Sunday, December 28, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for all the prayers, phone calls, and emails this week! It was my first Christmas away from home, and it went surprisingly well. I have you all to thank for that, as well as my community of new friends and neighbors here in Haiti. Although it’s only December 28, I feel like Christmas was a long time ago because so much has happened, and I’m out of my normal routine.

Monday after work, Sheila and I hosted an impromptu tea party in our living room. It was raining and chilly, and Karen Martin stopped to say good-bye before leaving for a trip to Florida. A little chatting turned into a lovely tea party when the Gutweins came over with Christmas cookies (yum!). We brewed some tea and cappuccino and had ourselves a festive time. Monday evening, Rob and Debbie Wray hosted the Renault youth team at the missionary school. It was their way of saying thank you to all the faithful Haitian youth leaders that cook, teach, or assist with the Renault program. They very kindly invited me to attend, so I joined them for supper. It was great to see everyone dressed in their finest, and it looked like everyone had an excellent time.

Christmas Eve, Sheila cooked me a delicious dinner. She grilled steaks, baked potatoes, and tossed a salad. We ate out on our porch to the glow of our Christmas trees. After dinner, we opened the presents that people had sent for us. Thanks to my family, Liz, Leah, Sheri, Bekah, and Sheila, I had a lovely stack of gifts to open. I received Skip-Bo, Uno, a very hard looking puzzle, the first season of Scrubs, a Beatles CD, a homemade washcloth, mints, gum, cappuccino, a nail kit, cute paper clips, an iTunes gift card and many books. They know me so well! Plus, Sophie sent me these amazing Lindt white chocolates, which I can’t seem to stop eating.

Christmas Day, Sheila and I spent a good chunk of the morning preparing potato casseroles for our 2:00 lunch with the other missionaries. Christmas was held on the Gutwein porch, and it was lovely! I had a great conversation with the Wrays, the Gutweins, and the Vroomans. The younger girls left around four to pick up a team at the Les Cayes airport. I know – who flies on Christmas Day? As it turns out, tickets were a bit cheaper if you flew ON Christmas rather than any other day around it. I spent the evening catching up on news from Bluffton, as one of the team members (Shane Shaw) is from my hometown. Shane mentioned that he’d like to do some hiking while in the country. Unfortunately, God had other plans.

Friday, I came home from work to hear that there had been an accident. Shane and Rod had been unloading a Harvest semi during the day using a Bobcat and a forklift. Shane was driving the forklift home when the edge of the road crumbled and the forklift rolled off the cliff. Shane had almost jumped clear, but his foot was caught under the lift and badly bruised. Praise God, his foot was the only thing injured and the forklift didn’t continue to roll. His X-rays showed that nothing was broken (confirmed by doctors in the States), but you should see his foot! Wow. Enjoy the pictures, but only if you can handle that sort of thing. We found him some crutches and good movies for the duration, but he won’t be on a roof anytime soon. Please pray that he continues to heal.

Saturday was a great day! Bethany, Gabriel, Hanna, Tess, Alisha, Joel, Sheila, Val, and I all headed to Port Salut for a day for fun and sun. We had both! It was so relaxing to read one of my new Christmas books on the beach, eat a lobster lunch at the little restaurant there, and nap under my straw hat. Perfect! That evening, I watched Team Gutwein/Wray/Reinhard trounce a Haitian volleyball team with an amazing amount of skill. It was really fun to watch Joan, Debbie, Tess, Alisha, Kara, and Kristi (one of the older Wray girls home for Christmas – Val is on the injured list) play. They are good. Now me, I’m afraid of all sports that involve flying balls. I played one year of softball when I was much, much younger, and I was placed in deep right field....deep right. I picked dandelions and watch for caterpillars. Sometimes, a bird would fly over and I’d duck. In fact, I had front row seat during the volleyball game and I thought that was bit too close. When those girls spike that volleyball, they mean business. They won, of course. The championships are tomorrow night.

Today at Renault, a team of child evangelists came to present the full Gospel message. It was completely incredible. The children all paid attention, followed the stories, and seemed interested in the Word. They all receive a colorful book that explained who Jesus is and what He’s done for them in Creole. It began where all stories should...at the beginning. It presented Genesis in about three pages and some key points from the Old Testament in about three more. The rest focused on Jesus, His birth, life, message, death, and resurrection. I was so impressed how the children followed along on each page and seemed truly attentive. Debbie had packed over 700 plates and spoons, but we didn’t have enough and had to reuse them after we fed the girls – not something you’d even think about doing in the States, but no problem here. You just make do. Each child left with the Gospel message in their hands, having heard the full plan of salvation. We saw a parent or two reading the little books as we drove out of Renault. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will continue His work in these young hearts, for we know that God’s Word will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11).

After Renault, I met the Gutweins, Reinhards, and the rest of the gang for lunch at the Nami (chicken show mien – yum!). Even Shane was able to come to lunch on his crutches with his foot and ankle wrapped. A group of them headed to Rainbow beach this afternoon, but I was more inclined toward some chocolate, a shower, and a nap...in that order. I’m looking forward to playing some games tonight, writing thank you notes, and preparing for the week ahead, although this is another short week for me at work. Here, New Years Day is a far bigger holiday than Christmas, so I’m off work on Thursday and Friday. We’ll see what adventures I can plan for those days...

I hope you all enjoy this blog, but even if I’m the only person actually reading it, this has been an excellent way for me to record and remember my time in Haiti, however long it lasts. Someday, I’ll be able to look back on all these entries and pictures and reminiscence about my time here with clarity. I’ll say to my children, “Here was the first Christmas I spent away from my family. Oh, here’s the waterfall I jumped off of. And here’s the coconut that cracked my skull open and put me in the Cite Lumiere hospital for three weeks...” You know, all the adventures that come from living and working on a tropical island.

In any case, thanks for all the support this week. I’m looking forward to starting 2009, and I pray that God will bless you all with a year filled with thrilling adventures, amazing love, fulfilling work, and good relationships in Christ Jesus. May we all work to glorify His name, wherever we are and in everything we do. Much love!

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55: 10 and 11

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Dec20083?feat=directlink

Abby

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Waterfalls and Work

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas! I say that with a little shake of my head because it certainly doesn’t feel like Christmas down here. I’m wearing shorts and a T-shirt and sweating as I type this new blog entry. I can look out my window and see the palm trees sway. There are no Christmas advertisements, no last minute sales, no snow, no ice, and no large inflatable Christmas scenes on anybody’s lawn. However, the spirit of Christmas is here, and I just came back from a beautiful Christmas concert and plugged in my new Christmas tree. I can see the gifts just waiting there for Christmas Day. But more than that, the spirit of Christmas was fully alive at Renault today. The Wray’s home church blessed them with goodie bags for each child, 700+ today. They made some very poor children very happy. Even more, today was the first day that the rice and beans were served with meat sauce, courtesy of our own World Relief organization. Each little plate had a nice scoop of turkey meat placed on top. The children really enjoyed it, as protein is hard to come by in Haiti.

This week has been work, work, work. Last week, I mentioned that Rob Lehman was here as my terrific techie for Childcare. He is now the techie tyrant. Seriously, he barely let me eat during the day. (I hope Rob is reading this as all my slanderous words are directly for his benefit.) I barely have any pictures from the first part of the week because I was glued to my desk for days. I’m only kidding, of course! It was wonderful to have Rob here. He left on Thursday morning, and I celebrated by taking the day off and going to an amazing waterfall.

This waterfall, Saut Matherine, is a couple of hours away, and some of the team and I rode on the roof of the truck all the way there and back. The views were majestic. The waterfall itself was beautiful, but the water was COLD. We swam for a while, but the big thing to do at this particular waterfall was jump. I’ll admit I was peer pressured into jumping once. I was seriously scared. Leaping off large rock formations into an icy cold stream is not the most appealing thing to me, but I wanted to be able to say I had done it once. Of course, Justin Grube went all the way to the top, a 60-foot drop. Check out the pictures.

After the waterfall, we took a short tour (courtesy of Johannes, our resident historian) of an old French plantation. It was fascinating to look at the 200-year-old ruins, see the space where the huge waterwheels turned, and visualize the plantation at its full glory. After the ruins, we rushed home to get ready for the Christmas program at the missionary school. The children did a wonderful job! They recited poems, sang songs, and performed an amazing play, directed by our own Tess Gutwein. Not only did she directed the play, but she wrote the adaptation from a book called Jotham’s Journey AND pulled together the stage, set, and costumes. Tess is a very talented lady!

Friday, I tried to organize all the work that Rob had left me :) and went to Bible Club. Saturday was kind of a low-key day for me. I took a long walk, did devotions, and read in the afternoon. Then, I baby-sat for Joel and Brett so the Gutweins could compete in a volleyball tournament, which they won. Today, I went to Renault and then the Christmas concert. After that, I took in a little volleyball in Simon. I just finished Prince Caspian (thanks Aunt Kris!) over at the Gutwein’s place.

I want to thank all of you who have sent Christmas greetings and prayers. I decided on Saturday to stop being homesick...period. That’s a bold decision for me to make considering that Christmas is this week, but I know that God will give me His peace and comfort this holiday season away from my family. I will miss you all, of course, and be thinking about you, but I’m going to choose to be content with these circumstances. God is still God. He is good and faithful, and I trust Him to provide for my every need as He did by giving us the greatest Christmas gift of all...chocolate. Kidding! I just wanted to see if you were paying attention. Jesus, of course! May God bless each of you during this Christmas season. Much, much love to you all!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Dec20082?feat=directlink

In His service,
Abby

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Bluffton Work Team 2008

The Bluffton work team pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/BlufftonWorkteam

The days before and after the team:
http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Dec20081


Dear Family and Friends,

It was amazing to have some of my family here from Bluffton last week! I’ve only cried twice since they left – not too shabby. Let me start at the beginning:

Nearly two weeks ago, I traveled with Marie Lucie and Jean to the school at Masse. We had planned to visit two other schools in the area to take pictures, look over the accounting books, and speak with the administrators. Unfortunately, our trip started out with a flat tire. After changing the tire and finishing our tour of Masse, the administrator noted that one of her students was ill and lived up a steep incline down the road. So, being the responsible people that we are, we hiked up that incline to visit the student and her family. When I say incline, I don’t mean Indiana incline, I mean Haitian incline. I was holding onto branches and shrubs to help pull me up, but Marie Lucie did the whole hike in a dress and heels. I stand in awe of her daily. We attempted to take the truck to the next school but simply couldn’t make it over a slippery rock incline on the road. After our fourth attempt and a lot of what we thought were unanswered prayers, we simply gave up. As we turned around, a villager came up to us and said, “It’s a good thing you didn’t make it over that hill. There is one that is even worse on the other side and you would have got stuck for sure.” So, God knows exactly what we need even when we are asking for something else!

Friday, the Bluffton team arrived! I finally got to hug my aunts, Kris and Jean, my cousin Rachel, and my uncle Ted. It was such a fun group; I was super thankful they let me tag along. We left for our first village, Dicis, on Saturday morning. The men got right to work building rafters for the roofing project for the school, and the women learned how to build school desks combined with benches. It’s really an ingenious design! We always had a large audience of Haitian kids to handle quality control. We finished putting the desks together on Saturday. Sunday, we started our day with three hours of Haitian church, which involved special musical numbers. Sunday afternoon, we went visiting around the neighborhood with the Pastor of the Dicis church. I felt like that was a sobering and inspirational time as we prayed and sang with those who were sick, sad, or lonely. Monday, we ladies painted the benches, the men finished the roof, and we headed back to the compound to repack and rejuvenate.

Tuesday morning, we helped out by organizing bolts for the next team. Well, the girls helped. I spent most of my morning chatting with family and eating the homemade Thanksgiving cookies (shaped like turkeys and pumpkins) my Mom had sent along with my aunt. Thanks Mom! We left for Aquin on Tuesday afternoon. It’s a beautiful drive, and Justin, Tess, Wendy, Rachel, and Videl (one of the Haitian workers) rode on the back of the lumber truck. It was a great ride! Aquin is a large church with an active school. We only did five new benches there, but we fixed several other damaged desks. The Pastor had asked the group to replace some of the tin on the church roof, and that roof was high! It made me very nervous to watch the men leap like little gazelles from roof to roof. It makes my feet sweat just to think about it. Thankfully, God protected us from any major injuries (although I know how to suture a wound now and was looking for any opportunity to do so!).

Wednesday morning, we were awakened at 5:20 AM by the Haitian church members singing Nearer My God to Thee. It was an amazing way to start the day. We finished the desks and roof and left that afternoon. Aquin is very close to the ocean and a super nice beach, so we stopped to cool off and enjoy the waves. It was a blast! Thursday was tour day. We visited the Childcare office, the Cite Lumiere Mission Clinic and Hospital, Azil Dorcus (the nursing home), the Domestic Center, the IRD trade school, the LSM group home in Torbeck, and the market in Cayes. After a long, interesting day, we had supper at the Nami with the whole group.

Friday morning, we drove eight of the group to the airport. (Ted, Justin, Leon, and Mary Kay are staying for an additional week.) I had to cry a little bit when I got home, but I couldn’t wallow very long because our second sea container came late on Thursday night and needed unloaded Friday morning. I finally got my pots for my philodendra starts, scale, laptop speakers, etc. To my utter delight and surprise, Liz (Richardson) and Leah (Baumgartner), my cousins and Ted’s daughters, sent me a Christmas tree complete with boxes of gold, silver, and red bulbs and white lights!! I spent all morning Friday putting up my new Christmas tree and arranging packages under it. That’s right – they sent me presents, too!! Wrapped presents for Christmas and a whole box of goodies that I’ve already dug into. They know me SO well. There were books ( I LOVE to read), yarn (for knitting and crocheting), and crafting materials like sun catchers, fresh, sharp crayons, coloring books and stickers, little Post-Its, Silly Putty, and a Play-Doh picnic basket set. They packed me lotion (Bodycology in vanilla butter cream – yum!), puzzles, baby powder, little travel sized rolls of Charmin (super handy), Germ-X, Love’s Enduring Promise and The Gospel of John on DVD, a soccer ball, and Clorox disinfecting wipes. And food...oh, the food! Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Crystal Light, English Toffee and French Vanilla cappuccino, cans of Pringles, summer sausage, Jolly Ranchers, Twizzlers, Gummy Bears, Maple Nut Goodies (I used to think there were really maple nuts until my Dad set me straight, but they are still my favorites), an assortment of flavored coffees (hazelnut cream and caramel truffle – yum!), packages of Paydays, cake mixes, herbal teas, and great variety of easy to make mixes like blueberry muffins, brownies, and PB and chocolate chips cookies. Liz and Leah – THANK YOU!! Your thoughtful, generous, totally overwhelming gifts made Friday bearable, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Friday afternoon, a Caribbean Committee support team flew in with my terrific techie, Rob Lehman, aboard. We spent Friday afternoon just chatting and Saturday having different meetings and such. Sunday, we went to a small church toward Port Salut and worshipped there together. Lunch was at the Nami. Then, we took a scenic drive to Tet Simon. We were only there a few minutes when Jan arrived on the Ranger heading toward the new LSM home in Fond Frede. Five little girls had spent their first night there on Saturday, and we wanted to check on their welfare and see the home. They are precious little girls! Seriously, don’t visit unless you want to leave a piece of your heart there in Fond Frede. I know I did.

Sunday night, the Gutweins hosted an amazing Christmas singing around a bonfire they built in the front yard. They popped popcorn the old-fashioned way – with a huge kettle over the fire stirred with a paddle. It felt a little weird to be wearing shorts and a T-shirt, covered in bug spray, and sweating from the heat while singing Christmas carols. Just about everyone was there, and I got some great pictures from the roof of our house.

Whew! That brings you all up to date. It’s been busy and crazy and great! Thanks to the whole Bluffton team for a fabulous time, my Mom and sisters for sending cookies and cards, my aunts for their wisdom and support (and Prince Caspian), Liz and Leah for the amazing Christmas tree and box of joy, the Reinhards and Gutweins for being such terrific hosts and neighbors, and the many, many others that continue to uplift all the missionaries of Haiti and others around the world in prayer and in action. May God bless your dedication to His glory!!

Much love,
Abby

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving! You know what’s shocking to me? Tomorrow is December 1st. How crazy is that? Sometimes I feel like the days are really long here and a week just crawls by. Then, all of a sudden, it’s December! I hope you all had a festive and blessed holiday. We sure did! But, let me start at the beginning of the week.

Tuesday, Sheila and I hosted ladies tea. We had a wonderful turnout, and Sheila made peanut butter popcorn, my new favorite thing. (It’s peanut butter. It’s popcorn. How can you go wrong?) We had cherry crisp and fresh pumpkin bread. The little kids did a fantastic job on our sidewalk with colored chalk. We had the brightest artwork anywhere in Cite Lumiere for while! On my way to work Wednesday, I hear this little voice calling me. “Abby... Abby... can you see me?” At first I thought those pesky voices in my head were back, but I soon realized that it was Bethany calling me. She was on the highest branch of one of the tallest trees in their yard. I got a great picture of her poking her head out of the very tippy-top. Now, I’m usually functioning at a pretty high level at eight in the morning, but I’m nowhere near climbing a massive tree. Those Reinhard girls astound me all the time with their energy! I feel very old and slow next to them.

Wednesday, everyone was preparing for the holiday Thursday. Our hymns and worship songs revolved around Thanksgiving, gratefulness to God, and praise for His blessings. Jan and Tess sang a special selection. It was inspiring, as was the actual lesson on the end times by Johannes. He was finishing up the topic from two weeks ago. His teaching really impressed upon me the need to hide Scripture in my heart to avoid deception. Being rooted and grounded in the Word, knowing the Truth and being able to recall it during trials or temptations, is the key weaponry to fight the deception of Satan. I’ve been carrying that lesson with me all week. It has motivated me to renew my Scripture memorization program.

Because Thursday was a holiday, I didn’t have to work. I spent the morning preparing my contribution to the Thanksgiving Day feast while I listened to the Bluffton Country service on the phone. It was such a pleasant day to bake in the kitchen while listening to voices from home. I felt truly blessed and so thankful. (I was also very grateful that my eggnog pound cake turned out beautifully. I made chocolate chip cookies just in case my new experiment got stuck in the pan! It’s always good to have a back-up.) Sheila made pumpkin cheesecake (yum) and corn. The afternoon was fantastic! We had a spread that would rival any Apostolic gathering. I ate way too much, talked even more than that, and generally enjoyed the time with my new community. We were blessed to have Ed Schwartz and Rich Pfister with us from LSM. Rich, his wife Amber, and their 4 (soon-to-be 5) children, are moving to Haiti in March, Lord willing. The three youngest Reinhard children, Hanna, Gabriel, and Faith, dressed up as Indians. Gabriel’s ensemble was authenticated with a genuine mohawk. Joan was giving haircuts earlier in the week when the girls said, “Hey, just leave him a mohawk for Thanksgiving, and he can be an Indian.” So, Gabriel looked like bona fide native!

Friday was a super busy day for me. I played catch-up at work doing a bank reconciliation, a new zone school map including districts, and a spreadsheet for employee data. That kept me busy all morning. Then, it was off to my second session of Bible club with Beth at the Torbeck church. I was impressed that so many children turned in their homework on Acts 1. The lesson this week was about Jesus walking on water and Peter’s faith. We are following the life of Peter and using Acts as their homework and Scripture verse of the week. The kids played Zonk again, and everyone received a little bag of candy. We made 140 bags, and I think we had about 30 left. So, 110 kids came to Bible club this week!! I can’t say that I contribute a lot to Bible club. I don’t have the right vocabulary to help teach, and we already have four or five very competent Haitian teachers who are involved in child evangelism. Their hearts are so burdened for the youth of Haiti. Next time, I’ll get a picture of the Bible club teachers, Robinson, Vionel, and Ramón. I’m more helpful for crowd control, but I’m trying to get involved wherever the Lord gives me opportunity to connect with the Haitian youth.

Friday night, I raced home from Bible club because Marie Lucie had invited me to her house for supper, along with Ed, Sheila, Johannes and Luisa. (Rich went with Jan and Tim into Port on Friday to register three vehicles, so he missed out!) Chavannes was home from his recent trip to the States, so I finally got to meet him and see their house. It was my second feast in as many days! I gave my camera to one of Chavannes’ bodyguards and asked if he would mind taking a few pictures of us all for my blog. This guy took my request very seriously – he was like the paparazzi! In any case, I had quite a few photos to choose from for this week’s selection. One more thing – I wish I had gotten a picture of this guy’s arms. I know Chavannes’ men don’t carry weapons, but I doubt anyone would have messed with this guy anyway. Wow. We had a great time with plenty of interesting stories from Johannes and Luisa. Chavannes filled us in on the government, and their recent attempts to expand micro enterprises throughout Haiti using a co-op of local businesswomen in each district. It was a fascinating night.

Saturday was very low-key for me. I spent the morning on a long walk, paying bills, doing dishes, and reading. I had a great conversation with the Gutwein women, and we were joined by Jenn Rogan. She’s leaving on Monday to return to the States to do additional fundraising. Jenn was the hospitality manager at the RMI Guesthouse. Saturday night, Tess, Alisha, and I watched Roman Holiday (classic!). Ahhh...Gregory Peck...

Sunday, Rich and I went to Renault with the Wrays. It was WILD! It was raining, and the mud was atrocious. The Wrays very recently purchased the land they were using for their Sunday school and started construction this week on a permanent building to act as a church/school. All the rain, the construction, and the 500+ children that showed up for Sunday school mixed together to create this chaotic concoction, all covered in Haitian mud! It was great!! It gave me a taste of what the Wrays went through while starting this program without an enclosure, gate, or organized Haitian leadership. Crazy!! God has certainly blessed their commitment and obedience to His call.

After Renault, Rich and I got cleaned up (which took some time, let me tell you!) and met the Reinhards, the Gutweins, and a medical team at the Nami for lunch. It was a great way to start the afternoon. Tonight, I need to do my Creole homework. I’ve been procrastinating all weekend. (Bad Creole student. Bad!) Then, I’ll prep for another week in Haiti. It’s amazing how time moves. On minute, I feel like the day will never end, and the next, it’s Sunday night again, and I’m writing this blog about the week that has just passed. Friday, the work team from Bluffton will be arriving, and I can’t wait!! Please pray for our safety, that we can glorify God through this work, and embody the love of Jesus in action, as we head out into the villages next Saturday.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Nov20085

Much love to you all! Abby

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A Haitian Holiday

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s been a busy week here in Haiti, but I would much rather be busy than bored!

On Monday night, I joined the Gutweins and the well-drilling team for a little music and popcorn on their porch. Derek had found a baby bird, and we took turns holding it. I thought the tiny guy was awfully cute until he had a little accident on my napkin. After that, he was promptly returned to Derek’s diligent care. With three skilled guitar players, we had some very nice musical accompaniment to our hymns and praise songs. The Gutwein's porch is the perfect place to entertain a large crowd. They have comfortable air chairs and the breeze seems to flow right through their veranda. It’s a very pleasant place to pass an evening with new friends.

Tuesday was an adventure! It was a holiday here in Haiti, a remembrance of the last battle for Haitian independence from the French. The Childcare office was closed for the day, so I decided that I would take my 4-wheeler (quad) to Port Salute for some beach time. Port Salute is about 40 minutes away and I’d never taken my quad so far, but I wanted to try. The road is good all the way there, and I’ve been feeling more and more comfortable with the flow of traffic and the lack of road rules. Tess and Alisha decided to join me. Tess was going to take her motorcycle, but after dragging it around the compound behind my quad for 20 minutes, the engine still wouldn’t stay running. So, Tess hopped on my quad and Alisha took her smaller dirt bike, and off we went!

We made it about 15 minutes from home when we hear this gunshot pop. Alisha’s tire had blown out, but thankfully, she was able to control the bike and bring it to a stop safely. We called Jan to the rescue, and like the white knight he is, he came and picked up Alisha and the bike. We thought after all the engine troubles and tire issues, maybe we weren’t meant to go to Port Salute. But, it was a holiday and we really wanted to go to the beach, so we took off again, barreling toward our destination. When we got there, the beach was beautiful, and we had a great time in the sun and an awesome lunch Then...it was time to head back. We were making our way up a mountain when I went to downshift, and something went terribly wrong. I still don’t know what I did, but man...that engine sounded terrible! We had the pedal to the medal and we were barely moving. Our pride was a little wounded as we were being passed by bicycles! We made it as far as the LSM home in Torbeck where Joan, praise God, picked us up and got us home. So, the beach was great. It was just the getting there and back that was the problem.

On Friday after work, I went to the first Bible club of the season with Beth Newton at the Torbeck church. They had the biggest turnout in Bible club history, nearly 130 children. It was a blast! The lesson was on the miraculous catch of fish. We sang and played a game called Zonk. The kids loved it! It was girls against boys, and they had to answer questions about the lesson in order to draw points from a bag. They could draw as long as they wanted, but if you drew a Zonk card, you lost all your points. It was a great way to review and have a fun doing it. Of course, the girls won.

Friday night, I had a slumber party at my house for the older girls on the compound. We had an amazing array of food – Special K bars, little sausage sandwiches, cream cheese puffs, peanut M&Ms, sugar cookies, and homemade bread sticks with pizza sauce! Kara Wray taught us to crotchet hats. Mine turned out really well, although I don’t know that I’ll have an occasion to wear it here in Haiti. I prefer to let my body heat out down here, not contain it with a woolen hat! But, I will wear it when I get home. We watched movies and talked about all things girly. They stayed until about 10 the next morning. I spent the rest of my Saturday reading and putting my house back together. Saturday night, I had another great evening with the Gutwein women, as the men had left to explore and dominate the island of Ilavach.

Today, the Reinhards and Beth went to pick up Sheila from the village where she’d been studying Creole. The road to get there is pretty bad, and I wasn’t feeling up to be shaken around for four hours today. I listened to the Bluffton Country service and joined the Gutweins for lunch. Sheila made it back safe and sound with some great stories to tell and a better understanding of the language.

At Childcare, we've been working on getting all the children's Christmas letters ready for mailing in the States. I've been spending a lot of time on correspondence and bank statements. I made peanut butter cookies for the Pastors this week, and that was a big hit. I might have to bring something every week now that I'm enjoying baking so much. I'm sure the Pastors wouldn't mind eating my extras!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Nov20084

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone of you! Enjoy your holiday, and please know that I am thankful to all of you who read this blog, pray, care, love and remember me in Haiti. May God richly bless you.

Abby

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Beach Bananas

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s SO nice to have my neighbors back! This week, the Gutweins returned to Haiti on Wednesday morning after their two-month furlough in the States. They were supposed to return on Tuesday afternoon, but it was storming and the little Tortug’ plane couldn’t land in Cayes. They were all pretty shaken up when they finally got back to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday night, but they all arrived safely on Wednesday morning, praise God! Until then, this part of my little world had been quiet. With Sheila out in the village studying Creole and everyone gearing up for work team season, I’ve had some very enjoyable rest and rejuvenation. That’s all well and good for a while, but thankfully with the Gutwein’s return, things have livened up considerably!

Wednesday evening, Johannes talked about the end times; the key theme was deception. I so enjoy Wednesday night church here. There’s a great variety of topical presentations, thematic videos, speakers, prayer time, singing, and preaching. It’s always a time of reflection and encouragement. Before I left for church, I tried my hand at banana bread. I tend to buy bananas that I don’t really need from a deaf, pregnant banana merchant that comes to my door, but I hate to see them go to waste. It turned out really well, if I do say so myself. I was so cheered by my successful baking venture, that I tried a potato and ham casserole on Thursday to use up the rest of my potatoes, onions, ham, and cheese that were languishing sadly in my refrigerator.

Those of you who know me well will realize what a huge, domesticated step this is for me. I tend to mess up when cooking, even if I follow a recipe to the letter. For example, I once attempted to make monkey bread. It doesn’t take a genius to cut apart those little Pillsbury biscuits and roll them in sugar and cinnamon, but I didn’t realize that you needed to bake them in TWO round pans or one loaf pan. I put them ALL in one round pan. Needless to say...disaster. The ones in the middle were a totally uncooked doughy mess, the ones on the outside were burnt black and charred, and the caramel sauce bubbled over into the oven and proceeded to start small fires and smoke me out of the kitchen...and that’s where I’ve stayed. I thought it the wisest (and safest) option for all.

Friday, I finished with work around noon and went for a nice hike. There are a couple good-sized hills around our compound and after a couple laps on those, I certainly start to feel the burn. I enjoyed an evening of watching Anne of Green Gables with Brett Gutwein, as the others went to visit friends and catch-up on the past two months. I think he enjoyed the movie. I mean, who doesn’t love Anne (with an “e”), right?

Saturday, I cleaned my room (the dust is crazy here), did an interesting devotion with Tess, took a long walk (not on the hills), enjoyed the tree house with Mark and Derrick, checked my garden, collected some starts of philodendra, and watched the Anne of Green Gables sequel. How’s that for variety and fun?!

Today, I went to Renault again with the Wray family. I didn’t take a single picture this time. I just wanted to enjoy the experience. Rod thought that they had the most children today that they’ve ever had – probably 600+! It’s an amazing site to see. After Renault, I hopped on my 4-wheeler with Joan and drove into town to meet the rest of the Reinhards, the Gutweins, and a well drilling team at the Nami Restaurant. We had a delicious lunch! Then, Jan took the team to Port Salut, so I got some wonderful beach time this afternoon. It’s been a really great day!

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement. I’m starting to get super excited for the Bluffton team to come down in December. It will be so nice to see familiar faces, family, and friends. The mere anticipation of their arrival will keep me uplifted through the rest of November!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Nov20083

In Christian love,
Abby

Sunday, November 9, 2008

How Time Flies

Dear Family and Friends,

I can’t believe another week has passed so quickly. Let me give you some of the highlights of my week here in Haiti.

Last Sunday night, after I posted my blog, Joan and Tim hosted a singing and prayer time on the Gutwein’s porch. We prayed specifically for the Presidential election in the States and the country of Haiti. Haitians are very interested in what happens politically in the U.S. because the leadership of the country generally affects any international aid programs, of which Haiti is often a beneficiary. On Tuesday, I found myself working alone in the office with Marie Lucie. I said, “Hey, where did all the Pastors go?” Marie Lucie said, “They’re listening to the election coverage outside!”

Monday night, I said goodbye to a new friend. Christina (aka Tina) moved back to Germany after a year of service in Haiti for the Cite Lumiere Domestic Center. I will miss her, but I know God will continue His work through her wherever she is; her passion for the oppressed people of this world is inspirational, as is her smile and joy in service. Sheila and I also had Rick Schwartz and Christophe over for supper on Monday night because they’re boys, and it’s a well-established fact that boys tend to starve when left to fend for themselves in the kitchen. I’m kidding! It’s fun to have company over for food and fellowship.

Tuesday afternoon, I enjoyed ladies tea at Joan’s house and we discussed our missionary Thanksgiving. It felt a little strange to talk about turkey and stuffing while sweating in the shade of a palm tree. Tuesday night, Christophe, Rick, and I watched The Princess Bride (classic!) and ate some famous Gutwein popcorn while I proceeded to bribe Rick with Paydays so he would play mailman and take out all the Childcare Christmas letters. It turns out that bribery was unnecessary. He has a good heart and agreed to take five pounds of mail to the States for me. Thanks, Rick!

Wednesday night at church, we watched a testimony of a woman who was born with one finger on each hand and one toe on each foot. She talked about her life, struggles, and joys, and then...she played the piano! It was amazing! It certainly made my little trials seem like pebbles next to Mount Rushmore. It was a good adjustment for my perspective.

Thursday, we had a Cite Lumiere Committee (CLC) meeting. Friday, I said goodbye to Rick and Sheila. Rick left (with my mail) for the States, and Sheila left for two weeks to live and study Creole with a Haitian family. So, Friday night, I hosted a movie night at the Gutweins. It was a good time with junk food and friends. Saturday, I took at break from computer work and Creole assignments to swim at the Wray’s house with Katie.

I had such a great Sunday! I went to Renault again with the Wray family. This time, Dr. Paul and his wife, Mary, came, too. It was wonderful to see the program in action again and greet the children. Rod showed a portion of the Jesus film in Creole and everyone was fed again with the four huge pots of rice and beans. On the way back to Les Cayes, a truck was stuck up ahead of us on a very narrow pass, so Rod had to pull him out. Right after I got home from Renault, Dirk and Karen Martin picked me up for an afternoon at Port Salut. It was the perfect day to go to the beach. The water was warm, the sun was shining, and the beach was clean and fresh. We even had lunch on the beach! It was the perfect way to relax after a long week.

Is it too early to ask for my Christmas present? Well, I’m going to ask anyway because I know exactly what I want: I want to fund the Wray’s Sunday school program for a week, which comes to about $300. They provide the rice and beans and water for each child, the generator, sound systems, gas, prizes, and tents, not to mention the love, dedication, time, effort, and energy it takes to run a program this size. I’ve felt God’s hand upon this program, and I’ve seen the results of how God’s Word and the love of Christ in action can touch the lives of these little kids in their smiles and hugs. It’s my Christmas wish that this program continue to grow and succeed. I’d like to be a part of what God is doing in Renault. If you’d like to be a part of His work in this area, you can send a contribution with a memo of “Wray-Sunday School” to:

Harvest International
3711 N.E. 42nd Lane
Ocala, Fl. 34479
Phone: 352-622-1818

Your prayer support for this program, and all the other missions and missionaries in Haiti, is just as crucial. We at Childcare ask that you continue to pray for the students in the program, the school and churches we support, and the Childcare staff.

Thanks so much for all your love and prayers on my behalf. They make all the difference in the world! I got some great pictures this week - I hope you enjoy them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Nov20082

Love,
Abby

Sunday, November 2, 2008

The Reformation and Rice

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it’s back to the grindstone this week.

Tuesday, at ladies tea, I met two new missionary women who are serving in the Les Cayes area. Sarah is a guesthouse manager and Mandy is here with her husband, Rico (who is Haitian), working with SEED ministries. It was fun to talk about the wedding and dresses with the other women; the first team of the season returned from their trip out to the villages during tea. Everyone arrived safe and relatively sound although Tim earned a nasty gash above his eye during a fall on the worksite.

Pastor Jonas was injured in a motorcycle accident while I was away, so I’ve been learning his job this week. On Wednesday, I made one of the biggest mistakes at Childcare I’ve ever made anywhere! Pastor Jonas normally does the computer input into our Childcare program, but I didn’t want him to be behind when he returned to work. I asked Marie Lucie to teach me to do data entry for him, so we went through the first couple of batches together. I worked really hard on Wednesday doing all this data entry, only to find out on Thursday, that I had been adding these amounts to the children’s accounts instead of subtracting them! Needless to say, I spent all day Thursday doing everything over again – TWICE, once to make it right and once to actually subtract it. Lesson learned!

Wednesday night, Johannes gave us a lesson on the Reformation for church. Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door 491 years ago this week. It was an extremely interesting lecture. On Thursday night, the work team, Reinhards, Sheila, Christophe, and I all went to the Nami to eat. It’s nice to get out sometimes and just enjoy each other and some different food. Before a team leaves, we often invite some local vendors to come to the Guesthouse and sell their wares. I bought a few paintings for my bathroom.

Friday night was a first for me. I told Doris I would help her with her son’s birthday party. Daniel turned 13 and invited about 20 of friends over for a party complete with games, food, and presents. Mandy and I were in charge of games and crafts in the backyard, and Mandy’s husband organized soccer in the front yard. We played “Pin the Nose on the Clown” and did crafts like make paper airplanes and color. Doris made pizza, dessert bars, and popcorn. In an effort to control the crowd, we put in a movie for the kids. Then, we got to spend some time chatting as adults, which was great.

Saturday, I worked on a missionary directory for the MEBSH administration all morning. Then, I got to play with Katie in the Wray’s pool during the afternoon. Saturday night, a few of us went to Luisa and Johannes’ house to watch the move “Luther.” Johannes had a printout with character descriptions and gave us a short history lesson on the movie and the timeframe. It’s easy to see that he loves history and is an excellent teacher!

Sunday, I was privileged to join the Wrays for their Sunday school lesson in Renault. Renault is an extremely poor part of Les Cayes. The Wrays began their outreach there in February; they have made amazing inroads into a community that has been ignored for years. Here in Haiti, church is big deal. It’s a time to dress up. Unfortunately, if you don’t have any nice clothes, or any clothes at all for that matter, you don’t go to church. Here, the idea is to come as you are and hear the Gospel, no matter how you look or what you wear or where you come from. Many children came with only a shirt; some came naked. But the point is, they came.

There is an incentive: food. After the Sunday school lesson, the Wrays have a feeding program. This may be the only meal the children can count on all week. Some of the youth leaders have been up since 4 AM cooking four huge pots of rice. This week, we fed about 525 children. Now, you’d think that if this were the only meal you were going to have for a week, you’d sit and eat every last bite of it in the safety of the enclosed area the Wrays have managed to provide you. Unfortunately, the cultural idea of sharing is so strong, the children often try to smuggle the food out in their shirts or pants, which makes for some interesting confrontations at the gate. Nevertheless, the children seemed to enjoy participating. They learn a new verse and song every Sunday, and if they can remember their song and verse from last week, they get a little toy. I was so impressed with the program and the energy and passion of the Wrays and the youth leaders. It humbled me to see the work, love, and dedication they have poured into this poverty-stricken area. The children are seeing the love of Jesus in action! If anyone is interested in learning more about this ministry, send me an email and I’ll see how we can assist the Wrays with their outreach into Renault.

Thanks for your prayers! Please continue to pray for my language and accounting skills. Both are lacking! Enjoy the pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Nov20081

In His service,
Abby

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Ahhh...Home.

Dear Family and Friends,

I thought about starting this entry with one of those cheesy wedding announcements. Something like, “The bride, resplendent in white, was preceded down the aisle by her seven gorgeous bridesmaids, each uniquely draped with an exquisite pashmina that perfectly reflected the cascade of falling leaves on that faultless October day.” You know, one of those gushy, overly sentimental pieces that admires every detail of a wedding from the gift bags filled with popcorn and chocolate covered almonds to the amazing rehearsal supper complete with an incredible video and delicious Aspen tea.

The fact is, Heidi and Joe’s special weekend was one of the best times I’ve ever had at a wedding or otherwise. It would be a perfectly acceptable event for me to gush over. For starters, I was home. I could stop right there and be happy, but no, there was more. The weather was perfect – crisp, sunny, with the leaves changing in the background. The Knoblochs did a truly magnificent job of making everyone feel welcome and loved in their home, even though we descended like a plague of locusts to fit dresses, try on shoes, take pictures, eat them out of house and home, and generally overrun the camp.

Let me start at the beginning: I flew home on Tuesday, Oct. 14. I started my travels before dawn and arrived home at 11:45 PM. Yes, you can get home in one day, but it’s a l-o-n-g day. After four planes in four different airports, I was a little fussy. But, as soon as I saw my sisters and parents at FWA, I was rejuvenated in mind and spirit. (It took eight hours of sleep and McDonald’s to rejuvenate my body.) We left for Morton on Friday and attended Heidi’s personal shower on Friday night. It was a great time to meet all of Heidi’s friends from college, work, church, and the YG. Heidi’s sisters did a fantastic job of planning her shower and making everyone laugh with their game, “How well do you know Heidi?”

Saturday, we spent the morning relaxing by the pool with the kids and the afternoon trying on our dresses and shoes at the Knobloch house. It was fun to finally see all the Knobloch siblings and spouses together with their children. We all arrived at the Morton church for the wedding rehearsal around four. It went very smoothly and Cheryl kindly took pictures for us as we practiced. The rehearsal supper was held at a tearoom outside of Morton. It was just beautiful. The Knoblochs created a truly amazing video of Joe and Heidi, Dr. Omar Gava shared a Spirit-filled testimony, Marie Lucie talked of Heidi’s dedication to missions, and Ed Schwartz spoke about Joe’s heart.

Sunday morning dawned clear and sunny. It was literally the perfect fall day, like the kind you see on the front of every college brochure as the cute co-eds pose in their new sweatshirts with the college’s name prominently displayed on the front. Anyway, a perfect day. We took pictures in the morning and then hurried to the church for the wedding service. It was an uplifting message about agape love.

The reception was wonderful! I spent most of my time chatting with family and friends and meeting new people connected to Joe and Heidi. After we sent them off to their honeymoon via bubbles and cheers, we left to head back to Bluffton. On the way home, Mom, Dad, and I hit a deer on 69 going 70 mph. It’s not only a miracle that nobody was hurt, but the car wasn’t even damaged that badly. We drove it right home, although we had a few interesting souvenirs left over from the collision. It took two automatic car washes and a diligent car wash attendant to remove all the...remains.

Monday and Tuesday, I enjoyed my time with family and friends. Tuesday night, Molly and I took Sophie to the Ft. Wayne Zoo Halloween. She went as a purple butterfly. I mean really, could there be anyone cuter? Perhaps I’m a little biased, but she is such a pumpkin!! Just check out the pictures. Wednesday, we made a quick run to the BDC to drop off some additional supplies for my next few months in Haiti. I left Wednesday afternoon, stayed in Ft. Lauderdale that night, and made it into Cayes by two on Thursday where I continued my constant battle against homesickness.

Sheila, Christophe, and all the Reinhards left with the first work team of the season early on Saturday, so I’ve been enjoying my solitude. Today, I stayed home from church to welcome a family to the Guesthouse since Sheila was unavailable. Beth Newton and I listened to the Bluffton Country service over the phone. After the second service, I made chocolate chip cookies, went swimming at the Wray’s house, and had a wonderful discussion with another missionary woman until after dark. When I finally got home, I made myself some cheesy chicken and macaroni. (Leah, you can stop reading here. I know you have a weak stomach. Amber, don’t let this deter you. You’ll get use to it very quickly.)

OK. So, I’m used to bugs by now. In fact, I have a least four different types crawling on me as I type. There are beetles reading every word I write because they are sitting on my monitor. It’s pointless to shoo them away; then, they just fly around and whack into my face which is even more annoying than obscuring my monitor. I have to double sift my flour - first, to remove all the live bugs crawling around in it, and then to remove all their little dead carcasses and eggs. It’s OK. You just adapt.

Anyway, I finished making my mac and cheese and proceeded to eat a large plate full while working on my photos for this week’s blog. I wasn’t paying too much attention to my food. My mistake. I decided I wasn’t quite full yet, so I went back for another helping. I was just about to shovel a new fork load into my mouth when I noticed something odd about a noodle and took a closer look. Ladies and gentlemen...worms. That’s right. Worms. Little white, worms. Of course, they were dead seeing as how I had boiled them for 4-6 minutes until tender. But I mean, gross! Even being accustomed to bugs, this just about made me puke.

You know, they say that a first year missionary will throw out something with bugs in it. A second year missionary will remove the bugs and eat it, and a third year missionary says, “Extra protein.” I’m not quite there, yet. Tillie, Gutwein’s dog, had a special cheesy treat tonight...with extra protein.

Love you all! Thanks for the prayers.

Abby

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Oct2008Wedding

Sunday, October 12, 2008

I'm Coming Home

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week seemed to fly by! At work, we prepared for the Childcare Board meeting on Friday morning by updating accounts and completing reports. On Tuesday, Sheila and I hosted ladies tea for the first time. We had a great turn out, and Debbie Wray brought us delicious treats to serve. We continued our series on God’s glory during Wednesday night services. Brother Tim Butikofer flew in on Thursday for the Board meeting. Johannes and Luise Schuerer kindly invited Tim, Sheila, and I to supper that night. Friday, Sheila and I tried our luck at market again; I feel like we’re really getting the hang of haggling and finding good produce! Saturday, we hosted the Reinhards and Tim for a pizza lunch and a ride to Tet Simon. It was laundry day there, so there were many people bathing, washing clothes, and generally hanging around. It was a beautiful view yesterday as the skies had cleared and the sun was shining. I must say, Tim did an excellent job on his first 4-wheeler drive! He handled that bike like a pro.

My next blog entry will be from...HOME! I’m flying out Tuesday morning to come home for Joe and Heidi’s wedding. Words cannot express how excited I am to see all of you again. Please pray that no weather conditions will delay my departure, and that my connections and flights will go smoothly. God knew that I would need this trip home to look forward to; I’m thankful they had such a long engagement – good for me, bad for them!

I will see you all soon!! Much love,

Abby

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Oct2008II

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Everyday Life

Well, I’m officially out of tourist mode and into actual living mode here in Haiti. I didn’t take a single picture last week which is why I skipped my Sunday blog entry. Let’s see if I can remember what happened...work, language lessons, tarantula, work, rain, massive thunderstorm, work, crafting, marketing, language lesson, work...pretty standard fare for two weeks in Haiti.

The thunderstorm was really something, though. I was at the Childcare office. just working away, when BOOM!! I have never heard anything like in my life. The sky was just beginning to look a little threatening, but no rain had fallen and I hadn’t heard any thunder, yet. It was like a single bolt of lightning struck Childcare. A ball of fire came shooting out of Marie Lucie’s electrical socket! Needless to say, we scrambled around unplugging computers. It poured sheets of rain after that and during the night, the lightning actually hurt my eyes and the thunder was absolutely deafening. It was WILD!

That night at church, it was hilarious to hear everyone’s account of the random lightning bolt. We all thought we had been directly hit. A computer monitor and light bulb blew out at the school, and that’s on the next hill over!!

Sheila and I decided to do our own marketing this week, so Miss Beth drove us into town and helped us haggle with the merchants. It’s a good way to practice Creole and establish some good relationships with the local venders. I need to find the best places to buy our food – I bought some oatmeal last week to make oatmeal and raisin cookies for ladies tea on Tuesday. They were terrible, but I couldn’t figure out why. Then, the ladies at tea told me that I should never buy oatmeal at a certain store. They spray all their products with a chemical that kills bugs, and it infects all the food that is not wrapped in plastic. The next time I went in, I could smell the spray. My cookies tasted like bug killer!

Today, we attended the Charpentier church which started at 7 AM. We got home in time to listen to the Sabetha morning service and the Bluffton North afternoon service. It’s always refreshing to hear a voice from home. We were invited to the Reinhards for supper along with Christina and Irene, two German missionaries. Miss Beth dropped in later for dessert. It was a regular party!

I’m looking forward to starting a new week. It’s a nice feeling to be refreshed in body and spirit. Thanks for your prayers and many blessing to you all!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Oct2008I

Sunday, September 21, 2008

A Little Slice of Home

Dear Family and Friends,

This week, I finally got my room painted and decorated, and I love it! As you’ll see in the pictures, it’s very blue – such a happy shade. I smile every time I go into it. Christophe did an excellent job. He painted my bedroom and bathroom, and because we had extra paint (and I love color), we painted the kitchen. We plan to finish painting this week. Every other wall will be freshened up with a crisp, true white. It’s so nice to have my books and pictures, clothes and bed. It feels like a little slice of home. Enjoy the tour via photos.

Friday, I took the day off work and unpacked all my stuff. Saturday, we switched storage depots and organized our porch area. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in two days with some Reinhard muscle behind you! A tech team arrived on Thursday (Bill Rager, Trout and Drake Moser, and Shane Shaw); we worshipped with them in Boval at Pastor Balade’s church. After church, Sheila and I decided to make homemade pizza. While we waited for the dough to rise, we took a drive with the team to Tet Simon. It is a beautiful pasture area with a pond that springs from an underground well. After enjoying the views, we headed home to make our pizza. We invited the Reinhard girls, Beth Newton, and Shane (who was fixing my computer) to join us for supper. I believe our first dinner party was success!

It’s been a good week. Thanks for your prayers. Oh, we also enjoyed our second encounter with a tarantula. This one was on our laundry porch, and yes, I sat on the washer with my feet up while we shooed it outside. I’m such a girl...

Have a wonderful week!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Sept2008III

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Paralytic and Port Salute

My days are finally starting to resemble a shaky routine of sorts. We didn’t have a tropical storm or hurricane or riot this week, so I was able to really dig into my job at the Childcare office. I have my Creole lesson with Jean Claude from 7 to 8 in the morning. Then, I head off to work. The office staff gathers for devotions from 8 to 8:30. I’ve been taking my lunch break around 12:30. I walk back home (about 300 steps) and see what Madame Marie has prepared. I head back to the office around 1:30 and work until 4. The evenings have been a mixture of activities – studying Creole, reading, catching up on emails, calling family and friends, church, tea parties, or games.

This week, I finally managed to remember to take pictures of our weekly tea party. (I ate three oatmeal and raisin cookies. They were that good.) Wednesday night, a visiting German missionary, checking up on the health and welfare of his local missionaries, led us in an interesting discussion of Mark 2:1-12. He divided us into groups to look at the five different sets of people in the passage: the crowd, the four friends, the paralytic, the teachers of the law, and Jesus. We were to list what we found admirable and what we found disgraceful. On Saturday, the three Reinhard girls, Sheila, and I went on a beach adventure. We headed to Port Salute, about 45 minutes from Les Cayes. It’s a beautiful drive up over a mountain and down to the seashore. We didn’t know how it would be after all the hurricane damage. The beach itself was littered with a lot of natural debris, but the water was clear and refreshing. We ate our packed lunch on the roof of the truck in the shade. I got a little too toasty. I’ll pay for that this week!

I wasn’t 100% on Sunday morning, so I stayed home from church and listened to the two Bluffton Country services over the phone. I’m grateful to God for modern technology! It’s amazing that I can sit in my living room in Haiti and listen to my home church LIVE in Bluffton, IN. Whoever created that phone-in service deserves an extra jewel in their crown! Thank you.

I hope to actually unpack my stuff this week. I am waiting on my room to be painted first, and I didn’t want to put everything away, set up my bed, fill my bookcases, and lay my rug until the room itself had been freshened up. Sheila brought a grill and I packed an air chair; it might be time to make our porch an outdoor living space...with a tall table. If I see that spider again, I need something to leap on to and squeal like a little girl.

To those in Bluffton, enjoy Street Fair for me!! I'll be praying for your outreach lunch on Wednesday.

Many blessing to all!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Sept2008II

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Sea Container Surprises

When I left you last week, I had just come off an amazing confirmation of God’s will and an uplifting worship service. Last Sunday night, we decided to go out to eat at a restaurant in Cayes called The Meridian. It’s actually a hotel with a restaurant inside. I made my little video that I posted last week while waiting for the Val to place our food order. When you dine out in Haiti, it takes a little more effort than just driving to the restaurant and ordering. It takes time, multiple phone calls, and a careful selection of locations. We had a wonderful time with good food and company…in the dark. At the Meridian, the generator for the dining room doesn’t start until seven. We were eating just a bit too early. Nevertheless, a lovely time was had by all!

Monday dawned clear and bright with the knowledge that our long overdue sea container had left Port-au-Prince and was headed toward Cayes! We would be unpacking it in the morning. Unfortunately, by Tuesday, tropical storm Hanna had swung a little too far south pushed by the winds of hurricane Gustav. It was absolutely pouring, and the water was coming up fast. In fact, Jan had gone into Cayes to help guide the sea container down our road and got trapped by the waters. Thankfully, he was able to pull his truck to higher ground where it would be safe. Stuck where he was, Jan enjoyed some Haitian hospitality on one of their front porches and watched the waters rise. Eventually, he abandoned his truck and walked back to the compound. Tuesday noon, we all piled in the vehicle with the highest clearance, Big Green, the construction truck they use for hauling lumber, cement, and people, and went out to look at the water. It was absolutely stunning. The Haitians were calling it a 100 year flood. I took a few videos of the devastation. We passed our sea container about 1.1 miles from our home where it sat beside the road waiting for the waters to go down.

It was still raining Tuesday afternoon, but lo and behold, the sea container pulled into the yard that evening! It took a great deal of effort from some very dedicated men, but there it was! It was decided to unload the container at eight the next morning, come rain or shine. Thankfully, it was sunny and HOT on Wednesday, and that sea container got unloaded. It was like a community party in the Gutwein’s yard! I counted ten trucks at one point, all loading up their precious cargo shipped across the sea. Fabric, beds, two four-wheelers (each a bright cherry red – one each for Sheila and I!!), bags of rice, a trailer, desks, boxes and boxes of household items, on and on and on. When it was finally empty, there were three boxes left with my name on them that I knew I hadn’t packed. I thought that they were probably for the Childcare office, but I wanted to make sure. It my utter astonishment and delight, my friends and family had packed wonderful care boxes. It was like Christmas! Actually, it was better than Christmas because it was a total shock. Thank you so much! I literally fell apart for a while and embarrassed myself in front of the Gutweins, but I was just undone by their kindness and love. Thanks again!

Thursday, I went back to work, the Reinhards made it back (praise the Lord), and the Gutweins said their final goodbyes. At 6:30 AM on Friday, we had breakfast with the Gutweins and then took them to the airport in Cayes. We waved until we couldn’t see the plane anymore. I’m going to miss them so much. Have a wonderful time in the States!!!

Sheila and I took some time on Friday night to make a market list out for our new house lady. Thanks to a local missionary who helped us translate, I think we’ve got a good system in place for fresh food. Here in Haiti, the missionaries always send their house ladies to go to market for them. They can get the best deals, know which stands carry the freshest produce, and recognize a fair price. We can go to the grocery stores where the items are mark with actual prices, but the market haggling is left to the professionals! Friday night, I was able to talk to some of my family and friends, and that lifted my spirits and encouraged my soul. I also encountered my first real Haitian spider. Check out the video.

I made Saturday a workday. In order to update some of the programs at the office, I needed to be alone and have them all to myself. I started at 9:45 in the morning, trying to download a new Quicken program. You know those little download boxes that give you an estimated time to complete the download? Well, I one point I glanced over and it was reading 15 hours and 35 minutes. Now, that’s a slow Internet connection! Thankfully, that first download only took 4 hours and not 15. Beth Newton, a missionary and nurse practitioner, stopped by on Saturday and invited us to visit the Torbeck church with her. Sunday, she picked us up in her own version of Old Green, and we worshipped together with Pastor Jonas and his congregation. A lady shared her recent conversion story from voodoo to Christianity, and I was deeply touched. Tim and Joan Reinhard stopped by for some conversation and cappuccino (compliments of my dear family) on Sunday evening, and I felt so uplifted after talking with them. Here is a family that has experienced a cross-cultural transition and lived to tell about it!

I’ve been in Haiti a month, and I can honestly say that it has been the hardest four weeks of my life. This transition is so huge and all encompassing – new culture, new language, new job, new roommate, new community, new worship styles, new food, new weather patterns to deal with, and a new appreciation of the spiritual warfare that is just beyond the skin of this world. I am fully convinced that it is through the power of your prayers that I can remain faithful. Thank you for praying and providing me with a protective shield. God bless!!

I did take pictures this week. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Sept2008I

Sunday, August 31, 2008

God's Graciousness and Gustav

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been an interesting week. You will be forced to endure my wordy descriptions because I took, like, three pictures the whole week. (Bad blogger, bad! I know.)

Last Sunday, I mentioned that there might be riots in Les Cayes due to increased tuition prices and food costs. There was some action in town on Monday that kept Marie Lucie and the pastors away from the office. I used the day clean out about ten years worth of accumulated stuff from my bathroom cupboards – old, yellow Band-Aids, a random ankle brace, gooey bottles of unidentifiable liquids, countless ant baits, expired medicines, and little (thank goodness) bug corpses. By Monday night, I was watching Tropical Storm Gustav pretty intensely. The National Hurricane Center was predicting that it would pummel Haiti by Tuesday afternoon, and Les Cayes appeared to be directly in his path.

In the meantime, I was fighting an ear infection. Now, I’ve never had a true ear infection. One time at Lake Webster, I fell off my skies and slammed my head into the water. Two days later, I had this raging earache. Turns out, a piece of duckweed got lodged in my ear and became infected. The ENT doctor thought that was pretty funny; I found it less than humorous. In any case, I now have a deep compassion for any child that gets ear infections all the time. I tried to treat it myself, but by Tuesday morning, I had given up. I’m not going to describe to you the amounts and colors of nastiness coming out of my ear that day, but I could do it with great deal of vividness and expression. Use your imagination...

So, Tuesday morning, Tess took me to the local clinic, not far from our house, where I saw the doctor and got some antibiotics. I must say, I was praising God for the invention of modern medicine. Even with some high doses, it still took me three days to feel better. In any case, I only worked about two hours that morning and then left to prepare our apartment for Gustav. We took everything off the porch, closed our hurricane shutters, and checked supplies. The sky looked threatening that afternoon and evening, but we had little wind or rain. The Gutwein girls and I watched The Sound of Music and ate popcorn. It was that kind of weather.

The rain started that night and continued for two days. Now, I didn’t know this remarkable tidbit until this week: Haitians treat rain like Hoosiers treat ice. Apparently, if you get wet down here, it’s going to be days before you dry out again, so no one goes out. Very few people showed up for work on Wednesday and Thursday because of the rain, even though we had very little wind. Marie Lucie and I were able to spend some dedicated time together without any interruptions! That was a blessing.

While God spared Cayes, other parts of Haiti were badly damaged. So far, 70+ people have died and some are still missing. Jan Gutwein explored some of the wreckage and said there are a lot of desperate people right now. Please pray for those who lost their loved ones, livelihoods, and homes.

Saturday, Sheila and I went to market with the excellent assistance of Mark Gutwein. Saturday night, we had a potluck supper with some of the other single missionary ladies. It was a great time to share stories and encouragement.

I’ll admit, I was homesick on Saturday and spending time with other Godly women who are living this life far more graciously than I am was refreshing and inspirational. I was questioning God on Saturday night asking Him if He was really sure I should be here or if this was just a terrible mistake. I opened to Acts 7 where I read, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.” Well, that shut me up. Praise God for His patience with me, my whining and questioning and general fussiness. This is my life now, and I want to live it for His glory and in His name the absolute best that I can.

This morning’s service was a Spirit-filled message of restoration. You know, sometimes you don’t need to understand all the words to be fed and filled by His Spirit. Just being in the presence of Godly men and women who were praising His name in spirit and truth was enough to rejuvenate and restore my wayward spirit. Thanks for your continued prayers! They make all the difference in the world. Sorry about the lack of pictures this week; I did a video message instead to atone for my lack of photographic dedication.

Remember, the camera adds ten pounds. I love you all!! God bless.


Sunday, August 24, 2008

How do you say...

This week, I officially started my new job at the Child Sponsorship office and began taking Creole lessons. I work with Marie Lucie, the director, John, the office coordinator, Pastor Amos, bookkeeping, and Pastor Jonas, computer data entry. Pastor LeFleur does counseling with the children when they come in for their monthly support, and Lucner translates their quarterly letters to the sponsors. Judging from this week, I think I’m going to enjoy my job! During the summer, the children do not come for support, so the staff works shorter hours and does administrative work. This week, we are gearing up for school beginning September 1. All the students will come in for their support and tuition fees. Unfortunately, the tuition for many of the schools has skyrocketed over the summer and parents are very concerned about the rising cost of education. Combined with the increase in food prices, it seems like the situation is getting tense. There has been talk of demonstrations starting tomorrow. I’ll keep you all updated on the situation.

Tuesday was my first lady’s tea. It’s a tradition that the missionary women get together on Tuesdays to chat, reconnect, drink tea, and have a little treat. It’s like a meeting of the United Nations. There’s the German contingency with some French, the Americans, and everybody’s speaking Creole. Being me, I knocked over a full glass of juice in the first five seconds. After sitting in the German/French section for a while, I moved down the table to the American conversation where someone asked me, “What did you sacrifice to come down here?” I said ten words about my family, promptly burst into tears, and had to excuse myself in shame. When will I learn to behave? Thankfully, they seem like Godly, forgiving women, and they will probably let me come to tea again this week.

Wednesday was my second session of missionary church, and I was so engrossed in the message on worship that I forgot to take pictures. I’ll make sure to document that next week. On Thursday, we had an unusual occurrence at Child Sponsorship. For the first time in ten years, Marie Lucie locked all the keys in the office. Let’s just say this: we can now be sure that the office is very secure. It took a big generator, a blowtorch, two men, and an hour to help us break into our own office!

Friday, John and I went to the village of Triverny. We had some new children entering the program, and we went to take pictures, do case histories, and help them write their first sponsor letters. It was a beautiful area, and the children were sweet and helpful. I spent the day Saturday just reading, playing games with the Gutweins, trying my hand in the neighborhood volleyball merriment, and enjoying the time of rest.

Today was a great day! The Gutweins attend the MEBSH church at Bambou, and Sheila and I tagged along for the day. The singing was very uplifting, and I was impressed by the quality and enthusiasm of the church congregation. Jan was able to translate some of the message for me. After church, we went into town for extra supplies, just in case the roads are blocked tomorrow. It’s always good to be prepared! After a little Sunday afternoon laziness, Sheila and I accepted a very nice invitation for German coffee issued by two single missionary ladies, Suzanne and Beth. We had pumpkin cake and some other delicious cake-like-thing made of chocolate, marshmallows, and Coke. I had a truly excellent time discussing the Haitian culture, jobs, families, and friends. It was a great way to end to week and begin a new one.

I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I am sure that it is in God’s hands. If anything, this week has taught me about how my life will probably be in Haiti – unpredictable! Please pray that this week will pass peacefully as the Haitians prepare to start school and a huge thanks to everyone who wrote an encouraging message or said a prayer on my behalf for this past week. I very much enjoyed reading the comments you left for me and hope you will continue to do so.

Enjoy my pictures from Haiti this week. I love you all!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/August2008II

In His service,
Abby

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Greetings from Haiti!

Bonjour, family and friends! Greetings in Christ from Haiti.

It’s been a week of firsts – going to market, exchanging money, visiting my new co-workers and neighbors, going to missionary church, seeing the LSM home in Torbeck, navigating Les Cayes and Simon, buying flour and phone cards, riding as a passenger on a motorbike to look at Haitian cell phones, surviving my first tropical storm (Fay), paying Derek to remove two toads from the inside of my window, organizing the house, eating strange fruit, and learning to love a good, cold shower. And those are just the highlights.

Two main thoughts have been circling in my mind for the last two days. (1) God is God. He is faithful and good. (2) Praise God for the Gutweins and Sheila! Seriously. I would be totally lost without them. Jan gave Sheila a driving lesson, and Val has fed us multiple times while we adjust to life here and wait for our house lady to start tomorrow. Tess and Alisha baked us cinnamon bread and pizza. Mark and Derek keep us cool by letting us use their pool and Joel keeps everyone on their toes. Brett has shown me the true meaning of contentment. Sheila comforted my heart when I was low and fought Satan for me in prayer during a spiritual attack. They have uplifted my spirit, fed my soul with wisdom, and kept me sane during my first few days of homesickness and sadness. They truly represent the servant heart of Christ.

I’m starting work tomorrow at the Child Sponsorship office and beginning my Creole lessons with Jean-Claude, an instructor that the Gutweins have used. I’m looking forward to another week of firsts. I’ll try to post a new entry every Sunday with pictures and stories from the week. Thanks for your prayers and God bless.

Here are my first five days in pictures. I hope the captions are helpful!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/August2008

Monday, August 4, 2008

Summer Fun 2008

My summer is almost over. I'm leaving for Haiti in eight days. I took some time to reflect on my summer of 2008.

I attended Mission Training International for three weeks in May, cried at my Grandpa's funeral in June, grilled and gamed with family and friends on July 4th, celebrated my 29th birthday with a Haitian hut cake, visited Sauder Village with my Habegger cousins, laughed through a zoo outing, toasted my friends at Flanagan's, swam, skied, sunbathed, and stuffed myself at Lake Webster, and met the Child Sponsorship Committee in Morton.

And now, I'm looking at my final Sunday in the Bluffton Country Church August 10. It looks sad and scary and really big. But, I'm also excited and willing and uplifted. God is ever faithful!
Enjoy my summer pictures at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Summer200802

Look for my next blog to be from Haiti! See you on the flip side...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Grandpa Gerber's Heart

My Grandpa Gerber passed away on June 14, 2008. Before he left this earth for his reward, he told me that I was fulfilling a life-long dream of his to live and work in Haiti. I never knew how deeply his heart was touched by his trip there in 1965 until he told me that just a few months ago. It reaffirmed my faith in God’s goodness and love.

I borrowed some of my Grandpa’s pictures that he took in Haiti. You can view them at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/GrandpaGerberHaiti1965

Robert and Esther Rocourt were a missionary couple in Haiti that Grandpa often mentioned. They have an inspiring story that touched my heart, too. You can read about them at:

http://www.faithmissionhaiti.org/memor.html

I'm leaving for Haiti on August 12. This is the start of a grand adventure into God's faithfulness, for His glory and in His name! Please pray for Sheila and I as we prepare for our departure. I hope to write and post additional pictures every week. Thanks for all your support and love.