Living in a Whirlwind of time

Greetings,

Mid May and I am just getting another update on here.  Sorry for the delay…a lot has been going on.

I guess I will have to do this in sections to try and cover things for you.  I want to start with someone I had met back in February, when I had been at the MFI banquet in West Palm Beach.  A young man came up to me after the banquet and we spoke for a few minutes.  He shared some cards he had with both me and with Pastor Paul Romeus.  They are like a credit card in size and shape and heavy plastic.  Paul and I both agreed they were great evangelistic tools.  After I returned to Haiti, I showed them to several pastors and those who do evangelism.  They were thrilled with them.  Those I had were in Creole, and everyone was VERY interested in them.  Since that time, Ryan Robbins, from GoKnock.org, and I have been in communication.  I purchased those that I could afford, and as an incentive, Ryan included more, free of charge on our first order.  The photo below shows the English one that I have.  There were 10 different cards in the Creole packets.  As you can see, there are catchy one or two words on the front, and the back has scripture.  They really are awesome.

Now, on to the happenings in the last month or two. 

The first was a horrible accident.  One of “our kids” was on the side of the road, and was hit by a small bus.  A very long story short, is that he had severe head injuries and his ankle/foot was pretty mangled.  This was about April 15^th.  He was taken to the hospital here in the north, in Milot.  After a few days, sent, by helicopter, to Port au Prince.  Not very responsive and in extreme pain.  He had spent a lot of time there.  Then we heard he had to leave that place, since it was an emergency only facility.  He was brought back up to the north and taken to his own home.  Still not eating, drinking or able to care for himself.  I believe at this time they are trying to make arrangements to put him in the hospital/clinic that is a part of the IDADEE orphanage.  When the request went out, Missionary Flights sent in a really nice wheelchair for him to use.  But at this time, no updates have come our way, so we are asking for continued and constant prayers for Cequer.  He is a very important part of our lives here.

Then on April 24^th we were blessed when our son and grandson arrived for a week.  They had been asked by English Bible Fellowship (EBF) to come and do a one day conference.  The TOT (Teaching Our Teachers) conference was centered on teaching those in position to teach others how to evangelize, effectively.  We ended up with about 40 there including our EBF committee.  Half way through we supplied a wonderful lunch from a local restaurant. At the conclusion each of the attendees were given a packet of the 10 GoKnock cards, and a bag of personal care items. Those along with their papers from the conference, the tablets and pens were a blessing for them.  They were all very thrilled with the conference and will be teaching what they learned in their own churches and ministries.  We had quite a few pastors as a part of this and they immediately asked when would Dale come back and teach again. (Did this mom’s heart good to hear that!)  Our translators were awesome, too, even though Dale didn’t need one, he did use one.  Gregory was happy to have one though.  So, thoughts are in gear for another conference in the future.  Photos below showing you what all went on.

We spent some time setting up and getting ready for the sign in.  

 It really was nice having it out in the air, yet covered from sun.  And the attendee's had school desks to use for taking notes, and they ALL were taking notes with the outlines handed out.

 Dale had Joab as his first translator. 

 His second translator was our good friend Pastor Paul Romeus. 

 And Gregory had Enoch translating for him.  You can tell they all had a good time.

 Sunday at English Bible Fellowship, Gregory was able to share again.

 Then, while Dale and Gregory were here, they worked on food buckets for us.  What a joy to be able to get these done and they were able to help deliver most of them, too.  The sad part was after just a week they had to leave again.  But while here, we took Abbie with us and sent to town for a meal.  No one could believe Abbie ordered the Boukanye Burger (the BIG one) and then she ate the whole thing!!

Dale and Gregory went out with Marco, who along with Vero, head up a great ministry of not only evangelism, but teach adults how to read and write.  They went into areas where Marco knew the needs were great.  I'm only showing a couple of the stops they made, along with some of the evangelism team.  The first one is Dale with a baby a woman wanted to give me.  Of course he didn't take her, but she sure is cute.

Two of the women who received buckets, along with Marco and one of the gals on the team, and Gregory.

 These two gals on the team love to be able to minister in ways like this for the very poor.  And this was a great experience for Gregory, too.

And then there is Abbie and the monster hamburger.  Grandpa couldn't believe she ate it all!

After our kids left, there was an American Warden’s meeting and town hall meeting for Americans at the new Sadama Hotel.  So Don and I were there for the wardens meeting, which then flowed into the American town hall meeting.  We met Maureen Smith, the Deputy Consul General of the US Embassy.  The meeting was very informative and only a very small group showed up.  But I think the highlight of the day was the hotel, and the road to get to it.  I honestly thought we were on the wrong road going up to the top of the mountain.  It was SO, SO bad.  And if we had met another vehicle, we would have been in trouble.  It was one lane.  Then at the top….I had almost stopped because it looked like the road ended and we would go off the mountain.  No guard rails or signs or anything.  (and no, I didn’t take a picture, I was driving).  Then the road turned sharp right and there was the hotel.  There is not another one like it in Haiti, I would bet.  It is AWESOME!  (Not that I want to travel that road again to get there).  Very top notch.  I’ll put some pics for you to see.  Very honestly, I pulled them from the web site, but we did see this.  The only one I took was of the city of Cap Haitian, while we were sitting waiting for the meeting to start.  I checked on line, and if you can believe it, back in 2015 there were supposedly 357,000 people in Cap Haitian.  (not sure how they could count…but they did have a figure).  And we know since that time, the city and area have grown a lot.  When you look at the photo of the city… try and picture that many, in this small area.

This picture was obviously taken from a plane or helicopter.  The hotel was carved into the side of the mountain. 

 

This was the dining room our meeting was in.  Nice view!

 And then there is the view of Cap Haitian and off in the distance, the airport.

 On to Missionary Flights, Int’l. (MFI) and the airport.  If you have flown into Cap Haitian in the recent past, even up to 2 and 3 months ago… you would not believe the changes at the airport now.  We who work there have been going through “growing pains”.  It seemed the buildings changed on a daily basis.  We just never knew what to expect each day we arrived.  Last Thursday two of us were given an “unofficial” tour of our new building and were able to see the plans.  Supposedly by the end of this month we should be able to see a major GOOD change.  I’m not a real negative person, but we live in Haiti.  I told him, “I believe you, but…. We live in Haiti.”  So, I am praying they will prove my doubts wrong and that it will be great, very soon.  Keep praying for MFI, as they too, are experiencing “growing pains”.  With some staff leaving and others coming in, we need to keep them in prayer.  Yet, they continue to have faithful service for us, so we are praising the Lord for that!!

I will close with two scriptures that are holding us together right now….

Colossians 4: 2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

I Thess. 5: 16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances: for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Amen and blessing beyond measure!!!!

Having an interesting time.

Greetings to all…

Well, I can’t believe it keeps taking me so long to get in here and do a “catch-up”.  There has been a lot going on and simply finding time to sit down was a trial.  But I will try once again to catch you all up on what’s happening.  First, don’t take to heart when people tell you that with each year you get older, things slow down.  It just is not happening here.  

My time is still pretty occupied even though I thought it would slow down a bit after Savanah went home to her family.  I think it was just that I now had the time to do what I was supposed to be doing all along.  And believe me, it’s not that I’m doing any real physical work…it’s mostly on the computer and doing some things that I like.  The two additional things I took on are almost non-existent in the time realm.  The work (not really work) for Pam and her mission takes me just a few minutes a MONTH.  And with the orphanage at IDADEE, that’s maybe an hour or two a week.  So, not much increase there, either.  

I guess my real thoughts are down to the last couple of weeks here.  And yes, I still feel at times like I am still on that fast moving train, and my work to accomplish is outside zipping by.  I really do love what I am doing here in Haiti.  We have so many “family” and friends now.  But that fact still remains, I miss our family back home a whole lot.  At times I just have to remember we will have eternity with all of them, if their lives are tuned into the Lord.  For those who do not know Him, we pray consistently.  For those who do know and are walking with the Lord, we pray for Grace and guidance for them, daily.

I praise the Lord that my prayer time is becoming more and more important to me. I guess I do spend much more time in prayer than I did before, and my prayers are more concentrated on things that matter to the Lord.  But I can say that I feel a lot more ready to face each day, after that time with Him.

The couple who are former Haiti missionaries (Ron & Denise), after a 2 week visit have headed back to the states.  They have served in MANY different countries and we were so blessed to have them stay here with us. I know they were a huge blessing to so many while they were here.  They sure were for us, too!!  

Don is still working diligently on Vero’s place.  That along with trying to “fix” the things that seem to break down constantly here.  The frustration of constantly having to fix things to work on something is wearing on him a lot.  BUT, the Lord has seen that, and He sent a former missionary friend down to originally spend one week helping Don.  Oh man, he has done so much and helped Don so much, it’s a huge praise item.  And now it looks like we may have Bud a few more days than planned.  He is a good friend and such a hard worker!!!  And we are thrilled he can stay a few more days.  I fully believe that the Lord knows our every need and sends those to help us when needed.  And believe me, we are so thankful to Bud, and ALSO HIS WIFE, Jane, for letting him come.  

We had two gals scheduled to come in for a 5 day visit, 2 days after Bud came.  And they DID come.  But the MFI plane they were on ran into a bit of a problem.  Upon landing in Exuma for fuel on the way down, an unusual thing happened.  Just before touching down, a huge gust of wind hit the plane and it tipped sideways. The wing touched the ground.  From what we have heard, the pilot pulled it back up and gave it power and took off again, then made a circle and landed safely.  Another of our planes had to fly down from Fort Pierce and pick up the passengers and the cargo that was on it.  But it was a huge delay in time.  Our 10:15 AM flight landed just before 5 PM here.  

Then the next situation occurred.  Our outbound passengers could not go out.  Because of the delay and rerouting of the plane, our passengers had to wait until the next day to go out.  We ended up with our two gals who came in, plus 4 gals who were supposed to go out.  So the next morning, Vero and some of our workers went to the airport for that same plane to return with a team for another mission.  They were able to pick up our 9 passengers and complete their Haiti/Bahama’s run.  But then the next episode in the drama occurred.  About 60 miles from Fort Pierce, the pilots noticed the oil pressure on one of the engines was decreasing below the required limit. They then shut that engine down as per the aircraft flight manual. The problem was fixed that evening by replacing the faulty oil pressure sensor.  We praise the Lord that with our DC-3’s, the plane can fly and land with no problems, on one engine.  I do imagine it put a bit of a scare in the passengers, but it was a safe landing.  

The update on that scenario is that the first plane, with the wing damage, may take a bit longer to repair than thought.  But the one with the oil situation was fixed pretty quickly.  So, we are not without a plane.  Just down one plane for the next ??? days.  All of this to ask you, as our prayer warriors, to keep MFI lifted up and please do it often.  It seems the enemy is not pleased with them and is trying to stop the work.  But I did read the end of the Book….WE WIN!!  Just keep praying.

I'd like to refresh you all on some things about MFI and our pilots.  Each pilot is not only trained to fly the plane, they are also mechanics for our planes.  They KNOW when and how to take care of these great birds. 

It's amazing when pilots from other airlines (including American), stop and ask if they can see the plane.  My brother who was a pilot, and an air traffic controller, told me many times ... ask ANY pilot and they will tell you, flying a DC-3 is a dream for them.  And I have the privilege of talking with many of our passengers when they come and go.  I can't remember how many times I've heard, things like, "I feel so safe flying with MFI, the pilots and crew will answer any questions and they are so friendly."  and "this is so much better than a commercial plane, THEY PRAY BEFORE FLIGHTS!" (that is one comment I hear a LOT!").  But you know what I like?  Almost  all of those who fly with us are also some great people.  They are willing to give up their time and vacation, and come to serve the Haitian people.  So the whole scenario is all around great. 

We had one night of really hard, bad rains.  And yes, our roof leaked pretty well, again.  But even worse than that, the roads were again filled with not only a lot of dirt/mud, but with garbage coming down the mountain.  I will say they are trying to clean it up though.  It's just taking time.  And of course blocking the roads and causing havoc.  So prayer would be appreciated. 

Chris and Cathie, the gals that were here, helped to complete 10 food buckets for us.  And they delivered some of the 200 dresses and shorts they, and others, have made to give to those in need.  Then on Monday they took some buckets and more dresses and went to another area to help people out.  I praise the Lord that Vero has such a heart for her people and is more than happy to take people like these two gals, to bless others. 

Getting supplies purchased and ready for buckets, doing the extra amount of paperwork for MFI this last week, and cooking for unexpected company, has kept me pretty busy. But I’m glad I was able to get on here and let you know what’s happening in our lives.

Please, keep several things on your prayer list…. 

·       MFI and all of their work and workers.
·       The people coming to work with us and with the Haitians, for safely in all areas.
·       For Don, as he has to handle all of these unexpected “happenings” he has faced.
·       For me as I have to deal with things that pop up and are not in the daily realm of things.
·       And for God’s work, through the bucket ministry, through the visitors and through our ministry, to draw others to know and live for the Lord.

I am including some pictures that were taken while the gals were here.  I hope you enjoy them.

Thank you!!  For listening and for praying.  Thank you for being there for us, in all situations.  We covet your prayers and we also ask God to bless you abundantly.

In Him, Through Him, and For Him,

The photos...

This is some of the things that go into the buckets.  I tried to get a lot of that done before the gals came, to save some time.  

 These two pictures are of only a couple of the people to get buckets.  That woman with the one on her head is something else...those buckets weigh 26 pounds. 

 The kids were really happy to get the dresses.  And they looked so cute in them.

 

 

 This is a few of those who were blessed with getting dresses, skirts and shorts.

AGAIN, thank you for praying and we are praying the Lord will bless you abundantly!