Monday, January 23, 2012

Many greetings to you from Haiti!  Yes, I am back here now (just in case you thought I was still in the US, which would be understandable, since you haven't heard from me in forever).  But no, I am back and am happily getting a refill of spontaneous hugs and constant noise.  As you can imagine, life has been really busy since I've returned.  School has started, we've had 3 visiting teams, and I'm busy trying to catch up on all the end of the year administration things that didn't get done thanks to my rush to the US for my eyes.

Speaking of which, just how are my eyes doing?  Well, for the most part they are doing fine.  I'm learning to take better care of them, recognizing when they are tired and too dry, and for the most part I've managed to do pretty good.  It has been very helpful in making me realize there is only so much you can do in a day, and if it all doesn't get done, there's always tomorrow!  Well, today it's the blog's turn to get updated, so sit back and enjoy a bit of news about the end of our year, and the start of this new one.

So, to begin properly, I need to wish you all a very Happy New Year.  Ok, so I could never quite figure out where 2011 went, and now I'm already almost a month into 2012...it doesn't seem possible!  But here we are, and already this year I've had two flights to Port-au-Prince to pick up teams, and two bumpy 8 hour bus rides to bring the teams the 150 miles up from Port-au-Prince to were we are.  I know you might be thinking why on earth have we gone back to taking the bus after all these years of using the 30 minute charter flights up to our area.  Well, it's a fair question, and here's the reason:  The airline has reduced it's flights to our area from 3 per day to just once a day.  And on top of that, they've raised the price for the privilege of flying with them -- once again.  So this means that the chance of getting a work team up here complete with all their luggage, which used to take 3-4 days, now takes over a week of me fighting and pushing and begging to please fly up the rest of the luggage.  And we get to pay more for the experience!  Well, usually by that time the team is already on their way back to where they came from.  So it ends up being a very stressful time.  On the bus, well it is a bit stressful too -- but it's pretty much over in an intense 18 hours by the time I fly down, pick them up and head on back on the bus.  So, it's worked out really well and the teams -- other than being a bit sore are pretty much ready to get up and working the next day.

Just what have these teams been doing?  Well the first one, a group, who came down through one of our partner organizations called Children's World Impact, was a fully medical team. They helped our partner hospital with consultations and surgeries for the week that they were here.  The second, our regular group from Snohomish, Washington,  had our mechanic on it, and he worked on all of our vehicles.  There were also some ladies and general handy men who did odd jobs around here for us and for some other missionaries in the area.  They have now moved on to another area in Haiti and are helping yet some other missionaries in the same way.  The third team is a group from various areas in Quebec.  They are still here and are making me really work hard on my French from time to time.  They are helping out the hospital as well doing odd jobs.  

Back here at the HOH, the kids put on a spectacular Christmas program once again. I'm reporting that it was spectacular, because that's what I've heard -- as you know I wasn't here.  Unfortunately, we lost most of the pictures that they took do to technical difficulties, but I managed to save a few and here they are:



Of course they also had the traditional Christmas meal where everyone including our staff have the chance to share a meal together.  Here's a picture of the smaller children sharing that meal:
The Christmas season is always a great way to end the year.  And we are always a bit sad to see it end.  But the new year, and the start of school that it always brings comes whether we are ready for it or not.  And now, everyone is back into their routine schedules. 

So, as we look to the days ahead, here are some items you could remember to pray on our behalf:

  • For faithfulness for all of us to use our time wisely and do our studies.  I am still working hard on my Masters (but I am behind and need to spend more time on it).  Linda is also continuing to study at home for her High School class.  The school has offered her the option to keep up with the classes at home and just come to school during the exam period to write the exams.  So she is trying that to see how it goes.  All the kids are working in their various levels of education.  We had pretty good report cards over all after the first cycle.
  • For God's continuing provision of our needs.  The help of food through the church in Miami has been such a huge help for us, there just aren't words to describe it.  Giving picked up through December as well, and that has helped us out so much, so please thank God with us for that.  Please continue to pray for us in this area as we wait on the Lord to provide for us each day what we need.
  • There are a number of new children here with us with a variety of illness. One 14 year old boy named Wedlyn has a huge TB mass on his neck.  It makes it very difficult for him to swallow and breathe. He is very uncomfortable and weak.  Please pray for him as he recovers and adjusts to life here at the HOH for the time being.
  • Tomorrow I'll be taking two of our kids as well as two ladies from our community to see an eye doctor in a nearby town.  Please pray that all would go well, logistics aren't always the easiest things to pull of around here!
  • We have finally been able to restart our Bible studies and lessons.  We started the Community Boy's Club this past Saturday, and Sunday School with our kids on Sunday morning.  Slowly, we'll start working in the others as well.

Many thanks to you all for supporting us in the ways you are able to.  We know we couldn't be here doing what we are doing if weren't for all of you doing what you do.  So thanks, and God bless...