Christmas Eve we opened a few presents! Each person got to open only one present because not all the gifts have arrived yet. You see, we were a bit behind on the Christmas shopping this year. Most Christmas shopping is done online. There aren't too many stores here that carry the American things we are looking for. There are no malls, no Meijers, a few overpriced clothing stores, and a couple of grocery stores. (There are plenty of options for shopping along the streets- that is if you are in need of shoes, fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, live chickens, spices, laundry soaps, sugar cane, ect.) After opening one present each we also opened the boxes that had arrived from friends and relatives in the states. I got a package from my Grandma and it probably ranks among my favorite Christmas presents. The Art Prize shirt and the bright headbands made my day! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa :)

We are planning on opening more gifts once they arrive. We just got word that a lot of our boxes are stuck in customs. The mail flight service that we use, called Agape, currently does not have enough money to pay the customs fees to get our boxes. There are piles of boxes that have arrived that people have not yet picked up from Agape. When they come and pay for those boxes then Agape will have enough money to get more boxes out of customs. If you sent me a package don't worry because it's probably here in country, just not in our hands! Thankfully we are all very patient people who are ok with opening our Christmas presents at Valentines Day! Haha- just kidding...hopefully it won't take that long. But then again you never know.

(Click on the pictures to view them larger)

This Christmas we filled our stockings with words of encouragement and notes to each other. Ruth gets the credit for this idea- she was tired of finding little trinkets to fill the stockings. In the weeks leading up to Christmas we spent time together creating cards (while listening to Christmas music :).

Then before church on Christmas morning we read all of our notes!

Philippians 4:8 "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

Prepare the Way of the Lord

The Haitian’s beautify their cities and towns around Christmas. This year it was wonderful for me to see them working together, cleaning up their streets and their homes. 

In the weeks leading up to Christmas they were out sweeping the streets, picking up the garbage from the gutters along the edge of the road. Then they applied fresh coats of paint a few days before Christmas. All along our streets the Haitians painted- the walls are now striped with a fresh coat of white and yellow paint. The rocks and telephone poles near the side of the road are now painted yellow, cautioning drivers to watch out for them. Houses were painted too. I was told the Haitians save paint for months, just waiting for the weeks in late December to paint the outside of their homes.  

The side of the street painted.

The city was bustling with people all hard at work, scurrying to get everything finished in time. Come December 25 the city looked awesome- the people had prepared it for Christmas. I like to think that the people were preparing for Christ’s birth. I hope that the reason they wait until December each year to beautify their city is so that it will look good on the day in which we celebrate Christ’s arrival.

These Joseph, Baby Jesus, and Mary painted cardboard cutouts set up along the side of the road give me hope! 

The Haitians getting the city ready reminded me of John the Baptist. He was born to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:17). He went through the towns and the cities before Jesus did, calling the people to repentance. 

Luke 1:76-79 “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven  to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death,  to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

The call of John the Baptist was not only a call for him but a call for all followers of Christ. At times I question why I am here and why all these other missionaries, young and old are here. Why are all these people investing their lives in Haiti? Once again I am reminded of why I am here, why all the missionaries are here in this county- “To make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble by SonicFlood

Did you feel the mountains tremble? 

Did you hear the oceans roar? 

When the people rose to sing of 

Jesus Christ the risen one. 

Did you feel the people tremble? 

Did you hear the singers roar? 

When the lost began to sing of 

Jesus Christ the saving one. 

And we can see that God you're moving 

A mighty river through the nations 

And young and old will turn to Jesus 

Fling wide you heavenly gates 

Prepare the way of the risen Lord 

Open up the doors and let the music play 

Let the streets resound with singing 

Songs that bring your hope 

Songs that bring your joy 

Dancers who dance upon injustice. 

Do you feel the darkness tremble? 

When all the saints join in one song. 

And all the streams flow as one river 

To wash away our brokenness. 

And here we see that God you're moving. 

A time of jubilee is coming 

When young and old return to Jesus 

Fling wide you heavenly gates. 

Prepare the way of the risen Lord.

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas

I'm dreaming of a green Christmas

while I'm sweating in Haiti

Where bananas glisten and children listen

to hear big trucks in the street

I'm dreaming of a green Christmas 

with every meal of rice and beans

May your days be merry and keen

and may all your Christmases be green

*lyrics written by a family friend

Natasha, Micah, Malieke, Taressa, and I

May the ones you LOVE be near *Part 1

Christmas is a time of gathering with those you love- attending parties, traveling, enjoying the break from school and time off from work, just being together. This Christmas season I'll be missing my family. I was thinking of all the holiday parties that I'm not going to be able to attend. And that five hour car ride to Illinois with my family, to visit my grandparents and other family members. I am sure going to miss that- I love road trips!

God knows that I like to stay busy so, of course, I shouldn't have worried about missing out on all the parties back home. This Christmas season God has filled with parties and many, many wonderful people. The families that I've met here are so welcoming and so loving. I'm included, even though they hardly know me! 

Tuesday night we attended a small gathering at the home of another missionary family. This family arrived at the beginning of this school year. They lived in the states three years before moving to Haiti and before living in the states, they were missionaries in Papua New Guinea. They are adjusting to Haiti too. And like myself, some days are better than others for them. Their girls are Laura and Sarah, whom I've become great friends with. Laura and Sarah are so full of happiness and joy. Another missionary family was there as well. This family only has one daughter, Anna, still at home. She is also a very, very funny girl. Anna, Laura, Sarah, Natasha, and Taressa are all around the same age and great friends. Whenever they are around each other they are always laughing. 

So, you can imagine our night when all of us were together. It was the girls- Anna, Laura, Sarah, Joy (Laura and Sarah's sister, visiting from the states), Natasha, Taressa, Malieke, and I- along with Micah and their youth group leader, Marc. I have never laughed so much in one night! Story after story, comment after comment had everyone laughing! We ate hamburgers and potato salad for dinner and then played some games. At the end of the night we played the game "signs" with the adults. If you've never played the game before, I highly recommend it. All in all it was a wonderful night of fellowship! I'm looking forward to spending more time with these families.

{Picture coming...soon}

Wednesday afternoon I had my friend and fellow youth group leader, Katie, over. We baked 48 cupcakes and two loaves of banana bread. The holidays just wouldn't be the same without baking food! I really enjoy doing all the baking (and Ruth doesn't mind the help). Katie spent the night and we talked for hours. We mostly talked about God and shared our stories with each other. Her closest friends are from high school and she likes to run and she blogs and she is artistic and she has a passion for the youth group....we have so much in common. I know that Katie is going to be one of my great friends!

May the ones you LOVE be near *Part 2

Thursday afternoon was the Sous Espwa staff Christmas party, held at their church. The families of the staff were also invited so there were people of all ages there. At 11am we started the party with devotions and short introductions of ourselves. Most of the introductions were in Creole because the majority of the staff and their families speak Creole. This made for one fun Christmas party for them and one confusing Christmas party for me. I still don't understand that much Creole, a few words here and there so, needless to say I didn't understand the introductions and most of what was said during the party.

After the introductions we played lots of games. The instructions to the games were also in Creole. Sometimes Taressa translated for me, otherwise I just watched and did what everyone else was doing. The games were pretty straight forward so this wasn't too much of an issue. When the games were finished, we ate lunch. The food was a typical Haitian meal that we had catered in. We had beans and rice, potato salad (maybe not so Haitian), fried plantains, and a choice of chicken, poul, or goat, kabrit. {Side note: Whenever I hear the word kabrit I know to stay away from that meat. I had goat once, or twice...I'm not entirely sure. However, I'm pretty sure I don't like it. The meat is very fatty and I can't stand it when there is fat on my meat. The goat part doesn't bother me, just the fat part. I do like beans and rice. Sometimes the beans and rice are bland if there is no sauce for them but they're usually good.} The last part of the Christmas party was a piñata for the children. As you know, all children love candy so they enjoyed that. When the party ended around 3pm I was thankful because I was a little overwhelmed, once again, by the Creole.

Last night we attended another party at the home of the family whose kids I babysit. They have a yearly tradition of having all their friends over to watch . . . ELF!! What a great tradition- Elf is one of my favorite movies :) To top it all off we ate pizza too...Domino's pizza! Oh yes, it was a splendid night!

They duct taped a sheet to one of the walls on their patio and then borrowed a projector to play the movie.

Tonight we are attending another party and then on Sunday some families are coming over to celebrate Christmas with us!

Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

You're Beautiful

This is my current favorite song. The first time I heard it was at a youth group meeting. I love it because the lyrics contain awesome visuals- and I'm a very visual person. We have sang this song in church too and each time I listen to it it brings me a sense of God's greatness! (I still think the youth group does a better rendition of this song ;)

"On earth...PEACE to men"

Luke 2: 8-14  "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 


Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 


"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."


Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Si se Bondye ki voye ou, li peye fré ou

If it is God who sends you, he pays your expenses.

This Creole proverb reminds me of one of my favorite quotes- "If God brings you too it, he'll bring you through it."

I've been hiding out, avoiding the inevitable- but I can't hide for much longer. I'm about to come face to face with a daunting reality! On Sunday afternoon I will be dropped off in a town, three hours away, to stay with a Pastor and his family. Do I know these people? Not so much- I informally met the Pastor once and I've never met his family. The reason I'm staying with this family is because the majority of them only speak Creole. The proper term for this is language immersion. I'm going to have to figure out what they are saying in order to communicate with them. What a great way to learn the language! As Ruth said, "swim or die!" :)

I do know a few Creole words and an even smaller majority of phrases. I have had classes with a tutor for the past two weeks now. Another girl, a tutor, and I meet three mornings each week, for one hour. This other girl that is taking classes with me knows a lot of Creole. She has been in the country a month longer than I have and she started learning it a year before she came. She now converses with people in Creole and therefore understands quite a bit. I, on the other hand, did learn much before I came and I have not been speaking Creole with anyone. I don't know enough words to hold a conversation, let alone try to pick apart what someone is attempting to tell me.

This scenario has made for interesting classes with the tutor. He says everything in Creole and then repeats what he said in English. Sometimes though he doesn't repeat everything in English. The other girl usually understands and then I sit there with a dumbfounded look on my face. I'm asked at least ten times during the class, "Eske ou konprann?" I usually don't catch that part either so I say, "Hunhhh?" To which the teacher replies, in English, "Do you understand?" Lately I've been getting better at following their conversation.

But then as soon as I'm in a situation out of class, where people are speaking Creole to me, I have no idea what they are saying. The natives talk very very fast (imagine that?). This is beginning to frustrate me. Yet, I still do not have the desire to learn. Nor do I spend enough time studying. So I guess this language immersion is for my own good. Come next week, I must learn Creole- my overall wellbeing depends upon it!!

In an attempt to help myself I went around the house and labeled everything.

Then I drew an illustrated study page- I'm a visual learner and none of the Creole books I have have pictures in them! So, I took matters into my own hands...

I got even more creative and replicated this hibiscus flower from a photo. Not to shabby!

In all honesty, I'm a bit scared about this endeavor... I don't know what exactly to bring with me or what all they will provide me with... There's the possibility that I could get sick off the food... I hope I can maintain my sanity. I know I won't be able to make it through on my own strength! But God has brought me to it and He will bring me through it. I have no doubt about that.

Please pray for me in this next week. This will be a trying time, but nevertheless an experience I will never forget!

"As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him" (Psalm 18:30).

Prayer Mission Trip

This past week I had the chance to be a part of a prayer team. Ten people from Canada and the US came for the week. The team was here was to pray...simply pray. One person on the team works with an organization called Prayer Missions International (PMI). PMI sends teams all over the world on prayer trips. This team visited Sous Espwa’s partner organizations to encourage them and pray with them. I witnessed the benefit of the team being here. 

Jenny’s dad told a story the night of our orientation. He said that in 2009, two months before the earthquake, a prayer team came down for a prayer mission trip and visited all the partner organizations. Then, in January God rocked Port-au-Prince with an earthquake. Roughly 220,000 people died. Yet, every single person that the prayer team prayed over survived the quake. The team prayed God’s protection over these people and not one of them died! That is a powerful testimony to God responding to our prayer. James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Ruth had told me that being part of a prayer team is intense; I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant. However, after the prayer time on Tuesday I could already feel the intensity. Tuesday afternoon the team started by praying with the Sous Espwa staff. They began with a large group prayer and then prayed one on one with us. It was really interesting to me because I had never been involved in this kind of prayer. 

I am not a praying person- I usually pray for myself and a few other people, if I think of it. I had never realized the importance of prayer. Before the team got here I was given a few reading on intercessory prayer and I learned a lot from those. The main idea of intercessory prayer is to seek God’s will through prayer and then pray God’s will on the situation. 

“When we pray, God works!” What a simple way to describe intercessory prayer and to explain its purpose. Augustine wrote, “Prayer is to intercede for the well-being of others before God.” Prayer is God’s plan. God initiated intercession so He could work on earth in the way He wanted to, in response to prayer. By means of intercessory prayer He invites us to labor with him for the well-being of others. Prayer did not happen because people wanted things from God and decided to plead with Him for them. Prayer is not

a human strategy for acquiring things. Nobody thought it up. Intercessory prayer is God’s way of giving us a stake in His kingdom building work. He takes the initiative but involves us through prayer and our ministry activities. As we do our part—asking in His name and stepping out in ministry—He does His part.

~Passage from Alvin VanderGriend’s book, Praying God’s Heart

Wednesday I spent a full day with the prayer team. We visited two organizations- the Theological Seminary of the Union of Baptist Churches in Haiti and St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children. The visit started off with us asking the staff at the organization how they have witnessed God at work in their ministry. It was really great to hear the stories of how God had noticeably worked in the past and how He is continuing to work through their ministry. I love hearing God stories! Following that, we asked for specific things we could pray about. The staff shared many concerns, related to the organization, with us. 

Then we sat with the staff and prayed. One person from the prayer team started off the prayer and then everyone else jumped in. The prayers were Spirit led, meaning the team listened to the Holy Spirit speaking to them and then prayed whatever was placed on their heart. Sometimes a Bible verse was read or we sang a song. A few times I thought the things people prayed about didn’t make sense with the requests shared. But it was because they listened to the Spirit’s promptings and, although I didn’t understand the reasoning behind it, it was exactly what the staff needed to hear. God knows what His children need more than we do. 

One of the goals of the prayer team was to encourage the ministry’s staff. The team did this by praying for each staff person individually. We gave each one a chance to share their personal requests- the areas they needed God’s strength within their own lives and within their family. Then we placed hands on each person and prayed for them; these prayers were especially powerful because the Spirit revealed many things to those on our team. At the end of the prayer, I could tell that those we prayed over were renewed and strengthened. They were so very thankful that we spent time praying for their needs and lifting up their ministry before God. 

I’m grateful I had the opportunity to join this team. I learned so much from just being with them for one day.

If you want to serve abroad, but don’t feel qualified (or strong enough ;) to join a work team, consider joining a prayer team. It’s a wonderful, unique opportunity to get involved in furthering God’s kingdom. 

It's Christmas Time!

Three great things happened this weekend:

1) I got to bake desserts- The kids had a Christmas Bazaar at school this weekend. Taressa’s class was raising money for a class trip, so they decided to sell baked goods during the bazaar. Taressa and some of her friends got together to make the food. I helped them decide on the recipes...we choose two cheesecakes, one cake, mint brownies, and some marshmallow chocolate chip bars. The night started off great because we had homemade pizza for dinner and we watched Psych. It took us about 3-4 hours to get everything made. To top it off, were very sleep deprived and hyper so it made for one fun night!

Eating pizza

Laura, Sarah, me, and Taressa

2) I had the opportunity to babysit two cute little kids! A little boy, about 6 months old, and his older sister, probably about two years old. We put puzzles together and hung ornaments on a little Christmas tree. 

3) We decorated the Christmas tree! Ruth brought home a new tree for the house yesterday. Howard, Maleke, Micah, and Natasha hung the lights on it. Tonight we hung all the ornaments. Haitian Christmas trees are a little bit different than evergreen trees, but still pretty!

Decorating the Christmas tree, while wearing a summer dress...there's a first time for everything!

Chaos

This past weekend was the Spiritual Retreat for the Sous Espwa staff and the missionaries from the Dominican. A group of 17 of us left Thursday morning for Barahona, a city on the southern coast of the Dominican. Early in the morning we departed (7am) and it took an hour and a half to get to the border. However, when we we got to the border we waited in line...and waited, and waited.

8:30am, only the beginning of our day

Some Dominican guys came to help us cross. They lead our caravan of three vehicles right past the long line of cars waiting outside the gate. They directed us through the gate; we were now on the Haitian side of the border. Thursday is market day so that meant there were masses of people set up selling in the border area and many other people going back and forth across the border with purchases...in tap-taps, motorcycles and large trucks. The area inside the border was gridlocked. There is no other way to describe it. It reminded me of those small square picture puzzles where you mix up the tiles. Then in order to get the pieces in the right place you have to shuffle, reshuffle and shuffle them again. At one point I got out of the vehicle to get something from one of the other cars. I turned around to go back, made it to the front of the car but then a big bus and truck boxed out our car. I was stuck in front of the vehicle because there was no room for me to get between the bus and the truck, let alone get the side door open. Eventually the truck and the bus moved and I was able to get in.
We had to park our cars outside of the first building so that we could all go in and get our passports stamped (exiting out of Haiti) and pay money for each of our passports. The Haitian part of the border was staffed by people who spoke Creole. Jenny was able to communicate with them concerning the paperwork and fees. Then some of us got back into the vehicles and we attempted to get a spot back in the mass of cars. We waited and waited and waited once again. Half of our group walked ahead with our passports to the next group of buildings on the DR side. They had to get the passports stamped once again (for entrance to the DR) and get the vehicle paperwork straightened out AND pay a whole bunch more fees.

All the kids and I :)

An hour or so later the vehicles finally made it to that group of buildings which were only about oh, less than a quarter mile away. Then the Dominican people that were helping us directed us into a couple of spots to park. They had to direct the traffic around and away from us just so we could get into the open spaces. We all got out of the cars once again and went to another area to do something. I'm not even really sure why we had to get out, but we went up to this window and showed our faces with our passports.


Finally we had all the paperwork and passports taken care of. This time everyone loaded back into the vehicles and we made our way into the traffic once again. We were stuck for another hour between semis and trucks, waiting to get out of the gate. At 1:30pm the gate on the DR side opened...to our excitement there was a wide OPEN road ahead of us! I am quite sure everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief. From 8:30am -1:30pm we were at the border. It took us FIVE hours to cross over! (It only took the group 3 hours to cross during market day last year.)

Driving through the D.R.

On the way home Sunday, coming back into Haiti, it took about 45 minutes to cross the border!!

The last gate!

I must be dreaming...

I had a wonderful weekend at our retreat! I took this picture one afternoon on our walk to the beach. I still find it hard to believe that I'm in the Caribbean! This weekend we were commenting on how God's beauty was so evident all around us. There is no speech or language where his voice is not heard! Creation SPEAKS


Psalm 19:1-6 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a bit different around here. For one, it's an American holiday so the Haitians do not have off from school or work. For two, it is not cold here like it usually is in MI around the holidays. Currently it sunny and 91 degrees. And for three, we are not having a big Thanksgiving day feast. We are going to be in the car tomorrow, traveling- on our way to a spiritual retreat. 


I will be missing my family and friends AND football! (Mostly football...it occurred to me that I have not seen an NFL game since I left the states. Very saddening.) I love my family and friends dearly, and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! As much as I wish I was at home for the holidays I'm very excited to be experiencing them here. Much time this weekend will be spent on a beach along the ocean!! However, I'm sure you'll be in my thoughts too ;)


I am so blessed and have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving:


A great trip here,
A wonderful family that worked hard to make this entire trip come together,
Many, many encouraging friends and a supportive church,
Overall good health,
Welcoming relatives here that have been accepting, helpful, and so patient with me,
And a God who always provides. I have met, and exceeded my fundraising goal by $100! It was almost exactly a month from the time I sent out my letters to the day I found out that I had all my funds in! Praise God! I have not stopped thanking Him!


John 14: 11-14
^{Jesus said, 11} "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

~A Little Dirt Never Hurt

Last week Monday I went to work with Ruth at the Sous Espwa offices.  By the end of the day I became a little bit bored sitting at the desk. So, on Tuesday I volunteered to help out at the worksite with the team. Little did I realize what I was getting myself into!


The team was building a septic tank. The challenge in this was that there was a steady stream of water coming into the hole that was dug for the tank.  The bottom of the hole was much lower than the water table-  so all week long someone had to scoop the water out with buckets.  The water level had to stay low enough in order to pour the concrete floor of the tank.

Tuesday morning- Digging out some dirt to level off the ground.

I scooped the water into 5 gallon buckets for about 6-7 hours. Thankfully I did not have to lift the buckets out of the hole, just fill them!

Nearing the end of the day, after getting splashed with water, mud, and concrete.

Tying the rebar together with wire.

The Haitian crew mixing the concrete.

The concrete was placed in these big tubs and then brought, on a trailer, to the place where we were working. Someone filled the tiny metal buckets with the concrete.

Then we made a human chain to get the buckets over and down into the hole. On average there were about 17 people working in/near the hole. It got pretty crowded at times! But thankfully we had all the willing and able hands to help. 

The progress as of Friday, the last work day for the team.

Part of the team also painted this apartment building on the site... 

... a pretty peach color!

Friday afternoon I played soccer with some of the kids that live at the site. They were off from school for the holiday.

One of the boys was teaching me a sweet move!

The whole group, including the Haitians that worked along side us!