"Field Posts"

A few months ago, I got word that the kids at the church I grew up in, Trinity Alliance Church, in Cologne, New Jersey, had collected school supplies to send to a school in Haiti.  They contacted me asking if they could send them to me and if I would distribute them.  Today I got the opportunity to deliver this box of supplies to a local Christian school. Rob and I have visited Miserne Baptist Church a few times over the last few years.  The people are always very friendly and welcoming.  When I asked RMI’s Haitian Administrator, Benjamin Altema,  who to give the box of supplies to, he suggested the school at this church.  They are not very far from where we live, but a little off the beaten path and rarely receive outside help.  I thought it was a great suggestion!  Here are some photos of the Miserne Baptist School and the kids in their classrooms.  This small Christian school is preschool through sixth grade.  There are 3 large cl...

What do you do when you live in another country and important US holidays come around?  I, for one,  am not going to sit around and mope for what I might be missing!  You make your own traditions and celebrate with the family you have close to you—and you learn that family is not limited to those related by blood.  We are incredibly blessed to have a community of missionaries from different organizations and countries to “do life” with!  They truly are a second family.  There are also many other ex-pats in southern Haiti, many who I don’t know well, who are also missing their families and friends.  Our community here in Les Cayes, Haiti has been celebrating American Thanksgiving together for over 20 years.  Most years, this gathering has happened at what is now our home.  I have been thrilled to carry on that tradition!    I think we set a record this year—120 people came to our gathering!  Countries represented included...

I had the privilege of joining up with NewChurch, from Georgetown, TX, on their recent visit with their brothers and sisters in Abricot, Haiti.  The team had a great mix of veteran visitors, as well as first timers.  God brought that exact team together for a purpose. The US team was fun to watch.  Their authentic passion for people, their contagious joy in celebrating God, their constant want to go beyond the external, and their desire to be who God intends his 1 body to be was on display at all times.  It wasn’t about appearances.  It was so much more than doing.  It was being.  It was about being together, in love, honoring and lifting up one another and the Lord in the process.  Encouraging one another. Together, worshipping the same Lord.  There was something unique in their smiles as I watched Haitians and Americans spend time together.  Smiles.  Laughter.  Tears.  Jumping.  Listening.  Holding hands....

This past week we’ve had a team of 8 people from NewChurch Georgetown in Texas visiting their Sister Church in Abricot, which is the northwest end of the Southern peninsula.  Rob has the privilege of serving with this team this week.  It started raining in Cayes where we live on Saturday and has been raining ever since.  Rob tells me that the rain didn’t start in Abricot until Tuesday around noon.  That was good news for the team!  They were able to accomplish most of what they set out to do on this trip.  Once we realized there was a big storm coming, RMI leadership quickly determined it was time to get out of Abricot.  The road into the town can quickly become impassable with a lot of rain and they didn’t want to be stranded there.  So they packed everything up Tuesday afternoon and left around 3 pm (instead of the planned Wednesday morning departure.)  Not only did they want to get out of Abricot, but they wanted to get to the Ice River ...

I think I need glasses. Are we biblically blind? Constantly, I am confronted with people that are seemingly unlovable, undesirable, uneducated, unfit, unsaved, unable to dream, unemployed, forgotten, unable to access opportunity, lost.  They are stuck in an unimaginably complex cycle and prison.  I must put on Christ, apply the good news of the Gospel, and see them for who God seems them.  Able to be loved, to be desired, to be educated, to be fit, to be saved, to dream, to be employed, to be remembered, to access opportunity, to be found, unchained and FREED! This applies to both Haiti and America. With the application of faith, there is hope for all mankind, even myself. Give me Jesus lenses.  in fact, deeper yet, give me the eyes of Christ. Rob

Rob touched a little on Braden’s first day of school in the last blog post, but I wanted to do a post just about that!  Yes, our youngest, and last, child had his first day of school on Tuesday.  He is attending Kindergarten Lumiere, the same Haitian preschool/kindergarten that Drew and Tessa attended.  This is a MEBSH school (MEBSH is the church association we work with here in Haiti) that offers 3 “grades” equivalent to K-3, K-4 and Kindergarten in the US.  The plan is for Braden to do his K-4 and kindergarten years here, just like Tessa did.  He goes 8 am to noon Monday thru Friday. Life for Braden has been much different than for Drew or Tessa.  He’s 4 now, but he was 20 months old when we moved to Haiti, so Haiti is pretty much all he knows!  When he started talking, it was in both English and Creole.  He’s gone to Sunday school in the States for 3 months, but has never really been in any school of any kind outside the house.   ...

Oxymorons…  Constant Change, Day Dreams, Chili, Climb Down, Current History, Black Light, Boneless Ribs, ok, you get the point.  I am living an oxymoron, or at least I think that is what it is.  I am living between 2 equal and opposite tensions… Every experienced parent I have ever met has told me, “before you know it, your kids will be grown up”.  To be honest, I want that quickly!  Parenting young kids is TOUGH work.  Sometimes, THEY DRIVE ME CRAZY! I want them to more quickly grow up into independent, responsible, God loving adults.  Enough of this childishness.   But, I WANT THIS TRAIN TO SLOW DOWN!  Braden’s first day of school tore me up.  Truly, I haven’t been that burdened  for my children in a long time.  I honestly couldn’t see him cry.  I had to leave.  It was the last time we will send our children off to school for the very first time.  Wow, I love my kids and would do anything to dry their t...

“Discover your zone and stay there. Then delegate everything else.” Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader To be honest, the above is hard for me.  I like to be in control, and handing over responsibilities to others is uncomfortable.  I have long lived according to…  “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself”.  I have come to realize that for me, in my role, that attitude is a tool of Satan.  I am trying everyday to force myself to let go, and empower others to do what only they can do. It is self defeating for me to try and do everything.  I’ve tried.  It doesn’t work. I must focus on my zone, and let us others do everything else.  Together, we will accomplish abundantly more. I love the RMI Haitian Staff.  I believe in them.  They are able to do immeasurably more.  The sad but common paternalistic Western mindset is that “we” are the experts, and the Haitians can support what “we” are doing.  We (RMI) are workin...

The last 2 Sunday’s, we’ve visited two different churches that we haven’t been to before and had the opportunity to minister at both locations with a special song.  Rob took some short video on his phone each time, that I thought we should share with you! Some of you have seen these videos on Facebook, but I’m posting them here for those not on FB or those who might have missed seeing them.  This past Sunday, we visited Marfond Baptist Church.  Some of you might remember Pastor Jean Chery who worked for RMI for many years.  He was installed as their pastor this past Sunday and we were invited to be a part of the service (more on that in another post.)  Drew decided he wanted to sing a song he knows well in Creole, “Our God is an Awesome God.”  He planned to sing it twice in Creole, but nerves got the best of him and he reverted to how he knows it best:  Creole version followed by the German version!  It encourages me to see his increased maturit...

Manifestations are a way of life here in Haiti.  When the people aren’t happy, they protest, usually in the form of a manifestation.  It is a way to have their voice heard. They usually are violent or include some kind of property destruction:  road blocks, burning tires, people on the road not letting you pass.  Just last week, I learned of a pump at a gas station being set on fire by an angry group of protesters, allegedly because the owner was not selling gas to the public, only to specific people who would sell the gas at a hiked up price.  Often manifestations are political in nature.  We had a lot during election time over a year ago, but on the whole the number of manifestations is down.  Today the city of Cayes is having a strike.  Strikes are usually a peaceful form of protest.  You usually hear about it in advance.  All the businesses are closed today in protest.  I’m told that at noon, everyone is going to bang pots and...

We left Haiti on May 28th for our first Home Assignment and returned home to Haiti 12 weeks later.  Our goal was threefold:  to get some much needed rest and family time, to say thank you in person to as  many supporters as we could, and to raise the additional support we needed to return to the field. To say our summer was packed with activity is an understatement!  I don’t even know where to start describing all that we did, all the people we saw, and all the places we travelled.  We put over 8,000 miles in the the vehicle we borrowed (thanks Greg and Star Harvie!), travelled to 19 states, slept in 22 different places, shared at 8 different churches and with over 14 different church groups.  If I’m counting correctly, Rob and I shared our hour long photo presentation 36 times!  We were able to visit with the majority of our support team.  If we missed you on our journey, either because we weren’t visiting your region or because we couldn’t mak...