Thanks to one and all for joining me for this the second edition of the Mercy League Haiti Gazette. This evening finds me sitting in the dining room at Julio and Lucienne’s house with an oil lamp burning on the table. I am typing and sipping tea slowly and Lucienne is pedaling away on her old-timing sewing machine. Things are quiet up here on the mountain. Really quiet. All that I can hear right now is the sound of the keys clicking and crickets chirping outside, and the sewing machine of course. There is an occasional dog that barks but other than that it is really quiet. I have found that up on the roof here at Julio’s house, looking out over PAP, is just about the best place imaginable to pray.
Before I proceed, please allow me to apologize for not having this newsletter to you sooner. I meant to have it to you long ago but, as things in Haiti usually go, it’s late in coming.
I want to kick this letter off by letting you all know a little about the couple that I am staying with. They are definitely some of the greatest people that I have ever known. I have yet to have had the slightest unpleasant moment with either one of them. Lucienne is the hardest working little lady that I have ever known, (or at least one of them). She is the first one up ever morning and she makes us breakfast. She makes amazing food for us ever day and insists on doing almost all of the work. I have to fight the both of them to get them to let me do anything. Lucienne also sews almost every day and ladies from all around the community wear clothes that she has made. But, the thing that I think is the most characteristic about her is that she is always laughing. There is always something funny going on when she is around. (There’s a good picture to illustrate this in the collection that I have sent you.) And then she sings and prays out loud before she goes to sleep every night.
Julio is equally hard-working and pleasant. He has a great sense of
humor…they both do really. I find it hard to imagine finding a better place to live. These people rolled out the red carpet for me the day that I have arrived and they have yet to stop serving me. And one more thing about Julio that I wanted to mention in the context of the electricity that the Mercy League Haiti stateside board voted to send us the funding for, (for those of you who haven’t heard, there is currently no electricity in Julio and Lucienne’s house. Last week, I called upon the board to put it to a vote as to whether or not we could fund getting this house wired and buy some batteries. Long and short: the board voted yes so very soon, we should have power in this house.) But that was not what I wanted to tell you. It was about Julio, specifically. I have really enjoyed getting to know this guy. He is simply one of the m
As for the house that I am living in, it is potentially a very nice one but, like so many things in Haiti , it has to be done in stages as the money comes in. So, it is a work in progress but Julio has dreams of having extra rooms and running a guest house. The upstairs has not been built but when it is, the house will go from one bedroom to four or five. He has mentioned many times that he wants to have a place for my friends and fami
One of the funny things about living in a house that is unfinished is that (right now) the bathrooms here have no doors. For now, they are just outfitted with curtains. So this means that there is a lot of singing to be done in the bathroom. Singing has several utilitarian purposes here, not the least of which is to let other folks know that you are in the bathroom. In other words, don’t come in right now.
Three weeks ago Friday, for the first time since I have been in the country, I was able to go
a little hard to maintain a balance between keeping their hopes up and getting them overly anxious.) Please continue to pray for these children. They so desperately need a chance. I have had several other missionaries tell me that they believe if these kids could just get a chance, they would really make something of their lives.
Anyway, last week I went back down to visit with the street kids again and took my laptop and showed them their movie. They were pretty well riveted even though it is mostly in English. I don’t think that any of these guys has ever seen themselves on video before at all and now they are seeing themselves in the form of a world-class documentary. (E—hem!!) They had lots of questions about the plan for the school like when and where it will be built and how large it will be and so forth. I answered as best I could but told them that there were a lot of things still yet to be decided. The looks on their faces was really priceless. They would laugh and point w
hen they saw someone that they recognized. Antoine and Guetching never laughed, smiled, or spoke the whole time pretty much the whole time, except when I would look at them. They just watched with seriousness and intensity. I could tell that they were very affected by what they were seeing.
I wanted to mention also a prayer request. It pertains to a little fellow of about 1 and a half years named Moise. He is now living with Mme. Paul. Matt and I first met him over a year ago on our first trip to PAP. (Picture attached. He’s the one holding the picture of Paul McCartney) He has badly clubbed feet and can’t walk properly at all. He walks on what should be the top of his feet. The potential good news is
that I spoke to Carol, an R.N. that Matt and I met when we were here the first time, and she told me about a program that might be able to help Moise get an operation. Be praying that this will work out and he will be able to have his feet fixed before he gets too old to do anything about it. It’s a pretty sad situation right now; the little guy has a lot of trouble sleeping at night because of the pain but Carol told me that with the operations they have now, they can fix it and get rid of the pain pretty much from now on. That would be wonderful. Just pray for him that God would provide that he could get this operation.
Also, it has been at least two weeks now since I have been able to make it down to see Mrs. Paul. She was doing pretty well the last time that I saw her but reminded me that she still needs help in paying for the workers and for the kids schooling. Also, she had three little children, (some of her youngest), die last week
But then Julio checked himself…he had misunderstood. It turned out that none of the kids were ones I knew but rather ones who had been recently brought to the orphanage. Manoucheka is fine, as far as I know, and still totally adoptable, (hint, hint!!!). Please pray for Mme. Paul and for Moise and for the Good Sam Orphanage. Deaths like these are never pleasant or easy.
Shifting gears a bit, I want to tell you all about this past Saturday. It really started out several weeks ago when I met Ann Farquson when I was having computer problems and I took my laptop up to her husband David to have it looked at. They are in their mid sixties but you would never imagine it to be around
I didn’t get all of my plans out of my mouth before he erupted with information. One of the encouraging things that he told me was that agriculture was definitely the way to go…even though it is socially stigmatized. He told me that he had an organization that has helped a local farming community in the mountains by building them a dam and putting irrigation pipe. He says that as a result, they are growing all kinds of fruits and vegetables year round that before they were able to only grow in-season. He says that now, this is quickly becoming one of the more well off communities in the area and some people are beginning to buy houses and cars all because of agriculture. He also mentioned that the land next door to him was for sale. It was just under three U.S. acres and is for $25,000 USD. (Land Pictured.) Willem told me that because of the rainfall on the mountain, there is no need to dig a well but to just put in a large cistern and a dam for an irrigation pond. The land has amazing views and wonderful earth for growing but there are pros and cons. One con is that we would have to think ab
Lastly, I want to briefly mention that the History and Philosophy of Education went well for me. I was blessed to get into the class, and was actually the last on to be allowed in. I plan to take the next
Well, ladies and gentlemen, the education train rolls onward. I must depart but I am glad that some of you are now more up to speed on where the program is standing. I trust that you will all keep praying for me that God will continue to reveal his will and that I will stay closely in it. Thanks for the praye
Signing off, from the Island of Hispañola in the West Indies…Haiti, that is…
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