Our current job

Many of you have probably been wondering what we are doing with this time of 'oranization-less-ness'. So I am going to start this blog with a word picture of our daily lives. Shane is volunteering his time with the organization we are staying with. He works from 7:30am- 4:30pm Mon-Fri, but as with any mission organization, when emergencies come up, you work. He is loving it. He is learning a ton about mechanics, generators, building walls, sharpening lawn mower blades, building and installing tresses for a house, working on computers, and the list goes on. He is really excited because next week he is going to be learing how to drill wells. 

There are two couples that live here; the ones who founded this organization have lived in Haiti for 31 years, the other has been here for 11 years. They both have so much knowledge to share and their willingness to do that is such a blessing to us. Shane and I have been spending as much time as we can to learn what they do, how they do it, and why they do it that way. 

My job is much less organized. Honestly the first three weeks we were here the chikengunya virus reaked havoc on my body. My joints have been hurting, a lot. So much that I have not been able to sleep or move. This is not to complain, although I have been doing a lot of that (just ask Shane) but instead to give glory to God. In the last 4 days I have felt phenominal with minimal aches and pains. Yea!! Anyway, I have been able to learn how they run their convention center, their teams, and paperwork...there is a lot of paperwork and help where needed.  

The kids have finished with school which leaves lots of free time. They wake early, do some house chores, and then go outside to play. I had mentioned before that this compound has over 60 acres of land. This is heaven to my children. Shane and I have always said that our children have so much energy that they should have been farm kids, well now they kind of are. They run like crazy, explore, make up adventures...be kids. Plus there are two American families and one Haitian family with kids live on the compound so there is always someone to play with. Life for them is good. 

Shane and I have found that the longer we spend in Haiti the more we come to realize that we have absolutely no idea what is going on. :) The long term couples have assured us that this is the best way to approach living in Haiti, as a learner. It reminds me very much of myself as a 20 year old. I thought I had things pretty under control and knew quite a bit however, now at 38 years old I realize that my 20 year old self was still a baby. I try to keep this in mind in the present because I am sure that when I am 50 I will look at my 38 year old self and realize how much wisdom I was lacking. I think the word is humility. 

Proverbs 22:4

Humility is the fear of The Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life. 

Psalms 25:9

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his ways. 

Ephesians 4:2

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 

We had a Bible study recently where the man leading it stated that humility is one of those things that you simply can not have enough of. Not the fake kind but the true humility. When I thought about it, I realized that that is true. People with genuine humility have beauty shining out of their spirits, and people are drawn to them because that shining is the Holy Spirit. I want to be that shining example of God's spirit. 

 

Sierra making new friends. 

Creative corn on the cob holders.

Tarantula hunting. I stayed inside. Yuck.

Climbing trees and playing games. 

Our missionary friend. He and Shane are mistaken for each other often. How many big bald white guys are there in Haiti?

Beautiful Haiti.

Serving

A couple of our Haitian friends told me that they were coming over to wash our clothes on Sunday. When I told them that they didn't have to do that, they insisted. I was worried maybe they thought I could pay them to wash my clothes so I let them know that we don't have the money to pay someone to do that for us, they looked at me and said, "No, it is a service we want to do for you because you are our friend." Their kindness makes me cry. They are looking after us as one of their own. 

Let me explain how the Haitians clean their laundry. There is no washing machine to put your clothes in (that takes too much water and electricity). Instead, you have a couple of tubs of water, two kinds of soap, and your hands. It is very hard work. First you soak the clothes in soapy water, then you take each item of clothing between your hands and scrub every inch of the article of clothing between your knuckles and make a squishing noise. If you don't make the squishing noise, you are doing it wrong (makes me smile every time I have helped). Then you wring out the clothes. Then you soak them in clean water and wring the clothing out again, and sometimes a third time. After that you hang the clothes on the line to dry. This doesn't sound like much until you think about the sheer number of times that this must be done for a family of 5. In Haiti we go through about two outfits a day because of dirt and sweat. So for a week that is approximately 210 articles of clothing (not including socks). That is a lot of scrubbing and wringing. It is by far one of the hardest jobs that the women of Haiti do. It is monotonous, never ending, and very hard on your hands. 

1 Peter 4:10

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 

These women were offering serving me, and my family, by offering to do an unfun job for us because of their love. What a beautiful picture of Jesus these ladies are to me. 

They came this Sunday to serve us by doing our laundry and we were able to bless them instead with time spent together. We have a washing machine at our home so we didn't' need them to serve us in this way, instead we were able to offer them a place to sit, something to drink, and a time to connect as equals. It was absolutely lovely. My heart is overflowing. 

The longer I am here, the more I come to understand how much I don't know about Haitian culture. My short time here has taught me that to do well in this culture and to love well I must always come as someone trying to learn. When I come with questions instead of assuming that my American way is best, I am able to partner with the Haitians to find out why they do things the way they do, explain the way we do things in America or the way I see things should be done, and then come to a way that works for both cultures. Sometimes I have found that yes, the American way works and is actually better; such as at Grace we encouraged our managers to have weekly one on ones and weekly or biweekly staff meetings. 

Other things we find that although initially it appears that the American way is better, the Haitian way of doing things is actually the most applicable. For instance I didn't understand why each employee needed at least two days off in a row. However, the longer I was there, I realized that unlike America, transportation to their homes is very difficult to find, very expensive, and takes forever (everything in Haiti is MUCH slower). If they were not given two days off in a row then they were unable to live any sort of life outside of their job which in turn, was bad for moral. My Haitian manager told me this, but I didn't understand at first and so I had implemented some schedule changes to better cover the job. Thankfully, God very quickly gave me the eyes to see how this was harming our staff and we were able to change it again. 

Now that we are no longer at Grace, our status has changed to one of 'boss' to one of 'friend'. This is completely different and when my lady friends visited me yesterday I asked them how to navigate friendships in Haiti. It is different and here is an example. We get daily and by-weekly texts or calls from our friends. They looks something like this;

Friend: Hi, how are you?

Me: Doing very well. How are you? 

F: I am good by the grace of God. 

F: How is Shane?

M: He is good. 

F: How are your kids?

M: They are good. How is your family?

F: They are good. Thank you. 

F: I miss you and your family. Have a good night. 

M: We miss you too. Thank you for talking to me. Have a good night.

That is it. This wouldn't be unusual except this can happen 5x in one night as all of our friends call us and say the exact same thing. So I asked my lady friends why and what this is. They let me know that this is how Haitians maintain their friendship. They will reach out to their friends daily, or sometimes bi-weekly so that their friends know they are valued and not forgotten. The conversations are short because there is not a lot of money to be put on cell phones. They have long conversations with their very closest friends. 

A part of me (the American) thinks this is silly. Why bother with this short conversation at all, how about a text or just seeing each other at the market? But the part (the one trying to learn from this Haitian culture) can see the value of a quick check in, because it lets the other person know they are important and valued. And since there is not a lot to do at night in Haiti, its a nice connection. So, I am learning.  

Prayer needs:

-Continue to pray for unity for our family

-Pray that we have the ears to hear God's whisper as he directs our next step

-Pray that we can continue to learn about the Haitian culture and to be a positive impact for God.

Some family soccer. :)

Our drinking water is walking distance away from our house but to make things easier we fill this cooler. This is how Landen gets a drink. 

This weekend we cleaned this little house which has four bathrooms and four showers. It is very near our home, so technically we now have 5 bathrooms and 5 showers. Ha!

A picture of the compound we live on. This is their conference area with the beautiful Haiti mountains behind. 

Moving in Haiti

I know everyone that has been following us is wondering what led to this decision to leave Healing Haiti and to go out on our own. The answer to this question is complicated and I am not sure that I am able to write it all out cohesively but I will give it a try. We know God called us to Haiti with Healing Haiti, He made it abundantly clear that this was His will. He also made it clear that it was time for us to leave Healing Haiti to find an organization that aligns more closely with our values. We believe that God has another job for us in Haiti however during this transition it is difficult to hear Him. So we have found a home that we can rent for the next couple of months so that we can rest. As we rest, we feel confident that God will make His next step for us clear. 

On Tuesday, we moved into a little two bedroom house (plus one bedroom detached). It took 60 minutes to load our things into three trucks, drive to our new home, and unload again. Unpacking isn't hard as we don't have anything to put our things in. Luckily my sister in law, Jenny, helped me pack well so we can live out of suitcases and totes until we decide what the next step is. We have beds, a table and folding chairs, a fridge, an oven, electricity, and water to drink. It is enough and it is good. 

Transition is always hard. We are so sad to be saying goodbye to our Grace kids. We plan on continuing to see them at church which will help with the transition but is not the same as seeing them daily. We are sad to be saying goodbye to our many friends on staff at Grace Village. They have taught us so much about the Haitian culture and have welcomed us from the beginning into their lives. I am so glad that we will continue to see them all in Titanyen. 

This is not how we thought things were going to go however, I have lived enough life to know that that is often how God works. My plans and expectations are so often different from God's plans which is why he asks us not to cling too tightly to our own will. At any time He can ask us to change, and as followers of Christ we must be willing to listen. I am so glad that I am following a God who has limitless resources, is able to be in all places at once, and is able to see all of time at once. That is a God I can trust. This is not a surprise to Him and He is not scrambling trying to make things right again. Although I feel deep sadness for what is no longer and what could have been and feel waves of fear when thinking of the uncertainty of our future, this is all part of His plan and we trust Him. 

We are so glad that you are on this journey with us. We know that many of you pray for and with us and we want you to know we can not do it without you. Prayer requests:

-Pray for the transition of our kids and our Grace kids

-Pray for rest for us and that in the rest we are able to hear God's direction

-Prayerfully consider supporting us financially. Whatever God calls us to do in Haiti is going to cost more than we currently have.