Going around in circles...

At least that is the theme that we have come up for regarding life here lately.

First of all we drive A LOT. Sometimes it feels like all we do with 13 church partners spread across the greater Port Au Prince area. We are constantly making "round trips" to check on projects, deliver supplies, or to serve the communities that we work in. 

This week, we are truly back at the beginning again. We just passed our 1 year mark.

What were we doing 1 year ago today? We were living in the guest house, waiting for our house to be ready.

What are we doing right now? As of yesterday, we are back living at the guest house, waiting for our new house to be ready to move into! The agreement was for it to be done by Nov 15th, but it wasn't, and we're not quite sure when it will be. Not to mention the fact that Ted has to address why the floor tile repairs were done with pink grout...?

In the midst of it all, my head has literally, felt like it's been spinning, as I'm suffering from vertigo due to a sinus infection. Thank heaven for over the counter antibiotics!

Please keep us in your prayers as we seek answers to the housing issue and also as we review the past year and prepare for the coming one. We treasure His guidance.

12/1 - World AIDs Day

With all of the excitement about moving yesterday, we missed posting on a topic that is very near to our hearts - World Aids Day.

HIV can be stopped.

Children who have been orphaned because of HIV and orphans with the disease, MUST be cared for to help end this vicious cycle!

Susan Hillis, PhD. (CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion) has been one of my favorite speakers at the annual Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit for several years now. She is an authority on the state of the orphan population, when it comes to HIV. She shares that the orphan population will be the next great wave of infected individuals, because of the increased risk and vulnerability that predisposes them to the disease. 

 HIV and Orphans Facts

 • Worldwide, there are 16-million orphans due to HIV.

 • In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 70% of all orphans are orphaned due to HIV.

 • About 14.8 million AIDS orphans live in sub-Saharan Africa. 

 • In 2009, 370,000 children became newly infected with HIV globally.

 • And an estimated 42,000–60,000 pregnant women died because of HIV. In contrast, in high-income countries the number of new HIV infections among children and maternal and child deaths due to HIV was virtually zero. 

Carolyn Twietmeyer and her family have revolutionized the information, process and resources available for adopting children with special needs, especially HIV, through Project Hopeful. 

What can you do? 

                  Here are some ideas...

Simple Things Churches Around the World Can Do for Children

• Keep their mother alive, through early HIV diagnosis, treatment, and support;

• Provide treatment to mother and child even before the child is born if the 

mother is HIV positive;

• Follow the latest treatment guidelines which include things like C-section delivery;

• If the child is orphaned due to HIV, find a RELATIVE or NEW FAMILY who will legally adopt the child for life. GIVE AN ORPHAN WHAT THEY NEED MOST: A FAMILY. Every believer can GIVE to children who are orphaned due to AIDS by SPONSORING A FAMILY WHO IS WILLING TO ADOPT;

• Give to campaigns which help families adopt at www.hivaidsinitiative.com; 

• Consider adopting a child who is living with HIV. 

                                   -from Saddleback Church's HIV/AIDs initiative

Giving Thanks –

We are SO Thankful for the many teams & supporters that come alongside us in ministry here in Haiti.

Not only does it require the sacrifice of others to keep us here daily, but we can’t do everything that needs doing in a place like Haiti, alone. Looking around us day to day can be quite overwhelming. The needs often feel insurmountable & heartbreaking. So whenever we have teams or groups, whenever new support shows up, in its many forms, we are filled with joy and blessing! More hands, more feet, more of God’s body and resources at work, serves to multiply anything that we could ever begin to do here in a way that brings glory to God in the most amazing way.

This past week we had a real treat! Our cousin (more like a niece to me) travelled down from Rhode Island with a team that was working not far from us here in Port Au Prince. It was her second trip to Haiti, but the first since we have moved here full-time.

We also have our dear friend, Princess Scutt here from Florida. Princess is a Haitian-American-Bahamian! She is also a Pharmacist & speaks fluent Kreyol. She has taken a month sabbatical from work in order to do medical ministry here and to spend some time bonding with her adoptive daughters while they are in the process still. It was really cool to spend several days helping this team with their medical clinics during the week. It is SO the “body of Christ”, to think of how God had orchestrated that I & Becca & Princess would be working alongside each other, with a fabulous team of brothers & sisters in Christ from New England & Canada to serve the people of Haiti’s medical needs this week.

I am excited to see God at work in the lives of both of these amazing women of faith. I enjoy watching Princess beginning to “mother” her new daughters & deepen her relationships with them. At the same time she is sacrificially stepping out of her comfort zone to minister wholeheartedly to the people of her heritage. She wasn’t born in Haiti and didn’t grow up here, so she is finding life in Haiti to be a mixture of familiar cultural memories and completely foreign experiences as well.

Becca is a little girl that we have known & loved and are now both privileged & thrilled to watch blossom into godly womanhood. OK, so she happens to be sort of a namesake, too, but that doesn’t bias me! She is truly an amazing young woman who is intentionally surrendering her 20 year old life to Christ and seeking Him with all of her heart. She is beautiful both inside and out. It is really fun to share her fresh perspective, her energy and willing heart. Becca says that Haiti feels like “home” to her now & we recognize that well from the experience of our own calling. We look forward to seeing how God continues to use her here in the future!

Working together this week has offered a humbling example of how each one of us has the ability to minister here in a way completely unique to the gifts and experiences that God has given us. I cannot thank Him enough for allowing me to serve – in cooperation and collaboration with my family, these women and a remarkable body of Christ following individuals – as we jointly fulfill His plans & further His name in this little corner of the world. 

“Two Steps Away From Chaos”

There is always something happening here in Haiti – every week seems to bring a new adventure. Not so good for trying to have any type of household order or schedule, so we’re working on that, still.

In fact we all agreed to a new goal at the “family” meeting this weekend, as we to try to be a little more intentional around the house.  We are calling it our plan to withdraw from brink of mayhem - addressing a comment made by Ted, that it seems like we are constantly living just "ONE step away from CHAOS.”

Our goal? …to try to live at least TWO steps away from it, here at home.

The idea is not as easy as it may sound. It’s going to take some effort!

For example, Ted was marveling at the complexity of daily life here the other day when the absurdity of having to “move the car” out onto the street, so that he could take a shower…hit him. It’s true before he could take his morning shower he had to make sure that there was gas for the generator, check the water level in our cistern, move the car out, drag our (borrowed) generator over to hook up (bc there isn’t room for both the car & the generator in our little carport), fill up the gas tank, turn it on & start our water pump up, because the roof tank was empty.

And that was just for his shower! Anyhow, you get the idea, of what much of life here holds – there are usually many steps to something that might seem simple in a first world setting. There is a constant need for forethought, organization, consolidation, buffer or margin to help all run more smoothly. We are continually learning from the Haitians how to adapt to these differences.

Typically the best remedy around though is a change in attitude, rather than situation, which regularly requires taking a chisel to our pride. Ultimately, it's just one more way that God is using the "elements" here to sculpt us into his servants each day.

Fall? Autumn? Thanksgiving? Holiday Season?

November in Haiti...looks like this:

11/12/12 - Fellowship with friends visiting from NH & Sue Spinney

Quite deceiving, isn't it???

While it is our second round of holidays here in Haiti, we've yet to get our heads wrapped around it, and not sure if that will ever change. There are no leaves turning colors, falling off, raking, bright orange pumpkins, or apple pie smells. We don't have any family flying in for a feast, and aren't being bombarded by the steady stream of ads or wafting music signaling the countdown to Christmas either.

We're learning to interpret a new set of signals that the holidays are approaching here, & most of them are subtle:

Rather than changing leaves, we have changing weather, the temp has dropped at least 10 degrees at night now, so cold morning showers start to make you screech. Thus, heating water on the stove for bucket baths is on the rise. Hot tea seems like an appealing notion now too. Never mind that we bought watermelon on the way up the coast this week, note that rather than large orange pumpkins, the roadside stands seem to be overflowing with orange oranges...in fact all types of citrus (orange yellow & green) seem to be the fall harvest!

Our second annual Staff Appreciation/Thanksgiving celebration tradition is in order next weekend, which should get help get us in a grateful holiday spirit too.

With Christmas lights starting to pop up here & there at a few shops around Port Au Prince, it should be more obvious, but when in doubt about the season these ideas may help us with a festive mood:

Drop by DeliMart - they are always up on their holiday displays, complete with snoring black Santa on a folding chair! If still struggling - turn on the Christmas albums, reset laptop background to fireplace, snow scene or other holiday photo. Drink HOT chocolate. Watch video to wax reminiscent of the last Christmas tree that we cut on our property in TX. Shop online for a a few gifts. String up twinkle lights on railings, & decorate a palm tree. Last but not least, it's hard to miss the steady increase in street parties, near the guesthouse and around town. It should be pretty obvious that Christmas is near when DJ Benny's birthday arrives on Rue St Estime, Dec 19th - usually a BIG bash spilling on to Rebecca's birthday in the wee hours. If all else fails, let a Haitian dress you up like Santa and parade you around to cheer up the dark-skinned neighbor kids! (I'm sure that Jn Robert will be happy to oblige)

When NOTHING else works...post recent beach day pictures on blog & FB in hopes of enticing family or friends to come down & spend their holidays with you!!! :)

The signs may be different, but the meaning of the holidays are the same. There is much for us to be thankful for here, much to celebrate about life no matter where we are. God's LOVE is an abundant and undeserved GIFT...meant for everyone!