Entering a new “dimension”…effective 11/30/2014

SO, one of the BIGGEST challenges of overseas life, we’ve found, is communication.

Another is isolation.

Beyond that we face a stronger sense here of limited resources…

• funds

• time

• proximity

• energy

• relationships

• encouragement 

We enjoy & need ALL of the above! 

Facebook, Squarespace blogs, Newsletters and Twitter have been fabulous tools for SHARING what we are doing ministry-wise, personally, and as a family in general. They are also helpful for sharing thoughts, events, pics and chat sessions with family members & friends. However, we have to dedicate quite a LOT of time to planning, writing, posting and updating the latest "news".

With a busy 6 year old underfoot, me (Rebecca) in the midst of midwifery studies 50 hours a week now & Ted’s 40-60 hours of field/office work we have had to seriously weigh up time management factors along with our current resources & “needs” as human beings, christian workers, family members, and friends.

This is what we realized...

• Broadly used social media is playing a different role than we hoped.

• It is probably more of a drain on all of the above than an improvement.

• Our personal & ministry support of all forms has been through truly engaged (daily to annually) family members, friends & co-workers.

• We are not comfortable broadcasting...personal events, experiences, and needs...or the lives and stories of our Haitian friends...with the general public anymore.   

What we honestly don’t desire right now (or ever) is:

• to spend extra non-interactive time on electronics
• our Haitian friends’ privacy to be invaded or stories exploited 
• to feed information consumerism instead of tangible engagement in ministry
• personal information to be turned into “gossip” 
• one way communication
• a growing sense of isolation in observing normal life from afar
• a mile long FB chat list of individuals that we never interact with
• our youngest to learn that life revolves around a laptop! 

We DO desperately need:

To SIMPLIFY during busy times & STRENGTHEN “real” and positive relationships, even from a distance. 

To share meaningful personal time with family & friends in some interactive (probably media based) form regularly.

SO, here is the HARSH part...

...we are going to take a VERY BOLD step & actively shut down any social media pathways to the general PUBLIC and those we are not interacting with personally….over the next few weeks.

What does that look like?

We WILL still be on facebook/twitter as individuals.

Our family page will be shut down by the end of November.

If you would like to remain “friends” please send each of us a quick message saying so.

No communication from you in the last year directly by any mode or between now & the end of November, means...don’t take it personally...but we must unfriend you at that time.

BLOG POSTS may be limited or even eliminated. We'll see what time allows in the coming months.

We WILL continue to send occasional NEWSLETTERS out.

The idea is that when they arrive, we'd love to hear a reply & catch up on YOUR news as well!

You will receive one ONLY IF you send a brief reply to the most recent one and notify us that you would like to continue receiving them OR have responded personally at least once in the past year. 

Does this mean that you have to chat with us daily or weekly or monthly??? No, not really. We are just looking to be more engaged personally with you over the course of the year in some way.

We sincerely hope that you understand this phase of our overseas life & work right now and will be an active part of our circle of friends & family that laughs with us in joyful times & shares strength, wisdom & encouragement during the hard ones. We love and cherish you either way!

As always...there is a standing invitation for the use our guestroom in Haiti as well!

Have a blessed weekend - Rebecca

Family Time.

We just had a great week here with Rebecca's mom, who traveled down with Tynan & Emma. Sandrea, our previous school teacher for Emma came down for the week too! Since Olivia was here as well, we were only a couple of kids short in celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on June 10th. While there is a bigger celebration ALL TOGETHER, coming up in September along with Ted's 50th, it sure was a precious time to make new memories & to share our Haiti life with Ruth Carrico! We are SUPER proud of her for taking her first international trip ever in her 70's & to such a crazy different place. She was a natural traveler & kept right up on our excursions, she even visited Operation Blessing's school on the shores of Lake Azueil & ventured into Kanez village with Rebecca to check on a friend's little boy who is sick. Syndie got to meet her first grandparent in person. She sure LOVES her "Grandmere" & also got spoiled with lots of gifts sent down from "Tante Renee", Grandpa Bob & Grammy M! 

Life is taking a turn here now as we head into summer time - hot, Hot & HOTTER! It looks like a busy couple of months coming up. 

The coming & going continues as our company left Wednesday afternoon and Olivia flew back to TX this morning to pursue work, school and to catch up on her medical care now that we have U.S. insurance again. Rebecca's brother, Bob arrives in a week to kick off the computer programming business initial stages. We also have our honorary "neice", Bethany Hatley coming down from CA with a friend for 3 weeks and as soon as they leave our cousin Becca from Rhode Island!

Ted's first few weeks at OB have been interesting to say the least. The area of one of their big projects has been literally invaded by an egotistical group of "do-gooders" from the US that have a heap of money & seem to think that they can just take over two villages & do whatever they want. It's a VERY sad and scary situation. PLEASE pray...these Americans are extremely RUDE, vague, ARMED with both guns & video cameras and possibly dangerous. Strange, never thought we would worry about needing security from the Americans here. 

Our main ministry NEED right now is a helper for Rebecca from July 28th through the end of August! She will be up in Hinche with Midwives for Haiti most of that time & will have Syndie with her. We are hoping to have someone who will help out with Syndie during the hours that she has to give her attention to work. It may include educational tutoring & play for her and also being a personal assistant for Rebecca who will be teaching / training on postpartum & newborn care for midwifery students for several weeks.

We are also looking for a teacher for the coming school year. This could start sooner if the same person wanted to stay for the year. See the post under Ministry Team for this position...!

a new year & a note...

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”  Isaiah 43:18-19 (niv)

To start, a side note on the verses above...I just want to be clear that in my mind it is not meant to infer that HAITI is a wilderness or a wasteland as some might say. Haiti is a land of infinite possibilities and amazing resources, not the least being it’s beautiful, resilient, hard working and often faith-filled people. The wilderness and wasteland I would refer to is my life, our lives…, and how God is using His work to redeem them. He is changing us at the very core and slowly creating beauty, love, patience and kindness out of selfishness, pride, greed and cultural blindness. It is a lifelong process to be sure, but He has been running us through a new training course and the lessons are fresh and sometimes painful. We do our best to keep up with the learning curve that He has us on!

I have no doubt that 2014 holds even more in that realm, but wanted to share on everyone’s behalf how our year is shaping up so far...

Right now we are feeling VERY blessed to have had time together here in California with family & friends. MAINLY with each other!! Ana & Oliver were here for a week and we got to lavish love & share fun memories with them that are rare and treasured. ALL of us but Olivia, spent Christmas together and the days surrounding it. Keep Olivia in your prayers as she continues to work through her healing process in a sequestered program in Texas. It has allowed no contact with her since August, but we pray is making an indelible change for the good in her life.

What is coming up for the rest of us?

Ana & Ollie head back to Germany on January 5th. They will find out within the coming year where they move to next and are hoping to be based back in the US one day soon.

Ted leaves for Haiti on January 6th for 2+ weeks, his return depends on his increasing responsibilities there and the move to our new living quarters near Apparent Project.

Tania Grace has decided to return to Texas where she she feels more “at home” right now and will be looking into pursuing a CNA position there instead.

Tynan & Emma are both starting new jobs here in California in the next week. We are working hard to form a “base” here for them to explore their futures from, within a network of support. Pray for all of us during this transition as Haiti remains more like HOME for them, separation still seems a little daunting, and they aren’t sure yet how much they will be able to come & go.

I (Rebecca) have 3.5 weeks left of my nursing contract here and am torn between taking a REAL break for a week or so, visiting others before returning, or just heading straight HOME after being gone for the better part of 6 months! I am BEYOND grateful for the additional support that has been coming in to stabilize our focus on ministry. As this refresher comes to an end, it looks like my work will be FULL TIME for Apparent Project, back in Haiti for 2014. (BIG smile!)

Apparent Project remains dedicated to sharing Christ’s love in tangible ways and fulfilling God’s commands in the area of orphan care by keeping families together. Our focus remains on strengthening at-risk and impoverished children and their parents through job creation, small business development, training & mentoring. We hope to expand the reach and impact of our work to the areas of prevention and restoration as we move forward. Providing services such as good maternity care, safe deliveries, and family stabilization are all on our planning and development list for the coming year.

Prayer and support are not only vital to our work in Haiti but also to us as average, everyday people. We all need relationships that connect us to our daily journey through life and we don’t know where we’d be without the love, support and anchoring that you provide...even when it’s from a distance. The ministry that we do in Haiti truly isn’t possible for us without the foundation of our faith, family and friends!

May God bless YOUR coming year in as many ways as you have blessed us -

Rebecca {for us all}

Back down the Rabbit Hole….

 ...to the realities of our “other world” life.

Tomorrow we leave on another a short trip home to Haiti to address some of our responsibilities there and to introduce Tania Grace to our home abroad.

Why are we still in the US??

Several reasons have led us to remain here...

1) Our support has been coming in steadily at about 40-50% of our budgeted needs.

2) Transition for Tynan & Emma into “normal” life back in the states for a while.

3) Rebecca is preparing for her midwifery program by working in L&D this contract.

4) In order to gain funds to upgrade our electricity situation.

5) Spending the holidays with our older girls, Tania & Ana and our grandson, Oliver.

The complexities of a life of ministry...in Haiti...bring unique challenges.

To explain these 5 points a little further…

We are able to bare-bones “exist” in Haiti on 40-50%, but it doesn’t allow for regular vehicle or household maintenance costs, utilities, travel, evacuation & health insurance or next year’s rent. Without those needs addressed, we had to send Rebecca to the US to work and cover/provide them. We are also looking at moving to a new housing situation for 2014, low cost US based insurance, providing short term housing and other creative ways to address the support gap.

Coupled with Rebecca’s need to have her US maternity and birthing skills refreshed, it seemed like a good option for her to take a job for 2-4 months, before starting her training. This has turned into one 2 month contract in postpartum & one 3 month contract in Labor & delivery. She should be ready go after such a substantial refresher AND hopefully there will be a little extra to stabilize us until our support reaches 100% again.

The electricity issues remain a big factor in Haiti.  So, we are having to make some longer term investments that allow us to sleep better, reduce stress, spend less time addressing power problems, and ultimately be more effective in our ministry there. Our fridge is no longer working AT ALL during the day unless the generator is running.  We can’t conceivably run the generator all day at $5/gallon of gas, to refrigerate our “island” priced food supplies. So we are hoping to put in a basic solar powered system and switch over to using a chest freezer with a thermostat that converts to fridge temps. It should take 90% less power & run fine on solar throughout the day! It will also mean that our batteries won’t be drained for nights without power, so we can sleep through the night with our fans.

Lastly, extended time in CA addresses our family's needs. While Tynan & Emma have been fabulous helpers in Haiti, we have all realized that after 2 years there, they need some time doing the things that other kids their age are doing...getting jobs, driving, having a “social life”. They have also expressed not wanting to have to do that at the expense of separation & lack of support. This was a main reason for extending their furlough & remaining nearby while they navigate this period in life. It allows time for them to decide their future plans either here or abroad. At the same time, our oldest, Tania Grace, has just moved back to No. California, so we are providing some “family” stability, encouragement & support for her as well, while she settles in and starts a new career. In late December, Ana & Oliver will be in the area for a visit, so nearly all of us will be together for Christmas!!

With our big projects still in development, a lot of our work can be done from here at the moment. Rebecca is planning & grant writing for the birthing center. Ted is continuing to develop other areas of Apparent Project’s ministry reach in both the US & Haiti. There is some organizational transition and planning for 2014 that we will participate in with the Seattle-based Apparent Project team & board members in December & January as well.

Please keep us all in your prayers this holiday season as we seek to follow and glorify God… in this ministry... with our family… in the US & in Haiti… in English, Russian, German, French & Haitian Kreyol… and above all as the unique individuals that He has made each one of us to be!!

unexpected joys...

It is a bit of a long story that will continue to unfold, but I (Rebecca) got to travel unexpectedly to California last week to take care of some nursing certifications and skills renewal at the same time as these precious events were happening. I felt SO blessed to get to be a part of them, and even more to come...

Ana & Oliver's visit to California from Germany:

My "baby" brother, Brad, the fabulous GREAT uncle!

Cousin fun

Ana and grandpa!

 Cassidy - "the little mother"

 the motley crew (LtoR: Logan, Oliver, Cassidy, Branden)

Ana & Logan

Oma love!!

Mom, Ollie, me, Ana = 4 generations

Auntie Renee and company...

& more delicious grandbaby pics:

Celebrating my mom's birthday together

for the 1st time in over10 years!: