rats and travel plans...

I've mentioned Micheline to you all before...she is a wonderful and godly woman that helps Lily and I out here at home a few days a week so that I can work for the Seminary and not just on laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning all day. She has such a consistently sweet spirit and humble heart, and is always setting a godly example for me, and always teaching me more about the culture and how things are done here!

Well, this morning she came into the bedroom and said, "I need to know if I can throw the thing away." For a moment we tried to determine what she was talking about, but all I could gather was "towels." Not wanting those thrown out, I followed her into the kitchen where she led me to my towel drawer, ripped it open, only to reveal to me a GIGANTIC dead rat, surrounded (inside and out) by an infestation of maggots. Not only did I almost throw up at the sight, but the SMELL. Oh my goodness.

However, not wanting to ever offend me, she did not want to throw it away without my permission. SO DISGUSTING (so I thought I would share it with you :)

Here are a few photos from Dr. Cooper's retirement party at the Seminary. Dr. Cooper "retired" in 1989 due to poor health, came to Haiti in 1999, and has been our director ever since. Now, he has retired again due to more poor health, and left on February 4th. We are so thankful to have had him in our lives and grateful for all of the ways he made Emmaus Biblical Seminary the place it is today.


Also pictured is a very happy Lily with her "Granny." Giselaine watches Lily every day while I teach, and this morning when I took Lily to her office, Lily just grinned and grinned upon seeing her (after I had been unable to get her to smile all morning!).

Matt IS going to Mississippi on Sunday with three other men in the Seminary for two weeks of "in classroom" study at Wesley Biblical Seminary. It will be Paul, Brighter and Luke's first trip to the US, or out of Haiti, for that matter. All four of them are very excited to be going and about the concentrated classes they'll be taking. They fly out of Haiti on Sunday, and Luke was quite happy yesterday that Matt would be going with them. "I don't have any idea how to get from Florida to Texas to Mississippi!" he said after I showed him their tickets. "It's a good thing Matt is coming with us to show us how to get there!"