life in the big city

Saturday night, after all the kiddos were in bed, we stayed up late doing something the six of us (and before the husbands, the four of us) have spent many a night doing...eating dessert, playing "Settlers of Catan" and laugh uproariously.  It felt so good and so normal to do something so good and normal with people who have been like family to us for so many years.

Greg and Lil, watching the girls below

Lily and Nora were both very popular with the "Hope Girls"

Simple things like these, and sitting around, talking about our jobs, our lives, our families, what He's doing in our three different parts of Haiti, what He's doing in our lives, etc. are so important, refreshing, renewing and inspiring!  We spent the bumpy flight back home this evening praising the Lord for this opportunity, which while quick, made us feel very ready again to attack the work He has placed before us.

Ryan and T (medical missionaries near Port), with Nora and baby Titus (below) and Cathie

Because Port-au-Prince was the place where both of us fell in love with Haiti, it's a city that will always be close to our hearts.  It was difficult to see so many thousands living in tents, and to see so many buildings still crumbled in heaps, as if the earthquake happened a week ago.

At the same time, we saw definite signs of progress in some areas...a large building used for drug trafficking for years now taken over and being used to store supplies and equipment for road reconstruction...new and improved shopping centers...the spirit of people transformed to a spirit of gratefulness.  Gratitude.  Community.

Cap-Haitien doesn't have any "Tap-Tap buses" like these...or roads like these!

However, we also don't have tent villages like these.

And earthquake or not, Port continues to be years ahead of Cap in terms of advancement.  Roads!  Several huge stores very similar to a Lowe's and several others very similar to a Wal-Mart.  Good hospitals, tons of specialized and good hospitals and clinics.  Roads!  I couldn't get the picture, but there was even a small little store we passed that had a generator out back, TVs inside, tons of young men swarming it, and advertised "X-Box" competitions.  I mean, just....unbelievable.

We may not have roads, X-Box, electricity or stores in our part of the world, but as we drove home from the airport tonight, catching up with Abel, we both felt very blessed to be a part of this breathtaking, dirt-road, rice field, family-community....and a part of the dear group of friends He's given us in Port!

Saccanville

weekend home from college

At least that's what it feels like!  Working hard, and finally getting a chance to come home for the weekend, lounge around on mom and dad's couch, get good counsel, laugh about "remember when's", eat good food you normally don't get and catch up on life!

It's really good to be here.  After the earthquake, Greg and Cathie (clarification: Greg and Cathie and all the photos of where we are right now are NOT OMS, but CSI International) were forced to leave the guest house where they had lived for 13 years and where I had always worked and stayed.  While a new orphanage is being built (pictures below) they have moved into the upstairs of the current orphanage, and have turned the upstairs into housing for teams.  Right now there is a team of 16 across the hall, 20 little girls and their care-workers downstairs, and us all staying in the same house.

Lily, as you can imagine, is in heaven.  They have a real live playground that she is obsessed with, Cathie made her ice cream sandwhiches, 20 little girls to play with, someone caught a trantula...really everything a 2 year old girl needs and more.

I've also had the chance to catch up with some old friends, some of whom lost their homes and family members in the earthquake and are now living near to CSI's clinic, orphanage, church and guest house.

Spending time with good friends is always such a gift, especially friends who have been a part of our lives for over 10 years and who understand our lives in a way that many cannot, having lived in Haiti and raised their girls here, etc.  We're feeling blessed!

Something you may not see at other airports...guns, with luggage tags taped to the barrels, being brought onto the plane.

CSI's gorgeous new Hope Orphanage...almost finished!

 Lily LOVES the new little girls rooms, and kept running from colored room to room, making us all "spin spin!"

Lily continues to be more comfortable with the Haitian staff than the American visitors...trying to jump in and work alongside of the national construction workers

Lily is thrilled with this tarantula, or "crab" as it's called in Creole.  She had it on her bed earlier today and I just couldn't take it anymore.

 out on the "gator", visiting some old friends.  You may recognize this family (Vilner family) as one I wrote about after the earthquake that killed their 14 year old daughter...It was great to see them and to see lots of smiles and to laugh together, something we were unable to do last time.

Lily and the "Hope" girls during recess break...Lily is the youngest of them, but quite the center of attention and still very prone to directing everyone :)

 Lil's first time on a trampoline

heading south for the weekend...

Tomorrow after work we are heading for the big city!  We haven't seen Greg and Cathie in WAY too long, and haven't been to Port since the weeks following the earthquake.  Greg and Cathie are the ones who introduced me to Haiti when I was 18, and are the family I always lived and worked with before we were married and came up North to join Emmaus Biblical Seminary.

Lily's been telling everyone today that tomorrow she is going to see "Grandpa Greg and Grandma Coffee!"

They are precious family to us three, and another old friend of ours, Theresa, her husband and kiddos will be joining us as well.  Port may not seem like much of a city to you, but for those of us living in smaller cities around the country, Port-au-Prince is where we find a few paved roads, traffic lights, garbage dumpsters, grocery stores, and yes, even a Domino's Pizza!

Lots of pictures to come!

"I speak the English" and where we are today...

Last night I tried something new: hooking up our 15 first year English students with all of the compound's native English speakers. I was a little nervous that things would be awkward, but instead was pleasantly surprised to have to force the time to end. Everyone had such a good time talking about church, family, culture, hobbies and food, and it gave everyone, American and Haitian, a chance to ask about all that they ever wanted to know about differences: snow, American football, voodoo, goat brain...and of couse, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

The guys have been baffled by Maria, who was born in South Korea. They are certain she is Chinese, no matter what she says, and want to hear more about China.
Meanwhile, Greg and Cathie have returned to Port, ready to start a new chapter. So much of what they have spent the last 12 years on has been destroyed, and now, by His grace, they are starting over. I'm so thankful to have had them for a few days between the old and the new, and to dwell in their godly perspectives of life, ministry, the earthquake, community, marriage and parenting.

Matt's Intro to OT class is well underway, and every day he has come home after four straight hours of teaching just charged up. "That was SO good today, SO good" he keeps saying. Until Matt was 19, he didn't even know what foreign missions WAS, much less consider being a moving away from the States to live and minster among a foreign people. What a miracle and a joy for me, today, to pop into his class for a few minutes and see Matt as God clearly made him to be, overjoyed, passionate, energized and joyful to be studying the Scriptures alongside of his brothers. He LOVES it, and I can so clearly sense the Holy Spirit moving when Matt is teaching. He has a God-given gift, and the guys are loving the class as much as he is.

Mia, Elisa, Lily and I are off to join the guys for their second Evangelism Day in Sakenville. This is proving to be a very hardened area...please pray for all of EBS as we seek to live Him and share Him here!

how sweet the family of Christ

I can't even express what a blessing these last days have been with Greg and Cathie. A few weeks ago, someone asked me, "What do you need? Do you need food, money, clothes?"

My mind wandered through these options, and I finally said, "No. We need HELP."

And that is exactly what Greg and Cathie have been. They're here to get out a desperately needed break from Port-au-Prince and the many nightmares that have been a part of daily life the last 7 weeks, so we haven't let them help with anything around the house or compound.

But Matt and Greg have spent countless hours talking, thinking, sharing, advising, and doing boy stuff...playing Wii, watching man-movies, eating meat :) And Cathie and I have had a dozen cups of tea, poured over life, shared our hearts, talked about our kids, enjoyed each other. And they both have spoiled Lily ridiculously, feeding her cheese puffs and Oreos, and teaching her new things. (Like Greg, unfortunately, teaching her to stick her finger up her nose.) We've played hours of Scrap Out, Hand and Foot, Settlers, and watched a few great movies...The Proposal, Music & Lyrics, Star Trek.

We love them, and they love us, and having a few days in the midst of all the stresses and brokenness of the past weeks has been restorative, refreshing and fun. So thankful for them both, and the way God continues to put precious family in our daily life though we are far from 'home.'

Like Mia and Elisa, who just arrived safely yesterday and are adding onto the spoilage of Miss Lily with Easter candy and polka dot dresses, Matt with beef jerky and honey buns, me with Panera bagels and Dunkin Donuts coffee... Ah, sweet friendship! Praise the Lord!

I have yet another just incredible testimony to share with you. The whole time Jean-Marie was telling me his story, I was thinking about the joy of sharing it with you. This guy is THE REASON Emmaus decided to open up the school to Port-au-Prince students for free. The moment he left, I thought, "AH. This is why. We're here because of him."

I am SO unbelievably blessed to be in His Family with Jean-Marie...I think you will be, too...

The testimony of Jean-Marie Leme, as told to Stacey Ayars.

In Haiti, people always say, “If you are not an animal, then you are a Christian.”

I always believed that growing up until one day one of my friends said to me, “You know, that is such a stupid belief. That makes no sense. If you are not an animal, then Jesus did die for you, but you have to repent and accept Him in order to be a Christ follower.”

Well, that changed my life. He talked to me about salvation, and I came to understand Acts 4:12 to be true: “For Salvation is found in no one else [but Jesus]. There is no other name under heaven given to men by which you must be saved.” I asked Him to allow me to follow Him, and I immediately began in a church, and I was baptized in 2001. Do you know what I love to do?

I love to work with children. I think God’s made me in a way in which I love to share the Gospel with children. I want to study the Bible so that I can teach what it REALLY says to the children of Haiti.

That’s what I’m doing here [at EBS] but let me tell you how I got here.

I am from Port-au-Prince, and my mother and little sister live there now, in a tent. They don’t have anything, and are suffering. I have nothing to send them. I hope to have something to send them soon, because if I can make some little money, I can send it to them instead of using it for food for myself, because you [EBS] are feeding me.

Anyway, on January 12^th, I was in my house in Port-au-Prince. I needed to do an exam the next day for University (I was studying administration) and I sent someone to buy me a pencil. I was waiting for him to return with the pencil, and I felt the house just start shaking. Where I lived had so many houses badly built. I didn’t even think, I just jumped off my bed and ran out of my house.

It wasn’t until I was outside that I realized I was badly hurt. Much block had fallen on me immediately before I ran, and when I reached the street I saw blood just pouring from my thighs, legs, knees and feet. I was shocked by all the blood, and BOOM, another part of the house outside knocked me to the ground and pinned me down. I knew I was badly hurt, but I couldn’t get up. People started running over me, screaming, fleeing from their houses. They ran on top of me, without stopping to help and without realizing that I was even there.

I was home alone, and didn’t know if my mom, my dad, my sister were ok. My mom was at the market, my dad was at work in a hotel (he was a bus-boy at a hotel) and my little sister was at school. All evening I laid there and cried for help, and finally, right at dark, my aunt came to check on my family. She and my cousin pulled the blocks off of me, and carried me to the street. I slept there all night, and was still bleeding badly, and we didn’t know what to do. Everything was so chaotic and we had no where to go.

The next morning, my mother finally was able to get home. The next day, my sister arrived. They were both safe.

We heard that the hotel where my father worked had collapsed. We waited for him to come home. He never did.

For 6 days, my family tried to bandage my wounds because the hospitals, everything, was destroyed. All our money was gone. We knew that I was going to die, because my wounds were all becoming infected and I could not walk. Finally, my grandfather, who lives in Cap-Haitien, was able to get a hold of us. He didn’t have much, but sent all the money he had to us. It was just enough to get me on a bus for Cap-Haitien. I did not want to leave my mom and sister, but knew I would die if I did not get medical help right away.

I came to Cap-Haitien and finally got to a clinic. (At this point, Jean-Marie starts pulling up his pant legs, and I am horrified by ghastly wounds clearly still in the process of healing. He offers to show me more, but I decline. I don’t even know what to say to him besides "I'm so sorry".)

I am still healing, but they didn’t think I would walk, but I am walking. When I came to Cap-Haitien, it was the pastor of my grandfather that gave him the money to send me to a clinic. As soon as I could walk, I went to that church. I spent as much time there as I could, and helped the pastor in every way that I could to repay him.

I was finally able to travel back to Port, and I went to him to say good-bye.

“Wait,” he told me. “You have nothing in Port-au-Prince. Your school is gone, your education is gone, and more than that, you are doing the wrong thing with your life. For weeks now I have watched you, and you have the Spirit of God in you. You only have one life, and God saved it for a reason. You must spend it on God’s work, not in administration.”

“I want to do exactly what you are saying,” I told him, “but as you said, I have nothing. I have no way to do that. I don’t even know HOW to do that!”

“Emmaus Biblical Seminary,” Pastor Wiljean told me. He had graduated from EBS, and told me that they would take me, and feed and house me, for free, and teach me in God’s Word.

And that is why I am here. This is what I’m thinking: I greatly want to know Him better. How can I know Him better but to study His Word and live among His children?

All people are NOT Christians. But God sent His Son for them the same way He sent His son for me. I want to live for Him and share Him in Haiti. I’m praying that Emmaus will teach me how to do this the best that I can.

prayers and praises

After three hours of testimonies from the newest five students from Port, I have an abundance of awful and beautiful, challenging and inspiring things to tell you. But for tonight, I just want to ask for your prayers.

One of our dear friends and students, Petit Sauvelt, lost his baby girl today. You might remember a blog I wrote a few months back about Petit's wife quite miraculously becoming pregnant (at an older age, and after 12 years and losing 6 babies). They were SO EXCITED, and this week marked 9 months. The details are still unclear, and he was here in class, but today she went in for her 9 month check up...had the baby...the baby was dead.

Ah, my heart. We're just so broken for them both. All he knew to say was "God knows" and that was all we could say, too. Please be praying for them both.

We also received an email from our dear friends in Port-au-Prince who after 6 weeks of living in the midst of ruins and working to start over, are coming to Cap tomorrow for a few days "OUT." We are SO THANKFUL that they are coming and getting a bit of a rest, and also so thankful to have them visit...they are like parents to us both and Lily needs some Papa G and Gram Cathie time.

Then on Monday, two dear dear friends from our Asbury days are coming for a week....Lots of good friends coming...praise the Lord.