Right after the medical trip to the north I left to go to Charlotte. Myrlene had surgery on the 8th, to remove a softball-size cyst from her ovary. She is also almost 5 months prgenant, so we were concerned for both her and the baby. She has a large incision and is recovering at home now. She was in the hospital for 4 days. The baby (Jayda will be her name) has a strong, regular heartbeat. The picture below is of a miracle taking place: Myrlene does not eat fruit, and has ALWAYS refused to eat citrus of any kind. In this photo she is eating an orange, which I did not have to try to coax her to eat. It is a real miracle! Those of you who know Myrlene know this is true!

The other night there was a huge fire in a nearby village. We have not yet heard what burned. We're hoping someone was just burning off a field.

A blog is not complete without a shot of the cutest puppy in the world!

June 29 - July 6, I went with the Medical Mission Team from Providence Road Church of Christ (our home congregation) to Northern Haiti for a week of moblie medical clinics. It is always good to get back up norht nad visit our "family" there. The trip was a success. I think we consulted with and treated between 800 and 900 people during the 5 clinic days. It was a blessing to be able to spend the week with the folks from Charlotte and meet some new people who were a part of the team.

Translators for medical clinics

Medical Mission Team "Oh Lord, my God, you are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps Himself in light, as with a garment; He stretched out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of His upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds His chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants. He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." (Ps.104:1-5)

The Cite Soleil Christian School held kindergarten graduation exercises on June 28, 2009. Tim, Jeantyrard, a couple preachers from the Thomazeu area, Bwa and I all attended. THey go all out, no holds barred for kindergarten graduations! This was almost exactly like the high school graduation we attended a couple weeks prior. There were 20 graduates in the class and they were dressed to kill! They were really cute. It was amazing how these kids belted out songs and speeches!

These are the HFHC sponsored grads (above)

The processional

This is Carline and her baby. Carline used to be in te HFHC education

program. Her younger brother was one of the kindergarten graduates. It was good to see her and find out how

she is doing.

Bijou on the standing watch in the guard house

During a recent visit, Steve arm-wrestled the boys, but could only win with the girls James and Steve came for a weekend to do a lot of re-wiring on the house and well pump. Thanks to James' expertise we can now pump water from the well to the cistern and the invertor holds a charge for longer than a couple hours. It was fun having them for a couple days.

Bijou Helped by moving rocks

June 6 -10, 2009 One of HFHC’s board members came for a visit during this time. His visit was two-fold. On the 8th, we had a meeting with a local organization to discuss the possibilities of working with them on training some of our HFHC youth in micro-enterprises. This is something we have thought about for a while. Jobs are scarce and one really must be able to created some type of business for themselves for the most part. The meeting went well and we continue working towards putting some sort of program together. On June 9th, we attended the Delmas Christian High School graduation ceremony. Fifteen students graduated. This was the largest graduating class in the young history of the school. Six of these fifteen were youth being sponsored in HFHC’s education program. The ceremony lasted about 2 ½ hours and was quite different from our typical high school graduations. The graduates had much more participation in the program than our grads in the US. They sang several songs. There was a “passing of the torch” from the Philo (graduating class) class to the Rheto (12th grade) class. One of the professors spoke briefly about each grad. There were a couple of cute little skits by students in the primary school, a speech by Ken, who was the “parenn”, a speech by Jeantyrard, some soloists sang and several of the grads spoke. Natacha sang a final, good-bye song and I think most of the girls and at least one of the guys were in tears. There were lots of photos taken during and after the ceremony. We then moved on to the reception site, just down the road from the school. We enjoyed rice & peas, rice & beans, plantain, a pasta dish, salad, grilled & creole chicken legs and sodas. After the reception, Ken, Jean Baptiste, Anthony & I went to visit Jambon at his home. He had complicated hernia surgery on Friday and could not make it to the graduation. We had a nice visit with him and his wife and prayed for him. (Jambon works with HFHC in several capacities) All in all, it was a great day – a really great day for the Delmas school. ** Parenn & marenn are a man and woman chosen by the class to be kind of like their “godfather and godmother, kind of a sponsor. Ken was parenn and I found out on Wednesday when I arrived home from Charlotte, that I was to be marenn. Luckily they didn’t ask the marenn to speak

So, the other night I woke up to scratching and knocking noises. I shined the flashlight around the room, as Tim & Bijou both continued blissfully sleeping. Nothing. I went back to sleep, only to waken again to the same sounds. I shined the flashlight around again. This time Tim roused a little. Then I heard "water noises" in the hallway/bathroom area. I said, "oh great, I think water is overflowing somewhere!" I made Tim get up this time to go investigate. I heard him say something - I'm not sure what it was. He came back in the room and said there was a rat swimming in the mop bucket I had left in the hallway. Apparently, the rat ran out of our room when I shined the flashlight. Obviously he wasn't watching carefully where he was going. Tim made him stay in the bucket all night long, figuring he would drown and we could throw him out. Well the little sucker was treading water when I got up the next morning. Tim sat the bucket out on the balcony for him to die. A few hours later he was still treading water. He'd just float there with only his nose above water. It was not nice. I told Tim to put an end to it - just throw him out the gate! But Tim said, "Do you want him to come back?" Well, of course I didn't want that so I said, "just get rid of it."

So, my mild-mannered, loving husband got the cholorx and poured some in the bucket. Then he took a stick and held the litttle rat by the throat and held his little rodent head under water until he died. I felt sick. But at the same time happy that this rat would not be back. We'll probably be haunted by it now.

Things are beginning to progress on the house. Here are our carpenters - Boss Riko and Boss Adan.

April 25 Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Job 42:2 “I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted.” From our limited vantage point, our lives are marked by an endless series of contingencies. We frequently find ourselves, instead of acting as we planned, reacting to an unexpected turn of events. We make plans, but are often forced to change these plans. But there are no contingencies with God our unexpected, forced change of plans is a part of His plan. God is never surprised; never caught off guard; never frustrated by unexpected developments. God does what He pleases and that which He pleases Him is always for His glory and our good. Our lives are also cluttered with a lot of “if onlys”. “If only I’d done this”, or “If only that had not happened”. But again, God has no “If onlys”. God never makes a mistake; God has no regrets. “As for God, His way is perfect” (Ps. 18:30). We can trust God. He is trustworthy. From “Trusting God Even When Life Hurts”, by Jerry Bridges

April 28 Bijou and I finally moved out to the house today. Things are still not finished, but we’ve had it with hotel life – especially Bijou. She actually bit me when I tried to put her in the crate yesterday when I needed to go out for a while. She’s been a little trooper, but it’s time for some freedom. The water was not functioning so I had a truckload of water brought out to put in the cistern so that we can bathe and clean. Bobby is still working on the pump to try and make it work properly. There is electricity, so that is nice. I found that since so many people are still in and out, there is little sense in doing a lot of cleaning. I can’t really put a lot of stuff away because I don’t have cabinets. Also no shelves or clothing rods in the closets. April 29 So we passed our first night very well. It was really nice to be in my own bed again. The sunrise here is spectacular. I even had real coffee this morning! It was great! April 30 Things continue in the same general vein as they’ve been going. Some improvements, some set backs. Today – no power. There is still some sort of problem between the generator/invertor/ house wiring. The only water in the shower is the hot water. We have a solar powered water heater on the roof. That water gets boiling hot! So I can’t take a shower – not cold water to temper the hot water. But the cistern is full!

Bijou 's Big Day Today Bijou discovered the drain pipes in the base of the perimeter wall. She escaped to the big outdoors. She wiggled through the drain pipe and immediately took off barking after a colt just outside the wall. As I called to her to come back I noticed the mother horse coming over the small rise. She was in the protective mode. At first Bijou just kept after the colt, then as the mother horse kept coming at her she realized she’d better turn around. She would not come back so I just went back in the yard. I put rocks and cinder blocks in front of the pipes so there would be no more escaping in the future. When Bijou heard me at one of the pipes she came back in the yard to see what I was doing and so was recaptured. Later she had sun-fried frog legs (and the rest of the frog too) that she found in the yard. It is so disgusting what this little puppy eats! Up on the roof in the afternoon I found that Bijou had “marked her territory”.

I hope that one day very soon I will actually be doing what I was sent here to do! In the meantime I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.

May 4, 2009

It's been several days since I've been able to post anything because once I left the hotel I did not have internet. On Saturday, the owner of Haiti Satellite and his wife drove the techinician out themselves so that he could make sure that the internet would function properly this time. Apparently someone had touched the satellite and messed up the tuned in signal so it was not transmitting. It is now working well. It was a nice visit with the Trimbles and very good of them to come to visit.

Things are still kind of the same at the house. Not much getting done - but some baby steps! Today the mason finished fixing some repair type things to the plastering, etc in places like where the iron bars were installed on the patios. The painter is here painting the iron bars on the patios. The carpenters just now showed up (it's 11:15 AM). They are ther ones I really need to have finish up in order for me to be able to start unpacking boxes.

Anyway, one of these days I'll start talking about things on this blog about what we came here to do! But for now it is easier to post how things are going here on the blog rather than trying to respond to individual emails since I am so backed up after having not been on the internet for several days. I hope everyone will understand. once I catch up a bit I of course will respond to individual emails!

Jean Baptiste was just here and is trying to get things sped along. he says he thinks they can finish everything this week. Let's pray on that!

Tim comes home tomorrow afternoon after having spent 2 weeks in Charlotte, mainly helping Myrlene with some things. I'm posting some recent photos. If you read this blog - thanks for your interest and prayers. We'll get down to real stuff soon I hope!

Scenery along the road to Thomazeau The Road to Thomazeau Generator House An Afternoon Storm Brewing Master Bedroom Kitchen Cabinets in the Making

One of the Guest Rooms Same Kitchen Shot - I Can't Get Rid of It

Other View Of the Kitchen The Razor Wire is Up

Sorry about the photos acptions - I just can't figure out how to do this stuff right! I have them all centered and looking good, but then when I post the blog it's all screwed up! I'll keep trying.

Until next time - God bless~

A lot has happened since our last post! We had internet problems and nasty computer viruses. I'm still not sure if we are done with all of them. But here's a chance to give a little update.

The house is STILL not ready! But yesterday, there was good news!! We finally had the container and truck released. It was an all day process! It's been an all day process for the past couple months! But finally about 3:30 the inspector released it after we had gone around to multiple offices for yet another piece of paperwork, or a correction or just to give someone else a little more money.

Anyway, if any of you guys who helped up load the U-Haul in Charlotte remember how big that U-Haul was and how tightly you packed it, you would be amazed at the size truck these guys loaded and how tightly it was packed. Of course you guys didn't break anything. The furniture and stuff doesn't look the same now as it did when we put it on the truck in Charlotte!

Tip of the day: If you ever move to Haiti, do not bring anything with you! We could have bought the truck and household furnishings here and even upgraded a little for the money that has been paid out! Not to mention all the headaches of dealing with customs.

But I have to say, we (Tim& Debbie) really did not deal with the customs officials. The guys who volunteer for HFHC here handled this from the beginning to the end. It pretty much consumed their lives! So we are greatly indebted to Pierre Andre and Jean Baptiste for all they have put into this! I hope they get their lives back soon!

But today, Friday, April 24, we are not done yet. We got all the stuff loaded on the truck and took it to the orphanage for the night. It was too late to go to Thomazeau with it by the time we got away from the port. Ths morning we still have to try to get the assurance (insurance) and plates for the truck before we are truly free.

Tim is back in the States for a couple of weeks, so he missed the joy of all this. He went back to help Myrlene get surgery scheduled. We found out that she can't have the surgery right now due to unforeseen issues. I was going to go back yesterday, but we decided I should stay in case the container was released.

Bijou is ready to be out of this hotel! Poor puppy. She was in her crate for 8 hours straight yesterday - a record for her. She has started having little spaz attacks from time to time. I think she is just absolutely stir-crazy!

I went to the orphanage on Tuesday to visit. Sonia was gone to the clinic with a couple of the kids when I arrived. They came back shortly thereafter and we had a nice visit. Two of the kids, Cesar and Betty have Typhoid. We are blessed in so many ways to have Sonia as our house mother at the orphanage. She is also a nurse,s o the clinic sent her back with an IV set up for Cesar, for rehydration. Sonia very obviously loves these kids and takes really good care of them both physically and spiritually. This is a huge job she has! Keep her in your prayers.

APRIL 25

Today is Tim's 51st birthday. Our kids are taking him out to breakfast back in Charlotte. We got the stuff moved out to the house yesterday and I now have transportation!The house is still not ready to live in - no water, appliances not hooked up, etc. But I will probably go ahead and move out there tomorrow. Gusman is going with me this morning to move things around. Bijou should have a good day of freedom. Hopefully she'll be in a better mood after that. She bit me this morning when I tried to get her out from under the bed (yes, she can still get under there by flattening herself out and wiggling under).

I took no pictures yesterday. It seems silly to stand around and take pictures of things sometimes. But I did take some a few days ago. There's some progress on the kitchen and we got the stove last week. Exciting, huh?

Hopefully I can get to doing the work I was sent here to do very soon!

Several folks have asked about updates to this blog. Well, we don't really have anything new to say and no new photos! We're still in the hotel, waiting. We did have some activity with the container. They gave us the amount we owe for taxes. We paid that yesterday morning (April 15 -how appropriate). Now we wait for more paperwork to be sent to other offices, etc, etc. We were at the house yesterday too, trying to prod the work along! It's still not ready, but a little closer. We let Bijou off-leash at the house yesterday and the previous day we were out there. She was in puppy heaven - to be able to run around with no one pulling her back. When we were ready to leave, she ran to hide. I had to chase her down and carry her into the car. She wanted to stay so badly and not go back to the hotel room prison! Tim is still looking for work to do. As my "personal volunteer" he has made some photocopies. His hardest job was screwing in some light bulbs out at the house. Thanks to all of you who are diligently praying for us and for the house/container to be ready! We appreciate you and your prayers!

Friday morning we left for the villages to distribute food to all the kids in the program. We arrived in Brajirois around 9 AM. A big cloud had settled on the mountain and it was quite chilly! I know some of you would have enjoyed this, but I came to Haiti hoping to flee the cold! The sun did come out for a while and it warmed a little, but the cloud came back. Food Distribution at Brajirois Repairs being done to Brajirois building Food Distribution at Brajirois

School is out for Spring/Easter break. They kids finished testing for this quarter on Thursday. Most of the kids at Brajirois showed up for food. The ones who couldn't come will get their food later. It is being held for them.

We went up to Robert next. The food was distributed from Frantz Jean's home. His wife then fixed a feast for us. I think Tim was impressed with this family. Most people are!

Then we travelled on to Dubuisson and Mirebalais. The kids from Pageste crossed the river and met us at Mirebalais to receive their food. By the time we finished it was about 5 PM, but we decided to make it on to Hinche for the night.

Food Distribution at Brajirois My little buddy James at Dubuisson

Did I mention that Bijou went with us? Some of you who read this have been to the mountain might wonder how a not so little puppy did on such a trek?? She did great! Of course I made a bad wardrobe decision for the day - black skirt and black top. I looked like a dog too by the time we got to the first location. She decided that she needed to sit on me most of the way and then when we picked up another rider she had to sit on me. But she got to do something I think she has always wanted to do while riding in the car - stick her head out the window and feel the wind in her hair! She's learning not to bark at everything she sees. Now she only barks at 75% of what she sees. She was somewhat of a hit with the folks she met. For some reason they thought her name was hilarious.

Something in the room at the hotel in Hinche really freaked her out. I'm not sure what it was, but she was sure ready to leave that room!

The Maguana Hotel at Hinche Tim & Bijou at Visa Lodge

This morning we ended up going early to the market to buy the food for the Hinche kids. We had found out that the paperwork for the invertor batteries for our house was in the truck we were driving. The place closed at noon today, so we had to get back to PAP before noon to deliver the paperwork so the batteries could be installed today. We got the food and delivered it to the school. We were on the road to PAP at 9:00, but had to go back to Hinche for gas. In unbelief I called the internet installers and canceled the installation for Monday morning. It takes about 5 hours to get from Hinche to PAP. We made it into PAP at 12:00! They got the batteries before the store closed. I should have more faith!

Jeantyrard said we had some more setbacks on the house and the container. We have quit speculating as to when we will actually move in. It will be when it is.

Romans 8:25 ("For if we hope for what we don't yet have, we wait for it patiently"), has become our motto.