Helping out Your Neighbour

For over 2 years now, our main mission office has been surrounded by a tent camp. These people were mainly people living in the area of our office who have not gone back to their original living situations for 1 reason or another. Many of them come from the ravine behind our office which is not a great situation either. They represent approximately 120 families, but the average Haitian family is around 5 people so that is a lot of people! Living in a tent camp is miserable. Recently I believe it has been unbearable. Haiti's rainy season started early this year in mid-March and we've received over 16 inches of rain already! It has rained night after night in Port-au-Prince. I can't imagine trying to sleep in a tent while inches of rain are dumped on me every night. It has been horrible. Our office has been planning for almost 6 months how to resolve the issue of this camp outside. We wanted to help these people but we weren't sure how to go about it. We have developed a relationship with the Mayor of Delmas who offered to help us with security and logistics if we were to provide the funds for helping the people find another suitable location to live. Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) agreed to provide $500 USD to every family (which is a government mandated amount) for better living conditions for 6 months. We worked alongside the government in meeting with the people and sharing with them how we wanted them to move on with their lives after the earthquake and find something that can more adequately take care of the needs of their families. Last week, before Easter the people received their money and were supposed to vacate the property in 2 days. Today, outside our office looks like a wasteland of people living and then having moved on. I pray that all the people in the camp have found somewhere dry to stay and that God will bless their families and provide for the next 6 months after our gift is over.

Amazing results!

How do you reach the masses in Haiti? What technology do they have access to... internet, television, radio? RADIO. For decades, radio has been the sure-fire way to reach many Haitians as electricity is totally unreliable. Our ministry has been sharing the Gospel through the radio for many years in Haiti, and we just found out how it is touching people! This past week we held an evaluation of our ministry, which includes the radio messages, our bible study program and our pastoral counseling project for those affected by the earthquake. The results were outstanding. Listeners of Perspectives Reformees, a evangelical program animated by Rev. Paul Mbunga Mpindi, along with radio stations testified how the program edified them and helped them in their own spiritual walk. They also said how Pastor Paul teaches practical ways to help them grow in their relationship with God.
Another great success of the evaluation were the results from the pastoral counseling ministry. Our pastor, Gregory has been entering refugee camps (there are still half a million people living in these camps) to meet with people, encourage them and help them talk about their problems, earthquake related or not. Gregory has already seen over 500 people and we've heard many stories of the impact of his work. One young woman was ready to kill herself, and upon meeting with Gregory and talking, praying and reading God's word, she now has new meaning for her life and has returned to school. We've also been preparing messages of encouragement in Creole for those living in difficult situations after the earthquake. People love these programs! They even go to the radio station to hear them when they don't have access to a radio.

I thank God for all the volunteers, without them these results wouldn't have been possible.

Please pray for this ministry in Haiti as we are facing some staff changes and many other challenges.

Planning gone awry!

I’d really like all of my plans to turn out just the way I planned them. Is that selfish?? Honestly, YES! God really keeps me in check on that one, by reminding me its His plan, not mine. Sometimes though, its easy to get a little disappointed when an idea we’ve worked so hard on doesn’t go the way we’ve planned. A good example for me recently is our Pastoral Counseling program, which we started as a response to victims of the earthquake who are still so affected by trauma. In our plans, we imagined people would be breaking down our door to receive the free pastoral counseling we were offering. Big surprise, that is not the reality. 1 month we received 4 visitors when we had averaged 125. Now that is a little off! So we looked at other solutions to reach the people who weren't coming to us. Now our pastor is going into camp cities and seeking to talk with the people living there. But again, I am disappointed in my plan. I thought, a little naively that people receiving pastoral care, and spiritual counseling would be touched by God's spirit, transformed and be able to leave the camp situation which is making them so miserable. However, that is also not the case. In hearing so many stories from our pastor, I realize our plan was faulty big time. We can't just address the emotional and spiritual needs of the person without addressing their physical needs, such as food, water, and a way to make a living. Our approach needed to be holistic. Even in my disappointment at the whole misconception of our plan to help people, I can smile at the lesson learned and know I won't make the same mistake again. I thank God for keeping me humble.

Julianna's 1st birthday

Last weekend, we were able to celebrate with many of our family and friends in Haiti, Julianna's 1st birthday. One of the best memories was a game we played with the kids using a pinata. What fun! Each child from 2 to 8 years old took a turn trying to beat the pinata and cause it to break open and spill the candy. We had fun blind-folding some of the older participants and watching them swing at air, missing the pinata entirely. Finally it took the eldest boy a good number of strong swings before the pinata burst open spilling candy for all the children to run and collect. We thank God for our little girl. She is growing up so fast! Thanks to all our friends and family too who shared in this special day with us.

My God-Mother experience

Recently I had the opportunity to be a god-mother to my sister-in-law Guerdie as she prepared to get married at the end of December. In Haitian culture, the god-mother is an important role. You actually sit with the married couple during the entire ceremony and it is considered a role of spiritual wisdom and guidance for the couple. I was very flattered and pleased to do this for Diego's sister. Haitian weddings are an entirely different breed than North American ones. I recently stood up for my brother as well in his wedding last October and I can't help laughing at some of the huge differences that presented themselves between the 2 ceremonies.

1. Lateness is very common in Haitian weddings. Guerdie's wedding started 2.5 hours late! A good Canadian friend of mine shared that if that had happened in NA, many people would have left the wedding and she is probably right.

2. The bridal party is 2 or 3 times the size of NA bridal parties. Haitian bridal parties often have many different roles that I never knew existed, such as King, Queen, Princess, and Announcer. I think Guerdie's wedding party had over 20 people. No wonder we were late!

3. The reception is another huge difference between cultures. In NA cultures, the meal is usually the start of the festivities and the night is followed by speeches and dancing. In Haitian culture, everything happens before the food, because once the food is distributed the party is done and people go home. Another important difference is that there is no dancing in Protestant weddings in Haiti.. I'm not exactly sure why.

However, despite all the differences, there is still the incredible moment when the Pastor/Officiator pronounces the couple married, they kiss and you see first-hand this amazing joy on their faces. Thank you to my brother, Geoff and his wife Julie and my sister-in-law, Guerdie and her husband Delince for allowing me to be apart of that special moment. Blessings to you as you start your married life together.

Best Christmas Gift Ever

Today I received one of the best Christmas gifts I can ever recall. A dear friend of mine told me a story where a life was impacted and Christmas cheer was spread to a family who couldn't make ends meet this Christmas . I feel blessed to have had this story shared with me! Sorry for the lack of details but I don't want to give anything away for my friend who heard this story in a confidential manner. Just use your imagination!

If you know of stories where our Lord has touched someone's life, PLEASE SHARE IT. We need to hear these stories to be encouraged of the work our GOD is doing in so many situations.

I pray that this year you may receive the treasured gift of that warm fuzzy feeling when you have true joy.. The joy that comes from our knowing our Saviour.. Joy to the World!

Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!

Our work bearing fruit

I have to say in Haiti you have to be prepared for all things for every day is an adventure. I was busily working and my colleague Magguy popped in the office to say that 1 of our volunteers was here with his "foreign" wife and mother-in-law. Now the first thought that ran through my head was, "are they foreign because this the first time they've visited our office?". It never occurred to me that she meant foreigner, meaning blanc.. So I come out of my office and am very surprised to meet 2 Americans from Kentucky. It turns out that one of our volunteers who corrects bible study lessons for us is married to an American who he met here on short-term missions. Unfortunately, his mother-in-law was in a bit of rough shape since she had taken public transportation to get to our office and passed out from the heat, or crowds of people.. we're not exactly sure. So I offered to give them a ride back to their hotel. On the way back, my volunteer Denis Jean Rodolph was telling me how much he loved the bible study program and how he wanted to start an office in the USA when he immigrates there. He told me how much the lessons changed the way he read the bible and his wife even told me that he had said that everyone needed these lessons. I was very pleasantly surprised. It is so great to hear when God uses the work you are doing to bear fruit in someone's life.
Sorry i didn't think to get a picture of Denis with his wife until later so its just him.