Saturday, November 28, 2009

Another Saturday in Haiti

For today's post, I thought I'd give you an account of normal Saturday activities. I think that the best way to do so is to give you my to-do list for the day. This is what is written on it for today:

1) Sort clothes. (Sometimes they pile up if they aren't ironed. I just toss them in a pile.) Check.

2) Organize grocery store. (Our grocery store consists of three suitcases under my bed. Aisle one is food products. Aisle two is non-food products. And aisle three is bulk food products.) Check.

3) Sweep under beds. (There is a lot of dust and dirt in Haiti that accumulates. We need to do this often.) Check.

4) Clean corners. (Another habit of mine is to lose control of the odds and ends that build up. In America, you have junk drawers. In Haiti, we have corners.) Check.

5) Send 2nd e-mails. (This is a must for communicating with people Stateside. I have to stay disciplined about this or things could go wrong.) Check.

6) Update blog again. (Another communication must. I wanted to make up for the huge intermission between my last few entries.) In Process.

7) Attempt to measure boys. (Sounds odd, I know. I need to measure them for dress pants and shirts. I want to bring them new sets of nice clothes to wear to church. The hard part is that because I don't have measuring tape I have to measure them with a child's toy measuring tape that only extends to 24 inches. No check yet.

8) Clean bureau. (Bureau is the creole word for office. I have to organize that as well because it gets a little out of hand by the end of each week.) No check yet.

9) Scrub down bathroom. (This one is self-explanatory. The only Haitian hiccup was that I only had a 4 oz bottle of Lysol to scrub the whole bathroom down. I successfully stretched it out. Check.

10) Make Bed. (I put this one on there just so I had one to cross off right away. Made me feel better.) Check twice.

11) Clean on and under table. (Had to add this one because it was full of crumbs and dust. I couldn't have a clean room with a dirty table.) Check.

12) Start organizing file cabinet. (Got ambitious. Probably won't conquer that today. p.s. I keep this cabinet-with all the mission's files- behind my door.) No check....yet.

13) Clean safe. (Our "bank" is kept under my table. It need a once-over as well.) Check.

14) Cobwebs. (I feel so much better without those little webs all over my ceiling.) Check.

So, now I have to go back to work. Must complete the to-do list!

Happy birthday, Misty and Grandma!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Baptist Revival- Haitian Style

The local baptist church held a revival that was led by our Berea staff last night.

Usually I don't like to go to these things because I'm not a huge fan of "revivals," but this one turned out to be pretty fun.

The first thing I noticed as I sat down was the wall on the other side of the building which was lined with the school's chalkboards. Like our, and most, churches which also run schools, the same building is used for either purpose interchangeably. Only today was this a somewhat uncomfortable issue.

It wasn't that the boards were taking up too much space. The problem was that yesterday's lesson, immediately previous to the service, was one on STD's. That's right- not only did we get a great Biblical lesson from a sound preacher, but we also had wonderful reading material on the causes, symptoms and treatments of AIDS, gonorrhea and syphilis. What a well-rounded service!

The service was loads of fun. We danced to awesome music and listened to a few solos. Then we danced some more. Haitians love when white people dance. They always assume that we lack rhythm. But boy did we teach them a lesson! I cut the concrete, raised the roof, and shook my booty like no one has ever dared to do in any baptist church.

Needless to say, Haitian church services are much more fun than any I've been to in America. Nothing intimidates these people. They sing solo even though they're not the best at it. They dance in the aisles even if everyone else is in their seats. They clap whether they're supposed to or not.

I like it. A lot.

You should come enjoy a Haitian church service sometime. I promise you won't be disappointed. Whether it's by STD lessons, naked children or a contagious beat, you are sure to be surprised at one point or another.

Much love.

Monday, November 9, 2009

God of Details

I will wait for my next entry to tell you about our visit to our school/church in the mountian village called Counol. I was going to recount it for you now, but something has taken place which is important enough to jump to first priority.

Over a series of e-mails a whole plot was unfolded which none of us expected to start our day with. It starts all the way back between 1990-96.

One of our supporters, Lola Mitchell, partnered with Dee and Wilckly in the 90's and sponsored a child named Marie Ange in their children's home.

I met Lola in the week before I came back to Haiti in September, having made a visit to New Lenox, IL to meet with her and some members of her church.

Lola heard that some youth from her church will be preparing food at the National Missionary Convention for distribution to various Haitian ministries and wanted to make sure that we were one of the recepients.

She e-mailed Shelby Baxter, a volunteer at the ministry that, among other things, distributes the food once it arrives in Haiti.

Shelby passed our information along to one Gretchen DeVoe, who is in charge of the distribution.

Gretchen replied postively stating that she is already aquainted with Dee and Wilckly from years passed. Want to know how she is aquainted with them?

It turns out that Marie Ange (Lola's sponsor child) and several other kids whom Dee and Wilckly raised are from the same area as Gretchen's ministry. Marie Ange works for her now!

So the circle is complete. One child raised by dedicated parents was sponsored by a Stateside partner and grew into a capable young woman who now works for another Christ-centered mission. And the connections between all of us will come to fruition in the form of hungry children getting food in their stomachs!

Now, it is not official that we will recieve this food, which will feed hundreds of hungry children in our schools, but I do not serve a God who teases.

I am confident of the positive result that will come of this intricate web of God's divine- and somewhat humerous- plan.

Wow. This job is so much fun!

Much love,
C