Fruit of Your Labor

Blessed are all who fear the LORD,

Who walk in obedience to him.

You will eat the fruit of your labor;

Blessings and prosperity will be yours.

Psalm 128:1-2

When we first arrived, Kerry prefaced us with the fact that we may never see the fruit of our labor while we are here in Haiti. I was prepared for that. God had other plans. He blessed me last Saturday with the fruit of my labor.

All of us girls were asked to take on the task of teaching a literacy class to the men and women of the fishing village. We happily agreed and most of the men and women were very excited to participate. By December, our group had dwindled to a few faithful. When we came back in January, we actually discussed stopping the literacy program because we did not have a lot of people coming anymore. We decided to keep doing it for the few that did come.

Necilia was one of them. She is an elderly woman around 60 years of age. The first day of literacy we learned she didn’t even know how to write the letters of the Creole alphabet. So we started with the basics. By January she had filled a notebook up with letters and words to practice. A few of us didn’t believe it was her notebook because of the vast improvement of her writing skills. We moved on to sounds in February. She struggled so much every week but kept coming back without fail. We always knew Necilia was coming. At one point, we talked about as a group that we were just going to love on her at the literacy program because we didn’t have much hope for her to do more than learn the Creole alphabet.

Last Saturday, Kelsea was working with Necilia. I joined in to help Necilia because she is my favorite lady among the women. I sat down as Kelsea was showing her a flashcard and asked her to read it. Necilia, without hesitation read the flashcard. I couldn’t believe what I had heard! We all screamed in our happiness, looked at each other with awe, and I cried. Neclilia can read…she can read! Necilia had the biggest smile on her face.

Teaching Necilia at Literacy Program

It’s worth it. 52% of Haitians are illiterate. Six months. One hour a week. Necilia can read. We gave her more than you can imagine. She can read the Bible. It’s totally worth it. 

Perseverance Until the End

Three weeks ago today I returned from spring break vacation the States. That week away renewed my spirit and my visa. I came back prepared to finish my last five weeks in Haiti in high spirits and determined to finish up all I had started and love on my students, the kids downstairs, and the men and women of the fishing village. Little did I know that the last three weeks were going to be the hardest three weeks of my life so far. Since getting off the plane, there has been spiritual attack after spiritual attack. They started out small and individual to each one working with our ministry. I had been praying against a thought that crossed my mind very regularly since Saturday of someone getting in an accident involving a car/truck/moto. As I look back on it now, I think God was preparing me for what was to come. On Tuesday, only three days after returning, my best friend Liz was hit by a moto crossing the street to open the gate at school. I will never ever forget watching her get hit and fall to the ground. If any of you reading this blog know me at all, you know I don't do well with anything medical. I got off the bus as others were helping her back on to take her to the hospital. God was watching over her…she escaped with 1 stitch, a swollen upper lip, a bump on her forehead and scratches. I knew she would be fine and knew I had a school to take care of and make sure everyone else did their job. Students and teachers were shaken up because several had seen it happen. Half the teachers drove away to take Liz to the hospital as I became the middle and high school math, science, English, history, critical thinking, bible, yearbook, and P.E. teacher (14 different classes in all). Liz was out all week so I took over planning and teaching for all 14 different classes. That week finally ended, Liz returned and I rejoiced to be free from that much responsibility. It was emotionally and physically draining.

The second week came and went with multiple disciplinary issues with all my students. I felt like my students had taken 5 steps back and we were at the start of the school year again. It was very frustrating and discouraging to see how far back we moved after I thought we were making huge breakthroughs. The weekend started with a rouge fishing trip with the high school students where the only highlight was riding rough waves that reminded me of California and a peeling sunburn. I’m sure Jeff and Luke did not enjoy being trapped on a boat with their teachers but it was wonderful being able to spend time with them and chat on a more personal level.

Sickness knocked me down on Sunday and kept me laying low long into the third week. I started feeling better towards the end of the week when severe spiritual warfare brought me into a saddened state of mind. Two weeks left and I want to go home. I feel far from hearing God and having Him speak into my life every day while I am here. I want my life to be simple again, easy. I felt bad for having these thoughts until today when I read from the book, ReEntry by Peter Jordan, that my thoughts are part of a natural process in which God is weaning me from my present circumstance and is preparing me for my next step in life. That comforted me and God has continued to encourage me throughout today. 

I don’t tell you these things for pity or to make you think badly about Haiti. I tell you these things so that you will know how to love me and uphold me in prayer. I have two weeks until I return home for the next step in my life. I have no idea what that is or what it entails. All I know is that I have two weeks to persevere in Haiti so that I may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. I also know is that God cares for his children and He never gives more than a person can handle. God has given me His strength over the past three weeks and I have conquered much in His name. I pray that I will continue in His strength and conquer more in His name in my last two weeks in Haiti.

“Consider is pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

Pi Day

Last Wednesday was a monumental day for math teachers all around the world. It was Pi (3.14 or the date 3/14) Day. My 11 students were excited because I had been talking about it for quite some time. The middle and high schoolers were going to put on an event for the whole school. They spent a week of class in preparation of Pi Day. The middle schoolers wrote funny stories about Pi and the high schoolers wrote raps about Pi. They cut colored strips of paper to make a link chain representing the never-ending number. They calculated Pi by throwing sticks on the ground, counting how many landed on predetermined lines, and threw it into an equation. Students even created coloring sheets for the younger kids involving the symbol for Pi. We even had pie (cake) to eat for the special occasion. The day came and they were ready. They flawlessly held an event for 30 1st-5th graders having stations and completing all of the Pi activities they had prepared. I was amazed at how well they followed directions and directed the younger students. I was especially proud of my two HS students who wrote amazing raps about Pi. Here they are :-)

Jeff:
let lets talk about Archimedes
he was mathematical
never did anything that was practical
so rational that he invented a number
that was international
Pi lets talk about
but don't start a riot
infinite but it have a definite point
very interesting
why you gotta think it that
why cause it amazing
just think about it all
these numbers will have you dazing
pi equal the circumference over the diameter
why does it matter?
because equation sounds more like
a persuasion to me

Luke:
Dude listen Pi is very simple
wanna hear an example
let's grab some sample of a couple numbers
wait stop imma be out numbered
you can do it
lets starts at 3.14
that sounds a little fluid
just keep going
i think we about to do this
this is very restless

how about we test it

Bondye ka fe tut bagay

Bondye ka fe tut bagay...God can do anything...and He did! Yesterday Roger, Kelsea, Liz, and I went fishing. We got out on the ocean right when the sun was rising over the mountains. The highlight of our trip was going to Lagonave, the island on the eastern side of Haiti that we can see on the balcony of the Mission. We found this amazing place where the water was an unreal blue color. How can God do that? After a little tour and picking up some bait, we headed back to the main island coast. After about 6 hours we were heading home and very disappointed that we hadn't caught any fish. We made it almost home and then (no I'm not going to tell you we caught tons of fish) we ran out of gas. Roger didn't think it was a problem and directed us to the shore. We followed him down a path to a road and he asked if we wanted to come because it was going to be a long walk. We all wanted an adventure so we didn't object. God totally provided because we started off and then a truck pulled up. We asked for a ride and was taken all the way to the road! Now we are on the side of Rt. 1 in Pierre Payen about 5 miles from our Mission.

Lagonave...water was breathtaking

Ok, now what? We ask around and find out there is no place to buy gas. We call some people and no one seems to know how to help us...now we are stranded? We tried one more person, Luis, a worker at the Mission and he agreed to bring us some gas. Yes we are saved! He pulled up a little while later and drove us back to the boat in the MoTap. Roger is excited now and we all hop back in the boat. Roger was ready to fish again! Still we catch no fish. We pull our boat in when we finished and found Gary, one of our other fisherman, returning from fishing. He caught 5 fish (2 sailfish, 1 mahi mahi, and 2 wahoo)! HE showed us up! Here we are all high tech with a motorboat and he went out in his wooden boat with jugs and line. Slightly embarrassed but God provided for our lack of fish.

We kindly walked Roger back to the fish house and thank him profusely for taking us out on the boat. It was so much fun! We got to end our day walking through the village to the road to catch a taptap. Or so we thought. We got on a taptap and then Dago, our driver for NVM, drives up in his car, honks at us and tells us to get in. God provided another ride for us!

At the end of the day waiting on the taptap right before Dago showed up to give us a ride home

God exceeded my expectations yesterday. We couldn't have asked for a better day or to be more well taken care of if we had planned it. It definitely goes down in the books as a day always to remember God's faithfulness and how much fun we had.

Montrouis International Fellowship

Today marked the third week of Montrouis International Fellowship, the first ENGLISH church in Montrouis, Haiti. New Vision Ministries with the help of Stephen and Autumn Byxbe and Dr. Dennis and Sara Cowley are raising up a church where people from all nations can gather together for church in English. It is located just down the street from the Mission and coincidentally where our kids from the Mission go to school.

This church within the last 3 weeks have been a blessing for many people in the area, including me. One of the things I missed the most being here was not having a place to worship and get fed every week. Don't get me wrong, Haitian church is awesome but only to the extent of learning their culture and seeing people on fire for God. It's tough to sit through a 3-4 hour long service only catching a few words here or there, praying you understand the gist of everything going on. I love it but I can't do it every week.

Today we were packed! The generator was working (woot woot!) so we had fans, microphones, and a little electric piano and guitar. We rocked out to some music and heard a great convicting sermon about God sending Jesus to free us from all sin...so stop trying to hold on to it! Even if you think it's little and not a big deal! And had wonderful fellowship with other who are here in Haiti for the same reasons as us. This has been on the hearts of New Vision Ministries for a long time and it is finally happening! Praise God! Please be praying for the church and the influence it will have on many people, Christian and non-Christian, here in Montrouis, Haiti. There is something big in store here in Haiti! (Pictures will be posted later...sorry!)

Wahoo!

Saturday I had my first deep sea fishing experience in the Caribbean Ocean. Months ago a shipping container was shipped to Haiti for New Vision Ministries. This container had three 20 ft. boats equipped with motors for the fisherman in the fishing village. They have been anticipating the arrival of the boats for months while it traveled from the U.S. to Haiti. Then they waited months for customs to release the container to Kerry. After a very frustrating process, we got them out last week! The men were ecstatic to finally have them in the fishing house yard. Roger was especially proud to show us the boats and motors and invited Liz, Shala, and myself out with him on Saturday. 

Six a.m. Saturday morning. We arrive in the fishing village via tap-tap (Haitian taxi) and walk with Roger and Jean-Benny to where the boat is stored on the shore. They pushed the boat into the water and gestured for us to get into the boat. We hopped in and once we got out a little ways we were handed a pole with the bait dragging behind the boat. It is mentally exhausting holding on to that fishing pole watching it jump around in the waves knowing that at any moment a fish might bite. Five hours of fishing, one Wahoo caught by Liz, mentally exhausted, tired hands, and sunburn but it turned out to be the most refreshing, peaceful day I have had here in Haiti. There is something special about working side by side with the fisherman as they proudly show us what they do to make a living in their brand new boats.

Fish Kisses

Fish Kisses. Everyone at some time or another sucked in their cheeks and made a fish mouth to some little kid to make them smile. This is how I get Daniel, a little boy about 6-7 from our orphanage at the Mission, to smile when nothing else seems to work. I don't know why I started making the fish mouth at him a couple months ago but now it never fails to make him smile. My favorite part is that he has started coming at me in full force to kiss me every time I make the fish face. Then he laughs and makes me do it again. How could that not bring a smile to anyone's face?

I returned to Haiti this past Friday to 15 kids at the Mission ecstatic at our return. They were partly shocked and had no idea what to do with our return. Then huge smiles dawned on their faces as they came toward us with open arms. Sitting at the tables as kids hung on us, Daniel walked up to me and called my name. I turned to him and he is trying to make the fish face. It is a failed attempt since he still can't figure out how to do it but it melts my heart. He wants fish kisses from me. I make the fish face for him and he gives me a fish kiss and ends with a huge smile.  I love the special little fish kisses that I share with him and no one else. A way to show I love him and he loves me. And I get to have fish kisses every day. I'm a very lucky person. Thank you God for giving me the opportunity to make a difference in Daniel's life and the difference he is making in mine.

Two weeks and $1,700 Short

It has been blessing to be home. It is a time of restoration, rejuvenation, preparation to return, and sharing my story with others. God is showing me so much since I have been home. I was privileged to share my story to Trinity Episcopal Church this past Sunday. They truly blessed me with their interest and support in my adventures in Haiti.

Thank you to all who are reading my blog and supporting me through prayer and donations. As I prepare to leave for Haiti again in 2 weeks, I ask for your help. I need to raise $1,700 by January 3rd (2 weeks from today). Here is the link to my giving page:

https://sna.etapestry.com/fundraiser/IMPACT/impact2011/individual.do?participationRef=2963.0.39229480

Let me leave you with a story about a girl from the Mission names Wilna.

A friend of Kerry mentioned that he had to come see this girl. There was something wrong with one of her eyes. Kerry found eight year old Wilna. Kerry learned that she had no mother or father, both had died. She now worked as a slave girl for three different families carrying water. She is blind in one eye and legally blind in the other. Kerry knew this was the girl that would start his orphanage. Two and a half years later, she is a quiet lively little 10 year old girl. She loves going to school and learning English from all of us upstairs. She brightens my day everyday.

13 Women, Fish, Rice, and Me

On Friday I was blessed with a “teacher work day.” I didn’t have to go to school! I was so excited because my plans for the day were so special. First I walked the kids from the mission to school. They were so excited to show me since I had never been before. 

Then I headed off to the fishing village to help the women with the elderly feeding program that they have on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We went to the market to buy all the ingredients that we needed for flavoring the rice and fish. Once we were finished, we headed back to the fish house to start cutting and cooking. I stayed in the back with La Mersi and Nanete while they scaled and cut the fresh sail fish. This is a process! They cut it up into pieces and then scale the whole thing. Once it is scaled, they cut it into smaller pieces to be able to cook. This is an art in itself! They use every part of the fish that is edible, even cutting up the head into pieces. What isn’t used is fed to the dogs that wait around for scraps. They cut it in a fashion that makes the fish go a lot farther than what I thought it would. Once they are finished with all the cutting, Geraldene and I flavored the fish with onion and lime juice. 

While the fish is being cut up, the other women are working on cooking the rice and getting the flavoring ready for cooking the fish. Once the fish is all cut up, they dip it in flavoring to get it good and tasty. Finally they cook it up in a pot until it is finished. This week I was privileged to be able to eat the rice and fish for lunch. The ladies served me up a nice plate. It is so delicious! This ministry that we have for these women is such a blessing to them! They were once women who lost their homes in the earthquake or recent floods that have ravished the country in the past few years. They had nowhere else to go and now they are here with us, getting food, our love, and hearing the Words of Jesus. One day, God will change their hearts and bring them home. I pray for that day to come sooner than later.

The Hill of Tents

On the way from Port-au-Prince to Montrous, there is a part where the road comes to a dead end at a mountainside. You either choose to turn right or turn left. before the earthquake, there were no houses. After the earthquake, there is an estimated 50,000-100,000 people living on this mountain. Two weeks ago with a team, we decided to turn right and drive into the tent city to check out their water resources. They have a well at the bottom of the mountain that pumps out sulfur water. The people of the village will not drink the water because it smells like rotten eggs. This means they have no water source. How can you cook without water? How do you hydrate yourself with out water? How do you do anything without water? They walk miles and miles every day to get clean water to stay alive. I think this picture states it all...

While we were there walking around and talking with the leader of the village about the situation, Liz and I had two wonderful little girls hold our hands and walk with us. Dorleen was my little girl. She is the one in the picture above with part of the village in the background. We gave Dorleen and her sister pieces of bread with peanut butter and cookies. With smiles on their faces, they ate it quickly. Who knows when they ate their last meal. My heart broke for Dorleen. I have no idea what her living conditions are but I can guarantee it isn't good by anyone's standards. Please help me by praying for Dorleen and the people of her city.

A Visit to Jacmel

Three weeks since my last post! I apologize! Time has been swiftly passing by without my notice.

I have been to Haiti one time previous to this adventure in Haiti. In May of 2010, 5 months after the earthquake, I went on a short term mission to Jacmel, Haiti. This is where the biggest aftershock from the earthquake hit and did a lot of damage to Jacmel. The destruction almost compared to what I saw driving through Port-au-Prince on the way to Jacmel. This past weekend, we as a staff retreat decided to take a vacation to Jacmel. This made me overjoyed because I have friends in Jacmel and fell in love with it the first time I was there. From Montrouis, Jacmel is about 5 hours south through Port-au-Prince and over a mountain range into the southern coast of the country.

Last Friday, we loaded the bus at 6a.m. to start our treck to Jacmel. Upon arriving 5 hours later, sometimes driving 5 miles an hour up the mountains in our school bus FULL of people, we were ecstatic. The city looked rebuilt and renewed, and the place we stayed at was on the beach. Beautiful. This is a breathtaking picture of the sunrise on Saturday morning. I wish you could have seen it in person.

After that amazing sunrise, we headed out to Bassin Bleu. This is a tourist attraction in Jacmel and I can see why! It is a series of natural waterfalls that you can take a short hike to and be swimming in emerald blue waters...cold water :-) It was refreshing (the ocean is just too warm for me here!) Here is a picture of the staff SOOO excited to be at Bassin Bleu. Do you see the people up on the ledge at the top to the right of the waterfall? Most of our team jumped from the top up there (not me haha but I did jump off where the little waterfall is).


We finished our trip up on Sunday with walking around the little shops downtown and did a little shopping at the unique, little shops. Jacmel is refreshing from most of the cities in Haiti because they have a sewer system that takes away the water and trash from the streets. It was a wonderful weekend but after this weekend, I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation. I was more tired after my trip than I was before I got on the bus. I loved the trip because I got to share a part of Haiti that the whole New Vision Ministries staff had never seen before. I praise God for that opportunity.

Why am I here? Why are you there?

I get it now. Although I knew I was a Christian and tried to live my life to honor Him as much as I could, I just didn't get it. In a lot of ways. I realized that in the states, I did not honor my time or the fact that I had access to anything I wanted. In the U.S. we have power all the time, TV, available fast internet all the time, ect. at your fingertips whenever you want. You also have access to any store you could ever think or dream of. No wonder I was so busy! I thought I spent enough time with God while at home reading a little, praying for a bit, and trying to bring Him into everything I was doing during the day. I thought that was enough but was I wrong!

Now that I am in Haiti with literally no distractions except for spotty slow internet (when the power is on), two grocery stores 30 minutes away, no way to leave the Mission without someone and my choice not to watch movies, I have had A LOT more time to spend praying, worshiping, doing devotionals, and having fellowship with my seven ladies. What a difference it has made! I have been asking God to speak to me for a while without hearing very much from Him. I am going through a time of changes, repenting of my sins, and obeying God in what He is asking of me and he has opened His mouth! Praise God! He is daily revealing things to me that will day by day change my life and who I am as a person. I am becoming who God created me to be. Alive for His glory...to be used to glorify Him. It is not about me and what I do. It is all about what God allows me to do through Him to glorify Him and further His Kingdom.

I was so distracted but now I see. We are here on this earth to glorify God and live our lives for Him. Why do we just try to fit Him into our schedule? If we minimize God and His power in our lives, we are going to miss out on a true relationship with Him. This is the one thing that we were created to do...be effective in furthering His Kingdom.

I know why I am here. Do you know why you are there?

There is no one like our God

You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

We have a team here this week. They have been blessing us all week with taking us to dinner, bringing us candy, and worship. On Wednesday night we sang this song. I have always loved this song but the other night I realized how it is applicable in all aspects of my life right now.

At this time, God is slowly transforming me and healing me from the inside out. I am so excited that he is breaking a bondage that I have been carrying around for a long time. He is the light in my darkness, my hope in the hopelessness I have felt, and peace to my restlessness. I have been searching for Him truly and completely and God is delivering me. Praise the Lord! Please be praying for my continual healing and seeking Him.

This song is also my prayer for this city, Montrouis, the people of Haiti, and the nation of Haiti. God is the light, the hope, and the peace to all the people here. They are broken, hopeless, and defeated because of their circumstances. God is the only one who can restore their lives and we are here to do his work. While here, I might never see one person accept Christ because Satan is deep at work and Christianity goes against all cultural norms. I pray that the people that we interact with every day here at school or in the fishing village will see our actions and come to Christ. God is the true redeemer and saver of people. Only He can change their hearts to follow Him. Greater things are coming to this city and greater things are yet to be done here. What beautiful words to be sung here in Haiti. I have hope for Haiti. Will you join me in prayer and rejoicing song that God is changing this city, these people, and this nation to glorify Him?

There is no one like our God.

God Moment: Who knew relay races would bring such joy, yelling, laughing, and smiles to thirty 1^st-12^th graders…it was beautiful.

Word/Phrase of the day:

Mwen wè ou: I see you! (love playing with the babies when they cover their eyes and then uncover them)

Faith Like a Mustard Seed

On Friday in my middle school science class we were learning all about seeds. I know it sounds so interesting to everyone and you are ready to hear a lesson on seeds from me. Just kidding. I just want to tell you a small but significant conversation I had with my 7^th graders about the mustard seed. If you don’t know this, the mustard seed is one of the smallest plant seeds. But as significantly small the seed (1-2 mm in diameter), it grows into one of the biggest plants, up to 10-15 feet tall. Jesus uses this in a parable to teach his disciples and the crowd gathered around him.

³¹ He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. ³² Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32

My students couldn’t believe that such a small seed could grow to be so big. As I was explaining the significance of the seed, I also discussed with them about how BIG God really is. If he could put that much care and love into a tiny mustard see and make it grow so big, how much more does God love each one of us!

 In Luke 12:7, Jesus says, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

My students had a very hard time comprehending this. When God is shared with them, God is not someone who loves them unconditionally and they can have a relationship with. I went a step further to try and get them to understand this concept of how special each one of them really is. We talked about how God is so big, we are so small and there are so many people on earth, and yet God knows how many hairs are on our head, who we were before we were formed in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5), and what we are going to say before we say it (Psalm 139:4). How special we are! At the end of our conversation in class, all the kids were thrilled and had huge smiles on their faces.

God Moment: Moments like this one in my class are why I am here. God is revealing that I am a teacher and that I can show love to my students through the subjects that I teach. I am making a different in my students. Praise God!

Word/Phrase of the Day:

Li cho: It’s hot (this is what we tell the workers when we are referring to a poopy diaper with one of our babies...haha)

If I could only become a bird

Let’s ponder this…

“American radio broadcaster Paul Harvey once told a modern parable about a religious skeptic who worked as a farmer. One raw winter night the man heard an irregular thumping sound against the kitchen storm door. He went to the window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the evident warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass.

Touched, the farmer bundled up and trudged through fresh snow to open the barn door for the struggling birds. He turned on the lights and tossed some hay in the corner. But the sparrows, which has scattered in all directions when he emerged from the house, hid in the darkness, afraid.

The man tried various tactics to get them into the barn. He laid down a trail of Saltine cracker crumbs to direct them. He tried circling behind the birds to drive them toward the barn. Nothing worked. He, a huge, alien creature, had terrified them; the birds couldn’t comprehend that he actually desired to help.

The farmer withdrew to his house and watched the doomed sparrows through a window. As he stared, a thought hit him like lightening from a clear blue sky: If only I could become a bird-one of them-just for a moment. Then I wouldn’t frighten them so. I could show them the way to warmth and safety.

At the same moment, another thought dawned on him. He has grasped the reason Jesus was born.”

The Student Bible, NIV by Zondervan, pg. 1039

Sometimes we read without reading. I don’t know many times I have passed over this little devotional in my Bible. Today God’s still, quite voice asked me to read it. Now I know why. To give me a new perspective to Jesus that I hadn’t considered and took for granted. God loves us so much and knows us so well that He sent his Son so that He wouldn’t frighten us and show us the way to warmth and safety. I thank God that he is so gracious and loving to send Jesus to us.

God Moment: We had literacy lessons in the fishing village today. Jean Beny was sitting next to me and I was helping him write the ch sound in the Haitian alphabet. CH, ch, chita, sit. At the end of the time, we went over the new vocabulary sheet they got from Kerry this week. The whole group was going too fast for Jean Beny and I wanted to make sure that he pronounced everything correctly. I started working with him one-on-one. When we finished, he called a translator over to him and proceeded to tell me that next week he wanted me to go through the list with him again. Of coarse I agreed right away. We got up from the table, shook hands, and he asked, “Samdi?” (Saturday?) I replied “Wi!” (YES!) I wanted to tell him YES times one million. I think I’ve found my literacy buddy. I will share more of his story soon and share a picture of him J

Word/Phrase of the Day: The thing the men struggle with the most when writing is letter proportion. They don’t understand the difference between capital and lower case letters. I constantly have to remind them how to write in the lines and where capital and lower case letters start.

Gwo: big

Piti: little

Mwen vle we gwo “CH”: I want to see a big “CH”

Mwen vle we piti “ch” : I want to see a little “ch”