We realize that it has been another long wait for a blog update, we apologize for that, somehow, the blog posts always seem to get pushed to the bottom of the to-do lists...have you ever read Tyranny of the Urgent by Charles E. Hummel? As much as I hate to admit it, I believe that book was written with me (Tina) in mind...
The Haiti Connection
Your connection with the Nunemaker's mission in Ayïti
Thursday, March 1, 2018
God's Hand at Work
We realize that it has been another long wait for a blog update, we apologize for that, somehow, the blog posts always seem to get pushed to the bottom of the to-do lists...have you ever read Tyranny of the Urgent by Charles E. Hummel? As much as I hate to admit it, I believe that book was written with me (Tina) in mind...
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Nine Weeks in the States
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Ministry snapshots
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.
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.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
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.
Friday, December 30, 2016
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Before and After . . .
Just to give you an idea of the change in our surroudings before and after the hurricane, following is a picture of our friends, the Christensons, on the day that they arrived to wait out Hurricane Matthew with us . . .
and a “remake” of that picture a few weeks after the hurricane . . .
and by the time the second picture was taken, there had already been a lot of regrowth of leaves on the trees.
Life Has Been Busy . . .
Wow, we have gotten way behind in our communication with you, again. Life continues to be busy for us, but God is good through the busy times of life. We have a few things to follow up with since it has been so long. Over a month ago, we asked you to pray for three specific prayer concerns and it is high time that we update you on those answers to prayer . . .
We asked for prayer for an RMI staff member, Vonel, who broke his arm in a motorcycle accident. Vonel was at the hospital for about two weeks until he was able to see American doctors who determined that he did not need surgery, but monitored him for a few days before sending him home with his arm set. Vonel continued to have some swelling in his arm this past week which caused some concern so please continue to pray for complete healing for him. Also, last week, Vonel’s family had another difficult circumstance to face as his father who has been in failing health passed on to his heavenly home. His funeral service was yesterday morning, so I am sure that Vonel’s family would appreciate continued prayers in this time of trial for them.
We also asked you to pray for our team members, Joel and Laura Sutton who traveled back to Pennsylvania to spend some time with Laura’s mother who was hospitalized after a couple of heart events. Before Joel and Laura returned a week later, they had helped to move her mother into an assisted living facility to better serve her needs and although her health is not what we would consider good, they are comfortable with where she is for this stage in her life. They would appreciate continued prayers for Laura’s mom and the rest of her family as they care for her, as well as Joel and Laura as they are so far away at this trying time for her mother.
Lastly, we wanted to thank you for your continued prayers for Mikencia, who is celebrating her 8th birthday today. She continues to be in the hospital, but this week we have seen some great accomplishments in her healing and recovery. Friday afternoon we saw Mikencia’s smile for the very first time in over five weeks. What a welcome sight for us. She also showed us how she can extend her legs most of the way without any tears. We left the hospital that day with hearts full of gratitude to the Lord for His healing power in her life. She still has a long road ahead of her, but seeing those little obstacles overcome provides great thanksgiving in each of our hearts. This afternoon, we were able to spend a little time with her when we visited and her smiles came much more easily and she seems to be more ready for some play than we have seen in a long time.
The list of praises that we share here could be extremely long, but I want to add just one more of the many that could be added here . . . a couple of weeks ago, one of RMI's Partnership Facilitators, Anderson, was also in a motorcycle accident as he was traveling out to visit one of our sister churches. He came back to the office with a slight limp, some skin scrapes, and some holes in his clothes, but no major injuries. We are so thankful for God’s protection for him; Anderson shared a day or two later at devotions, that a week or so before his accident, there was another motorcycle accident at the same spot and a woman was killed. He felt even more blessed that his accident wasn’t worse.
So, although life here continues to be more challenging after the hurricane . . . it is clear that God still provides and he still protects, even during the difficult times.