This is first time in many years that I have had the opportunity to enjoy the Fall season in the northeast! While the reason for my being in Pennsylvania does not make me happy, I have enjoyed the cool temperatures and changing leaves. And I have not missed the heat and humidity in Haiti! I have missed the people and the excitement of the start of a new school year and new season of visiting teams. 
October 20th, I took advantage of a bright, sunny day and balmy temperatures to drive around State College a bit to see and photograph the Autumn colors. It was a glorious day and the sights and smells and sounds were balm to the soul. The photo is of the State College area taken that day from a mountain a short distance south of town.
Nine days later State College got snow! This is not the most flattering photo of myself I have ever posted, but it was taken October 29th after I walked around the corner to the neighbor's house during the snow fall. Even though the "snow" was more like slush, it was a taste of winter. And if you know me at all, you know I love winter and snow!
The next day after church, the snow was still persisting, though I had expected it to be gone. It lasted an amazingly long time. Then we were back to regular Fall weather. So, other than Penn State's winning season (so far), that has been the most excitement I've had in my life lately!I have been getting blood tests every two weeks to monitor how my liver is recovering from the Hepatitis A that put me in the hospital back in July. The results have been good, in that the tests are closer to normal each time. But it is taking longer than I had hoped to fully recover. I just had another blood test this past Friday and though I made a little progress (very little), I still am not fully back to normal liver function. It is also taking longer than I had hoped to get my strength, energy and concentration back. I am better than a month ago, but still get tired too quickly and have very limited concentration. I had hoped to get back to Haiti before Christmas, but now it looks like that will have to wait till after the new year. Thanks everyone who has been praying for me. Please keep my Haitian and American colleagues in prayer as well. Greg Van Schoyck is the only American staff member in Haiti right now -- his wife Barb is still in the US for a variety of reasons and the Wilsons are on Home Missionary Assignment.
I am still in State College, two months into my recovery from Hepatitis A. My liver enzymes are still high and there is still no way to know when they will be back to normal. With the liver enzymes still high, my energy level is still low -- I do one load of laundry (up and down the basement stairs 3 to 4 times) and I am exhausted. Dr Bell, the infectious diseases doctor, said I could go back to Haiti as soon as I felt strong enough. Which I don't. So, I am making the best of things, enjoying the cooler weather and the flowers (see the photo) from my bushes that were planted in the Spring. I was originally scheduled to go back to Haiti 11 days ago. I have been staying in touch with HAFF in Haiti via email and phone and Skype calls all summer. I send down the weather report most mornings and I have a stack of applications from former students for HAFF's post-secondary scholarships to peruse. So, even though I can't do much, I am doing as much as I can, even from a distance. Thank the Lord for modern technology! And thank you all for your prayers for me and for HAFF.
Wednesday I heard from my doctor about the blood tests I had done the week before. She said my liver enzyme levels were much improved in the 2 weeks since I left the hospital (I am now 3 weeks and 4 days out of the hospital). She said my tests in the hospital were truly impressive! The normal bilirubin count should be below 1. Before I left the hospital (the count went up while I was in the hospital) it was 8.8! Now it is down to 2.4 (I think) so I still have a ways to go. My other numbers have fallen considerably since I left the hospital, but again, have a ways to go. One of the numbers has kind of plateaued.
She said my energy will probably not improve much until the liver numbers are back to normal. And she said that there is no way to tell how soon that will be -- she said that Hepatitis A should be considered more like Mono and it could be another couple months before I was back to normal. She was talking about me still being here in State College in October or November. She also thought it was ok to ignore my gallstones as long as they are not bothering me. I also now have some numbers to go by to monitor my low fat diet, which I need to stay on till the liver numbers are better. That would be harder to monitor in Haiti!!!!! She said there was not anything I could do to speed up the recovery time -- just avoid fat and other things that adversely effect the liver like Tylenol and alcohol. She also said that even once the liver numbers are normal, it might take a while to get the yellow stain out of my skin -- and that the 2.4 bilirubin number is accounting for the continued yellow around my eyes (see the photo).
Dr Cherry also recommended I see a new doctor in their group -- he is in infectious diseases as well as internal medicine. She thought he would be better able to guide me through my recovery and maybe have better answers to my questions. He would also be able to let me know when and if I should get more blood work. I have an appointment with him August 30th. So that is where things stand at the moment.
Thanks for your prayers and encouraging communications.
It has been altogether too long since I have posted anything -- and that kind of makes it hard to post now! There is so much to condense.
Back in Haiti in May and June, the rains finally came, but they were too little too late. Please pray for the people to find a way to sustain themselves since there will not be much of a harvest this year. Most of my time in May and June was spent working with my Haitian and American colleagues to establish a mixed Haitian and American Executive Team (ET) to manage all the ministries at HAFF. I was able to attend 2 meetings of the ET before I returned to the US at the end of June. The rest of the ET continues to work well together as they meet at least twice a week on Monday and Friday afternoons. Please pray for us all that the Lord would bless us with oneness of heart and mind and mutual encouragement and support as He gives us the wisdom we need to grapple with the weighty issues of keeping HAFF focused on providing Christ centered education to the people of the Central Plateau.
In June, I once again had the fun of taking Amtrak's Auto Train from Sanford, FL to Lorton, VA. The savings in time (cuts 17 hours off the drive to PA from FL), wear and tear on my 18 year old car, my personal energy and the ability to work on things while still traveling make the cost of the trip well worth while.
Once back in Central Pennsylvania, I was just in time to go on a guided tour of Millbrook Marsh, a local wetlands. It is a special small gem preserved in the midst of the outskirts of State College. It was a wonderful afternoon of walking through 3 different types of wetlands, seeing northern wild flowers in bloom and enjoying the songs and flights of many kinds of birds.
Each July since 1967 my family has enjoyed the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts here in State College. This year was no exception. My cousin came from Orangeville the first day of the festival and we walked the sidewalk sale, checked out the beginning of the sand sculpture and had lunch together. That was my last day feeling fairly well. That Sunday I started to feel feverish and by Monday morning I had a fever of 102. The doctor thought it was malaria, so I started on chloroquine. By Wednesday I was yellow, so the doctor suggested I go to the ER. I was admitted and given about every test known to man. Finally about Friday, it was determined that I had Hepatitis A! Most likely I picked it up in Haiti. There is nothing to be done except ride it out. I was home from the hospital Monday July 25th.
I am feeling much better now, though I still tire very quickly and have a slight yellow tinge that comes and goes! I go back to the doctor Monday for blood tests to see how my liver is recovering. I hope to get some sort of recovery prognosis then. I have heard and read that Hep A can take from 6 weeks to 6 months for recovery! I am hoping for the shorter time period. So, until I have a better idea of when I'll be back to full strength, I don't know when I'll be able to get back to Haiti. Please pray for my fast and complete recovery. Also, please pray for the rest of the ET as they continue to work without me. Thank the Lord for email, cell phones and Skype (computer based phone service) that permits me to keep up on what the ET is doing and allows met to offer my two cents and vote on issues. Thank the Lord too for the wonderful neighbors and friends here in State College who have rallied around to take care of me while I've been sick. I have been in excellent hands. And thanks to all of you for your prayers and gifts and support.
In February the HAFF missionary staff was called back to the US for meetings with the board about the school transition (see recent posts on www.HAFFDetails.blogspot.com). We spent three weeks in Florida in intensive meetings and brainstorming sessions before scattering to our homes throughout the US -- Georgia, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Florida. 
I was thrilled to arrive in State College February 26th to find snow on the ground. 
And there was more snow to come in early March, so I saw my first real snow in about 4 years. 
Now Spring is well on its way. The forsythia bushes are blooming, daffodils are out and I am hopeful of maybe enjoying my favorite flower, the lilac, before I head back to Haiti. This is only the second time I have seen a Pennsylvania Spring in the 25 years I have been in Haiti. While we have been in our US homes, we have still been working. There have been emails and conference calls about the transition and I have also produced a devotional on Esther for the Bon Fanm class and started one on Mary and Martha. I also have 20 pages of notes from the Veterinary team to translate for the vet agents! While I have been in State College, I have been listening to the local Christian radio station. One program in particular sent me to a book that has been very helpful during this season of Lent. The author is J. Oswald Sanders, the missionary statesman who first turned the thoughts of HAFF founder Lila Clark and her husband Ruben to Haiti. The book is The Incomparable Christ and is 36 chapters focusing on many aspects of the character, person and work of Christ. One thought about the crucifiction that struck me last week from the book is, "He drank a cup of wrath without mercy, that we might drink a cup of mercy without wrath." May we all realize the fullness of His mercy this Easter.
I arrived back in Bohoc, Haiti Tuesday evening Jan 11th. We had a staff meeting that occupied most of Wednesday morning. Unpacking, catching up on email and receiving the market lady for the incoming team occupied a lot of the rest of Wednesday and Thursday.
Thursday the 13th a group representing 2 churches arrived from northern New York. The team included two pastors, a worship leader, a physician's assistant and an art teacher!
It has been a busy time since the last post. School has been in session and I have taught my one hour of National Exam Preparation class each week. I have also helped out in the office. But much of my time has been spent in community meetings and other one on one meetings concerning a transition at HAFF. There will be more about that soon, but for now, just please help us pray that God's will will be done and His Name glorified in the transition.
The last couple of weeks I have been busy mostly with working on the big report for the Haitian government that is due each year at this time. Many of the Haitian and American staff have been helping supply me with information, but with Barb and Greg in the States for the board meeting and Christmas, I have had Teresa Nesman helping me with the actual filling out of the government forms. Teresa is at HAFF for a year to help out. And she has been a wonderful help in many ways so far.
I have also spent my two to three hours a week in the eyeglass clinic. It has been almost miraculous how Becky and Teresa and I have been able to find glasses for the people who come in each week. Even most of those with odd prescriptions have found something that helps them see, even if they are not the most stylish glasses! Very few have been turned away disappointed because we didn't have their prescription or glasses they liked. Becky and I have made a point of giving each person who receives glasses a Haitian Creole tract explaining how to find Jesus as their Savior. Many of the people who come to the clinic are pastors or church leaders or other Christians, but they still get a tract which they can pass on to someone else.
This past Monday I had the fun and privilege of speaking to 67 women at a conference in Monac -- about 5 miles south west of HAFF. I was asked to speak about cholera, so I gave them information about what it is, how it is transmitted, how to treat it and, most importantly, how to prevent it.
But, I also used the opportunity to share Matthew 24:42-45 which talks about how if the home owner had known the thief was coming in the night, he would have been ready for him. I reminded the ladies that in the same way, life is uncertain. It is even more uncertain when severe, untreated cholera can kill within 2 or 3 hours of the onset of symptoms. Therefore there is a need to be sure they have a right relationship with God and to make sure others do as well.
Finally, on Tuesday I had the pleasure of sharing devotions with the ladies of the Godly Woman class. We looked at the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus and how all the accounts we have of her life are written to shine light on the life and work of Jesus. I challenged the ladies and myself to make sure our lives shine a light on Jesus and to give our lives completely to Christ so that our lives show Christ.I will be leaving Haiti Thursday Dec 16, Lord willing and the airports stay open and the MFI planes remain in good repair! I take the Auto Train to State College the 17th to spend my first Christmas in State College in 4 years. My uncle from Texas will be joining me and between Christmas and New Years, we will be visiting family and friends further east in Pennsylvania.
I have long been fond of saying that Bohoc, Haiti, like State College, Pennsylvania, is equally inaccessible from all directions. With Interstate 99 coming through, that is changing somewhat for State College. And with the National Route 3 paving project getting closer to Hinche, it is on the verge of changing for Bohoc as well.
But thankfully, our inaccessibility to hurricanes will not change due to a paving project. The mountains that have protected this area from the ill effects of hurricanes for generations have done so again the last couple of days. By the grace of God Hurricane Tomas did not make landfall at all in Haiti, but passing Haiti closely, it did create flooding problems along the south coast. Here on the Central Plateau we just got several days of nice rain that we needed to keep the sugar cane, sweet potatoes, manioc, plantains, beans and peanuts growing. Thanks for your prayers for us and please pray for those who were hard hit by the hurricane.
October 20th, I took advantage of a bright, sunny day and balmy temperatures to drive around State College a bit to see and photograph the Autumn colors. It was a glorious day and the sights and smells and sounds were balm to the soul. The photo is of the State College area taken that day from a mountain a short distance south of town.
Nine days later State College got snow! This is not the most flattering photo of myself I have ever posted, but it was taken October 29th after I walked around the corner to the neighbor's house during the snow fall. Even though the "snow" was more like slush, it was a taste of winter. And if you know me at all, you know I love winter and snow!
The next day after church, the snow was still persisting, though I had expected it to be gone. It lasted an amazingly long time. Then we were back to regular Fall weather. So, other than Penn State's winning season (so far), that has been the most excitement I've had in my life lately!
