It’s hard to believe we’ve been here for a month already!
We’ve settled into our temporary quarters and are getting into the rhythm of life in Haiti. Things move slowly here, partly because of the heat, partly because of communication issues and partly because…well, it’s just the Haitian way!
For example, you don’t walk into someone’s office and just ask for a report. You walk in, sit down, ask about their family, comment on the weather, then you ask for the report.
You don’t just run to the grocery store and pick up a few things. Since the trip to Port (Port au Prince) is over an hour, you see if any of your fellow missionaries need anything, you make a list, make sure you have enough money (both Haitian and American, because some stores take one and not the other) and you plan on hitting more than one store to get everything you need, because the first place will never have all the items on your list.
You might begin your work day with a long “to do” list, but know you won’t get half the items done. Someone you had an appointment with will arrive 30 minutes late (or not at all), you won’t have the materials on hand to complete a job or it will be just too darn hot to tackle a particular project that day.
I know this all sounds terribly frustrating and, at times, it is. But it teaches you patience and flexibility. Everything gets done in the end.
In spite of the slower pace, we’ve seen and done a great deal in the last month. We had a team come from Florida to do VBS for our satellite churches in the villages of Ti Cousin, Jean Jean and Gran Savon. They did crafts, games, songs and lessons, all focused on the Gospel. The kids got a nutritious lunch each day and had a great time. In five days, over 1000 kids attended! One of the volunteers was so touched by the experience that he is talking about coming back to Haiti as a long term missionary. This place has a way of grabbing your heart!
When we were here back in February, we helped put a roof on the church in Gran Savon. Last week the cement floor was poured at the church, just in time for a wedding. This humble little church is growing and plans to start a school in September. None of the teachers will be paid, all volunteers. Amazing!
Ed has been gathering lots of financial data from the various parts of the mission. Since they haven’t had a Director in quite a while, there weren’t any accurate records for many things, so he’s trying to straighten all this out. Not an easy task, but we’re getting there.
We’ve had some challenges (issues with employees, improper use of the facilities and vehicles at the mission, etc.). But I think the workers are beginning to understand Ed’s management style and expectations and most of the people here are strong supporters of the changes we’ve made.
But it’s not all work. Last week, we had “movie night”. Sandy and Jim (husband and wife that run the med clinic) have a projector you can hook up to a laptop, so we watched a DVD projected on the wall of the guest house. We even had popcorn and soda! It was a fun evening.
We’ve had a new addition to the Christianville family. Teresa (our physician’s assistant) and Ryan (our eye doctor) welcomed Eleanor Nancy Price on July 12 at 2:33 AM. She’s a real cutie with curly red hair like her Mom. They will return to the mission at the end of August.
Our other expectant mom, Amy, went to the States last month. Her husband Doug will leave next week to join her as they await the arrival of their son in early September. Their other son, Dor, will have to stay in Haiti since his adoption isn’t complete yet. But, he’ll be surrounded by many people here who love him and will make sure he is taken care of till Doug & Amy return.
August will be a quiet month. All the other Americans will be back in the States on furlough or maternity leave. We hope to use this time to be tutored in Creole. We’re picking up words and phrases, but really need to have some formal lessons.
Well, I have to go get a cake out of the oven. As we do every Sunday evening, we’re having our Bible study & pot luck dinner tonight.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We can’t do this alone!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
We're in haiti!
Well, we’re finally here! We moved to Haiti on June 16. Overall, the trip went well. We had one glitch with the luggage. We had spent many hours trying to fit all our stuff into 10 suitcases, each weighing less than 50 lbs. When we arrived at the airport, we were informed that Haiti had an embargo on “excess baggage”, meaning we could only bring 4 of the 10 bags! American Airlines had failed to mention this on their website L. But, thankfully, my sister lives 15 minutes from the airport and was kind enough to come and get our extra bags. A friend of ours is coming to Haiti next month with his daughter and will bring 4 of our suitcases. We’ll retrieve the others when we go home in December.
We did lots of running around in the days before our trip to get all the travel paperwork together for our cats, Bear & Tigger. However, nobody in the US or Haiti asked to see any of it! The cats survived the trip, but it was rough on them. These are 2 spoiled indoor pets who don’t even go outside, so an airplane trip to another country was quite an ordeal. Tigger had a bad reaction to the tranquilizers the vet gave us and got quite agitated. He wiggled around so much in his carrier that he got tangled in his harness, was choking and had passed out. Thankfully, we realized what was happening and were able to remove the harness. He was pretty shaken up by his “near death” experience but seems fully recovered now.
When we arrived, we got a nice surprise concerning our housing arrangements. We originally thought we would have to stay in the guest house for a couple of months while we waited for our house to be available (it’s currently occupied by another missionary who is waiting for completion of the new med clinic apartments). However, we were told we could use the eye doc’s house while he and his wife are home on maternity leave until mid August. The guest house is very comfortable for a week or two but one bedroom and a bath might have been quite confining for a long period. Having a whole house, with a bit of privacy and being able to prepare our own meals, has been a lovely and unexpected blessing.
Since our arrival Ed has been busy with meetings and the gathering and sorting of information. Since there has not been a Director at Christian for a couple of years, things have gotten a bit disorganized. Just sorting out finances and staff is proving to be a big challenge.
I’ve been working on some things to prepare for the coming school year at the English Academy, where I will be the Administrator and teach kindergarten and first grade. We’ve had some new applicants that needed to be interviewed, teacher contracts to be renewed and facilities to be cleaned and painted.
One thing we’re learning about Haiti is that nothing happens fast and almost everything takes longer than it would be in the States. Just going food shopping is an all day affair. The only real grocery stores are in Port au Prince, about 90 minutes from here (just 20 miles, but it takes a long time due to road conditions). There are 4 food stores (like small versions of US stores) but you frequently have to go to more than one because the first one probably doesn’t have everything you need. Food is quite expensive since many items are imported. And to make it even more complicated, each store prices things differently. One store may list prices in American dollars, one may list it in Haitian dollars and one may list it in goudes (there are 5 goudes to every Haitian dollar and 8 Haitian dollars to every American dollar, so it takes awhile to figure out how much an item costs!) Then, after you go to the actual grocery stores, you go to the open air market for your fresh fruits and veggies. This is like a farmers market that’s open every day but is not nearly as clean as it would be in the US. We have one close to the mission. Since the missionaries go there on a regular basis, the vendors are very friendly and give us decent prices even though we’re “blanc” (white – which usually means you pay more). This is very INexpensive. Yesterday I bought a head of cabbage, some onions, potatoes and garlic and only paid about $1.50 for all. We may have to become vegetarians J
Yesterday was an interesting day. After going to the market we drove about 45 minutes to the town of Grand Golve (pronounced “guave”) to visit Lifelife, another mission. It’s very well run and we came away with lots of good ideas. The couple who founded it, Bob & Gretchen Defoe, are really amazing! They started the mission in 1980 and have since expanded their program to Hondurus and Cuba. In addition to a school and med clinic, they build houses for local families. For $3600 they can build a simple but sturdy 2 room home. They use skilled Haitian workers for the masonry, etc. (providing employment) and use short term missionary teams from the US for the grunt work. They build a house a week! Isn’t that amazing? The family has to own the piece of land for the house and sometime helps with construction, so it’s sort of like Haitian Habitat for Humanity. They really inspired us and we left feeling very encouraged. Then we went to visit a family in a nearby village and our hearts sank (it was a day of highs and lows). This family consists of a mother and her seven kids. They live in the smallest house I’ve ever seen (maybe 8’ x 8’?). There is only one bed and very primitive cooking facilities. Two of the children were ill in spite of the fact that free medical care is available through Lifeline. Haitians are skeptical about “free” because their government doesn’t supply anything like that. We arranged for a worker from the mission to escort them to the clinic to show them it’s okay. Two of the daughters have US sponsors so they go to school and get one good meal a day, but it hardly seems enough!
The problems in Haiti seem so overwhelming at times but I need to remember the verse the Lord led me to the first time we were here. 2 Chronicles 20:15-17 “…thus says the Lord to you, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God’s… do not fear or be dismayed, tomorrow go out and face them for the Lord is with you”. We just have to work on the little piece of Haiti that God has sent us to and trust He will enable us to do our best for these dear people.
Please pray for us on July 4. We’re having a meeting with all the employees of the mission (over 200 people) to formally introduce Ed as the new Director and explain to them how we plan to run the mission from now on. Due to a lack of leadership, there has not been as much oversight or accountability as there should be. Things like lying, petty thefts and laziness have occurred in some areas. We need to start fresh and remind our workers that the goal of this mission is to glorify God. We cannot do that with ungodly behavior, so certain things will no longer be tolerated if you want to work here. We’re all going to work together and a team/family to please the Lord and help the Haitian people (in that order). Needless to say, this may not be a popular position with some of the employees, so we’d really appreciate your prayers!
We did lots of running around in the days before our trip to get all the travel paperwork together for our cats, Bear & Tigger. However, nobody in the US or Haiti asked to see any of it! The cats survived the trip, but it was rough on them. These are 2 spoiled indoor pets who don’t even go outside, so an airplane trip to another country was quite an ordeal. Tigger had a bad reaction to the tranquilizers the vet gave us and got quite agitated. He wiggled around so much in his carrier that he got tangled in his harness, was choking and had passed out. Thankfully, we realized what was happening and were able to remove the harness. He was pretty shaken up by his “near death” experience but seems fully recovered now.
When we arrived, we got a nice surprise concerning our housing arrangements. We originally thought we would have to stay in the guest house for a couple of months while we waited for our house to be available (it’s currently occupied by another missionary who is waiting for completion of the new med clinic apartments). However, we were told we could use the eye doc’s house while he and his wife are home on maternity leave until mid August. The guest house is very comfortable for a week or two but one bedroom and a bath might have been quite confining for a long period. Having a whole house, with a bit of privacy and being able to prepare our own meals, has been a lovely and unexpected blessing.
Since our arrival Ed has been busy with meetings and the gathering and sorting of information. Since there has not been a Director at Christian for a couple of years, things have gotten a bit disorganized. Just sorting out finances and staff is proving to be a big challenge.
I’ve been working on some things to prepare for the coming school year at the English Academy, where I will be the Administrator and teach kindergarten and first grade. We’ve had some new applicants that needed to be interviewed, teacher contracts to be renewed and facilities to be cleaned and painted.
One thing we’re learning about Haiti is that nothing happens fast and almost everything takes longer than it would be in the States. Just going food shopping is an all day affair. The only real grocery stores are in Port au Prince, about 90 minutes from here (just 20 miles, but it takes a long time due to road conditions). There are 4 food stores (like small versions of US stores) but you frequently have to go to more than one because the first one probably doesn’t have everything you need. Food is quite expensive since many items are imported. And to make it even more complicated, each store prices things differently. One store may list prices in American dollars, one may list it in Haitian dollars and one may list it in goudes (there are 5 goudes to every Haitian dollar and 8 Haitian dollars to every American dollar, so it takes awhile to figure out how much an item costs!) Then, after you go to the actual grocery stores, you go to the open air market for your fresh fruits and veggies. This is like a farmers market that’s open every day but is not nearly as clean as it would be in the US. We have one close to the mission. Since the missionaries go there on a regular basis, the vendors are very friendly and give us decent prices even though we’re “blanc” (white – which usually means you pay more). This is very INexpensive. Yesterday I bought a head of cabbage, some onions, potatoes and garlic and only paid about $1.50 for all. We may have to become vegetarians J
Yesterday was an interesting day. After going to the market we drove about 45 minutes to the town of Grand Golve (pronounced “guave”) to visit Lifelife, another mission. It’s very well run and we came away with lots of good ideas. The couple who founded it, Bob & Gretchen Defoe, are really amazing! They started the mission in 1980 and have since expanded their program to Hondurus and Cuba. In addition to a school and med clinic, they build houses for local families. For $3600 they can build a simple but sturdy 2 room home. They use skilled Haitian workers for the masonry, etc. (providing employment) and use short term missionary teams from the US for the grunt work. They build a house a week! Isn’t that amazing? The family has to own the piece of land for the house and sometime helps with construction, so it’s sort of like Haitian Habitat for Humanity. They really inspired us and we left feeling very encouraged. Then we went to visit a family in a nearby village and our hearts sank (it was a day of highs and lows). This family consists of a mother and her seven kids. They live in the smallest house I’ve ever seen (maybe 8’ x 8’?). There is only one bed and very primitive cooking facilities. Two of the children were ill in spite of the fact that free medical care is available through Lifeline. Haitians are skeptical about “free” because their government doesn’t supply anything like that. We arranged for a worker from the mission to escort them to the clinic to show them it’s okay. Two of the daughters have US sponsors so they go to school and get one good meal a day, but it hardly seems enough!
The problems in Haiti seem so overwhelming at times but I need to remember the verse the Lord led me to the first time we were here. 2 Chronicles 20:15-17 “…thus says the Lord to you, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God’s… do not fear or be dismayed, tomorrow go out and face them for the Lord is with you”. We just have to work on the little piece of Haiti that God has sent us to and trust He will enable us to do our best for these dear people.
Please pray for us on July 4. We’re having a meeting with all the employees of the mission (over 200 people) to formally introduce Ed as the new Director and explain to them how we plan to run the mission from now on. Due to a lack of leadership, there has not been as much oversight or accountability as there should be. Things like lying, petty thefts and laziness have occurred in some areas. We need to start fresh and remind our workers that the goal of this mission is to glorify God. We cannot do that with ungodly behavior, so certain things will no longer be tolerated if you want to work here. We’re all going to work together and a team/family to please the Lord and help the Haitian people (in that order). Needless to say, this may not be a popular position with some of the employees, so we’d really appreciate your prayers!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Getting Ready to Go!
Things are moving right along and we're seeing God's faithfulness over and over again! Things have gone so smoothly that we felt confident to make our airline reservations. Our departure date is June 16!
We have a tenant for our home, a lovely single woman about our age. It's a big relief! She wants to rent for the full two years and I think she will be a good care- taker for our house. Ed's friend John R will care for the yard and John W will be taking care of any repairs. Our new tenant even bought our dining room set and (much to Ed's delight!) our sleeper sofa, which is a real pain to move! He's so happy it can stay right where it is :-)
We had our garage sale on Saturday and, in spite of a forecast for rain, we had great weather and a wonderful turn out. We put "For Sale" signs on the Subaru and we have a neighbor who is interested and would allow us to keep it till we leave.
Looks like we may be shipping the Jeep over to Haiti. The cost is more reasonable than we expected and is cheaper than buying a car when we arrive. Hopefully we can load it up with stuff as well.
God continues to provide for us. The raffle organized by my coworkers was a huge success and we have been getting donations from some unexpected sources. At this point we have enough to cover our living expenses for about 6 months! Amazing!
We finish work on May 29 and will be visiting our kids in Texas in early June. Then...off to our new home in Haiti!
We have a tenant for our home, a lovely single woman about our age. It's a big relief! She wants to rent for the full two years and I think she will be a good care- taker for our house. Ed's friend John R will care for the yard and John W will be taking care of any repairs. Our new tenant even bought our dining room set and (much to Ed's delight!) our sleeper sofa, which is a real pain to move! He's so happy it can stay right where it is :-)
We had our garage sale on Saturday and, in spite of a forecast for rain, we had great weather and a wonderful turn out. We put "For Sale" signs on the Subaru and we have a neighbor who is interested and would allow us to keep it till we leave.
Looks like we may be shipping the Jeep over to Haiti. The cost is more reasonable than we expected and is cheaper than buying a car when we arrive. Hopefully we can load it up with stuff as well.
God continues to provide for us. The raffle organized by my coworkers was a huge success and we have been getting donations from some unexpected sources. At this point we have enough to cover our living expenses for about 6 months! Amazing!
We finish work on May 29 and will be visiting our kids in Texas in early June. Then...off to our new home in Haiti!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Preparations
We're busy getting ready for the big move to Haiti. We've both submitted our resignations at work. The last day for both of us will be May 29. That's a scary prospect, but I have to trust God to provide.
We're sorting through all our stuff and and most will be sold at a garage sale on May 16. It's embarrassing how much we have accumulated. I thought it would hard to do this part, but it's actually kind of freeing to scale down your belongings to bare minimum.
I've placed ads in the local paper for the yard sale and the house being for rent. I hope we get a good tenant soon. That will be a big hurdle to overcome.
We made our first fund raising visit to a local church yesterday. The people at Word of Life Fellowship were so supportive. We were given a nice donation and lots of promises of prayer support.
We're researching the procedure for bringing our cats, Bear and Tigger with us. It's not as complicated as I thought. I know it seems silly but it will be a comfort to have them with us.
The wonderful people I work with are organizing a raffle to raise money for us. I tear up every time I think about how kind they are. One man even donated tickets to Penn State game! That's like gold in this part of the country!
We haven't had as much time as we'd hoped to study our Creole language CD's and I'm sure we're going to have to attend language school when we get down there. There's just so much to!
Once all is settled in the States and we move to our new home, I know we'll feel a great relief. We're both so anxious to get started. But, all things in God's good time :-)
We're sorting through all our stuff and and most will be sold at a garage sale on May 16. It's embarrassing how much we have accumulated. I thought it would hard to do this part, but it's actually kind of freeing to scale down your belongings to bare minimum.
I've placed ads in the local paper for the yard sale and the house being for rent. I hope we get a good tenant soon. That will be a big hurdle to overcome.
We made our first fund raising visit to a local church yesterday. The people at Word of Life Fellowship were so supportive. We were given a nice donation and lots of promises of prayer support.
We're researching the procedure for bringing our cats, Bear and Tigger with us. It's not as complicated as I thought. I know it seems silly but it will be a comfort to have them with us.
The wonderful people I work with are organizing a raffle to raise money for us. I tear up every time I think about how kind they are. One man even donated tickets to Penn State game! That's like gold in this part of the country!
We haven't had as much time as we'd hoped to study our Creole language CD's and I'm sure we're going to have to attend language school when we get down there. There's just so much to!
Once all is settled in the States and we move to our new home, I know we'll feel a great relief. We're both so anxious to get started. But, all things in God's good time :-)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
We're moving to Haiti!
We've just returned from a two-week orientation at Christianville and are hoping to move there in mid-June. This visit went well. We learned a great deal (mostly that we still have alot more to learn!). We met with the department heads of the school, maintenance and evangelism departments and got a clearer picture of how things work.
We visited one church that faces persecution because they are the only Christian church in a village that has 14 voodoo temples!
We got to witness a baptism in the Carribean Sea.
We helped with the biweekly food distribution to the elderly.
We spent lots of time with the school kids.
We visited a grocery store in Port au Price. Most things are available but some are very expensive ($10 for Breyer's ice cream - yikes!)
The other missionaries have been tremendously helpful in getting us ready for the big move. It's been a real blessing.
We are excited and nervous about such a big change but we feel at peace that this is where we are supposed to be.
We visited one church that faces persecution because they are the only Christian church in a village that has 14 voodoo temples!
We got to witness a baptism in the Carribean Sea.
We helped with the biweekly food distribution to the elderly.
We spent lots of time with the school kids.
We visited a grocery store in Port au Price. Most things are available but some are very expensive ($10 for Breyer's ice cream - yikes!)
The other missionaries have been tremendously helpful in getting us ready for the big move. It's been a real blessing.
We are excited and nervous about such a big change but we feel at peace that this is where we are supposed to be.
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Next Step
We were contacted a couple of weeks ago by the Christianville Board, asking us to attend their semi-annual meeting in Jacksonville, FL March 27. Just getting there was quite an adventure. Our flight from Harrisburg PA to Charlotte NC was delayed so we missed our connection to FL. There weren't any other flights till the next morning, so we rented a car and drove from Charlotte to Jacksonville, about a five hour trip! We got to the hotel at 5 AM, had 2 hours sleep and headed for the meeting.
It was good to meet the Board members and see what great leadership Christianville has working in the US. Hearing reports on all the various departments was really helpful in allowing us to understand some of the challenges we would face as directors.
After lunch, the Board asked us questions about our qualifications and we asked questions about their expectations. They asked us to leave the room and 10 minutes later, we learned we had been approved unanimously. It's a real honor and their confidence in us is very humbling.
Now the work really begins. We will need to find a tenant to rent our home, sell most of our furnishings and our cars and get things set up for our arrival in Haiti, hopefully in June. We are going down in April for 2 weeks and hope to accomplish much on that visit.
We continue to study the Haitian Creole language. The progress is slow, but we are learning.
One of our main focuses at this point will be fund raising, a task neither of us is very comfortable with, but it is necessary. We will need to trust the Lord to provide generous donors and opportunities to speak at local churches to raise support.
The adventure continues...
It was good to meet the Board members and see what great leadership Christianville has working in the US. Hearing reports on all the various departments was really helpful in allowing us to understand some of the challenges we would face as directors.
After lunch, the Board asked us questions about our qualifications and we asked questions about their expectations. They asked us to leave the room and 10 minutes later, we learned we had been approved unanimously. It's a real honor and their confidence in us is very humbling.
Now the work really begins. We will need to find a tenant to rent our home, sell most of our furnishings and our cars and get things set up for our arrival in Haiti, hopefully in June. We are going down in April for 2 weeks and hope to accomplish much on that visit.
We continue to study the Haitian Creole language. The progress is slow, but we are learning.
One of our main focuses at this point will be fund raising, a task neither of us is very comfortable with, but it is necessary. We will need to trust the Lord to provide generous donors and opportunities to speak at local churches to raise support.
The adventure continues...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Journey Begins
In July 2008, Ed & I made our first visit to the Christianville mission in Gressier Haiti and now we have been offered the opportunity for long term service!
This mission was built on a donated 30-acre tract of land and has been in operation for over 30 years. Christianville now consists of a church, medical clinic, dental clinic, eye clinic, a 850 pupil school (grades 1-12) and an accredited university. A program is in operation raising fish, chickens for eggs, goats and pigs to provide meals for the students in the grade school and to be distributed to the needy. Outreach programs in the surrounding villages include three additional schools (with approx 400 students), six churches, food and housing for the elderly and a health education program. The mission also provides employment for about 200 Haitian workers in fields such as teaching, healthcare, farming, maintenance and construction.
Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. It’s a third-world country with a corrupt government that does nothing to help its people. There are no public schools, no health coverage, no mail delivery, and no Medicare or Social Security to take care of citizens who cannot care for themselves.
Here are some of the sobering facts:
The average Haitian earns $500 (US) per year
54% of the population does not have access to clean water
49% of the population is undernourished
The average life expectancy is under 60
Less than 50% of the children are enrolled in school.
While these statistics may seem overwhelming, there is hope. There are many Americans working in Haiti and making great sacrifices to help these people. We met some of these people, including a doctor who gave up a successful practice to work in the medical clinic and a number of young couples who have put their careers and ambitions on hold to help those less fortunate.
We went back to Haiti in February and will return for 2 weeks in April. Upon our return, we will decide if we are ready to commit two years to the mission. Ed would serve as Director of Operations, working with department heads to assure things run smoothly, goals are accomplished and budgets are adhered to. Pat would be the Administrator at the English Academy, a small school within the grade school where students are taught in English. She will be working with the children, overseeing the budget and sending out reports to Americans who sponsor children in the school.
Please keep us in your prayers as we consider this whole adventure.
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