Sunday Lessons

Today was another wonderful day.  We attended the Atrel church and really enjoyed worshiping together with the people of Atrel.  As Pastor Fritz introduced the group to the congergation he explained that we were going to be spending the week working on the mission property.  He also shared that we did not have any water in our cistern and encouraged the people to show brotherly love and bring some water to us.  I was really pleased that he was encouraging people to help us, but at the same time I know that it is difficult for people to just get enough water for their own families, let alone sacrifice and bring some to us.

Around 5 this afternoon a very sweet lady came walking up the hill with a 5 gallon bucket of water.  Wow, were we humbled.  To think that she had just walked about 20 minutes up the hill, just to share water with us.  Then she apologized that she did not bring more, since she didn't have a donkey to carry more.  About an hour later she returned with a second bucket.
How wonderful to see the body of Christ at work and helping each other.  It truly was a great gift that she gave us and it was a very special welcome to the community.
It was also challenging to us to ask ourselves, if we would be willing to make big sacrifices to help a brother or sister in Christ who was in need.

A few pictures from today:

Robert really enjoyed the watermelon

Mike was taking pictures of the kids and then showing them, which created lots of laughter and enjoyment.

This evening we spent some time talking with the group of people who was gathering around the gate.

The children loved to rub Riley's head.

Jason gave a great show by spinning  Nathaniel and then Riley

 

Arrived in Atrel

It has been quite a day, but a very good day also.
We left the mission around 5:30 this morning and after a short stop at the beach camp we arrived in Atrel at 1:30.  The big truck loaded with supplies arrived around 2:45.
Within a half hour of arriving we started to get a little rain.  It was so wonderful to see God answering prayers like that.  It was very little rain, but it was enough to cool things off a little and the cloud cover was wonderful.
The men on the team hit the ground running.  They immediately started installing screens, framing windows, sealing eaves troughs, hanging screen doors, finishing toilets, and fencing the property.  They finally decided to stop shortly after 7 this evening.

Sealing the eaves troughs

Installing shower room screens and shower curtain rods.

Framing the windows

Robert likes exploring.  There were 2 dogs who came through the property and some donkeys also.

Starting to put the fence up.

Installing doors on the toilets.

The group of on lookers followed them as they put up the fence.

Last section of fence for the night.  The crowd was still enjoying watching.

It is so good to be here.  We are looking forward to church tomorrow and seeing some familiar faces.
Currently there is thunder in the distance so hopefully we get some rain tonight.

Packing for a Week in Atrel

Tomorrow morning a group from Colorado will arrive.  Part of this group will be traveling with us to Atrel to start digging the cisterns for our house.  We are sooooo excited to finally be starting construction of our home.
Taking a team to Atrel is not an easy project.  The past few days have been filled with preparations.  Here are just a few of the things that we have had to pack to prepare to live in the 2 room house that was recently built.
- stove
- bucket toilet seats for the outhouses
- tables (which Kyrk made today)
- 250 gallon large water tote (which we are hoping to fill here since there is no water in the cistern yet in Atrel)
- large amounts of non perishable food (we will have no refrigeration)
- 2 large casseroles that were prepared earlier this week and are frozen for use during the first 2 days
- large amounts of frozen water bottles and pop bottles (it is soooo hot that cold drinks are a real treat)
- a new cooler, which thankfully arrived today through our mail service
- all kitchen supplies

It has definitely been a week of preparations and we are really looking forward to traveling to Atrel on Saturday.


Some prayer requests as we spend the next week in Atrel:
- pray for rain (the cistern needs water and the community is at risk of loosing their third crop in a row if they do not get rain)
- Pray that we would be able to start developing relationships with people in the community
- Pray that we would travel and work safely through out the week

Team House Construction Update

 This past week Kyrk along with a group of men spent the week building the team house.  This building has 2 shower rooms, a small storage room and 2 sleeping/living rooms.  One will be used for people who come and help with various projects including the building of our house.  The other room will be the home of our guardian who will live there to guard and help on the mission property. 
I have included several pictures to give you an idea of how the week went.
We praise God that they were able to get most of it finished this week.  Kyrk will be returning for a couple days next week to finish the exterior and the group of carpenters will finished the ceiling and interior walls.

This was taken from the property that our house will be built on, looking down on the team house.  This was the progress when they arrived on Monday afternoon.

Making the walls smooth of the shower rooms

The progress as of Friday afternoon.

Team House Building Week

This is going to be a very eventful week.  This morning at 5:30 am Kyrk headed out along with another truck fully loaded with building supplies. 
If all went as planned they should have all reached Atrel shortly after lunch and could have started construction this afternoon.  There will be 4 very skilled Haitian carpenters helping Kyrk along with a great volunteer who came in to help also.
It is going to be a very long week for the men working on this house.  The goal is to finished it completely before they come home on Saturday.

If I hear more updates through out the week I will pass them along. 
Kyrk is hoping to take pictures of the progress so check back this weekend, for pictures of the construction.

God has provided

We are super thankful that as of yesterday there is someone coming to help Kyrk build next week.  This is a huge answer to prayer.  Now Kyrk knows that they should be able to get the small team house built in the week. 
Kyrk returns tomorrow from a weekend in the states.  He was sharing at a church outside of St. Louis, Missouri.  The kids and I are really looking forward to having him home again. 

Help Needed

During the week of June 11-15 Kyrk is going to be building the team house.  Today he found out that the man who was planning to work with him on this building has to leave on June 14 so he will not be able to go with Kyrk.
Since Kyrk will be using steel stud construction the men who work here are not familiar with it. 
So Kyrk is looking for 1-2 people who would be willing to come on June 9 -17 to help with this project.  Having some construction experience would be very helpful. 
The conditions will be rough, but it will be a great experience also.
Please contact us if you or someone you know is interested in helping build the team house.

Robert's Road Trip with Dad

 On Monday Kyrk made a quick trip to Atrel.  Robert really wanted to go along even though it meant spending 12 hours in a vehicle.  He really enjoys spending time with dad and going to Atrel.

 When they arrived in Atrel Robert enjoyed playing on the pile of rocks that will be used for the foundation.

 Boss Joubert along with Kyrk checked out the finished cistern for the team house.  Kyrk also marked out the rest of the foundation which will be built where the bars of iron are laying on the ground.

Yeah, things were a little green in Atrel thanks to the rain that came a few weeks ago.

Mango Fun

Yesterday Kyrk made a trip to Atrel to mark out the full foundation for the team house as well as the outhouses. Things are progressing well with the construction and tomorrow Boss Joubert will go back up to continue working on the foundation.
As Kyrk was coming home yesterday he found some large baskets of mangoes at a very reasonable price, so he bought 2.  I had been wanting to try canning mango, so today was the day.

 This is what I started with this morning and after several hours of work I was able to cut up and can one basket.  Tomorrow we will tackle the second one.

The kids loved "cleaning" off the seeds.  These mangoes were so juicy and delicious making all their faces orange by the end of the day.

Saturday night update

Construction Update:
Construction continues to go well on the team house.  Last Sunday Kyrk made a quick trip to place all the drain pipes and make sure everything was ready for the men to pour the top of the cistern. 
On Monday he will be going back up to mark out the full foundation of the team house and the foundations for the 2 outhouses.  If all goes well Kyrk will be going up sometime during the first 2 weeks of June to build the actual building.  
We are praising God that so far things are going very well with construction.

First Time experience:
This evening following supper there was a knock on our door.  It was one of our drivers and he shared with us that a man he knew from his home town was here with 2 newborn twins who's mother had died.  They were hoping to find someone to take the babies.  Wow, I know this type of thing happens too often in Haiti, but to know that these 2 tiny infants were orphaned and unwanted really hit me hard.  Thankfully we were able to refer them to a great orphanage close by who would be able to take the infants in and provide great care and hopefully adoption in the future. 
Join us in praying for this grieving family and for these 2 precious children.

Fun pictures of the kids:

Naomi, cutting our lawn.

 Jonathan loves football and today decided that he wanted to build a field goal post.  With Kyrk's help they built one and then had to play a little football together.

Rebekah and Robert enjoy climbing trees.

Anna was "reading" her Three Little Pigs" book to her bunny and bear.

Grandparents 60th Anniversary

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to attend my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary celebration.  I surprised them and to see the look on their faces as they saw me, was priceless.  Grandma and Grandpa Smids have been wonderful supportive grandparents who have been great examples to me and it was a huge blessing to be able to attend their special celebration.

Special thanks to Kyrk for being willing to watch the kids and for making it possible for me to go to Canada for the weekend.

Construction has begun

It is so exciting to finally be able to say "construction has begun"  Last week a group of men from the Fermathe area went to Atrel to begin building.  Well actually it is more digging right now.  They are starting with digging a hole that will become a water cistern under our team house.  

It has been very dry in Atrel over the past few months.  But for the past 9 days it has rained every day.  This has made their job a little more challenging, but they are making the best of it and doing a great job.

Working under a trap, they are digging a 6-8 foot hole for the cistern.  Of course you always have a crowd in Haiti.

The wood structure is their "kitchen."  They are cooking all their meals right here beside them, using a large pot and some rocks to keep it off the ground.

They are digging mostly shale, but they have hit a large rock at about 6 feet, so it is not going any deeper in that section.

Kouri Deye

Check out the new page we created today for Kouri Deye by clicking on Jewelry Project on the top of this page.  It is very exciting to see what God is doing in the lives of these ladies and it has been a great joy to work with them. 

Faith of the Poor

The missionary ladies here are currently working through a Study of the book of James.  I have learned so many things so far and I'm so grateful for the ways that God is providing for me to put things into practice.  Here is one example of what God has shown me recently.

James 2:5
 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

A couple of days ago I was given a wonderful example of the rich faith of the poor that surround us.  Madame Oliver is a widow who has 4 children.  One daughter is married, but 2 daughters and 1 son still live with her at home.  She works at the mission a couple days a week and is very thankful for the help that those wages are to help with some of her expenses.  She used to sell items in the market, but in December all that she had to sell in the market was stolen leaving her with no income.
She explained this to me and then went on to share that in a couple of weeks she needs to pay her yearly rent for her house.  She has no idea where that money is going to come from and she has no family living in this area.  Then with a huge smile on her face she said, "But I have the family of God, and that is a huge family." 

This really made me evaluate what would I do in her situation.  Would I have the faith that she has, or would I be worrying and fretting about where I would live?  Would I trust God and rest in the fact that I am part of the family of God?
So often I can get upset and worried about simple things.  I'm so thankful for the ways God is teaching me to trust Him with everything!  He is in control and we can have faith that He knows what is best for us.

Jewelry Project Update

About a month ago I shared how Chelsea and I were working with a group of ladies from the Thomassin church to make jewelry from paper beads.  It has been a wonderful opportunity to get to know the ladies that we are working with and to see them develop in their skills and begin to create some great quality jewelry. 

Each Thursday I have the opportunity to spend the morning with these ladies and I am loving getting to know them.  Today I had the chance to talk with Andrea.  She was sharing with me some of the expenses that she has.  She currently has a daughter who is studying in the Dominican Republic.  Her husband is a driver and is paid fairly, but doesn't make a lot of money.  Each month when he is paid they would take a large amount of that money and exchange it to US money to send $100 US to their daughter to cover her school expenses.  At the same time they were also having to pay money for their youngest daughter to go to a local high school.  After paying these 2 school bills there was not much left over for food or anything else.  With a large smile on her face, Andrea shared with me that this has all changed.  She is now able to make enough money each month to cover the school costs without having to take from her husband's pay.  The money her husband is making can now be used for the family's general expenses.

Thank you to those who have purchased some of the jewelry that Andrea and the others are making.  It really is making a huge impact on their lives.

Andrea showing some of her recently made jewelry.

Trip to Atrel

On Wednesday, Kyrk and I along with Aunt Helen and Uncle Bob started off very early (5:30) on a great adventure.  Special thanks to Trey and Chelsea for watching Robert and Anna and to Chris and Kelli for watching Naomi, Jonathan and Rebekah.  It was a very special treat for me to be able to go along on this trip.

Coridon church and school

A common stop along the way is the small town of Coridon in the salt flats, where the BHM affiliated school has a decent outhouse.  

These kids asked Bob to take their picture and then enjoyed looking at the pictures that he took.











 Amazingly we arrived in Anse Rouge around 12:30 that afternoon and after a great lunch with friends we drove to Atrel.  The road between Anse Rouge and Atrel was a fun road to travel.  

Some spots were a little narrow.  I don't think there are many vehicles that travel this road.

When we arrived in the town of Atrel it was very encouraging to be greeted by several people that we had met during past trips.  This boy on his donkey greeted us up on our property.

 There were several people that followed us around as we walked the property.  We were a little surprised by the number of people that were in the area.

Bryon talking with a man who followed us everywhere and enjoyed talking to us

Thankfully it was fairly easy to decide the general area that we are going to put the various buildings.  The "team house" and the outhouse are going to be at the top of the mission property and our house will be built on the other side of the road further up the hill.  

Standing in the general area that our house will be on.  There is lots of brush to remove.

Our house will have a great view of the town of Atrel and I'm excited about being able to terrace the side of the hill for gardens around our house.
We are so thankful that God clearly showed us where we will build our house and the other buildings.  It was also a great opportunity to share our dreams and vision with others.
In the next couple of weeks Kyrk will be taking Joubert to Atrel for him to start the foundation of the team house and the outhouse.  We are praying that things go well with this phase of construction and that we can possibly start our house by May.
God's timing is perfect, so we continue to seek Him and take it one step at a time.