Dear Friends and Family,
I hope you all had a fantastic time welcoming in the New Year of 2009! It’s going to be an interesting 12 months for me, and I’m praying for a year of fulfilling service and the ability to establishing new relationships by embracing the Haitian people with a loving and compassionate heart.
It’s been a relatively quiet week here in Haiti, except for the general ruckus we made on New Year’s Eve, of course. Monday night was the volleyball championship. Our girls won the whole shebang in three straight games. The Gutwein/Wray/Reinhard team rocked! While the girls were playing, Grant Bucher was being swarmed by Haitian children. (Grant, Trent Bahler, and Randy Lehman all helped with Reinhard’s new house construction this week.) The kids were attempting to drag Grant down, but it was like a bunch of little midgets trying to attack a white giant. I think the guys had a good time and were very helpful as construction workers. The roof to the basement was poured on Monday and Tuesday; it’s a huge job to mix and pour concrete in this country. Enjoy the pictures! After I inspected their worksite and deemed it fit, I went to tea. The ladies of the compound are due for their annual retreat in Zanglais. I’ll be attending Jan. 9-11, and I’m looking forward to a spiritually invigorating time.
New Year’s Eve was surprisingly fun! Let me clarify my position on the last day of the year – it’s terrible and to be avoided at all costs. I’ve gone to bed early for many years now. It has something to do with a bad combination of never accomplishing any of the resolutions from the year before and looking at a whole other year of uncertainties. I know, it’s an appalling perspective. I should be looking at a new year as 12 months of unlimited possibility and hope. That’s what I tell myself until about 10 PM, and then I generally give up and go to sleep. This year, the Reinhard children forbade me from going to bed early, and I’m thankful they did. We played games (a very confusing one with cups and chanting), set off fireworks, went to a bonfire that Johannes started at the Bible College, drank homemade Haitian hot chocolate courtesy of Joan, and went nuts at midnight with pots and pans and horns and explosives. (The Reinhards are big on blowing things up – it’s pretty fun!) The Wrays had a party at the missionary school for the teens. We made an appearance there to watch them play Rock Star and have some delicious treats. The Gutwein girls always make wonderful snacks like cheese ball and cookies. I stayed up until 2:30, and they taught me to play Dutch Blitz. I know, I know. What kind of AC doesn’t know how to play Dutch Blitz?! Well, now I know.
It’s been quiet for me since New Year’s Day. Friday, I spent most of my day at the Child Care office doing updates on the computers there. Shane and John Vrooman stopped by to lend a helping hand as Rob Lehman worked remotely on the Child Care program. Then, Shane hooked up a new battery charger for those rare times when we lose electricity in the office – like six times a day. Jan, Shane, Tess, and I all watched a shoot’em-up action movie that night and chatted until the wee hours of the morning. That made Saturday an even lazier day for me, but get this – I woke up with a fat lip. A spider had bit my lip during the night and made it swell up. Did I mention that it bit MY LIP?! That means there was a sizable spider on MY FACE, right on my MOUTH. Yucko! The swelling went down during the day, but gross.
Friday evening, a team from Ohio flew in for the next week. They have three separate jobs planned, and Sheila, Sarah, and Bethany left with them on Saturday morning.
I did a couple chores on Saturday, but mainly I watched the History series by Louie Giglio and Andy Stanley. It always good to be reminded about how big God is and where I fit in this whole story of His glory. I was encouraged to “die a glorious death” to self and live in “furious rest,” trusting that His ways cannot be traced out. Saturday night, Shane came over and fixed my brand-new yet broken fan (yea!) and worked on my and Val’s computers to make them more secure. I went to sleep fairly early, but I didn’t sleep all that well. For some reason, I kept thinking there was something on my face and waking up to swat at imaginary bugs.
The Wrays didn’t go to Renault this morning, as most of the Haitian youth leaders are away visiting their families for the New Year. I stayed home and attempted to listen to the Bluffton service, but my phone battery is so small, I only caught about 15 minutes. It hasn’t been working all that great, and even when it does work, it can’t hold much of a charge. Maybe the crummy power fried its little battery, who knows? So, I enjoyed the Pineapple Story Series by Otto Koning as I made chocolate chip cookies.
I learned some new things this week.
1) It IS fun to blow things up.
2) Dutch Blitz.
3) New Year’s Eve should not be avoided like the plague.
Thanks for your support and prayers; I have two prayer requests for this coming week. There are going to be Child Care meetings in the States on Jan. 9-10. Please pray for God’s direction and wisdom for the members of the Child Care Committee. Also, as we compound women learn more about God and each other in Zanglais this coming weekend, that we can grow together and be spiritually edified in Christ.
http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Jan20091?feat=directlink
Again, Happy, Happy New Year!! Much love,
Abby
I hope you all had a fantastic time welcoming in the New Year of 2009! It’s going to be an interesting 12 months for me, and I’m praying for a year of fulfilling service and the ability to establishing new relationships by embracing the Haitian people with a loving and compassionate heart.
It’s been a relatively quiet week here in Haiti, except for the general ruckus we made on New Year’s Eve, of course. Monday night was the volleyball championship. Our girls won the whole shebang in three straight games. The Gutwein/Wray/Reinhard team rocked! While the girls were playing, Grant Bucher was being swarmed by Haitian children. (Grant, Trent Bahler, and Randy Lehman all helped with Reinhard’s new house construction this week.) The kids were attempting to drag Grant down, but it was like a bunch of little midgets trying to attack a white giant. I think the guys had a good time and were very helpful as construction workers. The roof to the basement was poured on Monday and Tuesday; it’s a huge job to mix and pour concrete in this country. Enjoy the pictures! After I inspected their worksite and deemed it fit, I went to tea. The ladies of the compound are due for their annual retreat in Zanglais. I’ll be attending Jan. 9-11, and I’m looking forward to a spiritually invigorating time.
New Year’s Eve was surprisingly fun! Let me clarify my position on the last day of the year – it’s terrible and to be avoided at all costs. I’ve gone to bed early for many years now. It has something to do with a bad combination of never accomplishing any of the resolutions from the year before and looking at a whole other year of uncertainties. I know, it’s an appalling perspective. I should be looking at a new year as 12 months of unlimited possibility and hope. That’s what I tell myself until about 10 PM, and then I generally give up and go to sleep. This year, the Reinhard children forbade me from going to bed early, and I’m thankful they did. We played games (a very confusing one with cups and chanting), set off fireworks, went to a bonfire that Johannes started at the Bible College, drank homemade Haitian hot chocolate courtesy of Joan, and went nuts at midnight with pots and pans and horns and explosives. (The Reinhards are big on blowing things up – it’s pretty fun!) The Wrays had a party at the missionary school for the teens. We made an appearance there to watch them play Rock Star and have some delicious treats. The Gutwein girls always make wonderful snacks like cheese ball and cookies. I stayed up until 2:30, and they taught me to play Dutch Blitz. I know, I know. What kind of AC doesn’t know how to play Dutch Blitz?! Well, now I know.
It’s been quiet for me since New Year’s Day. Friday, I spent most of my day at the Child Care office doing updates on the computers there. Shane and John Vrooman stopped by to lend a helping hand as Rob Lehman worked remotely on the Child Care program. Then, Shane hooked up a new battery charger for those rare times when we lose electricity in the office – like six times a day. Jan, Shane, Tess, and I all watched a shoot’em-up action movie that night and chatted until the wee hours of the morning. That made Saturday an even lazier day for me, but get this – I woke up with a fat lip. A spider had bit my lip during the night and made it swell up. Did I mention that it bit MY LIP?! That means there was a sizable spider on MY FACE, right on my MOUTH. Yucko! The swelling went down during the day, but gross.
Friday evening, a team from Ohio flew in for the next week. They have three separate jobs planned, and Sheila, Sarah, and Bethany left with them on Saturday morning.
I did a couple chores on Saturday, but mainly I watched the History series by Louie Giglio and Andy Stanley. It always good to be reminded about how big God is and where I fit in this whole story of His glory. I was encouraged to “die a glorious death” to self and live in “furious rest,” trusting that His ways cannot be traced out. Saturday night, Shane came over and fixed my brand-new yet broken fan (yea!) and worked on my and Val’s computers to make them more secure. I went to sleep fairly early, but I didn’t sleep all that well. For some reason, I kept thinking there was something on my face and waking up to swat at imaginary bugs.
The Wrays didn’t go to Renault this morning, as most of the Haitian youth leaders are away visiting their families for the New Year. I stayed home and attempted to listen to the Bluffton service, but my phone battery is so small, I only caught about 15 minutes. It hasn’t been working all that great, and even when it does work, it can’t hold much of a charge. Maybe the crummy power fried its little battery, who knows? So, I enjoyed the Pineapple Story Series by Otto Koning as I made chocolate chip cookies.
I learned some new things this week.
1) It IS fun to blow things up.
2) Dutch Blitz.
3) New Year’s Eve should not be avoided like the plague.
Thanks for your support and prayers; I have two prayer requests for this coming week. There are going to be Child Care meetings in the States on Jan. 9-10. Please pray for God’s direction and wisdom for the members of the Child Care Committee. Also, as we compound women learn more about God and each other in Zanglais this coming weekend, that we can grow together and be spiritually edified in Christ.
http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Jan20091?feat=directlink
Again, Happy, Happy New Year!! Much love,
Abby
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