BEING THANKFUL

Our internet services have not been plentiful and time has been in short supply so we haven’t been able to post on the blog, upload pictures or send a lot of e-mail.  For this we apologize. We do hope this little dispatch will arrive for Mar 25^th.

Last Sunday after everyone walked up the road to church we sat down for our own service.  The new puppy, Ella, which was given to Lily Ayars, our next door neighbour’s daughter, was pining so badly for her new family, we took pity on her and invited her into the house.  Dorothy picked her up, stroked her ears for a few minutes and she snuggled into the crook of her arms.  As we were reading our Bible and a Max Lucado piece it made us think of how gently our heavenly father takes us in His arms and cares for us even though we are so undeserving.  Lucado said, “We can imagine Him creating the world and suspending the stars.  We can envision Him as almighty, all-powerful, and in control.  We can fathom a God who knows us, who made us, and we can even fathom a God who hears us.  But a God who is in love with us?  A God who is crazy for us?  A God who cheers for us?”  We aren’t cute like a puppy; we don’t have floppy ears and a tail that wags with just a little touch.  Our Father doesn’t care.  He loves us no matter what and so unconditionally.

On Monday when Roselore came in to wash the floors she brought in a bag containing one plantain.  Plantain look like a banana, but there the similarity ends.  The taste is quite different, is used like a vegetable, and is a staple of the Haitian diet.  North Americans will take off the outer skin like a banana, then peel the inside like a potato and deep fry the peelings that curl like a potato chip.  Dorothy had given her some powder laundry soap the previous Thursday and this was her thank you.  Again, the story in the Bible of the widow’s gift came to mind.  Luke 21:1-4. “And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury.  And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins.  And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.””   What a wonderful feeling of gratitude we had. 

Our group has dwindled to 3 men and 2 women.  Two of the men are on working on the second story of the men’s dorm tiling the washrooms while the two women and the third man are VP’s teaching at the seminary.  Pam, from England who was here last year, was sick for the first two weeks.  Another VP combined her class with his for two weeks and now she is teaching a course to a combined class of second and third year students. 

We are both starting to feel better, praise the Lord.  John is continuing with his puffer to help with his lung congestion and Dorothy is swallowing big antibiotic pills to take care of walking pneumonia. 

WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL HIS BLESSINGS. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

FORGOTTEN MESSAGE

 March 18, 2012

This message should have been posted for March 18th;  something must have happened and we forgot!!!

I guess it doesn’t pay to mention the word drought as I did last week because for the last three evenings starting on Saturday we have had a torrential downpour after the supper dishes are washed, dried and put away, about the time we are getting ready for bed.  The days are still quite tolerable and the nights are still cool enough for some of the missionaries and visiting professors to go looking for a blanket or comforter. 

The big news of the week isn’t political or anything such as that.  It’s that for the first time in recent memory Haiti has gone on Daylight Saving Time.  You think people weren’t confused!!!!  We are told that sometime earlier this month it was announced that this was to happen, but then nothing more was mentioned until sometime on Saturday, March 10^th, and of course, because not everyone has access to a radio, television, or a newspaper, compliance was rather sporadic particularly as it relates to church attendance.  Some people arrived on time, but then there was no pastor, or conversely, there was a pastor with only half his congregation.  Does it sound like St. Andrew’s when we revert from two services to one or vice versa?

I am not sure there is any other news except that this weekend the house guests change.  We lose 3 on Friday and gain 1, gain 3 more on Saturday, and then lose 3 on Monday morning.  For us it means a lot more laundering of bedding as the old leave and the new arrive, but little else changes other than the quantities that are cooked; however, after Monday we will be only serving 7.  And, of course, with the changing of the house guests this also means that we now have less than 3 weeks left until we too start for home.  It’s a good thing that we booked our stateside accommodation two months ago because I don’t think there is a hotel/motel/condo available for the week before Easter or the week after anywhere in south Florida.

Because neither of us has been feeling well lately, this week we had the opportunity to be seen by an American doctor from Erie, Pennsylvania.  Dorothy was diagnosed as having a mild case of walking pneumonia while John has a mild form of asthma.  Fortunately, the pharmacy at the Bethesda Medical Clinic had the medicines needed to treat both.  PTL we are so blessed to have access to doctors and medications because too many Haitians do not.

We were feeling a little hard done by this morning because of a lot of loud music being played last night , dogs barking, John and I both coughing for a considerable period through the night, the roosters crowing before we were ready to get out of bed, etc.,  but then started our devotions.  We must have needed a talking to because the first scripture we read was from Romans 5:1-5.  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.  And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.   

God sure has a way of hitting you over the head.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

ROSELORE, OUR CLEANER; NO PHOTOS BUT VIVID PICS TOLD IN WORDS

This week has been quite busy as we prepare for the arrival of our first visiting professors.  That is not to say that we have not had a guest because we have.  This past week we hosted the Director of the Emmaus Biblical Seminary, Dr. Brian Easley.  Brian lives near Greenwood, Indiana with his family and makes periodic trips to the seminary, this being one of them.

In terms of things exciting or unusual to report, we must admit that nothing much has happened this week, although as mentioned we did teach two English tutorials at the seminary to fill in for Stacey Ayars.  Dorothy had about 40 students for her intermediate level class while John only had about 10 students for his senior level class.  It is difficult to say who had more fun, the students or ourselves.  Either way we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Dorothy taught from a piece by Max Lucado on the impact that we may have on others either directly or indirectly while John taught from a piece on Tommy Douglas, a Baptist minister and his role in the introduction of universal health care to Canada.

As we said, not much exciting happened this week so would like to share with you a blog entry of this past week from Matt & Stacey Ayars relating to Roselore who happens to be the lady that washes our floors twice a week.  (Some of you may have already read Stacey’s entry, so we apologize to you.)  Like Stacey, we knew that Roselore had four children and at times has difficulties making ends meet, but that is not unlike so many other Haitians.  What we did not realize was the magnitude of the issues facing her on a daily basis.  We, too, have given her money and/or food occasionally and we have done the same for almost every Haitian we have developed an ongoing relationship with, but usually it has more to do with money for school tuition than it has to do with buying food so their children do not starve.  I would like to think that Roselore’s story is atypical but I think it is only too true for the majority of Haitians and for that our heart truly aches.  Anyway, here is Stacey’s story of her trip to RoseLore’s home.  Read it and weep.

By Stacey Ayars:

“I guess I had assumed Roselore lived on our road, but while I see her a few days a week andedan (inside) and every Sunday in church, I'd never seen her house. As we were hustling past cactus fences and around mucky puddles, I caught a glimpse of Roselore's face out of the corner of my eye.

"Roselore!" I called, cutting off the road and climbing up the little hill to chat for a moment, pulling Lily along with me. "How are you?"

She was in a tank top and shorts, bent over a small cooking fire, black with history, piled next to a tiny stick home. Eyes red from the smoke, she grinned uneasily, seeming ashamed for me to see her in shorts and at her home.  Her four children were right around her, waiting for dinner, dirty, wearing torn clothing, light haired and all stick figures of the children they should be. It was hard to stop staring at them. They appeared that they should be unable to stand, and one of the twins still had remnant tears running down her face.

"What's wrong, chickie?" I asked her, trying to ignore the surroundings and make them all comfortable.

The only thing I've ever heard Roselore say about the twins was that she doesn't know why God did that to her. I always cringed to hear her say that, thinking of their two precious lives.

But when I saw them at home, both at five years-old still remarkably smaller than Lily, I understood. Their skin was sunk into their ribcages, their eyes appearing abnormally large in contrast with their shrunken faces, their hair, the color of dust from malnutrition.

I see a lot of very poor children in Haiti, a lot of ringworm, a lot of rat nibbled toes, a lot of runny noses, a lot of skin and bones.

But Roselore's children are starving.

It's not as if she has not told me so.  Almost weekly, she asks for 50 gourdes ($1.25 USD) to buy food for her children. I always give it to her, but mostly figuring that she just knows I'll say yes if she mentions kids and food.

After chatting for a few more moments, we headed back down the road to Noel's. But my mind was buzzing, and has been ever since.

How do I know Roselore, you ask? She works at the Seminary. She cleans empty missionary homes.

There are three homes at the seminary, two of which have been empty between 9-10 months of the year. Once a week, Roselore comes in and cleans those. (What if she DIDN'T have this job...like many others?)

I have been irritated at Roselore, because she keeps leaving the back doors open so that she can come back later and collect the bowls of rare and precious ice she has in the freezers. Let me say that another way: I have been mad that Roselore has been taking water. Talk about humbling.   

Week after week, she leaves her stick (and I mean sticks, split in half, woven into each other and hooked on four wood posts) house and her starving kids, and mops and dusts again huge, tiled, cream, clean houses that have been empty since she cleaned them last week.  

That five minutes in her dirt yard changed my perspective on everything. Lily, hopping off the couch with her bag of fruit snacks to get the key from Roselore when she's done. Roselore scrubbing toilets that have water in them...water that no one labored from the pump. Roselore, cleaning houses that are infinitely nicer, safer and cleaner than her own, and leaving them empty to go home to her shack in the dirt, wondering what to feed the four mouths she is alone responsible for.  

My mind flies back to eight weeks ago. The empty house next door had a tiny little bird stuck in it. Just a pretty itty bitty thing, Uncle Don had been unable to get the bird out. When Roselore brought me the key, she had a bag of ice in one hand and to my surprise she had that little bird tucked in her other hand, its eyes wild with fear. 

"Oh, look!" I said, kind of confused. "You caught the little bird! He's a pretty little thing."

I wanted to ask her what she was doing with it. Didn't know how. 

"I'm taking it for my kids" she said, and I thought, "that's weird. Like, to play with, or...? 

Nope. She took that tiny little bird home to feed her children.  

Her four are four of 100 in Saccanville. Saccanville is one of 5,000 in Haiti. Haiti is one of 10,000 in the world.  

Our Father, who promises He sees every bird that falls, is intimately aware and involved in ALL of this.  NO thanks.  

I can barely stand the brokenness intermingled with my daily life.” 

May the Lord bless you and keep you this week.

jdmhaiti.blogspot.com

THE SLOW BOAT TO HAITI - NOT CHINA

It took us two weeks but we finally arrived in Haiti on February 16^th.  We took the two weeks so we could acclimatize ourselves to the Haitian heat and humidity, at least that is what we are telling ourselves and those who ask.

Myrtle Beach

Took a very brief walking tour
of Charleston on way to
Hilton Head Island

We started our journey by stopping off in Myrtle Beach for five days, the first two of which were in the high seventies after which it felt more like the weather we had left back home.  The next two days we spent with John’s brother and sister-in-law on Hilton Head Island, went for a bike ride through the Sea Pines Plantation section of the island, but didn’t golf because it too wasn’t the best weather for golfing although some people were out there in windbreakers and sweaters. (And we didn’t take our clubs.) We then spent five days in Orlando, just down the road from Disneyworld and got ourselves organized for the last leg of our trip by buying the few things we still needed, the last leg being to drop off with Missionary Flights International in Fort Pierce our 7 plastic totes plus suitcases, carry-ons, computer, etc. for a total of 410 lbs. additional to the 100 lbs. that we are allowed.

On our arrival in Cap Haitien it had been our understanding that someone from the Emmaus Biblical Seminary would be there to pick us up.  When no one came, John quickly made a phone call and arranged for another young Haitian man who works for the Vaudreuil OMS compound to take us to the seminary.  He was there picking up mail and cargo. John rode in the back of the stake truck, along with totes and cargo, to the OMS compound and then a very, very bumpy ride to the EBS campus.  He still has the bruises on his arms to prove the bumps. There is nothing like being flexible.

This time we got a bit of a kiss from the Customs & Duty people in Cap Haitien when they only charged us $80 USD for the cargo we were bringing in.  Based on previous experiences John thought that it would cost us at least twice that amount.

This past week has been a busy one as we wake up, get up, clean up, launder up and fall back into bed most nights by about 8 PM.  We have got the main guest house (Penny Inn) almost ready and have now to start cleaning up the smaller guest house because we will have as many as eight or nine people at one time on various occasions over the next several weeks.  It’s going to be fun.

Waiting to be unpacked

Our first guest arrives this Saturday, our second, Caroline Laing, next Tuesday then another 4 on Friday, and another on Saturday.  The plan is for Caroline to split her time between helping us and spending time with the students at the seminary leading chapel, teaching a French tutorial, and hosting a workshop on prayer.  (When we wrote this piece for our church bulletin and to b on Feb 26th there is an update on Caroline.  She has been unable to come and needs to be lifted up in prayer.)  We, ourselves, are going to get our feet wet in the classroom teaching two English tutorials this Friday to help out Stacey Ayars who is going to be busy attending other meetings.  We will have to let you know how we make out. 

The weather has been gorgeous, the days not too hot and the nights cool enough to have you wanting to find another blanket to throw over you.  We have seen Pastor Vilmer from Heavenly Brightness church who tells us that everything is going great at his church and school.  The church/school had received $6,000 from Dorothy’s brother’s church in Sarnia to help with the ongoing construction of a second floor on the sanctuary to house the school.  They now have a block wall ready for the roof trusses when they have found enough money for the next phase of the construction.   We also spoke with Pastor Bruno from Faith church and likewise he indicated that everything was going well at his church and school.  And, we also had a meeting with the accountant, Evens Gabriel, who looks after the financial side of the St. Andrew’s Haiti mission, and we discussed how the money that was donated for food through the Christmas Gift Program would be shared among the schools.  It was decided that two schools, New Life at Grison Garde and Heavenly Brightness at Madeline, would be the recipients this year. 

As well, this week we had time to attend a prayer and devotion meeting on Wednesday late afternoon and had an opportunity to renew our friendships with a number of the other missionaries.

In our personal time, among other devotionals, we have been reading a Max Lucado book, And The Angels Were Silent.  At the end of today’s reading, “Of Calluses and Compassion,” Max talked about Holman Hunt’s painting of Jesus.  We know you have seen it.  It’s the pic of the stone archway with ivy-covered bricks and Jesus standing before a heavy wooden door.  Max pointed out something about the picture that most people don’t notice.  Do YOU know what it is?  No, there is not a donkey peaking around the archway.  There is no doorknob on the door.  It could only be opened from the inside.  The simple message – God comes to your house, steps up to the door, and knocks but it is up to you to let him in.

Blessing to all.

www.jdmhaiti.blogspot.com

UPDATE ON HAITI AND ST. ANDREW'S MISSION TO HAITI

Country road near our home on Saturday

Beautiful winter scene on Saturday

We were asked by our pastor to give an update on Haiti and our church's mission to Haiti at yesterday's services.  Saturday was a blustery winter day in our area and we were out in it.  When we arrived at church for the 9:00 a.m. service the church was fairly empty.  John had been up at 6:30 to blow the snow out of our driveway and we thought perhaps others thought they would just stay home as there was too much snow to be rid of before an early service and a warm fire would be a much more pleasant alternative.

The more pleasant alternative occurred for us
on Sunday afternoon

However, as 9:00 a.m. arrived the church was starting to fill up and at the  11:00 a.m. service attendance was really great considering the day.  Our congregation is very supportive of their mission to Haiti and were very attentive to what we had to say.  This talk is about 10 minutes long. We trust you will read through and find out what our church family supports.  Our minister followed with a sermon about how we can trust God to provide and a little turns into a lot.  If your interested go to www.st.andrewsfergus.org and go to sermons.

Today Dorothy and I would like to talk to you about our adventures in Haiti and also about the St. Andrew’s mission to the children of Haiti.  But, before we do that we should try to answer the question we are asked more often than any other, “Are you seeing any positive change in Haiti?”

The answer to that question depends upon who you ask, and the context within which the question is asked.  Is the cup half full or half empty again depends upon who you ask.  We listened earlier this month to our former Governor General and now special UNESCO envoy to Haiti, Michaelle Jean, being interviewed on CBC’s “The Current” and how hopeful she was that things are starting to change for the better - more children are attending school, more of the debris from the earthquake is being removed, and signs of economic renewal are apparent.  Conversely, there are those who see Haiti very much in crises as many of the promises of aid have failed to materialize, or NGOs are doing their own thing rather than coordinating their efforts with what the government is attempting to do.

Personally, we are more on the side of those who see things improving.  While we can only relate second hand what others have told us regarding the Port-au-Prince area, what we have heard suggests that progress is being made.  Our exposure to Port-au-Prince is limited to flying into and out of the airport at Port-au-Prince early in December.  We saw many of the tent cities surrounding Port-au-Prince from the air but were unable to see any of the destruction that occurred there as a result of the earthquake because of landing direction and only being at the airport for about a half an hour.

What we can share is what is happening in the north of Haiti in the area around Cap Haitien where we are working.  We are seeing new roads and sidewalks under construction, new sewers where none existed in the past, and improvements to the infrastructure and delivery of government services.  More, much more, needs to be done, but all the things we are seeing suggest that there is improvement and the changes have been more positive than negative.   And, the Haitian people also seem more hopeful, building homes, starting small businesses, and feeling that perhaps there is a future for them and their children. 



Little girl waiting for treatment
at Bethesda Medical Clinic

As to our adventures, there haven’t really been any in the sense that we have experienced catastrophic weather conditions, and we haven’t been in fear for our safety.  However, there have been some things that have happened to others we know personally.  Yes, the Director of the OMS Bethesda Medical Clinic, Dr. Rodney, had his appendix burst and was thought to be near death, but with many people praying for him and the help of the medical staff at the Milot Hospital he has made a full recovery.  Yes, the Haitian Supervisor of construction and maintenance at the OMS compound in Vaudreuil came down with cholera, but with prayer and the help of the medical staff at the Bethesda Medical Clinic and in Santiago, he is well on his way to making a full recovery.  And yes, the Vice-Chair of the Emmaus Biblical Seminary, Matt Ayars, was thought to have something medically wrong with him that needed the attention of medical specialists back in the United States, but yet again, with many, many people praying during the course of the many tests that were administered, nothing was found that would prevent him from returning to Haiti to carry on with that which he loves most, teaching and preaching.

Our greatest adventure happened within days of our arrival in Haiti when Dorothy came down with what we thought initially was a sinus infection, but turned out to be an abscessed tooth.  For two months, until our return in December, we treated the abscess with prayer, antibiotics and tylenol for the pain.  She is now fully recovered, five appointments and 2 root canals later.  Hopefully, when we return to Haiti, anything we might come down with will be treatable with Pepto Bismal.
We also had the opportunity, at least John did, to get out and visit the 4 schools and the orphanage that are supported by St. Andrew’s.  Stella House, the orphanage, is a partnership between St. Andrew’s and the Joy & Hope of Haiti, a group from Hamilton. St Andrew’s feed the children at a cost of $15,000 annually while the Joy and Hope look after the infrastructure and payment of staff.  There are 36 children currently residing at Stella House, almost half of whom are teenagers attending a high school or trades school.  The children really do understand how fortunate they are because the alternatives are not something that neither they nor we would like to think about.  The girls might find themselves involved in prostitution or pregnant, and the boys might find themselves in something equally unsavory if they were not at the orphanage and attending school.

Faith School

Heavenly Brightness

New Life School

Eben-Ezer School

The four schools St. Andrew’s supports, Eben-Ezer, Faith, New Life, and Heavenly Brightness are absolutely amazing.  The current enrolment at the schools is 618 students, that is bums on the benches or chairs.  At the moment Eben-Ezer has classes from kindergarten to grade six, New Life from kindergarten to grade five, Faith from kindergarten to grade four, and Heavenly Brightness from kindergarten to grade three.  The last 3 schools will be adding another grade again in the fall.  Now you may wonder why Eben-Ezer does not add another grade and the answer is that primary school ends at grade six while secondary or high school begins at grade seven.  This is supposed to change in the near future so that primary will end at grade eight.  When that happens we expect that the four schools will find themselves offering classes from kindergarten to grade eight.

You may also be asking how much all of this is costing St. Andrew’s, and the answer is far less than the cost of one teacher here in Ontario.  Each of the four schools receives approximately $5,500 annually for a total of $22,000.  But, what is truly incredible is that each of these children receives one of the very best educations offered in the north of Haiti.  Each of our schools is offering a quality program, where rather than stuffing 40 and 50 students in a classroom such as happens in many schools in Haiti because of the lack of classrooms and teachers, their emphasis is on providing a teaching and learning experience that is child centred and faith based.

The second anniversary of the earthquake that killed upwards of 300,000 people in the Port-au-Prince area was earlier this month, and as with all calamities of this sort there is a review of the accomplishments since that terrible day.  We mentioned earlier hearing on the CBC our former Governor General, but there are others that we have heard from as well and almost all of these observers have had a single theme in their messages, and that theme is that it is primarily through education that Haiti will see an end to the misery that it has found itself in for the last 2 years as well as for the last 200 years.  We were reading recently in our morning devotional time about Martin Luther King, and his “I have a dream speech” and its importance in giving new vitality to the battle for equal rights for all in America.  Likewise, President Michel Martelly of Haiti has a dream for the Haitian people where hunger and ignorance are only memories of the past.  What St. Andrew’s is doing in Haiti and has been doing in Haiti for the last 25 years is truly remarkable because we are helping to achieve that dream.  St. Andrew’s is taking children who would never see the inside of a classroom and giving them the opportunity for something more than would otherwise be their destiny.

When you add the cost of the 4 schools to the costs associated with the orphanage, together with the 4 post-secondary scholarships that are awarded annually, St. Andrew’s commitment to the children of Haiti totals almost $40,000 per year.  St. Andrew’s should be proud that it is helping the children of Haiti in such a profound way and has been in the vanguard of those who are trying to help change the future for so many children.  Our dream for the future, our hope for the future is that St. Andrew’s can and will continue to support a program that has the potential to change so many lives in a positive way, and here we are not talking only of the Haitian children, but those like ourselves who have come to know and to work in partnership with the Haitian people.

By the way, we will be starting our return journey to Haiti this coming Thursday, and should be home sometime around April 12^th.  Please pray for safe travel, good health, and only warm breezes until we return.

The Great, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Great:

A Christmas Card pic taken
on our deck

December the 25^th is the day we have set aside as Christmas Day to celebrate the birthday of our King and also a day which commences the Christian calendar.   JOY TO THE WORLD THE LORD IS COME.   Mary’s song, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” should be ours the whole year long.  He is Emmanuel, God with us and this is the greatest story to ever tell.

John and I did not go out to church Christmas morning  because we had been so sick (tell you about that soon) but instead stayed at home to save our energy to travel to John’s brother and sister-in-law’s home to join with other family members for a terrific Christmas meal and lively conversation.  John and I celebrated Christmas morning at home opening our stockings.  We had to use a pair of John’s gym socks because we couldn’t find our quilted Christmas stockings.  We garnered mostly candy and books. 

The Grandchildren enjoying Christmas meals
at their own table

Christmas with our boys and families, with the exception of Reece and Kelly who live in Vancouver,  happened on December 26^th, Boxing Day, and a holiday for Canadians.  We had a great time opening gifts and eating the traditional turkey, dressing, ham and baked beans and all the usual trimmings that go with Christmas. 

Backing up, we celebrated one of our daughter-in-law’s major birthday milestones with her husband and the two grandchildren at a Chinese buffet on December 14^th and had a great time even though our granddaughters took turns breaking dishes and our one granddaughter was upset because she wanted the green Jell-O that was being taken away in the pile of rubble from the first dish to go.  The food and family togetherness were great.  Both kids had been a little sick earlier in the week.

Our oldest granddaughter has been learning to sing in a small choir who were entertaining at a senior’s residence on the 15^th.  The performance was great while our daughter-in-law was feeling a great deal less than great.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve very quietly and did not stay up to see the apple drop in Time Square.  We rarely make resolutions at the New Year because by the end of the first week we have already broken most of them.  However, New Year’s Day’s devotions brought the verse from Ezekiel 36:26 to us. “A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you.“  What an opportunity this was to make a resolution!  There was a whole new year stretched ahead of us with blank pages.  What would the coming year bring if we resolved to be more faithful disciples and to always be open every day to the indwelling of the spirit.  Did we make a resolution?  What do you think!

We feasted yet again on New Year’s Day with Casey, Lisa, Charlotte and Amelia and Roxy, their dog.  What a blessed time when family is around.  My brother and sister-in-law came for the day at few days later.

On January 7, we were invited to the birthday party of a young boy from our congregation who was turning seven years old.  Last year, because his birthday is so close to Christmas, he asked his invited guests to donate towards our church’s mission to Haiti rather than bring him any presents.  This year he did the same thing and we showed a very few pics of what life is like in Haiti and what a difference can be made when someone cares.  The next Sunday the mission to Haiti was presented with $325.  Praise the Lord!

We also had an opportunity to help celebrate the 90^th birthday of one of God’s faithful children.

The Good:

After we first arrived home we kept a very busy schedule catching up with people which was good, getting to appointments arranged before we went to Haiti which was good, and thinking that we must do something toward Christmas as it was sneaking up on us which was good.  We put up the main floor tree, and the downstairs tree, listened to Christmas carols and considered that we had all kinds of time because we had done some Christmas shopping on the way home which was good.

The Bad:

I went to my dentist who so kindly e-mailed me back in Haiti with respect to my very bad toothache.   I’m sure I told you earlier in a blog entry that she diagnosed an abscessed tooth and prescribed some penicillin which I was able to get from the Bethesda Medical Clinic on the other compound.  The penicillin cleared up the infection for the most part but as we were getting down to our last two weeks my tooth just kept letting me know it was there and by the time we were driving home from Florida it was REALLY letting me know – the bad.  I was able to get an appointment within 3 days of arriving home – the good.  My dentist started a root canal but was unable to find the second root – the bad.  Off to an endodontist I went the following Tuesday having psyched myself up for another root canal session only to be told that this visit was just a consultation.   Please come back next week– the bad. 

The Ugly:

Think back to our granddaughter’s choir at the senior’s home where our daughter-in-law was not well on Thursday, Dec 15^th.  By the end of the concert she was really sick.  We went back to their home to read our granddaughters a story.  One went right to bed with Mummy who was throwing up and we read to the oldest.  We left immediately and half way through the night it was my turn to be nastily (Is that a word?) sick, passing out a couple of times while I was at it, and throwing up all over John who was trying to get some sleep between my visits to the room next door.  John was an excellent nurse, washing bedding and being very patient until it was his turn about 6 hours later.  Between the two of us we were an ugly pair.  Neither one of us was able to get out of bed for more than five minutes at a time until the following Monday, Dec 19^th.

Somewhere during the flu epidemic I was to have had my root canal done.  Cancelled!!  Still feeling horrible I called the doctor’s office and was advised to get electrolytes into us.  John perhaps shouldn’t have been driving (I knew I couldn’t.) but went to the nearest drugstore and bought the electrolytes. It was the worst tasting drink (the ugliest drink) we have ever had but it helped.  On top of all this we both came down with colds, mine quite a bit worse than John’s.  I also realized that I was not going to get any Christmas baking done.  I didn’t feel up to it and it was now Dec 20^th.  Christmas was 5 days away!  We did our Christmas baking at a Mennonite bakery about 20 minutes from us
  (This really doesn’t belong in “the ugly.”)

The Grand River taken on my Christmas
shopping day in Fergus

Wed. the 21^st was my next root canal appointment.  I thought I would try to do John’s Christmas shopping.  The first place I used my credit card to purchase something I found out it had been cancelled.  Short explanation – someone used my credit card to purchase Netflix in the US.  How is anyone’s guess.  WE cancelled the card but because we weren’t quite up to scratch yet I had forgotten.  I then went across the street to a book store and was about to use my credit card again.  All of a sudden I realized I wasn’t well, and drove home carefully.  John, seeing my condition volunteered to drive me into our next largest city where my root canal appointment was and help me finish HIS Christmas shopping.  Now he knew almost everything Santa was putting in the stocking. 

During the consultation for the original root canal the endodontist found a second tooth requiring a root canal.   Back to him I went on Jan 4 for the second root canal and later in the month to my own dentist for the permanent fillings in the root canal teeth and a repair on another tooth. 

There HAS to be a happy pic - no snow!

John also went to the dentist three times during this time frame because he had a cleaning at which they found a cracked filling, another appointment, and then he had another filling fall out the day before Christmas, another appointment. 

The End:

We have been loading up again on items that cannot be purchased in Cap Haitien in preparation for our return trip.    We are planning to leave home on Feb 1 or 2^nd, weather depending, but do not fly into Haiti until February 16^th.  Why leave early?  We are going to rest, rest, rest, and try to completely return to good health prior to our arrival in Haiti.  

Since January, among other devotional material, we have started reading some of Max Lucado’s books together.  This morning from Just Like Jesus, the verse to start out the devotion was, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive ourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. “James 1:22-24 (NIV).  The ending…let God have you, and let God love you…

HOME FOR A WHILE - GIFT GIVING PROGRAM FOR HAITIAN CHILDREN

Looking onto deck and yard Dec 7

We sincerely apologize for not keeping you updated on our comings and goings.  We were without internet for the last couple of days in Haiti and limited on the way home.

We arrived home safely yesterday evening (Dec 6) to 0 degrees Centigrade (32F) with a little bit of snow on the ground. 

When our last guests left on Nov 29^th we began getting the guest house in Haiti tidied up for our return in February 2012.  We were sad to leave.  Stacey said she was going to put the kids and the dog in front of the vehicle on December 1^st, the morning we were leaving, to effect a sit-in of sorts so that Abel would not be able to drive away with us.  In the end she thought the children might not be able to stay still long enough and knew Boone certainly couldn’t so, the tearful goodbyes made, we went to the airport. 

Not a clear pic of one of the earthquake
refuge camps in Port taken from the air

Our flight on MFI back to Fort Pierce, Florida was a little different as we flew to Port-au-Prince first where we refueled and then a straight flight back to Fort Pierce.   While flying into Port-au-Prince we were able to see some of the refugee camps where hundreds of thousands of Haitians continue to live some two years after the earthquake.  We did see some reconstruction, but it was very difficult to determine how much rebuilding has really happened so far.  Probably the highlight of the flight from Port-au-Prince to Fort Pierce was the sunset which was absolutely gorgeous.  God did amazing things when he created the world.  We never cease to be amazed when we wake in the morning anywhere we are to see what beauty He has in store for us whether it is ice crystals on the window or the majesty of a sunrise or sunset.

Flying into Fort Pierce

We overnighted a couple of places on the way to Williamsburg, Virginia (yes, again) where we stayed for a couple more days.

Matt - eat your heart out!

 One of the days was a truly “do nothing” day.  We both needed it so badly.  Another day was for Christmas shopping which always wears us out.  We have to admit that we have been playing Christmas CD’s for at least a week before American Thanksgiving.  I know some people think that Christmas music should not be played before the 1^st of December but Christmas music is about the joy of the birth of Jesus.  Why not play it all year round!  Perhaps we would be joyful all year round.  Why do we have to have Advent Sunday to make us feel that the “countdown” to the Saviour’s birth is on!  Is Christmas not to be kept in our hearts all year round?

We had a discussion on the way home about if the acceptance into heaven depended on a passing grade such as 70 out of a 100, what would be our grade.  What a frightening thought.  Both of us admitted at the end of our conversation that we were happy that it is acceptance of the Lord as our Saviour and showing our faith by the way we live and work for Him that gives us an eternal home, not a pass mark.

This?
or
This

Tonight our church hosted a fundraiser for the 4 schools and the orphanage that the church supports in the Cap Haitien area of Haiti.  Currently there are 609 children attending the four schools that are supported by St. Andrew’s.  John had an opportunity just prior to our departure to visit three of the schools in the Cap Haitien area on the Monday, and the school in the hills above Grison Garde the following day.

At each of the schools John was given a guided tour of the classrooms, an opportunity to speak with the school’s director, and in one case, the school gave a presentation/skit to tell us how important St. Andrew’s is to the children of the community where the school is located.  This particular school has grown from 30 children in 2009/2010 to over 180 children this current academic year.  At each school the director was quick to point out that their school is looking for quality in its teaching and academic excellence from the children.  John also had the opportunity to visit the orphanage where 36 children are currently sharing the facilities at Stella House.  While St. Andrew’s responsibilities are limited to providing funding for the feeding of the children, many of them are attending secondary school.  They are healthy, well cared for and very grateful that they have somewhere other than the street to call home.  They, at least, have the possibility of a future which so many children do not.

Again this year you can make give a gift to a family member or friend through St. Andrew’s  2011 Gift Giving Program.  Read below to find out how.

This Christmas

Honour your friends

and family 

Give gifts in their name to help Haitian children.

Lape Bondye avek ou.

(The peace of God be with you.)

Instead of giving gifts that will soon be forgotten, honour your friends and loved ones by giving items that will help Haitian students.  Your tax-deductible gift will make a lasting difference in the lives of Haitian children who live in the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

Right now there is not enough food, clothing and money to purchase necessities let alone send children to school.  Thousands are suffering.

We, as Canadians, must wonder why the Government of Haiti is not doing something to solve these problems.  Unfortunately, the government is almost totally dependent upon international aid.  Problems like hunger and education, while important, are not their major focus.

The future of Haiti depends upon our investment in this new generation of youth.  The gifts you give will bring peace and joy to your friends and family.  As you bless Haitian children, we pray that you also will be blessed.

To you and yours, we wish a very blessed Christmas as we once again celebrate the birth of our Saviour.

St. Andrew’s HEARTS

Every dollar you give will have a meaningful impact on the children of Haiti attending one of the 4 schools supported by H.E.A.R.T.S. (Haitians Educated And Ready To Serve) as well as food for children in an orphanage.

To donate, call (519) 843-3565 and talk to Sandra Woods at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Fergus, Ontario, Canada.  Donations by cheque can also be mailed to Sandra at the following address:

325 St. George Street West

Fergus, ON, Canada, N1M 1J4

All Canadian donations will receive a receipt for income tax purposes. 

You will receive a handmade Haitian gift card to give to someone

 as a remembrance of your generous donation.

 

Gift Selection

$60 - Teacher’s salary for a month

$90 - Nutritious meal for 1 student each week for the school year.

$300 - Tuition for 4 students for the school year.

$75 - Tuition for 1 student for the school year.

$250 - One-time gift will outfit a kindergarten class for a year with learning materials.

$50 - One-time gift will outfit a child with books, a school uniform, shoes, and backpack.

$25 - One-time gift will provide a student with school tuition and a nutritious meal for a month.

General Donation to area of need  $ __________

Name: _____________________________________

Street: _____________________________________

City: _ _______________Province:_____________Country:______________Postal Code:___________

Phone # _______________ 

In exceptional cases, where donations exceed what is needed

for a particular item, H.E.A.R.T.S will redirect funds to a

similar item to help Haitian children in need.