Our First Thanksgiving in Haiti

We may be in Haiti, but that is no reason to miss out on a great Thanksgiving meal with brothers and sisters in Christ. Every year, the missionary community of Cite Lumiere comes together to celebrate American Thanksgiving. Normally, our field directors, Rob and Becky Thompson host the event at their home, but this year, they are with family in New Jersey to celebrate, so we offered to have the event at our home.

At 1:30pm on Thanksgiving Day, 110 American, German, South African, Haitian, and Canadian missionaries started arriving at our home with their arms loaded with turkeys, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casseroles, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and all the other fixings to make a delicious Thanksgiving meal.

Besides great food and fellowship, there were testimonies of thanksgiving for God’s provision over the past year, and even the past week, as God provided abundantly, when humanly, the tasks seemed to be too big; of healing for those who have been sick, and God’s provision as we strive to serve him here in Haiti.

We are so thankful for the community of believers that God has placed in our lives here. It is a blessing to work alongside brothers and sisters from around the world to minister to the hearts and lives of the Haitian people. We have so very much to be thankful for this year.

*I have to brag a little bit on the second grade class that I work with at CLCS. The Thanksgiving banner at the top of this blogpost was made by them and their language arts teacher for our Thanksgiving Celebration. Didn’t they do a tremendous job?!?!?!

Trip to Tet Lakil

What a great Saturday afternoon! On November 14, some of the American RMI team took a day trip to Tet Lakil (head of the Lakil River). We had an hour and a half drive and forty-five minute hike to this beautiful spot where the river emerges from the mouth of a cave. The water is crystal clear and quite cool.

The scenery was beautiful! At some spots, we said it was almost like looking down into a Pennsylvania river bed, with the exception of the tropical plants that were evident everywhere. Once we arrived at the cave, we took some time for lunch and then most of us went for a swim and some more adventure.

The older boys had to try their hands at climbing the roots hanging from the rock face and take a jump or swing into the cool water. Isaac was content to sit with Mr. Joel on this rock rather than try to swim against the current.

There were also several places to climb the rock face for a jump or dive into the water. There was plenty of fun for all of us.

When we arrived back at the Thompson’s (our field director’s) home, this was the scene that greeted us. They have had an ongoing wall project at their home and about a half hour before our arrival, this dump truck arrived to deliver some stone for the project. Little did anyone know, there was a gray water tank under the driveway that this dump truck happened to find with it’s back tire.

Although the scene was not a pleasant one to find upon our return, we all realized that it could have been much worse than what it was. The back of the truck was a mere three inches from the corner of their house. Within moments, the missionary community came together to pull the truck out and begin cleaning up. There were a lot of hours put in to fix the problem at hand over the following week, or so. Now, several weeks later, a group of dedicated workers have repaired the hole and when all of the concrete is dry, this scene will all be a memory.

Haiti as Home

I apologize that it has been so long since we have posted here. We have been very busy growing accustomed to life here. My plan was to be updating the blog at least once a month, as you can see, I have failed miserably, but I will try to bring you up to date with what we have been doing . . .

Isaac and I have gotten into the routine of going to Cite Lumiere Christian School everyday from 11:30 am until 1:00pm for Bible and other school activities. This class is small, but we have lots of fun learning about God and the world that He has created for us. In this picture, we were building the Tower of Babel. Of course, we had to work through the issue of everyone having a different idea of how that should happen, but activities like this one are always fun for all of us. Right now, they are beginning to work on the Christmas program that they will be a part of next month.

This picture is my (Tina's) perspective most mornings as we head to and from RMI devotions. Take note of Daniel and Josiah on the cycle ahead of us. The ride around our little community is amazing to us everyday that we take the time to really notice the beauty of the landscape around us. This was taken on our way home from devotions one morning so that we could get into the daily routine of school and language study. Lee, Daniel, Josiah, and I start Creole classes at 7am every weekday morning. At least two days of the week, we end at 7:50am in order to be at RMI devotions by 8am. During our Creole lessons and devotions, Nathan and Isaac get the kitchen cleaned up from breakfast and begin their schoolwork for the day. Following devotions, we head out in several different directions, depending on the needs of the day. Most days, Josiah, Nathan, Isaac, and I are at the house working on our schoolwork for the morning. Lee and Daniel alternate between taking the mornings to study and jumping into the work of RMI. In recent weeks, they have been doing less Creole study and more work, as they have felt the need to be in the office and on the work projects in order to be using the Creole that we are learning. Additionally, there is a constant need to accomplish the growing tasks ahead of us.

From October 31-November 4 we spent time in the village of Ducis with their sister church, The Village Church from Chicago. This was the first opportunity that our family had to participate in a sister church partnership trip. It was an incredible week of learning and living within the Haitian culture. There were new foods to be tried, new games to be learned, and new skills to be mastered. The thing that amazed me the most was the incredible talent of the Haitian RMI staff. The more time that I spend with these men and women, the more blessed I feel to be a part of this incredible team serving Christ. Following are some of our favorite pictures of the week that we spent with The Village Church at their sister church, Ducis Baptist.We visited Laprete, a satellite church of the Ducis church district, to encourage this little rural church. Daniel put his Creole skills to work as he did some translating between two church elders, as they met for the first time.We couldn’t resist the opportunity to take pictures of a few beautiful young people as they greeted us when we walked by their home. Lee also had the opportunity to traverse his first river behind the steering wheel.

There was time for The Village Church team to meet all of the school children, as well as, the children that they sponsor at the school. The parachutes that they brought to share with the school were a huge hit with everyone!! Nathan and Isaac could often be found in a crowd of children playing new games that they learned throughout the week. Josiah also spent a good bit of time helping The Village team with translation as they interacted with the children who came by for visits. There were new friends to be made everyday.

This young man, Kiki, came to visit and play with Isaac everyday. They loved playing tag and it was not uncommon to hear him yelling, “Ti blan, ti blan” (little white, little white) as he chased Isaac around the school and churchyard. Kiki was unable to go to school because of the fees involved. However, as a result of this team’s visit, he is now a sponsored child and is able to attend school.

Pictured below is the team of incredible individuals that we had the privilege of spending the week in Ducis with: The Village Church team, Rob Thompson (our field director), and four of RMI’s Partnership Facilitators; Franz, Pierre Rony, Perguens, and Anderson. What a privilege to see the gifts and talents of each individual shine forth as we strove together to serve the Lord Jesus Christ!!

Vision Trip

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A Busy Week

Last week was a very busy one for us as we began a new school year with new responsibilities for all of us. Lee and Daniel started out the work week early Monday morning. They met several other RMI staff at the Depot at 4am to pack up two vehicles and head into Port au Prince to build a house for a Haitian Pastor. The trip to Port au Prince is a five hour ride over some of the better roads of Haiti, but that doesn’t mean that they are easy roads totravel, by any means. Once arriving in Port, they constructed a metal home on a less than desirable foundation, but in Haiti you accept what you have and make it work (in Creole, they would say, “degaje”). Upon finishing up with the house at 4pm or so, they headed out to get some lunch and arrived home that evening just after 9pm. Needless to say, they were both exhausted and ready for showers and bed.

While they had a very busy day in Port, the rest of us were starting our first day of homeschooling. Normally, we start our schedule a few weeks ahead of this, but we decided to wait to get started since we are still adjusting to our new home and environment. Our homeschool schedule is looking a little different this year since I (Tina) have been asked to help at Cite Lumiere Christian School (CLCS), here on the mission center, from 11:30am-1pm by teaching Bible with the second graders and helping them finish out their school day. Monday was also the first day of school at CLCS. Since Isaac is also in second grade, he goes along and joins the three other students for the last portion of their day, as part of his school schedule. Last Monday, however, they started the CLCS school day with opening chapel at the Bible School and then we all went back to CLCS for the first day of classes. Nathan went along with Isaac and I since we were spending the day there so that we could better understand what is expected of us in this new school setting. It made for a full day since we finished up at the school and then came home to work on our normal homeschooling work, as well. The rest of the week was not quite as busy, but we were still kept on our toes as we worked at getting all of our schoolwork accomplished. As most years, Mom realized that she has been a little overzealous with her lesson planning and is going to have to make some adaptations to our schooling schedule in the coming weeks.

Since we were all so busy on Monday, we cancelled our Creole classes for that day, but we picked them up again on Wednesday and Friday of this past week with our teacher Pastor Jean Clod Mezi. The rest of the week went well, but we were exhausted at the end of each day with trying to get used to the new schedule. RMI also had two teams on the ground in Haiti this past week. We were able to spend some time with the team from Schuykill Valley Bible Chapel Thursday, after they returned from spending a few days with their sister church at Camp Perrin Baptist Church. Then, Saturday Lee rode along with Rob Thompson, Haiti Field Director for RMI, to the Les Cayes airport to visit with the Creekside team briefly before they flew home, after spending a few days in Baradere, Haiti this week.

In addition to all of the busyness of the week, we still had time for a little fun, as well. Friday evening the missionary community gets together to play volleyball. The younger boys are always running around the mission center with their new friends, and Daniel went to a youth/young adult Bible study at one of the other missionary family’s home on Friday evening, as well. There are also the adventurous things like finding tarantulas in our beds, after the lights go out, or how about looking down to find a big tarantula on your chest when you are using a chainsaw to trim the bushes around the property?? Yes, well, maybe some of these things are not so much fun, but we are creating memories and growing more accustomed to life here in Haiti, for sure!!

This new week brings us some changes to our schedule as our Creole teacher, Pastor Jean Clod Mezi, is also a professor for the American University in Les Cayes. He starts teaching classes there this week, so our Creole lesson time is changing. We will be startingwith him every morning at 7am so that he can leave by 8am to be at the university to start his teaching. This will mean that we will need to have our brains awake and ready for our Creole workouts earlier than they are used to being challenged. We covet your prayers as we make this change. Another prayer request for this week is for Lee as he will be teaching on integrity in leadership at a pastor’s conference that RMI is holding for pastors who are involved in our sister church partnership programs.

We feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to serve here in Haiti. Thank you to each of you who have played a role in helping us along this journey. Through all of the adjustments and challenges, God has made it clear to us that this is exactly where he wants us to be.

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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.