Family Day!

EBS Family Day yesterday was such a special event. It was a lot of work and it was warm and the Ayars family decided to be hit by the bad colds going around, but it was so good to get to know our staff and their families better, to watch all the kiddos and grandkids have a blast, and to enjoy some of the beautiful things about this family and culture!

Family is a big deal in Haiti, and I especially loved watching everyone loved easily on each other's children. There's no such thing as other people's children in Haiti, which is part of why we're always so blessed by how people love and care for and even discipline our own.  Our head of security taught our dean of development's son how to ride a bike. Our secretary's husband played soccer with our maintenance man and his kiddos.  Matt was throwing the football with Edlin's daughter and Lori was butchering badminton with the cook's daughters. We have staff members with doctorates snd staff members who never had the opportunity to attend any kind of school, and yet everyone has a Father in common, which was most obvious.

How could Claudel be ANY cuter?

He couldn't.

Leme and Emily and Lori did a lot of work to make this happen!

Meet AnneYolie, the administrative assistant at EBS since last year and such a kind and considerate sister in Christ.  Her husband is in one of our master's programs, and it was so good to finally meet her kiddos!

Junel has been the maintenance slash runner guy for several years now and is fantastic...I can honestly say I have NEVER heard him complain. about. anything.  And he spends a lot of time in town, which usually brings that out in the rest of us :)

Joseph (above) and Jacqueline (below) are on our faithful security team, and live here in Saccanville.

 Edlin and his sweet daughter, Daphne...Edlin has been at Emmaus since long before Matt and I, and works in the kitchen!

 MaCodo works in the kitchen, too, but this was the first time I'd met her husband!  Ben was kind of a popular photo prop :)

Job is our head of security, and his kiddos and Lily went to school together for years...John Kennedy was OUT by picture time.

So many of you have prayed many times for Claudin, our dean of student life, and his sweet wife Josie!  We hadn't seen Christie and Claudel for a few months and I couldn't believe how much Claudel has grown!

Elize and his wife pastor a church near the airport, and Pastor Elize is our professor of French.  Issac is his last of seven!

Lucner is in the States, but Luna, Victoria and Victor came...I love this picture of Granny sharing :)

I ran back to the kitchen to get something and when I came back Lily had a big 'ole game of Uno going :)  Lily astounded me yesterday, helping continually. She taught games, serves lunch, helped translate, played with the kids, helped the adults, even spent an extra hour afterwards taking down chairs and tables...all without being asked. This was such an encouragement to my mother's heart and a joy to watch.

Sofie was just as helpful, but in a totally different way.  Sofie is such a dear friend...she immediately helped and befriended every little kiddo on campus, taking little ones to the bathroom, organizing games, answering questions, leading lines. Watching the girls flourish yesterday in their God-given giftings was an answer to prayer. I've said before that we're not missionaries if you're not, and it's true of our girls, too...our children all have a place in His kingdom and in His mission.

The game of the day, however, was Jenga. All the serious expressions of formal pictures were gone, and totally taken over by Jenga strategies.  

Sweet Guesica is such a God-given match for Leme...I loved having time with her yesterday. 

The downfall of the tower was major :)

We have such a diverse family at Emmaus, people from different countries and cultures and backgrounds and cities and villages and understandings, and I love how every time we are all together as family He has hemmed, those many lines are dissolved. 

Duck, Duck Goose...or Cat, Cat Dog here.

Thankful for all the love and laughter of yesterday, for the time of prayer for our marriages, families and ministries (which I totally missed in the middle of a Ben is hungry, Nora is exhausted episode), and for a new year of His work together!