Nine Weeks in the States

You may be wondering what in the world our family did while we were in the States for nine weeks this summer. Afterall, nine weeks is a LONG vacation, right . . . We attended Josiah's high school graduation and party, spent time in eight different churches, renewed driver's licenses and a passport, Josiah passed his driver's permit and license tests, took care of our taxes, numerous doctor and dentist appointments, took a week and a half trip to Nebraska and Kansas with a stop at the Ark Encounter, multiple trips to the Apple store to have repairs and check-ups on our computers, a week long vacation with family by the bay in Delaware, Daniel found a job, and many, many other good, as well as difficult, times spent with family and friends. Although it sounded like a long time to be living out of suitcases, the time flew by very quickly.  Following, is a brief story of our summer in pictures . . .

Nathan and Isaac enjoyed a Froot Loops milkshake.

We were visited by an iguana by the pool at our hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

We returned just in time to attend Josiah's 

Mason-Dixon Homeschool Association Graduation on June 24. 

We stayed at the Orleans Hotel Bed and Breakfast in Orleans, Nebraska and spent some great times with our good friends, Greg, Star, and Jessica Harvie, as well as the sister church partnership of Loomis, Oxford, and Holcomb churches in a variety of activities.

We caught up on some precious time with cousins; 

in the everyday of reading a book together,

making a sandman together,

playing a game of taking Uncle Lee's hat, 

enjoying some crabbing and the feast afterwards with Pap,

and enjoying a beautiful sunset over the bay.

They even succeeded in giving Mom a good scare at the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve when they informed her that there was an uncaged black snake in the pavilion above her head.  That was worth a few good laughs for everyone since she "adores" (lots of sarcasm here) snakes.

We had new family pictures taken for a new prayer card that should be coming out very soon.  Keep your eyes open for it. 

We also spent some precious time with some friends in the midst of difficult and sudden losses of loved ones. What a hard time for all of us, but at the same time, it was a blessing for us to be able to be there at that time because so often, we don't have the option of being with our friends and family in the midst of their life challenges and crises. 

We extended our stay by a week so that we could attend a cousin's, Nate and Tricia Eisenberger, wedding on August 19.  It was great to catch up with some more family that we hadn't had the opportunity to see earlier in the summer. 

So, although nine weeks sounds like a terribly long time to be away from our home in Haiti; the time flew by because it was so full of great times spent together with friends and family.  We appreciated spending time with each of you, no matter how little time we had; and for those that we missed this year, hopefully we can touch base the next time we make it back. 

Ministry snapshots

This winter and spring have been full of teams, rain, ministry opportunities, rain, computer/internet challenges, and some more rain.  We will spare you the pictures of the rain and computer problems... although, you may have seen a couple of pictures of the latter on Facebook recently (let's just say that a frog and a lizard lost their lives while taking up residence inside a computer).

However, we would like to share some pictures of a little bit of the ministry and preparations that happen here on a regular basis.

RMI's goat project has provided about 400 goats to children and their families since the beginning of the year.  Each goat given to a child provides him or her with the ability to attend school and purchase the supplies needed for education and other needs.

Lee learned very quickly that getting goats ready to go out to their new homes, isn't always as easy as it looks. Our Haitian staff make moving goats look much easier than it is.

One of our teams' favorite activities is spending time with their sponsorship children during their trips to Haiti. Monthly support from people in the States provides many children in Haiti with an education that they wouldn't have, otherwise.

Another favorite team activity involves home visitations with the people of their sister church community.  This gives team members the opportunity to minister to the hearts and lives of people who are not always involved in the church. When visiting homes we provide a family with food, hygiene kits, or water filters and spend time praying, sharing the gospel, and/or offering them some encouragement.  

Occasionally, our teams have the ability to offer a medical clinic at their sister church. These usually focus on education, but sometimes they are able to provide other resources, as well.                                                    

Each time a sister church comes to visit, there are many Haitian women and men who give their time and resources to provide meals and clean, safe places for our teams to rest. We cannot even begin to share our gratitude for the servant's hearts of our brothers and sisters here in Haiti.

It is such a joy for us to be able to share with our brothers and sisters, both Haitian and American, as they minister to one another during their time together.

This week we have two teams on the ground. Lee is out with Trinity EFC (LA) as they visit their sister church in Picot and Daniel, our teammate, Joel, and summer intern, Kendall are working with TFC Youth Team here in Cayes as they do some work projects for RMI and the missionary community. Your prayers are appreciated as we serve alongside of them.

It’s been awhile…again…

Where does the time go? I can’t believe that we are quickly approaching the end of January 2017 already!!!

We apologize for being quiet for awhile, again….all is well, life has just kept us on our toes.

We just returned from our almost daily visit to the hospital to spend some time with Mikencia and her sisters. A few weeks ago, Lee and/or I (Tina) started going for a little bit most days to read to the girls to help break up their long days at the hospital. They actually teach us to read and understand Creole, most of the time. We also have Mikencia do some of her exercises for us. Today, she surprised us by asking her sisters for her sandals. She put them on, and took a number of steps around the hospital bed, with us cheering her on the whole way. She is still stooped over like an old person (according to her sisters), but this is some great progress. Following is a picture of Lee and the girls reading:

We had a two week break over the holidays and part of that was spent at a small resort about two hours from our home. It was a great opportunity for our family to get away and enjoy one another’s company.

We found the following beetle outside the boys’ room during our stay. That is Daniel’s hand next to it, not Isaac’s….

The remainder of the break was spent working on some projects around the house, visiting with some friends and preparing for the return of school and team schedules.

There are never a shortage of creatures for the boys to find and play with. Here, Isaac found himself a little tree frog:

The first week of January we all headed back to the office and school to get back to our normal routine. Our first team of the year arrived on Friday, January 6 from Nebraska. Upon their departure, a team from Delaware came to work with us for the first time. Before they left yesterday, a team from Florida arrived to visit their sister church, as well. The Florida team leaves tomorrow morning and we will have a few days to prepare for a fourth team from New Jersey.

This month, I (Tina) also finished my time of teaching with the fifth and sixth graders at Cite Lumiere Christian School. It was bittersweet to leave them last week. I really enjoyed the couple of hours a day that I spent with them every day over the last five months. I can certainly say that they were a bright spot in my day. I will still sub for them from time to time, however, with the busy team schedule ahead, I need to concentrate more of my time with preparations and team activities.

We appreciate your continued prayers for us as we prepare for and spend time with the teams that are on our schedule, as they minister alongside us and our brothers and sisters in Christ here in Haiti. The needs of the Haitian people continue to be great, but our God is greater.