What An Adventure

What an adventure!

Several days ago, Daniel and I had the joy of visiting Policard Church on our Motorcycles thanks to our great guide, Anderson (One of the five Sister Church Partnership Coordinators). It was approximately 25 miles away from our house and took about 1.5 hours to get there. After a good bit of winding, bouncing, a popped chain and LOTS of dust, we arrived at our destination.

What a blessing it was to meet with the Pastor and to see how God is using him to reach the community and teach the children in his care that attend the church. Every Friday, during the school year the church brings in an agriculturalist to teach the children about gardening. They have turned their church yard into a huge garden, filled with peppers, corn, grapefruit, pineapples, sour oranges, mangoes, yams, sweet potatoes and a whole bunch of other items (I can’t remember or have no idea what they were :)

What a joy it was for the Pastor to show us what God is doing on his hill and through his ministry. To top it all off, he blessed us with a fresh pineapple, straight from his garden.

It has been such a joy for me to be able to meet new people, to sit with them, talk with them, encourage them and pray with them. (through an interpreter of course). Thanks to each of you who go with me in Spirit and get to join in on what God is doing!

But. . .the story doesn’t end there. . .

After a brief rest and a refreshing drink of juice, it was time to return home. Upon returning to our house late this afternoon, I came to find out that the rest of my family had an adventure of their own. Some of the electric wires feeding our house had been rubbed through by some branches. When the sparks began, they fell to our very dry grass and started a fire. When my wife instinctively went for the hose and began dragging it out, the main water line feeding our house snapped! So. . . using the bubbling spring coming from the yard, basins, and a shovel, eventually the fire was put out. 
Here’s the best part. . . Another missionary serving with RMI, Joel Sutton, was already here when we arrived and was rounding up all the pieces needed to fix the water line, was working on fixing the electric lines and trimming the branches. It is great to be a part of the family of God!

I can’t imagine being anywhere else. . .except where God wants me, and right now, it’s here in Haiti.

Zanglais Weekend Fun

We have just gotten back from a great weekend at the Zanglais Retreat Center which is operated by RMI. Those of you who have been to Haiti with us will, no doubt, remember this great spot of beauty. The Thompson family, Joanna (a friend of Tessa Thompson), and our family left Friday afternoon for the trip. Zanglais is a forty-five minute ride from where we live, so we loaded a twelve passenger van full of twelve people, two dogs, and all the things that we needed for the weekend. This was no small feat, for sure!!! Especially since the dogs were not initially to happy with one another; Tobi is just a little intimidating for anyone bigger than him, let alone for Jersey, a dog half his size. Both dogs were excited, however, to be able to join their families on this trip. Tobi sat right up front between Lee and Rob the whole trip, amazing passersby with his size. One Haitian phrase that we have learned very well over the past two weeks is “chen gwo”, which means “big dog”. It was fun for all of us to see the responses of people as we drove by. We arrived at the retreat center with no problems and while Becky and I took some quiet time for reading and preparing for dinner; the guys took the kids and the dogs to the beach for some fun. Tobi was in his glory since he grew up near the beach and had been able to visit the beach daily until he came to live with us almost two weeks ago. He enjoyed jumping the waves and playing with anyone who wasn’t intimidated by his size, but he also did a good job of standing guard to protect his family, as well.

Saturday morning, we packed lunches, loaded up all of our beach equipment, and tied the dogs up at the retreat center (which did not make them one bit happy), and headed to the beach where we met two men with their boats. We loaded up and headed to an island which we can see from Zanglais beach, called “Gwo Kay”, meaning “Big House”. We had a half hour or so boat ride to the nice little beach cove where we set up for the day and began playing in the blue water. Rob, Lee, and the older boys all decided to go for a hike, while the younger four children, Becky, and I stayed at our beach spot for some nice reading and play time. The guy’s one and a half hour hike turned into a three hour hike, but everyone came back safe and sound with only a few scratches and blisters to show for all the hard work that they did on their adventure. It was a beautiful day of fun in the sun and many of us look like we spent a day in the sun . . . lots of red cheeks and shoulders in this clan.

Sunday morning we had breakfast, visited with some new friends, had a little informal church service of our own, and then packed up and headed back down to Zanglais beach for some more fun in the sun. This time, Jersey and Tobi were more than happy to join us for the fun. Tobi, again, took his position of guard dog and playmate . . . he had a great time running and playing in the waves with everyone, but all the time making sure that everyone was safe, as well. He even helped with the building of some sandcastles and digging of holes . . . or at least he thought he was helping.

This was hands-down, a great time of relaxation, fun, and adventure, all wrapped into one great weekend. A huge thanks to Rob and Becky for all the work that they did to set this weekend up for us. Now, tomorrow we get back to work on our Creole studies, prepare for a couple of teams arriving in a few weeks, and make sure that we are ready for school which will be starting before we know what happens.

Settling in . . .

I guess it is about time for us to update those of you who are not following us on Facebook. Tomorrow we will have been in Haiti for a total of three weeks. It is feeling like home and we are growing accustomed to the hot, sticky weather and everything that comes with life here. We moved into our house on July 24 with some help from several of our RMI teammates and our cook, Madam Lala. We are so thankful for the sacrifices of each of them in helping us to settle in and begin to understand the language and the culture.

This past week, two other wonderful ladies started working alongside of us. Emilye works as our housekeeper during the week and Madam TiJean comes on Friday afternoon to pick up our market shopping list so that she can do the shopping on Saturday and bring the fresh produce back to the house for us. Some of you may remember Madam TiJean as the cook who made all of our wonderful meals when we were down for short term missions trips. She still works for RMI in that capacity, but has also offered to do our market shopping for us. We are so thankful for these ladies and all of their hard work, which enables us to focus on learning our Creole and adjusting to the life and work that we have here now. Did I mention what wonderful teachers they are for us, as they help us in our language study and better understanding their life and country? They are such an incredible blessing to us!!!

We have been encouraged to do some sightseeing as we grow accustomed to life here, so we have been taking some time on the weekends to do just that with our RMI teammates and other missionaries at the center. Our first weekend, we went to the beach in Port Salut for the day and took some time during that day to meet a dog in need of a home, since his missionary family is moving back to the states. That meeting went well and Tobi has moved to our home and become a part of our family. Last Saturday, we went for a hike along the Glas (Ice) River. No, there was no ice in the river . . . but we enjoyed some of God’s beautiful handiwork!!! Then on Sunday afternoon, we took a cycle/four-wheeler ride to some nearby points to experience the beauty and wonder of Haiti. We rode to a two different spots to enjoy the views from some great lookout points and then hiked down to a little fishing village to experience a glimpse into life there.

This weekend, we have opted to stick around the mission center since Haiti has elections today (Sunday) for a number of government officials. We were told by some of RMI’s Haitian staff, as well as, missionaries, that it may be good to not make any big plans this weekend since life is a little stressful here with the political climate. We enjoyed visiting with Tobi’s “foster mom” as she came to see how he is doing at his new home and last evening we enjoyed watching a movie on the big outdoor screen at our field director’s home with several other missionaries and their families.

Overall, everyone is doing very well. The boys have all made some connections with friends that are near their ages and have enjoyed getting to know friends from the mission center, as well as, a few Haitian friends. Thank you all for your many prayers and words of encouragement as we adjust to this new life that God has for us.

Here We Go . . .

We are just three days from our flight to Haiti. We have been on this journey for almost three years and the time has finally come to say our final goodbyes here and begin building relationships in Haiti. Thank you to each of you who have played a
part in making this a reality, no matter how big or small your contribution, you have been an incredible blessing to our family!!!

The past two months, since moving out of our home, we have been spending time with friends and family from Florida to Kansas to the Poconos and wrapping up some loose ends before leaving the country. Some of the highlights included a visit to the Salt Mines in
Kansas, the Creation Museum in Kentucky, high school graduation, and some fun family moments as we visited some favorite places for one more time before our move. We were all extremely excited to see that our container arrived in Les Cayes, Haiti and was unloaded into our new home this past weekend. Words cannot express the excitement that we experienced in seeing our piles of personal belongings stacked in our new home:)

On Monday, July 20, we will be boarding the plane in Baltimore by 7:20 am to begin the final part of this journey to a new life and culture. We appreciate your prayers and support as we go. Pray also for those that will be serving with us. For the first week or so, we will be staying in guest rooms at the RMI office, until we can get our home unpacked and in order. On Tuesday morning, we will begin the unpacking process. Wednesday we will meet Madame Lala, our family cook. Please pray for her as she prepares to work with us.

Many of you have asked if we would continue to use our current cell phone numbers, but unfortunately, we are not able to do that. Until we figure out all the details of cell phone usage, you can always get in touch with us at our family email address, leeandtina94@gmail.com, on any of our facebook accounts, or our mailing address, c/o Agape Flights CAY 28416, 100 Airplane Avenue, Venice, FL 34285.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We look forward to keeping you updated from the southern peninsula of Haiti, very shortly!!!

Packing & Travel

Sorry that it has been so long since we have given an update.  The last couple of months have been very busy times of wrapping things up, saying goodbye, and preparing for the new journey ahead of us.  

The first real goodbye came as Tina stepped down from her position as director at PMI Pregnancy Resource Center’s Greencastle Center on April 16.  After seven and a half years of serving alongside this incredible group of women, it was a very difficult first step, but one that we knew had to be taken in order to move ahead in this journey that God has called us.  

A few days later, Josiah and Tina left on a charter bus with his 4-H Robotics Team, Biohazard 4050, for their FIRST Robotics Championship in St. Louis, MO.  The team finished 30th of 76 teams in their division, since the team is only four years old, we felt like this was a great accomplishment.  It was a great way to finish out Josiah’s last season with the team, here in PA.  

In the weeks following the competition, we finished up the boys’ schoolwork and did a lot of packing, sorting, and cleaning to prepare for the packing of our container.  In addition, we were finishing up the last few weeks of ministering alongside Calvary Bible Church in Greencastle.  On May 17, we shared our last official Sunday with this congregation that we have been privileged to serve with for two years.  When we stepped into this position, we never expected to be with them that long.  We have been incredibly blessed to be able to grow with them through some very difficult and challenging times, but have been encouraged to see God do an incredible work in individuals and the congregation, as a whole.  We look forward to seeing what God has in store for them in the coming years.  

On May 20, we woke up to a 25 foot Penske truck waiting to be filled with all of the items that we are taking to Haiti with us, parked in our driveway.  This task seemed extremely daunting on that morning, but we had some incredible friends and family who came alongside of us and worked tirelessly to put this massive puzzle together with room to spare.  Talk about a huge sigh of relief:) 

The next morning, we woke up and started on the journey to Cape Coral, FL with Tina’s parents, in preparation for the packing of our shipping container.  A caravan of the Penske truck, Tina’s parent’s pickup and trailer, and our minivan made its way with few delays to our destination in Cape Coral on Friday evening, where Tina’s cousin allowed us to stay in their comfy vacation house.   Over the Memorial Day weekend, we took some time out to rest and relax and do some last minute shopping before the container packing on Tuesday, at the RMI office in Lehigh Acres, FL.  Tuesday was a HOT day in Lehigh Acres, Florida!!!  Which meant for a very hot day for those packing inside the 40 foot container!!!  We started the morning by unpacking the Penske truck and starting to move those items onto the container.  When we finished the container packing on Wednesday afternoon, we had successfully loaded three four-wheelers, two motorcycles, miscellaneous furniture and household needs of the other missionaries that we will be working with, the five skids of food to be distributed for those in need, 28 tires, freezer, fridge, washer, dryer, stove, all of our belongings, a van load of paper towels and toilet paper, and miscellaneous other items that are needed for the ministry in Haiti. 

We finished out this trip to Florida with an enjoyable evening with the RMI staff, enjoying some delicious Mexican food at the home of RMI president, Dan Shoemaker, as they prayed for us and encouraged us in this next step on the journey to Haiti.  

Spring 2015 Newsletter

Check out the latest news.  Excitement is mounting in the Nunemaker house!!

Excitement is in the air!

We now have a date!!  We are planning on leaving for Haiti the second week of July!  This means a ton of things have to come together in a very few short months. . . sell our house, purchase supplies, pack our container and so much more.  But GOD has this and we are excited to see how He brings it all together. 

Stay tuned for more details to come!