Go!

When God says to go, know it's always for a far greater reason than what you are thinking!

It's wonderful to be back in Haiti! For one thing, the weather forecast is a little easier to remember here than it is in Massachusetts. Seriously, though, I so missed all of our friends here and I enjoy seeing all the work that has been accomplished in my absence.

We spent our first two days in Port-au-Prince, visiting our new friend, Sherrie Fausey, and getting familiar with the work she founded in Port-au-Prince: Christian Light School.

The students were wonderful! They are taught from preschool through 6th grade using two sets of books - basic Haitian text books and Abeka Christian text books. (It was pretty awesome to see text books that I had used to teach my own children many years ago.) From 7th grade through high school they follow mostly a Haitian curriculum, with the exception of algebra, which is taught from American text books.

The Abeka books are all in English, so all of the students are speaking pretty fluently in the primary grades. What a wonderful advantage this will be for them when they are done with high school. So many more jobs will become available to them and should they choose to continue their education they'll have a lot more choices of majors and schools.

We met with most of the staff Monday afternoon and let them know that God had provided someone to take Miss Sherrie's place at the school so that she can retire. I enjoyed sitting in on the staff devotions Tuesday morning. We sang together, one of the teachers gave a message of encouragement, Lex greeted the teachers and encouraged them to work together, and we prayed together. What a great start to the day it was!

I want to thank all of you who have been praying for us, as we have been considering expanding MOHI into Port-au-Prince. When you are confident that God is leading you, there is no trepidation concerning the future. There is a peace beyond comprehension and the ability to truly say, "It is well with my soul." Please do continue to keep us in your prayers, as we move forward, dealing with more details than my brain can keep track of. I'm so glad that when I'm aware of my weakness I am also aware of God's strength making up the difference. I don't have to be amazing, because I am in cahoots with the most AMAZING ONE in the universe!!!

We believe that it truly is God's intention for us to continue this ministry in P-au-P. It's fun for Lex and I to talk about the details the Lord worked out well in advance without our knowledge. We NEVER imagined ourselves serving Jesus in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. We've never even considered it. It's as if the Lord just snuck up on us. He had a surprise for us!

This morning in Thozin, the church had a surprise for me, too. They announced my birthday! Naderge (representing the entire church) sang happy birthday to me in FOUR languages, they presented me with a crown (including the title of "Queen Mother" :) ) and sash, a present, and the youth dance team performed in my honor. Wow!!!! I was shocked. I also felt very loved, despite my embarrassment.

Pastor Lex preached a rather animated message this morning. I had a blast watching the church laugh as he explained situations that everyone could relate to. My main take away from the message was as I follow Jesus, He will go before me, He remains by my side, He is my rear guard, He's got me covered. He did balance it out with having wisdom and not purposely walking into bad situations to test God. Satan tempted Jesus by offering Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would but throw himself over a cliff (expecting angels to bear Him up in their hands). He resisted the temptation, knowing God had another way to accomplish HIS will.

Several babies were born in my absence and I had the pleasure of meeting them in person today. Congratulations once again to Wadson & Mirleine, and Jephte & Madona.

My husband planted grapes during my last trip to Haiti. As you can see in this picture, some of them have done really well (the scrawny picture is what they looked like early on).

I don't think I've ever seen an aloe plant in bloom. Have you? Now we both have!

I get to stay in the upper left hand corner of this building - MOHI's missionary compound. This is the building where you will stay, too, when you volunteer at MOHI in Haiti.

This is the view I see from the porch. What a blessing it is to hear the waves as I'm writing this post today!

The sound system has already arrived. Thank you to "God is Able Shipping" for such a speedy delivery! The guys had fun today connecting everything and seeing how much noise they could make with it. We are well on our way with preparations for our 21st year celebration, July 15-18!

Some of you will remember Jackson from when you visited Haiti many years ago. He lived with our caretaker (Feyo) and would sometimes help him out with various chores. Over the years we have given Jackson different part time jobs, but without teams coming into Haiti there's even less work available than usual. How thrilled I was to see him showing such initiative as to start his own business selling cold drinks. He added a great twist to attract customers. He has a little boom box to play music, with a solar panel hooked up to it. It plays a little jingle (with a very cool beat) telling people they should come buy a cold drink. I pray this business goes well for him and he can make ends meet while providing a greatly appreciated service/product to the community.

It's soccer season in Haiti. (Is it ever NOT soccer season here???) MOHI's youth soccer team played a school from Ti Paradi this week. It finished in a tied score 1-1. Most of the upper grade students show up for these soccer matches. It's one of our favorite social activities in Grand-Goave.

What a great team of medical professionals God has brought together at MOHI in Thozin, Grand-Goave. Dental, medical, and laboratory staff work together to bring relief from pain and wellness to our students and neighbors. We appreciate them so much, along with all those who provide resources for them to operate. Thank you!!!