They day after Christmas

I hope your Christmas was wonderful. We had a good time. Christmas Eve we opened the few presents we had here. (Thanks to a good friend in West Palm Beach). We did have a couple of things here, but they weren't the highlight of the evening. We read the first part of Luke chapter 2. It is amazing watching Abbie absorb all of the truths set forth in scripture. A definite plus from her mama. Aside from doing "homework" every evening, they do scripture reading and memorizing. It sure is paying off with Abbie. She loves to tell you what she "knows" from the Bible. Yes, she does mix some things up, but listens when you correct her. And her mama loves to impart these scripture lessons to her.

Then Christmas day we had our open house and fellowship with the missionaries who could come. Not a lot came, but we enjoyed the time we had with those who were here. It was a time of reflection and reminiscing on a lot of things. From Christmases past, when we were younger, and our Christmas times here in Haiti. And we had snacks to help us along with that. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing. God is good and He shows forth in the times we have had together here.

Now that the "Big Day" is over, we are working toward the New Years celebration. That is the really big time here. Being so close to the radio station here (like right next door), we have listened to so many things going on. This is a time of year that many, many people want to get married and the station (upstairs) is busy every day for two weeks. The night before Christmas Eve, whatever was going on went on until 5 AM. And people celebrate LOUDLY here. Each day there have been at least 2 or 3 things going on at the station. And they are gearing up for New Year's. Most of it is good and we can enjoy the singing and joyous music. Some, but mostly on the streets, can get wild. But that is the minority of things. Stands are set up all along the roads and someone always has CD players, playing through a sound system and it is LOUD. Sort of like competing. But thankfully this only lasts for about 2 weeks, then it will settle down again. You hear Christmas music mainly, but in English, French, Spanish and sometimes other languages. Anything they can find, they play.

On the container...well, I guess we are doing a normal thing...in some respects. WAITING!!! They have started working on the papers, but now we have to have MORE things done. Have to have some sort of accountant doing things at the offices now, too. So, although we were supposed to have the container the first week of November, they are just starting on doing the paperwork. And with their big holiday coming up, things will come to a halt. So, maybe we will get it the second week of January...we'll see. But we sure can use some major prayers on this one. Both on getting it cleared and on the cost factor. The costs are raising and we haven't even gotten to the inspection yet. This is discouraging, but we know God is in control and He can do things we cannot. So, please pray with us on this, and ask others to storm the gates of Heaven for us, too. God can work on hearts and move the paperwork along and bring the cost down. Let's pray He will do that for us.

We are anxious for our upcoming teams. January is always a busy time and a lot is accomplished by the teams. The first four months are busy with teams, and that is good. Tiring, but great for the country here. Please pray for strength, peace, and wisdom in all we do. We have to lean heavily on the Lord when we are so busy.

Let us know how you are doing and keep us informed on your prayer requests, too. Until next time....God bless and keep you.

Getting close to Christmas

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!

I know this next week is going to very busy for us, so I wanted to get our Christmas greetings out to you before the hectic times start. I'm sending along some pictures. Just to give you a quick idea of our Christmas this year. But a few explanations are in order here. To start with, I decided this year to let Abbie "help" decorate. And you can see the results. As we set up the tree, SHE wanted to hand me the branches to put in the tree. Consequently, some of smaller ones (for the top) are on the bottom and bottom on top. It is definitely a "uniquely" shaped tree. But Abbie was SO thrilled with it. Then she wanted to put every ornament on it. Well, I did stop there since a lot were breakable, but she told me WHERE to put them.
This next one is a village our oldest son gave us. I haven't set it up for the last few years because of Abbie. I didn't want to break any of it. She did help me with this, too, but only sparingly. Her job every morning is to turn the lights on, on both the tree and the village. She just sits and stares at both of them. Oh, the gifts under the tree I mentioned before I think. Several of them are boxes that hold the ornaments and looked like wrapped gifts. She still insists those are our presents to Jesus. Like I said before, our hearts should be in those boxes as a gift to Him.
This picture is of a manger scene I made in ceramics class way back in 1978. You can't see the little imperfections in it now, like where a rat bit the butt of Jesus when it was in storage, or where Mary's cloak is cracked and broken. But it holds a lot of memories for me. But this is up high where Abbie can't get to it. She has her other ones she can look at.
This one is just some of the decorations around the house. The beautiful red and white doilies are some the girls here made for me over the years.
This coming week we will really be busy. We were only supposed to have one MFI flight day this week. Well, we were to have two planes that day. One of them has engine problems, so, we will have 2 days. One with passengers and one with cargo. Then I will have Christmas Eve day to prepare for the party we are having here at the dorm on Christmas Day. We were just having any missionaries who wanted to come, bring cookies and we'd share cookies and drinks and sing and have a great time of fellowship. Well, I decided it's Christmas, so I am going to decorate the dorm, too. Once I get it done, I'll try to put some pictures on here of it. Quite a few missionaries have already let me know they are thrilled and will be here. We don't have "family" with us, so we share each others families and enjoy the time together. Then on Saturday, several of our Haitian "kids" have said they want to come and visit. So, the week will be full. Then next week is New Year's. That is the BIG holiday here, celebrating Christmas, New Year's and Haitian Independence Day. That is the day most Haitians celebrate with pumpkin soup all day long. And they keep it as a family affair. We've been blessed through the years to be included in many of these "families".

Many of the families that Don has been taking food buckets to have been so thankful that they will have something with which to celebrate on their combined holiday. But on Christmas Eve, almost all of the churches have special services and they last for HOURS, with singing, preaching, skits and more singing and praying. They truly Celebrate Jesus!!

We pray that your CHRISTmas is Christ centered and happy. Again, we are baking a Birthday Cake for Jesus. Give it some thought...it brings Jesus closer to hearts and the kids have a deeper understanding of what we are celebrating.

May the Lord bless you this year at this special time. And may you walk with Him and serve Him this coming year!!!

Into December

Not a lot to write about, yet a lot going on. We've been calling and checking and praying for the container. At this point, the boat is in...not sure if our container is off yet or not. But we can't do anything until we get our Quintus updated. Can't do that until the man who has to put his signature on it is back. Supposed to be early this week... we'll see. So, that is a prayer request. Pray for the container to come in, our Quintus to be signed and the inspection done. And then the HUGE prayers... pray for the cost to be lower than before. We really, really need to have these costs come down so we can get these things to the people more quickly. This container has most of our Christmas Bags on it, and we are SO praying it will get here BEFORE Christmas so we can distribute some of these gifts. We don't have an increase in numbers on the bags, but we sure do on the number of churches and schools who would like to get them. Another huge prayer request.

We've had a busy week with catching up and getting ready for our January teams. Trying to get things in order and get plans made. keep all of our future teams in prayer. They are planning to accomplish so much and giving of their time and money to do it is awesome. We pray that the Lord will bless them beyond measure for this sacrifice for Him.

Keep MFI in your prayers as well. The coming 3 flight days will be very hectic. They have a warehouse full of packages for the missionaries and we are praying they will be able to deliver all of them before Christmas. From here to April is a VERY busy time for them, and they will need all the prayers you can send up for them. Without them we would be floundering here, so we depend on them a LOT for everything.

For now, I'll close and pray that the Lord will bless your holidays... please remember to keep Christ at the center of your CHRISTmas.

Christmas Blessings

This last week has been VERY busy and very good. Don has been out delivering food (praise God for the buckets)!! We had a really great Thanksgiving meal with the fellowship from English church. And Christmas decorations are up, here at least.

Our personal Thanksgiving day was grilled cheese sandwiches, but on Saturday, we had a Thanksgiving meal at the radio station (where English Bible Fellowship meets). It was not all Americans, it was Canadians and Haitians as well. Our whole attitude with it was to simply Give God Thanks for all things. We had a good turn out. About 64 people, I think. Great food and great fellowship. Yes, lots of work went into it, but it was worth it.

Then the following week Don delivered more buckets and I was able to catch up on a lot of the work left undone over the last month. We also wrote, printed, stuffed, sealed and got ready to send, our Christmas news letter. And then, much to Vero and Abbie's delight, got out the Christmas decorations. Abbie is such a delight...no matter what I pulled out of the boxes, she said, "Oh, that is SO beautiful." After about the tenth time it became a bit overdone, but she was still so excited. And her reflection on things was unique. Plugging in and checking lights... her comment was, "Oh, Jesus' lights...like we are supposed to be for Him." And with each manger scene (I have many), she would make me stop and tell her the Christmas story again. After the second one, I told her I had already told her the story. She said, "Oh but Grandma, I LOVE to hear it again and again." One year I had put my ornaments in some of the gift boxes, for safe keeping. So, now, after the tree is up, I simply put those already decorated, empty boxes, under the tree. For effect I guess. She sat and looked at them and said, "Oh, presents for Jesus?" I said, "no, empty boxes, you saw me take the ornaments out, remember?" She simply said, "But it's Jesus birthday, so those are presents for him." I guess our hearts should be in those boxes. That would be a great present, wouldn't it? Not so much for Him, but for us. I had told Vero about our first Christmas as Christians, and how we had NOTHING at all, since Don had been laid off. But we had a birthday party for Jesus that year. Had a cake for Him, and a party, FOR HIM. Well, Abbie picked up on that, and now wants to have a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas. So, we will. I'll make a birthday cake for Him and we'll celebrate HIS birth.

Christmas day we will be having an open house for the mission community. Several people had asked what we were going to do, so the committee at English church asked if we could do that, at the dorm. I said sure, why not. So, I'll also make a "Birthday Cake for Jesus" for that, too. It will be fun to be with the mission community and celebrate the day.

Yesterday we had one of the missionaries that we know only a bit speak. He was SO good. As missionaries in a foreign land, we all experience those times of "why am I here, am I really doing any good for the Lord, and am I making a difference". His message was one that was such an uplift and encouragement for us all. I thought it was just for me, until I heard after church, others saying, boy was that for ME. He used the scripture in Exodus chapter 2, where Pharaoh's daughter took in Moses. He said it was ONE act of kindness and compassion, that changed history. Then he related it to us, not only here on the field, but to all Christians, who share the love and compassion of Christ, and how it could make a difference in even ONE life. That is history changing for that person. And how many do we share with, and how many lives will have their history changed by doing simply what the Lord asked us to do? We are to be encouraged by what Pharaoh's daughter accomplished, without her knowing or seeing what the future held. And how the Lord can use us, even when we can't see or foresee the future. When God guides, we can abide in Him. So even when YOU are discouraged, and can't see any results of your witness, trust the Lord to use it to His glory and let Him take over.

Well, it's back to work and getting things done here. In only 4 weeks, our busiest time of the year starts... teams and blessings for a whole lot of people. So, need to get things organized on this end and start working out schedules. Till next time, be encouraged that God can use you wherever you are. Know we are praying for God to bless and take care of you. And remember, on His birthday, WE got the gift... life everlasting when we accept Him.

A quick update

Well, Don made more deliveries of buckets...what a sad, sad country we live in. The house below (and yes, you are seeing ALL of the house), has 3 adults and 6 kids in it. And no way to earn any money. And as you can see, no place for a garden. It's has a dirt floor. And one double bed...the rest sleep on the floor. And there, but for the grace of God, go I. We really are glad God has put us in a position to help others, especially in situations like these.Sure makes you think of Christmas and all the gifts that get broken the first day, or aren't appreciated or wanted, doesn't it? God's gift is all we really need, His Son. And these people are the ones turning to Him.

Not a lot of other news here right now. We are working hard at all the little things, to get caught up. And then the airport, of course. Had to laugh today. Got to the airport, and I said, "Wow, everyone is in uniform and working hard today. What's up?" The head guy at the airport for the UN said, "Well, a division of Homeland Security is here. Since US planes land here, they have to check things out. Like security and how bags are checked, and things like that." It was just sort of a shock to see things working as they should. Wonder if it will last...maybe it will, and things will look up.

For now, I'll close with our prayer that your holiday season, yes, the CHRISTMAS season will be blessed beyond measure with the Gift of God's Son!!! (I'm not into "political correctness" when it reflects on the Lord.) This IS Christmas, and Jesus IS the reason for the season, and I won't leave HIM out of it.

Sorry for sounding off, but it does upset me that they are taking the real reason for Christmas out of Christmas. But those of us who know Him, can keep Him at the forefront of all things in our lives. Because He came, died and rose again, we have an eternal future with Him. AMEN!!!

Still hanging on

Hello again,
Well, I'm not doing as well as I had planned on keeping this updated. But there are reasons. We have another great team here and they are doing wonders. I think I should start off with a "Thanksgiving List" for the last year, actually.

We have had 16 teams this year...that's a lot, considering no teams in May, June or December. Each and every team has done so much for so many here...it's awesome. And yet, no two teams have been the same, or had the same work project. We (and the Haitians) have been so VERY blessed by teams. It's hard to single out one team and say they did the best, because they have ALL reached out and touched a lot of people.

We are thankful for all the people we were able to see while stateside in May and June. We are thankful that Bev, my sister-in-law pulled through her really rough time. And, yes, I am even thankful that my sister has gone to be with the Lord. She is now pain free and celebrating with Jesus!!

We're thankful we have had no major lasting illness. Yes, there have been "times", but God has been, and continues to be, with us. There have been missionaries that have had to leave the field because of ongoing illness. God has kept us from that.

We are REALLY, REALLY thankful for our faithful prayer warriors. That is what keeps us going here. And we DO realize how many prayers have gone out on our behalf. Our financial partners have kept us here, doing what we need to do, and we are very thankful for those faithful people.

We are thankful for Stan and Gloria Curtis for all their continued work on behalf of us and the Haitian people. Without them, our ministry would be really difficult. They are a blessing, in many ways. Leg work in the US to get supplies for the containers, constant work with teams, and a friendship that means a tremendous amount to us, personally.

We are thankful for the many Haitians who have become a part of not only our ministry but our lives. What a blessing for us to have those we can depend on here.

And we are thankful for those of you who keep in touch, through the blog, emails, and letters. You all keep our spirits up and help us to focus on why we are here.

In our newsletter, Don shared about a pastor we have been helping for quite some time. Don had helped his wife through school, to some extent, and helped him at times through Bible School. Now he has been working for years in the church he established in a very rough area. The pastor needs your prayers, too, as he faces challenges we never even think of. His name is Pastor Wagner Wasembeck. He and his wife and two children have been working in a very small house they converted into a church. His needs are many and the challenges great. Please keep him in prayer.
The team that is here now has done an awesome job on many things. Finished our fence, cleared the dorm roof and took down a branch that was a huge problem. And to top it all off, they went over their goal for filling buckets for us. They completed 201 buckets. PLUS they bagged a LOT of other things to put in future buckets. Some of the items for buckets we cannot get here, so have to wait on the next container, which SHOULD come on the 30th. Today and Monday they are out helping Don deliver some of those buckets. They can see the fruit of their labors. Pray with us that these will be a blessing to many, many families.
This is bucket number 201...what a celebration. We were all so pleased they accomplished so much!!

And now...time to get to work and catch up on some of the things left undone while teams are here. Keep us, and all of the things we do, in your prayers...we want to keep focused on the Lord and what HE wants us to do. Pray for strength and wisdom in what we do. And say an added prayer for us, as we will be missing our granddaughter's wedding in December. It's a heartache, but there is no way we can go. Our hearts will be there, but we wish it could be our bodies, as well.

We pray you will have a really wonderful Thanksgiving, and remember to put the Lord at the front of all those "thankful" things. He has done SO much for all of us. We need to remember to praise and thank Him, constantly.

Busy as always

Trying to catch up seems to be the normal here now. But with work and teams, time is precious. Add Abbie into that equation and you can see busy is the word.

We had another team...and man did they work. We had 9 people, but two left for another trip after a day and a half. So, we had 7. Two were the gals (one mom and one daughter) who did the cooking, so it was 5 men working. Let me fill you in on just a little of what these guys did while here....Completed a roof for a Sunday school building; put in 3 (yes THREE) septic systems, one for a home, two for churches; made a tool to put in the fence posts for our yard, and put the posts in; worked on a vehicle that had some problems; and did other odd jobs around here. So, busy did not quite fit...they were ULTRA busy. And yet, had a morning at the Citadel. And to top it off, they were a great bunch of guys (and gals) who were fun to be with. Here are just a couple of their work projects...We have another team coming in next week. We are praying they will be able to help with the buckets again. They did such a fantastic job last year and it helped SO MANY, that we are more than happy to have them work on this again. Of course, there will probably be other projects for them, too...we'll see.

Every time we head to town, Abbie wants to take the camera. Her and Grandma like to get boat pictures. These pictures are a couple we both liked. The one is the fishermen bringing in a catch, like they did in Jesus time. The other is just unique sails...from banners across the road.
I'll keep this post short, but hope to keep you all updated again soon. Don will be making some food and water runs this week, so have to help get ready for that.

God bless, and keep Jesus at the center of your life!!

Back to "normal"?

Hello again,
Well, I "think" things are getting back to normal here...but then again, exactly what is "normal"? I was thinking about that on my return flight from the US on Tuesday. We have had some real mountain top, and valley experiences these last two months. And yet, I'm not sure just where "normal" fits in. So, I came to the conclusion that "normal" is simply being where God wants us, doing what God wants us to do. The highs, lows, and middle of the roads are all just a part of it.

In the last month we have had two teams come in. The first from the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania. They put a roof on the school where they had worked on the church last year. I think I have already mentioned them, but wow, talk about workaholics... those guys (and gals) got that roof finished in 3 days. Here are a couple of photos... first work day and then the dedication on Sunday of the building. Awesome? You bet!!!Our second team was just as awesome. They got all the work done, plus a lot more than planned, and had a good time doing it. They were also from Pennsylvania, but from the Pittsburgh area. Talk about people with a love for others... they sure fit the bill. My only regret was that they came in on Tuesday, and on Thursday I left to go to Fort Pierce. (They did fine without me, but I sure missed being here with them.) They not only worked on projects, they got to be with the orphans and then out at the IDADEE orphanage site, with the area kids there. And with both teams...spoiling Abbie was part of the mission, I guess.
This picture is of "our two girls" and our "new" daughter from the US. It's Betty, Shannon and Vero. Our family is expanding.On my short trip to the US, I was asked to share our ministry and the Christmas Bag ministry with a women's group in a church in Vero Beach. Talk about some awesome ladies. They were so gracious and outgoing. (And they sure can cook, too!!!) Had a wonderful time with them, and also with the gals from MFI who went along as an encouragement for me. As our plane left Fort Pierce on Tuesday, I got a photo of the sunrise...the world awakening...and I pray it will awaken to the light of the world in Jesus Christ!!!
Our last group helped bag items for the bucket ministry, and Don is now busy getting those things distributed...keep that project in prayer. We have a team coming on Tuesday again, so the work never lets up. We keep praying that God will be glorified in all that these teams do for Him. It is FOR and THROUGH Him that these projects are accomplished.

For now, Keep Jesus at the center of your life and let others see your light shine, FOR HIM!!

A very thoughtful note

Each month, our mission in Georgia sends out a letter along with receipts to our supporters. This month, the letter opened a new door in my thinking. Now I want to stress right now, we are NOT asking anyone to support us. I just thought this was something I had never given a thought to before and wanted to share it with you all. So, here it is, in it's entirety:

From World Outreach Ministries

Dear Friends in Christ,
Your prayers and financial support are vital to your missionary's success. Without the practical side of things being taken care of, the "spiritual side" of a ministry can not take place. The truth is, your support is critical to their outreach.

Did you know that the same principle was true in Jesus' life? Most people do not realize that Jesus had supporters during his 3-year ministry. Luke 8:3 says, "And many others, who ministered to and provided for Him and them out of their property and personal belongings." Amplified Bible

Jesus operated the same way as missionaries do. It says that "many" were supporting Jesus and His disciples. Because of their help, Jesus and the Apostles changed the world forever. Never doubt that your help IS important to God's plan.

I guess I never thought of the fact that even JESUS was a missionary and needed others to back Him. In the back of my mind, I just figured God took care of all of that. And yes, in a way, He did, through others. That was just such an eye opener for me, that I wanted to share it with you. Maybe I am the only one who never put those things together in my mind, but it is so neat to see. I never gave a thought to the fact that Jesus WAS a missionary.

I leave Haiti tomorrow for 5 short days. I will be going to a church in Florida to share the Christmas Bag project. I've not done this before and I think I'm a bit nervous, but I know I can do it. It's such a worthwhile project. We have a team here right now, but they are great and can handle things without me. Sort of makes one humble to know that others can do without your help, but that is fine. With Don here, they will do great. We also have Stan here with the team, so we have no worry at all.

We have had some very constant rains, and heavy ones at that. But it's been mostly at night. I guess the only problem with that, is that the dorm roof is leaking, and pots and pans have to be set out, and beds moved to avoid the water. Time to start praying for a new roof, huh?

Guess an "Abbie update" is due. She has finished her "kindergarten" work and is now into 1st grade work. She is so proud of herself. But it's sort of sad, too. She is only 4, and is moving ahead so fast. Where does childhood go these days? But time does move on, and kids grow up. A neat statement from her came out the other day. She said, "Grandma, everyone needs Jesus IN THEIR HEART, so they know He is with them EVERYWHERE." What a concept for a 4 year old to grasp. Vero is doing a great job every night, teaching her from the Bible. And Abbie loves it.

An added note here: check out both the Christmas Bag web page and the Missionary Flights web page at right. The MFI page has a sad story to relate, but it shows where MFI's heart is, with the missionaries. And I will stress here, they do these emergency flights, with no cost to the missionary. MFI truly "Stands in the Gap" for us!!

On that note, I'll close and if I get a chance while in Florida I will post again. If not, I'll talk to you all next week!! Be faithful and share the love of the Lord with others!!

We are back...

FINALLY, we are back on line. What a time it was not having internet. We sure get spoiled with having these modern things in our lives, don't we? Through these 6 plus weeks of not having internet we have felt so cut off from the world, but now are back in communication with everyone. Although we did have a few days where we could get on, thanks to the loan of a modem, we were without email, or internet for so long.

We have a team here now. Talk about HARD work. They put rafters and a roof on a school building. From start to finish it took 3 days. I can't believe how quickly and efficiently they work. These are a great group of people who come each year. What fun we have with them, too. God has blessed us so much with this group. They all work like a well oiled and running machine. It is wonderful. Today is a day of rest and some shopping and swimming. I'm sure they will enjoy that, but they also deserve it, BIG TIME.

While in town one day (we always take the camera), we got a shot that brought to mind how fishermen in Jesus time worked. I thought I'd share it with you, so you can see that yes, we are a bit behind times here, but still find ways to work and feed families.We see these things occasionally, but never cease to stop and compare things to Jesus time and how they lived then. Throwing the nets out and bringing in the fish...just as Jesus told us to be fishers of men.

For now, PRAISE GOD for His mercy and love and for being with us. My next blog will share something from our mission in the US. The president sent a letter to our supporters and it included things I never really thought of before.

Let the Lord lead you today in all you do. Praise Him for His loving kindness!!!

Wedding photos

Well I finally figured out the problem, and yes, it was the operator. I guess I was just so exhausted I wasn't paying attention. I did want to share with you some of the pictures and you can see how happy Betty and Ronald are.

Yesterday we got a call from them, in the Dominican. It was good to hear from them. They called simply to say thank you for the wedding. They will probably be gone a week, Ronald said.

Don's been busy working on getting the material for our team coming in a little over a week. The fun never ends here. And we have another team right after that one. Teams are a blessing to the Haitians as well as to us. They bring us new insights to things, and fun and laughter and of course, they accomplish a LOT of work. And God always uses teams to bring us encouragement and they help uplift our faith.

Well, just wanted to get these few photos out and let you see them. What a blessing technology is to us, to be able to share with you so quickly.

For now, will close and get ready for church. You all have a really wonderful, God centered day. Our love to everyone and we thank each of you for your support and care for us and for the people of Haiti.

Time to regroup

Hey to all,
Well, the wedding is over. It was such a wonderful time and the bride and groom were awesome. But they are on their way to the Dominican for some time alone...don't we all wish we had that? Really, it was a great time. But now it's time to relax a bit then to regroup. This has been a tough couple of weeks, but we are back on track now.

This last week, we have had some really awful rains and thunderstorms and lightening strikes. Praise God we weren't hit, but we heard it hit elsewhere, close by. Our ground is saturated again. We either have feast or famine...and it seems we are never happy with either. When it's really dry, we pray for rain, when it rains and rains, we pray for it to stop. It would be nice to be in the middle somewhere, but we won't complain anymore either way...right now we are thinking of an ark...yet we know God said he wouldn't flood the earth again, right? Maybe just Haiti???? We are on our way there it seems.

I'll sort and get some pics put on here of the wedding in the near future. I tired to put one, but something isn't working right, probably the operator. In the mean time, have a super great God filled day. Remember to keep Him at the center and front of all you do.

Life and it's hills and valleys

Hello to all,

I've been back in Haiti since Tuesday. Hit the ground running... so much going on and so much to do, it's hard to leave even for a week.

The funeral was sad but the pastor gave a wonderful salvation message. There were so many people there. It was great to see so many come to pay their respects. The meal following the service was really nice. We were able to spend time with family and friends we haven't seen in a long time. Some of the people I haven't seen in over 30 years. Boy, time sure flies. We are now praying that the message that was shared will soften hearts and lives and that people who were there will open their lives to the Lord. LeAnne's wish was that she would get to see everyone again in Heaven. That is our prayer too.

I came home and started working on the wedding dress. I had left it in pieces. Making a size 12 into an 18 has it's challenges. A LOT of challenges. But today I have it almost completed. I have two more seams to do some minor work on, and it will be done. A good friend had offered to make Abbie's flower girl dress. It came and it was so beautiful. I was so happy with it. But, it was not long...and they wanted a long dress. I did everything I could to use what was there and extend it, but could not work it out. I praise God that the bodice was all done, and the zipper in...that would have been another challenge for me. All I ended up doing was adding a long skirt to it. (But I sure would have rather she used it as it came, it was BEAUTIFUL!) Now I will start on the flowers... those might take me a bit, since I'm not sure how many for people, how many for the alter, and exactly what they all want. Challenges never end here.

Today, our friend who installed our satellite system came. We were so happy he had returned from the US, so we could at least find out what was wrong. Well, our system was NOT hit by lightening. Our wireless antenna pulled in static from the lightening, and fried our wireless connection and our modem. He installed a borrowed modem for us to use until we can get ours replaced. So, we are on slower service than we had, but Praise God, we have Internet access again. Then the next chapter came.....

I had signed on to yahoo, to see if any of our kids were on. Our daughter came on and immediately told me there was some problems in Wisconsin again. My sister-in-law was back in the hospital in intensive care. This time it is her heart and kidneys. Our daughter didn't have a lot of information at that point, so I called my brother's cell phone. My niece filled me in on what they know so far. It seems her kidneys are starting to work again and they are doing more tests. So, our request right now is to PLEASE KEEP BEV IN PRAYER. We don't know the extent of the problems or exactly what is wrong, but she can sure use some prayers on her behalf. Her family can use prayers too. They have all of our phone numbers here, so they will keep in touch. My heart goes out to all of them. I wish I were there to pray with them and be with them, but I can't at this time. But that won't stop the prayers from going out.

As soon as I finish the dresses, flowers and some other minor things, I have to start on the food for the wedding. It is next Friday morning at 9 AM. You know the saying, "No rest for the weary!"...well, I sure do fit in that category right now. But I do have the Lord to lean on and I sure am doing that. I don't know what people do who do not have that solid rock to depend on in times like these. HE IS my rock, and my salvation and I lean on Him a lot.

Again, it's back to Isaiah 40:31... "...they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint..."

Blessing, and keep praying...

Problems abound

Times are tough. I got word last Sunday evening, Sept. 6th, that my sister would probably not make it through the night. She had been in intensive care for over a week. I had talked to her nurse that gave me the news. I called my daughter and let her know what he said. She immediately left to drive the 32 miles to be with her. I told her as soon as I had made flight arrangements, I'd call and let her know. I signed off with her and a huge storm hit. We don't have Internet when we have a storm. Well, it was a BAD storm. Lightening hit and we are not sure if it hit the modem or if it hit the satellite dish outside, but we are now without Internet. This is a very difficult situation for us, not to have communication with the US now.

The next AM I called our daughter via satellite phone (very expensive). I found out my sister had gone to be with the Lord at 5:46 AM that morning. She had been in pretty bad shape for a while and this was a blessing for her, but a hard, hard time for the rest of us. I made all the arrangements and flew out of Haiti on Tuesday.


When we flew out of Haiti, by a miracle, it was a very early flight. We arrived back in Fort Pierce at a little after 3 PM. When we were taxing up to the immigration building, I noticed one of the props was not turning. Found out a while later that the engine had quit. Now MFI is down to only ONE plane flying. Two of them have an engine out. MFI needs a whole lot of prayers. I ask that you put that high on a prayer list. And share that with anyone willing to pray.

On Wednesday I flew up to Wisconsin. When I got here, I was informed my brother's wife was taken to the emergency room, and admitted to intensive care here in town. They said her heart was not beating right. But had a hard time figuring out exactly what was wrong and what to do about it. All I kept thinking was, what else can happen? They transferred her to another hospital and they did something called a TEE...inserting "something" down her throat and to her heart. They sort of "jump started" the heart. (Can you tell I have no medical knowledge and don't really understand all that happened?) She is doing fine now and came home today. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

I am slowly coming to grips with LeAnne's passing. It's hard. She is my only sister and we were really close. But she is without pain and praising God now, and it is US who are here, very sad for ourselves, but not for her. Keep me, my brother, and LeAnne's family in prayer. Our kids were close to her too, so they could use some prayers as well.

So, now you are caught up on my side of the family. Don is in Haiti, taking care of Vero, Betty and Abbie. Well, actually they might be taking care of him. He is continuing with all of his work, so he can use your prayers, too.

For now, praise God for His goodness, HE IS IN CONTROL!!! He knows better than all of us what is happening and what we need. I return to Haiti on Tuesday, so from that time on, until we can find a way to fix our satellite, we will have no communication on the Internet. Keep us all in prayer.

The Container... finally

We've had a very busy few weeks, but these last two days have been about the busiest. Our container was finally released. And the cost was not as out of sight as first reported. Our broker called and gave me the price, and I told him NO WAY were we paying that. It was so far above what we had paid before, it was mind boggling. He calmly said, I already told them you would not pay that amount, so we will wait another day and see what happens. Well, the next day he called and it was just over half of what they originally stated. What a relief!! I'm not sure why it was reduced so much, but I know the Lord had His hand on it. So, now we'll show you some of the "fun" of unloading. The guys were great, but it was a LOT of work in the heat. The driver who brought it had not been out here before, and at first we wondered if he would even get it into the driveway. He had gone beyond the drive, and instead of backing up, he cranked it around and almost tipped it over. He did make it, but everyone was holding their breath. Then it only took about 15 tries to get it to where we needed it. (Oh for the driver who had done it in three turns...) He almost hit the house, almost wiped out our bushes by the house and again, the bushes near the dorm, but eventually he did get it in there. A collective sigh went out with all 25 of us standing there. I have to say it has to be hard to get a 40 foot container into our drive and then next to the house by the containers we have here, but this fellow was about the worst we have had. Praise the Lord nothing was damaged and he did make it. I'll put pictures here so you can walk through the unloading with us. I am so thankful our guys have such a great attitude. (I guess the pay and food help, but they were a joyful lot). It used to be we used mostly the older EBAC kids from the orphanage. We did have about half of them, but the rest were others who have helped us over time and are without work. Okay, on to the pictures.... the first one is opening the container... it has to be opened VERY carefully, since traveling out on these roads tends to shift EVERYTHING in the container. But they had done a pretty good job of putting it back in after the inspection and things weren't too bad.The next few pictures are some of the things coming off...I'll explain as we go along. This was a piece of furniture for one of the boys who will be getting married soon, and is working on his house. They ALMOST dropped it, but the guys on the bottom caught it.This next one shows just some of the items on it... the buckets... what a blessing. And containers of clothing, both used and new for so many, many places. The blue you see are mattresses for the EBAC kids, the younger ones needed them quite badly. And boxes and boxes of everything you can think of.
Here are some of the mattresses being taken off... there were quite a few.
More of the buckets and some of the other boxes, and here they were starting to unload the rice meals from "Feed My Starving Children". That food was so desperately needed and Don has already started delivering it today. He even distributed some last night after all was settled down.
When all was finished, the guys got a meal. We had two gals help serve it and clean up. I get everything ready except to make the mac and cheese...I measure things out so all they have to do it mix it. One of the fellows said, we don't come for the pay, we come for the meal... so I asked, "oh then I don't have to pay you??" He sort of backed off on that one. I make them mac and cheese (huge plate each), hot dogs (at least two), brownies (a huge one each), chips, and soda. I did all the condiments, like catchup, mustard, relish, and onions. I always laugh...they put it all on the hot dogs but they put it all on their mac and cheese, too.
One of the pastors sent his driver to get his things. This time we only had one pile outside, the rest were in the dorm. Now we have to sort and stack all the boxes in there.
This may look like a lot of buckets to you, but we have already given out a LOT of them to those who need them for various things. But many, many of them will be used for our "Bucket Ministry". What a blessing these empty buckets are to so many people.This container has all the socks (and yes, they are a blessing and everyone loves to get them), and some of the Christmas bags that were ready to come when the container was loaded. We will wait for the distribution of these, though.
And last but certainly NOT least, the food... wow, you would not believe how many people will be blessed with food from this container. The rice meals, and peanut butter for protein, and corn meal...one of the staples of the diet here. We also got milk for the first time in a LONG time, due to the price. That will be a wonderful blessing, too. Now, in closing, we have a huge prayer request. Our next container, with the Christmas Bags is to be shipped the end of this month. I am asking now for everyone to pray with us for it to come in a timely manner, but also, that God will be working on the hearts of those here in customs to realize that we are here to help the people and we really do simply GIVE things away, and NEVER charge anyone a thing on this end for it. Pray for softened hearts and open minds as to the ministry we have.

We praise God for His intervention with the present container and ask that He will go before this next one and keep His hands on it as well. And Bless Stan and Gloria for all their work in getting these containers of food and needed items to the people here.

We praise God for all He has done for us and all He will do for the ministry in the future. He really is AWESOME!!

The Container

Thanks to all of your prayers, our container has finally been inspected. What a time we had though. It took 5 hours. We had a new inspector and he wanted to open and check EVERY box. Now, we are not opposed to them checking them, since we have nothing to hide...but for instance, our boxes of rice meals...come from the company and are in sealed boxes. I don't know how many he opened (quite a few though) before he finally said, well, okay I don't need to check anymore of those boxes. I have put two pictures here of some of the "fun". Our poor guys were melting in the heat. It was upper 90's outside, but inside those containers was a whole lot hotter. And this time, we were in a sort of blocked in area, so there was NO breeze to releve any of the heat. Then on top of all of that, it was simply check a box and put it in the second container...a LOT of the boxes, as you can see in the second photo, he had us stack outside, to check again. Now we need prayers concerning the cost of the container in customs. We hope to have the final amount by Tuesday, we'll see. Our broker said the head of customs is trying to help us and work with us, but this is Haiti, so no telling how long it will take.On a brighter note...today is the day our grandson heads home to the US with his mama. I know there will be some very happy tears all around. He has asked her each week, for a LONG time, "Will you come to get me this week?" And now it is a reality. Pray for them as they all have to readjust their lifestyle.

I have to include an "Abbie funny" here. She is always coming up with statements that set us to laughing. Well, yesterday while we were sitting at the docks...she said, "Tomorrow Grandpa is going to school." I looked at her and said, "He is? What is he going for?" She said, "He is going to study the Bible!" I responded, "Oh? And who is his teacher?" She gave me that, "GRANDMA" look and said, "The Holy Spirit!" She was so serious, so we tried not to laugh. But do you think she has been picking up on things said around here? One day she decided she wanted to talk to Him, so she asked grandpa if she could talk to Mr. Holy Spirit, too. This is daily quips from her. She is a treasure.

Well, time to get to work and get some things done. Have a wedding to organize, and container to plan for and all the normal working here. PLUS, today we get two new watch dogs from another missionary. She is moving into a smaller place and can't keep them. This, too, should be interesting...

From our house to yours, have a God blessed and wonderful day. Remember, Jesus walks with all of us and keeps His hands on us all the time!!

Lots of News

Wow, it's been 2 weeks since I was last on here... lots to catch up on. Since the last posting, we've had an exciting month. We had a team come in...a small one, but such a great one!! I don't think anyone can appreciate all the work even a small team can accomplish. They came with willing hearts and hands and were wonderful. Don has been working on our containers trying to rearrange things and get them ready for our container that is sitting at the docks right now. With money provided by one church and by the team, Don was able to purchase the items to fill some buckets. And the team did a fantastic job of doing that for us. Filling bottles with oil, bagging beans, and soap and corn meal... all of that is SO VERY time consuming for us. And they not only did that, plus extras, but filled the buckets and have them ready for delivery. What a huge job that would have been for us. We really praise God for people willing to give of their time and hands to make things work here. They were such an uplift for us. And we are so thankful they were willing to do whatever they could, and they sure did a lot. People are already benefiting from their hard work. And we PRAISE GOD for them.

While they were still here, Abbie got sick. Fever, throwing up, you know, the "flu symptoms". Well after a few days, Vero took her to the doc and had tests done. She did have a bad cold, but the main problem was a kidney or bladder infection. It took her over a week and a half to get to feeling good again. But right toward the end of her illness, I came down with something... who knows what, and am having a hard time kicking it. I'm much better, but just worn out right now.

Next the news on the container... well, we are in Haiti, and anything that can, will go wrong, right? We (mostly our broker) filed all our paperwork and got things moving...then they told us our Quitus (permission to bring containers into Haiti) had not been approved. The director of customs here is trying his best to help us out with this. Come to find out, it was a glitch in the computer work. It's a new system (the first they are using computers here) and the people running the computers had no idea what they were doing. So, we have to wait for the approval from Port au Prince. We should have it within the next day or two. Then we can have it inspected and THEN pay the fees and have it brought out here. In amongst all of that, one of the customs officials passed away, so offices were closed down for that. Never a dull moment here. So, pray with us that it will be cleared soon, like within a day or two. Also that the cost would be considerably less than before...we know prayer works, so we are asking for a lot of prayer cover on this one.

And now the BEST and most exciting news.... TODAY, August 25th, our new grandson was granted his visa to go home with mom and dad!!!!!!! They pick it up tomorrow and head out on Saturday for the states. It is FINALLY a completed thing. What a reason for celebration and excitement. Now we need to pray for the whole family. This will be quite a time of adjustment for everyone. And I'm sure they will need a lot of prayer along the way.

Pray for the coming wedding here of one of our kids (Betty). She'll be married at the radio station, next door, (They have a huge auditorium up stairs) on Sept. 25th. We are deep into the preparations for that event now. So much to do. With the other weddings there was always someone like Carolyn, who came down and did a lot of the work for us. This time it's all on my shoulders and I'm praying for the strength to get everything accomplished before the date.

I hope I will do much better with keeping you up to date from here on out. Keep us and everyone here in prayer. And praise God with us for all He has done and IS DOING here.
Keep your eyes on Him, and let Him guide and direct you! God Bless!!!

August Encouragement

Greetings to all,

Well, what a month already. No teams yet, but it seems the running never stops. At least a lot has been accomplished in the last few weeks. Don has delivered what food was left, and delivered water to many. It was so needed. He had to purchase a new tank for the water. The roads he travels on are so bad, and it wore the tank out, from the bouncing. He had it pretty well secured, but all things wear out in this country. (And much quicker than in the US).

We are now waiting on our next container. The ship has docked, and they are supposed to take the containers off today. We are praying this will happen. And our broker has started the paperwork already, so prayerfully it will be quicker. We'll pray and wait on the Lord on this one. Pray with us for a speedy release, and for a lower cost.

Being Tuesday, we should be at the airport, but being August, things slow down at MFI. There were no passengers and not enough cargo to warrant a flight, so we have a day off. Well, from the airport anyway. Getting a lot of needed work done here with this free day. We have a small team coming on Thursday, and we are looking forward to that. Good friends, and a new face or two. Lots planned and we hope to get it all done in the short 5 days they are here.

God has really blessed us with some great speakers at English Bible Fellowship lately. We have been absorbing some great teachings. On Sunday, we had a Haitian pastor friend come and speak. Pastor Saint Ange did a wonderful job and brought out some great truths in God's word. He spoke on ENCOURAGEMENT. He chose Barnabas as his "topic". I didn't realize just how much of an encourager he was. He went through a lot of scripture on how Barnabas encouraged so many. From selling his land to help everyone, to taking an immature believer and helping him along on his path of faith, to using his own faith, along with works, to direct believers, to giving a man a second chance and following through with him. It was great. And he calls US to be encourager's, too. Our daily life should encourage others, if it's a pat on the back for someone, or help in a material way, or to stand by someone and show them the correct path to take. There are so many, many ways we, as Christians, can share our faith through encouragement. His message spoke to me in many ways, and I am so thankful we were blessed by the message. There was another missionary there, and before the service she had said how discouraged she has been this week. We talked for a while before church started. Well, after church, we looked at each other and laughed. God knew ahead of time exactly what we both needed and HE supplied those needs. Isn't God awesome? Wow, all we need to do is depend on Him and rely on His word...our encouragement comes from the Lord, doesn't it? And at just the right time.

Okay, on to prayer and praises... I have to praise God for the chiropractor he sent down with another mission. The last two Sundays he has worked on me after church. What a blessing he has been. And in that same area, please pray for this body of mine to come into line and stop it's problems. Not one major thing, just many little pains and problems.

We praise God that we have had such good teachings at English Bible Fellowship. And that it has been just what many of us needed, just when we needed it.

Continue to pray for MFI and all their work and services for so many. They are a great organization and can use your prayers constantly. They do so much for so many...and we also praise God for their ministry at the AirVenture Show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. We know many heard the message of salvation through that time.

Continue to pray for our son, his wife and their adoption process. We are praying that this week all the paperwork will get into Homeland Security and process through to immigration quickly. It is WAY PAST TIME for their son to be home with them.

Pray for Stan and Gloria as they continue to work so hard to further the Gospel here in Haiti. They do so much in so many areas and we are SOOO thankful for their dedication.

Pray for the container and all involved in it. Pray for Haiti and it's officials, that the Lord would reach down His hand and touch hearts for Him in a mighty way.

Pray for America and all that it is going through right now. We need the Lord there in a mighty way as well.

And we pray for YOU, that God will walk with you and show you how to be an encourager to so many in need.

"I will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness, and will sing praise in the name of the Lord Most High." Psalm 7: 17

Three in one day

Wow, I think I'm on a roll. Actually, after doing my blog, then Don's, I downloaded some photos I had taken yesterday. And of course, some were of Abbie. So, just wanted to share a couple with you all. I know a lot of you have been here and have watched her grow. She really is growing by leaps and bounds all the time.

We were just ready to leave for church when I took these. Our friends, Ray and Bonnie, come when they can, ahead of time, so the kids can play for a while. Richardo is the first one they took into their orphanage, and now they want to adopt him. He and Abbie have spent a lot of time together since they were very small. Richardo is about a year older than she is. Not positive of his age since he had been abandoned. He was in poor health, but has recovered wonderfully. Well about a year ago, he and Abbie decided they were going to get married. We finally told them, okay, but not for 18 years. They both said, okay, tomorrow. Well, they walk to church, hand in hand, and spend a lot of time together. So, it's natural that we get photos of the two of them, together. Abbie is a photo hound. If she sees a camera, she wants her picture taken. And Richardo is pretty much the same way. So, we are sharing their photos with you. Enjoy, and keep trusting the Lord, He is faithful!!!