Home and working

Greetings,

I’m back.  We’ve been watching the hurricanes in the Atlantic and have been tracking the paths.  No, at this point, we don’t think we’ll be hit.  But the course of all them seem to change quite a bit, all the time.  Actually, we have no fear.  It would not change the course of these storms.  We prepare, in case, but that is what anyone in or near these storms should be doing.  The storm to the north of us is headed toward the US, specifically the Carolina’s.  We have family and close friends in both of those states, so are praying for them and the situation.  The storm south of us may, according to predictions turn and hit part of Haiti.  So, we are praying for those of us here that could be affected.  For wisdom and strength, as for those in the north. Pray with us on these, please.

Back to our return and the trip to get here.  Again, it was hard to leave family and friends in Wisconsin.  But we knew we were headed back to where the Lord has placed us. In thinking of that, one of my devotionals for Monday was on “Where My Heart Belongs”.  We call Haiti home, and it is.  It referred to Eph. 2: 19-22.  And ended with, “God, help me to remember that I live my life on earth, but I belong in heaven. Amen.”  That made me smile, because heaven is where we will be with family and friends, together!!  Great thought, when we feel lonesome for family.

We were able to spend 1 week in Fort Pierce.  We stayed with our good friend, Belle.  Her husband, Paul, was in Haiti, so it was just us and Belle.  I treasure special times spent with her.  She is my closest prayer partner and a part of the intercessory prayer team.  Belle and I were able to make a quick trip to see my sister-in-law, Bev.  It was only for a day, but we really enjoyed our time with her.  Special family and friends together.  We also spent time that week getting things needed to take back to Haiti with us.  And during that week we were able to spend some fantastic time in Sunday school and church with wonderful teachers.  Love the input from that time!!

Somehow on the return flight from Wisconsin and the two stops before West Palm, I had either pulled a muscle or tendon in my knee.  No idea how or why.  But ended up using a cane a good friends supplied. (thanks Bud & Jeanette).  Our first week back in Haiti was a whirlwind.  Trying to get settled back in and catch up on 2 months of mail, cargo and some bills for here at home proved to be exhausting.  But it was accomplished.  

Saying we are back in the swing of things is a little short of what we’ve been doing.  The first week back I didn’t go to the airport…trying to let the knee heal up.  It has pretty much done that now.  But it also allowed time to do that catch-up business.  Don was kept busy in the garage trying to sort of get things in order there.  And now our Diahatsu truck is having major problems, so he’ll be spending some quality time on that.   

In the midst of our whirlwind, we were really blessed.  One of our former puppeteers, who now lives in Chicago, came for a visit.  What a joy to see and spend time with Emmaul.  He was our “go-fer” kid for years here and we consider him one of our own.

 I took on a new ministry this last weekend.  The Lord has really impressed me to help the children at the IDADEE orphanage learn some English.  I set out to do that.  Last Saturday morning Vero brought 5 of the kids here, for class.  I was under the assumption they knew no English, so had set up some basic words for them. These kids the committee picked are a trip.  They are so cute and so willing to learn.  But the first 8 things I started with THEY KNEW.  I said, “Wait, why am I teaching you when you already know English?”  One of the girls who works at IDADEE had started with them with a booklet which contained English, Creole and French.  The exact book I was using.   So, I quickly changed course that first day.  One of the booklets we put into the buckets we do is a coloring book for children on salvation.  With Abbie’s help (bless her willingness to assist me!) we started with that.  It’s a “Kolore M Konta” (Color me happy) coloring book.  So, we did the first three pages in that, with words and scriptures.  The kids really did enjoy that.  So, for now, that will be my text book for them.  We did a lot of laughing and having fun.  Two of the kids told Vero, “We really like this English class.”  I told Vero it was because I gave them Kool-aid and let them take a break and play with a huge ball.  But it was a success and we all had fun.  So, my new mission begins, along with all the others I have going.  

 

 From the left, up and around....Claude, Karen, Abbie, Walkenson, Ruth, Emmanuela and Dieulene. 

Yesterday, 9-11, MFI came in with a HUGE load of cargo.  We had 4,898 pounds of cargo to unload and distribute.  Toward the end, American airlines came in, so we were put off to the side, again.  And had to wait until they were all done, and then finish.  It was a long, hard day, but we made it.  Keep MFI in prayer.  Lots going on there and they can always use the help.  Check them out at www.MissionaryFlights.org.  You’ll enjoy seeing all they are doing for those of us on the field.

Through the rush and bustle we have been in, I keep coming back to the song, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”.  That really is what we are doing and must keep doing.  We look forward to the return of the Jesus, but until that time, we must keep doing what He directs, and praising Him in and through it all!!!  And I keep coming back to Psalms for the help.  Psalm 8: 1 “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.”  And Psalm 9: 1 & 2 “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart.  I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.  I will be glad and rejoice in you: I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.”  In those very hard and troublesome times we need to hang onto these verses.  

I pray your are walking the road with the Lord.  I pray He is guiding and directing you, as well.  In closing, please keep Haiti and the east coast of the US in prayer through these storms.  Keep us in prayer that will we continue to walk in His way and do His calling in the way to bring glory to Him.

We've been busy...

Greetings from the US, in Wisconsin!!

Well, we have been here for about 6 weeks now and have been busy and yet relaxing, too.  We have gotten to spend time with not only family here, but with friends.  It was a great time when we, along with our daughter, Christine and her son, Donny, drove north and spend a couple of days with some friends.  Don had not seen his friend, Louie, in almost 40 years.  And Louie gave Donny a real thrill twice while we were there.  Donny has Cerebral Palsy, and he was able to go on the 4 wheeler and help drive it.  Then on the pontoon and he was able to drive that, too.  We had such a good time.  And Don and Louie were able to spend some quality time catching up on the years apart. 

The photos show some of our fun with them.   Here is Donny driving and Louie holding on to help him.

  

Then, after we were out on the lake, he let Donny drive the pontoon, too.

 Shirley and I simply sat back and enjoyed out time catching up.

 On yet another day we headed to another town (Madison, WI) to go to the botanical gardens and butterfly enclosure.  That was a bigger family gathering there.... from left the right, Don, our friend and son's mother-in-law, Bernie, Gregory (grandson), Karen, Chris, (Christine's son), Dawn (Dale's wife), Dale and Donny.  Christine is missing, she took the photo.

The butterfly solarium was really great and we even had them land on us.  It was awesome to see just some of the butterflies they had displayed below.  So many are from South America and even Europe. 

 This is only one of about 9 display cases. 

 We also went to the zoo that day....Donny really loves the giraffes and they responded by coming right to him and putting their heads down near him.  The lions roared and even the penguins talked to us.

Yet another time, I helped Gregory get a display ready.  When he was in Haiti last spring, he decided he wanted to help promote our Bucket Ministry.  He did almost all the work himself.  He went out and bought everything (except Haitian printed material), bagged it and set it up.  This was the display he set up at our home church.  And the neat thing, it is directly below a painting done for the church, by a Haitian artist when a team had been down.  The church they worked with is a close friend of ours.  Gregory has been a tremendous help to us with this.

 On another day we went with family to a park in our county.  I remember as a teen spending a lot of time here swimming and walking on the "Swinging Bridge".
They now have a sign stating "do NOT swing bridge".  There have been many things added since I first spent time there.

 But we all had a good time anyway, watching the ducks, geese, and seeing the sights.  Donny simply loves going and doing anything with everyone.  And his mom is really great in that area....she loves taking not only him, but her other two places they enjoy.

 Dale and Dawn enjoy going and doing these types of things with their kids too.  Glad our family is like this!!

 Yes, we all went and Dale makes sure we get pictures to remember it all by.

For now, I'll have to close and get some work done here.  Don has been helping Christine with some repairs.  She is working so many hours it's hard for her to keep up with things.  This was a time we were able to step in and help just a bit for her.

We'll be back in Haiti the end of this month and then I'll do another update and share some new news with you.  The Lord has been with us this whole time here, and He has also been giving instructions on the future plans in Haiti.  Keep tuned in for more updates as they progress!!

Please keep us in prayer as we travel back to Haiti, but also in our ministry there.  And keep in mind  1 Thess. 5: 16-18  "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

This weeks blessings

Greetings,

This has been a week of some really neat things.  I am so praising the Lord for being with us in all situations and just wanted to share with you all how HE answers prayers and is always right there with us.

Last Sunday we didn't have a speaker at English church and I felt the Lord had me share something I had just read in a magazine by Dr. Mark Rutland.  It was on David, and his life BEFORE Goliath.  A very pointed story on "waiting on the Lord".  I was a bit hesitant but thought I'd do it anyway.  It went over well and I think touched some hearts on waiting on God to answer prayers instead of pushing ahead with what we felt the answer should be. 

On Tuesday, another rough day at the airport, with trying to get things accomplished between Spirit Air and American Airlines.  But we did it.  and then it was home to decorate the cakes for Pastor Paul and Miss Belle Romeus' party the next day.  I remembered why I do not decorate cakes in Haiti... .  But I did most of what I could do and then knew the rest would be when I took it to their home.  What a JOY and BLESSING it was to be there for them.  They celebrated their 45th anniversary, their house warming (for their new home) and Miss Belle's birthday....was that 29 yet again???  An added blessing was their daughter Picole and her daughter Claudia, were there from California to celebrate with them.  There were so many there to honor them and celebrate with them.  A LOT of pastors who they have helped through the years and a lot of close friends who honor and respect them.  And it was an honor to be a part of that!!!!  Here are Paul and Belle.  And the picture I had done for their anniversary and cake.

This is Claudia, Belle and Picole... great family!!

And then there is Belle and me...

On to today....  We have not gone out to see Cequer since his accident.  We felt very strongly that the Haitian community needed to be praying for him and seeing the Lord answer THEIR prayers.  We didn't want there to be that statement, "well, the white people came in and prayed and he was healed."  We wanted the Haitians to see that the Lord uses THEM to bring victory to this country.  And did HE ever!!!  We had a wonderful time with Cequer and shared our love and prayers of others with him as well.  The one down side to all of this was his mother.  She had come to help out and be with him through all of his struggles.  Then she fell and broke her arm in two places.  So, she is there with Cequer, in a cast.  Please keep her in prayer.  But I wanted to especially share with you, all of you who have been praying for him, that he is about 90% on the way to total healing!!!  Oh how we rejoiced with him.  We knew last weekend that a real breakthrough had occured, when he called us and asked who was doing all of our paperwork on the trucks.  That was his job and he was concerned about it.  And then today, sitting and sharing with him, we knew without a shadow of doubt that he has been an answer to prayers of SO MANY people.  What a joy and what a blessing it was.  And his mom, although in pain, was rejoicing with his healing as well.  Our miracle Cequer, happy and healthy!!

I have attached these few photos here, to let you share in our week.  But, I want to thank all of you who have kept Cequer in prayer and ask you to not let up.  He has metal attached to his ankle and will have to go back in 2+ months to have it removed.  But the outlook is 100% positive!!! 

Thank you all for keeping us and Cequer in prayer.  I haven't shared a lot of other things from this week but will do that in the near future.  Just wanted to share God's blessings for today!!!

Blessings for Haiti to you!!!

Catch up time

Catch up time again,

Does time ever slow down?  Nope it doesn’t but it sure seems to speed up once in a while.  Let’s see if I can explain that one to you.  I think the first thing that comes to mind is our leaky roof.  We’ve prayed and waited, and praise the Lord, the funds came in to replace it.  BUT… now we will have to wait until we return in August to get it done.  We have the roofing now, but the one person we would trust to do it, has a problem getting here before we leave.  A wise person made a statement, “There must be a reason, or the Lord would have had him here.”  And as strange as it sounds, I’m at peace with that.  I KNOW it will get done, and it will be finished when the Lord tells us to do it.  Our heavy rains seem to have stopped, and for some reason, these last storms have not caused problems in the house.  Could it be a “God-instance” and He plugged a few holes for the time being?  I’m fine with whatever He does. 

And our kiddo, Cequer.  We have not gone out to see him, and for a definite reason.  The Lord impressed on me not to, YET.  Vero and I talked about it and at first, I was a bit confused why I shouldn’t go.  But after our conversation, I have a very definite feeling both Vero and I know why.  The Lord impressed on both of us that we need to encourage the Haitian Christians, who totally believe in the Lord’s power to heal, to go out and pray with him.  And after talking to several strong Haitian pastors, I know what we felt is true.  People in this country have seen the power of voudou.  But they have rarely seen the power of the Lord manifested.  Oh, they have seen foreigners come in and talk and preach on God’s power but haven’t seen much of it.  We need those who are walking in tune with the Lord to go and pray and for others to see God using Haitians to step in and use the power the Lord has given us, to pray for and receive answers to those prayers.  And it has been exciting to see those pastors and other believers do exactly that. The first breakthrough was over a week ago.  Our Abbie, who is a strong believer in God’s power at the age of 13, went out to see Cequer for the first time last Sunday.  She has been praying fervently for him.  When she got there, Cequer recognized her…the first person he has recognized.  (I have been told this by quite a few who are there with him).  He is now recognizing more and more people.  He is walking with crutches.  He is up and eating.  He is progressing, and it IS THE LORD!!  Very few believed he would even survive after the horrific accident and all the injuries to his head and leg.  But we serve an awesome, miracle working God, who has stepped in and is answering all those prayers.  We will now go out and see him in the next day or so. The community has seen God working through His Haitian believers and that is awesome, too.  Isn’t God amazing?  Keep praying for Cequer.  We need him back with us, working at the airport and at our home and being the lighthearted kid he was before.  I know ten days ago he celebrated his 44^th birthday, but he’s still a “kid” to us!!

Abbie is really an inspiration to us.  She is showing her upbringing by her mother, for sure.  Her 13^th birthday was just 2 days ago, but her wisdom where the Bible is concerned is amazing.  And her mom has instilled in her a love for reading and learning.  When she comes home from school and has either an A- or a B+ on a test, she is upset.  Like all kids she went through a VERY SHORT period of rebellion where school was concerned.  But she overcame that and is an excellent student and her love for learning is awesome.  Ask her “study buddy”, grandma.  Grandma is learning things she never knew before, too.  (And here I thought I was too old for that!!)

Vero and her ministry keeps growing.  Our concern is that she will overextend herself and wear out.  Her problem with her legs is still there, but not as bad as it was, thankfully.  She just doesn’t let that slow her down at all.  Her list goes on and on…she works with the IDADEE orphanage, she is a worker for MFI at the airport, in charge of the container, she (and others) do a lot of evangelism work, they have a ministry teaching adults to read and write, they have services for kids out in the country in a high voudou area, they are teaching young girls who are pregnant, basic schooling, since they can’t attend regular school.  Some of these girls are 12 and 13 years old!  All of this out in the area where they are dealing with a strong presence of satanic worship.  But they are making a huge impact.  On top of that, she comes home and does dishes and cleans… against our wishes.  We started calling her our resident restovec (Creole for slave)…she gets upset and says, “NO, I like doing this!!”  

I’m still enjoying working with MFI (but don’t tell them that), and with the IDADEE orphanage, and with a few other ministries and individuals.  Don is working on trying to finish up the bathroom in Vero’s place.  There is nothing simple here, one small job can take ages, since things keep going wrong, or you have to fix one thing to fix another.  The list goes on and on.  And we are hoping to get another delivery of buckets out before we take our trip to the states.  There are people constantly at the door needing help, especially now that school is about to end, and they have to pay to take the tests here.  And of course, medical bills that people have a hard time coming up with the money for.  And medicine, too.  But that is why we are here, to help alleviate some of those problems.  Keep us in prayer as we try to keep on keeping on through all of this.

I’m enjoying working with English Bible Fellowship.  I’m leading service today and we’ll be focusing on the word “FEAR” in the Bible.  Many Haitians have no concept that fearing the Lord is NOT to be afraid of Him, but to revere and honor Him.  So it will be a very short topic, but a needed one.  It’s been a joy to see so many Haitians in our service.  And when they don’t understand a word, they are willing to ask, knowing we’ll do our best to help them.  It’s opening up the Bible and it’s meaning to a lot of them.  Please keep it in prayer.  Our committee is doing a great job.

Must close for now but remember to keep both Haiti and the US governments in prayer.  Last week one of the verses I shared at English church was 2 Chronicles 7: 14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  We need to keep the governments and all the leaders in prayer, that the Lord will work in and through them.

Until next time, blessings beyond measure to you and yours, and keep your eyes on the Lord ~~~ HE IS COMING SOON!!!