Praying for Rain

Praying for Rain:
Usually by this time of year, we should be receiving some rain.  Over a month ago we got a small amount of rain and the farmers planted their fields with corn hoping that it would continue to rain.  Since that time, we have not had any rain.  The crops are withering and the springs are flowing very slow.  The situation is starting to be very desperate.
Join with us in praying that God would send some much needed rain.

Sewing Ministry:
It continues to be a joy to work with the ladies and teaching them various sewing skills.  They are so eager to learn and work and they are now coming two afternoons a week.  So far we have been making 2 different styles of headbands and hope to expand to other things in the near future.
If you wish to purchase any of the headbands that the ladies are making, you can contact me for more information.

Construction:
After several weeks of work, the men have finished the fence along one side of the property.  As funds become avaliable we will continue to build the fence around the other sides.
The next project is to finish the end walls of the quanset hut and get it enclosed so it can be used for secure storage.  Hopefully in the next few weeks this project can be completed.

Ocelia:
I am praising God for the work that He is doing in Ocelia's heart.  She is a young lady who works for us and is a single mother of 3 children.  Following the birth of her third child, she realized that she was not living the way that God wanted her to live.  She has recently started coming to church and we have been having some great conversations.  Join with me in praying that God would continue to work in her heart and that she would seek God's direction and strength to live the way He wants her to live.

Working along side the Beauchamp Church

This past week, we have had the privilege of having a group here from Grace Church in Rockford, MI.  They have come to work along side the people from the Beauchamp church to put the roof on their church addition and to finish the floor of the church.  It is a lot of hard work, but with everyone working together they are making great progress!  Tomorrow is the last work day and even though everyone is tired, it will be so rewarding to see this project finished.

Jay smoothing the cement of the platform area

Mixing cement is team work

Passing up the tin to finish covering the roof

Cement mixed and now going on the floor

Children love having their picture taken

A Week of Great Progress

This past week we were blessed with having a group of 6 men from People's Church in Toronto, Ontario.  They were very hard workers and willingly helped to dig a trench along the side of the mission property for the fence foundation.  Working alongside 5 men from the Atrel church, great progress was made.

Rock foundation and fence posts going in

The shale and rock made digging the trench very difficult

By the end of the day, they were thankful for any extra help.  Boys from the community were always willing to help.

 A cultural experience that we like to give all visitors to our area, is a trip to our local Friday market. 

One of the many donkey parking lots at the market

 Another huge blessing this week was the gift of a tractor.  A local missionary had a tractor that he was not using any longer and gave it to us as a gift.  After fixing it up and giving it a new paint job, it was ready for it's new home.  It took 3 hours to drive this tractor to our place and we are very thankful to have it here in Atrel.  It is going to be very helpful for transporting building materials in the area.

A nice clean tractor.  It looked a little muddier once we got it to Atrel, since we drove through rain and mud.

Quonset Hut Is Up!

It has been wonderful to have Caleb, Jenn and Stephen here helping us this past week.  The main purpose of their trip was to construct a quonset hut on the foundation that we have been working on for several months.  It is wonderful to see this project reach this stage.  They started on Monday and they were finished on Friday afternoon.  Now some local men will put concrete block in the ends and then it will be ready to be used for much needed storage of building supplies and other materials.

Thank you to everyone who had a part in this project.  Those who gave to purchase the quonset hut several years ago, those who came and helped build the cisterns and to the many who donated to help purchase materials and hire local men to do the construction.  We, along with the people of Northwest Haiti say a huge THANK YOU!!

Looking down at the almost finished building from our house.

Bakers are Coming to the US and Canada

Excitement is building around here as we prepare to travel to the US and Canada.  A week from now we will be freezing I'm sure, but we will be super thankful to be spending time with friends and family over Christmas.
We will be traveling to several churches during our time in the US and Canada.  If you are interested in hearing about our ministry, here is a list of where we will be:

Jan. 4: Delhi Baptist Church, Jerseyville, IL
Jan 7: First Baptist Church, West Layfayette, OH
Jan 8: Little Capon Baptist Church, WV
Jan 11: South River Bible Church, Annapolis MD in the morning
Jan 11: Fellowship Bible Church, Sewell, NJ in the evening
Jan 25: Forest Baptist Church, Forest, ON
Feb 15: Grace Church, Rockford, MI

Ministry partnership opportunity:
As many of you know we have started a sewing ministry with several ladies from the Atrel church.  We are always looking for donations of fabric, thread, sewing machine needles, etc.  If you have things that you would like to share with this ministry we will be collecting these supplies while we are traveling.

Thanks for your partnership with us in the ministry here and we look forward to seeing many of you soon.

Part of a Community

As I sit down to write this blog post, I am not sure where to begin or how to convey the amazing things that have taken place in the past couple of weeks.
Two weeks ago Kyrk started teaching a Bible study to the ladies group.  They were super thankful that he would do this for them.  After this meeting they decided that they would come to our house this week for ladies meeting.
On Tuesday around 3 I didn't see anyone coming, so I thought maybe I didn't fully understand them so I started walking down to the church.  As I was walking some ladies stopped me and told me I could go back to my house since they were all coming to my house.  I ended up walking up with a group of over 20 ladies, which was a great time to casually talk with them.
What an honor, that they would come and visit our house and to have 24 ladies singing praise God and praying in our home. 
As the leader shared, she explained to all of the ladies that our family doesn't have brothers, sisters, or parents here in this community, so they, our church community are to take that roll.  They are also going to start visiting different areas of Atrel each third week of the month.  They want to share this community fully with me as we visit people's homes in many different areas in and around Atrel.

This is a huge answer to prayer and encouragement to us.  Knowing that the people of Atrel are willing to come along side of us in this way, as we continue to make disciples.

Opening of New Sewing Program

Today was a great afternoon, as the sewing program that as been a dream for so long, finally started.  Five ladies are a part of this program, but only 3 were able to come today.

After a sweet time of sharing our testimonies with each other and hearing how God has been working in their lives, we started to learn how to sew.  For the three ladies who came, they had some sewing knowledge already, but working on an electrical machine was very new to them.  They have only used treadle machines, but they quickly began to understand how an electrical machine works.

One of the goals of this program is to teach these ladies to make various crafts such as head bands, hand bags, small coin purses, along with other things that will be sold through Mountain Maid, which the craft outlet associated with Baptist Haiti Mission.  As items are sold these ladies will earn an income to provide for their families, send their children to school, help their church etc.

I think the highlight of each Saturday is now going to be meeting with these ladies.

Here are a few pictures from today.  Rebekah was the photographer :)

Highlights from September

Well Drillers:
We were blessed to have a group of well drillers that came to the Northwest to drill several wells.  One of the wells they drilled was for a BHM affiliated school and church in Grande Caille.  They drilled 300 ft and didn't hit water.  It was a little disappointing, but when they went back the next day, they discovered that there was some water at 110 ft.  We hope to put a hand pump on this so the community can use this water.  It is the goal of the well drillers to come back and drill at the Atrel school, our property and possibly another BHM affiliated school.  Pray that in God's timing these wells would be drilled.

Setting up the drilling rig in front of the Grande Caille church

Cistern Progress:
We are so happy to share that work has begun again on the cistern project that was started last March.  Thanks to some amazing Canadian donors, we now have the funding to finish the project.  There are several men from the community who are working on this and we are hoping that by the end of the year all four cisterns will be completed and the foundation will be ready for the quonset hut to be put up.

Pouring the floor of one of the cisterns

Blessed with Rain:
We have been blessed with an abundance of rain in the past few weeks.  Everything is very green and it is looking like the farmers are going to have a good harvest this year.  One down side of lots of rain is the damage that it can do to thatch buildings.  Kyrk had the opportunity to visit a school in the community of Vincent and their church/school building has been completely destroyed from the rains.  Join us in praying that this community will find a way to work together and build a new building.  Right now they are going to use tarps to make a shelter to hold church services and school classes.

The site where the church/school building used to stand.

Market fun:
Yesterday we went to a local market to purchase some fruit and vegetables and some other needed supplies.  One of the things we purchased was a chair for each of the kids.  These are locally made and the kids wanted chairs that they could use in their forts outside.  

Robert enjoying his chair

Enjoying the coconut milk from coconuts we purchased.

Wow it's Septmeber already??

This summer seems to have passed very quickly.  We are thankful for the ways that we saw God working and the great blessings He brought our way.

Trip to Fermathe:
We were able to go as a family to Fermathe for the third week of August.  Kyrk finished his class and we were able to attend the graduation for the 4th year Summer Bible Institute students.
It was also a very productive week of renewing passports and filing paperwork for our children to be Canadian citizens :)
The day before we returned to Atrel there was a large storm which caused some flooding and make the road difficult to pass in some areas.  Since there was so much rain there were several sections that were badly washed out.  We were able to get through most of them, but this section pictured in the picture below, was not possible.  The water had washed all but a small section of the road out and the truck in the picture is stuck in that section.  So we turned around and with the help of a tap-tap driver we found a different road and still made it home. 

VBS Training:
The last week of August, Darlene Winn along with 2 of her staff in Fermathe came to Atrel to train people from several local churches, how to run a VBS.  It was a 3 day training and during those 3 days she went through each of the days of VBS and demonstrated how to teach a verse, song, and tell a Bible Story.  The people all went back to their churches with all the supplies they need to have a VBS in their community.  Several of them were going to start this coming week.  Pray that as these local leaders hold VBS in their communities, that the gospel will be clearly presented and that God would draw children to Himself.

Everyone who attended the VBS training

Chikungunya Fever:  I am praising God that some of the pain that I have been experiencing from this fever is going away.  This really is an answer to prayer.  I was able to walk to the market today pain free!  My wrist is still bothering me, but I hope in time that will go away also.  

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.