Some Fun Pictures

Not a lot of news today, but I do have some fun pictures that I want to share.  Enjoy!

Krae up in a tree.  He is standing on a piece of wood (step) nailed to the trunk.  I believe this is the look-out post for the Boys Fort that is below in the bushes.

Krae's friend, Collin, who is making a hole for a catapult pole.  The catapult will be used to shoot almonds at the girls.   

Mara and her friend, Caitlyn.  They made accessories from palm leaves!  

Today was the first day of school for the Citi Lumiere Christian School.  Many of the missionary children in Cayes attend this school.  Even though Mara will attend school in Bonne Fin, they invited her to participate in their opening ceremonies.  In this picture, some of the children are doing interpretative actions to a song about the holiness of God.

Selah giving her baby a bath in the shower.  She is very into babies right now and loves to take care of them.  She rocks them, feeds them, gives them a bath, pushes them in her doll stroller, reads them stories and sleeps with them.  She is such a good, little Mommy!

Woo-Hoo!! Our kitchen counter-top has been installed along with the appliances and sink.  Doors for cabinets are made and painted, just waiting for install.

This counter-top went in easily and fits like a glove.  The counter top was poured and shaped by Ted Habeggar in Indiania, using Wilfred Strahms measurements.  It came mostly in one piece.  We are so thankful that God blessed these two craftsmen with amazing skill and that they are using their talents to give glory to Him. 

Bathroom fixtures are in and working.

Right now, we are waiting for the install of the new windows.  Once that is complete, we should be able to clean and move in.  Please pray that the Bos that is installing the windows will take care to not damage anything around the windows.

We plan to move up to Bonne Fin later this week and will stay in a smaller residence that is called the Couple's Cottage.  It is smaller and works well for a couple.  It won't be home, but it will be fine for a week or so.

Mara is 10!

This past Saturday was Mara's 10th birthday.  Since we celebrated with a party at the beach the weekend before, we had a birthday breakfast for her before heading up to Bonne Fin to work on our future home.  Yes, that is a pancake with 10 candles in it!

I suppose every mom reflects on the day each child was born on their birthdays.  I always remember how it felt to hold that newly, born person in my arms.  Now that Mara is almost as tall as me, I still remember her round little face and dark eyes looking up at me.  She was such a little punky and as that nick name has stuck, she will always be my punky!

A very big thank you for the emails, ecards, calls, gifts and cards for Mara.  She felt very special with all of the birthday wishes from friends and family at home as well as from her new friends in Haiti.  Rick and I appreciate all of the love and support that has been shown to our family.  


Work does continue on our home in Bonne Fin; however, it will be a few weeks before we are able to move into it.  We had planned to move up this coming weekend (Aug 23rd), but we have delayed the move by a week or so because we will not have a place to stay until then.  When we do go up, we will spend a week or two (maybe three, but let's pray not) in a smaller residence that is frequently used by HL board members who travel to Bonne Fin.  Bro. Bob Beebe and Bro. Tom Hitz will be staying there this coming week.

To update those who are interested, the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers have been constructed and painted, but not installed yet.  Rick installed a lazy susan and the microwave in the kitchen this week.  The new tile work have been done, but Rick will probably do a bit of finish work on the showers.  The toilets and bathroom vanities are installed and work with the exception of a couple of slow drains.  Rick plans to go up on Saturday to help install the kitchen counter-top and possibly install some of the other appliances.  

The Fe Foje has been installed on the front porch.  Fe Foje is translated as wrought iron or more literally, iron wrought.  (Fe = iron, Foje = wrought)  It is pronounced with a short e in Fe, a long o in Fo and je sounds like zjay.  This happens to be one of my favorite Kreyol words to say along with zaboka (avocado).  It's not that these things are special to me, the words are just fun to say.  Beluga is another fun word to say, but it is not Kreyol and I digress.  Here is a pic of the Fe Foje on the front porch.  It is common in Haiti for homes and yards to have a wrought iron gate for security.  Yes, it is raining in this picture.

We found out this week that all of the windows will have to be replaced in our house.  A bos (skilled laborer) came to repair the broken mechanisms on the hurricane windows and when he was done, none of them would stay open.  We found out that hurricane windows are not made with the old mechanisms anymore and parts to repair them so they will stay open and shut when needed are no longer available.  Soo, the recommendation is to replace the whole window unit for all of the windows.  This should take about a week.  The bad news is that this will delay our move into the house and is expensive.  The good news is that we will have new windows in our home.   To the ladies that helped clean the windows in our house in May, I am sorry that your labors were for nought.


We continue to make progress with language.  Rick has been praying in Kreyol for our noon meal when our house help eats with us.  The progress is still slower than we would like, but we need to remain patient.  My driving is going well too.  I drove to the grocery store by myself the other day and I drove out to the little airport in Cayes today to meet the Agape Flights plane and retrieve our mail.  


On the home front, Rick's folks and business partner, Brad, plan to move our household belongings to storage this coming weekend in Sabetha.  We understand that many have volunteered to help with the move and with cleaning the house once it is empty.  A great big thank you to each one of you that helps.  We cannot express our gratitude for everything that is being done for us back home.  


While we are doing well, the adjustments and being unsettled can be difficult at times.  I find myself wishing Jesus would return and take us to glory so that I don't have to face the difficulties that still lie ahead of us.  My Life Application devotional spoke to this feeling yesterday and I would like to share it with you as I finish this post.

The farmer must wait patiently for his crops to grow; he cannot hurry the process.  But he does not take the summer off and hope that all goes well in the fields.  There is much work to do to ensure a good harvest.  In the same way, we must wait patiently for Christ's return.  We cannot make him come back any sooner.  But while we wait, there is much work that we can do to advance God's kingdom.  Both the farmer and the Christian must live by faith, looking toward the future reward for their labors.  Don't live as if Christ will never come.  Work faithfully to build his kingdom - the King will come when the time is right. 

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.  Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.  Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.    James 5:7-8

Just a cute picture of Selah "reading" to her baby!

Piti Piti Zwazo a Fin Nich

The title of this post is a Haitian saying that says:  Little by Little, the Bird Builds a Nest.

Someone shared this with me recently when I was discouraged about learning Creole. We continue to study and learn, but it takes time to be able to understand dialog and be able to have a conversation without a great amount of effort.  I must remember that as we continue to learn vocabulary and sentence structure and hear the language, we will eventually get a grasp on it.  

I am reminded of a Proverb that also speaks of remaining diligent:

The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty, only to want.        Proverbs 21:5

As we are trying to diligently study Creole and learn about the Haitian culture, our lives have been rather routine for the last two weeks.  We have had a few highlights with pictures to share with everyone.

We had the opportunity to meet the little boy we sponsor through the Child Sponsorship Program.  His name is Kervans Dume and he is 7 years old.  He lives here in Cayes and Marie Lucie Jeune, who runs the Child Sponsorship Office here, brought him to meet us last week.  He was extremely shy and only said a few words to us.  I'm not sure if he was more worried about meeting so many "blan yo" (white people) or my attempts at Creole. Anyway, we did enjoy meeting him and hope we can see him again some time.  As we gain experience with the language and culture, it would be nice to meet his parents too.

The next picture doesn't have a story, but I wanted to post it to show one of Selah's favorite past times - playing with stones.  She loves to find the bigger ones and make a pile of them by our gate.  Here she is pleased with two stones that she found.

Last Saturday, we went to Rainbow Beach with several other families and had a small surprise Birthday party for Mara.  (She will be 10 on Aug. 17th)  It was a very fun day and she was especially excited to receive the complete set of the Anne of Green Gables books.  

I have been reflecting a bit this week on how different our lives are now compared to ten years ago when I was very pregnant with our first child.  As an overprotective, first-time mother, I would never have considered moving to Haiti with a family.  It is amazing and inspiring how God changes our mindset!  I still struggle to see the logic in this move at times, but I rest my worries in God's plan and trust Him.  Most of the time, I can hardly wait to see how He will provide in the journey that seems so illogical to me.  We try to keep it a joyful anticipation of what is ahead instead of an anxious worry for the future.

Here is another beach picture.  Krae is hanging out with some of the other children in a tree.  They have fun climbing in and around the trees at the beach.  

Last Sunday, we had the opportunity to meet Madam Lorette's husband and baby son, Daniel.  We invited them to our apartment for refreshments on Sunday afternoon so we could meet her family.  The Reinhard family was gone so we were on our own for communication (no one to translate if needed).  While we didn't have any complex dialog, we did enjoy having them over and we were able to communicate. (sort of)  It was probably a very good thing that we were on our own as it forced us to attempt to converse in a way that we might not have otherwise.

I will also mention that Baby Daniel is the little guy who was sick with Bronchitis several weeks ago.  He is well now and seems to be thriving again.  Here is a picture of their family.

Madam Lorette, Her husband Henri Jean Michel and Baby Daniel (11 months)

Later on Sunday afternoon, we took a four-wheeler drive to Tet Simon.  This is a high point (tet means top of or head) of the missionary compound that looks out over a beautiful valley.  Also, you can see several different mountain ranges in the distance. There is a church up there and a small lake that serves as a swimming hole to the Haitian families in the area.  There were lots of people and children about when we drove up there.  The little boys were fascinated with our little blonde baby Selah.   In this picture, she is holding court with them.  You can see a bit of the beauty of the surrounding area in the background.

I have heard many comments about the beauty of the pictures on our blog.  Haiti is a beautiful country with many breathtaking landscapes.  At the same time, there is great poverty and areas full of trash and filth.  Obviously, we haven't posted too many pictures of the trash and filth, but it certainly does exist.  We have also noticed that living life for the people in Haiti is difficult, at least by our standards.  Many people do not get their basic needs fulfilled on a daily basis, yet some of the churches have services every evening.  Even amid hardship, the Haitian Christians love to worship God.  

Praise ye the Lord.  Praise the Lord, O my soul.
While I live will I praise the Lord  
I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.    Psalms 146:1-2