Thede Connection- HAITI

Full Team's Last Day.

2012-02-14T16:54:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day started sunny but ends with a rainy finish. Delivery of the delivery table occurred along with varnishing of a table for Kid's club and a medical records cabinet.

At lunch we enjoyed fancy decorated cupcakes after our potpie. And celebrated the Kling's 14th wedding anniversary. The cooks received some small gifts and large thanks from the team.

After lunch the team walked to the house of the third cook to present her gifts. Then headed down to see the local rice hulling location.

The ladies helped fry tortillas yet another learning experience for them. They did fine with the spring rolls yesterday and the cooking today. Gerda you can be proud!

The six team members heading out tomorrow packed their bags today and tonight we will have our final devotional time of sharing. Cory and Anna will bring them to the airport early tomorrow and then pick up some items that arrived by sea container before heading home. The newsletters will be delivered for the MFI flight on Thursday.

Eli and I plan to return to our school work-Eli begged off the last two days stating that it is more important to make memories while the team was here.

Will also work on a list of work projects and any needed supplies for the March team so that they can start to pack their bags.

Feb. 13, Full Team's Last Monday.

2012-02-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

Cool and rainy day. A bit of wood work, scraping, cooking, laundry [by hand and drying slowly].

A few of us will be boycotting showers tonight-too cold. Last night the temperature in our kitchen dropped to 68 degrees.

I forgot to add yesterday that at the end of Kid's Club while the leaders remained in front of the group, John Pierre lead the children in prayer for my sister-in-law Beth. They prayed for her through chemo and continue to pray for her as she finishes up treatment.

Thankful that the Internet continues to work well even with over 5 inches of rain in the last couple of days.

Received an E-mail today from the shipping company Cory sent an order of pool pain to that contained a sad picture of a box, leaking blue paint. The paint covered the address so they wanted to know if it was for us. Not good..

Generator running as our solar panels did not generate much electricity today.

Team's Second Sunday.

2012-02-12T17:58:00.003-05:00

Today we stayed on campus, visiting the Fauche church and Kid's club.

A short walk down the hill, arriving at church just in time for the Sunday school reports. Cory walked down a bit earlier and roped off a couple of benches in the middle of the church so that we could sit together. Sitting around me most can hear bits and pieces, as I translate parts of the service.

The special music and praise time touched us as the people sing enthusiastically and from the heart. The sermon based on the second chapter of Joel and how we need to repent and lead others to the Lord because the Day of Eternity is not far away.

Lunch consisted of squash soup and strogonaff. With left over Key Line Pie, chocolate cake every one enjoyed. Rain fell most of the afternoon delaying our Kid's Club skit. When the rain let up John Pierre came up for the sound equipment and reported that a few of the children had been waiting since before the rain started a few hours earlier.

So we headed down to the church with the animal hats. About 70 children enjoyed our song and then they joined us in singing Father Abraham. We enjoyed some of the children's special music and a the presentation of the leaders.

Left overs for supper. Thankful for the Internet working despite the rain.

Pictures from last 2 days.

2012-02-12T17:33:00.002-05:00

Ride to beach.

Sewing class.

Medical records cabnet

Cleaning the church for Sunday.

Practice for Kid's Club skit

Saturday, Feb. 11th.

2012-02-11T17:56:00.000-05:00

Saturdays generally mean a pancake start to our day and today was no exception. Sweet grapefruits and bananas also tasty.

More work on the delivery bed which is looking much better. Will see if the team in March can improve the second bed to a similar level. The men worked on the medical records cabinets and a table for Kid's Club until the saw decided to smoke and stop working. The Haitian electrician was due back to work on it this afternoon but we think that the rain showers delayed him.

Yet more scraping of paint. Because this is a hot, tedious and tiring job we only work at it a couple hours of the day. Before going down to scrape the women and kid's did some schoolwork and cleaning. All but Anna who work up today with a fever and headache. We discovered that we gave away all our normal thermometers and only have a couple of old digital ones. So I borrowed one of the nurses personal thermometers to confirm that the older ones still work. The old one does work so we know that Anna's highest temperature today topped out at 102.4. Unfortunately her stomach is also giving her trouble. She spent most of the day sleeping and trying to drink.

At 11:30 the team practiced the skit for tomorrow. I did take a few pictures but still cannot located where the program ended up putting them on my computer. I know that the children will enjoy this skit because it made us laugh!

The rainy afternoon found folks talking, working a puzzle, playing games, napping or cooking a bit. We will be enjoying some beef stew, fried breadfruit and sweet potatoes, wacky cake and key lime pie for supper. Cory put the satellite receiver back together.

JohnPierre retrieved 2 cases of vanilla that we mistakenly left at the store in Cap Haitian today. The team will take some back for themselves and as gifts.

Friday Feb. 10th.

2012-02-11T17:45:00.000-05:00

Should of typed this up yesterday to help me remember better but will do my best now that our internet is working again.

In the morning the guys worked on making wooden cupboards for the medical records area. Both our mom's worked on repainting the delivery table and celebrated the purchase of one spay bottle of white paint to get in the hard spots.

A bit of school occurred followed by a small amount of scraping. Cory looked at our satellite dish and found that the receiver was missing a gasket therefore not waterproof. He took it apart and let it dry out overnight. A short rain shower this afternoon delayed putting it back together but as this blog shows-he got us connected again.

Early lunch as we planned to travel to the beach. Not only our team and the 3 guys who work with Cory went but also a bunch of their children. Both benches of the big truck were full up. We stopped at the Nazareth church to see the school and church. A sewing class was in session at the time working on two treadle machines.

Our beach time was enjoyed by all [so much that we forgot about the camera-sorry but here is a picture from last year]. Part of the road between us and the coast is now paved!! We passed a road crew working their way toward our home so we hope that they plan to smooth out and pave all the way to Limbée. We enjoy having fun with our neighbors outside of a normal work day or church.

The water a bit cool for some of us with occasional warm spots which all to fast moved on with the waves. Cory forgot his cell phone in his pocket....waiting to see if he can recover it or not. A family we know working with the Limbée University were also at the beach so we visited a bit.

Once home we showered off the salty and sandy reminders of our beach time and following supper watched an old Ma and Pa Kettle movie.

I would of posted pictures of the work but the computer decided to hid them from me. If I can find where they went I'll post at a later time. Want to get this blog posted so those of you who continue to check for news can have an update to read.

Thursday, Feb. 9th

2012-02-10T08:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday after cinnamon rolls, fresh bananas and grapefruit the work day began. The 'normal' tasks of school and laundry occurred.

The delivery bench received another coat of paint [the reddish brown coat is rustoleum] as well as a a new front.

The men worked on the main plumbing job on the to-do list of installing a 300 gallon water cistern on the roof of the clinic laboratory.

Now when the campus cistern is empty, which happens a lot of the time as the guest house, clinic/hospital, school and other campus locations all share that supply, the clinic will be able to use their tank.

A bit of scraping occurred in the waiting room but not much as people were busy with other jobs and yesterday's weather turned out warmer, 87 degrees and muggy.

After lunch break Cory drove the team across the river to visit some local gardens and some of Gener's family.

They visited a chair maker who graciously allowed them to take a look inside the house. After returning to the compound they also visited Cory's gardens.

Cory made an appointment for the technician to check out our internet system for Tuesday.

Last night when Cory checked our system worked just a few minutes on and off.

This morning it is working better but I wonder when it will go off again.

Our local electrician took a look at an old part that burned out last year and noticed the water damage. Cory thinks that is still the problem.

The team enjoyed fried breadfruit and sweet potatoes.

Team Day 8

2012-02-10T08:03:00.001-05:00

Day 8 Team in Haiti.

Still no Internet in the house so Cory called our provider.

Looks like we will be waiting until a technician visits our part of Haiti.

Hopefully we can borrow a wireless [like a flash-drive] and down load our E-mails later today.

The men continued to make church benches and finished them.

We scrapped more paint down by clinic and Eli but the second coat of paint on the drop ceiling of the vital sign room.

School work, more newsletters folded and put into envelopes, two loads of laundry and cooking.

The delivery table also received a second coat of paint.

The women and kid's spent the afternoon learning about Pompeii and the life of gladiators on our most recent Netflix movie.

We sign up for documentaries as part of our history learning.

Made peanut pie and coconut custard.

Internet still did not work-I do not like to be isolated from the world. Much better to know that I can access it if I want and turn off the computer when I want than to not be able to use the internet.

After washing the supper dishes at night one of the team shares a devotional and we talk. I enjoy this time of day!

Tuesday February 7th. End of week one.

2012-02-10T07:46:00.001-05:00

End of Week One for the team. Tuesday February 7th

Today we hugged Heidi good bye as she flew back to Port-au-Prince to resume her work with Dan and Joy Irvine.

We enjoyed her visit and feel she has a more complete view of the Wesleyan ministry in Haiti after visiting a small part of Northern Haiti.

By listening to her updates about the missionaries and ministries on LaGonave and other parts of Haiti we can now pray better for the rest of the team as well.

Following breakfast the guys returned to making sawdust and church benches.

Thankfully the saw continues to run very well

as it broke back in June when my brother's Todd's team visited.

The Haitian electrician fixed it once Cory located and purchased the needed part.

Our students studied with their respective mothers. Mom and Mom Thede painted a delivery table to try to extend its live a bit longer.

The metal table is rusting away under the paint. The gazebo wall received a second coat of paint.

Bits and pieces of school fit in the schedule here and there during the morning.

In the afternoon the ladies continued on the big job of scraping paint down at clinic and Genia painted the ceiling in the small room where vital signs and the first part of patient histories are taken.

Two loads of laundry completed as well.

Cory continues to print copies of our newsletter in between other jobs and commitments.

He also set up a trip to Pigion later this month to speak at an agricultural training seminar.

Monday. Feb. 6th

2012-02-10T07:36:00.002-05:00

Report from Team's First Monday

No, I have not been forgetting the blog! In fact I write it when the internet will not connect and then cut and paste it to the blog as soon as we can connect again. Sorry about the late posting but as they say here "not my fault." Because you are reading this on the blog-I know that the internet connected. Thank you for those who prayed.

Monday. February 6th. "Today we began our projects with renewed force and determination. The fellows had what looked like a bench factory..putting together 24 new school benches, treating them with bug juice [a liquid mix to help protect the wood from hungry termites] and then painting the writing surface. The benches moved down to the school by a group of high school boys and tomorrow will be in use. The bench delivery disturbed a group of children writing letters to their Compassion school sponsors. A project completed.

The ladies started out with some team laundry and then varnished a cupboard for the nurses' call room. Later in the morning, and the afternoon, we continued the scrapping of the walls in the hospital room we plan to paint. Perhaps another day of scrapping and the walls will be ready to wash and then painted. The only wall in the gazebo received a coat of green chalkboard paint as the children write on the cement. We figure that a couple coats of paint will make the wall easier to clean.

A highlight of our day was a chat with the hospital administrator and member of the hospital committee. Pastor Rigo shared some of the challenges and dreams that he has for the hospital. We were all moved by His passion for the people here, the mission of the clinic and hospital, moved each of us. A good Monday.

A few games played before and after supper of macaroni and cheese and left-overs. The coconut/brown sugar candy was enjoyed enthusiastically by most. Will try to start sharing an occasional recipe after my life slows down again. After devotions most of the team did not linger talking as they had most other nights but retired early.

Carol and Kris

2012-02-08T20:40:00.000-05:00

Our internet isn't working. The team is all well and getting much work done. We borrowed a modem but it isn't working on our Mac so we will have to wait and send photos when we can get it to work. Should have at least a text update tomorrow.

Team's First Sunday

2012-02-05T17:11:00.001-05:00

Sundays tend to be a slow start at our house. We listen to praise music in English in the house during breakfast [today reheated pancakes, cinnamon rolls, toast, bananas and cornflakes were available.] No cooks working for us today so a few folks helped with the dishes while Anna and Eli chopped up carrots and chayote squash for noon.

Anna talked Grandma Thede into taking the spot in the cab next to Cory so that she could ride in the back with the rest of the kids. So after six adults got situated in the cab and 6 more of us loaded into the back of the truck we headed out. Unfortunately no one counted heads-as we missed Heidi but when we stopped to open the gates to drive off the compound we saw her hurrying down the hill.

The Port Margot Wesleyan church remains the largest in the Northern District and lays only a couple of kilometers West of Fauche. A good thing that John Pierre held a few benches open for us [folks meet in the sanctuary for Sunday school before church] as the church filled up rapidly. Members of this church number more than 500 and the school age children do not meet in the sanctuary with the adults as all seats are taken. The children enjoy their own service at a second location.

Lots of singing, music, announcements, Bible reading, introduction of visitors, offering, then members in good standing [as well as visitors who wished] were served communion. Around 20 minutes to noon the preacher started to preach. The sermon content focused on communion symbols and how different kinds of bread or drinks can be used. He noted that communion is a reminder of what the Lord did to save us but we cannot be saved by only taking communion.

Because of the long service the last hymn was skipped and we left after the benediction. Many people greeted us on our way out to the truck. The service lasted close to 3 hours-a bit longer than we are used to and much longer for our visitors.

We enjoyed vegetable, chicken stir fry for lunch and cookies. A few brave team members tried bread nuts which without salt taste a bit like plane potatoes without any seasoning. Tonight we will finish up the pizza and pumpkin soup leftovers and enjoy rice and bread puddings.

This afternoon the team received their introduction to part of the Kid's Club children.

The children who participate in the Compassion program already had a meeting this afternoon so today's Kid's Club participants were fewer in number but very enthusiastic!

Next week the team is planing a skit for Kid's Club.

Team's First Saturday.

2012-02-04T17:21:00.000-05:00

While we seriously considered heading to the beach it rained off and on last night and we do not like the idea of swimming in the ocean right after heavy rains.

Today turned out cloudy and cool so hopefully we will have a better chance later in the week.
After a filling pancake breakfast Cory took part of the team for a tour of our local bakery and market.

Comments: No air condition. Rather odiferous. No fast food places. Local wandering livestock. Purchases included: coconut, tomatoes, black beans, local rice, bullock heart, and crackers.

Bakery: Smelled wonderful. Nice to talk to the owner in English. Enjoyed some Haitian bread for lunch as well as ginger muffins.

Eli and Anna managed to study a bit of French and do some Saturday morning cleaning while the visits occurred.

Eli also helped grandpa a bit while Anna swept out the guest house.

Lunch consisted of pizza-chicken, beef or ham combination.

We also enjoyed the bread and muffins from the bakery.

After lunch a very nice gentleman and his wife show the team a variety of Haitian souvenirs.

This way the team has a chance to help out a nice Christian man without the high pressure of trying to buy items while surrounded by a crowd of merchants all talking at once and competing for their attention.

Sorry no picture today-he had some metal lizards, small paintings, bracelets and wooden items: bowls, boxes, cups, and small statues.

If someone reminds me after the team goes I will take some pictures of the various Haitian handicrafts we display around the house.

Today's accomplishment included two loads of laundry, one armoire varnished, more bench assemble, folding and stuffing envelopes for newsletter.

Some rehearsed a skit that they intend to to perform for Kid's Club.

White rice with bean sauce, fried sweet potato, coleslaw and banana bread is on the menu for supper.

Anna will be sharing devotions for the group.

Team Full Day 2.

2012-02-03T18:57:00.000-05:00

Today the guys worked on school benches for the grade schoolers.

The school would like 24 benches made to help with the current seating shortage.

Only one load of laundry was washed as the sky clouded up and we worried that it might rain.

The children worked on school work in the morning.

After some school work the ladies walked down for a clinic tour and then decided to try to prepare and paint the waiting room and room where vital signs occur. During the cholera outbreak the waiting room turned in to the ward for all cholera patients.

Lunch consisted of pumpkin soup and banana bread. Then in the afternoon, the women and children went to work scrapping walls in a hospital room, in preparation for painting while the guys returned to bench production.

After a couple hours of scraping paint the young people decided it was time for fun.

Showers and then supper- spaghetti and some very good chocolate chip cookies. Heidi shared devotions and focusing on our relationship with the Lord so we can share with others.

Now with our bowls of popcorn we will enjoy family movie night.

Thank you for those who are praying for the team.

[Peter thank you for your editorial comments on yesterday's post. I think I fixed some of the points.]

Team's First Day.

2012-02-02T20:00:00.000-05:00

After breakfast the team headed out for a campus tour and to work on a project list so they could place an order for any needed lumber and supplies. I remained behind with Eli and Anna to fit in a bit of school and work on a few projects.

Soon Dad returned with Mom who fell on the way down to the school. After a bit of first-aid and clean up we continued with the day.

The first wood project that the guys tackled is an armoire for the on-call nurses to put their clothes in during the night. Past teams left enough lumber for this small project.

Lunch consisted of chicken rice casserole, fresh bread, tomatoes and coleslaw. This afternoon the children spend some time removing the skins off roasted peanuts. The ladies helped to label, address and stamp the envelopes for our next Newsletter. This morning mom and Heidi helped edit the newsletter so soon Cory will start printing. We packed up the Christmas tree and decorations.

Then late in the afternoon mom and I processed some fresh beef from an unfortunate cow who fell down the mountain side and could not walk. By selling all the meat the family recovered some of the money that the cow was worth but not enough to be able to replace the cow.

Pastor Denord stopped in before supper to welcome the team. Then while we enjoyed supper [left overs with molasses cookies and cinnamon rolls [most of us will enjoy our cinnamon rolls for breakfast] a large truck came to deliver the lumber order.

The guys plan on making church benches and some large cupboards for the medical records room. Pastor Rigo would also like a bunk bed for the nurses call room but today the needed lumber could not be found.

Note-the lumber was not missing per say but the stores that Jean Pierre stopped at did not have the items the guys needed.

Team Arrival-with pictures.

2012-02-01T20:16:00.000-05:00

This morning our family and Heidi loaded into a big hired truck and headed off to the airport. We did not travel through Cap Haitian but took a road that runs South of the airport. We arrived 20 minutes before the plane and waited [most of us brought a book for any periods of waiting].

Even though the airport is an 'international airport' generally we can enter into the customs area to greet visitors-waiving at them as they fill in the needed paper work and get their passports stamped. Then we chat while waiting for the luggage. When dropping folks off at the airport-we escort leaving visitors all the way through security, check in and can wait in the waiting room until the passengers line up to load up the plane.

Three bags arrived on a second plane but everything worked out well. We traveled a short distance and visited a local Wesleyan church and school. Over 118 students attend up to 6th grade. The pastor showed us around the school [we disrupted each and every class] and the church. When we asked what her top 3 prayer requests would be she listed: spiritual growth for the church, a medical clinic and feeding program to minister to the community and a trade school for training the young people and keep them out of trouble and off the streets.

By the time we headed off for lunch the second plane arrived with the late bags before we made it to lunch so we turned around and picked them up. A local business man's family made lunch for us. A nice break and meal before the couple hour drive back home.

Traffic in Cap Haitian remained very calm and moving at a nice pace thankfully. We arrived back home [25 miles] in just under 2 hours. The team did not think much of our roads. Unpacking and visiting filled up the afternoon while Eli and Anna played with a new soccer ball with their friends.

After supper, dishes, devotions we celebrated Christmas.
Think everyone is tired and will be ready for bed at our normal bed time of 9 p.m.

Progressing through this Life.

2012-01-28T11:01:00.003-05:00

Progressing: forward or onward movement toward a destination

American Oil Palm Fruit.

Pilgrim: a person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons

Thinking about these words as a wonderful on-line friend who used them as her name on our home-school curriculum forums progresses toward heaven. She may already be in the arms of our Lord having finished her race well. I know my thoughts and prayers will return to her husband and two young sons often in the coming weeks and months. Happy her suffering ended but so sorry to the pain that her family must still walk through.

Progress- why we pick though provoking books and videos for our family because we want them to learn and grow. Why we try to be intentional with choices. Growing can only occur with a stress or tension I once read. I often ponder this thought. Growing pains hurt but do they need to? How much stress can stimulate growth but not cause pain?

Yesterday I spent some time on reading about grammar mistakes that bother people. [One blessing for those of us weak in grammar could be that these type of mistakes do not bother us much.] But I am trying to learn so I can avoid these mistakes and teach my children to the best of my abilities.

The author mentioned that American is becoming a 'first draft' society, not proofing or paying close attention to what they write. This struck home with me this week as I work, rework, and rework the rough draft of a newsletter before handing it off to Cory and Mom for further proof reading and polishing.

I am so glad that the Lord did not leave me in a first draft state. Progress for me tends to come with a chisel and hammer, rough sandpaper, or refining fires, rarely a soft polishing cloth. I'm a work in progress, thankfully progressing under His hands to a better person.

I regret hurting the people who the Lord used as tools to shape me. I wish I would have listened and not argued with those who cared enough to correct me and point out the error of my attitudes or actions. Sorry.

I'm very thankful that they took the time and risked being hurt to attempt to change me. Thank you for your important role in shaping my life into a more useful person. Any positive affects I leave on this life reflect ripples from your life. Thank you.

Visitor Season.

2012-01-25T19:41:00.000-05:00

After 24 hours of no internet, our prayers are answered because it works again. YAY! Nice to connect with the world and with our support team and family.

Visitor season starts--TODAY. Yes, while our first team should be here 1 week from today we welcomed Heidi today for a two-week visit. Heidi works with Pastor Dan and Joy Irvine and lives near the Wesleyan mainland boat dock. This visit will round out her trip to Haiti by letting her see a bit of the North.

Thankfully her suitcase just arrived at our door 4 hours after she arrived on campus. It traveled north in a different plane and John Pierre volunteered to wait at the airport. The plane came in very late and he reports many people became upset because of the long delay.

While the Ortlip Ministry Center sits between the sea and Route National One, the traffic makes one feel a bit like you are in a city-even though few people live on that narrow strip of land. The other missionaries on the Global Partner's team live in Port-au-Prince or the city of Anse-a-Galets. We live out in the country, quiet most of the time but with far more neighbors than the Ortlip Ministy Center.

Our location remains unique as well due to our yearly rainfall, cooler weather and lack of visitors. Eli and Anna did a great job on cleaning up the Dearest House for Heidi's visit. They will now start working with John Pierre to clean up the House of Hope for next week's team. Not many jobs for young people in our area but I'm very thankful that they agreed to take on this responsibilty. Now I do not need to worry about all the cleaning, they can earn a bit of money and learn how to handle financies. Win-win.

Thankful for sunny days to not only dry the curtains for the team but provide the solar power for the washing machine. Sheets and blankets getting washed in preparation for the team as well!

Now I know many folks debate the value of short term mission trips. We remain quite picky about who comes to see us. The biggest impact I think that our teams have goes back to the welcome that the very first team we hosted here received from the leadership. They greeted and welcomed the team saying that even if no projects were completed just their coming and interacting with the Haitian people was an encouragement to them. Reminding the Haitian church that the North American church had not forgotten them and continued to partner with them in prayer.

Keep those prayers coming!

Not Being.

2012-01-22T15:22:00.001-05:00

I do not remember if I ever thought before about not being.

Life in Haiti reminds me often of the privileged location and family of my birth. Picturing my life being born in a hut is not hard when surrounded by lives like mine could of been. Learning history and current events with Eli and Anna remind me to be thankful of my Christian heritage and the benefits, advances in science and technology that bless my life.

A poster from National Geographic pointing out what a small percentage of the world enjoys access to improved sanitation, education, literacy, phones, internet, personal computers along with looking at the lives around me help me easily count my blessings.

But today's reminder in church about how only by the grace of God each of us could gather to praise and worship Him layered on the knowledge that today in the USA many churches remember the millions of aborted lives made me consider...not being.

I'm grateful for life. I'm grateful that my folks always wanted me and did their best to raise me and provide for my needs. I'm thankful to have a chance to make my corner of the world a better place. Yes, I've made mistakes but the Lord can turn those into miracles.

One life touches so many others in so many ways. Without my life my children would not exist. I pray that the ripples that my life and faith created by interacting with others made life better by reflecting my Lord's love. How would other's lives be different without my life? My family, my classmates, my roommates, my patients, my friends, my neighbors.......

I am very thankful for the life I have been given. I pray that I can continue to grow in the Lord and impact more lives positively in the time that remains.

I pray for the lives that other's judge as being expendable: abortion, murder, hastening end of life, withholding care, neglect.... Lord forgive me for treating others as below me. Remind me that they too, every person remains precious in Your sight. Thank you for making me, ME.

Bandwidth Improvements = knowledge and freedom

2012-01-19T11:11:00.000-05:00

Our nights now contain 30-35 minutes of educational and occasionally just for fun videos. We use an educational site to learn a bit about astronomy, listened to 40 minutes on Haiti's revolution and a bit of art. A different way for us to learn together subjects of interest without formal school.

This enjoyable time now occurs because Cory found a new program that shows us in real time how much satellite bandwidth we already used for the day. Our old method took a couple of hours to register and therefore one never quite knew how close we may be to using too much time.

Crossing that line of using too much bandwidth resulted in a very, very slow internet use for a day, using our one free reset pass for the month [Kind of like the 'get out of jail free card in Monopoly] or paying for a reset. Cory also discovered that our limit is 250 rather than 200MB!

Freedom-now we can check at the end our our day and if a significant amount of bandwidth remains we can enjoy watching the educational lectures. A fine example on how knowledge translates into freedom. No more worries that we will cross the line. No more wasting or loosing bandwidth.

I find that a lot of drama in our house is not based on true knowledge but assumptions or what ifs. If we stick to the facts or reality tempered with the knowledge that our all powerful, all Lord and Savior remains in charge of everything, freedom to enjoy life results. True freedom occurs in the absence of fear. Knowledge can help to banish fear as many fears come in some form or another, as the unknown.

Learning can provide that knowledge which leads to freedom from fear. So I think I'll keep learning..

Kid's Club Dental Clinic

2012-01-17T15:41:00.000-05:00

Confession, I like to see rapid improvements. During college, a period when most of my life consisted of learning and study, (both hard to physically see any change), I mowed lawns in the summer. Mowing not only made a bit of money and provided physical activity but it also satisfied my need to see improvment. At the end of the job I could easily see what I accomplished.

Missions can be one of those jobs where improvement takes time and can be hard to see some days. Sometimes one takes one step forward only to fall back a few steps all in the same day. Trees grow slowly. One may not know for a few years if the tree will fruit, and what the quality of the fruit will be. Not a job for the faint at heart. Homeschooling takes time too.

Checking out the tools.

Last March, Dr. Wilnie shared with us his dream to provide dental care in Fauche and we started praying.

This summer a set of dental tools generously donated made it to Fauche and through a second gift we purchased two "zero gravity" dental [lawn] chairs. Because Dr. Wilnie does not have a full time job or the additional supplies needed to run a dental clinic the prices for a cleaning or extraction prohibit most people in our area from being able to pay.

But knowing how bad teeth can badly impact one's health we worked with the Kid's club leaders to identify the 40 worst cases and today the first children received dental care and education. Praying that the dental clinic can continue to improve lives and touch people with God's love. After a slow start I enjoy seeing some progress.

The dental work started after 2 p.m. down at clinic. This allowed clinic to be competed for the day and the children finish their school day. Notice the line still waiting around 3 p.m. Doubtful that most will be seen today but perhaps they can hear the educational talk given to the others. Clinic started with prayer.

Thank you to each who prayed and donated to help make this happen!!

Prayer- A truck driver hauling earthquake rubble in Port-au-Prince lost control this morning and slammed into a crowd killing at least 26 people and injuring around 60 others.

Cory's Day at Village Campion

2012-01-14T15:24:00.000-05:00

Friday Cory spent the day teaching at an agricultural meeting at a church out in the former sugar cane plantations south of Cap Haitian. Sugar cane remains one of the main crops in the area. Six churches [none Wesleyan] were represented and the participants were a mix of pastors, farmers and students.

Cory: Pastor Rwosvelt Chery from Village Campion requested that I bring plants to share and teach about plant propagation (grafting, cuttings and air layers) and about the value of the new crops I brought. I met Pastor Rwosvelt though mutual friendships with our Wesleyan pastors.

The new plants or varieties included starfruit, Malabar chestnut, chaya (a bush that produces leaves used like spinach or collard greens) asai palm, bamboo, breadfruit and disease resistant bananas and cooking bananas. Happily the new breadfruit variety we imported and continue to propagate stimulated the most interest. It should start producing in two years and we hope at a different season than the local varieties.

I also brought a Creole health book along to show those attending the meeting. Folks excitedly expressed their desire to buy the copy before learning that could be purchased later from Pastor Rwosvelt. Before leaving the needed arrangements were worked out to pickup additional copies of the book for distribution in the area.

We hope the health books, the teaching, the donated plants and any others brought in the future help increase the agricultural production and local economy of the area.

Two Years..

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Bryan Fox's FB Wall photo.

Feeling pensive today. Remembering. Questioning. Mourning.

National holiday as people remember, pray, think and yes continue to mourn.

Two years later. 50% of rubble cleared from Port-au-Prince streets they say. Still over 500,000 living in tents reported. Every life here changed in some way.

So much pain and hurt but here and there positive points, good did occur and continues to occur in lives because of the quake.

Change always causes pain. But do we decide to let that pain change us better or make us bitter. Haiti contains many people in both categories.

So much pain still so real and sharp.

So much remains to be done. Thankful for what has been done.

Thankful for those who prayed, gave, sent and came.

Reminder that tomorrow is not promised. We only have right now.

Today to be intentional with our life.

What remains when the dust clears- not things or buildings. What remains are the lives we touch.

Memories of the time we connected with that person who's life rapidly came to an end.

What will continue after my life should the Lord call me home will be the lives I touched, the folks I helped to become better people [or worse, unfortunately].

I cannot do this alone.

Lord work though me. Lord make my impact a positive one.

Lord help me not waste time or money on the fleeting things of this world.

Use me to make an eternal Kingdom impact. Use me to ease the pain of this life and help people see the hope of eternal life.

Effects of living overseas

2012-01-10T19:12:00.001-05:00

Most of my duties the last two days consisted of normal home schooling tasks: reading, organizing, helping, grading and discussions. Not very different from thousands of home schoolers around the world. But in thinking about what to write about today I realized parts of our day directly tie into our missionary life overseas.

Cory sent 2 E-mails today for pastors who needed the information sent.
Rinsed a head full of lettuce in bleach water.
Did not go to clinic Monday because of rain. [Local school also cancelled because of rain]
Sent an E-mail inquiring about the outcome of a medical phone consultation to LaGonave Sunday night.
Blogged-don't know if I would if we lived in the USA. [this also means a lot more picture taking]
Hired Eli and Anna to clean the guest house monthly and prepare the guest house before teams.
Sent mail out and then sorted mail that comes once a week to Haiti on Missionary Flights International.
Worked on a couple translations in Creole and attended French class with Eli and Anna.
Checked to see if any of the 140 Moringa tree seeds sprouted during our rainy week.
Typed up a Creole list of natural remedies and what they are said to treat, and started to try to translate the names into English.
Spent time yesterday researching editable insects.

The last two items concern the second book I'm putting together that will focus on natural medical remedies, underutilized plants and sources of nutrition [insects] and agricultural information. I received permission from ECHO to simplified and translate some of their technological notes [noting where folks can read the full articles in French] I'm hoping that Andy will be able to translate the natural medicine and ECHO information from French to Creole without any help. Then once he gets the translated information to me I'll only need to type it in and arrange the information.

So while I wait to see if this method works or not I'll be researching additional information like editable insects to include in the book. Most children in Haiti can use any help in nutrition they can get and one way is to teach them about plants and foods that the adults overlook, like insects.

I'm learning a lot while making Eli and Anna nervous. Just yesterday Cory found a nest of ants in the kitchen cupboard but he baited them and Mme. Rosemary cleaned them up before I heard about it. In talking to her about eating of insects world wide, I confirmed with Mme. Rosemary that children in Haiti do eat insects at times. So if I can educated a few folks about nutrition, safety and ways to cook insects I figure I can help a few folks, after all over 80% of the world intentionally eat insects.

[Cory just caught a female Rhino beetle [he does not like them as they eat palm trees]...will see if I decide tomorrow to see if I can clean her and cook her. Think I need a good night's sleep before doing anything rash.

Second picture thanks to Anna going out to chase chickens in the yard before 7 a.m. and finding this interesting mushroom.

January 8th

2012-01-08T19:41:00.001-05:00

The afternoon showers continue into early evening but not as cold as a few days ago. We did see the sun a few times earlier today. Church pews held as many as they could and some still needed to stand. Love the Haitian praise time of singing!

I confirmed this week that our permission to translate the book, Natural Medicine in the Tropics into creole. We own both the English and French versions so will work with Andy, a agricultural college student to translate parts of the book into simple Creole. I'm to met with him this week therefore I reread the first 2/3 of the book highlighting the parts I feel are important and in a second color the parts I feel we can leave out.

As Andy starts to translate from French to Creole I'll continue to collect additional information we'd like to put into the book and simplify and put it together into English and perhaps use the computer to translate the additional information into French as we did parts of the health book. I'm praying Andy writes clearly.

Heard from a friend that about 350 women met weekly for a women's training program and one of the books used for the training? Konesy Pou Viv Pi Byen! So neat to see how the Lord continues to use this Creole health book to improve people's lives.

Rejoicing with Todd and Beth as Beth celebrates her birthday tomorrow. Praise the Lord she continues to make progress recovering from her final chemotherapy treatment she received December 27th. Happy Birthday Beth!

Just consulted LaGonave on the phone about a sick team member. Please pray for his recovery as well as the health of the missionaries in Haiti and team members. Robyn, a career missionary to Haiti with Global Partners will be having back surgery on Tuesday, Dec. 10th in the USA. Please pray for her and the family as well.

Cold and cold.

2012-01-05T07:44:00.004-05:00

Our 'snow day' included sunny weather but following that sun the last two mornings of normal school the weather here have been wintery. What does 'wintery' in the tropics look like you ask? Well cold and wet with 'cold' defined as daytime temperatures dropping into the low 70's and reaching the high 60's at night.

With only screens on the windows and cement floors these temperatures send me under blankets wearing jeans, sweatshirt and socks. [Also boycotting daily showers for a day or two] Thankfully I can teach from my warm nest..where today I also am fighting a head cold and being tired.

Last night the dogs did not bark through the night and no drums to make me restless but about 2 a.m. a strange noise woke up both Cory and I. Something similar to an adult walking on a tin roof. But we could not find out what caused it and it did not repeat.

Then about 4:35 a.m. our earthquake alarm sounded off for several seconds. Cory, Anna and I stood by the outside door [Eli sleeps on the lower bunk so we figure he's protected.] but felt nothing. Checking the internet this morning we see that an 5.3 earthquake hit the southern Dominican Republic at that time.

Our first full school day of the year, yesterday went fairly well. Will take some additional energy today but our motivation in January for schoolwork continues to be visitors in February. Yesterday we learned that we will also be hosting a combined team of 9 folks [5 from Battle Creek, Michigan and 4 from Warsaw, Indiana] in March.

Eli and Anna both enjoy 'playing' with Dad after their school work on weekends. Last I heard Anna's civilization rules but Eli remains closely behind. Another motivator to complete schoolwork and office work in a timely fashion.

Please pray for Mme. Fanny's family as her daughter-in-law recently lost a baby in late pregnancy.

Snow Day. Really.

2012-01-03T08:47:00.001-05:00

Yes, I declared today a school snow day. Home schooling perk-teacher can call school off when she wants.

Not obviously because snow closed the roads and we cannot physically get to school. But because Eli's feeling snowed under with work and today we will work hard to get him dug out.

Five weeks ago we started a new curriculum year which means adjustments. Reevaluating now to see what changes need to be made to keep Eli thriving and learning but not frustrated and overwhelmed with school work. He prayed the other day for balance and that is our goal.

Today Cory will be working with Andy, a local college student studying agriculture. Andy will also be helping us with the new plant book. Cory's also working on a Creole handout on seed storage as requested for LaGonave.

Yesterday we attempted to make homemade bread bowls to encourage Eli. During our trip to the US, Fall 2010 he really enjoyed potato cheese soup in a bread bowl. Yesterday he enjoyed pumpkin soup in a sourdough bread bowl. Cory learned a lot and the family voted to try them again.

Living with hardly any prepackaged food can stimulate one to culinary adventures. Adventures often caused by the ever present need to substitute for items one does not have access too.

My idea but Cory did the work. Such a versatile man who allows me to focus on school. Thank you Dear!

Eli and Anna planted 140 Moringa tree seeds while we covered some church history in the afternoon.

Last night before bed we received an E-mail from Irvines asking us to call for a medical consult.

While it is harder to consult by phone or computer without seeing a patient in real life often advice can still be helpful. Sounds like one of the visitors on a team received barotrauma from diving in the sea to his ear drum. So dispensed a bit of medical advice and added him to our family prayers.

ANCESTRY DAY. January 2

2012-01-02T08:02:00.000-05:00

Yes, Haiti starts out the new year with two national holidays in a row. Really this week will be a week of celebrations in Haiti ending after January 6th, Epiphany. We plan to use today to 'catch up' on a few school subjects before jumping into full school days this week.

Yesterday's sermon focused on Haiti's Independence Day with a review of their history and the observation that while liberty came 208 years ago that people can only find true freedom in the Lord who not only frees us from sin but the consequences of sin, death.

The church filled up fast so during the special music Eli, Anna and Cory brought in the benches from the gazebo and our lawn chairs but still children ended up on cement blocks in the back. Think the team needs to make a few more church benches in February.

The church decorations consisted of some plastic flowers out front. A few curtains in the windows or wrapped around the cement pillars. Behind the pulpit, on the wall and covering a door a shinny gold bedspread hung with the matching pillow on the pulpit and the heart shaped pillow on the front of the pulpit. Very festive looking.

Saturday we received two gifts of fresh beef from neighbors and Sunday two dishes of pumpkin soup-Haiti's traditional Independence day meal.

The pumpkin soup is a think soup with noodles, meat, and vegetables beside pumpkin. The French would not let the slaves eat pumpkin which is why it became the food of independence. Yummy!

Occasionally someone butchers a cow on a Saturday morning and lets us know incase we would like to buy some but this has not happened in the last couple of months because people save up for the New Year celebrations.

2011 Year Review: Happy New Year 2012!

2011-12-31T08:54:00.004-05:00

Grapefruit clump.

January: Left Michigan on the 5th. Returned to Haiti the 6th, to Port-au-Prince. Paperwork-done and flew North on the 8th. Restarted our school year-10th. Jan. 12 hiked to the top of a nearby mountain to remember and pray for the earthquake survivors on the one year anniversary. On the 31st celebrated with about 300 children the first year of Kid's Club.

February: Team delay because of Michigan blizzard but arrived on the 9th. Painting, wood working, gazebo building, tree planting. Yummy food and wonderful fellowship with the folks and D's. Anna's 10th birthday. Team leaves early due to eye injury.

March: Banana plant give away. Carnival weekend. Presidential elections. Internet repair. Twisted ankle.

April: Date palm distribution. Newsletters. Local folks protesting election results. Missionary retreat. Visit to mass earthquake grave site. Overnight visit LaGonave. Easter.

May: Agricultural Day. Patient packets arrived. 10,000 Creole Health books arrive! New Haitian president in power. Local protests block road. Visitors from HAFF.

June: Bananas. Cargo. Medical tests. Finished up school for break. Chris and Kathleen come. Todd's family and team come!! Wonderful visit.

July: USA. Family. 4th. Home ministry training. Beth's diagnosis. TerAvest road trip to Yellowstone. Church visits.

August: More visits. Trip out East. Packing. Breadfruit trees. Approved for another 4 year term. Hurricane delay. Back home. School restart.

September: Cory-Pigeon agricultural conference. Eli's 14th birthday. 13 years in Haiti. Moringa garden. Dad's 70th. Changed blog. Wind storm.

October: Road work. Bamboo plants. New solar panels. Cory renewed visas in Port and visited LaGonave.

November: Tree pruning. Finished up a curriculum year...started the next. Dad received a new hip. Thanksgiving. Hospital summit meeting while the other 3 visited LaGonave.

December: Newsletter. Todd's elbow surgery and Beth's last chemo. Christmas.

Dec. 27th

2011-12-27T07:44:00.001-05:00

Church on Sunday most people would not of noticed being any different from a normal Sunday-other than the 12 large balloons on a string and nice peach full length curtains over the doors and windows. One smaller balloon, long and skinny popped during service. Very nice to worship and sing on Christmas day with our Haitian family.

The rest of Christmas and yesterday we enjoyed major family time. Good food we normally do not eat like ham, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole and yesterday lasagna, followed by Christmas cookies and fudge.

The boys spent most of yesterday playing each other on the computer building up civilizations while Anna and I watched movies. While watching I worked on my sister-in-laws cross-stitch as well as a prayer card idea for the LaGonave hospital. Today will be similar with a few more 'normal' activities like reviewing French and Cory loading the truck for a plant distribution tomorrow.

What load do you carry that you can leave in 2011?

Winding up the year my thoughts turn both to the past and future. This year mingled great memories with some hard times. What will 2012 hold? How will we change? I received the inspirational book, Life without Limits by Nick Vujicic for Christmas and know that I want to continue to live intentionally and even learn to live more impulsively for the Lord. We received a book from Sonlight, I am reading to the family at lunch called The 10 Second Rule-Just do the next thing you're reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do by Clare De Graaf.

No one knows how much time one will live on this earth. I want to use my time wisely. I want to make great memories with my family as I encourage them and support them to make an impact for the Lord's Kingdom.

Praying for Beth's last chemo treatment today. [Error on the date listed on our last update]
Praying for Giles family and Pastor Denord both traveling to the USA today.

Merry Christmas to ALL!

2011-12-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas.

May your celebrations be full of peace, joy and love. Make lots of memories with your family and friends.

Christmas Past.

Christmas Present.

Christmas Presents for neighbors.

[Cookies, candy, carmel corn, gingerbread]

Lots of time as family.

Peace

Faith

Joy

Love

New head-cookie decorator.

Cards from family.

Treats for the neighbors.

Dec. 23 Kid's Club Party Pictures

2011-12-23T09:04:00.000-05:00

Well the total count ended up closer to 600 than 1,000 but a good time.

Anna helped prepare some of the food and attended most of the activities.

Started in a big assembly explaining the day, some songs, verses.

Then they separated into classes and divided the boys and girls for discussions on personal health care.

Lunch -bagged lunches or rice and beans for some. [Cory not only helped with the popcorn but juice and cool-aid like drinks.

Program after lunch-more singing, verses, a short video, Birthday gifts.

Weather nice and sunny!

Church last night-I enjoy the singing very much.

Sadly in the middle of the night a group of people broke into the school's office. A big desk ended up moved to near the road?? Don't know why unless they intended to have it picked up by a truck? Paperwork scattered.

We heard that Compassion's pay roll may of been in the office but as of yet do not know the full extent of the losses. Praying that the paperwork mix up [maybe loss] will not adversely affect any of the students.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow Taylor!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Dec. 22 Kid's Club Party Day.

2011-12-22T07:43:00.000-05:00

Looks like the sun will come shinning over the mountains any time and stay around for the party.

Cory's busy popping pop corn for the party. Thankfully other folks will divide it up into small bags. Not sure there will be enough for 1,000 small bags but hope each child gets one. Hard to estimate how many children will come.

Cory and Anna show the 1/2 way mark! Will be a bit healthier than Haitian popcorn...less salt.

They told the children to bring a lunch as the plan for the program is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Do not know what all is planned but Anna will report later today. Eli and I will spend some one-on-one time working on school. Cory will likely go for parts of the party and I plan on sending the camera with him.

The last couple days school ended an hour early or so because of special church services starting about 5:45 p.m. The theme verse for the week is Malachi 3:8 "Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions." Interesting how many sermons we've heard on tithing in Haiti vs. the USA.

Tuesday the focus was on what can we give God in light of all He's done for us. Last night the focus was on Mary and Joseph and living our lives as they did so we can be used by the Lord.

Kodiak enjoying a sunbeam nap yesterday. As our winter afternoons more often than not include rain more than sun he's taking advantage of the opportunity. Or he did until Cory put a ladder up to the roof over the bedroom to cut off a mango tree branch touching the roof.

Praying for those in the military or Lord's service serving around the world away from family, especially the missionary college kids unable to return home. Safe travels for those who can join family.

Dec. 19th- winter weather.

2011-12-19T07:30:00.002-05:00

A wintry day in Fauche..cold and rainy this morning. Not quiet as cold as yesterday morning when Cory took the thermometer out in the yard and watched it drop to 62 but does not look like the sun will be coming out any time soon to warm things up.

To fragile to travel to Haiti but by picture, 2010

Yesterday my 10 minute health talk at the end of Sunday school went well. I touched on being healthy mentally [not worried, not afraid, not angry or fighting, not intentionally sinning]; knowing what medications you've been on and why; hand washing [as well as covering your mouth with your arm when you cough]; learning what you can to protect your health; and how it's our responsibility as a Christian to keep our bodies [temples of God] as healthy as possible so we can do the work the Lord has for us to do.

In the afternoon Anna helped with Kid's club while Cory and I walked down to the hospital to pray with Pastor Phillip who brought his 19 year old son in the previous night with mental agitation. While we waited outside the room the man in the next room wanted to talk so I chatted a bit and prayed with him. After a short talk and prayer with Pastor Phillip [personally we do not know his son who had many visitors that afternoon so we just prayed with Pastor] Then we swung by the cholera area and prayed for a man and child there. So thankful that with all our recent rain only two folks hospitalized with cholera.

Today we will see how much school we can get completed after our 3 days of testing. I'm assuming from past experience that the work done during these 3 days of limited supervision was done in a patchwork fashion so will have some holes to fill. No French class for the next couple of weeks but we need the time to practice!

Then time permitting we may continue to plan our week of celebrations and baking. This week the church will hold special services every night.

Dec. 17th

2011-12-17T17:31:00.000-05:00

Haitian Nativity I found in storage a few years ago.

The sun disappeared behind the clouds and soon to move below the mountains. Right now my Dad's family in Michigan should all be at my folks celebrating Christmas. One of those times one wishes for an instantaneous, cheap method of travel to zap one here and there.

Our day mostly consisted of cleaning and making some Christmas cookies. Good thing we doubled the recipe as it only made 1/2 as many cookies at stated. Guess our candy canes just turned out denser than they were meant to be. Taste OK but most will go into our Christmas bags of treats for the neighbors.

Anna took the cleaning to a whole different level than the rest of us. While Eli and Cory spent hours this afternoon creating civilizations and somehow interacting each on their own computer Anna and I sorted items from her room.

While we watched a Christmas video we sorted through a trunk of her old treasures. Our girl continues to grow up as seen by the 4 boxes of toys she decided to donate. One special toys and items no longer hold any appeal to her but the idea of other children getting a special bear or toy for Christmas brought a sparkle to her eyes and a smile to her face.

Last Sunday a young man between Sunday school and church took about 15 minutes to talk to those present about the need to protect the trees and prevent erosion. Andy attends Christian University of Northern Haiti, a private Christian four-year university on the other side of Limbe studying agriculture.

I thought when we chatted after church for a moment that he asked if he could talk to me for a few minutes after church on Sunday... well he just stopped by to confirm that I'm prepared to talk for 15 minutes tomorrow on health right before the church service starts. Well not exactly but I will be now that I understand.

10 Days Until Christmas

2011-12-15T08:08:00.000-05:00

Today looks like a repeat of yesterday's gloomy, cold [at least for the tropics-in the 70's] and wet day. Heavy rain alternated with drizzles yesterday but today only drizzles so far. Our French teacher came in a jacket and stocking cap! Anna and I dug out jeans and sweatshirts while Cory and Eli remain in shorts and T-shirt.

This time of year our daily 'routine' or 'schedule' often gets chipped away at by holiday events and the attitude of vacation. With the arrival of Eli and Anna's standardized tests Tuesday with the cargo run to Cap Haitian our school schedule received a major blow.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow while one child does testing the other studies on their own. Thankful for wireless so I can both proctor the testing and work on-line. Cory remains in the house to help with school, answer the phones and deal with anyone coming to the door. I asked my kids yesterday if them mind this type of testing like other kids do....some subjects they report they actually like!

I do not know how much momentum for our school days we will be able to recapture next week but we plan to attempt a few more full days before Christmas. It helps that Christmas here remains very low key and we do not have TV to remind them that other children will have started Christmas break.

Cory managed to get the clinic's new batteries connected to the inverter yesterday before we started testing. During a break he hooked up the new batteries in our house. With the rainy weather we needed the lights on during the day yesterday, so thankful it did not take him very long. Government power has been on more the last week so it will be helpful to charge the batteries and have them hold a charge all night.

Praise. Todd's surgery went well.
Prayer: Pastor's on campus for leadership training. Eli and Anna's testing.

Cap Haitian Trip.

2011-12-12T19:45:00.000-05:00

Another week and only 18 days remaining in 2011.

Today Cory will head to Cap Haitian to shop and pick up cargo from the MFI flight. Hope he can find our traditional stocking stuffers. When we can find them each of us get their very own large can of ....Pringles chips. Although generally we only open one at a time and share as a family. This started back when I lived on LaGonave as a child..normal chips do not travel well.

Anna with imported breadfruit and a small off shoot.

School continues as normal. Cory did some office work yesterday. Clinic numbers were to low for 3 doctors, so I headed back to home. I continue to put together an information packet for visiting medical personal to LaGonave. Met. Rous, the hospital administrator, sent me some papers that were made for visiting medical personal back in 2002-and translated into French and Spanish. It surprised me to see that I wrote it! Carol's folks translated it into Spanish and I don't know who put it into French. Will need a bit of updating but helpful reminders of items I might not of included in the updated one.

The walk to church Sunday and clinic Monday shows areas of erosion as we received over 4.24 inches this weekend and 2.25 inches on Thursday. A bit squishy in some areas but sunshine for the moment peaking out around big fluffy white clouds. While we've dropped to 70 degrees this month we've not yet seen the 60's.

Ready for a day in Cap Haitian.

Cory loaded up banana plants, bamboo and a few breadfruit trees, a couple Acai palm trees, and 5 star fruit trees to share with the Blue Hill's church on the way to Cap Haitian to shop and get cargo. The most important item on his shopping list is batteries for the clinic and our house [our older batteries have lost most of their capacity therefore not holding a charge well anymore].

Praise: SIL Beth feeling a bit better.
Pray: Todd has surgery on his elbow tomorrow.

Thede Haiti Update December

2011-12-10T11:01:00.001-05:00

By the time our next update reaches you both Christmas and New Years Celebrations for 2011 will be history. So from our family to your's Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We enjoyed traditional Thanksgiving foods and fellowship at the local Christian radio station with others ministering in and round Cap Haitian.

Prayer Requests:

LaGonave: Missionaries, Hospital Rebuild, Starfysh, Community Health Evangelism
Teams for 2012 visits & Travel arrangements.
The New Haitian Government
Fauche campus ministries
Eli and Anna's schooling. Standardized testing mid-Dec. if the tests come.
Impact of Creole health book. Translating "Natural Medicine for the Tropics" book into Creole.
Beth. Kris' Dad. Health of missionaries and family.

Agriculture: Cory shared a few "mother plants" for multiplication of breadfruit and bamboo with LaGonave's Starfysh organization on our most recent trip to LaGonave. Jeantiny and a few helpers continue to work for Cory making moringa leaf powder and now Jeantiny works for Starfysh as well. Agriculture will play a significant role as plans progress both through Starfysh and through Lowell Adam's Community Health Evangelism, to help LaGonave residents. Cory's past experience and knowledge base can continue to help LaGonave from a distance as a resource to these ministries on LaGonave. We are so thankful after decades of prayers for Haiti and specifically LaGonave to see positive progress impacting lives and souls.

The baby breadfruit trees which we brought with us to Haiti in August are growing great and have the unusual trait of rooting easily from small cuttings. In just a few weeks time roots develop and a new tree propagated! This is much easier and faster than the traditional method required by other varieties of breadfruit of taking root cuttings from large trees. We will continue to propagate both the breadfruit trees and bamboo to distribute throughout Haiti.

Medical: Kris attended the first hospital summit or 'think tank' meetings on the rebuilding and restructuring of the LaGonave Wesleyan hospital. Fifteen folks from 4 countries came together to discuss strengths, weaknesses, threats and actions that affect the ministry of the hospital and how to improve and increase the impact. We broke down into 4 groups with each group focusing on one area: administration, finances, medicine, and the physical building. We then discussed the areas as a whole group. I'm excited to see the Lord's plans for LaGonave unfold in the coming months and years. Please start praying right now for the work on LaGonave as even now the spiritual battle is real.

Travel: Cory and the kids drove with Kris on the trip to the hospital summit. They then took the ferry to LaGonave to spend a couple days visiting the other missionary families and Haitian friends. Other than a few delays, to be expected when traveling in Haiti, the travel went very well. This week our truck is making the same trip with 8 pastors from North Haiti to attend a meeting at the Wesleyan Ministry Center (where the hospital meeting took place). Photo of Lowell at a new LaGonave latrine. CHE provides the cement, the owner provides the labor and walls.

Fauche Ministries: A new outreach started on campus this month which is a class for adult literacy. While I don't know that I can list all the campus ministries, the main ones include: Church, Home Bible study and prayer groups, Compassion's Child Survivor Program, School [pre-school through high school] Medical clinic/hospital/cholera treatment, Cory's agriculture projects, guest house, Thursday night videos, Northern District office & book store, Compassion Club on Saturdays and Kid's Club on Sundays.

2012 Teams: Currently 8 people hold tickets to visit us for the first half of February. At the time of writing this update, space and tickets remain for February 14-March 1. If you would be interested in joining this team please let us know ASAP [to make this time slot one would likely need to already hold a valid passport and be up-to-date on the recommended vaccinations for Haiti].

Family: Kris' sister-in-law, Beth finishes up chemo on Dec. 27 and then will start radiation treatment. Todd, her brother, plans to have elbow surgery Dec. 14th. Kris' dad received a new hip last month and is doing wonderful.

Blessings,

Cory, Kris, Eli and Anna Thede

Moringa Tree Update.

2011-12-08T14:35:00.001-05:00

Cory and I headed out for a walk on Tuesday and I noticed the young girl who my sister-in-law Beth befriended back in June pumping water at the pump on campus. So we chatted a bit while she carefully wasted the outside of her plastic water jugs.

This young girl Cory shared about in some of the churches we visited this summer as she initiated a Moringa give away by inviting us to her home and neighborhood because she did not have any Moringa trees.

The light color of her hair as well as her small stature point to malnutrition. But her attitude and personality sparkle with spunk!

The day of the visit she excitedly lead us up the path bordering the campus and after turning a bit south we came to her home. After giving her family a few trees she proceeded to lead us to neighbors who also needed trees, even reminding us to give out the Creole handouts.

Good news-she continues to attend a near by school this year.

Bad news-all the Moringa trees we handed out in June ended up as animal food. SIGH. Some how we did not get the importance of the Moringa trees though to the people so that they would value and protect the trees. Told her with a smile that once she found a place that the animals could not get into she could ask for additional trees.

By the end of the month we plan to start planting Moringa tree seeds again for tree distribution. We pray that the people will learn to protect and regularly harvest the Moringa tree leaves.

Lord, forgive me for the life changing gifts that You bless me with that I don't appreciated and do not protect. Help me to see the value of those gifts and make sure that no one or nothing takes them from me or damages them. Help me to not waste the resources You graciously give me. Thank you for grace and second chances. Kris

What if trap.

2011-12-05T16:16:00.001-05:00

OK, I admit I wasted some time in the 'what if trap' this weekend.

Back-LaGonave Moringa Dry shed. The work continues.

After the days of hospital meetings and hearing of the plans to greatly improve and advance the work on LaGonave I came away with mixed feelings and thoughts which led me to the 'what if' line of thinking.

Not negative feelings or thoughts about the plans for LaGonave and the hospital but more why the improvements took so long to start.

Most of the problem areas that need improvement did not develop in the last few years but continue to remain problems decade after decade. Some areas received attention and work but slid backwards when the focus shifted to more urgent and serious problems took priority. Other areas never quit made it to a priority level that resulted in efforts to correct the problem and therefore continue to remain problem areas.

A few issues that came to light developed after the medical missionaries left because we did not anticipate them becoming problems. For example the medical missionaries would orientate visiting medical staff and help answer both cultural questions and questions pertaining to practicing medicine in developing countries. Now some of these questions remain unanswered. [Will be working on putting together orientation information for visiting medical personal with the Haitian staff]

But before I could slump into a major pity party about what could of been...my thoughts swung to a second set of what ifs. What if the missionary personal had not trained the Haitian office staff and medical staff. What if they had neglected to raise financial and prayer support for the hospital for 50 years. There may not of been any hospital to rebuild at this point. What if the hospital had closed years ago? What would the town and island look like now?

What if as a child no hospital existed for me to wander about and see how God's love touched sick and suffering people? What if teams years ago had not made a guest house for teams? What if the earthquake had not brought Haiti back into the news and highlighted the medical needs?

I'm reminded that I do not possess all the facts to make any judgement on what occurred or did not occur. The 'what if trap' only wastes time and energy. The Lord's timing often remains a mystery to man.

Some of us prepare the soil, some plant, some water, some weed, some trim and only a few will harvest. But without each part or role the harvest would suffer or not even happen.

My focus needs to remain on today, the here and now. My attitude today while doing the task in front of me, large or small. How I relate right now to the person at my door or on the phone. Focus on each word, tone, thought that passes through my head. More than enough right there to overwhelm me into a state of doing nothing BUT I am not alone. The Lord can work though me and with weak little old me to do remarkable things. WOW!

Pictures from LaGonave

2011-12-03T16:20:00.001-05:00

Mr. & Mrs. Felicin and family.

New Guest House on Wesleyan Compound

Collecting Sea Glass for Mom.

WISH Library Project.

Back Home

2011-12-02T07:26:00.001-05:00

While happy to return safely back home the trip went better than we could of hoped. Monday early we loaded up the truck after greeting two guest riders and headed down South. Thankfully we made great time arriving in only 4.5 hours because the boat that Cory and the kids expected to take to LaGonave could not come. But we arrived in time for them to catch the public ferry. I stayed on the mainland for the hospital meeting.

Now I can easily make a very long list of things I would prefer to do over meetings but I think that the items discussed in this one will greatly impact and increase the ministry of the LaGonave Wesleyan hospital. I feel very honored for the invitation and thankful that those present not only listened but actively interacted as folks from many countries and lines of work united under the goal to improve the hospital.

While the 'think tank' meetings occurred Cory, Eli and Anna visited LaGonave. Cory talked with his workers, made a trip up the mountains and chatted with friends. Eli and Anna did some school work but mostly connected with friends both Haitian and the missionary kids.

On Thursday morning they returned to the mainland where Cory spend some time talking with Dr. Steve [Starfysh] and Lowell about LaGonave's agriculture. Eli and Anna enjoyed some time with Joy and Heidi before we headed back North.

Will attempt a bit of school today and rest up this weekend. Many things to think about and try to get down on paper on how I can continue to help the progress of the hospital from our remote location. Will share more later.

Thanksgiving Fellowship

2011-11-26T15:20:00.001-05:00

Today we drove to the Christian radio station just outside of Cap Haitian for the annual Thanksgiving get together. We also do our best to celebrate Easter Sunrise with this same group and may get to 1-2 Sunday afternoon church services during the year.

I'd guess we knew about 1/2 of the folks there or less. So we visited with some old friends and met some new folks [new to us]. Folks brought dishes to share and also chipped in for the turkey and ham. Many of the traditional foods tasted great-cranberries, rolls, stuffing, mash potatoes with gravy, casseroles-green bean, corn, and sweet potato. Yummy.

Because of a wedding we needed to hurry up a bit so we only sang one song, enjoyed a short devotional and prayer. We helped clean up and chatted while Eli and Anna enjoyed some after dinner football [American style]

A small amount of rain welcomed us home. For the end of November our area is dry with the lawn starting to turn brown. It would be nice if the rain came today and tomorrow so that we would not need to drive through the rain on Monday.

Monday we will head to the Wesleyan boat dock at Croir Luly where I will be staying at the Wesleyan Guest house while Cory, Eli and Anna go to visit LaGonave. I will attend a meeting about the Wesleyan hospital of LaGonave. While I will not visit the island some of the staff will be attending the meeting so I'll have some time to reconnect.

Eli and Anna nicely decorated our living room for Christmas last night. Our small tree, Furdinand had its lights removed for the first time in years. Eli decided the only way to fluff up the tree branches properly and make sure the lights looked right was to take the lights off and then put them back on. I read aloud while the kids decorated. The trees will be put in Eli's room while we're gone so that the cat does not get any ideas.

We enjoyed a short visit from some of the World Hope staff on Friday. Nice but rare when folks drop in and we have a short chance to visit. Eli and Anna completed a day of school before decorating for Christmas. Next week with the trip we will likely only complete a full day on Friday, providing we return home as planed on Thursday.

I think it interesting that our ham in the picture lasted us for 6-7 meals. A rare treat that shows how much less meat we eat now-than we did when we lived in the USA.

Thanksgiving.

2011-11-23T08:58:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving.

One of those days when I feel the isolation from family and countrymen some. Holidays and missing significant life milestones or health issues stir up lots of memories and a longing for the memories that we miss making because of the distance.

Knowing we will be the only ones celebrating in our area tomorrow makes a small lonely feeling-this feeling will rapidly disappear on Saturday when folks from many countries join together for a time of thankfulness and fellowship on Saturday. Yes, every day we thank the Lord for the blessings He pours on us but nice put aside a whole day to remember and reflect.

The worst Thanksgiving I remember occurred only a few years ago when Eli and Anna attended the international school which did not recognize most holidays as their students came from at least 3 different nations. Because of the carpool responsibilities we did not feel like we could keep the kids home. Spending most of the day alone was hard.

Celebration of our blessings, good food that we generally do not have or take the time to make, and family time will shape our family Thanksgiving. This week we reviewed the history of American Thanksgiving and how the Lord shaped the country and our families history.

So many areas and individual items to be thankful for one hesitates for fear of forgetting important items. But better to forget a few than not acknowledge those we do remember.

God-loving and true. Unchanging.
Faith, Christian heritage, Bible,
Family-biological, spiritual, international
Friends-young and old. New and forever. Here and there.
Freedoms. Ability to choose. Worship. Speech. Vote.
Food, clean water, house, running water, electricity, clothes, shoes
Internet, computers, phones, Kindle, E-bay
Medical-medicines, treatments, surgeries that improve and prolong life. Health
Homeschool. Learning together. Sonlight. The HomeScholar.
Haiti-people, land, weather, culture
Support team-Prayers and $ that allow our ministry to continue as well as the folks at GP and other ministries that support our lives here.
Books!
Nature-animals, Kodiak-our cat, trees, flowers, plants, mountains, sea
Music, colors, beauty, nice smells
Laughter, joy, peace, contentment, gratitude
Political stability, safety

Thank the Lord. Enjoy those around you. Count your blessings.

Walk, clinic, learning, reading.

2011-11-21T11:32:00.001-05:00

Cooler weather and still limited rain lured us out of the house on Saturday morning for a walk. Cory and the kids went all the way up to our nearest cell tower while I spent some alone time 1/2 way up enjoying the view of the valley and talking to the Lord. [Yes they have better lungs than me]

Today Cory worked on office work while keeping an eye on our students. Clinic crowd moderately busy so I visited with 5 patients and interacted with a few of the student nurses. Today's patient diagnoses included: malaria, scabies, ear channel infection, constipation, very bad teeth, bronchitis, and GI worms.

Three moms received information about dental care, not buying hard candy and pop for their children and good nutrition. The students also learned about breast feeding, introduction of solid food, dangers of putting small cotton applicators in ear channels, WIDAL test for typhoid and more.

Only about 5 folks in the Cholera area. The pastor talked about a school in Haiti that was hit hard with the Cholera [I think it was recent?] with over 150 students hospitalized at one time and 50 died. Very sad.

Eli and Anna continue to learn during and after school hours. Both are looking forward to sharing a Thanksgiving meal with some other kids on Saturday at the radio station as well as visiting LaGonave.

After sharing on our homeschool curriculum forum what Cory shared about 'yeah' I learned that there are a few ways to use this word. Think I'll try to change to YAY-to mean excitement and not just agreement. Words can be tricky to use correctly. Today in French our teacher introduced 10 new verbs to us. Fortunately they all end in 'er' so we will be able to learn the different forms in a group.

Reading older classics one also becomes aware of how the meanings of words change with time. I enjoy the ease of looking up unfamiliar words while I read with the Kindle! We just read H. G. Wells' book the The Time Machine over the weekend. Interesting discussions occurred due to this book. Now we will need to pick our next book.

End of week one.

2011-11-16T14:56:00.001-05:00

Mail came Tuesday, the 15th, including a couple of letters, a couple magazines, a few books and new DVD's and yes a few of these items fall under the category of Christmas presents. When shopping for gifts includes international shipping one needs to start early in order to make sure at least some arrive before Christmas Day.

Cory visited the market in Port Margo, Wednesday morning for produce. We plan to celebrate family Thanksgiving on Thursday [START School holiday] and then with the other local ex-patriot families with a potluck Saturday at the Christian radio station near Cap Haitian.

Anna decorated the living room for Thanksgiving. We will enjoy these decorations for the week and then move on toward Christmas.

Cory's guys cleared and prepared more land for planting this week. Unfortunately one of his workers, Evon hit his finger with the machete yesterday. Cory accompanied him to clinic and thankfully reported the injury turned out minor. Evon surprised him by even coming to work today.

Despite schools in Haiti being off for the anniversary of the last major battle in Haiti's fight for independence..we put in a full school day. Next week will take our day off.

The motivation to get into a good school day pattern is being undermined by the knowledge of a holiday next week, a major trip the next week, followed by several days of standardized testing [providing the tests arrive]. Still I'm pleased with the outcome of our first week of new topics.

Often at meals we discuss items learned that day. Mine today, thanks to Cory-- proper spellings Yeah! or yea. For a long time I've used 'yeah' without the ! to indicated excitement over news. Never occurred to this poor speller that it could be taken as 'yeah so what' tone. So sorry if I've confused you or upset you by my improper spelling of a happy complement. I rarely use this word in formal newsletters or correspondence so Cory's not had the chance to point it out to me until now.

Praise Dad doing well.
Prayer for Norther district youth representatives meeting this weekend.

Breadfruit Tree Update.

2011-11-16T10:51:00.001-05:00

Remember those small trees carried in a horizontally held carry-on from Michigan back in August? Baby plants

The trees continue to grow well and some have already been divided into a second tree already! Yeah. Three of the original trees died from dehydration during travel therefore a 98% survival rate.

The baby plants that contained branches when brought to Haiti were intentionally potted deeper so the soil covered the base of the branches.

Now, less than three months later, you can see that both branches grew roots which allows them to be separated into new trees.

This process can be repeated every few months for exponential multiplication. By cutting off the growing point and removing the biggest leaves Cory can force the small trees to make more branches. Roughly half of the trees will be allowed to grow normally while the rest will be used for propagation. By propagating the trees in Haiti the shipping fee and initial purchase price can be saved.

Today I'm thankful to live in the tropics. While hanging our clothes out to dry my eyes noted the green mountains and trees surrounding me. A gentile breeze will dry the clothes while the 84 degree temperature feels great. Sunshine brightens the day-not harshly but just right.

Praise-Dad doing well. Beth completed her 4th chemo treatment yesterday.

Prayer-Todd, my brother with an gout attack.
LaGonave's Compound manager's 6 year old daughter died this week.

Nov. 14th

2011-11-14T11:29:00.001-05:00

Monday the 14th.
Dad went home from the hospital after doing well this weekend.
Eli and Anna started new year of curriculum.
Beth to receive her 4th dose of chemotherapy, tomorrow.

For the first time in a long time I saw 6 patients in clinic. If enough patients come to clinic I put in a couple hours seeing new patients and then return in the early afternoon to give patients who needed laboratory testing their results and treatments.

Today about 20 nursing students joined the crowd as they received orientation to the clinic and hospital. I do not know how long they will be with us but during my introduction by Pastor Rigo he mentioned the Creole health book. One of the students responded that she had the book and thought it was helpful. The other students will be able to purchase a book at the pharmacy if they wish.

I wrote the patient names, dates and a few medications on the prescriptions and prayed with some of the patients. I anticipated that the time in the afternoon between seeing the patiences for a second time and French class would be short. I arrived 10 minutes late to class.

Knowing that I was going to be late for class caused me to hurry with my last patient. I ended up rushing a bit and made an error. I explaned that because her pregnancy measurement looked to be one month smaller than expected she should get an ultrasound. She did not understand me so a student nurse explaning a second time what I wanted her to do.

I thought I would check the dates again and got myself confused and thought that my error occured with the first calcuations. So I appologised and let her go...but that small voice in my head would not be quiet so later I recalculated twice and I was right the first time. Unfortantaly by the time I did this she had left for home. While it is very doubtful that she would of gotten the ultrasound anyway I feel badly for the mistake. [She waited until 32 weeks to come for her first visit.] And I also know that if the baby is very small for dates there is little that could be done here to help but still I feel badly. [Or she could be mistaken on her dates and everything is fine.]

French class went well. School went OK. Anna put up Thanksgiving decorations while I read some of today's school books to her. I graded a couple things as well. A full day! I'm looking forward to going to bed.

Thank you for your prayers.

Mixed Feelings.

2011-11-10T11:49:00.001-05:00

Mixed feelings filled me yesterday. Celebrating the completion of a year's worth of curriculum our family we spent the day playing games, talking, laughing and watching videos. My family in Michigan spent the day at the hospital waiting for Dad while he received a new hip and then settled in his hospital room. One of those days when the ability to be in two locations at the same time sounds like a great thing.

Our school year finished up well. All three of us learned many things about the world the Lord made and how us humans interact in it. Monday we will jump into a new year of curriculum-Anna looks forward to Ancient world history and revisiting some great books that we read together 3 years ago when Eli took this course.

New Garden-bananas and sweet potatoes

Eli and I will be spending the next months learning about history of God's kingdom as well as physics and psychology. Years ago I labeled homeschooling with words like 'painful', 'penitence' or 'punishment' but thankfully now the labels include: 'blessing', 'enjoyable', and 'rewarding'.

The hours of schooling, communication needs and working on a second book do keep me in the house most days. I find that without meaning to I can go through the week with very little outside contact other than Sunday morning church and some superficial chatting with Cory's workers and our cooks.

Wire cut and stolen on campus.

Once again I need to make an intentional effort to get out and mingle with the folks on campus and in the community. I really do not know why isolation becomes an issue with me. I like people. I like taking walks and visiting. The great weather recently cannot be blamed. The book and communication needs really do not fall into a category of urgent and therefore could be delayed an hour or so without problem.

Cory and I did take a walk on Thursday because of my contemplating and realizing again the need to make the effort needed. Perhaps we need to have one afternoon a week that school lets out earlier than 4 p.m. After 4 generally I exercise, check E-mails, and think about supper. If I still retain some motivation I'll work on the book.

Interesting that even though our day to day schedule will not change from Friday to Monday-finishing up a curriculum year makes me reflect on life and contemplate change. More thinking needed.

Thankful: Dad did well with surgery and slept well last night. New school curriculum.
Prayers: Beth will be well enough to take Chemo #4 on Monday and Dad will be able to return home.

Thede November E-mail update.

2011-11-10T07:04:00.000-05:00

Recent cooler nights and days indicate fall weather along with the turning of the calendar. Kris's folks, along with a family from the Allegan church purchased tickets to visit in February. We may end up with a few open spots on the team should you wish to join them and visit us. Let us know if you are interested.

Agricultural: Cory picked up two orders of banana plants at the Cap Haitian airport. One for here and another was Starfysh's which he brought to LaGonave. Visits to local gardens continue to show advantages of the imported banana plants over the local varieties. Just south of our house we now can harvest fresh Moringa leaves from our own plot. In less than 2 months the scraggly leftover trees, in small plastic cups over the summer, now planted in well prepared soil, grew to over waist high! Bamboo distribution in Ti Bourg resulted in increased interest when they saw the plants and requests for another delivery of bamboo plants.

Medical: Clinics remain slow as is normal for the start of the Haitian school year in October. The start of the rainy season increased the number of patients suffering from cholera. At times over 17 patients lay side by side on cots in the area previously used for a chapel/ waiting area. Because of the swift action of this disease the numbers of patients can change rapidly from day to day. Because the government requires that cholera patients receive free care, the financial burden remains costly. Some Cholera treatment supplies come free from the government but not all that is needed and nothing is provided by the government for staff paychecks.

Travel: Cory and Gener traveled to Port-au-Prince to renew our residential visas on Oct. 24th. A quick visit and overnight trip to LaGonave on the 25th, picking up the papers and returning back home on the 26th. Thankfully the trip went very well and Cory met with Jeantiny and others on LaGonave.

School: Eli and Anna remain on track to finish up one year's worth of curriculum this week [started in January of this year]. We will start the next curriculum year next week. In addition to our normal studies the three of us now meet with a French teacher twice a week to work on French grammar and pronunciation. Kris continues to research the ins and outs of high school record keeping and classes to prepare Eli to enter college.

Country: Haiti's new prime minister, Garry Conille, received confirmation from the Haitian Parliament on October 5.

Creole Books: Cory delivered a load of books to Pastor Dan and LaGonave on his trip. Here in the North, the Wesleyan churches can make the books available to their congregations as the pastors recently received books to sell at low cost. New groups continue to learn about the book and request copies.

Family: Kris' sister-in-law, Beth is in the middle of chemo treatments. Kris' dad will received a new hip on Friday, Nov. 11.

Prayer Requests:

Cholera and medical patients.
Church leadership
Teams for 2012 visits & Travel arrangements.
LaGonave Hospital Summit meeting Nov. 29/30
New Haitian Government
Eli and Anna's schooling. Standardized testing early Dec.
Impact of Creole health book. Translating "Natural Medicine for the Tropics" book into Creole.
Beth. Kris' Dad. Health of missionaries and family.

Blessings,

Cory, Kris, Eli and Anna Thede

November 7th.

2011-11-07T15:12:00.000-05:00

Left-Jontinny Cory's LaGonave gardener.
Right-Gennier Cory's Fauche gardener.

Only a few hours remain in the first week of November!

Saturday morning my studious children spend working on school work. Lest you think that the motivation consisted of only the love to learn....if they complete this curriculum year before next Friday we will spend the day playing games and watching movies. On Monday, Nov. 14th we plan to start a new year of curriculum.

Saturday at dusk I received a call from the clinic to come and consult on a laboring mother. The mother arrived in the early afternoon to deliver her second child but unfortunately her labor pains did nothing and I confirmed the lack of a heartbeat. Because of our limited testing and facilities we sent her to a larger hospital. I prayed with her.

Haiti did not participate in day light savings this year so no time change for us.

Sometime last week-several wires stolen from the campus. Pastor to file a report with the police today.

Sunday morning heavy drizzle prevented many from attending church but we made it. Interesting the Pastor spend some time correcting a couple points from the message the week prior. See a visiting pastor shared and a couple points made did not fit with what the Wesleyan church teachers so Pastor Jonas clarified what and why.

Jontinny with his older childre

Sunday we enjoyed our first Moringa from the new plot near the house. One branch from each tree made a small serving for each of us.

This morning after starting school I went down to clinic. On the way our French teacher who teaches high school here on campus informed me that due to a death in his family he would be unable to hold classes today. He will call when he can met with us again. Then because two Haitian doctors already had the small clinic under control I walked back up to the house to continue school.

With my 'extra' time I'll be working on an E-mail update, reviewing French, read a blog about homeschooling high school and if time remains work on the Creole plant book.

Praise: Finishing up the school year and bananas to share with the Haitian school children.

Prayer: Problem with stealing. Health for clinic/hospital patients.

Banana visit, trimming, and more.

2011-11-04T09:11:00.000-05:00

Cory enjoyed visiting some local gardens yesterday. During the walk he saw many of the imported banana plants, overall doing better than the local varieties. The nights continue to cool down and bring rains a few times a week.

The tall banana plant in the back with a bunch of green bananas was imported while the small plants in front are local.

Yesterday the guys worked to 'trim' some trees on campus. Cory calls it trimming while the rest of us would use 'major pruning' or 'tree mutilation' to describe the major limb removal. This work served two major purposes-to remove weak, dangerous limbs and open up areas for planting breadfruit trees on campus. Cory would add that the trees now look better after their shaping.

My Moringa tree garden by the house continues to grow well, with the trees now reaching waist high.

Kid's Club leaders met yesterday with ideas on how to expand and improve their impact on the community. They plan to hold a Christmas party next month for the children.

While looking for good movies for our family for Christmas we made sure to check if the disk included a French translation or subtitles. That way the video can be shared with the community as well as watched in French in our home to help Eli, Anna and I improve our language skills.

While we occasionally grumble about using the computers most of the time we remain very thankful for these machines that impact our lives greatly: communication with family/supporters/team, on-line shopping, school, information/research, entertainment [i.e. Kindle books], word processing, staying connected with the world and pictures.

Having the right tools for the job can make a large difference. As I learn about preparing students for college many experts advise to take time to train them for life: taking responsibility for ones actions, attitudes and work, being organized, managing time, living healthy.....

I'm thankful for the 'tools' and skills that my parents and teachers taught me growing up and continue to work on adding the good while pruning the bad.

Balance

2011-11-01T09:34:00.001-05:00

This morning I turned the page on our calendars to a new month, November. I took a bit of time to write down a few goals for this month on the side of my organizer. October 2011 fades into history never to return. A new month stretches before us will it be a balanced or unbalanced month?

Balance can be a difficult concept to identify, reach, and maintain. Priorities can shift subtly, slowly, escaping notice until suddenly a crisis draws our attention to the shift. One needs to stay alert and intentionally keep goals clear or they fade. Urgent problems can shift priorities as can day to day, 'normal' routines.

Thankfully the Lord grants us wisdom when we ask. Only He can help us identify health balance in our lives and reach balance. Balance requires making hard choices and sometimes saying 'NO' not only to bad or unhealthy things but sometimes to good things. Good things but things we just do not have time or energy for.

Thankfully many things in our lives the Lord balances for us. We do not normally think about these balances in our lives. My grandmother's can no longer produce enough blood cells-so she needs regular transfusions. Ironically my mom makes to many blood cells therefore needs to have blood drawn weekly to keep her levels down. Thankfully most of us do not need medical help to maintain normal blood levels.

Balance.
Computer time with real life time. Devotions and prayer time. Money-life needs vs. wants. Helping others enough without causing dependence. Personal time vs. sharing time with others. Family time vs. serving others. Work vs. rest. Busy vs. slowing down to enjoy earth's beauty. Order vs. random. Pressure vs. control. Details vs. basics......

Eli, Anna, and I continue to wind down the school year with each day seeing projects completed. Yesterday after a French quiz our teacher told us we were doing well. Grammar falls low on each of our 'like' list to study in any language but we continue to learn.

Most of the people sitting on the clinic benches yesterday morning turned out to be family of the 15 or so Cholera patients receiving treatment. Cory reported seeing a body removed after clinic. I cannot imagine being sick in a room with 15+ other people, staff and family members coming and going at all hours and witnessing the death of someone with the same diagnosis. But I remain grateful that the Lord continues to supply the resources [supplies and staff] to keep this vital ministry going.

My parents continue to work on getting tickets for a visit in February. Please join us in praying for the potential work teams for 2012: right people, right dates, right travel, right projects and right experiences.

Cory attempted to contact our friend for news about his wife but the phones would not work.

Praise: Ministries at Fauche-spiritual, medical, agricultural, educational.
Prayer: Ministry balance, effectiveness.

Learning.

2011-10-29T12:22:00.002-05:00

Sunny, no wind, a slightly muggy and hot Saturday afternoon.

Cory arrived back home in the dark and in the rain on Wednesday night. Thankfully his trip accomplished the goals he left with: renewal of our residential visas, delivery of Starfysh banana plans, and some shopping. He greeted many of our friends on LaGonave and encouraged them.

We learned many things this week both in school and out of school. One after noon the rains kept Eli and Anna inside during their normal time to run around and play with their friends. Anna chose to spend her time on the computer learning with a art program while Eli worked on a on-line program reviewing math concepts. I think they do enjoy learning as shown by their choosing to continue to learn outside of school time and am thankful.

On our bedroom wall.

I too continue to learn. The past couple of weeks I've been learning about keeping high school records and the best way to prepare Eli for his goals of attending college and working toward a degree in mechanical engineering. Research helps us to expand the resources that will help Eli and Anna continue to learn and grow in their skills and knowledge base. Yes it is possible to provide good schooling in rural Haiti if you intentionally work at it.

One concept stressed is learning your kid's passion and encouraging them. How true in life as well.

I'm so very thankful that the Lord uniquely equips each one of us with special combinations of likes and passions. I am very thankful that the Lord opened the door for us to move to Fauche, four years ago, where the conditions allow Cory to work with the plants and trees that he loves. I am thankful that I can spend every day encouraging and equipping Eli and Anna to follow their God given dreams and use their passions and talents to advance His Kingdom.

Our world would be a much better place if each of us tried to encourage those we connect with every day. How can we help others reach their goals and dreams?

Cory's Travels

2011-10-25T07:09:00.000-05:00

I did try to blog yesterday but the Internet would not work for me when it was not thundering..sorry.

Cory left yesterday at 4 a.m. for a trip to Port-au-Prince and LaGonave. Genier traveled with him and helped to load the truck with over 1300 banana plants purchased by Starfysh and heading for LaGonave. As many boxes of Creole health books that could fit on the truck also made the trip South.

At 10 a.m. knowing we would be enjoying a break from formal school Cory called letting us know they reached the Irvine's house, near the Wesleyan boat dock and unloaded the plants and books. Later about 2 p.m. he updated us on their way from Immigration [where he'd renewed our residential visas] going across town. They shopped and then spent the night at the Gille's guesthouse.

Today they will head across the sea to LaGonave. Visit with friends. Visit the gardens and talk about the ongoing agricultural work as well as Starfysh's plans. Tomorrow they head back into Port to hopefully pick up the paperwork that should be ready at 10 a.m. If all goes VERY well in Port they will head back here tomorrow. The trip will take over 7 hours from Port.

Eli, Anna and I continue to work on school. I've found a hole in our English education-while learning our French 1,2,3rd person singular and plural tenses we noticed that my kid's cannot easily identify the pronouns in this manner. So our French studies now spill into English. I'm not sure what our teacher thinks about our progress but we continue to learn every lesson. I'm hoping for 'slow but steady' progress.

My folks started looking into tickets to come visit next year! Anyone want to join them? A few churches continue to talk about teams and pray about a visit. The big prayer request would be that when folks do decide they would like to come that the plane would still have open seats for the dates the team wants.

Prayers: Beth received her third round of chemo yesterday. Cory's trip.

Thankful: Electricity. Great times of learning with Eli and Anna. Wonderful support team.

Information overload vs. blind faith.

2011-10-21T17:03:00.000-05:00

Monday my folks attended 'Joint Academy' ALL morning receiving a book of information and learning about what to expect before, during and after Dad's hip replacement next month.

Contrast this with our friend to stopped by yesterday to talk about his wife's brain surgery next week. All he really knows is the need for a large amount of money. Things that remain unknown include: why she needs surgery [no diagnosis], risks of surgery, possible outcomes of surgery [cure?], recovery time [important as the surgery will take place in the Dominican Republic]......

Remember a few weeks ago when I blogged about questioning how involved we should be in this case, should we visit her at home? She continues to experience headaches and remains bed ridden now in the DR. No one knows if this relates to her previous battles with cancer.

In medical care does a perfect balance exist where the patient receives all the information and not one fact more that they need to make the correct decision about treatment for their personal case? Not very long ago in the history of American folks generally left the major decisions up to their doctor. While some positives existed in this method so did negatives.

So I wonder, has the USA swung to far to the other extreme-flooding patients with to much information to understand so that if a bad outcome occurs the medical profession can hide behind 'informed consent'?

In medical school training the idea existed to try to leave it up to the patient how much information they wanted. Yes the basics needed to be addressed but after that one could leave it up to the patient how much additional information to share.

Our friend came with some medical questions. With almost no information about his wife to base my answers, I answered to the best of my ability. "How to do they reach the brain?" "Do they remove bone?" "How?" "Do they put it back in?" "Will it stay in?"

I confess, I also added some unsolicited advice [I know.... I'm working on this] noting a few questions that he may want to ask so the family can understand more what to expect.

Another line of thinking occurred to this as I pondered this dear man's dilemma after he left for his home. I wonder how our expectations of medical treatment apply to our faith? Take a person raised in a 'information overload' culture and a person from a 'blind faith' culture- would one be able to put their faith in God easier? Is it best to 'count the cost' before committing or commit 100% in faith?

Yet another instance in life where finding the right balance can be tricky. I do not want to get so caught up in the details and making the right decision that I end up waisting all my time thinking and not acting. Neither do I want to act before thinking.....that would not be living an intentional life but reacting to life.

Wake Up Calls.

2011-10-19T17:08:00.003-05:00

I like wake up calls....let me rephrase. I appreciate timely 'wake up calls' that do not cost much.

Last week while happily adding free books to my Kindle library I clicked too fast and accidentally bought a book. Normally I do NOT buy books as the large variety of free books out there satisfies my reading needs. I bought some books for Elijah's next literature course because cost ended up cheaper. No shipping needed. Eli bought a few books that he wanted for the same reason.

Now I know it the grand scheme of life this $10 error boils down to a dumb mistake but I'll admit it bothers me that I made it. Now I double check the price before clicking the button that commits me and my money. Someday when I'm able to face this event calmly I'll actually read the book I bought and put a price on it. So far it represents a lesson, look carefully before you click.
[I'm thankful the lesson did not cost me more than it did!]

The second lesson also could of been costly. I thought I was recording all Eli's test grades for history and chemistry as well as grades on his papers for English composition in my organizer. Apparently those 'opportunities to serve' that frequently interrupt my life, and my being flexible resulted in many grades only being placed on the papers or tests and not being recorded in my book. SIGH.

Eli and friends, including Flat Freddy or Stanley

Again, not a earth shaking problem. I know how well Eli has done overall in each subject and did record many tests but the oversights make me feel dumb. Thankfully we have 4 more years and several ways to improve on my record keeping so I'm not panicking.

Yes, I need to be more intentional. It reminds me of when we decided to try to make a new path on the compound. At first we often forgot and found ourselves walking on the old path but with time, reminders and some work we became accustomed to the new path until the old one faded from use.

Right now I am working to be more intentional, improve my high school record taking, be more positive in attitude and encouraging in my speech as well as not judging as much. Lots of work represented in that last sentence-please pray for me.

May all your 'wake up calls' be timely and cheap.

Pray for MFI flights tomorrow and Friday. Medical flight tomorrow to Dominican for a missionary who broke both legs therefore Cory's cargo run will now be on Friday. Heard today Pastor Rigo is sick.

Thankful that on Monday only 7 beds in the cholera area were occupied. Thankful for home schooling high school advice [makes me feel like I'm taking a college course again] to keep us on track.

2011-10-17T11:26:00.000-05:00

The sun brightens the many different shades of green that surround our lives here. A slight breeze starts up about 10:30 a.m. and generally builds to the afternoon when thunder may or may not herald an afternoon thunderstorm.

Emperor Jacques I-wikipedia.

I'm not sure why but the quiet strongly suggests that no school, other than my two students, occurred on campus today. Oh, yes the cook reminded us that it is a Haiti holiday today, Dessalines Day. Jean-Jacques Dessalines lead during the Haitian Revolution and became the first rule of an independent Haiti in 1801. He declared himself Emperor in 1804 and ruled until his assassination in 1806.

In the House of Hope the pastors of the Northern district discuss the various items on the agenda for their meeting. Cory hopes to offer each pastor some of the Creole health books to take back to their church making the books more accessible to the church members not in Cap Haitian near the book store.

I visited with an older lady with high blood pressure problems, the adult daughter who accompanied her as well as a young mother with a cute, chubby 5 month old who lost a big patch of hair when another child picked at his case of cradle cap. Before returning up to continue school with Eli and Anna, I prayed with each of the 7 patients in the cholera area. The staff thanked me for praying for their protection as well.

Cory's gardener on LaGonave called yesterday to let us know that his grandmother died from Cholera. The seven current patients include: one child, one teen, four elderly men and one old lady. Because of the rapid speed that this disease can cause one to become critically ill, the number of patients can jump rapidly. Please keep praying!

Yesterday we watched a DVD about the life of Mother Teresa. I too want to 'be the Lord's pencil' letting Him use me as He wishes. May I learn to see every one and treat everyone as I would the Lord. How easy it is for me to forget that each person contains the image of God because that is how we were created, in His image.

Thankful: Freedom of sharing the love of God publicly. Medical staff and supplies helping others.
Prayer: Cholera patients. Impact of the health books. Leadership.

Judging life...and people.

2011-10-14T11:12:00.000-05:00

Do you know what the pods are?

Another week winding down. Moments gone never to be lived again.

Overall this week went well. We celebrated Cory's birthday with thankfulness. We completed some school assignments so that all subjects are 'caught up' with the work schedule. The school days continue to be filled with review of known information and introduction of new.

Cory's plans for a trip to Port to renew our paperwork and visit LaGonave the end of the month appear to be coming together. He will make a cargo run on Oct. 20th to the Cap Haitian airport to pick up some plants for Starfysh. Then early on the 24th he will head to Port-au-Prince. Gener will go with him.

Eli and Anna's writing assignments for the last couple weeks consisted of writing a paragraph on 20 or so topics about Haiti and our lives here. I'm shaping these into letters from 'Flat Freddie' or Stanley for a couple of children's programs in the USA. Now Cory needs to proof read the letters and then we will add a few pictures and send the project off to Michigan and Delaware.

For school I'm reading aloud Bruchko by Bruce Olson. Many interesting discussions have spun off this book in our house. How badly the missionaries treated this young man. How hard it would be to eat squirmy grubs the size of a hot dog. Right now we just read how depressed and board he got when he first lived with the Motilone Indians. He had read his Bible so many times that even that became boring. He wished that the day only lasted 3 hours and that he could sleep the rest.

In thinking about this time of his life I find my self asking "Why, Lord." Why did Bruce need to go through days, weeks and months of depression? Asking why he was there? What good was he doing?

In my life, reading and ponderings I'm focusing on getting away from judging. Judging people, situations, events really does not accomplish much in my life because I do not have all the facts. We see such a small sliver of time or of a situation. We cannot see things from someone else's perspective to know why they act the way they act. I'm becoming more aware of how often my speech, attitudes and actions are judgmental.

Even in writing this blog- "the week went well" Did it really? In my limited perspective it did but what did God think about this week and what we accomplished? Did we do what He wanted us to do? Were our attitudes right or wrong? What did we do that will last forever?

Photos of kids that picked cacao pods for Pastor Emmanuel in the church yard after the bamboo plant distribution.

Happy Birthday, Cory!

2011-10-12T11:30:00.000-05:00

Fitting that Cory's birthday falls so close to Canadian Thanksgiving because we praise the Lord for him and are very thankful for him.

Cory's birthday will be low key with some special food, hugs and cards. As he can be difficult to buy for the kids and I told him that the visit back in August to the Asia supermarket would be his gift-he bought many exotic fruits that he wished to both try and gather seeds to bring back to Haiti.

The solar panels which arrived last week now reside on our roof. The recent cloudy days enabled the guys to work on the hot roof without to much trouble. This morning with the sun shinning fully on the panels our input shows an additional 500 watts which more than doubles our old system. YEAH! The next issue to be dealt with will be at some time replacing our aging batteries.

Yesterday Cory visited Ti Bouk, Pastor Emmanuel's church down the river from us to share bamboo plants. The people excitedly accepted the 40 plants that Cory brought and requested that he return next week with more. Cory plans to offer additional churches bamboo before returning to Ti Bouk. The distributed bamboo will grown and be able to be shared with others in time.

The bamboo can help with erosion as well as be used in building and furniture. As many of you know some types of bamboo can also be eaten but we will not be focusing this aspect for now.

Thankful for Cory: his love for the Lord and us, he shops, he's generous, he's ticklish, neat, clean, forgiving, good at packing, good driver, likes to teach about plants, smart, good steward of money, cooks, loves plants, supports Kid's club and video ministry....and much more!

Pray for cholera patients increasing numbers throughout Haiti because of the rain. Many Haitian schools started this week.

This and That

2011-10-09T13:53:00.000-05:00

This week our Fall Newsletters headed for the USA to be mailed as well as went out on E-mail. I think most of the information already found its way on the blog but will share a bit.

Banana Plants

Before leaving Haiti Cory discovered, to our disappointment, that some of the 'disease resistant' banana plants appeared sick. He worried that Panama Disease had somehow infected the plants. He feared plants bought and distributed in the last few years would continue to grow and produce for a number of years but with time that the plants would become diseased. On our return to Haiti the plants looked better. More research and touring local gardens confirmed that it was not Panama Disease. He now suspects a nutrient deficiency or unbalance in certain soils. Several varieties still show better production and disease resistance over local varieties. So we will again start to purchase and distribute banana plants.

{Photo-New baby banana plants from the USA that came in on Thursday}

Prayer Request: "New Christians to grow in faith: Haiti’s evangelical crusade in July reportedly reached 121,000 people for the Lord!"

Some of the smaller bananas currently waiting to be shared and enjoyed by the Kid's Club members. Thankfully able to share.

School week finished well. Both children enjoyed French but need to learn in mom's opinion to stay on task. By getting us away from common words we end up the French words for 'door frame' and 'veterinarian'. While I'm glad that they enjoyed the class I feel that we need to focus on common and useful words first!

The almost daily afternoon rains water my growing Moringa trees. The sad trees we planted just three weeks ago recovered nicely. The large Moringa that the storm cracked the top out of now sports a nice green head of leafy new growth as well.

Yesterday we learned that the hospital ran out of IV fluids the afternoon before. Thankfully by the end of the day a nice amount of IV's reached Fauche safely in the middle of a heavy rain storm. Please pray for John Pierre as he spends many hours traveling for supplies.

2011-10-06T16:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday after a garden tour with Cory and looking at the empty tents to brainstorm how they could be used by reducing the heat, I remained down at clinic.

The original purpose for the tents, housing cholera patients, does not work because of the heat. Last week someone fainted causing everyone to be moved into the waiting room area. This room now holds 17 cholera patents.

Imagine- men and women, boys and girls each on a cot with a bucket and IV hanging on a pole. Less than two feet separate them from the next cot. Yesterday, prior to my visit, one of their number died. Now add to the crowded room at least one family member to care for each patient and a couple staff members. Personal belongings either sit on the bed or outside under the eaves.

The benches that once sat in rows in the waiting room now sit outside or under the eaves. Personal belongings or family members fill these benches.

Most of the people currently being treated come from a few mile radius. I ask each patient before praying for permission. All accepted prayer. Those who wished to read Creole tracts could request one.

I realize that this must sound very primitive to most of you who receive medical care in a high-tech advanced medical setting. But let me point out a couple of things. One the room full of very sick people remained calm and orderly. The floor regularly receives a mopping with bleach-the only smell in the air.

These patients, in my opinion, receive good care. Each patient received appropriate care and thankfully, [through hard work on the part of the staff] received life saving IV fluids.

Cholera can kill fast, in hours through rapid dehydration. With adequate hydration, oral or occasionally IV's most people can survived the infection. Thankfully most people with Cholera do not get severely sick.

Thankfully those who get severely sick, with appropriate, rapid treatment start to recover in a few days [folks hospitalized with Typhoid can take weeks of treatment and weeks longer before recovery]. Thankfully the treatment and care for Cholera patients is relatively simple compared to some treatments.

But still for a small hospital with 6 rooms with a normal in-patient population of 3-4 the hospital load of closer to 20 remains a huge burden. Keeping enough IV fluids, medications and supplies on hand can be hard and requires many miles and hours of travel to Cap Haitian not to mention money. Cleaning and keeping the germs from spreading to other people and the staff takes vigilance and hard work. Vital signs, charting and keeping all those IV's running at the correct rate keeps the nursing staff busier than normal. Educating people about the disease and prevention remains an important job as well.

While the staff feel a bit overwhelmed they continue to do great. I reminded them that if they need my help to let me know.

Pray that the increased patient load results in an increased impact for the Kingdom.
Praise for the staff [medical, cleaning, purchasing, and office] saving lives and treating suffering.

Timing

2011-10-05T11:44:00.003-05:00

Timing. Yes timing often makes a bit difference in this life of ours: paying of bills, diagnoses of disease, when a storm hits, accidents.

Old Faithful.

Even in this day of rapid communications timing still matters. This morning Cory's opportunity to serve came via a doctor asking him to transport a pregnant lady with eclampsia [high blood pressure induced seizures] to Cap Haitian. Timing in eclampsia means the difference of life and death both for the baby and the mother. [Most of Haiti does not have any kind of ambulance or emergency services.]

Unfortunately by the time Cory and the doctor returned to clinic her family members could not be found as they were out looking for medications and a ride. Hard when you know medically that every minute counts to wait. In the end Cory did not drive as they located a driver but he did finance the trip.

Delay in this case to borrow the money from various family members or friends would of decreased the chances of saving the lives of this lady and child. We will likely never know on this earth if they lived or not. But we know we did our best. The kids and I prayed for her and her family-may they feel the touch of God's love today.

Thankful for our support team who enable us to be here to give assistance in a timely fashion in cases like this one.

Sunday's sermon talked about how we do not know the timing of the Lord's return so we should not be negligent in doing what we know we should be doing. I admit I like a bit of warning before visitors arrive. Scary to think that the Lord could come at a time when I'm being more human than Christ-like. Motivation to keep working on my character!

Being intentional should help not to put off tasks that should be completed in a timely fashion. Lord, help me to not put off the tasks that need to be done today. Lord, help me not to push ahead of your timing but to wait on Your direction when I'm impatient.

Pray: Lady and family. Cory's trip to Cap Haitian tomorrow for cargo. Beth's reaction to chemo.
Praise: Able to help. For those praying for my blue mood.

A bit blue..

2011-10-03T13:55:00.000-05:00

The sun shine streams in my window accompanied by a nice breeze, school continues well, so why do I feel down? I realize and acknowledge with gratitude many blessings of my life but a weight remains. [I admit I even put on some Christmas music last night. Helped a little bit but....]

Beth facing her second round of chemo today- grateful that advanced medical treatments can help her but sad at the side effects she faces. Sad we can not help her and the family out in person.

Thankful for Pastor Rigo's leadership that keeps the clinic running but saddened to hear about the frustrations he continues to deal with to keep things running smoothly. Frustrated for him that the Haitian government says Cholera patients can not be charged for their care but the government is not providing all needed medications or helping with staff salaries for this care.

Saddened looking back in history to World War II at the horrible way people treated people and justified their actions......at the same time realizing many people continue to suffer to this day the under the same attitudes and abuse.

Frustrated at my lack of faith that while I pray for the right team members and right dates to come....a small part of my brain whispers that no one will end up coming because the limited tickets will be all full before the teams come together.

Thankful for the Newsletters waiting to go into the mail on Thursday and out on-line shortly after that to our great support team...but sad to think about those who will not read it or who did not send us a new address.

Know that learning more French will benefit all of us but personally scared of looking foolish and stupid to our new teacher and my kids.

Thankful because I know that some of you reading this will pray for me and help my attitude improve. Thank you in advance, Kris

Loud noises.

2011-10-01T08:42:00.001-05:00

October. A cloudy still morning outside with many frogs singing. Our last quiet week now competed as local school will start up next week. Over 500 children attend school on campus and most classes learn by repeating, together as a class, their lessons out loud. And I do mean LOUD.

Last night the neighborhood filled with the loud sounds of mourning. Neighbors lost a family member. Shrill screams mixed with deep agonizing cries filled the air. Hard to listen to without reflecting on death. So thankful know Him who conquered death and gives us hope.

Another loud noise in the community this week consisted of heavy equipment working on the road. The road improvements hope encourage people from Cap Haitian to visit the nice beaches past us on the coast. Unfortunately the road grader damaged some of the cement at the edge of the road. We realize that while a smoother road makes trips easier on the body the down side exists of vehicles will travel faster, increasing danger to pedestrians and folks standing by the road.

Kodiak. Space waiting for new school books.

Our slowed schooling this week helped attitudes a bit. Next week we add two hours of formal learning as Eli, Anna and I will start with a French teacher. Over five years ago we took Creole classes for a while on LaGonave. Time to try again. This will help us follow in church the Bible readings and songs in French. While we continue to work with Rosetta Stone we will be focusing on grammar and vocabulary. Should be interesting.

The teacher originally thought 1.5 hours a day! NOPE. Will start with one hour a day, two days a week and see how it works. He also thinks that folks who say French is hard to learn are wrong. I tried to lower his expectations by telling him at least two of us have trouble with languages...will see. We figure that time spent with the French now will not only benefit all of us with church and living in Haiti but may someday help the kids with college language requirements.

Prayer: Sunday services. Beth's second round of chemo on Monday. French lessons.
Thankful: Instant message with family.

Should I have pushed?

2011-09-29T07:05:00.001-05:00

One of those 'opportunities to serve' popped up on Sunday. And ever since I've wondered if I messed it up or not.

River valley next to campus.

Around twilight a nice man who owns a bakery down the road dropped in to see us. He attends the Wesleyan church in Port Margot and translated a few times for our teams when visiting preachers preached. Very nice family and I consulted his wife at least once in clinic.

He came to talk about his wife. Her history includes 2 rounds of chemo for cancer in the Dominican Republic but not recently. For the last couple weeks, after a medical visit to the DR with lots of laboratory work for head aches she has remained in bed. Weakness.

I asked many questions about her physical symptoms. Everything sounded similar to how she felt for days and no alarming symptoms. I noted that if he thought she could wait until morning then clinic would be open and laboratory testing could be done as needed. Unfortunately he did not ask for copies of her recent labs which would of been very helpful. I also suggested that a second possibility is getting the results over the phone or returning to the same doctor. I offered to go see her if he wanted at the house. No response.

After a while I ran out of questions and Cory prayed. He left for home in a light drizzle and I started to question my recommendations. Did I miss something? Surely he would of asked if he needed specific help? My offer to make a home visit was clear, right? Cory thought so.

The next morning on my way to clinic I asked John Pierre if he knew any news about the family's decision. Well he thought that they did not have a return date to the DR. Impression-that nothing more could be done for her. A huge difference with medicine here, often the patients do not know a diagnoses and rarely know what treatment they received.

Oh, and the Haitian doctor went Sunday night to see her. ??

New questions- did I miss something? Was just his coming to the house an indication that I should of made a house call? Should I of offered a second time? But maybe he preferred the other doctor? Did I miss cultural cues?

I sent Cory to ask John Pierre if I had messed up. 'No' was the response. Doubts lingered.

Yesterday Cory and I walked to the bakery. After praying about this situation I felt we should bring a health book that includes a section on taking care of bedridden patients. We also brought some fresh avocados. Unfortunately we arrived at a busy time. A group of about 10 women and children waited to buy bakery goods but he stopped a moment to accept our gifts. We asked him to tell his wife that we continue to pray for her and let us know how we can help.

Now I feel better. Human relationships complicate and bless life. Thankfully the Lord promises to grant wisdom when we ask. May I never stop learning and trying to improve my communications with others. Help me Lord to know when to push and when to back off.

Prayers: For this family. Pastor Rigo's wife and baby to adjust to nursing.
Thankful: For a nice walk with Cory. That the misplaced box of medications made it here.

Think THEN Act...

2011-09-27T06:45:00.001-05:00

I'm finding that part of living more intentionally means questioning the motivation behind what I do.

'Kandarian' disease resistant cooking banana. Good ripe too!

Last week I realized that both my students and therefore teacher, more days than not, felt overwhelmed. Deep breath. Step Back.

Stop. Think. Act [A sign in our house used to read this for a member of the family who often acted without thinking.]

After stopping to think things through I discovered that the overwhelmed feeling taking away the fun of learning could be fixed by doing one day of school per day. Simple right.....

Well when we started to use Sonlight we slid into 6 days of school a week. When Eli and Anna attended international school they left the house around 6:30 a.m. and returned between 3:30 and 4. Starting at 7 a.m. taking a nice long break at noon and then finishing up around 3 p.m. we easily completed more than a day's lessons. Great. We finished one day and started the next with any 'extra time'.

Everyone remained happy. More time at home. More time to play with friends. Rare homework [which for Eli the year before took 1-2 hours at night]. And the accelerated pace worked out very well with our scheduled time in the USA.

Fast forward to now. More complicated classes take more time. Pressure causes frustration which removes the joy and fun of learning and spills over into the rest of life making positive attitudes hard to maintain.

What if we slowed down? Did not need to work so hard to 'keep up'. How can one feel 'behind' one's self when going at a rapid pace? Silly I know. What if?? A bit of math showed that even with the majority of weeks only finishing 5 days of lessons a week we will likely finish this school year and the whole next year before our tentative visit to the USA next fall.

We can use any extra time to explore interesting subjects in depth or additional subjects of interest. What a concept!! Yes I admit sometimes I learn things slowly and the hard way. Sadly sometimes my kids join me in the painful learning process.

So WHY push it? No reason at all other than we fell back into a routine that no longer fits or works for us. We did not think through the schedule. We let habit rule over being intentional and rational. Mistake.

So this week we started anew. A fresh plan. Only time will tell if the 5 days a week works for us or not.
Eli and Anna proposed maybe every other week-a 6 day week, once they 'catch up'. But maybe this time we can evaluate more intentionally avoiding building up frustrations and resentments.

Back to that great life word. FLEXIBILITY.

Thankful: Pastor Rigo's wife and newborn son doing well.
Prayer: Revival meetings at Fauche church this week.

Windy Night

2011-09-25T15:12:00.000-05:00

Friday's nice afternoon trade winds seemed to lose out to hot, sticky, still weather. One of those afternoons that you just know if you give into a refreshing shower that the refreshing feeling would end as soon as the shower and you would return to being sticky. Not an afternoon that brings to mind nice sleeping weather.

Clothes Line Moringa Tree

But then a few rain drops....and Cory yelling prepare for wind. Doors banged shut as we scurried to take picture frames containing glass off the walls, pull the couch away from the big window, pin curtains to the bars in the windows and forgot to remove the shampoos from the bathroom windowsill. BAM!

Anna asked if a hurricane hit. No just a short violent local thunderstorm. In addition to the wind preparation we also unplugged everything in the house, grabbed flashlights and threw the switch-disconnecting the electricity to the House of Hope and the Dearest House [both unoccupied at this time].

Wind Damaged Banana Plants

Thankfully the report on Saturday revealed that no local homes received any damage. Thank you Lord. But two of our Moringa trees lost their tops [we enjoyed some Moringa leaves for lunch on Saturday] and one took out the main stem of the Jujube tree on it's way down. Despite being located under the tree limbs none of the baby breadfruit trees received any damage.

After cleaning up the area near our clothes line Cory checked for further damage. As expected some banana plants went down. Because they contain only soft plant material not wood, winds can easily knock over these plants. A few palm fronds were liberated at the same time.

Small Breadfruit Trees

Need to add to our Moringa information the danger of letting the tree get too tall. We could of avoided this by eating more Moringa leaves!

Today the Pastor talked about what we need during the troubles [storms] of life: Patience and prayer. God will save us in His own time. We just need to pray and be patient.

Thankful: limited storm damage.
Prayer: Schools preparing to start first of October.

Interruptions

2011-09-23T10:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday turned out being one of those days....a day full of interruptions. One needs to learn to live with many distractions here and it adds a whole additional layer to home schooling.

The day did not start out any different than normal. Breakfast, school, a load of laundry, plans for Cory and Anna to attend a celebration for the small group of school children who completed a summer program of learning English.

Wondering when our boxes shipped in August by sea container would be released from customs we ask Jean Pierre to check while in in Cap. "Today" he reported when he called. Cory and Gener jumped in the truck and headed for Cap Haitian. The trip, less than 25 miles, currently means a rough, nearly 2 hour drive.

Holding down the home front included answering the door for requests: tape, small generator, keys, projector and stuff, second time for generator, napkins for the party. A second trip to the door required when the items return.

Anna made it to the celebration while Eli and I worked on some chemistry experiments. The afternoon lab ended up rather comical as we attempted to collect the needed supplies and substitute for the items we lack.

When his first attempted failed, Eli good-naturedly tried again, using his mom's idea-which worked worse than his first attempted. Sorry buddy.

But he received an 'A' for the attempt. [Notice the panic induced by the possibility of a major mess. If the water balloon proved too weak to hold the gas produced by the baking powder / vinegar reaction the powder remaining in the balloon would coat the kitchen.]

Cory and the guys missed the celebration because they ended up waiting for the whole container to be unloaded. Cory did note with interest the items sent via container: large TV's, whole bed sets with fancy headboards, chairs, a few refrigerators (2cu ft. to full size), 60 cases of Capri Sun juice, many large boxes appearing full of used clothes, 2 or 3 foot stack of plywood, gallons of cooking oil, and our boxes. One box of ours ended up slipping by the guy's watchful eyes and sent to the warehouse or someplace else? The majority of our boxes contained donated over the counter medications for the clinic and a few boxes of personal items-books, towels, linens, peanut butter, spices, tools....

Cory returned home over 6 hours after he left. I'm sad that John Pierre missed the celebration as he spear headed the class. I'm always impressed how the guys handle major interruptions. While I'm better than I used to be I'm still learning. I remember on LaGonave when the hospital would frequently call me for emergencies or advice I ended up putting a sign by the phone that read "Opportunity to Serve".

May I learn to met every interruption with a smile and think of it as an opportunity not just to serve but to bless.

Thankful: Cory and supplies made it without trouble.
Prayer: Anti-United Nations protests in Port-au-Prince remembering victims of cholera.

Perspective.

2011-09-22T10:16:00.000-05:00

I enjoy reading comments about my blog. Thank you who take the time to write. I admit that to an extent I measure the quality of my blogs by the number of comments I receive. Yes, I know in my head that it can also depend on how busy someone may be, who can respond, and if they feel like it. So my perspective may be a bit off.

Rope at Jamestown.

The event which triggered my pondering on perspective occurred on Wednesday. A Salsa d'Haiti airplane crashed during a thunderstorm while attempting to land a the Cap Haitian airport. I prayed for the families of the 2 pilots and 1 passenger who died in the crash. I praised the Lord that 14 more passengers were not on the plane and that the crash site location occurred in a sugar cane field and not a crowded city neighborhood bordering the airport.

Later in the day the realization dawned on me that just last October we flew from Cap Haitian to Port-au-Prince on a Salsa plane. My perspective shifted a bit. Wow-it could of been our family on that plane. Gratitude for all the miles by land, sea and air washed over me as well as for those who pray for our safety.

Some times our perspectives need a bit of cleaning up or focusing. What really matters in life? Am I focused on the important things? Big events that change our lives we label as pivotal moments. Mine include-becoming a mom, a miscarriage, a evacuation due to political unrest, the 2010 Earthquake, a sister-in-law fighting cancer.

Smaller things also shape my life like water eroding rock over time- my faith, dyslexia, living in Haiti, being married, getting older.

I can rest in the knowledge that the Lord knows i I need a big or small event to improve my life. He orchestrates the focus of my perspective when I let Him and I hope I can willingly let Him.

Thankful: Cargo shipped by sea in August now in Cap.
Pray: Beds / trucks stuck in customs for LaGonave.

Task vs. Time Orientation

2011-09-20T13:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the majority of my day [and today] ended up educating my children. I enjoy learning with my kids these days but in the past 'enjoy' would not of described school for us.

Breadfruit trees-planted August 27.

Our school day generally starts shortly after 7 a.m. Around 10 a.m. I read out loud while they break and fix a snack if needed. Lunch is at noon. And finish time......well that varies. Some days we set specific goals, other days we aim for a time, roughly between 3-4 p.m. Occasionally a bit of school work will be tackled later in the day after a break outside.

When I thought about our approach to the length of our school day it occurred to me. Never in my life have I worked a job that started or ended at a set time. No 9-5. Not really-the closest I came would of been during residency when I lived under set times that I needed to be in clinic or the hospital between the hours 'x to y'. But because the nature of residency included learning and study...no end point existed.

Star Fruit-knee high. Planted in February 2011.

My younger days I worked on the farm, I weekly cleaned our church and I mowed cemeteries. All jobs with set requirements but not set time tables. Each task could be influenced by outside factors-which could change the date, time and lenght of time needed to complete it. Practice I guess for the need of flexibility in my future life.

Today in my roles as missionary, teacher, mom, wife, communicator, and sometimes doctor once again no set time frame exists. Nothing allows me to 'check out' at quiting time because no quiting time exists. Outside factors that influence my life and 'job' include: interruptions, energy levels, expectations-both mine and others, weather, resources, priorities, and how well I decide to do the job.

I would say that being raised with a working until the job is done, or studying until the test comes attitude vs. aiming for an end point on a clock helped. It made the transition to a relationship based culture not a time based culture easier. [Agricultural work means a lot of tasks and waiting too, especially when dealing with trees.]

Now do not get me wrong, I still watch the clock. Thankfully many of the meetings or events that we get invited to occur on the campus so we can watch from the house for the gathering of people as an indication of the event starting. Or someone can kindly call us when the event really starts rather than us be the first folks to arrive shortly after the arranged start time and waiting until enough people arrive to start.

After years of living in Haiti one does learn to bring a book or something to do to reduce the tension caused by waiting and therefore 'wasting time'. Another activity I have found that redeems waiting in a wonderful way - praying.

Thankful: Mme. Fanny, who cooks for us twice a week, feeling better and worked for the first time today since our return. Prayer: Pastor Rigo's pregnant wife. 5 hospitalized cholera patients.

About Us.

2011-09-19T15:20:00.000-05:00

Global Partners Missionaries. GP. Partner with WISH WISH on LaGonave.

Ministry Goal: "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ." Eph. 4:12 Support

Equipping the Saints: Through education-agricultural, medical, and spiritual -Haitian Christians can better touch others for Christ. One improved life impacts many lives in one's family and community. We hope to strengthen the faithful and draw others to the Lord by meeting needs.

For Work of Service: Striving to upgrade food and medical resources, we attempt to improve the health of the Haitian people. Healthy people serve better, opening doors for others to see God's love and received freedom.

Building up the Body of Christ: We host teams, who come to encourage, pray, work and partner locally. We share global prayer requests, and the Haitian church shares in building up His believers.

Cory: Degree in horticulture [fruit trees] from Michigan State, after two years at Cornerstone University. Intern at Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, ECHO. Almost two years in Brazil during 3 trips with Project AmaZon, PAZ. Responsible for over 100 new types of trees and plants on the Fauche Wesleyan Campus in Northern Haiti. Consultant about tropical trees, plants and agriculture projects around Haiti and beyond. Big projects: Moringa, Bananas, Bamboo, and starting in Breadfruit.

Kris: Farm kid + Third Culture Kid [TCK] lived on LaGonave for two years as a child. Family practice doctor after finishing at Michigan State CHM and residency at St. Joe's in South Bend, Indiana. Full time teacher of Eli and Anna. Help out at the medical clinic a few hours a week. Author of Haitian Creole health book, Konsey Pou Viv Pi Byen [Advice for Better Living] Now working on a second book that will focus on natural medicine and agriculture.

Primary corresponder with our support team and the world but her dyslexia means Cory handles the editing on the bigger projects. Kris enjoys learning more about TCK's not only because 3/4 of the family qualify but because as a unique people group they are very interesting. Lover of reading and music of many types.

START: Our school name. Striving To Achieve Remarkable Things. Curriculum is primarily Sonlight Sonlight with some extras. Kris enjoys the Sonlight forums where she learns about homeschooling and the world. Good on-line friends around the world.

Eli: High schooler. Interests-machines, engineering, science, Legos and computer games. Now taller than mom.

Anna: High energy, bubbly 5th grader. Interests-animals, people, fun, music and art. Enjoys crafts and compture games.

Kodiak-pet cat. Source of giggles and smiles.

At our second location in Haiti. First 9 years [9/11/98] spent on LaGonave on the same compound Kris lived for two years as a child. Most of our ministry focused at the Wesleyan Hospital. Moringa and Date palm projects though WISH. Now our main focus is agriculture. The agricultural work continues on LaGonave through Cory's main gardener. The nurses Kris taught and medical protocals continue to serve at the hospital on LaGonave. Caribe Atlantic Area

Moved North at request of the Wesleyan church [8/15/07]. Fauche is about 30 minutes off Route National 1. A scattering of small homes under trees and near a river that runs into the Atlantic about 40 minutes down the dirt road. The Wesleyan campus also houses a school [pre-school up through high school] 500+ students strong, a medical clinic and small 6 bed hospital, the Fauche Wesleyan church, Northern guest house, office of the Northern district, a Compassion International Child Surviver project and Cory's gardens. For Haiti we live in an area with above average rainfall.

Other projects- supporting 4 Kid's Clubs, Fauche video outreach.

Sept. 17. Garden visit, bananas and Moringa garden

2011-09-17T17:42:00.000-05:00

Kid's voices fill the air as they play soccer in the front lawn. Thankful Eli and Anna can play with friends in the afternoons. This morning both spent time finishing up some homework and helping to clean the house.

I worked on the computer, finishing up a children's lesson on Haiti/devotional, cleaning up my in-box, writing some E-mails as well as working on a 'about us' post as suggested by a fellow blogger. Hard to boil down one's family into a page but trying to capture the essence of our family and ministry.

Down loaded a few Kindle books..after not having access to a library for years it is nice to be able to read new books with just the push of a few buttons. I am learning to watch what I get as it is easy to waste my time on books that do not benefit my mind or life at all. Goes back again to being intentional with the time that the Lord gives me on this earth.

Cory visited some gardens across the river yesterday and the community garden. He reports that down by the river many people were busy planting peanuts. Most of the donated banana plants continue to grow well and some are starting to produce large bunches of bananas. Genner's plants produced several big bunches [about 50+] pounds each] already and off shoots-which he gives away to others.

Some of the bamboo plants now top 20 foot tall while others remain small. Next week he plans to distribute more bamboo plants as they are taking over the nursery area with their rapid growth.

We spent some time as a family yesterday afternoon planting our Moringa trees near the house. Now 4 rows of 51 rescued baby Moringa trees can grow and hopefully thrive in their new home. The goal-easy access and enough Moringa trees to provide leaves to eat a few times a week even during team season.

Hand made truck.

Our growing season is just starting in Northern Haiti with the end of dry season and early start to rainy season.

Thankful for family this week and rapid communications.

Prayer Request: Last few business days in Port-au-Prince violent protests calling for the UN to leave. Pray for safety and wisdom for leaders.

Tribute to my folks.

2011-09-15T07:10:00.001-05:00

Today my dear Dad celebrates his 70th birthday and together with Mom 44 years of marriage. WOW.
We celebrated as a family last month together but will celebrate today anyway.

I realize the blessing of having supportive parents. Good byes may be harder but we look forward to the Hellos. I sometimes say that perhaps the Lord only gave my folks two children because He knew how much prayer Todd and my families would need and our folks only have so many hours in a day.

We are in the ministries that we are because of our parents examples, prayers and upbringing. Back in the 70's folks generally did not pack up their 2 and 5 year olds for a couple week mission trip to Haiti. My dad still lives within a mile of where his mother grew up on the farm and where he also grew up on the family farm but despite generational roots my global view lead me back to Haiti. Now my children being the forth generation of my family to be impacted by this country.

Through laughter and tears they support us. Even just in the last 13 they shared a lot of experiences with us:

Good byes and welcomes-even if only 2 majors a year that's now over 26.
Storms of life-hurricanes, political uprisings, earthquakes.
Ups and downs of homeschooling and parenting.
Miscarriage and minor health problems.
2004 Evacuation -which they shared in person!
Teams
Family Drama: including missionary family.
Road trips. Family time.
Sharing a house both in Haiti and Michigan.
and much more....

But the biggest thing they share and live out as examples to each of us daily is their walk with our Lord both as a couple and individuals. A legacy and heritage that I'm so very grateful to have as my own and for my children. They touched and continue to impact deeply many people's lives with the Love of God through out the world.

Thank you Lord for my folks.

Sept. 14th

2011-09-14T09:14:00.000-05:00

School consists of Eli studying at the moment for his 4 chapter, quarterly chemistry test and Anna working on the computer [spelling, typing] and since the pictures down loaded this morning I thought I'd blog a minute.

Sad Moringa Trees-needing a home.

Last couple of days consisted mostly of school. Clinic on Monday remained low and both Haitian doctors saw patients so I greeted the staff, reminded them to ask folks about herbal treatments and returned home for school. Yesterday I did wander down after school and prayed with three hospitalized patients: two cholera and one malaria. Reminded me how different our patient population can be compared with the USA.

Picking the location for Moringa near the house.

Mail came yesterday including a part for the compound generator which rapidly found it's way into the generator and is working! Government supplied power remains little and random. Cory's researched additional solar panels and batteries for our inverter system hoping to learn how to improve and increase our power.

Preparing the soil for trees.

A few of the Moringa trees we left in cups back in July did not find homes while we visited the USA. Twice we planted Moringa trees in locations on the North side of the house but both times the heavy clay soil limited or killed the trees. This time the trees will be planted closer to the house [convenient for the cooks] and the soil will be prepared prior to planting with the addition of sand for better drainage.

Please remember to pray for my brother's family as Beth started her chemo this week. Also Pastor Rigo's wife could deliver their first child at any time.

Pictures!

2011-09-14T07:39:00.001-05:00

Sept. 12 Avoiding Procrastination.

2011-09-12T16:26:00.002-05:00

It helps that I live in a slower paced culture than most of you do to avoid procrastination. What triggered my thoughts on procrastination?

Thinking back over our 13 years in Haiti, remembering 9/11, reading blogs of how Haiti's earthquake changed lives and hearing that my sister-in-law Beth would be battling cancer all lead to some reflection about MY Life.

I'm still thinking things through but am seeing that I need to be more intentional, prioritize my goals after making some and avoid procrastination. Because putting things off may lead to regrets.

If I just sit back and do nothing time will keep advancing. Minutes or hours can be lost easily never to return. Reminders that life can be short and unpredictable push me to make goals.

I find if I keep in mind what I would like to have accomplished at the end of the day-I'm more likely to accomplish it or at least be closer and in turn less time just disappeared into nothing.

I also find that I am now able to release my anger and ask forgiveness a bit faster, laugh easier, let little irritations go and focus better because Life is Just To Short.

To short to waste even if I have another 50 years. Lots to do and experience. Relationships to work on and people to encourage.

So today instead of thinking that I need to write a few letters-I wrote some letters. I set a couple more goals. I responded to some E-mails rather than putting them off until later. I'm shortening my computer time so I can work on my next book, go pick some flowers, and enjoy watching my kids interact with their friends.

Thanks for listening. Kris

Sorry 4th day without being able to down load pictures.

Sept. 9 Second week of START / school done.

2011-09-09T15:03:00.006-05:00

One of the biggest changes in my life over the last 13 years, unexpectedly, concerns my role as teacher.

We started out both Eli and Anna in Haitian pre-schools and 'after schooled' them at home. During the early years I could fit in both a day of home school after they returned home for lunch and I returned from the hospital.

Then things became harder with longer days both at hospital and school work. Because of various complications our kids schooled only at home. School became a battle ground and not fun for any of us. Yes learning occurred but at a big price. I still cringe when I think of how those years brought out some of the worst in all three of us.

Some improvement the last year on LaGonave when Mrs. Furbur took over the main teaching job and I helped with homework.

Then the year of International school. Yes they learned but at the end of the year the cons out weighted the pros, so a return to homeschooling.

START: Striving To Achieve Remarkable Things. Our school a place of learning together how to 'do everything without complaining or arguing' so we can 'shine like stars in the universe' Phil 2:14-15. Each of us remains in the learning stage so do not get the idea that no complaining or arguing happens in our house but we continue to strive toward our goals.

This year we started in January with Sonlight Cores 4 and 100 Anna primarily focusing on 5th grade work and Eli on 9th. In June prior to Todd's team we paused the school year for summer learning [trip to the USA so no formal school work]. School restarted last week Monday.

Sometime in November, Lord willing we will advance to our next 'year'. My children challenge me daily with their questions, curiosity, and opinions. I treasure this time together as I know that our time together draws shorter.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the Lord will use these interesting young people to advance the Kingdom. I'm blessed to play a large role in their up bringing and am thankful for those of you who participated through the years through prayer.

Pictures not loading-likely do to the near by storm so I'll try again tomorrow. Sorry.

Sept. 7 Looking back.

2011-09-07T15:40:00.005-05:00

On Sunday September 11 when the world thinks about 9/11 we also think about our time in Haiti.

September 11, 1998 Cory, Eli and I moved to LaGonave. Wow- a lot of good and bad things shaped our lives during the last 13 years. I'm thankful for many things:

That I've grown up in many areas and attitudes. Lessons learned.
For the amount of wonderful people we met both in Haiti and in the USA because of our ministry here. The privilege of knowing so many special folks and having a wonderful support team cannot be over emphasized.
Homeschool- Never would of predicted this one in the early years but I now truly love the time I get to spend with Eli and Anna learning alongside them.
Seeing how the Lord works throughout difficult circumstances and provides.
Being able to touch and change lives with the Lord's love. Our fingerprints on many lives and our hearts forever changed by this adventure.
Being able to reach out by E-mail and internet to lend medical, school or agricultural advice to folks working throughout the world.
Our health and safety. No major health issues during our time here.
Global perspective gained by living overseas. Raising my third culture kids.
Our Haitian family, lifestyle, culture, food and language.
Improving skills like teaching, communication, writing and photography.
Not taking for granted as much as I once did: family, friends, running water, electricity, good roads.....and much more.

Thede September Update

2011-09-03T18:54:00.004-05:00

Back home feels good. Although Cory traveled just a couple days after our return, the rest of us thankfully get to stay in one place for a while. We made many great memories from the miles and miles of roads we traveled this summer [19 States] but glad to avoid major travel for a time.

Prayer Requests:

Sister-in-law Beth starts aggressive chemotherapy Sept. 12th.
Schools to start in Haiti early October so many folks need money
Starting up of the mission dental clinic
3 more months of hurricane season
Teams looking at trips in early 2012
Haitian government needs to choose a Prime Minister (Prime Minister has more power than President)

Travel: Hurricane Irene ended up delaying our return to Haiti by two days. Thankfully we learned of our flight cancellation while still in Michigan and changed our Delta tickets for no additional fees. While Haiti received some hard rain, not much damage occurred as the storm's path took her farther North than first predicted.

Agriculture: Cory's trees look good. The banana plants look better than when we left in early July but many are still showing some disease problems on parts of the campus. The 144 breadfruit trees we carried to Haiti handled the trip well. This variety is being promoted and distributed by the Breadfruit Institute. Breadfruit trees produce huge quantities of fruit that can be used like potatoes. This variety does not grow too tall and the very good quality fruits contain the highest protein content of 90 varieties analyzed.

Monday after our return home Cory and Genner set out for a "sustainable agriculture" training seminar in Pignon, Haiti. The rivers between us and there dropped enough since the storms for him to drive through. Sadly, cooking banana plants along the road all the way up into the central plateau are dying of Panama disease. Cory shared with the group various topics including pest control, soil fertility and grafting.

Medical: Pastor Rigo reports that only 15 or so people received a diagnosis of Cholera since the rains began. Clinics remain low, as is normal for this time of year with finances being directed to the start of the school year in October. We brought back 3 bags of donated vitamins and medications to be used at the clinic. Pastor Rigo and Dr. Wilnie will be discussing how to set up a dental clinic as a full set of dental hand tools and two zero-gravity lawn chairs have been donated to help the people of Fauche.

School: Eli, Anna and Kris started our school year back up on Aug. 29th. Nine weeks remain in the curriculum we started in January. We still learned a lot during our time in the USA but did not complete any formal school. We will start a 'new' school year in November.

Kid's Club: Club activities run every Sunday all year. With school being out the leadership took advantage of the additional time and started an English class. Anna received an invitation to help with this class shortly after our return. She will answer questions and help with correct pronunciation. We hope that an agreement can be arranged to have the dentist check out the dental health of the children attending club. Thankfully most of the children of Fauche have been vaccinated, as this is not true in Port Margot.

Creole Health Books: Cory gave 43 books to the participants of the agriculture seminar at Pignon. The books continue to be distributed though a book store in Cap Haitian. Soon arriving by mail from Germany will be a book on natural medicine in the tropics that we will be translating into Creole as part of a new book focusing on plants and agriculture.

Haiti: From the limited reports we have heard so far, The Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusades went well with many being saved and continuing to attend church. The Haitian government remains unable to do much due to continued rejecting of Prime Minister candidates.

Happy 14th Birthday Eli! September 3.

Sept. 1st

2011-09-01T16:22:00.003-05:00

Full day. Cory worked out in the yard while we worked on school work.

Hot [94 in the house] and muggy today with on and off clouds..still acting like it could rain.

School today went very well with little to no drama. We learned that the journey to the Promise land could of only taken 2 weeks but the delay for grumbling cost them 40 years. I think this helped cut down the grumbles today.

I think I finally completed the list of books and supplies needed for our next 'year' of school. Now Cory needs to order them so they can be shipped before the second cargo run. Cory plans to head to Cap Haitian for mail and cargo on Tuesday.

Normally we alternate between two ladies who cook lunch for us on weekdays but both our normal ladies are suffering. Mme. Rosemary has been diagnosed with diabetes on top of her long standing high blood pressure. Mme. Fanny is suffering from pains in her legs. Please pray for these dear ladies.

Picture of the agricultural conference that Cory helped lead this week. And what happens when Anna face planted after putting socks under her

knees to slide on the wet floor when mopping.

Aug. 30

2011-08-30T06:40:00.004-05:00

Settling back in to a 'normal' routine feels good. Yesterday Cory headed out early to Pignon to help with an agricultural training seminar. He reports that they made good time arriving before lunch. They plan to head back home Wed. afternoon.

Eli, Anna and I completed a full day of school, exceeding my expectations. As we delayed starting to read some of the books on the schedule it will take us a bit to get all subjects on the same day. As always with restarting classes we changed a few things around hoping to improve and enhance our learning experience.

A couple of pictures showcasing new areas of ministry on campus. Pastor Rigo and Dr. Wilnie, dentist will be discussing how to start a dental clinic with our new dental tools. Two zero gravity lawn 'dental' chairs should arrive in the next couple weeks. Currently no dentists work in the Fauche / Portmargot area but lots of people need dental work.

Agriculturally, Cory can now add breadfruit trees to his list. The trees traveled very well and already growing new roots in their larger pots. He brought a few with him to share in the Central Plateau. He plans to multiple these trees but I forget exactly how.

Many people welcomed us home and asked about Beth. At least 4 churches and the Kid's Club are now joining us in prayer for her health. Today a port will be placed in preparation for chemo. They find out Friday what mix of drugs she will be started on.

Aug. 27 Home at Last!!

2011-08-27T06:40:00.002-05:00

Yes we made it back home to Haiti after a couple day delay because of Hurricane Irene.

A tad late leaving Grand Rapids which raised a bit of concern as Atlanta airport's size can be discouraging with less than an hour to make our next flight but thankfully the second flight delay gave us plenty of time.

At Ft. Lauderdale no problems getting our checked bags and making it to IBC by 11:30 p.m. Because of 10 pound carry-on limit we shuffled some items to the checked bags. Only 30 pounds over for our 4 person totals. Not as bad as most. We came in second in line. And waited.

Check in started shortly after 2 a.m. Some folks tried to talk their way out of the $2 a pound over weight fee, some borrowed money, some sent items back with the folks who dropped them off and some cheated. I do not mind so much the ladies who stepped on the scales [yes they weight the passengers too] with their purses on their shoulders but wondered about how much weight got sneaked on by leaving bags back at their chairs or behind the counters.

The extra plane for the delayed folks like us left at 5:30 with the normal Friday plane behind us at 6. But it really did not matter as the Immigration folks did not show up for more than 1 hour after we landed and the second plane already in line too. Also our bags flew to Haiti on the flight that arrived at 11 a.m. so we did a bit of shopping and got a bite to eat while we waited in Cap.

Roads not any better with the recent rains washing away the dirt from around the rocks makes it bumpy. Got home and took a nap. Then we did a bit of cleaning and unpacking. With 3 bags of donated medical supplies and 1 bag containing bread fruit trees not a lot of stuff to put away.

Cory leaves for the Central Plateau on Monday so thankfully he has a couple days to recover before more travel. I'm also thankful I do not need to go but will start school with the kids.

Aug. 24 Still in MIchigan.

2011-08-24T19:17:00.002-05:00

Well instead of being home in Haiti we wait for flights to resume to Haiti. Thankfully Delta agreed on Monday not to charge us for changing flights after IBC canceled our flight into Haiti.

So we called again this morning to find out if IBC would fly to Haiti tomorrow....no.

Tomorrow we need to call at 1 p.m. to find out if flights will resume on Friday but doubtful as we need to fly to Florida and then Haiti. Looks like Hurricane Irene will still be in the way.

We remain packed. The apartment is clean and most of the laundry still clean. We generally give away our food before going but had not done it yet so we still have some food.

Cory's working on office work. Eli and Anna spend some more time with Todd and Beth's kids while Beth had 4 hours of medical testing. I finished a cross stitch for my Dad's birthday...September 15th.

Cory phoned Fauche on Monday to cancel our ride home. We hear that our area received a lot of rain but no wind damage. Praying for those in the path.

Aug. 22 Packing, cleaning and WONDERING

2011-08-22T05:24:00.003-05:00

Today will consist of packing, weighing the bags and likely repacking some. It never fails that we end up needing to shuffle a few items to the 'come later pile' to fit in items that we deem more important at this time.

The BIG question mark in our return travel to Haiti ? Tropical storm / Hurricane Irene. Her path continues to drift a bit to the North so that this mornings Update shows some of Southern Haiti now clear but unless the path continues to shift in a more northernly direction she will pass over central and northern Haiti on Tuesday. Our plane should be landing in Cap Haitian at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning?

As the only thing we can do at this time is to pray.....we continue to pray. More for the safety of the Haitian people but as well for our return trip home. In the last 13 years we've been delayed twice due to hurricanes-once while we remained in Michigan and once in Florida.

Our time in the USA flew by being full of travel and visiting. Time to return to school and our Haiti lives. We received official approval from Global Partners on Friday to return for our next term. YEAH!

Thank you for praying.

Aug. 18th Back in Michigan.

2011-08-18T18:37:00.003-05:00

Many miles now lay behind us.

We enjoyed visiting our 3 sites in Virginia and Delaware. Welcomed at each site as we shared updates, thanked people in person and answered questions. Thankful to give folks a clearer picture of how the Lord is working in Haiti as well as the continued need for prayers and support.

In between we traveled and fit in some 'school field trips' visiting Mount Vernon, a art museum, African and Asian grocery stores, museums at Jamestown and Yorktown and a naval museum. We learned many interesting facts.

Tired of travels but we will rest once we arrive back home in Haiti next week. The next four days we need to start with our family good-byes and finish up packing and loose ends. Thank you for praying for us.

Aug. 14th. Alexandria, Virginia

2011-08-14T19:50:00.003-05:00

Friday as planned we occupied Todd and Beth's kids during Beth's surgery. Thankfully her lymph node did not show any signs of cancer and the surgery did not take as long as predicted. Once we received the news that the surgery went well and my folks were heading to Todd's we headed East.

After 13 hours on the road we pulled into our destination. A few hours of sleep and we headed to our breakfast talk. Brookhill Wesleyan puts on a wonderful Saturday breakfast with fruit, biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon and juice and more! We shared about our work and met many nice folks who partner with us in Haiti.

Driving through the rain we then headed North to Alexandria. [So very thankful we do not live in a bit city!] Checked into the hotel that the United Wesleyan church graciously reserved for us. After a bite to eat we headed over to the church for the block party. Eli and Anna enjoyed playing games with the kids while we talked. United church holds services on Sunday in 4 different languages-reflecting how diverse the area is culturally.

This morning we shared in the English service. Always nice to be able to answer questions and thank people in person for their support of our ministry. Interestingly when we went through missionary training back in 03, Beth, the pastor's wife taught some of the classes and the assistant pastor, Jared, a classmate.

Aug. 9th

2011-08-09T15:47:00.005-05:00

Two weeks before we need to be packed and ready to go. As we will be traveling for close to half of that time we need to get many things done now before we leave on Friday for out east.

Cory's packing up the donated medications, mission stuff along with some personal supplies to send to Florida to ship to Haiti via sea container. Packages arrive daily from Cory's on-line shopping as we stock up for the year.

We continue to enjoy blue berries and sweet

corn. Time with family and friends continues to be a priority. Tomorrow will celebrate Eli, Cory's and my birthday with Cory's family.

Praise the Lord Beth's MRI showed no additional tumors. Friday we will stay with Todd and Beth's children during her surgery. Then will head out to Virginia as soon as we can.

E-Update Thedes

2011-08-06T06:30:00.001-05:00

Three more weeks and we should be traveling back to Haiti. Our busy time in the USA continues to march forward as we work to complete our to-do list. Thank you for you prayers.

Prayer Requests:

Todd & Beth's family as Beth receives treatment for cancer
Support Team: Connecting while in USA, new prayer partners, Faith Promise renewals
Creole Health Books. Selling about 1 box of 62 a week in Cap Haitian.
New Christian's faith will grow and strengthen-those recently saved.
Wisdom on Banana multiplication, new teaching opportunities.
Kid's Club Impact.
Thede International Travel Dates July 1st and Aug. 23-24.
Hurricane season: Tropical Storm Emily [flooding still a concern, Through November

Home Ministry: Cory and Kris spent a week at Global Partners Headquarters in IN while Eli and Anna enjoyed Christian Day Camp in Allegan. We enjoyed meeting co-workers from around the world as well as interacting with the staff. A 3 minute video will be produced about our ministry in Haiti so we filmed some footage for that. The Wesleyan Women's linen closet blessed us with some needed house hold linens. We enjoyed thanking Wesleyan Publishers in person for the help on the health book. We also enjoyed meeting with Katie, a young women who made and sold purses for a senior project and then donated the money for the Creole Health books.

Support Team: This summer we will have a chance to visit __ of our supporting churches. We also hosted an Open house which enabled us to visit with many friends. We were thankful for an invitation for a few minutes at West Michigan Family Camp's last night to share about our ministry. We will continue to connect by church visits [a trip to Virginia and Delaware as well as one more church in Michigan] as well as contacting individuals by E-mail and phone calls during the next couple of weeks.

Aug 7	Life Stream Wesleyan Church - Allendale , MI	AM Service
Aug 13	Brookhill - Forest, VA	Sat. Breakfast
Aug 14	United Wesleyan Church - Alexandria, VA	Am Service
Aug 17 6:30 PM	Cedar Grove Wesleyan - Wyoming, DE	Wed. Night Prayer Meeting

Family Time: After home ministry training we headed out West to Yellowstone with Kris's folks and brother Todd's family. We now see God's timing in Todd's Team/Family visit to Haiti in June as well as the Yellowstone trip as between the two we learned of Beth's cancer. We will be in Michigan to support them through the first days of surgery and treatment but will need wisdom prayers to know how best to support the family from Haiti. The time we spend together really drew us closer as never have we had so much personal time with our niece and nephews-or our kids with Todd and Beth. Squeezed in between our travels time with Cory's folks and family also happened. Visits to Great Grandma DeWent and Great Grandpa Thede also enriched our time in the USA.

Fauche: Thanks to E-mails and phone calls we know that the work continues at Fauche. The cat and plants are well. The Kid's club continues every Sunday afternoon. We will be shipping to Haiti medications that were donated to Todd's team but will not fit in suitcases as well as additional supplies needed in Haiti [baby packets, dental supplies, books and more]

Agricultural: Prior to leaving Haiti Cory discovered to our disappointment that some of the 'disease resistant' banana plants appeared sick. With yellow leaves it appears that while the plants did better than some of the local types the plants can become infected. So we do not plan to purchase additional plants of those varieties and will focus on a slower method of multiplication. The plants purchased and distributed in the last few years will continue to grow and produce for a number of years but as it is likely with time that the plants will become diseased we do not plan to continue with distribution of new plants.

Cory will likely be traveling to Haiti's Central plato the week after we return home, to teach at an agricultural conference. To increase the impact of the agricultural work we pray for more opportunities for classes and education of the local farmers.

Haiti: Hurricane season started out calmly but the news this week indicates the first real threat may be heading to Haiti in the form of tropical storm Emily. Politically the weather in Haiti remains stormy as well with protests last week in Cap Haitian [the town we plan to fly into on Aug. 24th] against President Martelly. The rains also complicate Haiti's health issues with increased cases of Cholera. [No update yet on how the Evangelical Crusade went]

Serving the Lord in Haiti with your help,

Cory, Dr. Kris, Eli and Anna Thede

Aug. 4th Countdown started.

2011-08-04T15:29:00.003-05:00

Lord willing in 3 weeks at this time we will be unpacked, greeted all our friends, checked out the garden, done a bit of shopping for food and be prepared to restart our school year.

The last couple of days we focused on thank you letters, E-mail updates [will post it on the next blog], on-line shopping, phone calls and reducing the size of donated medications to be shipped to Haiti. By unpackaging some of the medications we can reduce the size which reduces the cost on the sea container.

Tuesday Cory and I completed our psychological evaluation-another item completed off the list for returning to Haiti. Yesterday Eli and Anna's TB skin testing was also completed-check.

Eli and Anna went to enjoy some time with Cory's folks and the cousins today and tomorrow. So Cory and I clipped some overgrown bushes, pulled weeds and played with a power washer. Cory also enjoyed putting 'Round up' weed killer on some poison Ivy-a nice therapeutic break from the office work.

While working on these tasks we remember to pray for Haiti as tropical storm Emily dumps rain on the country.

Aug. 1st Blue Berry Picking and more memories

2011-08-01T10:12:00.004-05:00

After returning to our Michigan home on Thursday following a great 3 generation trip out West last week we unpacked, shopped, visited the library, did a few loads of laundry and worked on office work.

Sunday we traveled East to Livonia Wesleyan to thank and share in person for the first time a wonderful supporting church. Although they have supported us for years and years, until yesterdays visit we had only met one family in the past.

As our visit followed a week of Vacation Bible school and a tent revival meeting we spoke for the first time under a large tent! Very neat. Fellowship continued after service with a tasty 'cold' potluck and a chance to visit with different folks.

This morning we headed out to let Eli and Anna experience first hand-picking Michigan blue berries. Both did very well and when Cory cleaned the berries he discovered that his pail contained the most stems and even a few green berries. The gal when we checked out remarked on how good the berries our kids picked looked. We plan to share with my folks and Todd's family.

This afternoon Eli and Anna need to have TB skin testing done and the results will be read on Wednesday. Cory and I already completed this testing in Haiti.

Then we plan to spend some time with Todd's children as Todd and Beth will be at the doctor's office learning more about Beth's treatment for early breast cancer. The diagnosis came just 2 days before our trip West. We thank the Lord for the weeks of togetherness in Haiti and out West, as it provided time to bond between cousins, Aunts, Uncles. Now we feel we will be better able to support and pray even when we return to Haiti in 3 weeks. Please pray for them and Beth's treatment-we know that the Lord will work though this situation and we will continue to trust in Him and praise Him.

Back in MIchigan

2011-07-28T17:36:00.004-05:00

Through the rain we made our way back to Michigan today, thankful for the many, many miles traveled safely.

Family- so very privileged to have supportive families on both sides. I know enough sad stories not to take any of our family members for granted.

Yesterday we spent some time at the Omaha Zoo- what marvelous animals the Lord made for our education and enjoyment.

Hard to believe but next month we plan to be back home in Haiti. The next two weeks will be spent connecting with our support team, working on our office / paper work needed to return to Haiti, doing some shopping and continued family time. Then we head out east for almost a week-again connecting with our support team, followed by packing and good-byes.

Thank you for your prayers. Reports from Fauche-everyone including our cat, Kodiak is well. The generator continues to have issues and the news is reporting continuing increase of the cholera cases and growing unhappiness with the lack of change with the new president and government.

Heading back to Michigan.

2011-07-27T20:55:00.003-05:00

THANK You Mom and Dad for the wonderful family trip and great memories!

God's Handiwork at Yellowstone.

2011-07-23T20:49:00.005-05:00

July 19th Family Bonding.

2011-07-19T21:13:00.003-05:00

The sunshine fades behind my shoulders as we camp in South Dakota. After heading out Sunday we made good time to Chamberlain, South Dakota.

The highlight of Sunday I think: getting through Chicago without any trouble [I'm not counting the heat because it reminds me of Haiti where we do not know anyone with air conditioning.

Mondays highlight: Showing the kids where my folks took us to work on the Indiana reservation in Fort Thompson. A very nice lady showed us around the church and school building where over 50 children attend weekly meetings in addition to the adult services. We pointed out a sign that my mom painted, the wall paper border in the children's room we put up and the roof we shingled. Nice to see the work continuing as well as knowing we made a difference all those years ago.

Today we moved further West visiting Wall Drug, Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Interesting to see and learn in person vs. our normal method of seeing pictures or reading from a book. My highlight: getting to watch my children interact with my folks and Todd's family.

July 16

2011-07-16T10:25:00.006-05:00

The week of home ministry training is now behind us. {Note that they have Anna's picture on the wall in the Global Partner's office}

The best part of the week [don't let the organizers know] for me without a doubt is listening to the stories of how the Lord's Kingdom is growing throughout the world. Story after story underlines how the Lord works during difficult and challenging situations. I find it almost hard to believe the I get to be a part of the wonderfully, exciting work worldwide. I'm part of an amazing family and team.

Tonight we will share a bit at the West Michigan District Camp meeting at Winding Creek camp grounds and have a chance met new people. Tomorrow morning Eli and Anna will share about Haiti with the Allegan Wesleyan Church along with my folks while Cory and I head to Voyage church.

Following those services as well as Todd's Sunday morning service we will all find our places in a motor home and head WEST. My folks, Todd's family and us will make tons of family memories by visiting a couple locations in South Dakota where we used to go on work teams on a couple of Indian reservations. Then we will continue on to Yellowstone.

I do not know if I'll blog while on the trip but will take a few pictures during the trip to share with you later. Please remember to pray for Haiti's Evangelical outreach this week. God Bless.

July 12...Home ministry training.

2011-07-13T05:59:00.003-05:00

Today Cory and I will be 1/2 way done with our home ministry training at Global Partner's. We enjoy connecting with friends and meeting new friends serving around the world. Between listening, discussions, working on presentations and taping video footage we continue to turn in paperwork and check off requirements to return to Haiti next month.

Eli and Anna remained in Michigan with my folks to attend Beechpoint camp this week. After the first day Anna reported that she found out that one of the counselors is from Haiti. Guess someone did not believe Creole was a language but when the two of them could talk together-they proved it is a language! Eli said it was fun to play with kid's his age.

Please remember to pray for next week's Haiti wide evangelical crusade. That everyone will bring in friends and family to watch on TV, listen to the radio or watch a DVD about Christ. This will occur July 21-23. Pray for the staff and equipment. For the Haitian Christians as they reach out to the lost. For the travel and weather. Thank you. Together in prayer we can do great things.

Friday July 8th

2011-07-08T12:50:00.002-05:00

Returned to Michigan last Friday and this Friday packing to go to Indiana. Cory and I head south right after tomorrow's Open House. Eli and Anna will remain with my folks to attend a local Christian Camp for the week while we attend our home ministry training. Training does not start until Monday but we set up two supporting church visits in Southern Indianan for Sunday.

Eli and Anna spent most of yesterday and today with the Thede side, including an always fun overnight with the cousins at the cottage. Also enjoyed this week-the library, sweet corn, salads, TV, movies, broccoli, warm showers, radio, planning for our next school year, blue berries, sweet cherries....and more.

Yes food makes the enjoy list many times I know but when you missed last years sweet corn, fresh veggies and Michigan fruits and likely will not enjoy them in the year to come [we think we maybe back in Michigan for the fall] then you need to enjoy the fresh foods when you can.

July 6 th.

2011-07-06T14:35:00.002-05:00

We enjoyed a wonderful service at Todd's church with the Haiti 13. The team spoke from the heart and I found my self in tears a few times. A very moving service which ended with us sharing communion, remembering the Lord's sacrifice that allows each of us to be adopted into the Lord's family.

Monday we celebrated Independence Day with generations of my Dad's family at Miner Lake. Cory's folks also joined us! Enjoy so very much visiting with family and friends.

Today Anna visited her orthodontist. The bottom wire came out but the top will remain until we return next year. Because her mouth remains small she will very likely need oral surgery next year to remove some of her adult teeth. First she needs to loose some more baby teeth.

Anna, over the weekend and Cory today suffered with head colds and fevers. We're praying that everyone recovers rapidly and stays healthy.

Remember to continue to pray for Haiti's Evangelical Crusade July 21-23 with the goal that every Haitian will hear the good news of Christ's Salvation.

Thede Open House Saturday July 9th 1-5 p.m. Allegan Wesleyan Church: 2469 118th Ave.. We plan on giving a short update with pictures about 3 p.m. and answer questions. We provide the food so plan to come and enjoy the afternoon with us

Back in the USA

2011-07-03T05:56:00.004-05:00

Our 'Hurry Up and Wait' Friday followed plan A. Although all 3 of our flights left later than the original departure time we managed to arrive in Grand Rapids, Michigan slightly ahead of schedule.

My folks picked us up and then we stopped in at Cory's folks for hugs, a late night snack of strawberry short cake, and to pick up a car. We thankfully fell into beds shortly after 1 a.m.

Yesterday we sorted mail, enjoyed some T.V. and started to think about next week. Today will enjoy hearing from the Haiti 13. I get to start the sharing with 2 minutes...so need to talk fast.

Cory gave John Pierre a call yesterday to let them know we arrived without any problems. Please remember to keep Haiti, Fauche and the people in your prayers. July 21-23 is the big evangelical campaign with the goal that every Haitian will hear the good news of the Gospel [by TV, radio or video] Earlier I mistakenly said this would occur in June not July...thanks for those of you who prayed, now keep it up! Three more weeks.