pumpkin soup, name that tune, and a gorgeous new beginning

We set some new traditions for New Year's Day this year! We had been invited to share in the traditional pumpkin soup with a family next door. What we didn't realize when we accepted was that Christian families go to church until midnight or 1 am New Year's Eve, then come home and make the pumpkin soup all night, and then eat it at dawn. So, we politely declined joining them at 5 am, and joined them at 8 am instead.

Though taking a gift wouldn't have been necessary, we wanted to share something with them in return, so I took the best thing we had: a big box of chocolate Turtles. We had so much fun! The soup was spicy and loaded with potatoes, carrots, spices, meat soaked in hot peppers, and squash. Lily LOVED it, despite the heat it was packing and the fact that it was 8 am, and the family all sat with us while we ate.

Then, at the ripe hour of 8:20, we ate chocolate turtles, loaded with pecans ("big peanuts") and caramel, and talked about food and family, culture and traditions. It was REALLY fun...Matt and I have been really touched lately with the way the Lord is giving us abounding joy as we spend more time with our Haitian brothers and sisters. Relationship building, that once felt like "ministry" or work or exhausting has begun to be truly and personally enjoyable, nourishing and a blessing to us both. Many times now it seems He is replacing what used to be effort with laughter, and we are so blessed by precious moments sharing His love with our family here....maybe next year we'll join them at sunrise!

This is one of those "new things" that He is doing in our hearts, and we are so thankful!

Matt also played bass guitar with the "worship team" at church this past Sunday, a first for him, and had a really great time being a part of the service without being the preacher. Generally the singer just begins singing, and it is the job of the musicians to figure out the song, find the right key (which is, at times, frequently changing), and join in. I had thought this would be stressful, but he had a really good time, and in his new Haitian "four pocket" shirt, he (almost) blended right in!

T-minus ONE WEEK until the big inauguration of the Seminary! I'm having a terrible time getting the internet to work with the Seminary website, so here are some photos from the last few days!

friends, food, more of Him!

This is proving to be a very busy season for us! Wednesday was OMS's Thanksgiving Day, and we enjoyed a turkey flown in from Florida and all the trimmings, Haitian and American together with the other OMS missionaries and visitors.

Jack, Abel, Maxi, Don and Magua have been working like crazy on the seminary, pouring sidewalks, finishing rooms and buildings, working on plumbing and doors, etc.

What a gift it has been already to have these guys working with us in our new town, filling our mornings and evenings with talk of friends and family, burdens, blessings, missiology, football, good food, the beauty we all see here, children, marriage, you name it! Jack's bag also has yet to arrive (though he landed on Monday), but he's been SO chill about it, donning some of Matt's clothes and without complaint!

They also helped Matt out with some grocery shopping. If you thought getting your husband to take your shopping list to Wal-Mart for you (and actually come home with exactly what you wanted :) was a challenge...Whew, try sending them here! "That wasn't even so bad!" Matt said later, dirty, sweaty and toting a few bags of carrots, mangoes and pasta.

Today, we will be joined by two more friends who will be here until Tuesday. Craig and Debbie are the parents of two good friends of ours who were here in May, James and Elisa (pictured).

They are coming to spend a few days with us checking out Haiti and the Seminary, and are looking for ways that their colleagues, passions, education and experiences in Christian Phycology could bless and serve the Haitian church/Haitian Christians. We are really excited about their visit and are planning some "action-packed" days throughout Northern Haiti. We always have great conversations with Craig and Debbie, and are really looking forward to sharing this part of our lives with them!

(Matt and Lily on their morning walk with Shay)

Please pray for us while we continue to seek ways to build transforming relationships with the people of Saccanville, for a weekend full of travel, ministry and friends, and that we might ever be deliberating laying ourselves down that we might take up more of Him!

Psalms, a Haitian Vacation anyone?, and something new

Matt's Psalms course has been going really well, and followed the usual pattern of taking just a few days for the men and woman to warm up, realize that he was looking for insight, not a "right answer", and get really passionate about what they're learning. They're ENJOYING diving deeper in the Psalms, learning the history and patterns of the Psalms, and "sharpening hermeneutical skills for interpreting the Psalms," says Matt :)

Matt's also having a great time getting to know these students better (most of them also his Hebrew students) and working WITH them through some of the cultural, and non-cultural issues, they are facing in their churches and ministries: What should they do about the growing number of unwed teen mothers in their churches? What IS salvation, really, and how does work with righteousness? What should they do with members of their church that fall into sin? What should their response be to repentance? How do we move away from a ritualistic understanding of worship/prayer/etc and into an intimate relationship with our Father?

They've been having some great discussions, which always help Matt grow and learn, too, more about the Haitian mind-set and culture and more about his own walk with the Lord.

A longstanding goal of OMS Haiti, Emmaus Biblical Seminary and OMS at large has been that EBS would be able to begin classes in our new seminary down the road by January, 2010. The dedication ceremony has been set for January 11th, and despite a gorgeous new seminary that is largely completed, there is still a LOT of skilled and unskilled labor to be completed before we can MOVE in and start class!

We are thanking the Lord: Don H. and Jack F. have agreed to come down for a few weeks in November-December to work on completion! Despite our blog title, this probably won't be much of a vacation. However, if you would be willing to join us, individually or with a group, in the near future for a week, two weeks, or more, we would LOVE to have you, and PROMISE you a trip to the beach!

There is all kinds of work to do, and we would love to introduce you to some of the people and some of the places that the Lord has led us to, taught us through, and is working through in Haiti. We'd love to have you come alongside of us in this tangible way to help transform Haiti for Christ through the teaching and sharing of His Word!

Click here to check out a "Please come and help!" video from our field (starring our soon-to-be famous field director).

Email me with any questions!

Meanwhile, this is the passage that the Lord seems to be running through and through my mind and heart this week...

Behold, I will do something new,

Now, it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert.

The beasts of the field will glorify me

Even the jackals and the ostriches,

Because I have given waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My chosen people.

The people whom I formed for Myself

Will declare my praise.

Isaiah 43:19-21