Month of July

What a month it has been around here.  Here are a few of the things that we have been doing.

Visitors:
For the first 2 weeks of July we were blessed with having the Dearing family with us.  They are a new missionary family serving with BHM and came to Atrel in order to begin learning the language.  Each morning we would all go down to a well in the village and sit and talk with people.  It was a great opportunity for us to also get to know the people of Atrel better.  The well is in the yard of several church families and it was a great chance to meet more of their families and learn more about their lives.
Having the Dearing family with us was a huge treat for the children also.  They have 3 children, so it was a 2 week sleep over, which was greatly enjoyed by everyone.

Enjoying corn grilled on a open fire

Walking through town

The girls wanted to "do" Anna's hair.  Even though she didn't like that idea she let them have fun.

Playing together during a rain.

Coloring with some of the younger children

Making new friends

Mdm Christen, along with her husband, were great hosts for us during our time in their yard.

Anna's dream of riding a donkey came true.  She is now asking for a donkey for her birthday.

Summer Bible Institute:
Kyrk has had the opportunity to once again teach a class at the Summer Bible Institute held at Fermathe.  This has meant that he has left Atrel each Sunday after church and returned Tuesday afternoon for the months of July and August.  His class is held Monday and Tuesday morning and he has really enjoyed this opportunity to teach the doctrine of Man, Sin and Salvation to his class of about 20 students.
Join us in praying that God would use this class in the lives of these students and also that God would protect Kyrk as he spends many hours each week driving to Fermathe and back.

Chikungunya Fever:
For the past several months the chikungunya fever has been affecting many people in Haiti.  Around the middle of June it started to affect people in Atrel.  For those who don't know what it is, it is mosquito transmitted and it causes a fever, rash, and very achy joints.  On July 7, I came down with "the might chicken" (as we have come to call it) and for the first couple of days it was extremely difficult to move.  Thankfully it has improved, but there are still many days when it is painful to move around.  It has given me a HUGE amount of empathy for the joint pain that elderly people suffer with.  When I told my mom how I was feeling, her comment was "Now you know how your Grandma feels."  Apparently this "achiness" can last for several months.  Pray with us for the healing and comfort for those who are affected with this fever.

English Class:
At the beginning of June, Kyrk began teaching an English class here in Atrel on Saturday afternoons.  Several of the youth and the main pastor had been asking for an English class and it seemed like God's timing to start this class.  We are thankful that we were able to find a curriculum that uses the Bible as the base for teaching English and trust that as the class progresses it will be an opportunity to study God's Word together.

Ladies Camp

Last Thursday, Saturday and Sunday were definitely days to remember.  It really was a blessing to spend time with my sisters in Christ and to hear some great teaching.  The theme of the camp was Ps 141:3 which talks about controlling our tongue and what we say.  There were a morning session, afternoon session and an evening service.  I usually only attending the morning and afternoon sessions.  I was also privileged to be chosen as part of the 4 person team who "inspected" the rooms each morning.  This was definitely a cultural learning experience for me to see what they do to make their rooms beautiful. 
Saturday afternoon there was a short time of games.  One game that we played was a "friend" game.  Everyone's name was written on a piece of paper and placed in a basket.  Then we each picked a name from the basket.  This person then becomes your friend.  Kyrk jokingly called this pre-facebook.  Yes, I now have a friend.  Still not sure what this means but it was a neat experience to be a part of this and to have "friends."
Sunday was interesting.  We all filed into the church in a parade type way.  It was a very slow dance type walk which lead us eventually to the front of the church.  There were not quite enough benches for all of us, so we were squished nicely. 
We sang 2 songs.  One was the theme song for our camp and that is the first video.  The second was a song that only the ladies from Atrel sang (that is the second video)
Praising God for a great weekend and praying that God will continue to strengthen the relationships with these ladies.

What is a Need?

One Thing
Over the past couple of weeks we have been running low on supplies.  At the end of this month we have a family coming to visit and supplies are coming with them, but in the mean time it has been interesting to try and make do with the things that we have. 
We went to our local “market” last week and tried to find some supplies.  This market is an open market and it is quite large.  You can tell the size of the market based on the size of the donkey parking lot.  This market has about 5 parking lots and they all have between 50 and 100 donkeys, so it is a large market.  Thankfully we were able to find a sac of flour, rice, onions, a few potatoes, and some vegetables.  There was one item that was extremely hard to find..... Toilet paper.  We saw only 4 rolls in the entire market and they were double the price that we usually pay for toilet paper.
So this got me thinking about what we consider needs.  For us coming from American and Canadian cultures we usually put toilet paper as something that we “need.”  But we have discovered that in this area at least, toilet paper is not even available to them and if you can find it, it is a luxury.  Wow, that really makes you think about other things in our lives and if they really are needs.
Yes, we need food, but God is teaching us to be thankful for nourishment, even if it is lacking in variety or food that we don't like.
There really is only one thing that we “NEED”  That is Jesus.  I’m so thankful that God has placed us here in this community of Atrel to learn more about Him.  These past few months we have had some additional time to study and learn more about God.  We are so thankful for this time and praise God for the ways that He is teaching us and equipping us to be Godly examples to those around us.

Ladies Camp:
Yesterday afternoon was the beginning of a ladies camp being held at our church.  There are around 60 ladies from this area and they are expecting around 50 more ladies coming from several surrounding areas.  I am planning on joining them all day Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  It is really going to be a stretching time for me.  I praise God for the relationships that I have started to build with these ladies.  There are times when I am pushed way out of my comfort zone, but I truly am thankful for this opportunity to get to know my sisters in Christ.  This coming Sunday will be an adventure.  As many of you know it is very hot here right now.  On Sunday the Atrel church ladies are going to wear our special uniform for the church service.  This uniform is: Long sleeve purple shirt, black vest, black skirt, brown nylons and black shoes.  Oh boy!!  I think I’m going to be hot.  I’m praying for a little extra cool breeze to blow Sunday morning, but at the same time honored to join with the ladies for this special service. 
I will try and get some pictures from camp and Sunday, so check back next week for an update on how it goes.

Men’s group:
This past Sunday all the married men were invited to stay after church for a meeting with Pastor Fritz.  Pastor shared how there are groups for the youth and ladies, but they as men were not gathering together to study God’s word together and encourage one another.  They have decided to meet together each Friday morning.  Kyrk will be joining them weekly and has also been asked to be part of the committee.  It is so encouraging to see God opening this door and we pray that it will be a great time for the men of the church to grow together spiritually.

Visiting and Ladies Group update

Visiting Churches:
A couple weeks ago Kyrk was invited to attend meetings for pastors and preachers held at a couple different churches.  It was a great time to learn what is happening in these churches and to encourage them.  As Kyrk is able to go to these types of meetings it allows us to share more about the vision for a training center in this area and encourage the church leaders to be involved in the planning of this center.
Last week Kyrk spent 4 days traveling to many churches along with 3 men from camp LePhare. (the mission camp)  They shared about the camp ministry and invited people from the Northwest to be a part of camp this summer.

Ladies Group:
God continues to do great things through the ladies group that He has allowed me to be apart of.  Last week I was invited by the ladies to share a little bible study each week.  WOW, this was a super scary thought.  I truly felt like Moses when God told him to go before Pharoah.  My first reaction was "but I can't speak that well."  All week as I spent time in the Word I asked God what verse He wanted me to share.  I finally decided on Ps. 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God."  It was easier then I thought to write out some thoughts on this verse in Creole.  Then on Tuesday afternoon I shared what I had written with Oseelea, the young lady who works for me.  Amazingly she could understand what I had written.  So with my notes in hand, I went down to the ladies group.  I should probably add that I was looking for any excuse possible to not go.  There was a short rain shower right before I had to leave and I thought "yes, I don't have to go, it is raining."  But then the rain stopped.  
When I arrived I discovered that it was going to be more of a ladies camp preparation time and I didn't have to share. 
Reflecting back I can see that God brought me through that to clearly show me that I don't need to worry, but Be still and know that He is God and He will accomplish His purposes.  I only need to obey and do what He asks.
I'm sure that the next time I go to ladies group I will still be a little nervous, but I know that I have a God who has everything under control and will speak for me.

Visiting Canada:
Yes next week at this time Kyrk and I will be enjoying the cool weather of Ontario.  We will be spending one week in Ontario for my brother's wedding.  Our children will be staying in Haiti with thier cousins and they are really looking forward to that.
For those of you in the Forest area, we look forward to seeing you.

Cistern progress, Garden, and Praise and Prayer Requests

Great week with People's Church group
We were blessed to have a great group of men come from People's church in Toronto to work along side some local men to build cisterns.  They did a great job and got the walls all completed for 2 of the 4 cisterns.
The local men from church have been diligently working since the group left and if all goes well they will be pouring the top of the first cistern tomorrow. 

An added blessing from the People's church group, was that one of the men knew how to tile very well.  He willingly spent the week tiling our downstairs bathroom.  It looks so much better then the blue plastic that used to be on our walls.  Thank you Ken!

A couple weeks ago we were blessed with a nice hard rain.  The group left this kiddy pool and the kids enjoy filling it up when it rains.  They place it under the leak in the eaves trough and hope for the best.  It sure provides lots of entertainment.

 

Garden:

It is such a blessing to have a nice vegetable garden.  We have been enjoying swiss chard and red beets for a couple weeks now.  Several pastors have seen our garden and at least one is hoping to have his local school start a garden for the school kitchen and also to teach children about plants. 

Robert loves the red beets!

Praise and Prayer:
* Praise for the rains that we have started to receive
* Praise for the relationships that we are starting to build with the people who are working with us right now.
* Pray for those who are lost around us.  During this Easter time several who are not Christ followers are celebrating Jesus' death.  For the past two days we have been hearing the drums and chanting.  It is a constant reminder to us to pray for those who don't know Christ.
* A group of young men have asked Kyrk to start an English class on Saturday afternoons.  He has found a curriculum that uses the Bible to teach English.  Pray for God's clear direction as this class begins next Saturday and that there would be opportunities to share Christ with these men.
* Pray that God would continue to send rain.  Most fields in this area have been planted with the hope of rain. 

Cisterns are progressing

Work on the cisterns is progressing very well.  The men from the Atrel church have done a fantastic job of preparing the floors and the first row of blocks are ready.  This afternoon the 6 men from Peoples Church in Toronto, Ontario arrived in Port-au-Prince and tomorrow they will make the trip up here to Atrel. 
This coming week they will be working along side the Atrel church men to finish 2 of the 4 cisterns.  This is truly a blessing to have these cistern being built. 
This area is currently going through a very severe drought.  Springs are dry and animals are dying from hunger.  Just last week in church they announced that in one area several dead cows, sheep, goats and donkeys had been found, in case people couldn't find their animals.  Note:  Right now when there are no crops in the ground people just let their animals wander where ever they can find food and water.  Join us in praying that God would send rain. 

Mixing the cement to pour the floor of the cistern.

Pouring the floor

 Jonathan has recently started having a few driving lessons.  He really enjoys driving the gator up the hill when ever he has an opportunity. 

 We currently have a small crew of men who are doing some work on our front yard driveway.  The kids are loving "working" along side the men when they finish school.

Jonathan and Rebekah were helping to mix the mortar

Robert loves to help mix the cement.  He even helps to put it into the buckets and carry them to the men.  He is one dirty boy when he is done for the day.

Cistern Preparations and Rain!

Cistern preparations:
We have a team coming mid March to help build some cisterns that are going under the quonset hut that we will be building.  So this week we started to make preparations for them to come.  On Monday a couple men from church came and helped Kyrk to clear the area very well.  Then today there were about 10 men from church who came up to start digging the holes.  This is going to be hard work, but the men are very thankful for the work.

Clearing the stomps and bushes

Starting to dig the cistern holes.

Rain:
About a week ago I mentioned that we were in great need of rain.  There have been many people praying that God would send rain.  On Monday afternoon this is what the sky looked like.

 Then the rain came down hard.  It rained for about an hour and we ended up receiving 1 1/2" of rain.

The kids loved playing in the rain.

 

Water is so valuable, we scooped water out of the puddles so that is can be used to water the gardens.

Today Kyrk was talking with several pastors from the area churches and apparently this rain was very localized and just 3 miles from our place they didn't receive any rain.  So we are extremely thankful for this amazing gift from God.

Busy days:
One of the things that we like to do when we hire local men, is to provide a meal for them.  We were blessed with a gift of a sac of rice to use for these meals.  The only problem is that the rice has small stones and pieces of bad rice, so we have to go through it to clean it.  We are so thankful for help with this and Helen and Bob are a huge help.  The next couple of days we will be making large pots of rice and beans each day, serving these men who are working so hard.

Ladies Group

At the end of December while we were visiting the Christen family from church I started talking with Mdm Christen about the ladies in the church and the woman's group.  She invited me to come each Tuesday afternoon when the ladies met for prayer and Bible study. 
So in January I started going down to church for the ladies meeting.  The first week I went it was a very stretching time for me.  First they asked me to stand up and share a little with the group.  I wasn't prepared for this, so what I had to say was very short.  Then they said that I would be joining them when they sang on the last Sunday of the month.  I thought to myself "Okay, I guess I'm going to be singing."
When the last Sunday came there was a group of about 15 of us that just walked to the front of the church and sang a song that we had practiced the week before.
This past month we have been working each week on learning a new song, preparing to share it this morning.  Last week when we were practicing, they said that we would all be wearing the ladies group uniform and then sitting together.  When I heard this I thought that would probably mean that I would not be singing with them, which I didn't mind :)
Well I was wrong.  On Friday evening Mr. Christen came up to our house with a gift from his wife.  It was a shirt that matched all the other ladies that she had had someone make for me.  WOW, I guess they really want me to sing with them.
So this morning I was officially part of the ladies choir and it was a very neat experience to sit along side my sisters in Christ and sing with them. 
I have been very humbled with the way that these ladies have included me into their group and the ways that God is using this weekly time with them to learn more about them and their lives.  I really enjoy studying God's word with these ladies and praying together with them.
I am praying that as I continue to fellowship with these ladies that I would be able to continue to build relationships with them and that God would use me in what ever ways He desires.

Already to head to church with my pink shirt.

Below is a short video that Kyrk took in church this morning of the group singing.  You can't really see the group too well but you can hear the first part of the song that we were singing.

Moving a Garden

It truly has been wonderful having Aunt Helen and Uncle Bob here.  They have been helping in so many ways.  One major task that we undertook was setting up a new garden.  This involved clearing and preparing the new site, moving dirt from another garden that was built on the south side of the house and was too hot to grow things in.  We figure we moved about a dump truck load of dirt mostly with wheel barrows. 
We are so thankful to have this new garden ready to be planted.  We are experimenting with various plants and seeing what we can grow up here.  We are hoping that people in the community will be interested in copying this idea and grow vegetables for this families with gardens in their yards.

This is the new garden site before we started clearing.

Jonathan loved using his hatchet to help clear the brush.

Everything had to go, so we all worked together to get it ready.

The new garden site had to be leveled, so we needed to bring up fill from the back yard.

We were so thankful for the Gator to help with this task.

Everyone worked together to move all this dirt up to the new garden site.

Robert was the driver of the wheelbarrows back down the hill.

The almost finished product.  Now to plant it :)

Pray for rain

It has been extremely dry here.  This capped spring (pictured below) usually has many people around it gathering water.  For the past few weeks it has been dry and the people are having to walk much greater distances to get water.  This is the first time since the spring was capped, many years ago, that it has went dry.  Please join us in praying that God would send rain.

Few Highlights from the past couple of weeks

Saturday Afternoon Children's time
We are so thankful that prayers are being answered and we are having many children come to our children's program on Saturday afternoons.  Last week we had about 20 children come.  We have started reading a children's story bible together and next week I'm planning on having a colouring picture for them and start learning a memory verse together.  Continue to pray that God would draw these children to Him.  Many are do not attend church. 

Visitors:
Last Friday Helen and Bob (Deborah's Aunt and Uncle) arrived.  They will be spending the month of February with us and it is always a joy to have them here.  With their help we have canned 3 bushels of tomatoes, started many vegetables and trees, planted the gardens and many other projects.   

The kids loved to help Aunt Helen plant seeds.

 One huge praise, is that we have a welder/generator now in Atrel!  This has been a need that we have had, and thanks to a generous donation from a church in Alberta we were able to purchase one.  It was brought up on the truck today and Bob got right to work setting it up.  There are many projects waiting for this welder.

Jonathan watching carefully as Uncle Bob gets the welder ready.

Liquid Humility

We have been blessed to work with several pastors in this area.  One of them is Pastor Fleurilien from the LaSalle district that is in the area above our house.  The following was written by Kyrk and he shares about our experience a couple weeks ago when we attended a service in La Salle.


Sunday Dec. 29th 2013, we were invited to a special service at La Salle, in North west Haiti. The service was Pastor Fleurilien’s idea to honor the older members of the five churches in his district. Most of the honorees were founding members of their respective churches, and he wanted to give them a special honor while they were “ Still living and not after they had gone.”
The Service started like many other special services do here in Haiti, lots of decorations and two photographers and a videographer complete with a TV for the viewing pleasure (or pain) of the assembled mass on this most wonderful day. As we take our seats halfway down on the right side of the sanctuary in 4 school bench desk combo units we are greeted with smiles and a few “bonjour’s” from those around us.
About five minutes later the Pastor calls me up to the platform to join the other visitors and special guests (visiting pastors for other churches of the surrounding areas). I had not anticipated this and felt a little out of place, ALL of the others were in nice suits and ties, me wearing a short sleeve shirt and dress pants, NO TIE.
Now the service really has started, The honorees are asked to come forward and  take special seats  near the front in an area they have set aside just for the occasion. There are about 50 people. As the Pastor begins He says “ Unfortunately there is one lady who cannot be here today. We really wanted to have her here but last night God called her Home. I know that she is smiling down on us now and is much happier with her Heavenly family than we could ever have made her here today.”
Not long into the service, the time for the baby presentation arrived, which I thought a little strange (it was not in the program), this normally happens on the First Sunday of the month not the last. Three sets of parents make their way to the front of the sanctuary and the Pastor reading from The Gospel of Luke, about the presentation of Jesus at the Temple, gives the families an encouragement to raise their children in the Lord and teach them to be God fearing and responsible members of society. Then as is always done deacons from the church come and each take a child in their arms as the Pastor offers a prayer of blessing over the children. Only the pastor asked ME to give the prayer of  blessing on the children. WHAT !!! Did I just hear that correctly?
As I stumble through the prayer the significance of what is taking place begins to hit me like a ton of bricks. I find myself fighting back tears and struggling for words, in Creole, to properly convey the importance of the actions that the parents, family members, and congregation are all a part of. To give Gods blessing to them as they seek to raise their children in the Truth of God's Word. As I take my seat behind the pulpit I am amazed that God allowed me the privilege to do that. Humbled I bow my head and say a quick thank you to God. I immediately look at the program to see if there is anything else that may come my way. There are three more prayers that do not have a name next to them just a blank space.  Better get ready just in case, I think to myself, hoping that my duties for this day are over.
The program keeps rolling, passing the 2nd hour mark now and the Pastor has not started preaching. The interviews of the five of the members, one from each church, were priceless. It was incredible to see these men and women reminisce the histories of these five churches and how they started. These five were all over 80 years old, of the 50 present the oldest was 95 and the youngest 68. WOW. How precious to hear their stories. One of them there at the outset of the church in the 1940’s  70 years serving, in the Satanic Voodoo culture that is so prevalent here in Northwest Haiti, as a Light In this Dark world. I am Humbled once again as I sit with tears welling up in my eyes.
Finally the Pastor has finished his sermon, we are well past the 3 hour mark by now but who is counting. It is time to honor the special warriors with a small gift that the church has purchased in appreciation of their faithful service for so many years.
The Pastor turns again to me and asks if I will help with the distribution of these gifts. So along with two other elders of the church we stand at the front. As each pillar of faith comes forward I have the privilege of pronouncing God’s Blessing on each one. “Bon Dieu Benni Ou” I say as I shake each hand, some frail from lack of enough nourishment, some calloused from years of tireless work in gardens of rock. Each face radiating the glory of God, basking in the honor that they so much deserve, but so inadequately shown in our human ability.
As one toothless smile reflects the love of God back to me I realize again the Liquid Humility burning down my face, I so do not deserve this honor. God Graciously gave me the honor of pronouncing his Blessing on a brand new generation and on the Foundational members of the Churches represented here in the District of La Salle. I am So NOT Worthy and God is So GOOD, not at all what I expected when I woke up this morning. GOD IS GOOD.

Will you Share your Shoes?

 Last week a few boys came up for our Saturday afternoon soccer game.  This time they came very prepared and 3 of the 4 boys wore shoes.  One of the boys noticed that the other boy did not have any shoes so he let him wear one of his shoes.  The area that we play in is very rocky and hard, but that didn't stop this boy from sharing and sacrificing the comfort of his foot.

This made me think, would I have done the same?  Am I willing to sacrifice my comfort for others?  During this Christmas season I am so thankful that God was willing to sacrifice His comfort and come to live on earth among men.  Thank you Father for sending your son.

The soccer group with a couple other younger children who came to watch.

It has continued to be a huge blessing to have Gerben and Ellen here with us.  Thanks to them our team house is nicely painted, the last few cabinet doors have been made, several fix-it projects have been completed, all the congo beans have been shelled and lots of cookies have been made.  For 3 days Ellen and I made several different kinds of cookies.  Today we went and visited all the deacons and leaders from church and gave them a plate of the cookies.  It was a great opportunity to visit each of their houses and learn where they live and meet their families. 

After all the cooking we thought we needed to enjoy a little of our efforts.  The chocolate pudding sure tasted great!

Yesterday we had several people who work in Northwest Haiti over to celebrate Christmas.  Our children were able to continue our yearly tradition and perform the Christmas story for our guests.  There were 2 children visiting us from the Port-au-Prince area, so they were able to join in with the play also.

The cast of the play (some had already taken off their costumes)

We would like to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Visitors

Visitors:
We are blessed right now to have Gerben and Ellen visiting us for Holland.  It is always a joy to have them come and work along side of us.  Gerben has been working with Kyrk on various woodworking projects as well as many electrical projects.  Ellen and I have been cleaning and doing whatever needs to be done.

Anna and Ellen shelling congo beans that we picked from our yard.

Saturday afternoon children's program:
Each Saturday the kids and I continue to go out and try to find children to play with.  Last week we had several young boys who were willing to join us for a game of soccer.  By the end of an hour we had a nice group of people who had gathered to watch the "match"  We continue to pray that God will help us to develop good relations with this children and to be able to share the good news with them.

Robert and Jackson throwing a football to each other.

Rebekah and Lubenson were having fun with a tennis ball

 LaSalle Church:

A couple of weeks ago we had the privilege of attending a special service at a church about 45 minutes up the mountain. 

LaSalle Church, if you look real hard you may be able to see Kyrk sitting at the front of the church :)

School Visits and Children's Program

Wow, has it really been 2 1/2 weeks since I last wrote.  Sorry for the absence. 

Things went really well with the school visits and it was great to continue to learn about these other districts and what they are doing.  There are still a few schools from the Atrel area and Port-de-Paix that he needs to visit, so hopefully these happen soon.
Here are a few pictures from the Herbe A Fleche school, just to give you some more idea of the type of schools that he was visiting.

What does God want us to do?
Over the past few weeks I have really been struggling with what God wants us to do here.  We know that we have been called to work with the local people to make a training center become a reality in this area, but what does that mean for today and the next months.  We have been blessed with some great pastors that we have been talking with and starting to get their ideas, but still I must admit that it is difficult to just wait.
There are so many ideas that we have of what we would like to see and do, but we don't want to do something just for the sake of "doing."  We want to be sure that it is what God is wanting us to do.  Join us to praying that God's will would be so clear to us and that we would be obedient to His will in what ever little steps He wants us to take.

Saturday afternoon kids time:
Our children have really wanted to start making friends with the local children.  Last Saturday the kids and I all went for a walk to see if we could find some kids to play with.  Armed with a tennis ball and a football, we set out.  By the end of an hour we had a group of about 15 boys that we played with.  These boys really enjoyed it and said that they would come back again this week.  We are praying that this will become a weekly event, with games and a Bible story time.