Wednesday, December 31, 2014

A Few Hours Remaining to Give in 2014!



To our beloved friends and family,
Our son Evan read 3 John this morning and its words gripped my heart and made me think of many of you in the same way. We pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul.  We look forward to 2015 and experiencing incredible joy as we hear from you the amazing stories of your journey in the truth. Thank you for sending us on our journey in a manner worthy of God.  We ask you to pray about a year end gift this last day of 2014 to help us begin another year of ministry in Haiti. We also need new financial monthly supporters to encourage us in the New Year as we are currently only meeting 50% of our budget. Your faithful prayers are what matter most!


If you would like to give a tax deductible 2014 year end gift, or to sign up to support us in 2015 the following link is the best way to do that. Just click HERE or HERE There is also info. provided for processing donations over the phone and by mail.

 

Because of some of you we will also be able to send Djo’s kids on their journey to learning this next semester and pay for the rest of last school semester and their uniforms. Thank you for the overwhelmingly encouraging response to our last post about helping their family!   Please pray for Haiti as there is heightened political instability and for many in 2015 that God would bring them heightened spiritual stability. 

 

Peace to you in 2015,

Eric and Elisabeth

3 John


Thursday, December 4, 2014

Djo's Kids

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength...Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."
Mark 12:30-31

Djo's Kids

Djo (pronounced "Joe"), his wife and their four kids are our neighbors. We pass by their simple gray block house each day and always look to see if their sweet faces are peeking out behind the door. Recently as I was walking by they invited me inside. The house is just as simple on the inside. I pass a little room I'm told is the "depot" where the supplies for Madame Djo's small business are stored. Djo must have seen my eyes stall in the corner where only a few empty soda cases sat. Looking down he said, "We haven't been able to sell for awhile." Next I passed through a floor less, roof less open space that Djo says "isn't finished yet" which leads to the bed, bath, and kitchen. There is one bedroom for this family of six. Two twin beds, a curio shelf with a small television and stereo were the bulk of its contents. I glance up to see large spaces where the metal roof doesn't cover the concrete block sides in several places and imagine trying to sleep there during rainy season. The kitchen galley stands between the bedroom and the "twalet" (toilet room). But there is no toilet. There is no sink or shower either. The "twalet" only contains one single bucket sitting on the floor. I expect it to smell bad. But it doesn't. The house is actually very clean. The "kitchen" contains a metal stand that cooks food over charcoal along with a few pots and pans hanging neatly on the wall. I thank them for showing me their home. 

Djo has been to our home many times. We were introduced to Djo before we moved to this neighborhood by missionary friends and co-workers that know Djo. When we needed help with odd jobs around the house or a ride home Djo would be the person to call. We called him more often when we became his neighbors. Djo has raised one of our walls so our dog can't jump over it (and so neighbor boys can't peep over it to try to catch a glimpse of our girls taking a bucket bath outside), built a trash burning bin in our backyard, installed our driveway, installed a wall inside our house and has used his motorcycle to fetch cooking gas, and large blocks of ice for us many times. Djo is a hard and efficient worker. Every time we have called him with a job he has been eager to take whatever work we offered. Once we asked him if he could help us with a plumbing problem. He came over to take a look but told us that he honestly did not know how to fix the issue. We appreciated that so much and told him so. It is rare to find a Haitian man that won't tell you he can do whatever it is you ask even if he hasn't the slightest clue. Djo has never asked us for anything other than once when he knew I was headed to the grocery store and asked me if I could please pick up some peanut butter for his children to have something to eat that night. 

During the time we were away over the summer months Djo was in a bad motorcycle accident. We were informed by missionary friends that he could not walk or work for months afterward as a result. One thing Djo and his wife work hard for is to keep their four children in school. The start of school was approaching with no money to pay the fees since Djo had been out of work due to his accident injury. The kids attend the Baptist church school in our neighborhood. The school allowed the kids to begin the fall semester with Djo's promise that he would do his best to pay the school fees before the new year. Djo humbly came to us asking if we could help him find sponsors for his kids to continue to attend school because they have not been able to come up with this money. He is back to work now (whatever work he can find) but is still behind due to months of not being able to work. He doesn't want to have to tell his kids they cannot go back to school after Christmas break. 

We try to be very careful about how and who we help to make sure we are really helping. When we prayed about how best to help with this particular need the verse "Love your neighbor as yourself" continued to play in my head and heart. Sometimes Most of the time there isn't a prescribed solution for the many hard things we encounter on a daily basis as missionaries in one of the poorest countries on earth. We remember that Jesus said "the poor you will always have with you". The poor are our neighbors. For us the verse "Love your neighbor as yourself" means that if our kids eat, we want our neighbors kids to eat too. If our kids have clothes to wear and a bed to sleep in, we want our neighbors to have those necessities as well. If our kids are able to go to school...

We would love to be able to give Djo's family the Christmas gift of school sponsorships for all four of his children. The cost is $125 per child to pay for their last and next semester. We would love to find a sponsor family (or multiple sponsors) that would commit to helping this family with future school sponsorships as well. Perhaps if school was not such a huge financial burden on their limited income, they could put more money into finishing their house. We wish we were able to sponsor all the kids but are personally already committed to sponsoring several other children. Therefore, we are giving YOU the opportunity to help us help our neighbors and show them the love of Christ this Christmas. 

Meet the Kids
Joel
Age 11

Jacob
Age 9

Mardochée
Age 7
Carlens
Age 4

Please contact us through e-mail at eeream@HeartofGodInternational.org if you are willing to provide a school sponsorship for one, two, three, or all four of Djo's kids as a Christmas present to them! It is a joy and privilege to love our neighbors by letting others in on loving them too! Please pray and ask if God is leading your family to love on Djo's kids.

Because He First Loved Us,
Elisabeth

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Of Turkeys and Holiday Plans

We can make our plans,
but the LORD determines our steps.
Proverbs 16:9

So... Eric came home with a turkey last night which was kind of a big deal. We have never bought a turkey in Haiti before and this was definitely a Thanksgiving splurge. The kids and Miguel keep talking about Thanksgiving saying they "can't wait!". I have a suspicion that my attempts at a traditional American Thanksgiving in Haiti may not match whatever expectations they have dreamed up. Much of this has to do with my own expectations which include a fear of turkeys. I already planned my speech on how the Pilgrims having come to a foreign land gave thanks for whatever local bounty they were blessed with and likely this did not include turkey on their table either. I was much more prepared to have Thanksgiving without turkey than to have Thanksgiving with it. The truth is I've only cooked a turkey on my own once in my life and had not planned on a repeat of that experience. I've plucked and cooked chicken but for some reason the turkey completely evades me. As I ask for explicit turkey cooking instructions, my mother cannot understand. But I do. Mother is and has always been the designated turkey cooker at every holiday, family get together, and church function. Therefore she assumes that her daughter who moved out of her house over eighteen years ago should be able to cook a turkey by now. I explained that turkey cooking is not an inherited genetic trait nor is it learned by osmosis during the passing of time. All those times when I was shooed out of the kitchen while a turkey magically appeared on the table only taught me that it was my job to consume turkey but never to cook it! Somehow I have gotten away with learning how to cook just about every other side dish but have managed to excuse myself from turkey duty. But this Thanksgiving there is no one else. And now I am asking why Eric never learned to cook a turkey either? I guess for the same reason that I never did. It was never necessary before. Which make me realize that this will be the very first Thanksgiving that we have ever spent around our own table with just us. We have always either ventured to others tables or others have brought their bounties to ours. So this year will be a first for us. And I will make turkey. Which makes me realize that I have no turkey pan. Mom's recipe definitely includes the pan. Anyone have a recipe for Thanksgiving turkey that does not include a pan?

Moving on...should the Lord tarry past turkey day. I feel like we have run the Haiti gamut of trying to find ways that make Christmas feel special to us the past three years. We have repeatedly given ourselves the talk that Who and what Christmas is really about IS what makes it special. Everything else is just fillers and substitutes. It IS Jesus birthday. But we all look forward to the birthday party right? We are really looking forward to HIS party this year! This year there will be no wondering if the kids presents will make it through shipping and customs in time, no last minute frantically searching and buying a pitiful overpriced substitute present because grandparents didn't make it, no sadness over not having electricity to plug in Christmas lights, listen to Christmas music, cooking Christmas dinner and playing games in the dark, no sweating and swatting mosquitoes. There will be no locally caught tropical parrot fish happily cooked up by Genise as a Christmas lunch present to us. There will be no red and green food themed Christmas dinner which was my totally lame idea to avoid the kids asking for Christmas turkey. So we splurged on imported frozen lasagna and broccoli (the red and green foods) that we didn't end up eating after parrot fish and stomach bug episodes. As I recall all these things from three Christmases past I am smiling. We have made the most of the past three years and don't wish to trade those unforgettable memories. But this Christmas we are all looking forward to un-Haiti made memories. Our family has never spent Christmas together outside of Haiti since our girls have joined our family. We have never all experienced grandparents and cousins and Ta's Christmas turkey all celebrating Jesus birth together. This is what we are most looking forward to this holiday season.

Last April as we were searching for the best timed and priced tickets to return to Haiti after our summer travels we were not thinking it would be possible to return to the states as soon as Christmas. But then we found amazingly priced tickets that cost the same whether we only returned to Haiti in the fall or also booked roundtrip tickets to include a stateside Christmas. This Christmas is the first Christmas in many years that all my siblings and parents were able and planning to spend Christmas together in Texas. We really wanted to be there and felt that finding the affordable tickets was a green light. Little did we know then that there would be other reasons. God knew. We found out in August shortly before returning to Haiti that I would need to have extensive dental work completed over three appointments that must be scheduled three weeks apart. Then there is the home we own in New Braunfels, Texas. The only option we had due to time constraints and adoption paperwork filed under that house at the time we moved to Haiti was to sell as much as we could and rent the house partially furnished. That is what we have continued to do throughout the past three years and three renters. We felt that as long as the house was covered financially without having to raise or take away from donations for Haiti ministry we could feel good about the house being used to bless others with it being a financial wash to us. A sweet family who has rented the house for the past year and 1/2 has enjoyed filling the house with teenagers like we once did during our years spent working with students there. We knew they would like to continue renting the house and it was our desire that they be able to do so. However, the taxes we have to pay on the property value have gone up in the past year and this forced us to re-evaluate the situation. We have not yet raised even half of the financial support we need to live in Haiti and knew we could not afford to keep the house under the current financial conditions with the tax increase. So after praying and consulting financial advisors we gave our renters two months notice that we would need to raise the rent to the current market value or we would need for them to move so that we could remove the rest of our belongings out of the house and put it up for sale. The only time we have to do this is over the Christmas holidays since we already had tickets. This came at a challenging time for our renters as the mother had been struggling with her health but we thought at the time we sent the letter that she was improving. We found out the next day that she was scheduled for heart surgery. She is in Minnesota as I write this undergoing her heart surgery today. If you are reading this please take a moment now to pray for Jill and her family. The family could not justify nor afford a rent increase in the midst of doctor and hospital expenses and time away from work. So they moved out last weekend. We were thankful to hear that they have family in the area that have a home and heart to help them during this time. We felt terrible about the timing. But God knew and we are all trusting His timing is for the best for all of us.

I am thankful that we will be spending Christmas in our old New Braunfels house for several reasons. We moved to Haiti very fast and the boys didn't have much opportunity for closure. Before we knew we were moving to Haiti we had prepared the girls room at that house and showed them pictures. All four children have asked if they will ever be able to sleep in their beds in their rooms in Texas even just one time and have prayed for that even though us parents somewhat discouraged those purely sentimental notions. I have sentimental notions of my own. After spending the past nine months in some form of living out of suitcases, sweating and swatting mosquitoes, and suffering sickness while sweating and swatting mosquitoes I really am not up for that cycle all over again. In between traveling to DFW for dental appointments it will be really nice to wash my own dishes in our own place with actual running water. It is difficult to explain with words what this means to me. You see, since I have been my girls mother they have only been able to observe and learn from me in our Haiti world or while staying in other people's homes in our America world. We have always had adult Haitian women bustling about our house in Haiti doing things to help us that I never had help with in our American home (because in America there are machines that help with physical labor). It was nearly a year before our girls were informed that I could drive a vehicle and wash clothes. When Ethan told them that I used to drive him twenty minutes to school each morning they didn't believe it because they had never seen it and could hardly imagine it. You should have seen the look on Elita's face the first time I pulled into a gas station her second day in the states and she learned that her mom knows how to pump gas. You see, in Haiti you don't get to pump your own gas. This is just one example of a whole slew of things that our Haiti world has never allowed me to teach and experience with my daughters . My girls have taught me how to live in their first world. I have longed for a chance to teach them how to live in mine. We started the girls adoptions and prepared to bring them home to that house long before we knew God was preparing to bring us home to them in Haiti. In His goodness He has brought us full circle.

The kids and I will fly from Haiti December 10th. Eric will follow on the 15th where he will arrive
to meet me in Dallas and drive me back from my first of three dental operations. We will spend a few weeks in the house over Christmas which we hope will give us time to go through the remainder of our stateside earthly possessions and figure out what to do with them and the future of the house. We have a wedding to attend in DFW January 2nd and Eric will fly back to Haiti from DFW on January 6th. We are still praying about the date the children and I should return to Haiti. I have my second dental appointment scheduled for January 5th. The third appointment has to be scheduled three weeks later to give time for shifting and healing before the final procedure. We originally planned for me to use some saved up air miles and make a quick roundtrip from Haiti by myself for this. Now since we don't know how the house situation will unfold we are leaving that up in the air and tentatively planning for the kids and I to stay in Texas during the month of January until after both the dental and house processes are completed. We appreciate your prayers as we make our plans and the Lord determines our steps in all these details and all the details of leaving Haiti and those we are leaving behind. We are praying that our Haiti house could be a blessing to others if there is a need for a family to stay in Haiti over the holidays. We need someone here to feed our dogs and not leave the house vacant. If we could leave knowing someone will be here that would be a huge relief and blessing to us too.

I spent last week with a precious family that has served the Lord faithfully in Haiti for the past 68 years. They had asked me to help document their stories and I was happy to have this honor. One thing Wallace, now in his late eighties continually stated in nearly every story is "You know, God sees ahead." So. Much. Truth. There. While there are still many unknowns such as how we will accomplish all that needs to be done concerning the house, we remember that God sees ahead and there are no unknowns for Him. As we seek His best and walk with Him making our plans we believe that the Lord will continue to determine our steps. He is directing your steps too! Thank you for your partnership as we seek to serve Him faithfully together in all our plans for His glory. Hope your turkey turns out tasty!


Tuesday, November 4, 2014

The Glad Game



But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; 
may those who long for your saving help always say,
"The Lord is great!" 
Psalm 40:16


It is hard to believe it is November as I watch the kids search the calendar already counting the days till Christmas break. I’m thankful the roller coaster month of October is over. The month began with a slew of disappointments. Discouragement continually knocked at our door. So many people prayed and gave so that we could purchase a generator that would provide power to our home. It was our daily hope since our return to Haiti in September that our purchased generator could be delivered. Delay after delay continued to defer our hope until our hearts were sick and our bodies saturated with sweat and sleep deprived were nearly depleted. It was hard not to despair. We needed the glad game.


 One of my favorite childhood films is “Pollyanna”. Pollyanna was the orphaned daughter of missionary parents. The story begins with her coming to live with her unhappy rich aunt whose money controls the entire town. Pollyanna spends her days finding miserable people and changing their perspectives about their predicaments.  One day she happens upon the town preacher practicing his sermon in a field. She shares a story about how as a little girl on the mission field she wanted a doll very badly so her father sent word to the missionary society asking for a little doll. But to her great disappointment the missionary barrels only brought her a pair of crutches instead of a doll. That’s when her father made up the glad game. The game was to just find something about everything to be glad about-no matter what it was. "Did it work?" asked the preacher.
"Oh, yes," nodded Pollyanna, emphatically. Father said he felt better right away, that first day he thought to count 'em (the "glad passages" in the Bible). He said if God took the trouble to tell us eight hundred times in the Bible to be glad and rejoice, He must want us to do it." The preacher said, “Well I don’t see anything to be glad about a pair of crutches.” Pollyanna replies, “We decided we would be glad that we didn’t have to use them.”

The first disappointment was finding and fighting lice...again. Our boys had picked up head lice from a summer camp they attended in the states and we fought it for weeks trying to make sure we had thoroughly extinguished the problem before returning to Haiti. We did not bring anything back to Haiti that would have been contaminated as I feared how much worse it would be to try to get rid of it here. Plus, I didn’t bring any supplies and couldn’t find any here. So we looked up natural remedies and spent many hours with mayonnaise and vinegar on our heads. If we were playing Pollyanna’s “glad game” we could say that it’s a good thing we didn’t have the generator or we would have been sleeping in our bedrooms with fans. Why is that a good thing? Because we were camping outside on the porch where it was a tiny bit cooler and not in our beds, we didn’t contaminate the bedrooms with lice. I wasn't playing the glad game but as I prayed for the lice to go away I remembered the story Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom shared about her experience with lice. When lice was added to the unbearable conditions they suffered at the concentration camp, Corrie adamantly told her sister Betsie that she refused to thank God for the lice. A few weeks later the sisters learned that the reason their Bible had not been confiscated and their nightly sharing of God’s word with their prison mates had not been disbanded was because the prison guards avoided them out of fear of catching their lice. Betsie turned to Corrie and said, “See? Be thankful for the lice.” While I could not bring myself to be thankful for the lice, I was thankful for the many hours of one on one time I got to spend with Ethan while washing and combing through his hair (before we finally just chopped it off). I was able to be glad that the plague hit our boys whose hair we can chop and the kind of lice we picked up in the states do not like the kind of hair my girls have. Lice is not typically prevalent in Haiti. In fact I have never heard of anyone here having a lice problem. One more reason to be glad.


Next up was the culmination of a six month battle to get a contract agreement for our Haiti rental house. Just as we had done everything in our power to make peace, negotiated till we were blue in the face and thought we could glimpse a light at the end, the exit was blocked by Haitian logic (or the lack thereof) and we were held hostage in the dark tunnel. We sadly put the delivery of our generator on hold as we waited to see what would happen. We were summoned to court three times, threatened and falsely accused, had to get a lawyer, were told we would now have to pay more for our rent since the landlord felt it necessary to hire a lawyer to threaten us (even though it was his own responsibility to give us a contract before we could pay him) and were forced to look at other housing alternatives which took up a lot of time and energy. In the midst of this time consuming and extremely frustrating process I began to feel very sick. At first I just thought it was dehydration and general exhaustion. Then I thought it was the flu or another common virus. But as the fever, chills, and severe body aches subsided and gave way to an unbearable aching, stinging, burning in my hands and feet I gave up all hope that the chickunguya plague I had dreaded so much had not succeeded in finding me. This was a very low point of discouragement for me. Even as the pain began to subside I found I had very little physical energy. I had already felt so discouraged with the lice, lack of electricity, and house drama on top of the typical difficulties we daily encounter in Haiti life that there had been little time or energy for ministry. I found myself asking things like, “God, did you really send me to Haiti just to swat mosquitoes all day?” The kids would return from school and say, “Mommy you are still sleeping?” Not exactly. Try sleeping in 100% humidity without a fan, mosquitoes, noisy neighbors, barking dogs, and a loud and busy two year old that lives in your house while someone is beating your raw sunburned hands and feet with a whip (that’s the best I can do to describe what “chick-v” felt like after the fever, chills, and body aches). I wish I could say that at least I could minister to the needs of my family but just cooking dinner was a giant stretch. I am not typically prone to depression but found myself nearly there. Though I resembled one of the miserable people Pollyanna came to visit, I found it easy to play the glad game during this time. I am glad for a servant-leader husband who presses on with ministry, puts others needs before his and loves me so well even when I am high maintenance and unlovely for weeks on end. I am glad for four sweet children who dress themselves, help with housework, diligently do their schoolwork, and who can even cook a few things. I am glad for kindhearted Miguel living with us, helping Eric at the school, helping the kids with their schoolwork as well as taking over the ministry of teaching English classes to our Haitian neighbors. I am thankful that in Haiti even though we don’t have the amenities I once couldn’t imagine living without in the states, I never once imagined that I would have a maid to help me around the house. So I am glad for Genise who helps us so much with many time consuming and physically demanding tasks. I don’t know how I would have survived the past month without her help. I am thankful to experience the prayers, care and concern of others in so many ways from encouraging notes on Facebook to special bug spray, batteries, vitamins, essential oils, healthy foods sent by mail or brought in by friends coming to Haiti. I found myself glad for every little breeze sent our way. I am glad for the opportunity to read God’s word and be reminded by the first missionaries that I am not alone in distressing circumstances and that God is faithful and purposeful in his plans for me too. During my sickness I read the biography of Mary Baker who was a missionary to Africa. Her story not only encouraged me that even she was disabled from continuing many of the ministries to which she had been called during long periods of sickness or political instability, but also influenced in me a stronger desire to not waste the times we are able to actively pursue sharing Christ love and the gospel at every opportunity. If I had not been hot, sick, and under the stress of summons to court and potentially having to move while reading this book I doubt I would have read it with the same perspective. I read of the many ways Mary Baker played the glad game in her trials and in the end decided that if she could play in her circumstances, I certainly could too. I am glad that I don't have to worry about contracting the awful chicken ick again since you can only get it once. If anyone else gets it, I am glad I know how it feels and can take care of them.


 Next up were the Evan episodes. Feeling a bit better I desperately wanted to get out of the house to go to church and make the trip to Port au Prince to get groceries and supplies for the week ahead. Sitting in a lawn chair at our beachside church service listening to Eric give the morning devotion, I scanned the ground to see where my kids had landed. Scanning, scanning, scanning the many dark faces on the ground, I spotted three of my four children. Evan was not on the ground so I started scanning upward. Like a koala bear clinging to a tree, there he was in his preferred habitat. After the service he climbed a little higher and found himself disturbing the home of some Haitian wasps. The swelling that accompanied the several stings he was served on his face, ears, neck, and arms kept him looking like an alien for the next few days. I was glad for two things. He didn’t fall from the tree (on this occasion) but somehow was able to calmly climb down. And like Ethan with the lice, I was gifted the opportunity to spend some extra time with Evan as he stayed home from school and recovered. Like today. Today Evan is home from school recovering from another tree incident. We are glad he is alive and is miraculously only a little banged up on the surface after falling at least 20 ft straight down from a tree house rope swing. We are thankful for the body of Christ who came alongside us to help check Evan out to make sure he was ok. We have so many reasons to be thankful for God’s protection and are reminded not to fear what man or tree accidents or sickness can do to us. Our lives are but a thread, but God is in control. There is nothing that happens that He does not will. This became very real to us this past week. We were enjoying some time with other missionaries at the beach before Evan fell from the tree. On the way there we were talking to our kids about boat safety and how dangerous it could be if they did not follow instructions. Evan said, “What if something did happen to one of us and we died?” Eric’s response was, “Well, I would be very sad because I would miss you but I’m thankful that I know where you would be and that I would get to see you again one day in Heaven.” We thought about this conversation later and have not stopped giving thanks that our Lord has granted us more time on this earth with our son.


 A few days before this I was walking with my friend Betsy who had come from Port au Prince to visit us on her days off work. We were walking in our neighborhood where I had walked many times before. I don’t ever walk alone as we have experienced dangerous situations in the past and usually don’t carry anything with me but my water bottle. Eric asked me to take my phone the last time I had walked that stretch and Betsy’s phone needed to be charged, so I took a cheap little phone along. We came to a wide slippery slope of rock out in the middle of nowhere with no one in sight. We had just began our decent when out of nowhere a well built man came out of the grasses, quickly cut across the path and seized my arm. It happened so fast I didn’t realize what was going on or what he wanted. Betsy tells me I said something neither of us remembers and put up a good resistance. Once it dawned on me that the man was after the little phone in my palm, I simply let him have it and he ran off up the hill the other direction. Now I knew Betsy, who I met in Haiti during the riots of 2010 when she was serving as a nurse at our girls orphanage had been in a few sketchy situations before. I didn’t worry about this incident scaring her as now she is a nurse on Haiti’s first emergency helicopter ambulance so is used to high level Haiti stress. We continued on a pleasant walk and a few minutes later Betsy asked me if I was shaken or upset by what had happened. I said, “I have been wanting a new phone anyways and apparently he needed that one more than me. But I am frustrated that this happened because I don’t want this beautiful walk to be taken away out of fear of things like this.” The rest of the day we found lots of ways to play the glad game. We were glad it was an old cheap phone that is easily replaced. We were glad that I had already lost all the numbers from having to switch out the SIM card when returning to Haiti so I didn’t mourn losing them twice as I had only saved four numbers in that phone in hopes of getting another soon. We were thankful that there was less than $1 worth of minutes left on the phone so the guy didn’t get off with much. We were thankful that it was only a phone that was taken and not one of us or that he didn’t try to harm us in any other way. Betsy and I joked later about what might have been and decided that together we could have tackled him and made him regret messing with us. But then we thought about all the rocks around and that Haitians don’t like to fight fair. We know from past experience that if we had done anything that harmed the guy (even if only a tiny scratch) it would have been us that would have suffered the consequences due to the lack of justice in this country to foreigners. So let’s be glad there was no more drama than that was worth. The same day Eric came home with a signed contract and had given the final payment for our house which ended up being exactly what we had asked for months and months ago. For this we are very glad and praise God. We don’t know why we had to go through all that drama, but trust that God wanted to teach us more about the Haitian court system, prepare our hearts for the possibility of moving at a moments notice, allow us to count it all joy when we were falsely accused in court, feel the prayers of the saints, and use these experiences to prepare us for whatever He has for us in the future that will bring Him the most glory.

Generator arrives by a crane to our neighborhood!

Thumbs up for power!
  














We are playing the glad game a lot these days as we enjoy the blessing of our new generator that has been dubbed “Julie” named after one of the many people who has never been to Haiti, but has a huge heart for serving our Lord, Haiti and us. There is no way to truly express in words what it is like to sleep without sweat and mosquitoes buzzing over our heads, to enjoy a cold glass of water, to be able to use the coffee pot in the mornings, to keep foods fresher for longer in the refrigerator and freezer, to sleep in beds at night.


New batteries
New inverter and transformer
















We are still taking bucket baths and hauling buckets of water to wash dishes, clothes, and flush toilets. However, we are glad that the only reason for this is that we have been so busy lately we just haven’t gotten around to fixing up the new pump. After laying around sick for two weeks, busy and the fact that my hands are allowing me to type this much are very good things. We have also been so glad to have back to back visits with friends the past week that encouraged us greatly through their fellowship. The Pfaff family (check them out http://pfamilymission.com/) who is prayerfully planning to move full time to serve in Haiti is here for a month and we were able to bring them out to stay with us for a few days. After only having met them twice before in Haiti and Atlanta, we bonded with them instantly and look forward to being lifelong friends. We dropped them back in Port au Prince and picked up our dear friend Betsy whom I mentioned earlier. We had some overdue girl time catching up and encouraging one another that we both really needed at the end of a long month. We piggybacked the trip taking Betsy home and paid a visit to our favorite Haiti missionaries, Wallace and Eleanor Turnbull. Wallace and Eleanor, now in their late 80’s and 90’s are both second generation pioneer missionaries in Haiti who have been living and serving in Haiti for 70 years. They are “know it alls” (in a good way) and we love them for that as they certainly have earned that right. We got to know the Turnbulls during the three months we temporarily lived at the Baptist Mission back in 2012 and have learned more from their stories and wisdom than we have from any of the books we have read (except for the ones written about them). The kids and I had the privilege of visiting their Virginia home during our time in the states and we always look forward to soaking up their adventure stories. They are back in Haiti for the next few months and brought a computer for us that my parents had sent with them, so we were glad to have a good excuse to travel up to the mountains of Fermathe. Seeing the joy in their wrinkled faces after so many years of so many hardships and even the death of one of their sons in Haiti tells me that they must have been playing this glad game all along. Wallace left us by saying, “You know, even though I now have to walk with this walker and there are certain things I can no longer do, I wake up each morning and pray that God will allow my life to count in some way today.” Some might say they have done enough, but here they are still pouring out their lives and asking God to make them count for eternity. I’m so glad for examples like them.


Have you tried playing the glad game lately? Try it! You will be glad you did.


 "It'll be just lovely for you to play -- it'll be so hard. 
And there's so much more fun when it is hard!" 
-Pollyanna  


I'll play right now. Genise just brought little Evangeline to me sick. Miguel is home sick today as well. I am glad to have a sweet friend named Angie who introduced me to essential oils that I am using to help them and that helped me so much when I was sick. (Plug: If you have ever wanted to try essential oils, ask me how to order! I am now a distributor for Young Living and am trying to just earn enough points to keep us stocked up in Haiti.) I am thankful to have a home with power where we can be refreshed for service, where the weak can rest and for a God who heals. We are glad we have so many reasons to praise God for His protection, provision, and promises in the past month. We are glad to have so many friends and family members praying for us around the world. Thank you to those who have sent us your praises and prayer requests. We love the privilege of praying for you too! The following are some specific prayer requests we have at this time.


 Pastor trainings- The larger pastor trainings have temporarily been stalled due to lack of funding for those hosting the trainings to house and feed the Haitian pastors that come from all over the country. Please pray that these will be able to start up again soon.


Church- The Sundays we do not have ministry responsibilities at Haitian churches, we attend Montrouis International Fellowship, that is about 50% missionaries and 50% English speaking Haitians. Eric enjoys helping lead and our family is enjoying being engaged in this body. There is a family preparing to move to Haiti in January to pastor this church. Please pray for this transition to go well.


El Shaddai Learning Center School- Eric stays busy helping direct the school, leading and ministering to Haitian students, their families, and the teachers 4 days each week. Please pray for direction for the school’s future and transition to one school building currently being enlarged due to the rent being raised again on the school buildings.


HGIM Godet Children’s Center- The children’s center (18 kids, several caretakers and employees) that our mission organization (Heart of God International Ministries) supports is going to be experiencing transitions over the next few months. The missionary who has been on the ground there the past two years is moving back to the states soon and others are needed to fill her shoes in many ways. We are praying about how the Lord would have us be available to help during this transition and future opportunities to serve in Godet (which is about a 3 hour drive from where we currently live in St. Marc).


English Classes/Miguel- Miguel is currently manning the neighborhood English classes (as well as helping supervise in the high school at El Shaddai) and we are so thankful for his heart to serve. Please pray for this young man as he seeks the Lord with his whole heart and for direction for his future. Also please pray for his health as he has not felt well since arriving in Haiti and we suspect he may be suffering from chickungunya at this time. He is praying that if it is the Lord’s will for him to return in January after Christmas break, that he will be able to raise his funding over the holidays.


Kofael (Women’s Microloan Program)- The women’s program is going well and growing fast. Four grant applications were sent off for submission in October that we pray will provide the funding to expand this sustainable program to other areas beyond Port au Prince in order to help more women provide for their families. The Port au Prince program is at full capacity and there is much work to be done. Please pray for continued wisdom and direction and provision for this program. Our Haitian Kofael directors Frantz and Julienne delivered their first child this past week. Her name is Jochebed (Moses mother’s name in the Bible). Mother and baby are doing fine but had an extended and much more expensive hospital stay after a cesarean was required. Please pray for financial provision and also for Frantz and Julienne as they transition to being new parents with the demands of ministry, work, and school as well.


Upcoming travel- We are prayerfully planning a trip to the next Kofael expansion site in Trou Du Nord, near the Dominican Republic border at the end of November. We are planning to take the whole family as this could be a long trip, Eric needs to do the driving and the women have been waiting a long time for Elisabeth to come. We are hoping to be able to drive over to the D.R. since we will be so close and spend Thanksgiving there with our family and Miguel (who speaks Spanish). We need to be able to acquire the necessary documents/tags for our vehicle to cross the border. Please pray for all these trip details and travel safety.


Funding – We are so thankful for the many ways God has provided for our family to serve in Haiti. Please continue to pray for full funding that will enable us to serve to the best of our ability and provide for our needs fully.





Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Bumps, Blessings, and Back Up Plans

Bumps
We have had our fare share in the last month since returning to this little island. Getting resettled and adjusting to life back in Haiti has been an expected adjustment. Little things like re-teaching ourselves that the toilet paper doesn't go in the toilet, bucket bathing outside, fighting mosquitos constantly and remembering what it feels like to sweat are among the small bumps experienced (though sweating off seven pounds of U.S. fast food in two weeks is a plus for me). A larger bump has been trying to get settled back in our St. Marc rental home while trying to work things out with the owner of this house. I have not at all nice words I could use to refer to him right now, but I will spare you. God knows and is working on my heart regarding my nasty thoughts about the giant jerk and justice factor. The owner has been promising to come see his house and the issues we moved into that he promised and we paid to have fixed in our original contract for the past year and 1/2. He lives in the states and speaks English making the situation even more ridiculous because we have been communicating with him the entire time we were stateside about a new contract and getting him paid. He refused to make a new contract nor give us his info to wire him the money for the past 5 months saying that he wanted to come and see the house first. He finally came and arrived unannounced on our doorstep one week after the kids and I arrived in Haiti. Then he practically moved in for the next week to "fix" the issues. We were thankful for the trying to fix part but were less thankful about his brutality during the 15 + face to face hours spent trying to negotiate anything reasonable with him demanding payment for the things not fixed that we have lived with and refusing to budge. Though it is unjust and we certainly want to make sure we are good stewards with the money God gives us through support, being good stewards of our time and energy is also important. It takes money, time, and lots of energy to move somewhere else. So we worked up a contract and a payment plan (most of which had already been agreed to by the owner) and tried our best to get it to him so he could sign it before he returned to the states a week after his arrival. We missed him by only a minute passing him on the road and calling his name and phone to no avail. We were 30 min late for our appointment due to getting caught in the rain and needing gas to get back from trying to translate a contract that was his responsibility to write up in the first place. We had to go somewhere else to plug in because there is no electricity at the house. Go figure. He blames our lateness on the current ugly state of affairs not remotely taking into consideration the 100+ hours we have waited over the past year for workers to show up at the house and his own hour and 1/2 tardiness the previous week after we rushed back for the meeting at the time he had set and kept the others attending the meeting waiting as well. The slightest consideration of others has not come into play. I called him two days after he returned to Florida apologizing for missing him (even though he was at the house all week and did not produce a contract and has had 5 months to produce a contract) and explained that we would send the money as soon as he signed the contract I would e-mail him. I explained what was in the contract most of which he had already agreed to and told him we had left some fill in the blanks and had a few questions before we sent it to make sure it was ok. He of course was not ok with us suggesting anything other than meeting his demands. Eric and I were praying about what we should do for two days after that phone conversation in order to send a contract that the owner might agree with even if it was not in our favor. We were not looking for favors or justice for us at that point but just to be able to get past this issue. The day we were planning to e-mail the contract for him to sign (and then subsequently send the remainder of the money he demanded) we were served a subpoena to appear at court in 3 days with allegations that we had not finished paying from last year (we have his signature and bank statements for that) among other bogus and simply threatening statements. So Eric got to spend yesterday finding a lawyer and is scheduled to spend tomorrow going to pick up that lawyer two hours away, driving him to the St. Marc courthouse, and then driving the lawyer two hours back after the hearing. Supposedly the judge is coming to our house as well. Um. Okay. Hoping the street has electricity when he shows up so we can prove that we don't. We are praying and asking for prayers that the judge will see the facts of the case and not just foreigners money OR better yet that the owner comes to his senses beforehand and accepts one out of the many reasonable offers we have given him. This has been our biggest bump so far the past month. We do not expect justice as we did not expect to just settle in and have everything go smoothly. Whether it is Satan's ploy to distract us from ministry or simply another learning experience we need in order to prepare us for a future battle, these bumps don't surprise us. But they do stretch and stress us!



"In Christ, we are a grain of corn in a clear bottle.
Satan comes like a chicken and pecks for the corn,
but never reaches it."
Haitian Proverb
Blessings
"You survived." This was what we got to hear each time we asked the owner of our rental house to consider what we have been through at our expense and his benefit. We argued that we did not pay to simply "survive" but after thinking about it a lot (not nice thoughts) I have realized that what he said is true. I think maybe he was surprised as others have been that we actually came back knowing what it is like to live this survival life. We survived and are still surviving despite lots of stretching and stress. This is not because we are super saints that love being insulted, accused, used, and unnecessarily forced to sweat buckets because the owner had the electrical wires detached but then neglected to pay for the company to hook up the meter he promised to hook up 18 months ago (in the same way he has neglected to pay for other promised essential things like windows, doors, and plumbing). Therefore, while the rest of our humble neighborhood has enjoyed some electricity the past two weeks, none has come to our house. It is easy to feel deflated and depressed in these times, but we are reminded daily to "count it all joy" and keep on surviving. There are days it feels like suffering. This is in the blessings section because it would be a blessing to suffer for Christ sake. Yet compared to our brothers and sisters around the world who are truly suffering in chains and/or facing death for the sake of the gospel, it is no comparison to our silly circumstances. It is a blessing to sweat and survive faithfully. Our sweating and surviving has made us extra excited as we continue to anticipate the day when we will be able to hook up our biggest blessings (at least in size and costs) of the month...our new generator, batteries, inverter, and one of a kind transformer! We are blown away and super encouraged by God's provision for these things through many of you who gave money to purchase them, to the friend who surprised us by building and shipping us a one of a kind inside the house mount transformer (which fixes the voltage problem so that when city electricity is available we can access it without burning up our appliances and save money on generator fuel), to missionary and Haitian friends and workers who have helped us purchase and prepare all these things for the day we will be able to fully enjoy them! The biggest blessings we have been able to already enjoy this month are being reunited with dear friends and continuing ministries in Haiti, having sweet and servant hearted Miguel live with us and join our family in ministry for the next few months (at least). He has been a huge blessing and help with the kids in the midst of the bumps of the past few weeks. Another blessing in disguise (that we all thought was a bump) is that the Pfaff family of five who has also planned to come and live with us has been delayed due to the contract on the sale of their house falling through and fund raising being a slower process than they had expected. But God knew what we would face when we got here and it has been a good thing that they are not here just yet. We are praying to be blessed with their presence and introduce you to them at the end of this month if those plans line up with His!
Another blessing that I know many have been praying for is that we are all healthy and functioning well despite the heat and mosquitos. We do not know for sure if the chikungunya mosquito virus has complete run its course on the island, but we are counting our blessings that we have not been its latest victims.

"Don't put your load of trouble in a basket on your head.
Put them on Jesus head.
You won't have headaches."
Haitian Proverb


Back up plans
Of course we didn't know any of this would happen with our house situation the past month and don't know what the resolution will be. When plans fail due to unforeseen circumstances, it is often difficult to know how to progress beyond the daily "we survived". Ministry has continued as we plan and pursue but is easily caught up in the daily grind. Every missionary book we have read has listed this as one of the top reasons missionaries leave the field. They tire of  leading the "simple life" while simultaneously trying to type a newsletter without electricity. We are thankful to remember that while we make our plans, the Lord directs our steps. We continue to have peace in trusting that whenever our plans falter, He always has a back up plan that is always better. We have a potential back up plan for another house not far away should we end up having to move. Perhaps if that was God's plan all along, we will soon see how much better it is! If His plan is for us to stay right where we are, that will be better too (at least once we get our generator delivered after this house mess is settled)! Prayers appreciated for protection as we pursue progress and backup plans!


"Lord,
Your servant doesn't know left from right.
Even now I don't know which one of your hands I am in.
Whether I am in the left or the right, it doesn't matter.
I am in Your hands.
That's enough."
Haitian Proverb






Sunday, August 10, 2014

About that Generator.......

Most days in Haiti feel just like this looks...
You can row your boat all day and not get very far.
$20,000 for a generator? Really? We understand this question that we have asked ourselves and tried to get around several ways without success the past year since moving to our neighborhood in St. Marc. Our first year in Haiti we lived on a compound that had its own generators. Our second year in Haiti we lived on another compound with many power sources for a few months before moving to St. Marc where we were able to live on the school property using that generator for another four months until we were able to secure our own housing. We have struggled to live as simply as possible while meeting many needs without sufficient electricity to our home the past year. Though it is very hard at times, living among our Haitian neighbors has been the very best way for us to build relationships with them. In many ways it has been a blessing in disguise to live like our neighbors who mostly do not have sufficient power. These have been trying but wonderful learning experiences that God allowed us to have so that we could understand the people and culture we came to serve a little better. We better understand why things are the way they are and why people behave the way they do. We know they watch us and have seen us struggle alongside them. We feel the same joy and cheer from the porch along with our neighbors on the rare occasions the lights come on. We also know they think we are crazy for choosing this life. The poor do not like living in poverty. It is not fun and there is no romanticizing it away even with cherished memories of joyful cheers. Our choosing to live in a poor Haitian neighborhood is a world of difference away from the abject involuntary poverty that surrounds us. However, we did not choose to move and serve in Haiti so that we could live like the poor around us but to help them improve their lives spiritually, emotionally, and physically through a variety of ways. The district we live in only rarely receives even scant electricity that accompanies an imbalanced voltage problem. This voltage issue (which we have tried to remedy with regulators in the past) causes severe brownout and our appliances have already suffered its blows. Due to the scarcity of even the low voltage electricity received and location of our house, the option to install a transformer (not a cheap option either) has been ruled out. Solar panels are always suggested. We would love to be able to purchase and install large solar panels instead of a generator. While purchasing enough solar panels to store electricity would most likely cost as much as a generator, they would definitely save on expensive fuel required to run the generator. Unfortunately we cannot at this time figure out a way to install solar panels without a very high risk that those expensive panels will be stolen. Our neighbors can walk on to our house from their roof. If we were away from the house for only a few hours (not to mention a few days or months) we know we would face the sad experience other missionaries who have lived in this area have coming home to stolen solar panels. The generator must be delivered by a crane into our back yard. It weighs half a ton. It would be extremely difficult for someone to steal. Even when we lived on a secure compound with two 24 hr. armed security guards on patrol, we had all our batteries that store the electricity from the generator walk away from our house. We have not had this issue with our batteries at our new house because they are locked up securely inside our caged front porch. However, due to having very limited funds to purchase long lasting batteries (still were not cheap at a couple thousand dollars) when we arrived in St. Marc, our past battery investment bit the dust after only one year of use. We have maintained our $2,000 inverter which inverts the stored power from the batteries that are charged by the power source (city power, generator, or solar panels). Due to the severity of damage done to appliances (mostly our computers as we kept everything else unplugged) from the limited city power that does come in, we need to be able to get off the grid completely and only use our own source of electricity. Since solar panels are out for the time being, our only option is a generator and better batteries.
Several people have asked why we cannot simply purchase the same generator for $5,000 less in the states and ship it to Haiti? Well, we could. But...by the time we purchase, pay for shipping, processing, customs, and wait (possibly months) and then figure out how to somehow get the 1,000 pound generator off the boat with most likely a lot of fuss and hassle and more monies demanded, we will have spent close to or more than the $13,000 the generator costs to purchase in Haiti.
Others have asked why we need this particular expensive generator? If we were to purchase a different brand that may be cheaper we would have major issues on a regular basis and spend more time and money on parts and labor. We say this based on the testimonies of many others we have watched go through this who have advised and encouraged us what would give us the best output for the money without us continually having to put more money, time, and energy into it. Some have suggested purchasing a good brand but maybe a smaller generator that we would have to run more often. We have a large house in Haiti. We have had an average of 9-20 people living/staying in this house consistently. All of these people have needs in order to keep them fed, rested, clean and healthy. It is not possible to provide refrigeration to keep foods fresh, fans to combat the extreme heat and mosquitos we live with year round, or running water without electricity. The only way to provide sufficient electricity to such a large household that will allow us to run all of our appliances and charge the batteries at the same time (therefore saving expensive gas and time spent facilitating the running of all these things) is to purchase a large generator that can handle that load. It will blow the breaker if we run it on a smaller generator.
We hope this answers any questions and concerns about why we are budgeting so much for this need. We have researched what will work best to run the household and be most cost effective in the long run. After checking on current pricing we have budgeted $13,000 to purchase the generator in Haiti, $5,000 for 12 good batteries costing $400 each, and are estimating that it may cost up to another $2,000 for delivery of the generator from Port au Prince to St. Marc, purchasing cords and attachments and installation. This is where we are getting the $20,000 budget.

Elisabeth and the kids are scheduled to return to Haiti in less than a month. Eric needs to book his ticket to arrive in Haiti even earlier in the next three weeks in order to be able to get personal affairs (such as repairs and Lord willing the purchase and installation of a generator) completed at the house before teacher workshops, trainings, and the start of school commences in early September and our family and five others preparing to come live and serve with us arrive on the scene. We honestly do not know how this is going to happen but we are trusting that God will provide a way, one way or another. While the HOW? is our biggest unknown, our knowns are much bigger this time around. Perhaps that is the problem. It is easier not to know. When we first left for Haiti we didn't know what we were getting into exactly and it was exciting. We didn't much know what to expect so we didn't expect much. Gone is the exhilarating enchantment of venturing into unknown adventure.

We know that what we easily expect could happen is much scarier than this dude that roams our street selling machetes to our neighbors who would chop our dogs in two without a second thought.
We know cause this has almost happened more than once.
Dogs are one thing. People are another. We won't go into what we personally have experienced in the way of scares here. Perhaps that will be for a later book at a much later time when our mothers are no longer with us. When friends and family voiced their fears of Eric going to Israel in the midst of a war this past month, we were thinking, "do you have any idea what where we live?" Israel executes self defense forces and has bomb shelters everywhere. Have you ever seen Israel ranking in the top 10-15 most dangerous countries in the world? Haiti tops the charts in several Google searches over recent years at numbers 4, 9, and 13. A bit unnerving if one focuses on this. We don't...most of the time. It isn't machete man but Chikungunya which "has been merciless in Haiti" that is our most fearful concern with returning in the next few weeks. While nearly everyone on the island has suffered the Chikungunya epidemic in the months we have been away and it is said to be declining, we know there is still a high risk our family could be added to the victim list. We have sought wisdom from other missionaries/medically knowledgeable friends in Haiti who have been battling and researching this personally. We are going to do everything we can to up our immune systems and prevent getting bitten by mosquitos carrying this debilitating virus when we return. We are moving ahead with plans to return as scheduled because Haiti is our home where God has us and we need to be back there as soon as possible. While it is difficult not to fear the ramifications and lingering damage from this new physical threat that will be very difficult to avoid, it is not having the means to deal with the sickness should we get it that we will not be able to handle well under our current situation. It is that knowing thing again. It is one thing for unforeseeable sickness to come upon you. It is another thing to walk into it knowing what it will be like. We imagine what it will be like if (and likely, but Lord please no, when) we have 6 members of our family unable to move from bone crushing pain, covered in fever and rash, along with the 5 others coming to live with us down with this sickness...WITH NO FANS TO COOL US OFF, NO RUNNING WATER TO CLEAN US OFF, ETC. ETC. ETC. While we know that a generator will not necessarily prevent us getting sick from mosquito born illnesses (though it could lessen our chances if we are able to keep mosquitos at bay with fans), we know that in the event we get sick we will be able to survive it with much better if we have a generator at our home.

We are not asking for luxuries like air conditioning and hot water (although that would be nice). We would just like running water that doesn't come directly from this hole in the ground. The water will still come from this hole but it is possible (with a generator) that it can be pumped up to the roof and down through an actual shower in a real bathroom!

We have never before been afraid to visit or live in Haiti. But we are there now. God always finds new ways to stretch us doesn't He? We know we can camp in heat and mosquitos. We have done it before and we can do it again (though by God's grace we have never yet done it sick). We are still planning to head back to our Haiti home in the next month. We are really hoping we can head back knowing that we can purchase a generator and batteries for our home. We know it will take a small miracle for that to happen. We have been busy speaking at churches, to individuals and groups all summer and fundraising for our return to Haiti. We have raised $6,516.44 that has been designated specifically for the generator and batteries. We still have places to go and people to visit in the upcoming weeks. We are pretty travel weary to say the least after just returning to Texas last night. We know that our meager efforts to come up with another $13,483.56 in the next 3 weeks is not going to happen without a miracle. We are praying for that and asking you to join us please! We would like to ask you to share with your friends, family, Sunday school classes, clubs and groups about any possible fundraising projects to help us reach our goal of purchasing a generator and batteries before September. Click THIS LINK for more information on how to give a tax deductible donation in whatever way is best for you. Please continue to pray for us and that we would have a peace that surpasses our understanding (fears and known threats) even if this funding is not fully met before we need to return to Haiti.
We are tempted to feel stranded, to give in to sinking fear.
But we must, we must remember...

"Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute
While Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill:
Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?"
 
 
***All photos in this post were taken by us in our Haiti neighborhood.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Where God Guides...


"Where God Guides, He Provides...So Trust God" was the theme of a VBS at one of our special stops this summer spending time and serving with our friends in Crossroads, TN. It has continued as the theme of our summer as God continues to guide us all over the place! We have enjoyed our time with everyone we have been able to see in eleven states and three countries so far! We are so thankful for these relationships and the time so many you of have invested to share your lives with us. God has created us for relationships. He uses relationships at all levels to draw us closer to Him and through that relationship draw us closer to one another. Oh how we wish we'd been able to blog about all the places God has guided and provided for us during our travels in detail. Everyone has been so wonderful. We truly have the best friends and family in the world...all over the world. My grandma who is now with Jesus used to say everything was the best. "He is the best baby! This the best cake! That was the best sermon! Oh honey, it is just the best!" She said that about every baby and every thing she experienced everywhere she went! Everywhere we have been we have felt that it was just the very best. And then we enter another home and that was the best too! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to all of you who have loved and served us the past few months! You're the best!

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." Philippians 1:3-5

Through you God has provided the following answered prayers!
-One family decided that they could do without their suburban for two months and graciously allowed us to use it to travel from Illinois to Canada and back.
-Another family added phones on their family phone plan and mailed the phones where we first landed so we could use them for the summer. These phones also served as our GPS to get us everywhere we needed to go.
-Another family used their job benefits to help us get cheap flights on standby that got all of us and our many bags back to Texas after we returned the borrowed vehicle.
-Several friends and supporting churches have provided homes and hotels, food, fun, fellowship, and many additional treats (Disney World, zoo, beach, the gift of new family photos, Braves game, Gatlinburg/Smoky Mountains, drive in theatre double features, Summer camp for kids in Canada, Six Flags) along the way. Anything our children may have felt they missed the past three years spent in Haiti was made up for all in one summer and our girls got to relive a great deal of the childhood they never had. These special times have meant so much to us!
Because of your amazing hospitality we have been able to save a good portion of what we thought we would need to spend on the road and regular monthly expenses. We have saved nearly enough to pay the yearly rent on our Haiti house. We are very thankful for this and that our landlord has been gracious in granting us extra time.
Right now we have raised 1/3 of our fully funded monthly budget to be able to serve in Haiti well for the long haul. We are praising God for His provision and trusting Him to continue to provide for where He guides our family and yours in His perfect plan.

Other praises...
-There is a strong possibility we have a family of four and another young man coming to serve alongside us this upcoming semester in Haiti! We are excited about what God has in the works! 
-Kofael continues to progress and the loans needed for the rest of the summer are fully funded from donations and as the women have been faithful in paying back their loans. A team led by our mission organization assisted with the Kofael meeting in Haiti this past month. We are thrilled they were able to be there to encourage the women and be encouraged by this ministry.

Prayer request...
-Eric will be traveling to Israel July 22nd-August 5th. This trip has been planned for a long time. If you have been watching the news you know this is not the best time to go. However, Eric, Scott (who is traveling with Eric and leaving for Africa straight from Israel), and the HGIM leadership team believe they will be able to accomplish the goals of the trip. We have many contacts in Israel that will be able to help them do so as safely as possible. Please pray for their travels and safe return as you pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
-A terrible new mosquito virus called "chikungunya", "chickV", and also "the bone crushing disease" has been plaguing the entire island of Haiti since around the time we left. Nearly every person we know in Haiti has suffered from this virus and most everyone who has suffered continues to have severe on-going pain from relapses weeks and months later. Please pray for their full recoveries and for this epidemic to end. Pray also for wisdom as we plan to return to Haiti soon with our family and do all we can to stay healthy so that we can continue to serve well.
-Pray for the funds to be able to purchase a large generator and batteries to come in the next month so that we can get this set up as soon as we return to meet the needs of our family and the five others coming to live and serve with us in Haiti. We do not see how it will be possible to function well and stay healthy (mosquitos stay away from fans but fans need electricity) to provide for such a large household without any electricity or running water. We have set up a separate fundraiser page for the generator. Please check it out HERE and pray with us for this big expensive need!

-Please pray for continued traveling mercies for us, for healing and direction for some of our family members going through difficult times, for the new partnerships God is bringing us in Haiti and financial provision for them as well, for us to trust God with all of these. Remembering, "Where God Guides, He Provides...SO TRUST GOD!"


Thanks to Lyndsey East for our first photos as a family in the U.S.!