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

Driving, Smores & Rainbow Beach

Even though I just posted a few days ago, some fun things have happened in the last few days and I wanted to share a few of them.

Driving
Yes, I had my first driving lesson on a manual transmission in Haiti.  I drove Rick's old white Ford one time a few years back, but that really doesn't count as knowing how to drive a stick shift.  Anyway, Rick and I drove around Citi Lumiere (the missionary compound) and I didn't even stall out.  The next day, I drove to Super Star Market (a grocery store that is fairly close by) and actually made it there without stalling out or hitting anything or anybody.  It was rather nerve racking, but we did make it there.  I think I made Rick nervous; he offered to drive to the other store we went to and then back to our apartment.  I was relieved!!  We were out on Saturday which is a busy market day and usually has more traffic.  Those of you who have been in Haiti understand what more traffic means - lots more vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, carts, etc... coming at you from all sides.  My new friend Becky Thompson made the comment that driving in Haiti is a 360 degree experience - you have to be aware of what is around you at all times.  I think I will stick to back roads for a while until I get more comfortable with remembering to shift before heading back into town.  On the other hand, I know I can do it if I have to.

Unfortunately, Rick had to do some work on the vehicle after I drove it the first day.

OK - so it really wasn't my fault, but the line for power steering fluid sprung a leak and the vehicle became very hard to steer while I was driving.  Rick did a quick and dirty repair, but it might take a real mechanic to completely fix the problem.

Smores

This past Saturday night, we were invited to join the Thompson family for a small bonfire and Smores roast.  Krae and Drew Thompson (he is 8 years old) have become good friends.  Mara also enjoys spending time with their daughter Tessa, even though she is only 6 years old.  Drew loves bonfires and wanted to invite Krae's family for one.  It

was a fun evening for everyone.  Rick and I enjoyed getting to know Rob and Becky Thompson.  Rob is  the director for RMI (Reciprocal Ministries International) in Haiti and they have lived here for about 3.5 years.

Rainbow Beach
On Sunday afternoon, we drove with Joan, Mackenson and Berlika Reinhard to Rainbow Beach for an afternoon of sun, surf and dinner on the beach.  The Klopfenstein family, along with Stu Kilgas and Naomi Luginbuhl met us there.  Naomi is the grand-daughter of Daryl & Norma Luginbuhl and is visiting her grandparents in Bonne Fin.  Stu is an industrial engineering student at Purdue who is serving as an intern in Bonne Fin this summer.  We first met Stu when we came down in May with the work team.  He traveled with us and became a part of our team that week.

Anyway, we had a great day at the beach.  It was fun to watch Selah's reaction to the waves.  She would stand at the edge of the water and just plain crack up with giggles when the surf would wash over her feet.  She did get a bit too adventurous a few times and I had to grab her as the tide pulled her off her feet, but she handled it well.

Selah at Rainbow Beach

Mara and Krae had a great time on Boogie Boards and playing in the sand and water.  We were all tired and ready for showers and bed when we got home in the evening!

Other News
We received word from Daryl today that they have put the roof on our outside depot at our house in Bonne Fin.  Also, he mentioned that all the doors for our kitchen cabinets have been cut so things are progressing on our home.  

Rick will make a quick trip to Miami for a meeting with the HL transition team this week. He will travel to Port Au Prince and then to Miami on Thursday with the Luginbuhl family that is visiting Daryl and Norma.  His meeting will be on Friday and then he will travel back on Saturday.  He will probably take a public transportation bus from Port to Cayes on Saturday.  Prayers for his safe travels and our time without him are appreciated!!

I continue to pray for peace and joy in this journey.  While the transition is going well, there are times that we are all homesick and long for the comfort of our old lifestyle. We know that nothing about this move is easy, but we have a peace that God is directing our path and He will provide what is needful along the way when we trust in Him.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.        Isaiah 26:3

Adjusting...

The title of this post says it all.  As I think about the past two weeks, the best word to sum it all up would be adjusting.  Adjusting to a new country, adjusting to a new language, adjusting to a new culture, adjusting to a new life.  So many things have changed for us in the past month that I am reminding myself that the one constant right now is Jesus Christ. He is still with us, He is still leading us and He will be with us through this journey!  

As a bit of housekeeping, our VOIP (voice over IP) number has been ported and we are able to receive calls on our home number.  This is the same home number we had in Sabetha, but it now rings in our apartment in Les Cayes and will go up with us when we move to our home in Bonne Fin.  As long as we have internet, we should be able to receive calls.  This number is 785-284-2950.

Our second week in Haiti went well overall.  Selah was struggling with heat rash, a bit of a yeast infection on her scalp and then a rather severe ear infection toward the end of the week. We had a couple of rough days and nights with her.  Joan helped us take Selah to the Citi Lumiere clinic in Cayes.  Dr. William saw her and agreed that she did have an ear infection.  She had some gray/green discharge from her ear, so it was pretty evident.  Dr. William checked the pharmacy to see what antibiotics they had available for a toddler and then wrote the script.  After a round of Keflex and some ear drops, she is doing much better.   We have been treating her scalp with Apple Cider Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide.  I think the peroxide is bringing a bit more red out - she's not a strawberry blonde yet, but it is definitely more red.

Also during our second week, Rick took me out for a 4-wheeler driving lesson.  It was the day that Tropical Storm Chantel was to hit.  We saw the storm coming in, but thought we could get a quick drive in before it hit.  We almost made it back to our apartment, but we did get a good soaking.  For those of you that are laughing that I needed a 4-wheeler driving lesson, remember that I am not a farm girl and I have not driven one before.  Next driving lesson is learning to drive a manual transmission in Haiti - should be interesting!!

Regarding the storm, it did not even make it to full tropical storm status and we were a bit disappointed that we didn't get to experience our first tropical storm.  It was like a severe thunderstorm that we have back home, but no tornadoes.

A highlight of this week was going out to the LSM Ranch and seeing the projects that are being started out there.  The ranch will serve as a technical school of sorts for young people who have grown up in LSM Homes of Hope.  The goal of the ranch is to train young adults in a vocation and help them to be productive citizens of Haiti.  More info on LSM can be found at www.loving-shepherd.org

Toward the end of our second week, it started to sink in that this is more than a long vacation and we all started to feel homesick.  Krae seemed to be having the hardest time. He is struggling a bit with figuring out how to fit in with the other boys and he is missing his buddies from school.

While washing dishes(all by hand) together the other night, Mara and I discussed what we missed from home.  She is so funny; she misses flour tortillas the most, while I was missing my dishwasher and other kitchen stuff.  Mara also mentioned that she misses her Sunday School class and going to OUR church.  

Our third week was more of a "settling in" week.  The kids started getting into a routine of things to do and Selah was feeling much better.   Rick and I have a basic understanding of how to get around in Cayes and know where to get most of the supplies we need.  We have gotten acquainted with the other missionaries that are here at Citi Lumiere right now and have enjoyed fellowship with them.  Many of the families are on furlough so we appreciate those who are here.  

We did say Good-Bye to Rick's cousin LaNae as she headed back home.  Her husband, Randy is here until mid-August to finish up his project.  We enjoyed having LaNae as our neighbor for a few weeks and we are missing her already.  

We continue to learn in our language studies, but we both wish we could absorb more quickly.  We realize that it takes months to learn a new language and we know we must keep plugging along and learn as much as we can as we go!

At the end of our third week, we received word that the sea container that brought most of our belongings to Haiti would make the trek from Port Au Prince to Bonne Fin and was scheduled to arrive Friday evening or Saturday morning.  We drove up to Bonne Fin after supper on Friday evening to be there to help unload the container on Saturday morning.  

We were there when the truck with the 40-foot container pulled through the gate to the hospital.  I am simply amazed that a truck that big can maneuver up that mountain road.  I am thankful for the skill of the driver! 

A quick note about the road from Cavillion to Bonne Fin.  About 5.5 km of the 13 km of the road has had the big chuck holes filled and it has been graded.  When we first took the road, Rick and I thought we might be on the wrong road until we recognized some landmarks.  The work on the road is wonderful and we can keep praying for continued work and maintenance!

The 40-Foot Container that brought our "stuff" to Haiti!

The customs official and inspector came out to Bonne Fin to watch the truck being unloaded.  This is not the normal protocol, but I believe they will make the trip occasionally to be sure all is well.  The positive to them being there was that it slowed down the unloading process a bit and everyone was more careful with the cargo.  It did take longer than usual, but we were not complaining.  

Unfortunately, there was a minor accident while the truck was being unloaded.  There were 8 wooden doors that will go into our home on the container; they became unbalanced and started to come down.  Stuart Kilgus was standing in the container and in their path; fortunately, he was able to get out of the way and avoid injury.  Unfortunately, Daryl & Norma Luginbuhl's grandson, Josh, put up an arm to try to stop the doors and he sustained a fractured wrist.  It was a small fracture, but it was still quite painful for him.  He was handling it well when we left later that day, but a prayer of healing for him would be appreciated.

For now, most of our belongings are sitting in the middle of our living room and will remain there while the renovations are completed on our home.  The container had wood to finish the kitchen cabinets, doors for the house, the kitchen counter-top, sinks for the kitchen and baths and several other items needed to complete renovations. An unforeseen blessing was that our sofa, love seat and piano did not make it on this container (these items will be on the next one); this allows more room in the living room to store everything while other areas are completed.

We brought most of the food items down to Cayes with us so we can start using them and to make sure things don't get buggy.  I found Krae's Lego tub, so he was happy!  We are thankful that most of our things arrived.  Hopefully, everything will stay safe and secure until we can unpack and move into our home.  


As we begin another week here, we are very thankful for the prayers, emails, calls and messages from home.  While hearing from home does make us a bit homesick, we do appreciate hearing about what is happening in the lives of our loved ones back home.

I will close with a specific prayer request for a little baby boy named Daniel.  He is the 10-month old son of Madam Lorette who cooks for us.  He has been very sick for several days with a bad cough and his mother is very concerned.  She took him to see a doctor last Saturday, but he has not been able to keep his medicine down and he is getting weaker.  She is planning to take him back to see a doctor tomorrow (Thursday).  Please pray for healing for this little guy.  Joan shared with us that Madam Lorette has miscarried several times and was so thankful to be able to carry this baby to term.  She is very concerned about his health and losing another child.

As she left our apartment today, Madam Lorette made the comment "Si Bondye vle" - If God wills- when we said we hoped her son would be better soon.

Our First Week in Haiti

Before I get into the highlights of our first week, I want to point out that there is a new page on our blog with our contact information.  If you look at the top left hand corner, you will see two tabs.  The first is Home and will always take you back to the most current post. The second is Contact Information and takes you to a second page that has a list of the various ways to contact us while we are living in Haiti.

Now a picture of our family:

This picture was taken on July 4, 2013 - after our first full week in Haiti!

Our first week went well.  Rick and I started language studies with Met Jean Claude on Monday.  We each spend one hour with him on Monday - Friday.  Using the term Met with his name is a way of showing respect as this means Master.  He is a language professor at the American University in Les Cayes and is well respected in the community.  He is also referred to as Pastor because he is the pastor of a local church.  Met Jean Claude is a very kind man and he is quite patient with us.  He begins each lesson with us with a prayer; we are very thankful for him.

We feel that we are learning some language skills, but we will need to continue our studies  and practice for a long time to feel confident.  We can put some simple sentences together and are recognizing words and phrases, but when dialog becomes more complex, we get lost quickly. 

We have enjoyed good food from our cook, Madam Lorette, who will be cooking for us Monday - Friday while we are in Les Cayes.  She comes about 9 AM and begins by finishing up our breakfast dishes.  She prepares our noon meal (dine - pronounced dee-nay) and then cleans up the kitchen and leaves between 2-3 PM.  Her food is very good and I appreciate the time and care she puts into her cooking.  Most of the meals have some Haitian elements and some American.

Madam Jean Louie will come to clean and help with laundry 2-3 times per week.  Since our windows are always open (hurricane panes with screens), what we would think of as weekly cleaning is more like daily cleaning here.  It is amazing how quickly things are covered with dust and little bugs.

I am sure many of you are thinking, "What is Komari going to do with all that help."  Well, I am going to really appreciate the chance to focus on language and helping our children adjust to a new way of life.  Also, I will mention that culturally, it is expected of missionaries to hire household help as this provides employment in a country where unemployment can run as high as 75% of the population.  At any rate, we are thankful for the good help and pray that God will bless us with reliable help when we move up to Bonne Fin.

On Thursday, most of you celebrated our nation's independence.  I hope it was a happy and safe holiday for all.  We had more of a normal day here, but were invited to Randy & LaNae Meyer's cottage for a 4th of July picnic.  They had hamburgers and hot dogs, watermelon and many of the other traditional American picnic foods.  It was a fun evening.  

Friday was a big day.  Madam Lorette went to market for me where she bought many fresh fruits and vegetables.  This is something I would like to do with her or someone else sometime for the experience of seeing what is available and to see how she bargains,etc...  Here are pictures of some of the produce she purchased:

   

She spent most of the morning at the market and then brought the produce to our apartment in the afternoon.  She then thoroughly washed all the produce with clean water and a bit of clorox to make sure all bacteria, germs, etc... are gone!   

I also did a bit of shopping on Friday with Joan Reinhard who took me to a couple of stores in town.  These are small grocery stores with shelves stocked with canned goods and other non-perishables as opposed to the open-air market where Madam Lorette went to purchase produce.  The stores carry lots of American products, but they are very expensive - usually double the price we would pay at home.  For example, I bought a bag of Tostitos Blue Corn Chips for 230 goud or about $5.50.  A box of cereal runs about $7.  So, you decide what you really want and you make it last as long as possible.

We stopped at a Western Union Office to buy frozen chicken.  Nope, it doesn't make much sense, but this little shop has a Western Union Desk and a walk-in freezer for Tyson Chicken Legs from the US.  So, we now have 40 lbs of chicken legs.  The saying is that the Americans eat all the breasts in the US, so they send all the legs and thighs to Haiti. 

Joan also made a call to the Lobster (woma) man and the beef (bef) man to bring us some meat.  When we arrived home, Pierre, the Lobster man was waiting with a bucket of whole lobsters.  I purchased 5 lbs for 125 Haitian Dollars and paid him 625 goud.  Most of the vendors who come to your home or who sell in the open market give you the price in Haitian Dollars, but payment is made in Goud.  The ratio is 1:5, so you have to do the calculation before paying them.  Yes, interesting!  Pierre cleaned the lobsters for me and gave me just the tails.  I put them in the freezer to freeze before we cook them.  The tails are small, but will be just right for each of us to have one for a meal and should provide a few meals for us.

5 lbs of Haitian Lobster Tails

The beef man (I am not remembering his name) came on Saturday morning with a 10 pound hunk of beef that was still warm from the kill.  I put it in the fridge to age for a few days and turned it over each morning.  Madam Lorette cleaned the fat and grisel off today and then soaked it in sour orange juice. (zoranj si)  Zoranj si look like limes, but taste like very sour oranges.  We have a tree with this fruit in our yard up at Bonne Fin.  I am told the only use for this fruit is for tenderizing meat.  The price for beef was 270 Haitian Dollars for 10 lbs of meat, so I paid 1,350 goud.  This converts to about $32 US or $3.20/lb.  This was a bit hard for me since this meat is not even close to the John Baumgartner beef we are used to getting at home.  Sigh!

It was an experience to get the pantry and freezer stocked, and this gave me some resources to make a few meals that are familiar to our family.  Last night after a meal of Mexican Lasagna, Guacamole and Chips, and Mango Smoothies (some of our favorites at home), Mara thanked God for providing the resources for Mom to make some American food.  Ha - not so sure those foods would be considered American, but we enjoyed them.

On Sunday, we attended the church where Met Jean Claude (our language professor) is the pastor.  The music and singing was a bit louder than the church in Bonne Fin and a bit overwhelming for our children.  Joan did some translating of the service, so I was able to enjoy some of it.  Rick spent most of the service outside the back door with Krae and Selah who did not enjoy the decibels projected by the loud speakers.  We will have to get used to Haitian Church Services!  After a quick lunch at home, we listened to the afternoon service in Sabetha through online streaming.  It was a comfort to hear familiar voices and songs.

Overall, it was a good week.  We are struggling a bit with missing the comforts of home and with getting used to the heat.  The main room in our apartment stays rather warm, so we spend a lot of time out on our balcony where we can catch a bit of breeze.  Everyone has had a bit of heat rash, but poor little Selah is suffering the most.  She breaks out when she gets too hot and her little head sweats so much.  Her head was starting to smell a bit like yeast, so we wash her hair with some Apple Cider Vinegar and it seemed to help.  Hopefully, we can keep her from getting a yeast infection on her scalp.  Cool baking soda baths seem to help her heat rash too.  If anyone has other suggestions to treat heat rash, please let me know!

Right now, Rick and I are sitting side by side with our computers on the balcony.  It's a great place to work/study when it is not raining.  I will leave you with a picture of the view from our balcony in Les Cayes.

The First Few Days

After two days of travel and a hectic few days leading up to our trip to Haiti, we were ready to spend Friday settling in and relaxing a bit.  Most of Friday was spent unpacking and getting comfortable in the apartment in Les Cayes.  This apartment is part of Tim and Joan Reinhard's home and so they will be close neighbors to us while we are here.  Tim and their daughters are home in the US on furlough, but Joan is here with their two younger children who are being adopted by the Reinhard family and not able to travel to the US at this time.  Joan spent some time with us on Friday to give us the info we needed for the weekend and then she and the two children (Mackenson 6 & Berlika 2) went on a camping trip with another family - they had this trip planned for some time before they knew we would be arriving this weekend.  

Our children were able to meet a few other missionary kids that live nearby and will be good friends.  Many of the missionary families are gone right now on furlough so we are thankful that a few are here.  Rick's cousin, LaNae Meyer is currently living next door while her husband, Randy, is working on a church/school building project at Cancer Redemption Project.  She visited us Friday afternoon and shared some taco salad fixin's so we were able to have some "American" food for supper.  We are excited to have Randy and LaNae so close and look forward to spending more time with them.  

Madam Lorette, who will be our cook during our time in Les Cayes, came on Friday and made our lunch.  She will also go to market for us and get fresh fruits and vegetable.  We hear that she is a talented cook and aims to please the families' tastes and preferences.  Our language teacher, Jean Claude, came by to meet us and set up a schedule to begin language classes on Monday AM.  We have heard that Jean Claude is an excellent teacher and is well respected in the community.  He is a pastor of a church and also teaches language at the local university so while he may introduce himself as Pastor Jean Claude, he is well known as Met Jean Claude. This means Master Jean Claude and reflects his status as a professor at the university. 

It sounds like Friday was busy with visitors, but it actually was a low-key day of unpacking and getting acquainted.  I loved the way others just dropped in to say hello and welcome!

Here is a fun pictures of Selah getting her bath on Friday evening.  We have a shower only in the bathroom so she will get many of her baths in the kitchen sink.

Since there were not many people around for the weekend, we decided to borrow a vehicle and travel up to Bonne Fin for the weekend.  We were able to spend some time in fellowship with the team that traveled from the airport with us as well as the Klopfensteins, the Luginbuhls and Sheila.  The Pfisters and the Hartzlers are both on furlough in the US.  It was exciting to see the progress that has continued on our future home and we found a fun surprise from the work team that traveled to Bonne Fin with us in May to work on our home.  On the night before we left to go home, each of them made a sneak trip back up to our house and wrote a message on the wall above the master bedroom door.  What a fun and touching surprise for us.

I will close with some additional pictures of progress on our home.  Enjoy!

The New Depot and Patio behind our house.
This area is protected by a natural rock wall and shaded by trees - a nice sanctuary!

Kitchen Cabinets with Haitian Red Paint.  Still awaiting wood for doors and  drawers.
The wood should arrive with our belongings on the Sea Container.

Start of our security fence around the yard.  It is hard to see, but barbed wire is strung
between the posts and then plants and cactus are planted to make a natural barrier wall.

The retaining wall that was built on the road up the hill and behind our house.
This wall should divert water when it rains and keep the back patio from flooding.

Inside the depot.  

Ready or Not... ...Here We Go!

The final week before our departure for life on the mission field in Haiti was filled with so many emotions.  I don't know that I will be able to communicate all that we experienced in our hearts and minds, but I will try to give an overview.  

If you read the last post, you know that our family was very busy in the weeks leading up to our move.  We are thankful for the activities that our children participated in and we are thankful that we could travel to say farewell to family and friends; however, all of the activity meant we were not doing as much packing as needed.  At the beginning of June, we decided that spending some time with family and friends was important and we would have to let others help us.  We had many offers and we needed to accept them.  I can't say that it was easy for me to let others help me so much, but I can say that I received an added blessing.  I believe I will always cherish the time I had with my friends and family during our packing sessions.  It was so encouraging to spend some extra time with loved ones and share thoughts and plans along with the work of packing.  I will also mention that Rick's parents, Roger and LaVonne, were a tremendous help to us.  They kept our children more times than I can even count and may have spent more time at our house packing this last week than they spent at their own home.  We could not have done it without them!

While we enjoyed the time we could spend with others while packing, Rick and I still felt an immense amount of stress.  Also, it was hard on Mara and Krae to see everything packed up in the only home they have ever known.  Krae ran a low-grade temperature for a few days and was not feeling well, so it was especially upsetting for him.  On the Saturday before departure, I took a break from packing for a few minutes and helped the kids make some tunnels between moving boxes and then drape old blankets over them to make a tent.  It was lots of fun and provided a fun play area for the rest of the weekend!

        

Some other positives (although still a bit stressful for the planning) during this week were selling our vehicle and getting an offer and a contract on our home.  We received an offer on our home exacting one week week before departure and we signed a contract that evening.  Fortunately, the closing will not be until September - this is helpful as the building that will store our household belongings will not be completed for a few more weeks.  We had to leave the responsibility of moving our household belongings to storage with Rick's parents and his business partner, Brad Strahm. I know they will appreciate help when the time to move stuff arrives. 

The last couple of days before our scheduled flight were some of the most stressful for Rick and myself. Getting all the last minute details wrapped up and having to leave so much of the moving to others was very difficult.  At the same time, God was teaching us a lesson about depending on others.  I guess the real lesson is depending on Him and letting Him use others to help us along this road.  To all of you that have helped, are currently helping and will help us in the future with this move, we want each of you to know how much we appreciate and love you. As well, we thank each of you for the prayers!!

On Tuesday evening (the night before scheduled departure), Rick and I sent our children home with Roger & LaVonne so they could get to bed and get a good night of sleep.  We finished packing for the trip to Haiti about 10:30 PM and then did a small amount of cleaning up in our home on Jefferson Street.  A bit before 11 PM, Rick made me quit and we said good-bye to our home and went out to his parent's home for the night.  It was a relief to finally be done with packing and to feel like we were on our way.

Wednesday AM was a good morning; LaVonne had a nice breakfast for us and Rick's sister Lori and her husband John came to give us a final hug.  We left a bit after 9 AM for the airport.  Lori decided to come along at the last minute so we had a nice send-off team with her and Roger and LaVonne.  Our flight from KC to Atlanta was delayed about 45 minutes and we appreciated the delay this time as it gave us more time to deal with all of our bags, eat a bite of lunch and then say our final farewells. 

Our flight went well and we arrived in Atlanta safely.  It was a bit challenging because we were not able to check our 10 bags through to Port Au Prince, so we had figure out a way to get our 10 checked bags, our 5 carry-on bags, our 4 backpacks, a diaper bag and a stroller to our hotel room.  For the first time ever, we used SkyCap service and let Delroy help us get our bags from baggage claim to the hotel shuttle.  The hotel had a locked storage area where we could keep 10 of the bags overnight. 

Our flight to Port Au Prince went smooothly and the kids did great on both flights.  It took a bit to  keep Selah entertained during the flights, but she did extremely well overall.  I believe all the prayers offered up on our behalf were being answered.  

We were thankful to meet up with Daryl and Norma Luginbuhl in the PAP airport as well as their grandson Josh.  They arrived shortly before us and were still in baggage claim so they were able to help us get all of our bags.  Several others had arrived early in the day and met us outside the airport.  This included Lon and Sandy Butikofer and Bob Pflederer and two of his grandsons.  All together, we had a bus load of 13 people for the drive from PAP.

The drive was uneventful, but long as we were stuck in traffic for about 1 hour right outside of Port because of some road construction.  After about 12 hours of travel on Thursday, we finally arrived at the apartment in Les Cayes that will be our home for the next few weeks.  

Looking back, the trip was as long as I remembered, but I did feel the prayers and a wonderful sense of peace from God.  After struggling with the decision to come, it was a relief to be here and to feel that we are following the path that God has laid out for us.  

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.     Psalms 19:14 

Prepare & Pack

Note:  My apologies!  I wrote this post about 1 week ago and thought I had published it. This info is a bit dated, but still pertinent.  I hope to have another post about our trip south soon.  K.

As I think back over the last few weeks, the best description would be "Prepare & Pack."
Once we returned from our last trip to Bonne Fin with the work team that did renovation work on our house, it was time to get make final preparations for the move.  

On May 17th, we had the opportunity to gather with our church family for a Farewell Potluck, Singing and Presentation.  It was encouraging to be together and to share a bit of our God's plan for our lives.  Bro. Kirk Plattner, who serves as the Mobilization Coordinator for ACWR, and his wife Sis. Keri made the trip out to Sabetha to be with us and to share missionary information with our church family.  Rick and I are thankful for their past work in the mission field as well as their current work in supporting new missionaries in the sending process.

On May 25th, the Saturday before Memorial Day, we held a garage sale to clean out a bit before our move.  The sale was well attended and quite successful. The Pampered Chef items went especially well.  It seemed like a stressful time during the preparation for the sale, but sale day went well.  Most of our sales were in the first 45 minutes!

Selah enjoying ice cream during our garage sale!

At the end of May, Rick concluded his work responsibilities with KSi Conveyors, Inc. and I was thrilled to have him home and focused on  the upcoming move.

In Haiti, work continued on our home with the Haitian Crew as well as a work team that traveled down with Sis. Heather Steiner.  Here are a few pictures of the continued progress.

Work being done on  the Stone Wall that will be part of our Wash Depot

Most of the homes on the HL campus have an unattached outbuilding called a Depot.  This building serves as a wash room for laundry as well as area for storage.  Our home had these facilities as part of the house.  We choose to take out the wall of the wash room to give us an eat-in kitchen.  It was also our preference to have the wash room outside the house.  

Kitchen Cabinets with a coat of Rouge (Haitian Red)

June brought an urgency to get packing and a busy schedule for Mom and kids with Krae taking Swimming Lessons, Mara and Krae participating in a week long Art Workshop and  Mara and Krae participating in VBS at church.  During the first couple of weeks of June, we frantically packed and purchased the items that will go to Haiti on a Sea Container.  
We have decided that Amazon Prime service is a pretty good deal for us!

We traveled to Lester, IA the first weekend in June to attend the Knoblock reunion and say our farewells to that side of the family.  

The weekend of June 8-9, we listened to our nephew, Marcus Baumgartner, give his testimony of faith and then witnessed his baptism.  It was a wonderful weekend, yet busy as we loaded a moving truck with the items we are taking to Haiti.  Unfortunately, Rick injured his back during this process and was in pain for a few days.  A special thanks to Dr. Simpson and Dr. Lukert for their chiropractic adjustments and prayers for his healing!  

Rick and I pulled out on Sunday evening for the trip to Bluffton, IN.  He was driving a 24' moving truck and I followed in our personal vehicle.  We drove to Springfield, IL that evening and then on to Cincinnati, OH on Monday to an IKEA store.  

We purchased the majority of our furniture at IKEA.  It might take two men a week to put it all together once the boxes arrive in Bonne Fin.  That said, loading the pallets for the Sea Container is simplified with furniture that is not assembled yet.  This was our first time in an IKEA, so it was a fun day.  Pulling three flatbeds and one regular shopping cart up to the check out counter was a bit challenging, but we were thankful for the ease of finding items and some help loading our items into the moving truck. (especially with Rick's sore back)

We hit Sam's Club in Cincinnati (three shopping carts and another session of loading into the truck) and then made the final leg to Bluffton, IN.  Apostolic Christian World Relief sends supplies to missionaries in the field from the Bluffton Distribution Center (BDC).  Bro. Bob & Sis Mary Honegger oversee this service and are amazingly committed souls.  This was our first visit to BDC and we were quite impressed with the work that is done there.

Our "stuff" after unloading at BDC

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Rick, Rich Pfister & Steve Fischer waiting for the fork lift to move another load off the truck.
(Yes, they are working and not just hanging out in the truck!)

Once we unloaded the moving truck, we had a bit more shopping to do, but we were able to have dinner with Bro. Rich and Sis. Amber Pfister who are on furlough from HL.  We were able to meet their new daughter, Baby Esther, who was born in late May - what a little sweetie!  Bob and Mary Honegger hosted us overnight; we enjoyed getting to know them and hearing about how they support mission service.  We thank God for the work they do in His name!

On Wednesday, we headed back home with a stop in Morton, IL for a day(Thursday) of pre-placement counseling at Apostolic Christian Counseling and Family Services.  We arrived back home in Sabetha at about midnight on Thursday night.  It was an exhausting week, but we are thankful that all went smoothly.  Our children spent the week with Grandpa and Grandma Aberle and had a great week.

We were home for a day on Friday and then headed south to Kiowa, KS on Saturday to say our farewells to my family and our church family there.  This was a quick trip with our return on Sunday, but we were thankful to be with loved ones for the short time we were there.

Once we were back in Sabetha, we had about 10 days to pack up the rest of the house and pack our bags for travel to Haiti.  I am going to write more about our final week at home in another post since this one is getting a bit long.

A couple of highlights for our kids during the last few weeks have been farewell parties with some of their friends.  It meant alot for Mara and Krae to have some special time to be with their friends and say farewell.  Here are a few pics from their parties:

Krae eating with his buddies

Buddies hanging out in the tube slide

Mara eating with her friends

The girls at the pool!

Progress on our Hospital Lumiere Home

Our home with a fresh coat of paint!
I chose Haitian Red for the trim and the Haitian painters told me over and over that it is "Bel Koule" - A Beautiful Color.

As the recent posts indicate, the week of work on our future home was quite successful.  We could not have asked for a better team; God moved in hearts and provided the right people for the tasks at hand.  It was a joy to see how the team jumped right in and worked together so well.  While I am sure that each of us had moments of frustration, the team never let it show and the week was filled with productive work and joyful hearts.  With all of the cement walls, we found it was rather enjoyable to sing in the home while we were working.  Our American team members sang often and some of the Haitian workers sang as well.  (Haitians do love to sing, especially praises to God!)

Here is a link to a video tour of the house that Rick filmed on Friday after the team finished the work for the week.

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/slideshow/AlbumID=5252954024/PictureID=215710126024/a=148890196_148890196/otsc=SHR/otsi=SPIClink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Rick and I both find reassurance in seeing how God worked to bring this team together.  When we agreed to try and organize a work team for the week of May 3-11, we had doubts that we would be able to find anyone to go.  We simply put out a request and then got out of the way and let God work in the hearts of man.  The team was varied, yet very skilled in the areas needed for this project.  Friday was a very emotional day for me as I realized how much had been done.  The true beauty of the week was not in seeing what man had done, but seeing God work through these souls who had selflessly given their time, talents and resources.  

While the team accomplished much, there is still work to be done in the home.  Some of this work will be done by Haitian labor and by a few brothers from our churches that commit time to projects at HL each year.  Some of the work will probably be done by us as well.  The drawers and doors for the kitchen cabinets still need to be made as do the closet doors.  Some plumbing and installation of bathroom fixtures will need to be completed. We are considering some options with the floor as well.  Rick would love for a few people to come down in July and help him re-tile the showers and floors.  A depot (wash house) will be constructed by a Haitian crew that is skilled with concrete building construction.  We are very thankful that Bro. Daryl Luginbuhl is onsite and organizing all all of the renovations projects in addition to many other tasks.

During one of our evenings of fellowship, one of the missionaries talked about a recent conversation he had with some of the Haitian Christian men about Isaiah 55, specifically verse 12 that says, the mountains and hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  He talked about how this passage is so real for the Haitians.

On Sunday, one of our readings in church was Isaiah 55.  As I am still struggling with a bit of fear and anxiety with our move, I took comfort and gained strength from verses 8-12.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:  so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:  it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.  For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  

God's thoughts and ways are so much higher than mine and I know that word that is sent out by Him will accomplish what is pleasing to Him and will prosper in His will.  I pray that we will be able to go out with JOY and be led forth with PEACE.  As I think about all the sounds of nature and the sounds of Haitians living and singing on the mountain in Bonne Fin, I can almost hear the mountain singing and the trees clapping their hands in praise of our Lord!

Here are a few more pictures for those who don't want to sign in to Snapfish to view the video:

Kitchen Cabinets that were built by Wilfred, James & Jesse

Dining Nook and Computer Nook looking out from Kitchen

Living Room - still full of work team stuff

Closets in Mara & Selah's Room - still need another coat of paint

Starting to look like a home...

Today is Thursday and the team had a full day of work on the home. Things are starting to come together and the house is starting to look like our home.

The electrical team has spent most of the week rewiring the entire house and they now have most of the outlets, switches, lights and fans installed. Adrian, Scott, Rick and Stuart have worked on this team and it has been fun to see them interact as well as see how much work they have gotten done in a short amount of time.  

The woodworking team is really two teams with Wilfred, James and Jesse working on the kitchen cabinets and pantry (they look awesome). Aaron and Matt have been working on doorways and the shelving and doors for the closets. All of these guys have done amazing work and we are so thankful to have them here. These are men that get things done! Both the lower and upper cabinets were set today!

The ladies, Courtney, Harriet, Ulista and Komari have been focused on painting and cleaning the glass panes in the hurricane windows. We have all but one room painted and the windows were finished today. Tomorrow we will finish up painting if possible, and help get the house cleaned up from the project (those electrical guys keep throwing wires and stuff on the floor)

Here are a few pictures:

Komari painting in Krae's Room

Stu, Adrian and Scott working on wiring.
Stu is actually putting together a ceiling fan - it just looks like he is sitting and watching.

James, Wilfred & Jesse hard at work on the kitchen cabinets!  It was amazing to watch  these guys work .

Courtney painting in the kitchen.

The woodworking crew working down at the shop.