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