Back again

Sorry that it has been so long since I have put anything up on our blog. 
On April 25, Kyrk and I traveled to London, England for a 2 day vacation and then went on to Holland for some vacation time and a 6 day conference with World Servants.  It was a wonderful time for us and we enjoyed spending time with some dear friends in Holland.

We are very grateful to Chris and Kelli for taking care of our children for the 2 weeks that we were gone. 

We were able to spend Sunday afternoon with this wonderful group of friends.

Gerben and Marjon were such wonderful hosts and we really enjoyed spending time with them.

Saturday morning bike ride through Joure.

Shopping for good dutch tea.

Kyrk loves Stroopwaffles.

Doing an assignment during the World Servants training.

Playing Farmer's Golf.  We had so much fun playing this crazy game.

New Machinery arrives

Last week we were blessed with some great machinery, a John Deere and a Bob Cat.   Yes, they came in the form of 4 hard working men from the St. Louis area.  They had a wonderful sence of humor and were a very wonderful group to work with.  Two families were blessed with a new home thanks to these 4 men, the 2 ladies that joined them and some of our faithful workers who worked along side of them. 

New machinery, John Deere and Bob Cat

Working on one of the houses

 As an update on Sanel's house, Kyrk and the others working with him, have completely finished this house.  Sanel and his family are very thankful for the gift of a new home.

Sanel and his family in front of their completed house.

Fun Video of the kids

Kyrk recorded this video this afternoon of the kids playing.

Election results

Around 6 pm tonight the election results were officially announced.  It was announced that Mr. Martelly is going to be our next president.
As soon as this announcement was made you could hear cheering and celebrating all over the mountain sides.  As I am writing this (at almost 9pm) I am listening to people cheering and celebrating on the street.
Overall it appears that the people are happy with these results, so we are anticipating that things will remain calm.
Thanks for your continued prayers for Haiti.  We are praying that as Mr. Martelly takes office soon, he will have Godly people around him to help him make wise decisions and that he will lead this country well.

A New Home for Sanel

Sanel is a carpenter who has been working for the mission for several years.  He lost his home in the earthquake and since that time he and his family have been living in a tin shack. 
For the past few months we have been building concrete homes, but Kyrk was wanting to experiment with other building materials, to see how they compare.
Over the past 4 days Kyrk, along with our team of carpenters, have been building Sanel's new house with steel studs and dense glass.  These have been very enjoyable days for Kyrk and he has really enjoyed working with the guys and building this home.  They are hoping to finish the house tomorrow.
We are praising God for the safety that He has blessed the men with this week, and Sanel and his family are praising God for a new home.

Framing the house with the steels studs.

House covered with dense glass

Applying the finishing coat on the outside.

Elections and children

Thank you so much for your prayers for the elections that took place on Sunday.  
Thankfully they happened very peacefully.  We haven't heard too many reports of what took place on Sunday, so we are assuming that all was well.  The word now is that the results should be announced on March 31.  We will wait and see what happens.

Over the past couple of days we have had several of our children sick.  Anna and Naomi had fevers and are now battling a cold.  Thankfully they appear to be getting better.
This afternoon Robert was sick with the flu, so I'm praying that he gets better soon and that the flu doesn't spread to the other children.

Currently we have 2 different teams here.  One is a construction team that has completed 2 houses in the past week.  This morning Kyrk was able to join the team as they had a small dedication service at each house with the family.  In Kyrk's words "It never gets old."  God is doing great things and it is so encouraging to be able to share God's love through helping a family rebuild a home.
We are also blessed with a medical team from Annapolis.  This group of 16 doctors and nurses have been doing some amazing surgeries and helping many people.  It is so clear that they are here in God's timing.  During the first 2 days that they were here, there were 2 emergencies cases that came in and because they were here, we were able to treat those patients here instead of transporting them to a different hospital. 
Usually we can't do emergency surgeries since we don't have a anesthesiologist here 24 hours, but there are 3 with the team :)
Thanks for your continued prayers and I am hoping to get some stories and pictures up relating to the houses and patients that we are treating this week.  So check the BHM blog in the next couple of days.

Few pictures from Kyrk's Atrel trip

 Kyrk's trip was very successful.  He was able to speak with several school directors and teachers as they visited several schools and assessed the greatest needs of the communities.

Some of the Boulanger school children in front of the school building that was built in 2008.

The old school building at Boulanger.  They really needed a new one :)

One of the classrooms at the Moulin Gouane school.

The same classroom from the outside.

A class in the Nan Flip school

 No matter where we go in this country we are always amazed at the hospitality and generosity of the people.  At one of the schools that Kyrk visited he was given a gift of a sack of millet.  Right now many of the farmers in the Northwest are harvesting millet.  This is one of the staple food for the people in that area.  The district pastor, Pastor Fritz, also gifted Kyrk with a sack of millet and also some beans.  I'm now experimenting with recipes that use millet or millet flour.  I would love to hear any suggests if anyone has some good recipes using millet flour or millet.

On the right is the millet still in the hulls.  On the left is what it looks like after they pounded it.

Removing the chaff from the ground millet.

Kyrk Currently in Atrel

Kyrk left on Monday to go to Atrel for a few days.  There are 2 people here from World Servants and they needed to check up on past World Servants projects in that area and also look at future projects.
When I spoke with Kyrk last night things were going very well.  It really is encouraging for us to visit churches and schools in the area of Atrel and see the needs as well as get to know more of the people.
Pray that as he visits more churches today and then travels home tomorrow that God would protect them as they travel and that God would bring the people into their paths that He desires for them to meet and talk with.
We are so thankful for Pastor Fritz, who is the overseeing pastor in the Atrel area.  He has been traveling around with them, showing them different places and he has also opened his home to them.
Thank you for your continued prayers for our move to Atrel.  We are trusting that in God's perfect timing we will move there.  Trips like this one, that Kyrk is on now, help to encourage us as we wait for our move to Atrel.
I'm hoping that Kyrk took some pictures on his trip so I can post some on here.

Recent donations

Every since the earthquake we have been receiving many donations of various clothes, food and other items.  Most of these items have been very helpful and many people have been blessed by the donations.
On Tuesday we got a truck load of shoes, and clothes.  Kyrk decided to model some of the contents of this truck load.  I think this is some of the craziest things we have received. :)

Yep, we got a lot of tuxedo jackets and vests

Crocodile Adventures

One of the ministries that we have here at Baptist Haiti Mission is to offer the community a safe place to come, relax, enjoy our yard, playground and zoo.  There are 2 main attractions in our zoo, a monkey and a crocodile.
Sadly in November our crocodile died.  Since so many people have enjoyed visiting the zoo and seeing a crocodile we knew we had to try to replace him.
Last week, we were blessed with a new crocodile and it came at the perfect time since Kyrk had finished having the cage repaired and repainted.
After doing some research we discovered that crocodiles do best when the water temperature is between 68F and 95F.  So we went to work trying to create a way to warm up the water in his cage since the water was in the low 60s.
Jonathan has loved working with his Dad helping with this project and as of lunch today the water should be getting warmer for the crocodile.

Bring the Crocodile into his new home.

Untying the ropes

Resting in his new home.

Working on their water heating system

Kyrk trying to convince Jonathan that he can stand on the island with the croc.

This one is for Grandma C!

David and Laura come to visit

We were recently blessed with having my brother David and his wife Laura come and visit us.  It is always such an encouragement to have family visit and it was hard to say goodbye to them on Friday

David helped build sink counters on the conference center.

Kyrk and David working on plumbing for the conference center.

Coloring with David.

David and Laura helped with many projects around the house. 

Rebekah being silly.

David wanted us to make cupcakes, so we had "Happy David Day."

One Year Ago Today

This is definitely a day filled with many memories.  It is hard to believe that it was a year ago already that so many things changed.

It has not been an easy year, yet through it all we have seen God's hand at work and doing amazing things.  Many people have come to know Christ through the tragedy and others have been challenged and deepened in their faith.

Philippians 4:6&7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

This verse is a great reminder that God doesn't want us to worry, but instead to rely on God and His peace.  Wow, a peace that surpasses all understanding, that is the type of peace that I want, peace that no one understands.
Today we are praying that as we seek God in prayer, His peace will guard our hearts and minds.  It isn't going to be an easy day for the people of Haiti and the staff of BHM, but we are praying that God will guard our hearts and minds as we seek Him in prayer today.
Thank you for joining us in prayer.

Great week

We are so thankful that we have been able to deliver most of the school food this week.  Schools reopened following the Christmas break and things have remained peaceful, making it possible for us to deliver the food. 
Progress is being made on the conference center also.  Electric and plumbing are going in and our group of carpenters are working hard to get the roof on.   We are praying that this facility is finished by mid march when we are planning on holding national church conference.  There will be over 300 church representatives here from most of the BHM affiliated churches and we will need the conference center to house and feed these people.  

This week we are looking forward to a couple of volunteers coming in along with a medical team at the end of the week. 
We are praying that things remain peaceful.  There are rumors that the election recount is to be announced sometime this week. 
Thank you so much for your prayers.

Wonderful holiday time

These past 2 weeks have been very relaxing and enjoyable.
On Christmas day we were able to visit the patients in the hospital and share God's love with them.  We were able to sing songs and pray in each of the wards and the kids handed out candy canes to everyone in the hospital.
We were then treated to a wonderful Christmas dinner.  We are blessed to have a French chef here who wanted to make Christmas dinner for us.  Wow, I have never had turkey that tasted so good.  Thank you Jean Claude for being such a blessing to us!
The week between Christmas and New Years was quiet and restful.  Kyrk gave many of the workers the week off so it was quiet here and we were able to enjoy some good family time which is always enjoyed.
Now we are back into our normal routines.  We started back to school today, which is always a reminder that vacation is over.
We are so grateful that things have remained peaceful in the country.  We are still unsure of what the next weeks will be like.  Sometime in the next couple weeks they are supposed to announce the results of the recount.  Thanks for your continued prayers.

Robert's birthday

Visiting the community of Grande Savane

On Tuesday Kyrk had an opportunity to go out and visit a community that has been badly affected from the earthquake.  He predicted that at least 75% of the homes in the community are destroyed.  Most people are living in tents or in huts that they built from the salvaged tin from the roof of thier damaged home.
It is always humbling to visit people like this. They have so little and are so grateful to have people come and talk with them and listen to them.  As Kyrk was visiting one lady, she gave him some bananas as a gift.  The people in this community have very little, yet she was so grateful that he came and visited her and that we are going to try and build her a new house.  She shared what she could as a thank you.
Some of these people, who Kyrk visited, are not saved and we are praying that as we are able to share Christ's love with them in hopefully building them a new home, seeds of the gospel will also be planted and hopefully some will come to know Christ personally.

Things are much better today

Wow, God is at work and things have been very peaceful for the past 4 days.  Yesterday we were able to send a driver into Port-au-Prince to buy some supplies.  We are so thankful that they were able to find some needed things.  We are trying to stock up, in case things get bad again.
On Sunday and Monday we received a lot of rain.  This is making it difficult to send the rest of the food to the schools.  We were going to try today, but we are not sure we can make it to the schools now.

As of yesterday we had 10 patients in our cholera clinic.  Sadly one young child died yesterday in the clinic.  Pray for the family of this child.  The parents are very upset.  Since their child died of cholera they are unable to take the body.  This is very hard on the family.  Pray that God would comfort this family and draw them closer to Him through this difficult time.

Kyrk and Anna seem to be doing better.   Kyrk had a lot more range of movement in his arm yesterday and I was able to move Anna's foot without her crying.  So they are on the mend.

Thank you so much for your prayers.  We know that God is answering them and it is a huge encouragement to us to know that so many people are joining us in prayer.

Praising God for another peaceful day

Today has been another very peaceful day.  Church was full this morning and I'm sure it was an encouragement to the people to be able to gather together for worship following the events of this past week.
Pastor Baker had a very successful trip yesterday and when he returned he said that if you didn't see the black ashes and wires from all the burnt tires, you wouldn't know that anything had happened.  People were back out selling things on the street and the streets were full of people walking from place to place.

We are so grateful for these couple days of peace.  We are praying that this continues.  It is really unknown what this coming week will be like.  We continue to pray for peace and for God's will to be done.

Kyrk's arm is still very painful.  The deep cut on his elbow seems to be healing well, so we are very grateful for that.  Yesterday afternoon I discovered that Anna wasn't moving her right leg very much.  It looks like she may have injured her ankle, since when I touch it she cries.  We are probably going to have it x-rayed if it is still painful tomorrow. 
Thank you for your prayers for both Kyrk and Anna as they heal from this fall.

Much more peaceful today

From the reports that we are hearing, things are a little better today.  People are saying that they are taking a break from the protesting for today and tomorrow and then they will start back up on Monday.

Pastor Baker (Kyrk's Dad) left this morning to go visit one of our churches on the other side of Port-au-Prince.  He has not returned yet, so we are assuming that all is well and that he is able to make the trip.

The Master's class finshed well with the students that were staying here.  Since it is calmer today they are able to travel home.  We are praying that those who had to miss Wednesday through Friday's classes will be able to get up to the mission on Monday and Tuesday to make up those classes.

Yesterday there are also some school coordinators that were able to come to the mission, so the Education department was able to do some training with those who came.

This morning we were able to send out some building materials to some of the sites that we are building houses.  We are so thankful that we can once again travel around a little bit and deliver supplies like this so that the rebuilding of people's homes can continue.

In other news...... Kyrk fell on the steps in front of our house last night and he has a deep cut on his elbow.  He was carrying Anna at the time and thankfully she seems to be okay.  Kyrk is in a lot of pain today and is not able to move his arm much.  Pray that this would heal quickly.

Friday and things are looking a little better

We are hearing reports that a few stores are starting to open once again.  We sent one of our drivers out this morning to see if they could find places open to get some needed supplies, but they returned empty handed.  They couldn't find any place open.
We have also not been able to send food out to schools.  Hopefully things will clear up a little more next week, so we can get this food out.

Thankfully we are not hearing any protests or seeing burning tires around this area today.   We are very thankful for this.

We currently have a couple here who was supposed to fly home today.  The airport has been closed since Wednesday and they are definitely closed until Sunday and on Monday they will reevaluate to see if they will open.   Pray that the airport would open once again and that they would be able to get home.

Some pictures from yesterday

Yesterday we sent a camera with a man who lives right by the mission.  He walked down the road to take pictures of what was happening.

Just down the road.

Blocking the road with rocks

Blocking the road with tree branches

Protests have begun again

It is now noon and the rain has mostly stopped.  The people are back out on the streets protesting and rioting.  Just a few minutes ago they were burning tires just below the lower gate of the mission. 
We did send a few guys out to try and find some needed supplies, but they could not find any store open and once the rains slowed down they found some road blocks, so decided to come back.  When they were almost to the mission, they had to turn around and go back down the mountain since the road was blocked by burning tires.  Thankfully they were able to come up the back rough mountain road and have arrived safely back at the mission.

We are still all fine here at the mission and enjoying our days at home.  These days have been quieter and many people have been able to catch up on needed work since many people are not able to come to the mission.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Another day

As I lay in bed this morning and listened to the rain fall I was truly amazed.  We have not had rain in over 3 weeks and we are currently in dry season.  Typically in dry season we may get the random evening rain, but to have rain during the day is very rare.
I truly think that this is a miracle, that it is raining this morning.
God is answering prayers and sending rain to stop the violence.  When it is raining, road blocks don't burn and people don't like to be outside. 
We are continuing to pray that today is a little more peaceful.

Yesterday almost 1/2 of the Master's students were unable to attend the class and some of our medical staff and other workers were unable to get here. 
Kyrk is hoping to be able to send some food out to schools today if the road up the mountain is cleared and may try to send people out to purchase some much needed plumbing supplies for our conference center.  We have people here right now who are wanting to help put the plumbing and electrical in, but we need the supplies for them to do their job. 
Pray that as we try to send these men out, that they would remain safe and that things would be more peaceful today.
We know that God is in control and we thank Him for things like the rain this morning.  It really is an encouragement.
Let's keep praying that the leaders of this country would have wisdom to know how to handle this situation and that God's will would be done.

Riots and Protests as a result of the election results

This morning we woke up to see black smoke from burning tires.  Many people are upset with the election results and they have taken to the streets protesting.
We here at the mission are all safe and enjoying a relatively "normal" day.  The kids and I have had fun exploring outside and doing our typical Wednesday school.
Because of the riots and protests, we were unable to send any trucks out to deliver food.  All school are closed today and most roads are blocked, even the ones up the mountain.
We would really like to get this food out to the schools in the next couple of days since the schools have been without food for awhile.
Thank you for your continued prayers for peace and that God's will would be done in terms of the elections.

Election results

The results of last Sunday's election were given tonight.  They are a little bit of a surprise and as a result it is expected that tomorrow will be a challenging day as the supporters of various candiates protest.
Continue to keep Haiti in your prayers.

Cholera, Bible Curriculum and Conference Center

Cholera Update:
This morning as we were walking to Sunday School we saw people carrying a young girl, around the age of 10, down to the cholera clinic.  She looked very weak and it was a reminder of how imporant a treatment center in this area is for the mountain people.
Pray that God would heal this young girl and the others that are in the clinic now.  We are praising God that there have only been about 5 people in the clinic at a time.  The numbers are slowly increasing, but it is still very small.

Bible Curriculum:
This past week we had 2 Bible curriculum meetings and things are slowly progressing, but it seems like poeple are getting discouraged with this project.  Please continue to pray that all those involved in this huge project would have the strength and encouragement that they need to keep working and that with God's strength and wisdom we would create the very best curriculum for the schools.

Conference Center:
We have been blessed to have had a great team here for the past couple of weeks.  They were able to get the roof on the newly rebuilt conference center and they also started to put the electrical wiring in.  This was a huge help and we are so thankful that people are willing to come down and help out in ways like this.  We are praying that we are able to have the conference center finished by March so that we can have sufficient accommodations for all the pastors and preachers that we will coming for National Conference. 

I thought I would include a few fun pictures of our kids.

Jonathan and Naomi really enjoy their little sister.

Anna is "playing" with her daddy's Snickers.

Rebekah really enjoys playing with Jabez.

And yet another "Robert holding Anna" picture.  He just loves to hold his little sister and have his picture taken.