I didn't realize it's been 2 weeks since I sent out a note. Time is something we just don't keep close track of here, I guess. We've had a few fun times, and lots of work time. The days just seem to go by so fast.
Had a team come and do a soccer camp. They didn't work with us, but sure were a blessing to those they DID work with. This is the second time Slippery Rock University came to do some teaching for kids. It was good to hear the pastor they worked with talk about how they were teaching new skills to these kids. (Kids is a relative term...most were upper teens and into the 20's). Of course, those they worked with absorbed any knowledge like sponges. They want to improve and be really good. I think the trip had a positive impact on the team members, too. They worked with two orphanages, too, so it was fun with the soccer, but fun with kids, just playing, too.
Then MFI's president came down with 4 others to get an overview of the missions MFI works with. A couple people we knew and a couple were new...but a great group. They were only here 2 days, but saw a lot in that short time.
And we go on to Abbie (our 6 going on 16 year old). I got a catalog for clothing. She grabbed it and started "practicing" model poses. Says she is now going to be a model. She is also going to be a missionary. And a nurse. (I think there were a few other ones she wants to be too, but don't remember.) She still loves school and her teacher. She is teaching Savanah math and science now. And she is always teaching her Bible. And Savanah just lays there and smiles and absorbs whatever Abbie wants to teach her. She is such a happy little one. I'm afraid Abbie will have some competition in the talking department when Savanah gets a bit older, though.
We were recently blessed when a gal from Pennsylvania sent us some diapers...I know, that doesn't sound exciting, but it is. These are called "Bum Genius". They are SO neat. It's diaper, insert, and rubber pants all in one and so neat. And they fit ANY child, from new born to 35 pounds. I have NO problem washing diapers. Actually prefer that to disposables, since we have no where to "dispose" of those. Since they don't decompose, it would fill our "garbage pit" up real quick. I know a lot of Haitians would be thrilled with any type of regular diapers, and we praise God that we have been able to give some of those out, thanks to some great friends. Anything like that, that's reusable is a blessing.
Don spent over a month, probably closer to two months, fighting flat tires. We have NEVER had problems like we are now, with tires. But come to find out, some of our problems were the beggars standing around here. Since finances have gone down some, Don doesn't have a lot to give to people. Some of the women (mostly those who don't really NEED help, but want a handout) are not real nice. They let air out of tires, scratch the vehicles and just frustrate us a bit. Don has started parking the vehicles where we can see them now, not in the car port we have. Next project is to fence in the car port so the cars will not be messed with.
The missionaries across the way from us had a container come in, with well drilling equipment on it. Normally this is not a problem. But the driver was a bit of a problem. To make the turn into their gate, he had to back up behind our dorm. All the Haitians were yelling at him to stop. He was backing over our pipes for the septic tank. He said he didn't care, and did it anyway. We knew nothing about it until two days later when the watchman came and told Don we had sewage spewing out of the ground. Another costly repair. We are trying to smile through all of this, but it sure isn't easy. But we ARE praising God for being with us through it all.
I was blessed this last weekend. A good friends from Florida came in with a team, and took a couple of days to come and spend some time with us. What a fun time and a change of pace. God sends us uplifts when we need it.
Please keep us in prayer. There was an earthquake in the Dominican. Those in the know say there is a major one on the way, and Cap Haitian sits right on that fault line. We are trying to keep a positive perspective on it all, but if one should hit here, I'm afraid it would be much worse than the one in Port. We have almost NO infrastructure here in the north. Also, pray for the government of Haiti. And for the people to come to realize that the Lord is their ONLY salvation.
Until next time, God bless and keep looking up!! He is coming soon!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
As life goes on
It seems funny...no matter what happens, life goes on. The good, the bad, the unexpected, the expected, ...all of it has no bearing on time.
I've been thinking about "time" and how we relate to it. When was the earth formed? When did the flood occur? When was Jesus born? When was the "new world" discovered? When did the "world wars" occur? When did we land on the moon?..... Okay, a lot of these we can pinpoint and give an actual date. Some we can give a general idea. Some we really don't know for sure. But the real question is, "What impact have any of these had on MY life?"
The earth WAS formed, by the Lord! Do I know the exact time or date? Nope, but I do know that God did it, and as a result, we exist. The flood... a general knowledge of time there is immaterial. God stepped in and He is the one who wanted to "wash" sin from the world. The World Wars...well, I do know I was born during (near the end) of the second one. So, that did impact MY life. Landing on the moon...well, we had a child by that time, and technology was changing the world, which did impact my life a lot. But the main one, which I skipped over...when was Jesus born.... actual time frame??? Not positive, just a general idea...but the impact on MY life was much more than any of the other things, or even ALL of the other things combined.
Then the next question is, what about time NOW and time to come. What will we (I) do with that? I think the thing I need to concentrate on is that since Jesus is the one person who impacted my life beyond any thing or any one else, I need to fix my life on what HE would have me to do and how HE would have me accomplish things for HIM!! Can you relate to the past, the present and the future, where JESUS is concerned? How has He impacted YOUR life and what are you doing with what you have been given? The Lord does not expect all of us to become missionaries...or pastors...or evangelists... and yet each and every one of us, who KNOW Him, should be incorporating each of those three things into our lives. We should be missionaries, if only to our neighbors and co-workers. We should be a pastor, sharing God's word and love to others. And we should all be evangelists, spreading God's word to the world, in whatever way the Lord shows us.
So, time... how does it relate to you? What are you doing with the time God has given you? It's a thought maybe we should all thing on and considering. I know I have to come to grips with wasted time.
Well, that wasn't something I had planned on saying, it just came out. But our time here has been really busy. Sometimes we let things take up our time that we need to simply let go. But God is working on that in me, too.
Little Savanah and Abbie are my major time consumer right now. And I know that the Lord has put them in my care for this time. I praise God that He has put Vero here to do my work at the airport, so I can accomplish what He has for me here.
On that thought, and with a crying baby, I'll leave you to "ponder" what God is showing you! Remember to keep Him at the front of all you do and all you accomplish.
I've been thinking about "time" and how we relate to it. When was the earth formed? When did the flood occur? When was Jesus born? When was the "new world" discovered? When did the "world wars" occur? When did we land on the moon?..... Okay, a lot of these we can pinpoint and give an actual date. Some we can give a general idea. Some we really don't know for sure. But the real question is, "What impact have any of these had on MY life?"
The earth WAS formed, by the Lord! Do I know the exact time or date? Nope, but I do know that God did it, and as a result, we exist. The flood... a general knowledge of time there is immaterial. God stepped in and He is the one who wanted to "wash" sin from the world. The World Wars...well, I do know I was born during (near the end) of the second one. So, that did impact MY life. Landing on the moon...well, we had a child by that time, and technology was changing the world, which did impact my life a lot. But the main one, which I skipped over...when was Jesus born.... actual time frame??? Not positive, just a general idea...but the impact on MY life was much more than any of the other things, or even ALL of the other things combined.
Then the next question is, what about time NOW and time to come. What will we (I) do with that? I think the thing I need to concentrate on is that since Jesus is the one person who impacted my life beyond any thing or any one else, I need to fix my life on what HE would have me to do and how HE would have me accomplish things for HIM!! Can you relate to the past, the present and the future, where JESUS is concerned? How has He impacted YOUR life and what are you doing with what you have been given? The Lord does not expect all of us to become missionaries...or pastors...or evangelists... and yet each and every one of us, who KNOW Him, should be incorporating each of those three things into our lives. We should be missionaries, if only to our neighbors and co-workers. We should be a pastor, sharing God's word and love to others. And we should all be evangelists, spreading God's word to the world, in whatever way the Lord shows us.
So, time... how does it relate to you? What are you doing with the time God has given you? It's a thought maybe we should all thing on and considering. I know I have to come to grips with wasted time.
Well, that wasn't something I had planned on saying, it just came out. But our time here has been really busy. Sometimes we let things take up our time that we need to simply let go. But God is working on that in me, too.
Little Savanah and Abbie are my major time consumer right now. And I know that the Lord has put them in my care for this time. I praise God that He has put Vero here to do my work at the airport, so I can accomplish what He has for me here.
On that thought, and with a crying baby, I'll leave you to "ponder" what God is showing you! Remember to keep Him at the front of all you do and all you accomplish.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Short note from Don
We all know John 3: 16. It's a verse that we can all recite by memory. But now let us look at 1 John 3: 16 (through 18).
"This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
THIS is why we are here. This is what God called us to do!!
Blessings,
Don
"This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
THIS is why we are here. This is what God called us to do!!
Blessings,
Don
Monday, January 2, 2012
New Year's Blessings
We pray your that Christmas was all you hoped, and that Christ was the center of it all. And now we pray that the Lord will show Himself to you in a mighty way this coming New Year. We pray that as you travel the road you are on, with the hills and the valleys, that you will cling to Jesus as your help and guide in all things.
We've had a week to set your nerves on end. The easy part is praising God when things are fine, but when things are difficult, wow....then it's hard. But we are learning, through those hard times. Let's see....to start with, our septic system backed up. Okay, we knew it was not the septic tank, we had had that emptied. So, Don, with our good friend Daniel's help, started checking the sewer line from our house to the tanks behind the dorm. Let me digress here and tell you how we found out the system had problems.
One of our "girls" (Betty) was in a wedding as the maren (God-mother). So, she had asked if she and the bride could dress here at the house. No problem. Well, Betty wanted me to get some photos of her in her fancy dress, too. They got all dressed, a few photos taken, and they were off. I went in to flush the toilet (in their rush, they hadn't). Then went on to do other things. I walked back to the bathroom, heard water running...and realized the bathroom was flooded, all the way out to the hall, and into one of the bedrooms. Praise God we don't have carpet!! It was NASTY! Don thought the toilet may be plugged, so he plunged it...wrong move, more water erupted... everywhere ... bathtub, shower, sinks...a fun time. So...back to them starting to "fix" the problem.
They dug down in several places, would stick a rod in the pipe, to see if water was flowing. Well, one place they dug, they missed the sewer pipe and hit the water line!!! Yup, here we are with no way to drain water, flush toilets or anything...but that's okay, now we have no water to do it with anyway. Are you catching the drift of frustration here? I wasn't bad...I had the mess cleaned up by then and had extra water set aside, in case I had to do it all again. Well, I didn't, but at least now I had water to use, which I could throw outside when done with it. Don on the other hand was not as "carefree". Those guys were running all over trying to find parts to fix the water line, and to get something they may need to fix the sewer line. Finally they got the water line fixed, for which I was really pleased. I figured I could throw water outside. Toilets were another problem, but we won't go there.
They finally found the "blockage" in the sewer line...and it only took a few hours to clear that. Then the next problem arose. They found a huge root had grown and pressed the pipe almost closed. Well, this was New Year's Eve day...so they simply closed it all up, and it was usable again. And decided to work on the line this week.
Okay, we are at "today"....Three guys came to help dig up the line and replace the collapsed pipe. They started digging and got to where they can work on it. Brought out the pipe (same size as the one in the ground), and the connector. The two 4 inch pipes are different sizes...just enough so they won't work together. So, they are off to town trying to find the needed parts...and prayerfully something will be open, because it is still a holiday here. Isn't life simply "exciting"??
Yesterday, New Year's Day, we were invited out to Pastor Paul and Belle's place for dinner. Abbie was going to see Richardo, so she wanted to be all dressed up. She had on a fancy dress, mama's earrings, and grandma's new necklace. We had washed and straightened her hair, and I put it up in curls for her. (My first try at that, but it went pretty good). Got Savanah dressed in a pretty outfit and were all ready to go. I still can't get over what a good baby Savanah is. She, along with Abbie, are the light of our lives right now. Don brought the Toyota around, we got in, and he said, "Hope the gas station is open, we won't make it otherwise." You guessed it, it wasn't open. Came back home, he changed a flat tire on the Diahatsu and we tried again. Got going and it sounded like a stone in a tire. He stopped 4 times trying to find that "stone". Never did. But we finally made it out to their place and had a great time. Played some "Mexican Train dominoes" and headed back.
One great afternoon isn't bad out of 4 days, is it? And it was so enjoyable.
So, pray for the guys as they attempt to finish this sewer problem. Don has a whole list of jobs to get done. And this was not one of them. He is still hauling sand and gravel for Pastor Marius for his church. Then he has several other projects on his agenda to work on. Guess we'll see what, if any, he does get to. The saying is, "That's the plan, subject to change, and it WILL change when in Haiti!!"
Don found out this morning that his brother passed away. He is so upset by that, but there is no way he can make any arrangements to get to the funeral. We learned yesterday that his brother was taken to the hospital and then this morning we got word he had passed away. So, keep Don in prayer concerning this situation also. We know Gene, his brother, has heard the salvation message many times. We are not positive if he actually accepted the Lord or not. So this is a very difficult time for Don.
We pray your New Year brings you joy, peace and comfort. As we are doing, grasp onto the Lord's hand and let Him be your guide and direction.
We've had a week to set your nerves on end. The easy part is praising God when things are fine, but when things are difficult, wow....then it's hard. But we are learning, through those hard times. Let's see....to start with, our septic system backed up. Okay, we knew it was not the septic tank, we had had that emptied. So, Don, with our good friend Daniel's help, started checking the sewer line from our house to the tanks behind the dorm. Let me digress here and tell you how we found out the system had problems.
One of our "girls" (Betty) was in a wedding as the maren (God-mother). So, she had asked if she and the bride could dress here at the house. No problem. Well, Betty wanted me to get some photos of her in her fancy dress, too. They got all dressed, a few photos taken, and they were off. I went in to flush the toilet (in their rush, they hadn't). Then went on to do other things. I walked back to the bathroom, heard water running...and realized the bathroom was flooded, all the way out to the hall, and into one of the bedrooms. Praise God we don't have carpet!! It was NASTY! Don thought the toilet may be plugged, so he plunged it...wrong move, more water erupted... everywhere ... bathtub, shower, sinks...a fun time. So...back to them starting to "fix" the problem.
They dug down in several places, would stick a rod in the pipe, to see if water was flowing. Well, one place they dug, they missed the sewer pipe and hit the water line!!! Yup, here we are with no way to drain water, flush toilets or anything...but that's okay, now we have no water to do it with anyway. Are you catching the drift of frustration here? I wasn't bad...I had the mess cleaned up by then and had extra water set aside, in case I had to do it all again. Well, I didn't, but at least now I had water to use, which I could throw outside when done with it. Don on the other hand was not as "carefree". Those guys were running all over trying to find parts to fix the water line, and to get something they may need to fix the sewer line. Finally they got the water line fixed, for which I was really pleased. I figured I could throw water outside. Toilets were another problem, but we won't go there.
They finally found the "blockage" in the sewer line...and it only took a few hours to clear that. Then the next problem arose. They found a huge root had grown and pressed the pipe almost closed. Well, this was New Year's Eve day...so they simply closed it all up, and it was usable again. And decided to work on the line this week.
Okay, we are at "today"....Three guys came to help dig up the line and replace the collapsed pipe. They started digging and got to where they can work on it. Brought out the pipe (same size as the one in the ground), and the connector. The two 4 inch pipes are different sizes...just enough so they won't work together. So, they are off to town trying to find the needed parts...and prayerfully something will be open, because it is still a holiday here. Isn't life simply "exciting"??
Yesterday, New Year's Day, we were invited out to Pastor Paul and Belle's place for dinner. Abbie was going to see Richardo, so she wanted to be all dressed up. She had on a fancy dress, mama's earrings, and grandma's new necklace. We had washed and straightened her hair, and I put it up in curls for her. (My first try at that, but it went pretty good). Got Savanah dressed in a pretty outfit and were all ready to go. I still can't get over what a good baby Savanah is. She, along with Abbie, are the light of our lives right now. Don brought the Toyota around, we got in, and he said, "Hope the gas station is open, we won't make it otherwise." You guessed it, it wasn't open. Came back home, he changed a flat tire on the Diahatsu and we tried again. Got going and it sounded like a stone in a tire. He stopped 4 times trying to find that "stone". Never did. But we finally made it out to their place and had a great time. Played some "Mexican Train dominoes" and headed back.
So, pray for the guys as they attempt to finish this sewer problem. Don has a whole list of jobs to get done. And this was not one of them. He is still hauling sand and gravel for Pastor Marius for his church. Then he has several other projects on his agenda to work on. Guess we'll see what, if any, he does get to. The saying is, "That's the plan, subject to change, and it WILL change when in Haiti!!"
Don found out this morning that his brother passed away. He is so upset by that, but there is no way he can make any arrangements to get to the funeral. We learned yesterday that his brother was taken to the hospital and then this morning we got word he had passed away. So, keep Don in prayer concerning this situation also. We know Gene, his brother, has heard the salvation message many times. We are not positive if he actually accepted the Lord or not. So this is a very difficult time for Don.
We pray your New Year brings you joy, peace and comfort. As we are doing, grasp onto the Lord's hand and let Him be your guide and direction.
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