A Typical Day

You may be asking what a typical day looks like for us now that we are settling in Haiti. Although each day may look a little different, depending on the needs and events, here is what the typical day looks like (or is supposed to look like), right now from Monday through Friday . . .

8am - Lee, Tina, Daniel, and Josiah attend devotions at the RMI office. While we are gone, Nathan and Isaac work on some of their chores which includes washing dishes (there is no dishwasher here:), cleaning their room, cleaning up the yard and driveway (it is amazing the mess that is made in a day from almond, avocado, coconut, breadfruit trees, and the others in our yard).

9am - Lee, Tina, Daniel, and Josiah meet our Creole teacher, Pastor Jean Clod Mesye at the house on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings for our two hour lessons. Tuesday and Thursdays we set the mornings aside for studying as well. During this time, we try to share some of our Creole words and lessons with Nathan and Isaac, but they often spend this time playing with some of their new friends. During this time, Madame Lala and Emilye are also here to do the preparations for lunch (this is the main meal of the day) and work on our laundry and cleaning of the house.

12:30pm - Lunch is ready and we sit down with the house ladies for a delicious meal. Usually rather quiet since we are not communicating too well in Creole, yet. But I have to say that there is more attempted conversation everyday. These ladies are great teachers, too, they are so patient with us, correct our pronunciation, and help us with new words. We are so blessed to have them as a part of our family.

1:30pm - Lee, Daniel, and Josiah usually head to the RMI office to get acquainted with what is going on there and work on projects that they are involved with there. Sometimes, that has meant trimming trees for better internet reception, working on computers that are in need of repair, fixing an ice machine, building a shelf or cleaning out the depot. During this time, Tina has continued to work on organizing things at the house, gaining a better understanding of the money we use here and keeping track of expenses, shopping at the grocery stores in Les Cayes, preparing for the new school year that is quickly approaching, or catching up on some Creole study time. Nathan and Isaac are usually spending time around the mission center with their friends, again. Nathan has even gone on a few long bike rides with his friends around the mission center and the local communities.

4:00pm on Tuesday - Tina goes to Ladies Tea at one of the missionaries’ homes for some fellowship with the other ladies. It isn’t unusual for the younger boys to at least drop by there for a treat.

6pm-6:30pm - Our family gathers for our evening meal which often consists of leftovers or something simple (grilled cheese, egg sandwiches, boxed macaroni and cheese, or something similar). We certainly don’t need a big meal after the lunch that Madam Lala prepares for us.

6:30pm on Wednesday - Church service with the other missionaries from our area of Haiti. This is a great time to get to know the other missionaries here and to be able to worship in English.

8:30-9:30pm - This is usually a time for us to wind down from the days events and prepare for bed.

Now, this has been our schedule for the last month, or something similar, since there have been no teams here to minister with RMI during this time. This schedule will be changing in the next couple weeks as school schedules begin and teams begin to join us here. We hope that this gives you a little glimpse into what our schedules look like here in Haiti.