Did the McCluskey’s Disappear? No! Read On

October 3, 2011

Asian Lillies

Small flower bed mid-yard

Bubba with Amelia and Charlotte

Jamie

Bill and Julie

The McCluskey’s have been home in Elora, Ontario since the third week in May.  Summer just started happening immediately. We visited over the course of the summer with family and friends, worked on “McCluskey Park” a lot (our back yard), Dorothy preached one Sunday at the end of July, we purchased a new laptop and have been struggling with it ever since, we travelled to Ireland for two weeks in August for Julie Briggs’ wedding and a “wee” look-see around in both Ireland and Northern Ireland while we were there, Dorothy had some surgery the first of September, and as of today, we have 3 more days before we leave for Haiti again to work with Matt and Stacey Ayars at the Emmaus Biblical Seminary. 

Just another of those castles
 around every corner

This is a bird’s eye view of the last 4 plus months.  We promise to do much better with blog entries that are worthwhile reading.  Check back again.

You will be glad to know something you already know but it’s always worth reading or hearing it over and over again.

God loves each one of us very, very much.

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL

Mission to Haiti – May 8, 2011 – Mother’s Day

This is our last week of this trip to Haiti, and we are slowly gathering, putting away, and packing things that we will leave here until our return in the fall.  We also need to inventory what we are leaving behind so that we will know what and how much we need to bring back with us.  It’s not a difficult task but one that we must do if we want to keep our lives as orderly as possible.  Added to this we are trying to clean everything before we leave knowing full well that what we store in the cupboards will have a layer of dust when we return and will need to be cleaned and washed before we can start using it again.

Chris on right, John on left

The last of our visiting professors, Chris, left on Saturday for Kansas after a two-week stay with us; however, we will not be alone very long as the Senior Pastor from Chris’ church along with three others will arrive on Monday to overnight here at the Emmaus Seminary, hold some meetings and then move on to the OMS Vaudreuil compound.




Black Beach

This past week we went to the beach for only the second or third time since we came to Haiti last October 1^st.  This time we went to Black Beach so called because of the black volcanic sand that covers the beach area.  Several of us went and among the several were a team of 3 well drillers from Sir Sanford Fleming Community College at Peterborough.  The leader of the group, an instructor in well-drilling, was telling us that he has been throughout Latin America drilling wells and Haiti is by far the poorest country he has visited.

 

Mangoes and Mango Jam

This past week we also made mango jam for the first time.  We brought some liquid Certo with us last fall thinking that we might have a chance to make jam of some kind.  We thought the mangoes here at the Emmaus Compound weren’t suitable for eating.  Once we found out from Stacey how to best attack a mango (peel and slice) we were able to make a pretty good product if all the rave reviews we received from those who have tried it were being honest.  We plan on bringing 3 jars home with us to try out on unsuspecting taste testers.



Soccer Match as part of graduation acitivites
Faculty against students



Pastor Vilmer Paul, goalie for faculty

Dignitaries for Graduation Chapel

May 6th was the Emmaus Biblical Seminary Graduation.  Prior to graduation during the week there was a soccer game, faculty pitted against the students.  What an exciting game.  The victory went to the students in a 1-0 decision.  Graduation itself was beautiful, singers, grads from other years taking the microphone, special awards, an address to the grads and communion all followed by a wonderful Haitian meal for upwards of 200; rice, fried chicken legs, fried goat, a baked pasta dish, beet salad, coleslaw, fried plantain, beans sauce and, of course, the drink of choice, Tampico, a very sweet drink bottled in Haiti.

Stacey and Lily will be leaving on Monday under the watchful eye of her sister, Lisa, and her husband, Adam, who came in the past week to help Stacey close up the house and get ready to return to the USA to have Sophia in late May.  Tuesday the Hubele’s leave for southern Illinois where they aren’t quite sure what they will be returning to as some of their neighbours have been dealing with flooding from the adjacent rivers.  Wednesday Matt leaves to join up with Stacey and Lily in Ohio.  And, finally we will leave on Thursday, the last of the non-Haitians to depart.  There is still a staff of Haitians who will keep everything going from vehicles to generators until Matt, Stacey and the girls return in mid-July to start getting ready for the fall semester.  The Hubele family is hoping to return in late summer, and we will return in the fall before the first of the visiting professors arrive.  Time will fly by quickly and it will feel like we have just left when it will be time to return. 

There is an update on Konpech.  Rachelle Hubele, along with Junior, went to Konpech on Friday afternoon.  She was allowed to take pictures of the women she has been teaching to knit as well as a few other photos.  This is amazing.  Even more amazing is that God is certainly working on Konpech.  Junior and Rachelle overheard a woman of the community saying that she was going to give up the Satanic worship of Voodoo and follow Jesus.  This is a praise the Lord moment indeed!

This Sunday is Mother’s Day and it will be a little different from the norm.  John’s mother will have his 7 siblings gathering around to spend some time with her.  She is ninety-nine, soon to be 100 in mid July and is still quite active for someone her age.  She still manages to play and beat her children at cribbage, will play euchre when she can find a foursome, and will accept dinner invitations providing there are not too many stairs to climb.  She is a remarkable lady.  

Dorothy also remembers her mother this weekend.  She was one of those mothers that respected the Lord as Proverbs 1:7 commands us to do.  Proverbs ends with a description of a woman who continues to fulfill this command (31:10-31).  She thanks God that her mum was one of those women until her death in 2006 at 93 years of age.

Mothers, true inner beauty comes from inner strength of character, and it can’t be bought with expensive creams.  Over the years your beauty increases or will be created during the trials of life as you trust God and obey Him.

We are hoping that the Internet is available so our children can celebrate Mother’s Day by way of Skype with us.  Because of Internet issues we are missing our opportunities to see the grandchildren.  In another 2 weeks we will be able to see them as much as they want to put up with us.

The Lord be with your spirit.  Grace be with you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND LOTS, LOTS MORE

Mission to Haiti – April 24, 2011 – Easter Sunday & May 1, 2011

Ebed Paul

On Friday, April 15^th, we attended the opening of Tony Paul’s Trade School together with a number of people from the Joy & Hope of Haiti group from Hamilton that funded the building of the school.  It was quite the event with many Haitian dignitaries making speeches.  Among the dignitaries were a Senator, and two presidents of universities in Cap Haitien as well as a guest preacher from Port au Prince.   

On Saturday, April 16^th, 9 men and women plus two children rolled into the campus of EBS in the back of Abel’s tap tap.  7 were housed at The Penny Inn (the new name for The Ville Auberge/Assisted Living Centre), our house, and four at Matt and Stacey’s.  Intro’s made, supper eaten, beds found and a good night’s sleep made for an early rise for the group to be on their way to Grison Garde to attend New Life Church, Pastor Job’s church.  His school is one of the schools that St. Andrew’s support through HEARTS.  Matt preached in Kreyol, and about half way through the service some of the Hamilton group staying at Pastor Tony Paul’s guesthouse in Plaine du Nord arrived for the service.  Ebed Paul, Tony’s son, translated for all the visitors.

Bright and early Monday morning the team started their scheduled work, tiling and grouting and painting in the second floor of the men’s dorm and laying a sidewalk to better connect the houses with the rest of the campus. 

Even after two long, hard days at work, the team was ready to count pills on Tuesday night for a mobile clinic at the Saccenville Church on Wednesday.

  A member of the team was a pediatrician and he, along with Dr. Rodney, a Haitian doctor from the OMS Bethesda Medical Clinic, then screened patients.  Weight was determined and blood pressure taken. Those treatable with meds were sent to the makeshift pharmacy where pills were dispensed.  Although there were illnesses that could not be treated with pills, the clinic was a huge success.

Thursday and Friday were again spent working on the dorm and sidewalk.

Right after breakfast on Good Friday a few members of the team and Matt led in a service while we sat in the shade of a mango tree.  Matt preached about how our sins were soaked up like a sponge soaks up water and when a sponge is squeezed this was how God’s love poured out on us from the cross as the nails were being pounded into Jesus’ hands and feet and up until the time of His death.

Matt, Stacey and Lily ate here all week for evening meals. Stacey and Dorothy shared the making of the meals.  Friday night the Hubele family of 4 came over and we all ate homemade pizza, compliments of all 3 ladies, salads by Stacey, ice cream (Yes, I said ice cream; there are two automatic ice cream makers here and neither one belongs us to.), and cake made by Rachelle Hubele.   It was wonderful to have all the help with the meals.  Stacey is a fabulous pastry chef along with her other many talents.  We don’t know what we would have done without all her help.

At 5:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, the tap tap was pulling out heading to the airport with 10 of the 11.  The leader, Don Hulmes, a personal friend of Matt and Stacey’s, stayed behind to do more work on campus and will leave May 9^th.

The Hubele Family, Rachelle, Jacob, John, Josephine

Pastor Wilber

The Hubele family along with us went to at 6:00 a.m. Easter Morning Sunrise Service at the OMS missionary kids school near the other Vaudreuil compound.  We sang as a congregation, The Hubele family sang, we had a message about the stone being rolled away from the tomb, and were asked to considered what stones we had in our lives that prevented us from fully leaning on Jesus.  We then fellowshipped with other believers, Haitian and white, around a potluck breakfast.  What a wonderful way to start such a special day.  Dorothy likes to think of Easter as the first day of the year for a Christian.  Hallelujah!  He is risen!

Easter dinner together

The three families, plus Don and a Haitian student, Junior, ate our Easter meal together, each family making it’s own but sharing in dessert. 

What did we do while the 11 were here?  Cooked, laundered, cleaned; cooked, laundered, cleaned; and cooked laundered and cleaned some more for 14 hours each day. 

Last evening a new visiting professor, Chris along with another young couple, Jason and Jessie arrived.  They are all from Northridge, Kansas.  Chris is teaching the Pauline Epistles for the next two weeks and leaves on May 6^th.  Jason and Jessie are here until this Saturday, the 30^th.  Jason and Jessie would like to come as full-time missionaries in Haiti and this was a bit of a look-see.  Please pray for them.

We also learned this week that a Canadian couple, from southern Ontario, Carol and Rick Folkeringa, will, God willing, be heading for the Haiti field.  Carol and Rick spent a year here in 2006/07.  Carol was the field treasurer and Rick was involved in maintenance.  In fact, it was from Carol that John and I took over from as field treasurer the last time we spent an extended period here.  It took both of us to do what Carol did by herself.  They are a super Christian couple and are what the field missionaries have been praying for.

We are in the home stretch now and have another couple of weeks or so before we leave.  Continue to pray for us as the time draws near for departure. 

“Go forward on the pathway of service, undaunted by possible future obstacles.  Let your heart be cheered by the certainty that whatever difficulty you may face, God will move the stone.”

From our Daily Bread, Volume 2, April 2.

Happy New Year

THE JUSTA'S

Mission to Haiti – April 17, 2011

As some of you may already know we have given notice to the HEARTS committee that we will be stepping down effective April 30^th from the committee as we have been invited, God willing, to return to Haiti next fall to continue to serve at the Emmaus Seminary in a support role to the visiting professors and seminary staff.

Seminary Chapel

I like to think of it as a continuation of our interest in the education of the children of Haiti.  The Emmaus Seminary trains pastors, pastors plant churches, churches start schools, and schools educate children.  It is also analogous of what John did in the Canadian Army 50 years ago.  He served with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps whose primary function was support to the infantry and armoured corps by providing ammunition and food to the fighting troops.  Just as John was trained to provide support to the troops fighting in the trenches, so today we are providing support so the pastors who, once trained, can fight evil and save souls for Christ.  In Haiti, serving Christ can be very much like fighting in the trenches when you are serving in a society that has been inculcated with voodoo for hundreds of years.



Justa workers

 In reading Amos this past week, we were introduced to him as being a “justa,” just a shepherd.  There are lots of people who are “Justas,” just a salesman” or “just a secretary” or “just a farmer.”  Do you get the picture?  Amos wondered who would listen to him because he was just a shepherd.  But instead of making excuses, Amos obeyed and became God’s powerful voice for change.  God uses “justas” to fulfill His plan.  We are only “justas” …servants of God trying to enable change in Haiti.

Now that the election is all but over it appears that many of the works programs here in the north of Haiti have begun once more in earnest.  The sewers and roads are being upgraded throughout the Cap Haitien area, and we are told they will reach out to Vaudreuil and beyond.  Land lines are being installed for telephone (fiber optic) cable so that before too long Haitians will no longer need to have access to satellite or an internet café but will be able to dial up from home.  This may not sound like a big deal, but for Haiti, this is a major step forward.

Brunaveco, Mimose and Bruno

This past Sunday we once again dropped in unannounced to Faith Church.  Pastor Bruno welcomed us warmly and many in the congregation recognized us from previous visits.  The church was crowded as usual and to avoid displacing anyone from their seats we took along our own folding camp chairs and set them up in the aisle next to Mimose, Bruno’s wife, and their daughter, Brunaveca.  We were able to follow the service as they interspersed the Creole with English so we were able to understand where we were supposed to be in the hymnal and the Bible without having too much difficulty.  Bruno announced that they would be having a baptism in early June and at the moment 12 people have declared for Christ and wish to be baptized.

The team of 11 that are coming in on Saturday will be taken to Pastor Job’s church at Grison Garde and will have an opportunity to see first hand what he is doing and what St. Andrew’s has been able to accomplish with the support it gives for the school.

Later this afternoon we are going to visit a group from The Joy and Hope of Haiti, Hamilton, who is staying at Pastor Tony Paul’s guesthouse near Plaine du Nord.  It’s always good to see people from home and hear what their next plans are in Haiti. We understand that they are having a 5K and a 10K run in support of the OMS Christian radio station, 4VEH, and for Pastor Paul’s trade school.  The grand opening of the trade school will be Friday, April 15.

The peace of Christ be with you.

Visit to Konpech

Mission to Haiti  - April 10, 2011

The past week the house has been exceptionally quiet except for two guests, Mike and Mike from Illinois, who came in on Wednesday for a week.  They are sleeping here and eating meals elsewhere.  They have come in to work with a pastor half way between this campus and Cap Haitien at a little village called Duty.

We have started to prepare for the influx of the team of 11 from Philadelphia on April 16.  Dorothy has been baking cookies, several dozen of them, and will be prepping other food over the next few days. Our porch will be turned into the “mess hall” to accommodate the team and us.  The Ayars will join us for the evening meal and Stacey, several months pregnant, and Dorothy will be sharing the making of the evening meals. 



Wood from Konpech Tree
has another light side



Rachelle, Naomi and ti gason

Nearly two weeks ago Dorothy, Rachelle Hubele and Naomi, along with a small boy, walked to Konpech, a voodoo sanctuary about 35 minutes straight back the trail across from the campus, where Junior, a student at the seminary, has been led by the Lord to do some evangelism work.  We have told you about this in previous weeks or you may have read about it on Matt and Stacey Ayars’ blog.  Rachelle has been going along with Junior on Sunday afternoons and has started to teach several women how to knit.  Dorothy went along for the “ride” on this particular Friday afternoon.  They picked their way across several streams, went past the trees said to be inhabited by demons, and saw the Konpech trees after which the village is named.   A voodoo ceremony was already talking place as we arrived and there were signs that it would continue for quite some time.  We chatted for a few moments with one of the men and decided within that time frame that this was not a good day to stick around so took the same path back home.   Dorothy was tired, hot but impressed by the biggest tree that she had ever seen with the exception of the California red wood, and by a tree that was covered with prickles.

The preliminary results of the Haitian election were made know this week and, according to the news services and the noise of vehicle horns out on the street, Martelly will be declared the winner.  The official results are due on April 16^th.  As far as we know there have been no disturbances in this area as a result of the preliminary results.

 



Woodpecker in middle

We have heard a knock, knock, knock, knock like a hammer, for several days and wondered what was being built and by whom.  We asked about the noise only to find out the "what" and the "who" are woodpeckers.  Surprised?  Yes sir, we were.  The woodpeckers have been pecking away at the hydro poles so much so that they were in danger of falling apart.  John Hubele placed corrugated steel around the top of the poles and the woodpeckers are continuing to peck at the steel without ceasing.  It reminded me this morning of the parable of the Good Shepard in John 10.  Jesus says that He is the door through which anyone can enter, can be saved and can go in and out and find pasture.  There are so many people in this world who are like the woodpecker pecking away at their life, having nothing to show, when all they have to do is knock at the door of the good shepherd.  He is the good shepherd; the good shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep.  

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. 

Empty Nesters

Mission to Haiti – April 3, 2011



April sunrise prelude to a hot day

 We are once again empty nesters.  The Seminary director and his family depart for Jackson, Mississippi.  It is the little things that you miss when you are hosting guests, like being able to leave your bedroom door open at night so you can take advantage of the breezes that may blow through the house.  And right now with the temperature in the mid 80’s you want to benefit as much as possible from whatever winds may blow.

In the sun

Our next guest professor was to arrive on Saturday for a two-week period, but has had to cancel at the last moment.  So for the next two weeks we have two overnight guests for three nights, no meals that makes our load a lot lighter than it has been.  With Dorothy sick for three days this past week, all the cooking, cleaning, washing, and whatever fell on John’s shoulders, and if I don’t mind saying myself, John did a fantastic job under extreme conditions.  (He did, too, from baked oatmeal to a slow cooker meal – Dorothy.  By the way, I am feeling a whole bunch better.)

How to cool off at
the admin swimming pool

This past week we have also had the opportunity to meet with Pastor Vilmer from Heavenly Light and Pastor Job from New Life.  Both school programs are going extremely well.  Pastor Vilmer was telling me of the mother of one of his 4-year old junior kindergarten students and how this young girl evangelized her mother who this past Sunday made a declaration at church accepting Christ as her Saviour.  What is the quote, “out of the mouths of babes….?”

For those who were a part of the work team last May, the congregation at Bas Limbe has called Pastor Joel as its new pastor.  There had been a great deal of tension in the church since the early death of its pastor of many years and it now appears that the congregation are all back on the “same page”.  Forty people were lead to the Lord last Sunday.

We have now booked our return flight home with Missionary Flights for May 12^th, will spend a few days winding down, and should be home late on May 18^th.  We will have a heap of things to accomplish, and God willing, we should be back here sometime in late September or early October.  We don’t know yet and will need to wait until we have the final schedule for the visiting professors, among other things. 

There’s lots more to say but because our e-mail/internet continues to be intermittent this is it for this week.

Please continue your prayers for us and the children of Haiti.

May God richly bless you this week.

Vacation time

Mission to Haiti – March 27, 2011

Please accept our apology, as it has been 4 weeks since our last message. It is primarily because our Internet has been intermittent to non-existent for most of the time because of bandwidth problems.

Much has gone on since we last wrote.  We, of course, were in the Dominican Republic for 12 days for a little rest and relaxation and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Dorothy took advantage of the availability of some special treats, pedicure, manicure, massage, and a haircut while John must have read four or five books while resting under the palm trees out of the sun.  It sounds like Dorothy didn’t sit in the shade and read but she did, too.  We saw so many people, Europeans especially, who were determined to go home with a tan and managed to get themselves crispy crittered within a day or two of arrival.  We also had more food than you can possibly imagine, so we “manje, manje”

(ate and ate some more). 

We arrived home in Saccenville just in time to get the house back in shape in anticipation of the arrival of 6 houseguests for a two-week period.  We understand that there was a minor earthquake in our absence that caused the dust to rise into the air, and with an accompanying wind, put a layer of black dust on everything.  Our houseguests are Bryan and Leslie from Jackson, Mississippi and their 4 children, Jacob, Benjamin, Sara and Elizabeth.  Bryan is the Rector of the Emmaus Biblical Seminary and he is currently fundraising to bring he and his family to Haiti.  The children are home schooled in Mississippi and their schooling is continuing while they are here.  It has been a pleasure to meet them all and be reminded how busy it was with children around, and also remember that Grandma and Grandpa can give them back to their parents.

The house that we live in now is the “Rector’s House” and Bryan and Leslie will move into this house once they arrive to stay, but for the time being they are guests in their own house while we make meals, do laundry and some cleaning.  Ideally, they would like to see another house built on this property that would be designed specifically for the purpose of housing visitors. 

We had planned on telling you all about the excitement around the run-off election last Sunday, March 20^th and would, but there is little to tell at the time of writing.  From what we hear there were few difficulties on the actual day of the election, traffic was at a minimum because of restrictions on vehicular travel, and it was so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop.  We had lots of old-fashioned “loudspeaker on a truck” advertisements for each candidate and a couple of night of very loud music into the night just before the election. John received many telephone messages asking him to vote for either one of the candidates.

The big news a day before the election was, of course, the return of former President Aristide to Port-au-Prince.  We thought that it might precipitate some demonstrations from his supporters and while there were several hundred people at the airport to meet him, all went very peacefully.  When all is said and done it is still felt that the entertainer Michel (Mickey) Martelly will be the winner when all the ballots are counted. According to news reports we should have the preliminary results on March 31 and the final results by April 16^th.

The good news this week is that a work team from Wellington County led by Albert Nykamp arrived on Monday to work on the new pharmacy for the medical clinic at the Vaudreuil compound.  The money for this project was raised at the dinner/auction that HEARTS and Men for Missions organized in 2007 at the Elora Community Centre.  It has taken this long to get things underway because funds for the new AIDS clinic were time sensitive and had to be accessed sooner rather than later so the pharmacy was put on the backburner until the time was right.  The earthquake in January 2010 meant a further delay until now.  The team consists of Albert, his wife and daughter, and at least a dozen men of varying ages.  The cement pad had been poured so the construction will consist mostly of block work while the team is here.  We are looking forward to having supper with the team next week before they leave for home.

We are entering the home stretch. In the next 6 weeks we have a couple more visiting professors coming that are bringing guests with them and another team of 11. (Anyone want to come and help?)  We anticipate that we will be starting the trek home following this with a little time out for rest on the way.  We miss our kids and grandkids very much and can’t wait to see them, see other family and friends, and sleep in our own bed.  We actually will miss the cacophony of sounds that are a part of our life here in Haiti and the special friendships we have made here.  In fact, we have been asked to come back in the fall but right now that is in the Lord’s hands.

We have been following a Lenten devotion that was available at the church a few years ago called, Your Nail.  Some of you may remember it.  The focus on every page of reading is from Colossians 2:13b-15.  “He has forgiven you all your sins:  Christ has utterly wiped out the damning evidence of broken laws and commandments which always hung over our heads, and has completely annulled it by nailing it over His own head on the Cross.  And then, having disarmed all the powers ranged against us, He exposed them…shattered, empty, and defeated…in His final glorious triumphant act”.  We hope that you will, along with us, remember why Christ was nailed to the cross.  He died for you and me and we caused His death.

Please continue to pray for strength for us during this next very, very busy period.

Please pray for the 600 children in our schools as they prepare to start their 3^rd trimester the first of April.

May the peace of Christ be with you.