think of us

and when you do, please pray!

Praise the Lord...

-We are halfway through the first semester at EBS, and while there is always much to do and always ways to improve, there is so much to be thankful for!  

I literally hear excitement in Fanfan's voice through the walls as he teaches Hebrew.  Hebrew!  I bring Matt a glass of water and overhear he, Vilmer and Lucner working in true unity.  I stop in the kitchen and hear the ladies harmonizing hymns while peeling potatoes and boiling beans.  I smile at the sound of joyful soccer matches in the evening, at the sound of friends loudly debating one theological issue or another outside my office window on breaks.  

Emmaus is not just a helping place, a healing place, a growing place, a digging place, a learning place, a transforming place...it is a HAPPY place.  In a place like Haiti (or anywhere, for that matter), I believe a happy place is a joy to Him.

-Lily is loving school.  She runs out the door happily each morning, barely waving good-bye, she is laughing when I come to pick her up, she is learning more Creole every day, she is making friends, her teacher loves her, she is happy to have "her thing" each day....just GREAT.  Thank you for all your prayers!  

-We are feeling very affirmed.  Several "going deeper" relationships and conversations of the past days, a few different meetings and ministry opportunities and even the Word itself has us feeling confirmed, lately, that we are where He wants us to be, focusing on what He wants us to be focusing on.  

Again, there is always much to do and things to improve, but it is a joy to be graced by His affirmation, in a time where we weren't even really questioning.

Matt,,right after preaching at Rodrigue's this morning.

-We have almost completely crossed over into good family health.  Yes, Lily fell of the bed this afternoon and has a humungous goose egg smack in the middle of her forehead, yes, Sofie's nose is leaking like a faucet, but we are approaching.  And it is GOOD.  

-Matt is a study machine.  I do not know HOW this man manages to be SO self-motivated and SO self-disciplined that he has chipped away and achieved his Master's in Mississippi, ALL from Haiti, and is now chipping away at his doctorate daily, with no deadlines, no teacher, no classmates, no library....

I couldn't do it.  Unless it was a doctorate in happy crafting.  But Matt, he's got his schedule, and when all is said and done for Emmaus around 3 or 4, he's putting in 2 hours on his doctorate, and just loving it.  I don't understand, but I praise the Lord.  

Seek the Lord...

-Our women's Bible study with all the women washing, filing, cooking or cleaning here at Emmaus continues to be a joy and a challenge.  It is really difficult to study God's Word when part of His body cannot read a word.  It's hard to go verse by verse when half the group is staring at your mouth while you read, trying to hear the passage, think about it and study it all at the same time.  We're in 1st Corinthians, and it is GOOD to worship and think and pray and study together, but I would love your prayers as I try to help and lead and grow with this group of dear women.

-We always feel inadequate to do the overwhelming things that truly seem to need to be done.  We NEVER have enough money to give all the money that seems to be needed to do all the things that really seem like they MUST be done.  Ezekiel's school in Baron.  Belo's house.  Noel, Naomi, Shayla, Evariste's schooling.  Rene's syphilis.  His family's hunger.  The list goes on and on...  

We never seem to have enough to help all the people who REALLY need help.  We never have enough time to do all of the work that really could be done, never have enough energy to really pour out in all the ways we want to or feel we should...I mean, what about the prostitution problem?  The ability to teach the Gospel by teaching community English?  A Bible study with the other school mothers?  There are SO MANY kids not in school...shouldn't someone be doing Bible teaching with them?       

Everywhere you look, there are 100 people and places and things that need help, and in His infinite wisdom, we just can't do it all.   

We are inadequate.  But He is more than enough.  And daily (daily) we have to remind ourselves of that, and give that as our response in the face of great need.  "We can't.  But He CAN."

I'm thankful that this is the case.  But it does burden our hearts.  "Do all you can" rarely feels sufficient in such a needy for help, needy for time, needy for energy, needy for CHRIST country.

-We must admit we are a bit homesick.  We always struggle this time of year more than the rest...to be missing fall and all the things in our home culture that come with fall.  Like NOT sweating every minute of every moment of the day.  Like, changing trees, changing colors.  Like, having stuff to DO:  there are no pumpkin patches, no apple picking farms (or apples, for that matter), no football games, no fall hikes, no Pumpkin Spice Lattes, no chilly afternoons, no bonfires (unless you count burning tires and trash) no...well, no fall.

It seems trivial, but for whatever reason, it always hits us a bit (along with the coming of major family holidays and family so far away) when October rolls around.  While we can very well do without these things, and will, and while He very definitely redeems it, I figure we're allowed to be a bit first-culture homesick now and then.


Please know we pray for you as blog readers, even if we don't know your name, and know that we'd LOVE to better know how to pray!  Email...