Our Family Circus

Sunday, we will be taking off to Atrel!   Yep, we will pack up after being her for 4 weeks and take a 2 week trip to Atrel.   Our home is located on the mountain so it is not only lovely but it is cool!   In fact, it is so cool that we do not have air conditioners and we close our windows at night (well I do, I am sure My Dear wished we didn't close all of them.)   In Atrel, we will living with another family in our ministry.   They are the only family serving in that area.   They have five children so that is a major perk for our kiddos!   But the climate is dry, dusty, and well, it is hot there!   She told us to bring the coolest clothes we have and good walking shoes. We will go each day to live along side of a Haitian family.   It will be a sink or swim saga as we learn to communicate with them and their family and to work along side of them.   There are no washing machines, like the luxury of my wash day Friday.  We will be armed with our Creole dictionaries to help us to

The girls decided they want to do laundry like "real Haitians."   They set to work along with a rope that was left behind by one of the teams.   When the teams leave it is like Goodwill and the girls score all kinds of goodies...or at least goodies to them.   I did have to cut them off on taking insect repellant.   We are over stocked!         They washed and hung clothes to dry and had fun.  When they dried, we folded and put them away.   But I learned the folding and putting away part is not near as fun!  My favorite book as a little girl was a Little Golden book called Little Mommy.   It was rereleased a few years ago and I bought every copy I saw to share with little girls in our lives.   One page looked a lot like this one but with a washboard.      My Dear had an overnight trip to Miami.   He flew back with a team of teens, thankfully the team included our church and My Dear was seated by sweet Olivia.   He said he laughed the entire way to FL.   He took

For the past two weeks, My Dear and I have traveled a rocky road to Creole classes.   Seat belts are not mandatory for passengers to wear but today I put one on just to stay put in my seat!   Each day on this walk, we see children dressed in their uniforms heading to school.   Some of them walk alone but younger students walk with an older sibling or with their mama holding their hand just like in the states.   There are some children who are not in uniform.   They carry water buckets, brooms, or just stare at the vehicle as it drives past.   You see not all children in Haiti are gifted with the opportunity to go to school.  School is expensive and having a uniform just adds to the cost.   School is an honor and a privilege and those children who do not get to go to school long for the opportunity.   Many of them will be the first in their families to go to school so it is an honor for the entire family. The past two weeks students from Crossings have stopped by for an overnight stay

The way we "hunt" and "gather" is a bit different than in the states but still very much the same.   Fresh fruits and vegetables can be purchased from local farmers at market.   This would usually require negotiating prices particularly because we are "blan."   Blan is the Creole word for white but it is used for all foreigners.  Thankfully our missions sees that our time and negotiating skills are better used working on the mission so someone does our shopping for us.   We simply turn in a shopping list for market of what fresh fruits and veggies we want.   If it is available in the garden on the mission, we get it from there, if not, they get it for us and keep a running bill of what we owe.   I appreciate the onions, peppers, and eggs magically showing up! They are fresh with the dirt still on them and looking less than perfect in size but yummy in taste.  The girls and I are fine with fresh fruits and veggies but our guys are not and well, there

Friday is our laundry day!   Several of us share 2 washers and 2 dryers here on the mission.  Friday is my turn to claim the laundry room.  Last week, I actually got 2 days since someone was away and I could use the machine on their day.   We had traveled a week before getting here and we had brought dirty clothes with us...it just happens. The water pressure is low and we have only cold water to wash in.  Let's just say there is no H.E. on the appliances.  The generator on the property goes off at 4 p.m. unless the hospital needs it to stay on.  Sometimes it comes back on the local electric company but otherwise we are running on batteries that only allow for small doses of energy to be used....not washers and dryers. I took several trips up and down the stairs from our home to the laundry house and was pleased with the work.   I learned I had to stay on it and watch the clock to get it done in time....learned that is. Well we put those storage totes to good use!   Si

This post written by My Dear....enjoy! I went to a Haitian church today.  It began at 9 a.m. and was over a little after 11 a.m.  There was a lot to take in.  Before the service started a young lady (older teen) gave out awards to the church members for things like attendance and bringing your Bible.  I saw teens helping to lead in the service.  This was followed by a hymn or two. You have to enjoy those hymns.  There is such good theology in them.  Next I saw the children’s choir (ages 7-12) sing a special. The children are involved in the service.  Then there was a congregational reading. The entire church read God’s word together. There was another song and the visitors were welcomed. Visitors were asked to stand so we could be seen, no hiding in this church. The children’s choir sang another special.  Another young man, I’m guessing an older teen, gave the announcements. (More teen involvement.)  The offering followed with the adult choir singing a special. The offering plates

Last Sunday, Baptist Haiti Mission hosted a luncheon, barbecue style for our neighbors and staff of BHM. .   The Mission is over 70 years old and most of our neighbors have homes hidden behind tall walls and heavy gates.   This is the first time that anyone remembers having a time for our neighbors to come in and see what we are about,  it also allowed us, to hear what their suggestions are for the mission.  Many of these folks were not church attenders.   Because they are upper class, they speak English and French.   This made it MUCH easier for our family to meet new people since we had just moved into the country. Here are some pictures from the fun, tiring, chicken filled, rewarding day. .  Colby is sharing a little bit of love with Baby Annie.  Activity is just get started at the playground.  Mamas and their babies.   Baby Annie's daddy works with our mission and for World Vision.  Lizzie and Dolly certainly enjoyed meeting one another.   Lizzie's famil

It has been one week since the truck pulled up with our possessions and another truck carrying us.    One week of learning many things and still so much to learn.   Things are becoming somewhat familiar and some things are not.   Below are a few photos to share about our new normal....that may or may not be so "normal" for us just yet.  We do not have a bathtub just showers with low pressure.   Since we are in a private location Dolly was allowed to ditch the skirt to give Chester a bath.   Those totes also double as bathtubs for 6 year old girls....well, at least for our 6 year old girl.  The foliage is beautiful and all too soon it will fade into normal and we will not even notice the beauty of it.   Even the cracks on the patio have bright colored flowers growing up through them.   Prettiest weeds ever!  Facetime and Skype....thank you God!  The rings of the devices will probably always cause everyone to jump to their feet.   This is a normal for the kids already.

 This is our house from my neighbor's yard.   Someone else lives above us, but Mark is in the photo as they are preparing chicken for an event.  Why yes, that is a 31 box on the porch heading to be stored and reused.   Thirty-One was well represented in our move thanks to our IN neighbor.  This is a side porch on the left with a Haitian sandbox (more like tiny rock box.)   The old trampoline box has now been recycled but some toys stayed for fun in the box.  This is what I see when I look out the front door, straight ahead.   Yep, ready for a visit?  Looking toward the right.  Following the road that no one ever uses down the right.  It should have been yellow bricked! At the end of the road, there are also a few ropes hanging from trees with a new wooden swing seat and a play house which the girls are eager to decorate.   This is Billy and Dolly bouncing with another family who ministers with Baptist Haiti Mission but in a different location.   Our child

We chose to fly to our new home with some of our possessions and our pup via Missionary Flights International (MFI.)   We drove to their facility in FL.   After months of conversations with them, it was pretty cool to see the place.   They are the same group that will make sure we get our mail and packages. We paid $1.60 per pound for each item as well as for ourselves.   They kept a running total as we pulled things off the truck and weighed them.   Thankfully, they did a family weigh in so that not one person would tip the scale....we know our scale tipper was Miss B.   She has been trying to gain weight since last summer! The folks at MFI were patient with us.   They were kind to the children and did not pass-out or comment when they saw our load and the abundance of it.   They worked physically and with humor to get the job down.  We unloaded on Wednesday so that they could pack the plane.   Thursday morning we were there to board along side of our possessions....well, those th