8 "good stuff"

1. Our Weather
      I don't know what it's like where you are, but oh man...it is paradise here.  It's been between 80 and 90 degrees each day (26-30 Celcius), crazy sunny, breezy, sweat-shirt chilly in the mornings and evenings and perfect to sleep under a light blanket.  Haiti might have a lot of it's own issues, but IT IS NEVER COLD.  Right now, that's GOT to sound nice to some of you out there :)

2. Lucner and his Ti-Kay

 Previously men's overflow housing at the old Emmaus seminary, this house was a DISASTER.  I wasn't sure it would ever be livable, but with lots of help from some of you and lots of others it is not only livable, but just LOVELY.  Lucner and his new wife Luna are such a blessing not just to us, but to hundreds of people at the Vaudreil church where he pastors, to the Emmaus, to both communities and to pretty much everyone he runs into.  The joy of the Lord is the obvious strength of Lucner, and his wisdom surpasses his years.

Luke and Luna had us over for supper Thursday night, and we just had a blast celebrating our friendship, their new house and new marriage, and what God is doing in Haiti and at EBS.     


3. Gertha's Big Announcment
     Our first Christmas here, Gertha's fiance drowned with around 200 other Haitians on a boat heading to Turks and Caicos.  Until a year ago, she had remained single, but last fall she started dating a young man even taller than she is named Wislin.  Three weeks ago their two families finally sat down (without Wislin and Gertha, as is the custom) talked things out, and set a wedding date for May 28th.

     Gertha, knowing that Sophie isn't due until June 6th, thought this would be "perfect" so that Lily and I could be there.  When I explained to her that there is no way we can be here for a wedding 8 days before the baby is due she was so disappointed...but the families have spoken.

     I may not get to be there for the wedding, but I did get the pleasure of wedding dress "shopping" with her last week, which Lily thought was just fantastic, and Gertha found a dress she loved, thanks to a friend of Dodo and Bubba's who sent them back with 11 gorgeous wedding dresses.


4. Civil and the Saccanville Church
    About six months ago the head pastor of the Saccanville church was taken into a church planting program, and almost instantly things at the church went downhill.  Attendance dropped, preachers were hard to find, and the church really began to struggle with a lack of strong, consistent leadership.  Finally, the church met with the Seminary asking for help.  For two months, the seminary committed to leading worship and preaching, promising to pray about the future.

     The Lord took care of the rest, clearly leading Civil (3rd year student) to step in the Interim Associate Pastor, and not long after led Fan-Fan (staff) to take over the faltering Sunday School program, helping to train the teachers, teach the youth class that didn't have a teacher, and support the program.
      Things have been getting better slowly, but today I can honestly say that it was GOOD church this morning.  Civil's preaching has been outstanding: Biblical, honest, insightful and well-delivered.  Numbers are growing again, and a man came today specifically to become a Christian and we were all able to witness his conversion.
     Please keep praying for this group of believers and for Civil, Fan-fan, and many from EBS and the community who are seeking to be and help His church in Saccanville.


5. Other Ti-Moun's
    Of the 70+ people living and working on our seminary compound every day, ONE of them is a "ti-moun" (kid.)  But a few months a year, when the farm is too frozen to farm, Jacob and Josephine join Lily, and it is SUCH a blessing for us and for her to have some other kids next door, even if they are significantly older than her.

     The kids are abundantly patient with Lily, letting her tag along, making her fun gifts...like these elf slippers and new dress, and if they didn't have school, Lily would try to spend 24/7 with Jacob and Josephine.


6. Abel's New Ride
     A group of you have gotten together to try to bring some small business loans (which in Haiti, are HUGE business loans, and miracles at that!) to Saccanville, and this past Friday Abel was finally able to buy his tap-tap (the name for a small truck like this used as the main source of public transportation.)

     Not only will this help generate income for his family, but it will play a huge role in the continual major transportation problem our staff and students have coming to Emmaus from Cap-Haitien.  Saccanville is just SO remote that many times our students will stand in the road for literally HOURS waiting for a ride.

     This tap-tap will reserve a morning trip and an afternoon trip for Emmaus students and staff, picking them up and dropping them off at set times and places each day.  We're all really excited about this great opportunity, but Abel is downright overwhelmed at this rare chance to better his community and family.

     As always, no one was more pumped than Lily, who did NOT want to share the "baby bench" with Abel, but felt sure that it needed to be reserved just for her.  Please be praying for this new venture!

7.  A New Bell
     It might not sound like much, but until today, EBS has still been summed to and from class, chapel, lunch and study hall with Giselain ringing an old brass hand bell.  Needless to say, this leads to all kinds of flexibility in when that's being rung, especially on Friday's...her day off.
     Finally, over Christmas we had the purchase approved of a bell system, John got it all hooked up, and today, everything is just a little bit easier...and more on-time!


8. Junior's Return
     Junior decided at the last minute to return to Port-au-Prince for Christmas break, feeling led to do so.  The Lord knew what He was doing because Junior had a fantastic month of ministry down south.  Abandoned by his witch-doctor father and family when he was a young teen for becoming a Christian, Junior still doesn't really have a home in Port.
     However, the little church he planted and began in Diquini after the earthquake is ALWAYS anxious to have him back and to have him work alongside them.  He brought back awesome reports of church growth, dedication, individual spiritual growth, baptisms and developing leaders.  However near the end of his trip, right after Haiti's past dictator returned last Sunday, the Seventh Day Adventist denomination in Port exploded with the calculated and guaranteed news that this was a sign that Jesus WILL be returning on May 21st.  Thousands of tracts were distributed almost overnight, and the group of new believers in Diquini didn't know WHAT to do with the "news."

     Due to the fact school had been delayed an extra week, he was available to spend an extra week with this blossoming congregation in the face of their struggle, and was able to spend hours in Bible study, prayer, counsel and research with them to help them worry not for the day or hour, but to always be prepared for Jesus's return.
     Due to classes he has been able to take here the past two years, he was able to use the Bible to shed light on the false "facts" being spread, and to bring peace in a time of turmoil.
     I'm so thankful for his time there, for his safe and excited return to Emmaus, and for the few days we've had with him to eat, share, pray and spend time together debriefing his time and preparing for tomorrow!

     However, no one was happier to see Junior than Lily...he is one of her favorite people, and always takes the time to follow her bossy leadings! "Junior!  Come in my house!"

     School started off again today without too many hitches, and Matt is preaching in chapel in a few minutes!  And we're off!

back at it...together

We forgot to send our camera with Matt, so we have NO pictures of his trip to Waco! However, it's been so good to hear about many of you, about his experiences there, about the joy of sharing with family about what we see God doing here in Haiti! Thank you again, First UMC of Waco, for loving on Matt and for your participation in the building of His kingdom.

Here's a few pictures from the last days. Paul and Kathleen Owens have joined the EBS team for two weeks and are teaching discipleship and English 2 and 3 as we wait for our new ESL teacher to begin in May. We have been so blessed thus far by their friendship and desire for the Lord. Today, on our way to a church in town, another church about an hour away called to ask where Matt was....he was supposed to be preaching! An engagement he had confirmed three months ago, Matt had entirely forgotten, and it was too late to get there in time.

Matt felt TERRIBLE, and no amount of pats on the shoulder or encouragement made him feel any better. Out of nowhere, Paul just started praying for Matt out loud as we continued on our drive, and speaking to the LORD about the predicament was EXACTLY what we all needed (duh....why do we always forget to do this?) We were so thankful for this brother and mentor and for his in-tune-ness with the Spirit and boldness to share Him with us.

We are also enjoying our "last days" with the Hubele Family, at least for a while. Saturday, Matt, John, Rachelle and Paul took the motorcycles to the ocean. Lily is absolutely confident that "Z0-zo-phine" and Jacob are her brother and sister, and is frequently irritated that she cannot live with them. She refuses to be babied when they are around, but insists on being treated like one of the big kids. We will miss them greatly, and are not looking forward to being the only missionaries in Sakanville again...having their help, and having a few neighbors of our home culture and tongue, has been such a blessing!

Evangelism through EBS in Sakanville continues to grow...What used to take place every Tuesday and Thursday is now happening every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1-3. The guys, studying God's Word four hours a day in the classroom and a few hours a day outside of the classroom, feel the urgency for their lost brothers and sisters. Monday is a Bible study of John, verse by verse, with lots of questions and interaction, at the far east end of Sakanville, and Wednesday is a Bible study at the far west. Tuesday and Thursday is sharing the gospel with every man, woman, child, and witchdoctor in between these two sites.

The more often Matt and I go with them, the more often we want to, and this past week, without Matt here to watch Lil, she joined the guys and I, attracting larger (but more distracted :) crowds to hear the gospel. PLEASE keep praying for Belony as he heads up this materialization of the Great Commission...he is absolutely the man God is using to bring change to Sakanville, and we are doing all that we can to support him. As the work gets harder and more persecuted, he seems to be growing in wisdom and passion and urgency and love...what a joy to be a part of!

Also, dear Janiel (known to some as Charlot) lost his father last night, pretty unexpectedly. Please be praying for him, the pastor of the Sakanville church and a graduate from EBS in 2008, during this hard hard time.

It is so very good to have Matt home, and tomorrow we dive back in for another week, Lord willing, blessed to be His and to be entrusted to carry His light to such a dark world!

friends...

We both felt the Lord give us His joy today, and it was truly a good day of relationships. Maxi, our good friend and neighbor, turned 33 today. He is a sincere, earnest and joyful man who loves the Lord. It was our joy to celebrate with him and his family. Kerline, his wife, is just as joyful and intelligent, but is sassy, too :) This family has been such an encouragement to us both since the day we moved in, despite the many difficulties they have faced just in the last 6 months.

They are each other's unwavering best friend, and it is a joy to see them ACT like best friends in a culture where most couples keep the appearance of being quite distant. Lily LOVES hanging out at their house, chasing "Poul" (chickens), their poor cat, and eating lollipops they consistently give her.

There is NO one, however, that she loves more than her friends Jacob and Josephine. She will twist out of my arms to go to Josephine, something she does for NO one else. They are fantastic to her, and she clearly thinks of them as big brother and sister. Their family is only here a few months a year, and we're already dreading their upcoming departure. What a joy it can be to be in the body of Christ!


We also have three visiting professors on campus right now, Pam, Miss Betty, and David D. They've been joyful and encouraging company, and tonight after dinner we all enjoyed (or suffered through, depending who you talk to) Robert Redford's "Jeremiah Johnson." I will never forgive Gord for introducing Matt to this depressing man-movie.

Tomorrow morning I'm teaching about Ishmael and God's covenant with Abraham at the church across the street....will be an interesting exploration of God's plan vs. Our plan and His faithfulness and grace, whichever we follow. Please be praying for that precious time as we explore who He is and why we need Him tomorrow morning from 8-10 in this dark, dark area.

Jil update...after some talk and prayer, we decided to send Jil's four oldest children to school for the rest of the year at the school associated with the church here in Sakenville...getting them a guaranteed one good meal per day and getting them out of the house. Still praying about what else to do, but know they have been on your hearts and wanted you to know they'll be starting in school Monday!