60 seconds 1.13

60 sec 1.13 from Ted Barlow on Vimeo.

60 seconds 1.12

weekend guests...

I had a total "fail" on camera work today so no 60 second video...

I also ended up sleeping most of the day, from 10 until 5 pm, so I hope that doesn't mean my body is brewing something...kind of wondering if it's time for a malaria check.

This evening we got to spend with a couple of our favorite Haiti friends - they don't live here, but this is where we met them. Michael & Annette have been leading teams down from their church in upstate NY to develop a relationship with one of the pastors & churches implementing a World Orphans, orphaned & vulnerable child program. They are always a joy & a delight to spend time with!

Michael & Annette DiGesare

Michael and Todd Defayette

Annette playing with kids at Pastor Jacques Henri's church today.

After dinner Ted & I took Dr. Todd over to visit a missionary who had posted yesterday the need for a chiropractor on our expat fb group. He was able to bless her with care & relief for a recent back injury. The experience was one of those Haiti "moments"...the unexpected "treats" that appear out of nowhere, that I cherish day in & day out with our life here. They quietly seem to fill my heart with joy.

Todd carried his portable table to the 3rd floor above a church building, where there were apts for those missionaries who lived & worked there. We met Tom, who has been living in Haiti for 40 yrs & also Carole who has been working with Tom & his wife in church planting and school building here in Haiti for 15 years.  They are veterans compared to us & this evening I was thinking that they had been here long enough to find the most marvelous Saturday night spot in Port Au Prince. There was a small outdoor common area, sort of a breezeway that their apts were each off of. Down in the church three floors below was a choir practicing. They were singing a'cappella and it wafted straight up.

While Todd got down to business I commented on what a unique setting it was for him to work in, one you could never imagine ahead of time! He was giving much needed treatment for a slipped disc with a Haitian choir serenading him in the background. It was glorious & reminded me of a moment of "heaven" here on earth. God providing Carole's care in a miraculous way & us being blessed with the voices that He had created raising up to worship him in unison. There is so much that is "noise" and "chaos" here as a constant that the orchestration of both divine gifts jumped out and proclaimed themselves as His handiwork tonight in the midst of daily life.

I'm sorry that I didn't have my camera in tow to share a bit with you, but some times these things just pop up when you least expect it!

**                    **                    **                    **

Please PRAY with us as we head for some worship time tomorrow and get ready for WO leadership to arrive in the afternoon. We all have a BIG week of planning ahead of us for the future of our programs as we continue to grow & to help them move from relief mode toward development. We are in great need of God's clear WISDOM and guidance as we talk with each other as a team and with our church pastors throughout the week and seek to find His vision for us all for this phase of the projects here in Haiti.

Friday night fun at the guest house

A few friends flew in today. One of them is a chiropractor, so most of the house lined up for their "adjustments". Ron & Emma were both "first-timers". What a blessing to have drop in on us this weekend!

60 sec 1.11 from Ted Barlow on Vimeo.

RR - paint & more paint...

Today our reno reality was quite nice! Our fixer errands took us up the hill into Petionville to an actual Sherwin Williams store. Here we get to pick more color options than they have at MSC, it's great paint & we enjoyed a few minutes of air conditioning. The Haiti twist...it is impossible to get paint here the same day. So we put our order in & will have to drive back up again tomorrow to pick it up.

It's been worth it, we threw in a quick stop at Maison Handel to look at a bed for Emma, picked up a couple more padlocks to replace the ones we had to cut off, bought a really nice bushel of "fig" (bananas) on the street and stopped to grab a few groceries on our way back home.

60 sec 1.10 from Ted Barlow on Vimeo.