Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Never a Dull Moment




Chris with a little friend
                                   Never a Dull                                  Moment


We were in Texas and Colorado during the month of March seeing family, visiting churches, and having our annual physicals. We found out that Chris had some moles that were basal cell (not a huge surprise considering he spends most of his time in Haiti in the sun). They were on both sides of his temples and he had to have minor skin surgery to remove them. The end result of this is that the baseball caps he used to wear do not provide enough protection and he now has to wear a wider-brim hat. It is a new look for him, but very necessary so we don't have to repeat that experience.




We were never too concerned about mosquitoes, but that was before. 
Chikungunya-a disease we had never heard of before that we are becoming very familiar with. You never know what life will bring here, but we didn't need another 'new' disease that has become epidemic in Haiti in just a couple of weeks. It is very similar to Dengue. It is a virus that has to run its course. There is no medication to cure it or vaccine to prevent it. People run a high fever, have extreme pain in their bones and joints, and may have headaches, eye pain, very itchy rash, mouth sores, ect. It is completely debilitating and most people are down for about 5 days before feeling better. Many of our employees have now had this along with their children and schoolchildren in our schools. Our village of Titanyen has been hit very hard by this, and we are praying for an end to the suffering. So far, of the 14 Americans on our compound, only Carrie Todd has had a mild case and we are praying that we can remain healthy and teams that are now coming will stay healthy as well. We have never used as much repellent as we are using now and we have fogged areas where they are more plentiful like our clinic. For the last weeks, we have treated many more people with fever and pain than we have treated burns. It is the rainy season, so of course mosquitoes are more plentiful which has greatly magnified the problem.


We are starting into our summer schedule and will have many teams and some camps and conferences over the next 4 months. It is a very busy time for us and we are asking for strength and wisdom as we move into this season.  

Phil. 2:13-'For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose'. This is what we want as we work here-all for His purpose! We are studying Philippians in our staff 
bible study and being exhorted that we need to follow hard after Christ's sacrificial example.







Thursday, February 13, 2014

We will try to give a synopsis of what we have been doing lately. It has been a very busy and exciting time here on the compound.
We started out 2014 with over 200 youth leaders and pastors from around Haiti training them in how to do youth ministry, how to do youth camps, and exhortation and encouragement in their personal spiritual growth. It was 6 great days and we have planned the next one for August.

This picture of our youth leaders' conference was taken on the coolest day in January. They are spelling the word YOUTH on the basketball court.  It was cloudy, in the low 80s, with a breeze, and felt just wonderful! It only lasted for 2 days, though, and we were right back up in the 90s.  

Our focus is to continue with training our 14 young adults in leadership group with Camp Barnabas along with many others, so they can be the counselors and leaders at camp. We are excited about this training and the weekly discipleship they are also receiving by our Camp directors Romile and Dieuseul. 

The 2nd part of our focus with camp is continuing with the infrastructure needed for the camps. Below is the first dorm that is being 

constructed for camp use. It will house 68 people on two floors-8 people per room. We are just getting ready to pour the floor for the 2nd level. 

The dream is to create a 'Camp village' with mens' and womens' dorms, bathrooms and shower houses, a 2nd dining facility, and a gathering place in the middle to 'hang out'. We just received word that all the metal for this project has already been donated!! We are thrilled with the progress. 



This is the latest church plant being built about 90 min. up the mountain in a town called Saut D'Eau under the direction of Pastor Kelly Balde of our Titanyen church. The building on the right is their temporary church and on the left, the new church is going up. Chris has been busy procuring the materials for this project and our guys have been up and down the mountain delivering materials. Thankful for safety as they drive loaded dump trucks up the dusty mountain road.  

Felens
The Burn clinic has been busier than ever before. Our small village has grown to over 10,000 now and the surroundings areas continue to grow, so that means many more people in our zone. We are now averaging about 20 patients/day or so, some are minor burns and wounds, some are major 3rd degree burns that require much long-term care.  Felens is one of our very serious 3rd degree burns who is recovering well. He is an epileptic who fell into a large pot during a seizure and suffered severe burns to his back and bottom. He had no family to help him, and didn't receive any care for over 2 weeks. By time he was brought to us, he was very infected and suffering horribly. This story, unfortunately is not that uncommon, especially if the patient is an epileptic. The exciting part of Felens story is that we would pray with him every day and talk to him about the Lord. 2 weeks ago he prayed with a pastor in his village and accepted the Lord. His whole countenance has changed. We were privileged to give him a Creole bible-first one he has ever had.

This blog is getting long-our mistake for not blogging enough. But.....on a personal note:

We are very excited to announce the birth of our 2nd grand-daughter Adalyn Grace, born on February 5th to our oldest son Jonathan and his wife Molly. Adie joins her older sister Ella (who is almost 10 months) in making them very busy parents. We are so excited to go on a visit to Houston on March 4th to see both grand-daughters (and their parents :). 

We will then travel on to Colorado to spend time with Sheryl's father who is in poor health and also visit churches
and supporters. We will be in Colorado from March 10th-April 10th and look forward to seeing many of you.