family night service.

Philipson enjoying his new laptop, as Patrick and I look on (and I play around with mine...) It was so neat to see the looks on Philison's, Jude's and Patrick's faces when they received their laptops at the beginning of the month. They were delivered by the PA team, with little tags that said, "From friends in PA who love you. God bless!"

Some of my extra support went towards purchasing laptops for the base this fall, and now some has gone directly to these young Haitian staff. So for any of you who have been supporting me financially this year, some of that support may have gone towards this gift as well. And while you may not be from PA, these guys think you are now ;)

I hardly see them anywhere around the base now withOUT their new toys, and I am very excited to see how they are beginning to use them as they plan and dream for the things that God has called them each to do here in Haiti.

Lindsay spending some time with Natasha, the young girl whose mother passed away earlier this month from the car accident. Behind them you can see some of the many boxes of soda that "Mommy" sold at her store downtown.

Patrick and Alaindo, two good friends here on the base, full of jwa and lavi (joy and life). Their smiles and encouragement and little dances (Alain) always brighten my day!

I was a proud teacher today ...

2009-02-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

Woodeline Dilane Brun ... 12 years old. But much wiser than her years.

After working with Woodeline for over 4 months, teaching her, loving her, challenging her, mentoring her, and growing very close to her as a friend, she officially transferred into the 5th grade class today. We spent some time during Bible class to talk about the change and to pray blessings over her as she moves on to a classroom where she can study and learn alongside her peers. But I must admit, I'm really going to miss her. And the other students will too. Today at snack, and again at lunch, she came over just to talk with me and give me HUGE hugs and kisses. And at the end of the day, little Valens came up to me and asked, in his broken English, if she was ever coming back... the poor boy thought she was leaving the Liberty Academy for good - not just our classroom! He was VERY relieved when I explained the situation to him again.

So now I'm down to three. But I know the time was right for Woodeline to move on. And I don't think I've ever been so proud of a student in my life. She had asked me at the beginning of the year why she was in my classroom to begin with, and after I explained to her some of the things I wanted to help her grow in (mostly her reading skills and vocabulary base), she was at peace with it. But she was also glad to hear me tell her that when she was ready, we would let her join her classmates in 5th grade.

Today was so good for the other students too. During our after-lunch-devotions, the boys were asking who would do the translation for us. Woodeline, our faithful translator, was gone! But I had spoken to Jephte and told him that as the oldest one in the class now, he'd be moving into that role (when needed ... I hardly ever use it anymore, as all THREE of the boys are understand so much of what I say to them). And he was amazing ... not only that, Mario joined right in and translated almost as well as he did! I think this was a good change for our class. I can focus a lot more now on increasing the reading and writing skills in this group of boys, now that their listening and speaking skills are so well-developed.

There is also a possibility that I'll be adding another student this week - a young second grader from Mr. Claudy's class, who has really been struggling to keep up with the rest of his class. She can never replace Woodeline, or Scheydline, for that matter, but we would love to have another girl in our midst =)

So God is good. Change is good. It is never easy, but it is SO good ... I almost cried when Woodeline cleared out her desk today (actually, the boys helped me clean it out, as she was busy with her after-school tutoring). But the tears would not have been tears of sadness alone. I am one proud teacher today. And Woodeline is growing into an amazing young woman - a woman who is able to translate for her English-speaking peers now when they evangelize on the streets each Friday, a woman who has developed such a tender, mothering heart as she helped me work with the two youngest boys in the class, and a woman who has so much dedication to learning that it sometimes puts me to shame. I wish you could all meet her someday...

The Ten Commandments

2009-02-01T14:56:00.000-08:00

Over the last several weeks, my students have been learning about the life of Moses. A big part of his story is the call that God placed on his life - a call to lead his people out of their bondage in Egypt. Shortly following their exodus, God met with Moses amidst clouds and thunder on Mt. Sinai and gave him the Ten Commandments, the laws which would govern them as a people and allow them to live WITH their God.

Shortly before Christmas, Shakinah (our 4th and 5th grade teacher) wrote a version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" for her students. But in her version were the Ten Commandments in place of the twelve gifts. It was very catchy, and my students would hum along every time they heard it from across the hall. So, when it was our turn to study the Ten Commandments, I taught my students the same song. I was very impressed how well they learned it, especially the younger two!

Since the song is quite long, we just recorded the last verse for you to enjoy =)

p.s. You will notice that despite the fact my students should know how to say their age, the younger ones defaulted to their native Creole grammar when they were in front of the camera ... We'll have to keep working on that one!

And here are the lyrics, in case you have trouble understanding them on the video clip. The commandments are in simplified English, to help the students learn them better.

The first great commandment my True Lord gave to me ...

1. Love God only
2. No idols
3. Don't say God's name lightly
4. Keep the Lord's day holy
5. Obey your mom and dad
6. Do not murder
7. Don't commit adultery
8. Do not steal
9. Don't tell a lie
10. No jealousy

Haitian Weddings

2009-01-25T17:40:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, I attended my first Haitian wedding. And boy, was it an experience! The couple getting married used to be on staff here at the YWAM base. MacKendy worked in the kitchen and Ziki was a DTS student from last year who stayed on as staff for a few months. They are both from the same hometown of Montrouis and have a LARGE group of friends and family ... so it was quite an honor to be included in this special day of celebration.

The wedding was supposed to start at 4pm, on a Saturday evening, but we received a call around 3 o'clock that things were running late, so we took our time getting ready and arrived around 5 pm. But, apparently, things were STILL running late!

It was a pretty nice day at this point ... (it was still light =). This was what we saw when we first arrived at the wedding location. The row of children in blue were school students who formed the first part of the 'aisle' where the bride and groom and their many attendents made their way up to the front of the 'church.'

The wedding was outdoors, at a beautiful property, right along the Caribbean Sea. So after walking around a little bit to see who was there, we spent some time hanging out down by the beach. It was absolutely breathtaking! And here I am, all decked out and enjoying the beautiful beach breezes ... AND the amazing view.

Some of the guys that came along with us from the YWAM base. Steeve and Mike are two of the current DTS students, Patrick has been on staff ever since doing his DTS two years ago, and Ronald (who drove us to the wedding in the base's white bus) is another DTS student. He also participated in a one-year program that Freeman (Terry's brother-in-law) oversees - a program to help disciple young men who've come from rough pasts and need some mentoring and accountability in their lives.

I like this picture, because it makes me look so short! Mike, at 18, is the youngest of our DTS students. He hails from Ontario, Canada, and is a very rambunctious, fun-loving kid. He fits right in with the other 9 Haitians and 1 Tennessean who are also in the school.

The three roommates, Lindsay, Esther, and Laura - enjoying a wonderful evening together.

The happy groom! This was taken BEFORE the wedding ...

And the radiant bride - Ziki

These three young girls were very excited to be part of the wedding celebration ...

And this is why - their young dance partners did a fabulous job of waltzing them down the aisle. I guess they would be considered the junior bridesmaids and groomsmen. But then Ziki and MacKendy also had four couples who were a bit older doing the same thing (including the beautiful dancing), and then two little boys and two little girls who were 'walked' down the aisle by helpful parents, and then ...

Two bridesmaids who looked like BRIDES! They were absolutely beautiful - but thankfully, their beauty did not surpass that of Ziki, so they didn't steal the evening from her =)

But all in all, this procession took more than half an hour! It was completely dark by the time the bride walked down the aisle, and the only way we could see what was happening, was by the fluorescent light of a large spotlight that someone was running around with for the rest of the night. Definitely not the best planning ... It was a shame that things ran so late, because it would have been a beautiful ceremony, if we could have seen what was going on!

Having some bonding time with Stacy, one of our students from the Liberty Academy (and MacKendy's niece). As you can see, it was quite dark by now.

At this point in the ceremony, something was still happening up front, but no one could see what was happening, so they all started chatting with their neighbors, in very animated Creole. Which meant that now we couldn't HEAR what was happening either. So we soon gave up on 'participating' in the ceremony and we just took pictures of each other and talked quietly to each other (in English.)

Carline and Lindsay, looking stunning in the evening light ...

We did manage to see the bride after the ceremony, which in itself was a miracle. We had to push our way through a restless and hungry mob to get there ...

And then, after making a group decision to head home and get something to eat (because we knew that the reception would be a bit chaotic), Ziki and MacKendy found us and begged us to stay ... they REALLY wanted us to be part of their reception, so that they could offer hospitality and a bit to eat before we hit the road.

So we accepted, but soon found ourselves in even more cramped quarters as we were guided into a small cement block building. It couldn't have been much larger than my classroom and there were over a hundred people in there! A hundred restless, hungry, and sweaty people. It soon was so loud in there, that everyone gave up trying to silence the crowd. The best man (Roberteau) presented a beautiful toast that even the bride and groom had to strain to hear. They videotaped the whole thing, but I'm afraid no one will hear him above the noisy chatter...

Once again, after waiting for over half an hour of pictures and stepping on people's toes and smelling each other's sweat and wanting nothing more than fresh air, we tried to leave. But Ziki was insistent. So we quickly grabbed some food, put it in travel boxes, and scooted out the door before we were mobbed (they made us go first, and the hungry crowds were already pushing at our backs as we went through the 'line' at the food table).

I was never so happy to get onto an old rickety bus ...

This is the beautiful table that they had set up in the reception building.

A picture of the couple and close family members. Sadly, the bride and groom were so tired and stressed at this point, that there were no smiles to be seen in most of their pictures.

I definitely was taking notes, for the planning of my own wedding ... mostly notes of things I do NOT want to do. But there were many things that were beautifully planned. They just didn't quite come together in the actual events of the evening.

Please keep this young couple in your prayers. They are expecting a little one soon, and apparently, MacKendy was sick for much of the past week. Not an easy way to jump into married life ...

After everything was said and done that night, Lindsay and I both decided that NOTHING should stress us out when it comes to planning and pulling off our own weddings. As long as we keep things in perspective. If we manage to have a marriage ceremony that is lit well enough for everyone to see what is going on ... If we can pull of a reception that is free of angry mobs, pushing their way to the front of the food line ... then we will be happy brides. =)

Create in Me a Clean Heart ...

2009-01-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

This week, I really felt God challenging me to take some of the lessons that God has been teaching me and the other staff here on the base (lessons about brokenness, repentance, and surrender) INTO my classroom. So our memory verse this week was Psalm 51:10-12a ...

"Create in me a clean heart, O God. And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, O Lord, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation."

I have also been teaching my students about the kitchen this week - utensils, proper table setting etiquette, foods ... And so this Thursday, when Woodeline had P.E. with the older students, I took my three boys to my apartment for a little dinner party. They had such a blast, and they were such great workers! This little video clip shows some of our kitchen clean-up when we were finished with the meal. I thought it was pretty neat how well this song fit in with what we were doing... Enjoy!

p.s. Mario is in the back, then Valens, and Jephte is in the front =)

2009: A Year of New Beginnings

2009-01-20T16:39:00.000-08:00

After the amazing two weeks I spent at home, I couldn't believe how ready I was to come 'home' to Haiti. The flight was smooth, we had beautiful views to enjoy out the airplane window, there was plenty of time for conversation and catching up with Lindsay ... we even had the chance to meet our new housemate, Esther Dodge, because she ended up sitting in the seat right in front of us! God is good.

I don't think I will ever get over the amazing colors of the Caribbean waters ...

Or the rugged beauty of Haiti's mountainous landscape.

When we arrived in Port-au-Prince, we found ourselves in and out of custom and baggage claim in less than thirty minutes. It was almost miraculous! We actually had to wait for Freeman and Roberteau to come back and pick us up, because they didn't think we'd be out so soon and had left the parking lot for awhile. When we got in the bus, we enjoy meeting Wes, a young man from Tennesse who is here for a few months for Season of Service (SOS) - the same program that Lindsay and I are with for our term of teaching with the Liberty Academy.

As always, I enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of our two hour ride up to St. Marc. However, this ride had a few more surprises than those I've experienced in the past. One is shown in the picture above. We had just left the road from Port and had turned left on National Highway Route 1 when a rock came flying out of nowhere and slammed into our windshield. It hit with such force that we were sure it would come through the glass ... but it didn't! And we found ourselves thanking God for his protection, even in this little things, because the rock would have come straight for my head (or Lindsay's or Wes's) if it DID.

Just minutes later, when our hearts had slowed down again and we were closing our eyes for a big of a rest, Roberteau slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of us, who was slamming on their brakes to avoid hitting a cow that was crossing the road! There were three or four who had already crossed over to the other side, and were up on the embankment. But this one wasn't so lucky. She ended up UNDER the car in front of us, which did everything it could to get OFF the cow (backing up, pulling forward...), and somehow, after all this, the cow clambered to her feet on the other side of the vehicle and limped up the embankment to join her friends. They say that cats have nine lives, but I would venture to add to that saying that Haitian cows have at least two!

After settling into my room, I enjoyed looking at some emails that I had downloaded onto Outlook when I was home, but never had the chance to read. I am finding that keeping up with correspondence is even more challenging here in Haiti than it is at home ... but thankfully, with this blog, I can keep a lotof my friends and family updated in one fell swoop. Yay for blogs!

It is good to be with my girls again. Esther, our new 4th and 5th grade teacher (and housemate, and prayer partner, and running partner, and bridge to the people and ways of St. Marc...) is on my left. You should already know Lindsay and Lucy from previous stories and blog posts =)

Esther has been such a blessing in our life these past few weeks, and an answer to so many of my prayers. She taught here at the Liberty Academy two years ago, and after hearing God call her to Haiti at age twelve, has always had a real love for the people of this nation - a nation with a tragic past, a devastated land, and a non-exisistent infrastructure. But despite all that the Haitian people have come through and been shaped by, God is making it clear to his people that this nation is HIS treasure. And he is calling them to take on a new identity - t0 embrace his promise of hope and a future, that he spoke so many years ago through the Prophet Jeremiah.

The last few weeks have been a very exciting time here on the base, as we are beginning to see God at work in fulfilling those promises. A lot of that is happening right now through a renewed sense of brokennes and surrender to God and His ways. We have seen him refining us in countless ways over the last several months, and now he is beginning to reveal some of his dreams and plans for this city and nation, as we seek him in prayer and fasting. I think this might need to be another entry ... so more on that later =) Keep praying!

And here is Wes, surrounded by children. The kids on this base love Wes to death - and I'm just glad he can handle it! He has also stepped into the role of PE teacher for our students at the Liberty Academy, so that has been a huge blessing to us as teachers as well. He recently decided to join the DTS (Discipleship Training School) that began the second week in January. So he is one of two young people who are NOT from Haiti (Mike, a Canadian, is the other one) that are being trained and discipled along with 9 of their Haitian brothers and sisters. It is a really neat group of young people and they have brought a lot of life and energy to our base - along with the many work teams and outreach teams that come and go here on a pretty regular basis.

PE class has even included a few swimming lessons in the pool! While the kids love it, there is not enough supervision right now for us to feel safe with so many inexperienced swimmers in the water. Lindsay has had to jump in after a flailing child on more than one occasion, and so she and Wes decided that we are going to put these lessons on hold for awhile....

I will NOT be lonely or suffer for lack of new friendships this spring! After the hurricanes of last fall, Haiti became a hot spot for mission trips and emergency relief efforts (and now more long-term efforts). As missionaries, we are all receiving the blessings of this new season. I am SO thankful that God has not left us alone. He is bringing to world to us! I pray that we, along with the people of Haiti, can be a blessing to all those who come.

This picture shows some of the girls from the Guadeloupe team who have been with us for three whole weeks now. They are leaving tomorrow, headed for Gonaives and then Jacmel. They have done much good in this town and so we will be sorry to see them go. But I know God will continue using them to bless this nation!

You might wonder what is up with the teachers in this picture ... We just came from a birthday party for Rebekah Nettles, who hosted an "Opposite Personality" theme party for her 13th birthday. Here you see Esther, the 80's work-out show host; Laura, the ghetto teen; and Lindsay, a quiet and withdrawn Muslim woman. We have certainly had our share of fun and fellowship here in the past few weeks ...

Lindsay brought a kite back with her after Christmas (you can see Eli running with it, behind me), and so we took all of our students outside last Friday to take advantage of the stiff breezes that have been blowing off and on the last several weeks and to try it out. It was so much fun to do this as a school ... and in the process, we found and a stray Haitian kite that was caught on the electric wires. It didn't take long for our neighbors, on the other side of the wall, to notice that we now had THEIR kite, and they soon hopped up on the wall and communicated with our students that they wanted it back! So we flew it back over to them =)

This week, as we were trying to teach our morning math lessons, these noisy skidloaders started to dig up the dirt piles right outside our classroom windows. But we did NOT complain about the noise. We just shut our windows, dealt with the stuffy heat, and praised God that we were getting rid of the very LAST dirt pile on this base! Now, the sun finally shines into our classrooms again, brightening up what had been some very dark rooms (due to the limited fuel and electricity around here, we have the choice of fans or lights during the school day ... we usually choose the fans ;)

Lindsay and I discuss our hopes for the future of the Liberty Academy as we walk up the long dusty path to the north property of our base, where the new school is being built. We really need rain around here ... it was so dry and dusty when we came back from break that I came down with a very bad cough. It is still hanging on! But as we and the students prayed for rain every day, we saw God answer our prayers. On Sunday night, we were sitting in the computer lab catching up on emails after church when Lindsay suddenly interrupted our thoughts and said, "Guys! What's that noise?!" We ran outside to see a gentle rain falling on the dry ground. I never knew that something as simple as rainfall could make a person so happy. Esther and I ran outside in it and started dancing around - and the students were all raising their hands on Monday morning when we asked for praises, to share THEIR excitement of God answering our prayers and sending the rain. Lindsay told me later that night that it was the first time since the flood that she heard rain and was actually happy to hear it ... Before that, a lot of negative memories and emotions were attached to that sound.

So thank you, Lord, for rain. And for your goodness in sending it when we most needed it.

And here you see some local men from St. Marc, working very hard in the hot sun, to finish the foundation and pillars for our new school. I have NEVER seen a building go up this fast in any of the third world countries I've visited or lived in before ... God is definitely giving us the man power and the motivation needed to get this thing finished so that we can move our students out of the stifling heat of the sanctuary and into this new Liberty Academy.

If things continue as planned, the PA team that is coming next Saturday will bring the needed supplies and skills for putting up the roof. Then, this same team of Haitian men will finish putting up the cement block walls and we will be one step closer to have a new school! Please pray with us that we can move our students in before the school year is over ...

Another big answer to prayer came a days ago. The base has been waiting for months now (ever since the flood) for three 'new' vehicles to come to our base. The wait was prolonged, however, because the vehicles were sent on a different shipping container than the other supplies that arrived here just before our Christmas break. In early January, the vehicles finally came in as well, but they were held up in customs, where we were informed that the 'laws' had changed and we were only allowed to have two vehicles at a time. The other one (which had our air conditioning unit for the sanctuary inside of it...) was probably going to be liquidated. This was NOT the kind of news we wanted to hear! Especially after all of our prayers and fundraising efforts to make the AC a reality for our students =( So, we kept praying and asking, in faith, for this vehicle to get into our hands and out of the hands of these corrupt government officials.

Some of the Mexico team, cleaning up the two 'new' vehicles that arrived safely from the US. They have been such a huge blessing to us already, as we usually find ourselves with only one working vehicle on a given day. Fuel is also becoming a problem for us ... last week, our Port Run was canceled because we didn't have enough many for gas. So we had to wait until TODAY for our first real Port Run since we arrived back from Christmas break. I am so excited to get mail today! And hopefully some celery from the Caribeean market, so that I can do a science experiment with my students =)

As of yesterday, I heard that the 3rd vehicle and the AC are also on their way! We will need to pay a large fee to get them both out of customs, but I believe that this is the door God opened for us, and so we are going to walk through it, trusting that God will provide the necessary funds.

This young man must've come to work with his dad at the construction site for the day. He loved watching a bunch of 'blans' walking around, taking pictures of these guys working on their new school =)

Esther and her friend, Tamar, discussing the blueprints and plans for the new school and administrative offices. Esther met Tamar when she was living here before, and she introduced me to her our second weekend here. Last Sunday, we attended her father's church, which is just on the other side of the wall from the new school. It was such a neat experience ... after attending just our family night worship services on the base during the fall, I loved meeting and worshiping with some brothers and sisters in Christ who are OUTside our base walls. It is about time I started getting outside of this bubble, and Esther has been helping me to do that in so many ways ... Thank you! And thank you, God, for bringing her here for such a time as this.

Esther and I enjoy running in the mornings before staff prayer, and I love starting my day off like this. We run down by the water's edge, amidst street vendors, goats, chickens, sleeping dogs, and roaming pigs. Our ankles are getting stronger from having to run on such uneven terrain, and we enjoy seeing the varied responses to these two white girls, running in St. Marc at 6 o'clock in the morning. My favorite are the old men who start running with us, quickly lose steam, and then wish us a good morning as we continue on =)

Guitar lessons have started up again - and it is so exciting to see how things have developed! I am just working with Eli and Samuel on Wednesday evenings now (my more advanced 'class'), but we often have other friends and staff members join us. It is more of a jam session, than a formal 'lesson' and I LOVE it! We all teach each other new things, whether it be new chord progressions or new strumming patterns ... and we enjoy worshiping God as we play and sing together. Our first Wednesday back from break, our 'lesson' ran for almost an hour and a half! It was wonderful =)

This week, I started up Saturday lessons for my intermediate class (Kai, Lindsay, and Esther) and for my two little beginners (Levi and April). It is a lot of fun seeing so many people realize their dreams to play an instrument, right here on our base. God is GOOD!

With the new year, Lizzie Snow also started up her dance lessons aginawith some of the young girls from town. I LOVE hearing them practice, as they

Me, Levi, and Caleb, full of smiles at our January birthday party. These little boys bring a smile to so many faces in the course of one week ... Thank you Lord, for children, and the many lessons they have to teach us.

The Mexico team had fun showing us their birthday tradition of smashing cake in the faces of the lucky birthday girls (or boys). Thankfully, we followed this up with our tradition of 'baptizing' the birthday people in our swimming pool. =)

Love is in the air ...

2009-01-20T14:04:00.000-08:00

Ok. Just to give you the heads up, this is not a typical blog entry. I wanted to fill you all in a bit more on my time at home over Christmas, because that too, was a very important part of my journey this year. So ... enjoy!

The weekend before we flew north to our respective homes and families, Lindsay, Shakinah and I spent a day at the beach. I had fun writing a few random messages like this in the Haitian sand, as I anticipated my time at home with Stu, my family, and friends. As you can see by the approaching wave, the message didn't last long ... but I got the picture I wanted. =)

A happy reunion in the JFK airport! After waiting around for about 6 hours in the airport in Port-au-Prince, Jude (left), Lindsay and I got some seats on stand-by and were able to catch a direct flight home. This was such an answer to prayer, as we were able to get home by 1am, rather than the 4 or 5 am that we would have with our original flight schedule. This also helped my piano playing for our worship service the next morning! (though it still was a bit rough after 5 months of not touching a real keyboard ...)

It was such a treat having Jude visit over the short two weeks that we were home. He stayed with a host family in the Reinholds/Denver area and shared his testimony at several local churches and gatherings. It was a real treat for me when he came to my home church, New Danville Mennonite, and helped me lead worship for the morning - we sang a mixture of some Creole songs, and then some more familiar English songs - all with a bit of Haitian fire mixed in =) Jude also shared during the sermon time, and then we invited him over to our house for lunch. He was a bit shocked by the cold weather (wearing multiple sweaters at a time, one always tucked into his slacks, and constantly amused by the look of his breath in the frigid winter air...), but otherwise, really enjoyed his time in the states. I know that his visit was a blessing to many - especially for those who had the privelege of hearing him sing! He is hoping to come back and visit again this spring with the current DTS students on their outreach (and maybe again in September ... ;)

There just can't be Christmas without baking Christmas cookies =) This was something that Stu and I really wanted to do together during my time at home, and as you can see by my face, it was quite the venture! Although, I think the faces were more for effect ... Stu does just fine in the kitchen, and the cookies tasted deeeelicious. Sadly, my stomach could not really handle all the sweets. I think I could count all the cookies I ate on my two hands! After a consistent diet of rice and beans, I don't think my digestive system quite knew what to do with all the sweets and fats (and mass quantities) of food we Americans tend to eat and serve, especially over a holiday season. So most of these cookies filled stomachs other than my own ;)

This is a picture that many of you have already seen ... ;) After a lovely evening of Christmas caroling to our grandparents and some friends from church, Stu Metzler proposed to me - in front of my entire family! And I accepted, with all my heart =) It made for a whirlwind of a Christmas, as we tried to fit in many visits with friends, started talking with my family about wedding plans, and enjoyed every minute that we could just BEING together.

I know that God has been using this time of dating (and now being engaged) long-distance to really strengthen our relationship. When we want to connect with each other, we have no other option but to talk. And so we talk about everything. And now we have a wedding to plan too! But God is so faithful. In my short two weeks at home, I just kept thinking about how blessed I am ... to have 14 days to spend, IN PERSON, with Stu, and with my loved ones... it was the best Christmas gift I have ever received. And I must admit, I was worried that it would be very difficult saying goodbye and coming back here to Haiti for the next 6 months of the school year. But it was not! Don't get me wrong - I miss Stu. Last Saturday, it was almost unbearable. But God is the one who called me here. And God is the one who brought Stu and I together. And His timing in all of this, no matter how strange to may seem to a casual observer, is impeccable. God is teaching both of us SO many life lessons in these months apart - lessons that we will bring to our marriage and that God will use to help us stay strong, in Him, for each other, and for those God brings into our life in our daily comings and goings. He has our best interests in mind and we HAVE to learn to trust Him even when we don't understand the whys and wherefores.

This beautiful Nativity was sitting in our family room when I came home from Haiti, and it immediately caught my eye. I had seen many just like it in the airport when I was trying to amuse myself for 6 hours before flying home... And on Christmas morning, I got a note on my breakfast plate that led to a short scavenger hunt, which eventually led Stu and I down to the basement, to this very Haitian Nativity scene. There we found a little note saying that this was an engagement present (the very first!) for us so that we can remember this year in the many more to come when we will be together in our very own home =) Thank you, mom and dad!

He gives and takes away...

2009-01-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

So, if you've been following my blog at all, you can tell that my life has been a bit of a whirlwind over the past 6 weeks or so, simply by my LACK of blogging ... I am going to try updating you in the coming days, with pictures and stories of my Christmas here in Haiti, my Christmas at home with family and friends (and an engagement!), and my experiences in the New Year back here in St. Marc.

As strange as it seemed, when I stepped off the airplane in Port-au-Prince on a few weeks ago, I felt like I had come home. I could not WAIT to see everyone here on the base, was almost giddy to walk into my little apartment again and see everything just as I left it (although covered with a fine layer of dust), and actually craved my first dinner of rice and legime (some sort of squash and carrot dish with a few pieces of beef, or goat, thrown in - we nicknamed it, 'mush' :)

It was also SO good to see my students again ... we've had a very good two weeks to start off the new semester (or trimester, I should say. looks like we'll only be able to fit in 3 of our 4 quarters this year, due to the delay of Hurricane Hannah). My students have been working hard, and it seems like we've accomplished more in these two weeks than we did in some of our MONTHS this fall! Such an encouragement ...

There has also been a lot going on here on the base. We have so many work teams and DTS groups (Discipleship Training Schools) who are coming to St. Marc, from churches and YWAM bases all over the world. It brings such energy and excitement to our little base! Right now, we have a team of 12 from Mexico, a team of 7 from Guadeloupe, and a handful of short-termers who are helping out with this and that. Tomorrow, we have a team from Oregon and on January 31st, a team comes from the good ol' state of PA! So things are hopping around here ... timeliness, especially for meals, is becoming more critical too. Sometimes I come to lunch to find nothing more than a half of a roll and a few wizened hot dogs left on the table! But God is also teaching me to be thankful for what I DO have ... especially when I know that many of my students come to school with almost nothing to eat.

This morning, at our staff prayer meeting, I found out that one of our close friends here on the base passed away this morning. She ran the soda and juice shope next to our local supermarket, and would often give us a free Fanta if we stopped by. She was only in her late 50's or early 60's, but apparently, after a car accident, something went wrong with her circulation (perhaps something in her brain?) and she died peacefully, and unexpectedly, this morning. It was such a shock to all of us. We all called her "Mommy" - and for years now, she has been Terry's Haitian mother. She has been a rock for him and for this base, offering encouragement and support during times when most of our other neighbors were doing much the opposite.

After school, Lindsay, Carline (one of our staff members, who is my age) and I walked downtown to pay our condolensces. It was so hard to walk into their little shop and to sit there in the darkness, surrounded by dusty cases of warm sodas and several other family friends, trying to decide what to say or not to say to Natacha (Mommy's only child) and her father. But it was good to be there, just remembering Mommy's face and her ever-present smile... She will be sorely missed.

I will write more later, because the dinner bell just rang. Don't want to miss my Monday night white rice! =)

We are ONE body ...

2009-01-17T13:45:00.000-08:00

Before any of our Christmas celebrations began, we celebrated the 18th birthday of Kristian Snow, Terry's second son. Lindsay, Shakinah and I were recruited to help plan an afternoon-long scavenger hunt for him and we ended the evening with a delicious steak and potato dinner. Terry had a lot of fun cooking up the steaks for us - I think it brought his Texas upbringing a bit closer to home for him =) And we didn't mind the change in dinner menu one bit either!

The theme for the evening centered around bunnies. NOT because Kristian thinks their cute or cuddly, but because his gift in working with computers and video all started with a series of three "Bunny" videos that he created when he was 15, using a web cam. It took him months to create them, but they are definitely quite the work of art! I'm excited to see where God takes Kristian in the coming years ... He has already been getting involved in the local TV station (we know the director and one of our staff members works there) and he has a lot of great ideas of how he can use this media to help educate the Haitian people and to spread the truth of the Gospel.

And this work of art is the birthday cake that his Aunt Shelly made for him. All centered around things that make him who he is today. I LOVED the popcorn bowl ... it is pure icing and cake! She is another very gifted member of the Snow family (Terry's only sister). I know these pictures don't look like your typical "Life in Haiti" slide show, but I included them for two reasons. One - it is so common to hear stories about missionaries feeling isolated when they are on the field, and I am just so thankful to God for the way he has knit this base together and how we interact, playing and working together like on big family. I love being a part of the lives of each missionary child on this base too ... I remember sensing that this was part of my calling, back in March, when God made it clear to me that he was bringing me back here for a season of my life. And as much as I enjoy relating to and mentoring these children, they have just as much to share with me.

Just this past Friday, after feeling a bit under the weather (and a bit desperate for some fresh air, after sitting in a dark and stuffy computer lab for too long after school!), I was walking home to my apartment, thinking that what I needed was a good nap before dinner. But in my heart, I knew that I was just in need of some encouragement. After a long week in the classroom, my heart was feeling heavy for some of the situations my students live in, day in and day out. And to be quite honest, I feel a such a loss to know how to really reach them ... And when I am tired, I always start missing people at home much more acutely (especially Stu).

But as I made my way across the base, I spotted little six-year-old Levi, strutting around in his batman outfit. He came running up to me, said hello, and we struck up a short conversation about his day at school, etc. etc. Then he asked me where Miss Lindsay was. I knew she was busy, (and that he was looking for someone to hang out with) so I invited him to come with me to the apartment for a little bit. I had my computer on, with a picture of me and Stu (from the night of our engagement) on the desktop. He took an interest in it and so I proceeded to show him all the pictures I took during my short two weeks at home.

It was so much fun to share some of these memories with him, and he was an amazingly attentive audience! You have to meet Levi to know what a bundle of uncontained energy he is ... He has to concentrate VERY hard to make himself walk anywhere. If he is just doing his thing, he RUNS. Everywhere. And he jumps and leaps and carries around large walking sticks. Just because that is who he is =) And he has an amazingly sensitive spirit and knowledge of God for his six years. Sometimes he blows me away with his insights...

One time, when he was walking with this family, and far out ahead of them, with his walking stick to keep him company, he was lost in thought. His dad, Rodney, tried to get his attention (unsuccessfully, the first few times), only to hear Levi respond with this comment, "You know, Dad, no matter how fast you run, you just can't get ahead of God. He always there first!"

Well, on this particular Friday, it wasn't a theological insight that touched me. It was just Levi's gentlemanly heart and behavior. After sitting through all of my pictures and stories, he wiggled a bit in his chair, turned towards me and said, very politely, "Miss Laura, I'm VERY glad that you got engaged." With a huge smile on his face, he jumped up and ran out the door, black cape flying behind him.

I told him after that night how much he had encouraged me and that he had been an answer to prayer. He just tilted his head and smiled, from ear to ear, with a look that said, "Really!? I didn't know that a kid could be an answer to prayer for an ADULT..." But that is exactly what he was. I see God using every person on this base, children and adults alike, to be there when we most need it. It is such a good reminder to me that we are all part of ONE body, and that we can not walk out this journey effectively without each other.

Some more of my family here on the base, enjoying Kristian's birthday cake. (Me, Haref - a girl from Mexico who was here for 3 weeks over Christmas, Patrick, Alaindo, and Shakinah)

The beautiful Christmas tree that Carline decorated for us. This was taken during our "White Elephant" gift exchange for the staff Christmas party. Another fun evening of celebrating with our YWAM family ...

Christmas 'n the Hood

2009-01-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

For our Christmas program this year, the Liberty Academy students put on a production of "Christmas 'n the Hood" - a powerful little drama/musical/rap that explains the story of Christ's birth from the perspective of a bunch of 'down in the dumps' street kids.

Shakinah (or Miss B), our 4th and 5th grade teacher, introduced the drama to us. It was written over 10 years ago by her father, Pastor Pete Bertolero, of the Legacy Christian Church in Fresno, California. But as we began to practice the play with our small group of Haitian students, it soon became evident that this play was written for THEM. It was so rewarding to watch them perform it for the staff and their parents on December 19th, the day before I flew home for Christmas.

Talannie, Lilly, and Stacey, some of the 3rd grade girls, dressed in 'rags' and ready to act their part in the play.

Erwann and Jephte, eager to play it cool on the street...

Eli and Samuel - lookin' tough and talkin' ghetto comes naturally to these two =)

A scene from the beginning of the play ... shortly before the kids break on into some very impressive dance moves during the opening song.

I worked with our second graders to put on a short play of the Nativity story, as found in Matthew and Luke. Illioney read the story from the Bible and Mr. Claudy (their teacher) translated it into Haitian Creole. This was a challenging bunch to work with, but thankfully everything came together in the end. I must admit, they do look quite adorable in this picture ...

But if you had been there in our practices, you would've heard Joseph complaining about everything and everyone under the sun (even going so far as to try talking me into giving him a different "Mary" - he thought that he would do a better job then ... I'm sure he would've, as the girl he suggested was his crush!). You also would have seen an 'angel of the Lord' that could put the fear of God into ANY poor shepherd, just by the glares she would give them (other girls in the class that she doesn't always get along with, to put it nicely...). So working with this class was also a lesson in patience and a chance for me to invest in their little lives as well, praying for them and helping them learn to get along and work WITH one another, rather than competing with everyone, in everything they did.

You can keep this group in your prayers. They need them ... Here are their names, in order from left to right. Nora, Nathaniel, Mikayla, Christelle, Dona, and Levi.

Two of our preschoolers, looking like Disney princesses (notice, this was taken BEFORE the program, while the chairs are still empty). By the end of the morning, they had dust smudges from sitting on the ground and scuffed shoes from playing on the swingset. But they did look good for a few minutes =)

Haref, Miss B, Miss Laura, Miss Lindsay, Malina (Haref's friend from college, originally from the D.R.), April, Christelle, and Dona. The three of us teachers were VERY happy at this point in time. The program was over, it had been a real success, our report cards were finished, we were about to enjoy some tasty Haitian catering for lunch, and all that we had left was to pack our suitcases for the long journey home!!!

This joyous dance party broke out during the closing song of our Christmas program ("Shackles," by Mary Mary). We had children, parents, staff, and teachers out of their seats, praising the Lord for his amazing Love gift that was sent to us in the form of His son. It was a great way to end the morning.

And what followed was icing on the cake. Valens' dad (one of my students) owns a very good restaurant here in St. Marc and we asked him to cater our lunch. It was wonderful to see the students spending this time with their parents - something that doesn't happen often enough.

Partying on our last day of school ... these children do not need much to bring a smile to their face. Something as simple as a balloon can provide hours of pure enjoyment!

Playing in front of one of the few remaing mud (now dirt) piles on our base.

Eli and Samuel, who started off being my guitar students back in August, are now teaching ME more than I can teach them! So we often do more jamming than structured 'lesson' time on Wednesday nights. It is a lot of fun picking up their Haitian rhythms in my strumming ;)

This crew looks ready for Christmas vacation!

December is upon us...

2008-12-13T12:52:00.000-08:00

The first weekend of December we planned an impromptu pool party for the middle school girls from the Liberty Academy. I know that sounds like a bit of an oxymoron (planning an impromptu event) but... this is Haiti =) That Friday, we had closed our morning chapel with a time of prayer and ministry for our students. Many of them were in tears, confessing hurts and pains that they've carried with them for too many of their young years. Many of the teachers were moved to tears as well, as we watched God bring healing to the hearts of these children. Children who have not known the love of their earthly fathers, let alone the pure love of a heavenly Father. Children who have heard the voice of the enemy more often than the voice of truth, speaking into their impressionable young minds...

So after this special morning together, which overflowed into countless conversations with our students throughout the rest of the day, I felt God nudging me to invite the middle school girls (and my Woodeline, who is friends with many of them) over on Saturday morning for an impromptu pool party. The invitations went home (written in the 5 minutes after our Christmas practice), and by 10am the next morning, we had five hyper teenage girls in our small apartment, drinking coffee and chatting before we ventured over to the pool.

The water was quite chilly ... despite the hot mid-day temperatures, the evenings are quite cool this time of year. So very few of us actually swam ;) But we had some great time to just talk, paint toenails (Myriam and Rachelle made some beautiful designs on our feet!), eat Doritos, drink Tang, and catch a few rays of sunshine. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning. And I know it was the only social activity most of those girls had planned for the entire weekend. Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful idea!

Shelly and Ingvild, studying the "Greentree" book (a Christmas study that Shakinah's dad wrote) that we're going through with our women's small group. It has been a very special month of going through this study together. We spend time each evening singing a Christmas carol together, sharing memories and traditions from our own family Christmases (this has been especial meaningful for us when Carline is there and she shares from her experiences of growing up in Haiti), and even playing fun Christmas games. We always end the evening by doing the study, digging into the scriptures to get a fresh perspective on the Christmas story (Pete Bertolero, Shakinah's father, does an amazing job of doing this for us in his book), and then closing with a time of prayer and ministry for each other.

It was neat to see how this book impacted some of our families right on the base. Rhodes, having grown up in a very Catholic nation (the Dominican Republic), had never known anything about Advent before. Her family, and her church, were quite opposed to anything that was too 'Catholic,' because they assumed it was not strongly rooted in scripture. But many things that are rooted in Christian tradition ARE rooted in scripture. And she was thrilled to discover the joys of preparing her own family for the Christmas holiday by spending time together in family devotions during these weeks of Advent.

Shakinah leads our small group studies from this book, and Lucy (we are so glad to have her back!) is our faithful translator, so that when Carline or Evodie join us, we can all understand each other. I am starting to wish for a magic Creole potion that I could take so I could speak and understand this beautiful language... I've been working on it ever since my trip to Haiti in March, but it doesn't not come easily. Especially since I didn't study French in high school, AND I am surrounded by English speakers for most of the day. I am very thankful for my class of ESL students though, because as I am teaching them English, they are teaching me Creole! We need both languages to truly span the language gap, so I'm taking advantage of it =) I was encouraged the other day after school, when Katia (the girl who cleans our school every day) and I had a 10 minute conversation with each other. In Creole! I have been trying to take some time on the weekends to intentionally study from my little blue grammar book that I bought in March, but it is difficult. I also love listening to the translation in all of our staff meetings and worship services. That is helping me pick up the language the most ... Lord willing, I will be able to communicate with these people by the time I leave in June =)

Junior (Juhn) and Patrick - two awesome brothers who are faithful, dedicated, hard-workers on this base. Junior is our new head cook and Patrick is in charge of our grounds-maintenance. After the PA team came in October to fix the roof on our old school, Junior has been wearing a 100% authentic Amish outfit to every party and celebration we have on the base. Apparently, one of the young Amish men in the group gave it to him before they left! I get such a kick out of seeing it ... you don't see many Amish in Haiti =)

Luke (staff member on the St. Croix YWAM base) saying farewell to some dear friends, Jude and Carline. We were so blessed to have a DTS from St. Croix come to our base for their mini-outreach. It was a blessing to see God at work in their lives and they helped us out with many things around the base - delivering food to the 5th section, teaching kid's church, sharing dramas and testimonies at our Sunday evening service, and even helping out in the classrooms the day before our Thanksgiving break.

And more Birthdays...

2008-11-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

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 ...

2008-11-29T10:21:00.000-08:00

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 ...

2008-11-29T08:36:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-29T07:04:00.001-08:00

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...

2008-11-29T06:34:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-26T15:19:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-11-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

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

2008-11-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-11-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Once upon a Friday...

2008-10-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

Some of my students on their way to chapel. Jephte is carrying our music bag (the kids LOVE playing these during our time of worship ... they are so rhythmically gifted!), Scheydline is showing off her pretty pink-polka-dot dress, and Valens is lookin' like Mr. Cool =)

Scheydline posing with her friend Donna, from Mr. Claudy's 2nd grade class

My two birthday boys, Mario and Valens. They both had birthdays the weekend before school started on October 6, so we celebrated them together the last Friday of the month. We had a fun party, complete with a game of "Pin the Tail on the Horse" =)

Woodeline (my little translator, who's getting quite good, by the way!) spinning Scheydline for her turn in the horse game.

Some of Mr. Illioney's students hanging out together after school. Eli (on the left) is definitely one of my favorite kids at the school ... he's already 16, but because of the nature of the Haitian school system, he never did very well in school and has been held back quite a few grades. But he's a brilliantly gifted kid - very artistic and musical, a natural leader (helps teach P.E. class with Lizzy), and an amazing friend to everyone. Tamara (the one in the middle) is a beautiful young woman with a sensitive heart and aspirations to become either a doctor or an interior designer. And Lizzy (Terry's one and only daughter) is just an all-around wonderful girl. She and Eli are close friends and they hang out all the time on the base, along with Samuel, her younger brother.

barn party in Haiti!

2008-10-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

Monthly birthday parties are one of our favorite things to do here on the base... but Shelly Nettles is usually the one to plan them and bake the amazing cakes for them, and she is in the states for two months! So that put the three of us women on 'party duty' this month. It was a bit of a challenge with our busy teaching schedules, but we managed to pull it off. A Haitian style barn party =)

Here's Daryl, carefully transporting our October birthday cake to the party in the cafeteria. Shakinah and I baked it (a delicious chocolate fudge cake) after school and then Lindsay mixed up her mom's tasty icing, which Daryl graciously added to the cake for us. We added some gummy pumpkins (courtesy of Stu) and candy corn for the festive autumn look.

Me, Shakinah, and Lindsay - proud of our cake and our fall decorations. Even though they seemed a bit out of place on this tropical Haitian evening...

Ingvild and Terry Snow, lookin' the part for our countrified evenin' =) We even sang a rendition of "Happy Birthday" with southern Texan drawls and the accompaniment of my fiddle! We taught everyone how to play Train Wreck (minus the bales of hay) too, and they LOVED it!

Rhodes, Lilly and me learning how to line dance. Lindsay was a good teacher, but she was also having a blast herself =) I like seeing the farm and country side of her coming out...

Our night ended with the traditional 'pool throw.' Lindsay got wet for a second time, and so did Richard (on the right) and all the other birthday boys =)

lesson time again

2008-10-26T05:12:00.000-07:00

I came to Haiti to teach English - to start an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) at the Liberty Academy. I know that God has called me here for this school year, and I'm not sure what his plans are for who will take my place in the coming one ... I'm still praying that he will make that clear to me, in enough time for me to be able to pass on my curriculum and year's experiences with that new teacher. But God has surprised me in opening up other doors and opportunities for teaching as well!

After several weeks of living in Haiti, I found out that the Gephart family had several guitars that were coming on their truck load of house supplies AND that they would let me borrow one for the year! I also found out that their son, Kai, really wanted to learn the guitar. He'd already had a few lessons, but was eager to learn more. During my first WEEK here, Patrick, one of the guys here on staff, approached me about guitar lessons as well. So I prayed about it and decided that I would try giving group guitar lessons once a week for whoever was interested. Even thought I've never had guitar lessons myself, I love to play, and God had given me confidence and experience in teaching guitar over the last two years as I've taught guitar lessons to students after school at LAMS. So, as I felt God's nudging to do so, I offered to give lessons every Wednesday night at 6:30 pm in my classroom.

The class varies every week. Our first week, there were four young Haitian men from on staff who came, eager to learn the basics of their first ever instrument. Kai and Samuel, missionary kids on the base, also came and even helped me teach some of the first chords that we learned that night. The next week, Lindsay came as well so that she could learn the guitar - something she's always wanted to do. After a few weeks, Eli, one of the students from the Liberty Academy, and one of Samuel's best friends, came as well.

It has been so much fun learning together with this group of budding musicians. I know that God has many plans and purposes for bringing together and raising up so much musical talent on this base. I'm excited to see what some of those plans are =) I'm also praying about how to better use music in my own classroom. Just last week, I had the students learn their first memory verse - to the familiar tune of a Steve Green "Hide 'Em in Your Heart" song that I learned as a child, after Mom purchased the tape to help us learn scripture verses. It was from Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strenghthens me."

What a joy it was, just this past Friday, to hear every ONE of my dear students - confident fifth grader down to little first grader - not saying, but SINGing their memory verse to me. God has already given me another excellent verse for this coming week, and the week after that. I know that he has a reason for each one. I was trying to teach my students that the vocabulary "I can't" is NOT allowed in my classroom. I want them to learn to face life's difficulties with a positive attitude and a confidence that, with God's help, they CAN do so much more than they'd ever hope or imagine. This verse fit perfectly in with that lesson. And apparently, because of our thin blue tarp 'walls,' the entire school has learned this verse along with my students ;) So Shakinah asked me yesterday if her 4th and 5th graders could also learn our memory verses along with us each week - something I was very excited about! It will be great for my kids to hear this children, whose English is much better than theirs, singing the same memory verses week after week. Thank you, Lord, for helping to hide your Word in their hearts!

Week two of guitar class was a small one, but a LOT of fun! Kai, Lindsay, and Eli - getting ready to learn the chords for "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High."

Another opportunity for lessons and teaching that I was NOT expecting during my year down here in Haiti, came to me through Terry Snow. One night at dinner he told me that perhaps we should try giving English lessons to the entire city of St. Marc - on television! Now, he had already proposed (via email) to me the possibility of offering English lessons to adults in the community, perhaps in the evenings or on weekends. But I was concerned about having enough time and energy to do that AND to give what I needed to give to my students at the Liberty Academy each week. So I told him that I wanted to wait until Christmas ...

Well, just weeks after we arrived here in Haiti, during one of our Friday night dinners of fried chicken and rice (when Terry and Ingvild join the staff for dinner in the cafeteria), Terry mentioned this possibility of using the one-hour YWAM slot on Dynasty TV for teaching English lessons to the city of St. Marc! Lindsay and I started to get excited about this opportunity, especially if we could tag-team it and find a way to make the lessons fun and interactive ...

But then Hurricane Hanna struck. All of our time and energies were focused on cleaning up the base and reopening the school. But now, the Liberty Academy has been opened for three full weeks, AND we have aired three short programs on Friday night television! The first week of school, Lindsay and I simply introduced ourselves as Carline (the young woman in the picture) interviewed us. We told the people of St. Marc that we will be offering 15 minute conversational English lessons each Friday, and that they should tune in every week if they are interested in learning! Last week we taught some basic greetings and simple conversation for introducing yourself and getting to know another person. Jean Wilgard, another young Haitian man on staff here, who works for Dynasty TV, does our video recording for us. Carline helps with the introductions and Richard serves as our translator. Kristian Snow then uses this video recording and weaves together a beautiful and somewhat entertaining version of our "English Lessons With Laura and Lindsay" and airs it on Dynasty TV.

This past week we taught how to tell time, and specific greetings (like "Good evening") that are used only at certain times of the day. It is fun having my students come into school on a Monday morning and telling me that they saw me on TV over the weekend! And Lindsay and I have even had the experience of random people walking up to us, sometimes after the church service here on the base, to tell us that they saw us on TV.

As they say here on the base, if you want to be famous, you just have to come to Haiti =)

We use the chalkboard in my classroom to post the words or phrases that we teach each week. It is not very snazzy or tech-savvy, but it works. It is better to do something simply and actually make it happen, then not to do it at all ...

Miss Laura, feeling completely worn out after a day of teaching and trying to get refocused and energized for our recording session. Thankfully, with modern technology, we can rerecord our English lessons to cover up all the bumbles and bloopers we make. This past week was full of them, as Lindsay and I were both exhausted after our day of teaching on Wednesday, when we recorded it. But God came through and gave us the strength and energy we needed.

As we say at the end of our lessons, "This has been English Lessons with Laura and Lindsay. See you next week!"

The team of two

2008-10-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

MacKendy chatting with the guys as they load their luggage onto the bus. They could not believe how long or bumpy the two hour ride back to St. Marc was ... I guess I'm getting used to it by now, since this is the 7th time I've been on it!

Since this team of 2 is not large enough to convince the kitchen to open up and serve meals on weekends, we offered to feed the guys on Saturdays and Sundays. This was the scrumptious
Sunday lunch I came home to after worship practice. Hamburgers on the grill, fresh lettuce, cucumber, and tomato, and grilled buns. It was amazing!

Lindsay and Shakinah also got the guys to help out with their lesson for kids' church on Sunday. I think they helped to act out a skit about Satan ... ;) I don't think that says anything about their character though. They've been amazingly hard workers from day 1 and have jumped in to everything that happens here on the base.

Here they are putting a real ceiling in our apartment. This might seem like a somewhat 'selfish' project, but Lindsay and I were determined to leave this staff apartment in better condition than when we came. We are hoping to bless the next residents with air conditioning as well (thus, the need to have a ceiling, so all the cool air doesn't escape through the gaps in the tin roofing).

AND they mounted an exhaust fan in our school! This has definitely helped cool things off for us and for the students. But the hot weather continues to persist, so we keep praying that God will show us the best way to move forward from here with the plans for air conditioning. Apparently, there is a unit coming down on one of the trailers. A donated unit. But we also raised the funds to purchase one, and if we were to get one here in Port-au-Prince, it would be installed several weeks before the trailer would get here. Please join us as we pray for wisdom in making this decision... The students at the Liberty Academy are learning many lessons these days. Focus and perseverance in their learning is high on the list, as they fight off the frustrations of sweat dripping into their eyes as they learn, papers constantly blowing onto the floor, and sometimes even into other classrooms (under the blue tarp dividers)!, and the intense heat which forces us to take water breaks every hour or so, to keep the kids from getting dehydrated. But God is teaching us to live with all of this and STILL learn and grow and enjoy doing it! When this air conditioning is finally installed, we will know just how much to appreciate and give thanks for it.