Christmas 2007

My Uncle Richard and I met in Memphis TN for Christmas this year. It is equal driving distance for him from Texas and for me from where I land in Florida.

We had a good Christmas with all the trimmings except snow!

We also spent some time in downtown Memphis including Beale Street

and we had dinner on board the Memphis Queen III.

Then, in January, instead of heading right back to Haiti, I took the Auto Train to north to go to Pennsylvania. Our dear family friend Marie McGhee had died in December and I went to attend her burial and memorial service. It was a sad occasion, but it enabled me to see some extended family and to see some snow.

Bumper crop of citrus

When I got back to Haiti in later January, it was to find that all the rain we had in the fall had resulted in a huge crop of citrus fruit in the area. I have never seen so many grapefruit, oranges and red limes in my entire 22 years in Haiti. The photos are of the trees after several weeks of picking -- and they are still laden! Ely, the HAFF farm manager told the story the other day about being hungry one day. His wife hadn't cooked that day, but he remembered he had a roasted sweet potato. So he ate that and a grapefruit and it chased the hunger completely away! Thank the Lord with us that at least one crop did well this year.

Eye glass Clinic

I am back to work at the eye glass clinic Wednesday mornings.

Becky Wilson works with me and we see 6 people each time.

Thanks to an Iowa eye surgeon we have the means to check distance vision and to easily change lenses to see what strength glasses some one needs.

We use the Creole "Here is the Path God has Traced for you to get to Heaven" tract as the reading material, then the person may also keep the tract. Then the people can choose from a variety of styles in their prescription.

Teams of visitors (these ladies are from Grand Rapids, Michigan) have been helping us as well cleaning some of the donated glasses and praying with the people once they get their glasses. Please pray for me and Becky as we minister to this physical need, that the love of Christ would be made mainfest and would draw folks to Himself!

Long Time Gone

I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted anything to the blog! The summer was hectic -- I stayed in 27 homes in 10 weeks, if I am counting correctly. And the fall back in Haiti was hectic too. Just a quick view of some of what has been occupying my time ---
I spent a good part of the early fall working with Mme Gesson (second from right in back row) testing and choosing the Godly Woman classes for the year. I also helped with the first few classes.

Here are the adult (non-student) women yesterday wearing the aprons they made (they were making Christmas Cookies) and the hats they were just given as a gift.

Here are the young ladies (from our school) today wearing their aprons and hats. Both groups are very enthusiastic and a great encouragement. Pray for them as they study the rest of this year how to have a home set apart for the Lord.
It was a very wet fall. We got too much rain. It not only made the roads almost impassable, but it ruined many crops for the people as well. It is going to be a hungry winter.

This is National Route 3 coming out of the Caiman ravine on the Bohoc side October 18. The sides of the road were literally running rivers.

We had a mission study team from Chattanooga TN arrive October 18. The truck got stuck in the ravine on the way back to the HAFF campus and the men on the team worked hard with the Haitians to pull the truck out -- a very wet and muddy welcome to Haiti, but a real glimpse of the constraints under which we often work.


This is Derold Mompremier working with the new class of Young Leaders. Yes, he is back from University -- the Lord made it clear to him that now was not the time! I spent some time helping him communicate with Barb Van Schoyck (who was still in the US) so they could plan the new class.

Since then, my time has been spent working with Barb and Greg Van Schoyck and the Wilsons and our Haitian staff to put together the information to fill out a very extensive report. Each year the Non-Governmental Organizations in Haiti must submit this report to the Haitian government. Today the report is finally finished! Tomorrow I will have our school headmaster proof-read the French and then I will print the report. Lord willing, Colin and I will fly to Port-au-Prince and back Monday to submit the report. Please pray for us and our travel arrangements.

Then, next Thursday Dec 13th, I leave Haiti for 3 weeks to go to the US for Christmas. This year my Uncle and I are meeting in Memphis TN for the holiday! No special reason, just that it is the same amount of driving time for us both to get there.

I hope you and your family have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Thank you all for your interest, your prayers and your support.

Miniature Donkeys at the Addison County (Vermont) Fair.
Sailing with friends on Lake Champlain (again from Vermont).

The Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor, VT.

The National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia Pennsylvania.
Analisa Hope Boshart.

All fun things I have done and seen in the last couple of weeks of my summer travels. I am now just a bit more than 7 weeks into my time in the States and a bit more than 2 weeks from returning to Haiti. The Wilsons will be leaving Haiti this coming week, just 2 weeks before I go back. Pray for them as they prepare for their time in the States. And pray for me as I wrap things up at the house in Pennsylvania and start my travels south to get ready to go back to Haiti September 6.

My Summer Vacation

I am now 4 weeks into my 10 weeks in the US. It has been a busy time traveling around the North East visiting family and friends and supporters and reporting to churches. I have been blessed to catch up with many people, including some former HAFF staff members. And I have been enjoying some cooler temperatures!
I was also able to participate in a new activity. I was visiting a farm while they were "processing chickens". They have an interesting low tech automated way to deal with the most distasteful and time consuming parts of the job.

I was able to help with the final cleaning of the chickens and with packaging them. And while we were working, there was time to talk about HAFF and Haiti and how things are going with the ministry.

Please pray for the rest of my time in the US. Pray for safety on the road and that my time with people would be productive and fruitful for the Kingdom and for the work in Haiti.

Conversations

This is a local general contractor, Elicien, who has worked with HAFF off and on for longer than I have been in Haiti. The other day I had the opportunity to give him a ride as we were both heading toward Pignon. While we were traveling, we had another of the many conversations like we have had over the years about matters of faith.

As a missionary with HAFF, I do not go door to door handing out Christian literature or asking people to make a decision right now about faith in Christ. What I do is engage in conversations in the course of my daily activities, driving, teaching, meeting people at the door or on the road or in the office. Those conversations frequently turn to talk of faith. And over the years, Lord willing, these conversations will hopefully break down the barriers preventing people from putting their faith fully in Christ or will encourage them to deepen their faith. Just as the conversations I had with family and friends many years ago broke down the barriers that prevented me from putting my faith in Christ.

Please pray for Eliciene and others like him that they would be able to put their faith fully in Christ. Please pray for me while I am up and down the eastern seaboard of the United States this summer (I leave Thursday), that I would be strenghtened to return and have more of these conversations. Please pray that those conversations would more frequently become the type of conversations that draw people closer to Jesus Christ.

Eyeglass Clinic

Friday morning, June 22nd, I spent the morning in the HAFF eyeglass clinic. This is one of my new responsibilities and I finally got my act together enough to go get my feet wet for a one day clinic.

I saw 10 people. Of the 10 who had previously signed up, 4 didn't come and were replaced by walk-ins. My attempt to spread the people out over 3 hours was not entirely successful. People with early appointments came late and some with late appointments came early!

Of the 10 people, I was not able to help 2. They needed medication I did not have or surgery I can not provide! But I was able to fit 2 people with glasses for distance vision and 4 people with reading glasses and 2 people with sunglasses. All in all, a good morning. Now I also have some more ideas of things I want to try to do with the clinic in the Fall! Please pray for me as I work with this small, but vital ministry. Pray that it would be a blessing to many and route for sharing the love of Christ.

Busy Week

It has been a busy week. I spent Monday translating some information on Rabies -- timing, signs and symptoms of the disease in people. One of the ladies from whom we buy meat died Sunday morning. It seems likely she died of rabies since she had been bitten while trying to break up a dog fight in March. I also included in the information, how to safely break up a dog fight without being bitten -- throw water on them!

I also spent time typing and printing 4 certificates for Met Justin to give his Primary School Administrators and Teachers as they complete their training this summer.
The Wilsons and I also spent time in some meetings about and making arrangements for the 9th, 12th and 13th graders to take their National Exams. The 9th graders start their National exam Tuesday.
Tuesday afternoon was spent with about 25 local women who came to a seminar on Spiritual Warfare. A team from the Wilson's church in Iowa was visiting Kristie and Jean Jean Mompremier (it is their church too), but spent some time with the Wilsons as well. The women started the afternoon with songs of praise and strength encouraging us that we need not fear when we are in Christ.


Then I translated for Pearl from the Wilsons church as she encouraged the ladies. Her message seemed to hit home with the ladies -- there were a lot of nodding heads and "amens" as Pearl shared about who we are in Christ. I think we were all strengthened by her story about the testimony of the witch doctor she met Sunday. He has not become a Christian and is still practicing his Voodoo, but he said he can see the importance of being a real Christian rather than just one who says he is a Christian. He said when he tries to curse real Christians, he is not able to! The curses fail! But when he curses a person who only says she is a Christian, the curse does not fail.

As the skies darkened and the thunder rolled closer and louder, we talked about ending the session early, but the woman who had the longest walk to get home said, "I don't want to say that we should end beacuse the course is so good!" Pray for these women as they fight the spiritual battles in their lives each day and as they share the strength they gained Tuesday with others who were not at the seminar.

Blog Changes

Again, it has been a while since I have posted anything to either blog. It has been a busy time again and I was also away for a week. More about that later. Today marks a shift in the emphasis on both this blog and the HAFF Details blog. This blog will return to being mostly about me and my activities at HAFF and in Haiti. The HAFF Details blog will now be a team blog -- one to which several people can post. So, in the coming days and weeks, hopefully you will start to see posts to HAFF Details from Barb or Greg Van Schoyck and Colin or Carla Wilson as well as me. So check from time to time to see what's new!