"Field Posts"

Two weekends ago we were able to take an extended weekend for a short family getaway to the beach.  Those of you who have come to Haiti with an RMI team are very familiar with the RMI Retreat Center in Zanglais.  Since we have access to a beautiful place right on the beach, we decided to stay there  Saturday thru Monday.  Those of you who are not familiar with the retreat center, I’m sorry, we mostly took beach pictures and didn’t take any while we were at the retreat center itself.  There will be a next time for sure :) The retreat center is where we take our teams, usually to stay for one or two nights at the end of their trip here.  It is a beautiful location to wind down from the intense experience of a visit to a sister church.  We’ve always been there when RMI’s Haitian staff has been there to cook/clean for the team.  I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a relaxing trip or if the kids would be bored so we decided to stay for 2 nights thi...

Does anyone know how to put an accent on top of letters in Windows Live Writer?  I know how to do it in Word, but I can’t find it here.  It’s driving me crazy!  I’m sure if Rob was here, he’d show me right away and make it look easy.  Anyway, both e’s in the word kenep should have an accent on it to be spelled (and therefore, pronounced) correctly.  Moving on… It’s kenep season here in Haiti. They can be found in almost every little “booth” that has fresh produce for sale. What is a kenep (pronounced keh-nehp) , you ask?  There is no real comparison to a fruit found in the US, so I will try to describe it for you.  There is also a certain way to eat them, that Tessa will help me demonstrate. We were introduced to keneps on our trip here this time last year.  Rob loves them; I can take them or leave them.  They taste kind of like a tart, green grape, but the texture is not like that at all.  I think it’s the texture you either love o...

Yesterday was Tessa’s 4th birthday!  We had a busy weekend so I forgot to put up a post earlier.  Saturday we had some friends over for pizza, cake and a movie outside on the “big screen.” She got really shy when everyone started singing to her! One cake mix made these two cakes.  Not too bad for my first time trying to make something like this! Me and my girl: Our “theatre.”  Now showing: “Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure.” Our “big screen.” On Sunday after church and opening gifts, we went to Rainbow Beach where Daddy made something special for Tessa. Drew worked so hard on a gift for Tessa.  In the box was a cardboard fish, airplane and ramp for her to drive cars on.  Also, 2 gift bags and a wooden rod for her to carry them on.  He put so much thought into each item, it was so sweet.  He had no clue he was using a “canned meat” box to “wrap” it all in! Hahaha!   Tessa loved the bike we got her. Daddy m...

I really love when I see glimpses of God’s truth resonate in my kids’ hearts; when I can see they are really thinking about what we are trying to teach them.  Tonight we had one of those moments and it was pretty cool! For our family worship time, we are working thru “ Leading Little Ones to God: A Child’s Book of Bible Teachings” by Marian M. Schoolland.  A special thanks to Drew’s former preschool teacher, Mary Bergen, for suggesting it to us and taking an extra step and sending us a copy!  We are loving the theology the kids are getting working through this book. Tonight we read and talked about the good things God gives us.  I really resonated with this.  The author talked about how God takes care of us and gives us beautiful things to enjoy.  Even though it was written for children, there was a nugget there for me—something I had never thought about before.  The author talked about when God made Adam and Eve, he put them in the beautiful Gard...

Part Two highlights the fun parts of their trip.  The whole trip was fun: just showing them where we live and about life here was very enjoyable.  This isn’t all we did, but some of my favorite parts. On Sunday, after church, we took them to our favorite beach, Rainbow Beach.  Other missionaries were there so we all had fun hanging out. I think Mom and Dad enjoyed getting know the other missionaries that live here in Cayes, as well as playing on the beach.   Monday morning, Dad got to work and Rob and I had our Creole lesson.  I came back from our lesson to find Mom in the kitchen with Carline and Josette.  They were all laughing, Mom was learning some Creole words, and she was telling me all about the ingredients they used in some of the dishes.  Here she was stirring the diri kole (rice and beans) that she “helped” make!  We had lobster and bannann peze as well that day.  Anyone that knows Mom, knows she is crazy about fresh juice....

Wow, I can’t believe we haven’t blogged in a long time.  It’s not that there hasn’t been anything to say.  I’ve just been at such a loss for words the last 6 weeks or so.  I’ve got a blog post swirling around in my head on that topic, but that will have to wait for another time! Last week, Rob’s parents visited Haiti for the first time!  It was so fun to show them where and how we live.  I think they really “get it” now; they saw first hand what draws us here.  Not that they didn’t get it before, but I can see it put a real face on life and ministry here and that is exciting for us. Dad T was supposed to come here January 14th with Rob to work on the house before we moved here.  The earthquake January 12th changed those plans.  Mom T. bought her tickets 3 days before they came as she didn’t have a passport until a few days before that.  I think that was a blessing!  She didn’t have much time to think about the fact that she was about...