Sunny Sunday. High energy worship.

After breakfast we headed down to church arriving in time to hear the Sunday school results. Pastor Jonus preached on Christians living in harmony, forgiving others, not looking for revenge and having a content heart because our names are written in the Book of Life. Because we will go to heaven one day where no tears will exist we can be content during the storms of this life.

Then a few of us visited part of the Children's church to hear them sing a few songs. Great! Pastor Nathan sang a few funny ones for them and then we told the children to invite the rest of the children in the community for Kid's Club this afternoon for more team sharing.

After lunch of stir fry and sweet potato casserole we rested a bit, so to have enough energy for Kid's club.

I asked John Pierre to arrange for the team some home visits this week to the homes of children who do not yet have a US prayer partner. Because of the importance of prayer partners John Pierre asked the families to come today to Club and have pictures taken as well.

We enjoyed our time. Pastor Nathan lead the children in a funny song which had them doing motions for the funky chicken, sizzling bacon, wild dogs and cockroach. Then more seriously Pastor J told the story of Daniel in the lions den along with the puppets.

Following the program we met briefly with the staff for a time of prayer for the team as well as for the staff and advancement of Kid's Club.  The leadership accepted the gift of a couple of puppets with pleasure.

Hopefully on Tuesday afternoon we will have a time of sharing with Pastor Jonus followed by home visits to some of the local homes for prayer and more pictures.

Tonight will be sharing left overs and some yummy bread pudding. I look forward to more fellowship and hearing from the team their thoughts about today. Thank you for your prayers.

[Photo's not loading so will try again later.]

Kid's Club Dental Clinic

Confession, I like to see rapid improvements. During college, a period when most of my life consisted of learning and study, (both hard to physically see any change), I mowed lawns in the summer.  Mowing not only made a bit of money and provided physical activity but it also satisfied my need to see improvment. At the end of the job I could easily see what I accomplished.

Missions can be one of those jobs where improvement takes time and can be hard to see some days. Sometimes one takes one step forward only to fall back a few steps all in the same day. Trees grow slowly. One may not know for a few years if the tree will fruit, and what the quality of the fruit will be. Not a job for the faint at heart. Homeschooling takes time too.

Checking out the tools.

Last March, Dr. Wilnie shared with us his dream to provide dental care in Fauche and we started praying.

This summer a set of dental tools generously donated made it to Fauche and through a second gift we purchased two "zero gravity" dental [lawn] chairs. Because Dr. Wilnie does not have a full time job or the additional supplies needed to run a dental clinic the prices for a cleaning or extraction prohibit most people in our area from being able to pay.

But knowing how bad teeth can badly impact one's health we worked with the Kid's club leaders to identify the 40 worst cases and today the first children received dental care and education. Praying that the dental clinic can continue to improve lives and touch people with God's love. After a slow start I enjoy seeing some progress.

The dental work started after 2 p.m. down at clinic. This allowed clinic to be competed for the day and the children finish their school day. Notice the line still waiting around 3 p.m. Doubtful that most will be seen today but perhaps they can hear the educational talk given to the others. Clinic started with prayer.

Thank you to each who prayed and donated to help make this happen!!

Prayer- A truck driver hauling earthquake rubble in Port-au-Prince lost control this morning and slammed into a crowd killing at least 26 people and injuring around 60 others.

Dec. 22 Kid's Club Party Day.

Looks like the sun will come shinning over the mountains any time and stay around for the party.

Cory's busy popping pop corn for the party. Thankfully other folks will divide it up into small bags. Not sure there will be enough for 1,000 small bags but hope each child gets one. Hard to estimate how many children will come.

Cory and Anna show the 1/2 way mark! Will be a bit healthier than Haitian popcorn...less salt.

They told the children to bring a lunch as the plan for the program is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Do not know what all is planned but Anna will report later today. Eli and I will spend some one-on-one time working on school. Cory will likely go for parts of the party and I plan on sending the camera with him.

The last couple days school ended an hour early or so because of special church services starting about 5:45 p.m. The theme verse for the week is Malachi 3:8 "Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions." Interesting how many sermons we've heard on tithing in Haiti vs. the USA.

Tuesday the focus was on what can we give God in light of all He's done for us. Last night the focus was on Mary and Joseph and living our lives as they did so we can be used by the Lord.

Kodiak enjoying a sunbeam nap yesterday. As our winter afternoons more often than not include rain more than sun he's taking advantage of the opportunity. Or he did until Cory put a ladder up to the roof over the bedroom to cut off a mango tree branch touching the roof.

Praying for those in the military or Lord's service serving around the world away from family, especially the missionary college kids unable to return home. Safe travels for those who can join family.

This and That

This week our Fall Newsletters headed for the USA to be mailed as well as went out on E-mail. I think most of the information already found its way on the blog but will share a bit. 

Banana Plants

Before leaving Haiti Cory discovered, to our disappointment, that some of the 'disease resistant' banana plants appeared sick. He worried that Panama Disease had somehow infected the plants. He feared plants bought and distributed in the last few years would continue to grow and produce for a number of years but with time that the plants would become diseased. On our return to Haiti the plants looked better. More research and touring local gardens confirmed that it was not Panama Disease. He now suspects a nutrient deficiency or unbalance in certain soils. Several varieties still show better production and disease resistance over local varieties. So we will again start to purchase and distribute banana plants.

 {Photo-New baby banana plants from the USA that came in on Thursday}

Prayer Request: "New Christians to grow in faith: Haiti’s evangelical crusade in July reportedly reached 121,000 people for the Lord!"

Some of the smaller bananas currently waiting to be shared and enjoyed by the Kid's Club members. Thankfully able to share. 

School week finished well. Both children enjoyed French but need to learn in mom's opinion to stay on task. By getting us away from common words we end up the French words for 'door frame' and 'veterinarian'. While I'm glad that they enjoyed the class I feel that we need to focus on common and useful words first!

The almost daily afternoon rains water my growing Moringa trees. The sad trees we planted just three weeks ago recovered nicely. The large Moringa that the storm cracked the top out of now sports a nice green head of leafy new growth as well. 

Yesterday we learned that the hospital ran out of IV fluids the afternoon before. Thankfully by the end of the day a nice amount of IV's reached Fauche safely in the middle of a heavy rain storm. Please pray for John Pierre as he spends many hours traveling for supplies.

Last Sunday in Haiti for Haiti 13 + 6

Today we all enjoyed a slower start. The team decided that rather than visit a second church they would return a second week to the Fauche church.

Anna, Eli and Todd's kids attended children's church. Haiti celebrates Father's Day so the men received special recognition in church this morning.

All church members received the invitation to come tomorrow to carry water for the church construction. So we anticipate a lot of work being done on campus tomorrow.

This afternoon the air again rang with children enjoying the songs, games and fun of Kid's Club.

The team's puppet show was well received.

John Pierre talked to the children about what a puppet is made of and how a person works it because some of the children still are afraid because they do not understand that the puppets are not real. After club some of the children were able to touch and play with the puppets.

Steve helped the leadership out by sharing a bag of candy that he bought at market yesterday.

One of the new school benches did not hold up to the folks sitting on it wiggling from side to side.

John Pierre requested that the children return on Tuesday afternoon to form a chain of prayer to pray for the team before they return to the USA.

Please continue to pray for the team. A few have cold symptoms and Eli spiked a low fever today.

The team will be leaving Fauche close to dawn on Wednesday, Sloans on Thursday morning and us at dawn on Friday.

We plan to worship with the team in their church on July 3, Gull Lake Area Community Church at 9:30 and look forward hearing the team share with their church family what this trip was like for them.

Celebration of Children Sunday June 19.

Although the United States celebrated fathers today I think that Fauche celebrated children. Happy Father's Day Dad! We will celebrate when we get to Michigan.

The school children from the Wesleyan school on campus joined us for church this morning so that the members could remember to pray for them this week of final exams, especially those who will be taking government tests.

These tests need to be passed before advancing to the next grade. Thankfully Cory walked down to church before Sunday school and roped off 3 pews otherwise we would not of easily found seats. Todd greeted the church in Creole and did a good job [I translated his greeting a couple of days ago and then we worked on it so that he had the words written phonetically] Then the team shared 2 songs and presented a saxophone to the church. A very different service I'm sure than most ever experienced but a good spirit as we praised the Lord together.

The set up for the Kid's Club celebration of the International Day of the child stared early this morning. The parade started very close to the target time of 2 p.m. The children walked down the road a ways, led by the school band [fan fair as it is called here] then returned to campus. Visitors and leadership were presented.

A number of special music and a few short speeches or funny moments. After the team introductions each received a homemade card. Later Todd and I returned to center stage to introduce 'Little Kong' the monkey puppet who will visit again next week with a few friends. Little Kong scared a few of the younger kids but most laughed.

Each of us received a small bag of popcorn along with a few pieces of candy. The children also enjoyed juice. Because many of the local children came who are not enrolled in the program they were unable to hand out small gifts as the 545 that were prepared would not of been enough for the estimated 600 children who attended.

The supplies for the school projects made it to campus yesterday so I'm sure that tomorrow will be a busy day.

13 June Celebration of children, clinic

Sunday: In church the celebration of children filled every pew as the children who normally met in their own service joined the adults. Nearly finished John Pierre came to the window beside Cory and requested that I consult a laboring women. Chris and I slipped out to clinic. After taking her history we walked up to the house to change into scrubs and get a drink. Within a half hour the nurse called us back down. Within 2 hours Chris had delivered a healthy baby girl, we consulted a 13 year old boy, took pictures of mom and daughter and prayed with the patients.

After enjoying a late lunch of stir fry, Chris, Kathleen, Anna and Cory headed out for more children's celebration at Port Margot. Cory also took some pictures of celebrating children at Fauche. [The big celebration with Fauche's Kid's Club will occur next Sunday so the team can participate.]

Monday: Eli and Anna finished up with a bit more school with Kathleen's help. Chris and I consulted a few folks in clinic and then Chris joined Dr. John Pierre and observed a few more. Chris also spent a few hours of the night watching and helping a new baby boy enter this world.

Lab tests diagnosed anemia, malaria while history and exams added heart burn, arthritic pain, GI worms, cavities, cataracts, and STRESS, to our list of the day's problems. Each patient left after a prayer. The lady in the picture at 83 years of age has defied Haiti's low life expectancy.

House cleaning, yard straightening, shopping continue as the day of our guests arrival draws near! The beds outfitted with clean sheets await the weary bodies of our visitors who although they will have only traveled a day will be in a world very different from their normal lives. A tasty meal of Haitian rice and beans will be waiting for us for lunch on Wednesday.

18 May This and That- Prayer Requests

Cory's travels, although I lack the details at this time, ended with him at Tom's where he planned to be. I know he remained behind his 'hoped for' schedule most of the day but to be expected when traveling in Haiti.

I did hear that the trip started by a drive via the river bed as our road once again became blocked because of political protests. This time the ditch across prevented even motorcycle travel. I hear that the law stepped in and some maybe under arrest. More details to follow I'm sure but I encouraged John Pierre to run home as the rain began.

In 4 weeks time we will be heading to the airport to pick up my brother's family and team. Next week we host for 1 night a group from the central plateau coming this way for a graduation at the Christian University of Northern Haiti. One week later we pick up Chris and Kathleen for a 1 month long visit. The following week we may have a short visit by a team from the University. And then Todd's team!! Lots to do before these visitors as we return to the USA 2 days after Todd leaves and 1 day after Chris and Kath.

Thankful to hear from a couple locations in Haiti yesterday that their rainy season appears to have started. While the gardens and dust benefit from the rain it is likely to spike the number of Cholera cases..so please remember to pray.

Clinic numbers remain low. Pastor Rigo does not know at this time why but hopes it indicates good health in our area. I did hear yesterday that a man, found helping himself to a garden not belonging to him received severe machete wounds but remained alive by the grace of God. Sadly this is the second attack for him, for the same reason.

The compound's banana plants continue to ripen unfortunately last week while John Pierre left for volley ball tournaments 2 nice bunches walked away. Cory discovered the robbery when he went with the camera to get pictures of the nice banana bunches.

[First picture is our pastor's youngest daughter. Second is some of the Kid's club kids picking up trash around campus. Visitors coming so we want to look good.]

March 14 Plants, trees and Kid's Club

A drippy start to a new week with sprinkles of rain pattering on the tin roof.

Because of the rain the focus this morning will be school and office work not clinic. [Continue to pray for rain

Saturday morning Cory and his guys helped the local young people's group to plant a community garden just a short walk from the campus.

Almost 45 disease resistant banana plants now occupy the garden along with a palm tree, a sugar apple and some katuk plants.

Warning to all non-productive trees!!

This mango tree received some heavy pruning on Saturday as the grapefruit tree living in it's shadow needs more sun and Cory intends to graft the mango at a later date.

Even though I know the good reasons to cut back the tree I still dislike hearing the sound of chopping wood and crashing limbs-Haiti doesn't have enough trees.

Sunday we worshiped on campus but in the afternoon Cory traveled to Port Margot and visited three Kid's clubs: the Wesleyan and Baptist churches in town and a smaller Baptist church just west of town.

Cory estimates over 200 children participated in these clubs yesterday [not including Fauche's].

31 January Folks delayed and Kid's Club Celebration

Oatmeal for breakfast-slow start to the school day.

School 7:30 to 8:45 Bible together and getting the kids set up for working alone during clinic.

Cory starting to make corrections in the health book so it can be reprinted.

Clinic 8:45 to about 10:30 Saw 6 patients and at one point had 4 student nurses watching. My clinic room becomes very full with myself, 4 nurses, 1 patient and a family member. Two patients sent home while the remainder needed to visit the lab [a fall follow-up and ringworm].

10:30 Chatted with the folks on Skype as looks like their trip to visit us will be delayed. So when the storm clears will be praying for a MAF flight to Cap Haitian so they can make it to us without an overnight in Port [or without Cory needing to drive down to get them]

10:30 to 12:10 School.

1:35 Instant message with mom. Still no word but likely not going to have a flight out of Grand Rapids on Wed. Once we know this 100% need to cancel their MAF charter from Port-au-Prince and let their ride know.

Lunch. Devotions. School. 1:45 and still waiting for the call that tells me my labs await. So I thought I'd blog.

Yesterday afternoon over 300 kids celebrated the first year of Kid's Club at Fauche. Lots of noise, a parade around the campus led by a band, songs, a skit, birthday gifts for those with January birthdays, a few short speeches, and then everyone enjoyed pop and mayo on bread.

Special thanks to Bill, Elaine and their church for supporting this ministry.

Lab called just before 2. Two older folks with urinary track infections and hypertension [also 3 cateracts between them the gentalman having been blind for 10 years now] a 3 year old with anemia and malaria, an 18 year old [not pregnant] with heart burn.

Back to school for a couple of hours and helping Cory with the book. A couple of letters to work on so that they can fly to the USA tomorrow with the mail on MFI. Supper will be leftovers. Cold shower hopefully before the sun sets. Bed about 9 p.m.

27th January

Yesterday afternoon Cory and I explored the garden and trees. Most of the areas contain various fruit trees or banana plants. The land looks much different than it did 3 1/2 years ago.

The lower area near the dorm/current church location changed from a marginal garden area to an banana plantation shading a large number of exotic fruit trees. As the trees grow bigger the banana plants will be relocated. The last few years of mulching, charcoal dust and proper drainage transformed the soil into productive land.

Most of the trees need additional growing time before producing fruit but we found some ripe bilimbi. This fruit from Asia is very sour and can be used in juice, jelly, relish or sauces. Cory plans to try to them in jelly as soon as they ripen a bit.

The big green gourd like fruits are cassabanana. Cory learned about this fruit at Epcot.

We don't know when the fruit will be ripe to try but looking forward to it. Cory more than the rest of us if I had to guess. Can be eaten raw or used as a juice or jelly. The immature fruit can also be cooked as a vegetable. The vine clings to a Moringa tree.

School took up most of today. Elijah happily moved from just chemistry math to experiments. One of our chemicals must of evaporated on the trip as all we found was a empty labeled bottle. But we moved ahead and just filled in that information from the answer key.

Still no real news about Haiti's runoff elections. Cholera numbers continue to drop. My folks continue to prepare to arrive next week. Big celebration for the Fauche Kid's Club planned for Sunday afternoon. Book editing continues in preparation for the second printing.

16th Aug. 2010 Weekend report: Beach and fishing nets.

We visited the beach on Saturday and watched the folks pull in a couple fishing nets. Even with many pulling each side each pull only advanced the net a couple of inches so it took a long time.

Once the net arrived to the beach only a small basket of fish, crabs and squids resulted-not much to show for the hard work.

A couple of gelatinous critters also ended up in the net but not edible.

On the other hand the coconut pavlova served with blueberry pie filling and whip topping--very edible. Thanks to the crew that made it for me.

Cory again crossed the river Sunday afternoon to provide one of the Kid's Clubs with a video.

Afternoon thunderstorms caused us to wonder if he would make it back.

Thankfully he made it back only a couple minutes after the heavy rains started.

Avocado's season is just around the corner while we enjoy star fruit and Barbados cherries daily.

More banana plants to fly in from the USA on Thursday.

26 July. Weekend News. 10 weeks and counting.

We managed to all smile with eyes open for a prayer card photo. So when we return to the USA will have new cards showing off our growing kids.

More harvesting of star fruit [John Pierre really likes it] to share with the ladies. Some told Cory that they would be bringing this new fruit home to share with their families.

Many will plant the seeds and try to grow their own trees. Wouldn't it be neat if in 3 years 100 families have their own star fruit trees!

Sharing the Lord's love through sharing knowledge and trees-the reason we are here.

Sunday church started at 6 a.m. [we made it by 6:30 so not to bad] Of the 24 women's missionary groups in the North 22 church representatives attended this year's conference.

Ladies stayed in class rooms and the House of Hope. The final service rang with praise and admonishments to be right with the Lord and about His business.

Here the presidents from the different churches came in singing to place small cloth bags, each unique, in the offering.

Cory and I each gave greetings and comments. Some of the ladies received banana trees and star fruit trees.

Kid's club met outside because of the Conference. Thankfully no afternoon rains fell. More birthday celebrations.

More and more our thoughts and plans turn to Michigan and the fall. Our pace in school motivated by the countdown picked up last week.

A few events now reside in ink on our calender for the USA trip. Work on tickets and arranging speaking dates continues. Thank you for your prayers.