Veil Of Tears

About a year ago, I read a book called "No Longer A Slumdog" by K.P. Yohannan.  He is an Indian missionary who started Gospel for Asia.  It was a very moving book, and when I saw the book "Revolution in World Missions" by him, I really wanted to read it too.  After we moved down here, I finally had time to read and found it was really thought-provoking as well.  In looking at what Gospel for Asia is doing, it seems they are very passionate in spreading the gospel and giving hope through Jesus Christ.  Their mission attempts to teach Christ to those who have never heard of Him in regions of India through two ways - one, through the preaching of the gospel by indigenous (Indian) missionaries, and two, through their Bridge of Hope schools for children.  I love the way the Bridge of Hope is working.  They go to the slums and to the lowest caste - the Untouchables - the people who are considered as not even human.  They build a school and sponsor children to learn to read, write, learn about God, and receive a meal.  Then these children with a new faith in God will go home and tell their parents, who want to learn more, and some become Christians.  It revives their hopeless lives and teaches them that God loves them.  I love the way they are going to the children, the future, and reaching the families through them.

Forgive my rambling :)  Anyway, I saw that GFA had made a documentary/movie about the condition and treatment of the women and girls of India, and the hope that can be theirs through the spreading of the Gospel.  David and I watched it last night, and we learned a lot.  The traditions and ideas of the culture that causes so much oppression is SO sad!  But if these people learn about Jesus, this is the only way their lives - and the culture - can be changed.  We are so blessed in America - freedom from oppressive traditions, ability to choose our jobs and careers, freedom from forced/arranged marriages, wealth that others cannot even comprehend, and the ability to feed our families (three meals a day), and not have to be faced with the decisions of selling or giving away our children because we can't feed them.  These are true situations that are happening in a lot of the world today.  And I think it is good for us to know about these things...so we can be prayerful, so we can be giving, so we can be less selfish and materialistic....and so maybe we can help others learn of God.

If you're interested in learning more, the Veil of Tears documentary is open until TOMORROW 3/30 for free to watch online.  You can go to veiloftearsmovie.com, and click on "free simulcast."  It will take you to lifeway.com where you can register and "order" the movie for free.  You have to follow a few more links and then you can watch it online.  (I would not say that it's something that small children would enjoy...it's not a movie like that, and it talks about the slums, abuse, drinking husbands, etc that kids probably don't need to know about yet.)  If you can't watch it, I would recommend going onto GFA website www.gfa.org, and there you can get a free copy of the book, "No Longer a Slumdog."  I think it will change you.

A "Normal" Day

I thought it would be fun to share what a "normal" day in our lives is like.  

No two days are the same, but here's a general idea, based off of our day today :)

We wake up with the roosters (literally).  It's like old McDonald's farm here with 

roosters, chickens, goats and pigs running around.  Anyway, David gets up around 6 

and has his devotional time.  I wake up a little later :) and Orrin gets up usually around 

630 or 7.  This morning I had just gotten out of bed to pray when he woke up :( so I got him

 and brought him to our room.  He lay in bed for a few minutes and then saw my "hi" (phone)

on the nightstand and wanted to play with it.  That kept him occupied for a while.  

He likes to play his one game that is on the phone, but thankfully has been getting 

less attached to it the past few weeks.  I think he's getting bored with the one and only game.

Sometimes when I get the phone back, I find about 10 pictures of this: 

 Around 715 we ate breakfast (scrambled eggs and toast), and Orrin also had his first 

"apple" (banana) of the day.  David left around 730 for devotions at the hospital, then to

work when that was done.  He spent most of his morning in a meeting that happens once a week.

Other than that, a lot of times he is just fixing electrical and mechanical problems.

I do dishes (by hand, no dishwasher) and start a load of laundry.  

Today is dirty diaper day! 

Madam Ino (pictured below) comes to cook two days a week,

so she came around 830 this morning.  She set to work making lunch.

Orrin and I read books and did some cleaning until it was time for his nap,

around 930.  After he was sleeping, I went up to the hospital to do my little job.

I spend about an hour a day working on entering patient data into a spreadsheet.

It sounds maybe a little dry, but it does have benefits.  I go around to each of the wards

and look through the pt's charts, which gives me an opportunity to read the creole/french

and also to speak it a little with the nurses and doctors and patients.  

I was wondering how to use my time here as more outreach/ministry and not just 

computer work and dirty diapers :)  I bought a few Creole Bible story books and Bibles

and have been handing out the Bible story books to the kids that are there (along with some 

vitamins which they like too!)  It was probably my most exciting moment here when I 

handed out the story books and saw the looks of joy on the kids and their mom's faces.

And then when I came back the next day, one of the girls was reading hers :) 

May it bring forth fruit for the Kingdom!!

So, my hope is to give Bible story books to the children who come into the Hospital...

and I'm throwing this out as an opportunity if someone wants help with this...

if you would like to buy some Creole Bible story books for me to pass out,

visit  http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/41-x44-3/.  There is a shipment of various

things going down to the hospital in the next month or so.  I know Forrest plans to put

some clothing on this shipment, and so if you are interested in buying some books, maybe

they could be taken to the material aid center and placed in a box with my name on it, with the other items to be sent with the shipment.

When I came home, I worked on some cleaning.  Floors get swept every day here,

since the open windows create so much dust and dirt.  I'm sure it doesn't look like 

much, but that's one day and one room's worth of dirt :( Yuck!

When Orrin gets up, he has some snack (bananas are preferred, but raisins,

yogurt melts, pretzels, or such like will work).  He goes outside to play, and 

it works really well if the gates are locked so he can roam around in our nice big yard.

He is really getting to the age where he is entertaining himself !! Yay!!!  He likes to play

with rocks, and sometimes brings them into the house and dumps them all over.

(Wonder where my dirt comes from??)  

His other great thing to play with is keys and the padlock on the gate.  He could 

spend hours with it :)

David got back from his meeting around 1215, and we had lunch together.

Madam Ino had made rice and beans (like I have her make every day she comes :) )

along with some meatballs, some "spinich" with cooked carrots and tomatoes, and

fried plantains.  It was all really good!  And then she does dishes too!

All for $3.50-$4 a day!

After lunch, David and I do our language lesson on the computer.

Orrin runs around the yard some more :)

Madam Ino leaves around 2, and today, David had some work that

he needed help with, so Orrin and I left to help him for a little bit. 

Then it's take the laundry off the line (ahh, love warm weather), then

it's time for Orrin to get his afternoon nap.

This is when I get my computer stuff done, and finish up with

the spreadsheet that I don't get completely finished while I'm up at the hospital.

A lot of days, someone comes to the door wanting to sell something.

Sometimes its pineapple, tomatoes, eggs, beans, eggplant, bananas, you name it.

One time, a lady brought by a "yam" (pictured below).

I figured it would probably be like a sweet potato??

After she left, I took a picture and sent it to one of the other ladies 

who lives down here.  

"What did I buy??"
She said she didn't know...it's time for a cooking lesson :)

When Orrin wakes up, it's about time to wonder what's going to be for supper :(

He wandered around the yard again, and played with the neighbor boy for a 

while, then came in and wanted a snack.

For supper, I made some sweet potato casserole (no, actually not what is in the picture...

that was more of a real potato), 

and used the leftover meatballs from lunch.  Then cut up some fresh 

cabbage (I've never eaten so much cabbage in my life before I lived here!!) and 

made a cabbage salad with fresh Haitian carrots, green peppers and pineapple.

Then David got home a little after 5 and didn't think we had enough (ok, this is NOT part 

of a normal day, just today! ;) ) so we heated up some of the leftover rice 

and beans...no lunch for tomorrow anymore :)  And Orrin got another banana :)

After supper, it's wash dishes again.  

We live close to the Haitian church, and so some evenings we get

 to hear them sing.  That's nice :)

Some evenings we have meetings with the other missionaries

or with work teams that are here, but thankfully not tonight.

David said tonight he's going to read a book and relax...no more working!  

Orrin likes to read too :)  Actually, he LOVES to be read to.

We are going to have a bookworm on our hands someday!

David's reading and eating corosol slush, kind of the Haiti version of ice cream

made from a fruit.  Orrin is liking to steal bites too.  I am finishing this blog, and

maybe we will get to skype with grandpa and grandma before Orrin gets his 

bottle, reads his books, says his prayers, and goes to bed.  

Because before you know it, the roosters will be up again.

Happy 25th Birthday, David!!

David's 25th Birthday is tomorrow, so if you think of it, 

send him an email or facebook message, wishing him a happy b-day!

I bought him an ice cream maker (something he's mentioned

he wants weekly since we came to Haiti) :) and he was so excited!

Orrin helped "wrap" daddy's gift by coloring pictures to tape on the box :)

We invited all the other families down to our place last night for 

ice cream and toppings and an evening to celebrate D's birthday.

We made chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and had a toppings bar with

oreos, snickers, peanut butter, cherries, pineapple, mango, chocolate syrup,

crushed up chocolate chip cookies, and sprinkles!!  We also had contributions 

of decorated cupcakes and cookies!  Yum, yum!

David enjoying ice cream and coffee.

We played a few games, like 4 on a Couch, and the girls won  :)

The kids had a blast playing outside in the yard and rolling down our little hill.

I think everyone had a good time :)

Happy Birthday D!!

Prayer Requests

We know all of you have a lot of people and things to pray for, and so we are thankful when you take time to add us in your prayers.  I also know how soon I forget to pray for people unless I make a conscious effort!  So I thought we could help you out in those times when you think to pray for us....that you could pray for us in specific ways.

So...my list....

I think the first would be language.  Since we first moved down, this has been the primary struggle/stress/goal for us.  Our goal is ultimately to reach people for Christ, but how do you minister to people you can't talk to??  It was a big discouragement for a while, and I thought, why didn't I just stay working in Champaign where I could actually TALK to people!?  But we know we are supposed to be here for a time, and so we will try to learn Creole.  This is a slow but actually pretty fun process.  It is really encouraging when someone comes to our door to sell something and I can understand a new word or two!  So please pray that we will be given the "gift" of language!

Second, pray for the "ultimate goal" of the hospital.  It was discouraging to me also when we first moved down, that we are so focused on daily tasks...fixing this, painting that, gathering statistics...whatever it was...I just felt like we missed the whole point!  But David and I talked and he said that he had heard (don't know who to quote on this :) ) that in the few years since ACWR has come into Hospital Lumiere, over 200 people have come to Christ!  And in January, there were 19!!  Praise the Lord!  Several pastors work at the Hospital, and they can visit with people, and hold chapel for the workers and patients in the morning.  When a person does receive the Word, the pastor follows up with the pastor in that person's village, so that the new believer has support when he/she returns back home.

Third, pray for us that we could be wise in our decisions, and that we can rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us in our decisions.  It is so hard to know what to do in some situations.  The needs are endless, and a lot of times, when we think we come up with a solution, we actually make the problem worse!  For example, today I had stopped by Jami's house to drop something off, and a woman and baby came to her door.  The woman told her that her mom died, and her husband threw her and her son out of the house and doesn't want here there because she "throws herself in the fire."  She has scars on her back and arm from burns.  We don't know, but we are thinking she is either dealing with seizures or a demon.  She has been going around Bonne Fin trying to give away her young son, but no one will take him.  She doesn't have food to feed him, or a place to live.  Jami gave her some food and talked to her, and told her she could come back anytime to get more food.  Wow, what do we do?  What does God want us to do?  Should I offer her a place to stay?  I don't even know where to begin.  The only problem is, if we give her our spare room, it only prolongs the inevitable...it doesn't fix the problem.  When we go home, she is back on the street.  Where is the dad who isn't taking care of his son?  Where is her family?  Is there any left?  And then throw into the mix that maybe she is demon possessed... Or even if the problem is just seizures, where is the money going to come from to get her medicine for the rest of her life?  My conclusion was to have one of the pastors at the hospital come to visit with her...to see if they had any solutions...if they know of any homes for people like her to stay in...if they could contact the pastor where she lives....if they could counsel her.  Not sure what the conclusion will be with this story, but I know there have to be endless stories like hers...and that is so hard too.  So pray for wisdom for us...and for the spiritual warfare that goes on in this country.

Lastly (for today), pray for us that we could be empty of self, that we can take up our cross of self-denial, and follow the God who is our ALL.