Thursday, July 23, 2009

A note from Don

I think all of you know that this blog is something I took on to keep you up to date on what is going on in our lives here. From time to time, Don has asked if I have mentioned this or that in here. I told him he should do one once in a while, too. Well, he finally took me up on that, so this one is from him. While we were out, he got himself a lot of different study material. He has spent a good part of each evening studying different subjects in the Bible. This is one that he feels really strong about. So, from Don to everyone.....

No where in the new testament does it say to pray to the Father or Jesus Christ to do something about the devil. In Ephesians, Paul tells us that GOD tells us to exercise the authority and victory that we already have. The authority has been given to all believers by the victory in Christ Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, and Jesus in now sitting at the right hand of God the Father. The victory HAS BEEN WON over all the demonic forces, and the authority is given unto US. Read Ephesians 6:12. The authority is given to all true believers, not just pastors and evangelists. Read Colossians 1:12-13, and James 4:7. God would not tell you to do something you can not do.

God Bless and my He bless your Bible readings.

Monday, July 20, 2009

July News

Greetings again,

Well, I decided to jot part of our July newsletter here. It won't go out until Thursday, so you all are getting the preview of it. And I am adding a bit of encouraging news here that I didn't put in there.

I'll start with that. On our daughter-in-law's blog, she posted a picture of the passport that was FINALLY received for their new son. They still need prayers, as there are two more
huge hurdles to face...Homeland security and visa. But with all of our prayers, maybe these will go quickly and without a hitch. It is way past time for him to be home with them.

The first part of the letter referred people to this site, to see what happened when we were stateside. And some of the things in there, I have already posted here, so I will just give a "recap" of the letter.

I am so thankful for "our kids" here who pitched in and helped us get settled back into the normal here. Daniel took two days and got the tags on the "Eagle" done. And Vero and Leah worked wonders at the dorm. It had sat empty for two months, so needed some
major work. I didn't mention Cequer in our letter, but he is always being such a huge help to us, in so many ways. We are really indebted to all of these kids....(when you are well over 60, everyone under 50 is a KID).

With our team here, Don had to go over and work on the toilets and fans, and a few other things, but he has accomplished a lot in the short time we've been home. We need to seriously consider getting new toilets in both the dorm and house. Can you believe they are wearing out? How does a toilet wear out??? NO IDEA, but they have.

Then I mentioned that God was at work in several ways here. Emmaul, our former
puppeteer who lives in Chicago, came for a weeks visit. This was such a joy for us, and for a LOT of Haitians who were anxious to see him after so many years. It was a blessing to have him here with us, even for a short time. (Next year we hope to have him, his wife and two children come.) But now comes the first miracle from the Lord. They day he was to leave, we were to get three more visitors. It was our 10th "heart baby", Clare and her folks. She is now ten years old!!! But due to a problem with their airline, they had to come in a day early. This was GREAT.... Emmaul had done all the paperwork for Clare's adoption. He was so excited to see her. AND, he was the only one who knew how to find Clare's birth family. Emmaul knew right where they lived, and took Jeff, Lynn and Clare out there. It was an answer to prayer, because we had no way to find them. Clare's birth dad, her brothers and sisters, and grandma were so happy to see her. Her dad even gave her a lecture about obeying her mom and dad. What a joyful reunion. And her birth family was so thrilled that Jeff and Lynn kept their promise to bring her back to see them. This is Jeff, Lynn and Clare. And next is Emmaul with Clare. What a blessing!!While Jeff, Lynn and Clare were here for the short 5 days, Clare was able to visit many places that she had been to when she was a year old. The photos became a reality for her. It was wonderful for us to have them here and be a part of this reunion.

I mentioned that our next container is on the way. We are SO thankful for that. It is scheduled to arrive August 5th...but we are in Haiti, so do not depend on a specific date. But we are praying if it can't be cleared that day, that it would be soon after that. The needs here are overwhelming. And in relation to the containers, it's time to start thinking of Christmas Bags...yes, it's only July, but things have to be purchased and bagged and gotten to Stan for shipment. If we are to get it by Christmas (prayerfully on time this year), then we need to start working on them now. You can contact Stan through the site at the right side of the blog.

I found a scripture that really spoke to me and prayerfully to everyone who reads it. It is Psalm 147: 1-5. It reads: "Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him. The Lord builds up Jerusalem, He gathers the exiles of Israel, He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty His power, His understanding has no limit."

Our praise and prayer list follows:
Praise for:
The passport for our new grandson.
A wonderful trip.
All our family and friends who were a part of the trip.
The Lord keeping our home and those here safe in our absence.
Stan and all his work for us and the people of Haiti.
Pray for:
Haiti, the people , the missionaries and the government.
America and it's struggles.
The suffering, and that we can help those the Lord directs us to.
Our health and strength.
The Lord's direction and guidance in all we do here.
MFI and all it's work.
The container coming soon.
The teams that will be coming soon, for wisdom and insight in all they do.

Now, in all you do, give God the glory and thank Him for all He has done for you!!


Monday, July 13, 2009

A good week

It's been a wonderful week. We have had Emmaul, one of our Haitian turned American kids here. His heart is still here and everyone was so thrilled to see him. He is a bit torn today. Tomorrow he leaves for home, which he is really ready for. He misses his wife and child so much. But he will miss Haiti when he leaves, too. He enjoyed his time here and we all enjoyed having him. He is also Abbie's Godfather, so it was a special time for them. This is Emmaul (A-my) and Abbie!!
Today another chapter in excitement comes along. Clare, who was the last Haitian baby we took in, is coming with her parents today. We are so excited to see them. Even Abbie, who has NO idea who they are, can't wait to see her new friend, Clare. Our Haitian kids talk about her frequently, so Abbie knows the name, and I guess she just assumes she knows her. Everyone here is looking forward to seeing her again. And the neat thing, Emmaul helped do all the paperwork for the adoption before he left for America. So, he is really thrilled that he will get to see her again too. God works in mysterious ways, doesn't He?

We have spent some good time with a Haitian pastor who is our friend, Ti-Louie. He is such a good man and has such a heart for the Lord. We love him and his wife a lot.

Our church service was wonderful again. We had a Haitian speaker and he did a great job. And the fellowship with everyone was wonderful, too.

Again, I ask you to pray for several things. First is our son's adoption situation. They are STILL waiting for news. We've been trying to contact a man in Port who possibly could help, but he is very difficult to get in touch with. Pray that things will start moving again. They are in the passport section now (and this should have been quick, but wasn't)...and only a few more steps to go. But these steps can be a real trial. Pray for peace, comfort and endurance for the family.

Also keep MFI in your prayers. They can use them constantly. It seems a lightening strike messed up their computers a bit and it took some work to get them up and going again. We do praise God that they have their third plane back in the US now, and should be in the air working again soon. That was a LONG haul, waiting on parts to be repaired. They had to eventually stop waiting and simply purchase new ones. So your prayers are needed in many areas for them.

The next prayer request is for us. We need to secure our compound a bit more. We have been advised by several people to take these steps. Not that anything is happening here, but the concern of the Haitians is for us. So, more for them, than us, we will try to get these things done. We have no fear, and the Lord has not moved us to do it, but we do respect the people here and will follow their advice. This will not keep us from doing God's ministry as He directs. The hurting people will still be helped.

Well, it's on to the airport again. This week will be 4 days there. Two for MFI and two for our visitors. No rest for the weary. But God knows and He is in control of it all.

Keep smiling and keep the Lord before all you do!!

Monday, July 6, 2009

A great Sunday

Hello again,
Yesterday was a great day. Accomplished a lot, but the highlight is always Sunday service. English Bible Fellowship has a slow down time in the summer. Many missionaries take that time to go stateside and visit churches and family.

But we had a good service. And the neat thing is, we have more and more English speaking Haitians attending. We have so enjoyed the guest speakers, too. But yesterday the scheduled speaker didn't show. No problem here, you go with the flow.

I think the highlight of the service was that Dr. Bibiana was there. She left Haiti quite a while ago, to serve with Medical Ambassadors in the Dominican Republic. She and her family have spent the last year in Canada, and will remain there until her son graduates from high school. But it was great to see her heart is still with the Haitian people. She is planning on a way to help, even though she is not here.

We were able to see some of "our kids" this weekend, too. Saw several of our former puppeteers and their babies. It was good to feel remembered when little Dorothy Lynn wanted Grandma when she got here. And when it was time to leave, she came to me and laid her head down. Even the babies are growing so fast!! Oliane came with Hyadley. I told her how upset I was that I could not be here when precious Rose Shirley went to be with the Lord. She is dealing, but still hurting. Please keep her in prayer.

It's hot here, just like in a lot of the USA, but our humidity has put a damper on things...no pun intended. An example is when you get out of the shower, and before you can completely dry off, you are sweating again. Clothes don't dry completely, either. I thank God for our dryer!! Fans are great, but they just push the hot, humid air around a bit.

Well, time to leave for the airport and pick up our next team. It's small, only 5 people. And they are for a Haitian pastor friend. So, our work with them will be limited. But tomorrow we will be blessed, a lot. One of our former puppeteer, Emmaul, will be coming for a weeks visit. It will be such a joy to see him again. Just wish his wife and baby could be with him.

And then next week, the last of our ten "heart babies", Clare, and her family will be here for a visit. We are looking forward to that with joy and expectation. She is SO grown up now.

Have a super God blessed, Jesus centered day. Serve Him, with joy and gladness!!!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Our trip...page four

I realized, AFTER the last blog, that I should have reversed our trip, but it's as it is. It was all a blessing for us and we sure enjoyed our many stops and friends. Now we are on to Pennsylvania.

It was a real joy for us to be able to be at Rachel's graduation. She was our third heart
baby, and now she is all grown up and a beautiful young woman. We so enjoyed seeing everyone there again. And it was an added blessing when Christine, our fourth heart baby, came to the celebration. They live about 25 miles apart and see each other at times.
Rachel graduated with a high grade point average...over 94%, and we are so proud of her. She went for a job interview and was hired on the spot. She will be heading off to college to train for social work. And we cherish the time with her mama and dad, too.
Then it was on to Pittsburgh. We were able to see many of our friends there and even got a tour of Pittsburgh. A lot better than just driving through it. Our friends there were very gracious to open their home for us.
Our trip progressed to the eastern side of Pennsylvania. The group here has done so much for Haiti and it's churches. We were proud to be a part of their service and share in some wonderful fellowship....oh yes, Don got to sit on a motorcycle there too. He was offered the bike for a ride, but time didn't permit it.From there we traveled to No. Carolina and saw some dear friends who used to live in Florida. What a joy to see their 4 adopted children. all so happy and healthy. And then on to So. Carolina. Miss Lou Ann has always been an inspiration to us, and the short time we spent there was no exception. Her and her wonderful family and great friends treated us like royalty.

We ended up in Florida, first at Sea World, then at my brother and sister-in-laws.
On to West Palm Beach with good friends there. The night before we left, my brother and family came to visit us in Ft. Pierce. This is my sister-in-law, Bev, her daughter, and her granddaughters.And then, back to Haiti. It was a long trip, with many stops, but we wouldn't trade our time for anything. Saw many friends, met some new ones and had a super wonderful, God blessed time. Now, it's back to work, and back to God's leading. Pray for us to keep our focus on Him, and His will.

Until next time, God bless, and stay focused on HIM.

Our trip...page three

We left you in Washington state...but after a short week, we flew back to Wisconsin just in time for our granddaughters wedding. At the time of the wedding, Theresa was a first responder, and her husband was a volunteer fire fighter. Now they are both fire fighters in a small town. That is why they were married at the memorial for those who gave their lives saving others. The ceremony was in the park, and the reception was at the hall in the fire station. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful day.
Then we were able to spend some time with our son Todd and his family. And we were also able to see our great grandsons. Grandma misses these times a lot!!Mama for these little fireballs is on the right. They are a handful. And grandpa's little buddies. It's funny seeing our kids being the grandparents. But they do fine.We wanted a picture of all the family that was able to be there. Missing two. I can't believe I'm so much shorter than EVERYONE!! Guess they all follow in dad's footsteps. I'll stick to the babies, they are shorter than me.From this point we leave Wisconsin and head to Ohio. No pictures there, but had a good time with some wonderful friends. Keeping touch with so many means a lot to us. We have wonderful memories of so many. From here, we will head to Pennsylvania...in the next blog. Keep smiling, God loves you so much. Share His love with others, and it will bring a smile to your face!

Our trip Page Two

It's another day of having fun with computers. For some reason, now my desk top will not go on the Internet, so I'm back on the laptop. The fun never ends!!

We left you at Stan and Gloria's place. That was such a nice place, but had to move on. So, from there we headed to our daughter's place in Wisconsin. Christine and her boys are always so welcoming, and they move around so grandma and grandpa can stay. It was good to "catch-up" with what is happening in their lives and see them again. Again, another grandson on his way to driving. Starting to make me feel old...but then again, guess I am
getting there. We were able to celebrate the twins birthdays with them, and that was a joy. Finding out what the boys future plans are is always exciting. Even when they change from what we last heard.We were also able to spend some time with our son Dale and his family. Sharing with what they were all doing was great. One of his boys is now in college. The next one working toward joining the air force when he finishes school. His desire is to be a pilot. And the youngest will be the next one coming to visit Haiti in January.
From there, we flew out to Camano Island, Washington. Actually we flew into Seattle and our friends picked up us there, then we drove the hour and a half to Camano. This was our fourth trip and I have STILL not seen a whale. Oh well, one day, maybe. But we had a great time, and the weather was great. Even had a gathering of a lot of the people who have been on teams. It's always a pleasure to be there. Seattle is a very active and neat place to visit. We enjoyed fish & chips on the inlet.And yes, we did get to relax here, too. What a neat way to spend a day...watching the beautiful water, good fellowship and reading.Have a Christ Centered Day on our Independence Day!! Enjoy and celebrate, remembering that our nation was founded on the Lord!!!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Our trip...page one

I decided to start sending some of our photos and doing it by the direction our trip took. I'll start with our visit to our daughter in Mobile, AL. It's been years since we have seen them, but it was so good to spend some time with her and the family. The boys have grown up and aren't really "kids" anymore. When they are getting drivers license and starting to work, it tells you they are getting up there. We spent a day with Michelle touring the USS Alabama. It was great to see history and learn some fascinating facts in the process. And then the next day at the Exploratoriam with the whole family. This is Michelle and her family.
From there we headed up to visit a recent team in Fort Payne, AL. These are the guys who worked like machines and have done so much for us. They put us up in a fantastic cabin (oops, lodge)...on top of a mountain. It was awesome. This is just the living room of the lodge. We had four bedrooms and two baths. And a wonderful time of relaxation. (Thanks guys).Our next stop was in Indiana to visit Stan and Gloria. They do so much for our ministry, and the ministry of many others here in Haiti. We would be lost without them. Had some wonderful time resting there also.
Time and electric are running out, so this will be it for tonight. Please keep all three above in prayer. We so love and appreciate all of them.

Until tomorrow... God bless and have a super night and day tomorrow. It's in HIM we rejoice.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

We are home

Hello to all,
This will be short. Just to let you all know we are home safe and sound and getting back into the swing of things. Whew...what a time, coming home. So many things in the house not working, including my desk top computer. The batteries and the inverter aren't working either, so aside from the airport, Don is running in circles trying to get things working again.

But even with the problems, it's good to be home again. Abbie was excited to see us when we got off the plane. She has grown so much!!

When things are working right again, I'll post some photos from our trip. It may take a few posts to tell all the wonderful things the Lord did for us on this trip. He definitely walked before us, stayed around us, and walked with us. We had a great time and visited some wonderful people. Seeing family and friends is always a huge blessing for us, but God went WAY beyond that this time. And Don even took me to Sea World. Great to have some fun and relaxation together. Even though Orlando set high temps the day we were there.

I'll try to update VERY soon with news and pictures. The situation here is still difficult and not improving. Pray for wisdom and strength for Don in dealing with people who come for help.

We are praising God that our next container is already on the way. Great job Stan!!!

Keep looking up, our time here is getting short!!

In Him and His love,
Karen