Merry Christmas

He was born for you and for me. So that we would have life more abundantly. What more reason to rejoice because of this?!

Here in Haiti they don't put nearly as much emphasis into the season as we would be used to. Some of them have a special party or activities at church or school but not within their own families. I have asked several and that is what they tell me. I am thankful for our culture and that we celebrate together with our families.

Today at church there were many rejoicing hearts as they sang in their choir. Here is a sample





We pray that we can all rejoice in the birth of our Saviour today and everyday. And that the message of Jesus will be seen in every culture around the world.

A Merry Christmas from Haiti to each one of you.

To everything there is a season...

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 

(Ecc 3:1-4)

The last couple of weeks we have experienced several seasons as expressed in Ecclesiastes

The girls were able to practice their skills playing music with our Haitian friends.

They have been invited to play at a church service.

We had a a Christmas party for all the IFM staff on Sunday. IFM employess about 59 people. Most of them showed up for the party and we had a grand time of celebration.

We handed out a small gift to each of the employees to express our appreciation for all the hard work they do for IFM, Haiti, and most of all for the Lord. I even had the privilege to give a small welcome speech in Creole. 

Followed up by a bountiful Haitian feast.

Sadly, the day after the employee Christmas was Daphka's funeral. Daphka was a 16 year old girl that lived with Mike and Joanna since the earthquake in 2010. When Mike's went home this summer to have their baby, Daphka moved back with her mother. She had experienced both physical and spiritual sickness and unexpectantly passed away last Monday.  Please hold her family up in prayer since they do not know the Lord and are having a very difficult time with her passing.

Shoebox reciever

 

Here is Dadou from the Childrens Home. This week she came running down to Kenslie and Jayla to show them the shoe box she had received  It was fun to be on this end this time and see the joy of someone opening their package. It gives inspiration to us and hopefully to all of you that have so graciously packaged the Samaritan Purse shoeboxes.

Behold how great a little fire kindleth........

Sometimes it can be in our very lowest times that God can raise us up so quickly.
When we say "Lord, what do you have me to do"? "Am I of value in your kingdom"?
And He says "Yes, let me show you."

We have always been drawn to the young men (some as old as 27 here). Some of them we started relationships with back in the 2010 earthquake. These relationships are what brought us back to Haiti and then to come as long-term missionaries. Some of them have made good changes in their lives, and some not so good. Our ultimate goal here is to see them come to love the Lord and have a passion and desire to know him more.

It seems here in Haiti you spend so much of your time meeting physical needs. And although this is important too. (Jesus spent a lot of time healing the sick, and praying for their physical well being.)

We want to go further with this. What will happen if they die and we never shared Jesus with them?

We have had an opportunity to see this recently. We have had a couple guys (one of them a new found friend) seeking. So one night we had asked them to come along with us to our village service. Then, they wanted to come the next time. They have now both asked for a Creole Bib La (bible) and asked us to have biblestudy with them . This is very exciting for us as we have been praying about this but didn't have direction.

Just a little explanation on these guys, and the other ones we would like to study with. They all go to church somewhere, and what it has seemed to us; are content with their life. Here, church is mostly music celebration and not a lot of deep Biblical teaching. So when they come to you with their own desires to want to learn more of their Savior,  this is exciting! God is working!

See, these people were not raised like a lot of us. Most, never have had much Bible teaching in their homes. They understand that Christ died, but are unsure of the simplicity of His salvation. So because of fear they think they need to keep asking for forgiveness to appease. A lot of them live lives of sin. It is sad.

James 1:12 says:
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."

 We want them to know the blessing of walking with Jesus, knowing Him and therefore having the desire to live like Him.

Luke 9:47-48 says:
"And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. "



So this is our Prayer request and also Praise report:

Pray that we will be given courage and wisdom to reach their hearts.
That more of these precious souls will have this very desire, to learn more of Him!

First day of school at IFM 2012

This past week on Monday, marked the first day of school here at IFM. Here they are all lined up
 as both excitement and anxiety are in the air. This is a special day for them and considered a great priviledge!



Here is Pastor Volitaire the director of the school as well as the Pastor here. 

 

They file out to their classrooms 

Such sweetness with their little green check uniforms 

and white socks with black shoes.

Here is a link to our pictures from July and August.
https://picasaweb.google.com/102771674354323845206/PhotosInJulyAndAugust?authkey=Gv1sRgCKfc-ejbtP_neg

Lecòl in Haiti vs. school in America

In America it seems all children are given a chance to go to school. The government has made it available to pay for schooling so that all children can get an education.

I never thought it was a blessing when I had to do school.
Is it just because I took it for granted?
Yes, but that is not the case here in Haiti.

Here in Haiti it is a great privilege to be able to get an education. A lot of children here are sponsored by donors in America, and for some, their parents are able to pay their schooling. But, many do not have the opportunity to go to school at all.

Recently we had the privilege of going to the awards ceremony for the school here that IFM sponsors. It was inspiring to hear the children read, sing or offer something they wanted to share. ( of course we could not understand it all ) We could see in their faces and hear from their hearts that it is a privilege to be able to go to school.

As another school year begins, let us each take time to be thankful for the opportunities we have had and do have today to achieve an education. It is truly a blessing!

English class with the kids

We are doing an exciting ministry with some of the kids that hang out here at the mission. We are doing some English lessons with them and picking up a little more Creole in the process. We have a copy of "A Question of Yams" in both English and Creole. I read the Creole version and they read the English and we correct each other.

After reading we do some activities. Here we are doing a bucket brigade relay.

Last week, we went to watch a soccer match, the guys got all dressed up in their best, but we had the wrong day:(. They still had a fun time playing on the playground equipment.   

 

Aftermath of hurricane in Haiti

Live news from Fond Parisien. Haiti  9-10:30 a.m.

Here is our gardener moving limbs in a pile to make into charcoal for later.

The lake looks a little rougher than normal.

Here a tree fell on the pig pen, he is letting me know he is still okay. :)

Boga, one of our security guys is out cutting his claimed tree. 

Steven and Rylan are trying to cut this tree that fell on one of our picnic tables.

We then headed out for a drive this morning thru our town here.
This is in front of a church lot.

This is the main road.

So many roofs have come off of houses like this tin roof in the back. 

Pray for all the Haitians, especially the ones that don't have dry shelter like we do

and that they can experience the safety and peace thru Jesus!

 

Helping the widows...

Rylan and I were blessed last Friday to be able to help Shea put a roof on the house of a widow lady in our church. Her brother had built the house, but they did not have the money for a roof.

She has been living in this tent while the house was being built.

 

 

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. Proverbs 19:17
Seeing the appreciation from this dear lady was repayment enough.

His mercies are everlasting.........

When times of discouragment come, and no doubt they have. We also need to focus on the joy and thankfulness of our heavenly Father.
We rejoice because:
There have been some new converts baptized here.
Some of our staff members that were gone for a time of refreshing have arrived here safely.

Our family got to get away for a couple days for some time to relax.
He never forsakes us!

We appreciate all of you prayer warriors and never think for a moment that your prayers are not being answered, because they are. Their is a real battlefield here, and we could never do it without the power of the Holy Spirit.


Here is a link to some of our most recent pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102771674354323845206/PhotosInMayAndJune?authkey=Gv1sRgCOzq4K-glP2kCw


"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." Psalm 100

Field trip day

Last Friday our family took the 6th grade class from the IFM school on a field trip.

There was about 55 children and 3 teachers. Other than leaving 2 1/2 hrs. late and sitting in lots of traffic our day was fairly uneventful.We were impressed that the kids were well behaved as this would have been the first time for many of them to go into Port-Au-Prince.

Our first stop was to a large clothing factory where they make the Cinta uniforms for the States. (the only place we took pictures) They did a great job at accommodating us as they had us take our lunches to an air-conditioned meeting room. There they also served us pastries, cookies, and drinks. Many of the mothers of these children got up very early to prepare them a special lunch for this special day.

After that, we drove past the Palace and to a Haitian History museum. The museum was very interesting.

Our last stop was to an American-style grocery store. This was interesting to watch the kids and see what they chose to buy. For some it was fruit and for others cookies and cake. They are used to buying in the outdoor markets and little boutiques, so this was a new experience for most of them.

Here they are packed out in the lunch room

 

We had a great tour-guide that made our tour very interesting. Her Dad helped start this business.This was a good for the children to see a place with so much job opportunity here in Haiti.


Here is where they load the boxed products to the States. These ones were going to Wal-mart. And yes, Rylan got a Haitian-style haircut. :)

 

Are we moved with pity, or true Christ-like compassion?

This is the question we need to ask ourselves....

As we came here for the first time in January of 2010, we arrived about 45 mins. before the earthquake. The days that followed the earthquake was devastating as we tried to help the helpless, and our hearts were filled with pity. We of ourselves had no medical experience and it was only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we could offer what little that we did do to help these people.

This experience seemed life-changing and we believe it is why He has placed our family here in Haiti.

But what does He want from us now?

We were inspired by a family we went to visit last Saturday. The father from this family has had a great compassion for the people from the mountains(Pays-Pourri). He has had some financial aid from some of you in starting a school up there. He also is helping support people in his own home. As we went to visit them, we were amazed and what little they had. They have a partially-finished house, and yet they are happy,content and glowing with the joy of the Lord. Not to mention, very giving. They are always wanting to give us something when we go to visit. In this culture, it would be an offense to refuse their gift even when we would think they should keep it for themselves.

This looks like more of a true picture of Christ-like compassion. It made us look at our own lives even more. In our American culture we tend to think the people that should give, are the ones that have been given much. The souls here face a lot of the same fears and struggles of daily life here that they do in America.

Are we willing to give up our own self and do something about the needs around us to experience a true Christ-like compassion?

 Jesus did.

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and we're scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." Matthew 9:36-38

*We ask that you pray for us in being more effective in true compassion, and that we would be more pliable in letting Christ work in our hearts.

Mothers Day in Haiti

In Haiti, Mothers Day is celebrated on the 24th of May.
Dadou, Kenslie and Jayla put on a little Mothers Day
celebration on the Friday before. They made us stay out of the
kitchen and served us some cookies, popcorn and chico's
and made quava drink. We all relaxed and enjoyed our
time of yummy eats, they sang to us and then they presented us
with little homeade boxes of candy. (forgot to get a picture of those)
We are blessed to have such loving,thoughtful daughers
 

 

 

Here they are, the little party planners...and little Veronica was here
to enjoy the food :)

Weekend with the Family

On Mother's Day weekend, our family was blessed to spend a couple of days together in Jimani. Although not everything went as planned, just having time together was very refreshing. One thing we find as we live in Haiti is the lack of real family units. We run into many situations where the Father is missing or the parents just don't care where and what their children are doing. We find even in our own setting that it is hard to spend the time we need to just have time together to play and worship as a family.

Spending the day at the aquaduct is always a highlight for our children.


Here is Rylan being your typical boy trying to see how high he can climb

While the girls go off into their own little world

Our precious children

And my precious family.

A "Maryaj" in Haiti

Here is a picture of the church all decorated and ready.
This was our first time to attend a wedding in Haiti. The church was packed with people from shoulder to shoulder and the benches were as close as they could be. It was hot. There was quite the procession as the bridal party came in. And after 3 1/2 hrs the ceremony was over. (We only stayed for 3 hrs.)   :)
Kenslie got to sing in the wedding with the girls from her sunday school class. Rebecca (Wismiths wife) made her a dress, they were all supposed to have white dresses, pink sonks and hairbows, and black shoes.
This was quite exciting for Miss Kenslie.  

Dadou and Kenslie

Kenslie peaking through the crowd as they line up to go into the wedding.
(Maryaj is the creole name for wedding/marriage.)

These girls are checking out the dress of one of the bridesmaids.

Here is a video of the girls singing.

To view more pictures from March and April click on:
March-April Photos