Confession

Reading our friends' blog describing their experience on the mission field in Africa has me feeling a mixture of emotions tonight- joy for them- they're blown away by a great ministry. Anticipation- what will they take away from this, how will it impact and change them, will they be called to full time missions? And then the ugly emotion of jealousy underneath it all- I wish WE were seeing beautiful sights of Africa, joining a busy Christ-filled ministry, sharing our new journey. I realize in these moments that so much of my walk with Christ has little to do with Christ and a lot to do with me. Christ is the same here and across the sea, in the faces of Haitians, Africans, and Americans and present in their world. I wish I understood the story of Christmas and Christ's coming more deeply.
And then comes the peace-giving knowledge that a life seeking after that understanding will be full of meaning and growth. Understanding the significance of Christ's coming isn't something we can do in a moment and move on- it is a lifetime of learning and changing! Seeking his face will provide the fulfillment we long for and that will only be completely realized when we are with him in Eternity. For now I better fight these feelings of jealousy and realize that the story of our lives had better be more about HIM than about US. It better be focused on Him intently so that I don't forget that life isn't about awesome experiences and being the most exciting Christian (although I can't deny I like the idea of both of those things!)
Maybe God will allow us to return to Haiti, or travel somewhere else overseas. Maybe he will keep us in Terre Haute for residency, or have us start over somewhere else in Indiana. By my standards I guess Indiana doesn't sound too exciting but praise the Lord that really walking with Christ one day at a time can have an impact wherever we are, whoever we are with, and whatever we do.
Heading to bed with peace in my heart, genuine excitement for my friends, and a super thankful heart for a God who does something supernatural in us- washes away our sinful feelings, grants us understanding, and settles us with peace.

Hello again :) It is Sunday afternoon and I am sitting in front of our ventilate (fan) wishing for a venti latte (frappacino) after taking a little snooze. So it has been about four days since our last update and it is four days from our departure... time flies. Kath and I have been up to a couple of different things. It is hard sometimes to write about the days because they all seem kinda similar when you are here. The medical aspect of our trip has been great. This past week I spent a lot of the time with the Haitian doctors seeing patients and doing exams. While I may not learn as much as when I am with Dr. Kris, we can't communicate at that level, I still am able to get hands on experience with patients. It has been fun to take full histories, do the full exam, and send for labs without too much help from the doctors. Of course they are looking over my shoulder the entire time, but it has given me a real confirmation that Family practice is where I want to be. I get to see little 6 month old babies with malaria one minute and a 90 year old guy the next who is complaining of body pain. It has been a great experience.
All this time with the Haitian doctors has resulted in a pretty good relationship with them. On Friday Kathleen and I joined them for lunch in the medical house. It was great. If you have read the blog before you know I love haitian beans and rice. Well, Friday was no exception, but it had an added zest of aged hot peppers in a questionable looking container that was brought to me when I told them I like things spicy.
Its still pretty warm here. I am not going to lie...I am looking forward to some a/c and icecream. But we have had two solid thunderstorms that have lowered the humidity and made it actually cool at night (mid 70s). Thank you Lord!
Yesterday we along with the Thedes and the team were able to go visit houses of the area surrounding the compound and take pictures of the families. We are trying to compose a sponsor program, linked to kids in the Sunday afternoon kids program, in which families who support the club through their church in the US can adopt a family in Haiti to pray for on a regular basis. It was a good but tiring experience. Many people were receptive to the idea and were glad to have their picture taken. The power of prayer outweighs what any monetary sponsorship could offer. One home had 22 people living in it... crazy! because it was a twenty by twenty one story house made with woven wood and mud. Our Haitian leader, Jean-Pierre, shared the message of Christ's love with two families who had not yet accepted him! It was a great opportunity to be apart of something bigger than ourselves.
Today has been filled with a visit to Port Margot church by ourselves and a very long kids club. It was a great day, but I am culturally exhausted right now. Thanks for your prayers and I hope you have a great week. Okay we have been trying to get pics but they won't load...probably my computer. If you want some pics here is Kris and Cory's blog: www.portmargot.blogspot.com

God's Goodness

Happy Wednesday! This has been a good, busy week so far. Between going to the clinic and then back down to see the results of the lab tests, Chris and I have begun a new project: the re-painting of the clinic's sign along the road! I will have to take a picture of it now so we can have a before and after...right now it looks a bit rough. We have been scraping the old paint (about 4 layers I think) off in hopes of getting our new paint to last a while. Unfortunately this scraping has come after we painted the first two layers, only to have them rust through in one night and show some signs of peeling! But at least we didn't start painting the letters on yet. We are having fun although I have been a little stressed about whether it will turn out okay....but Kris assures me that anything is better than what was there! And scraping has definitely been a bit of a character building experience for one of us at least. (well, for Chris too I guess as he has to deal with some of my struggling moments!)
Anyway, the team is still trucking along and getting work done...projects for the school, building a new roof on one of the school buildings, new benches, painting clinic rooms, and more. On Sunday we all enjoyed the huge kid's program that happened on the compound, of over 600 kids! It was quite something. We went on a parade, listened to different singing groups, and enjoyed some popcorn. It was incredible to see how many kids came and how happy everyone was to be there. It really stuck out to me during that time how beautiful Haiti is and how beautiful the Haitians are. Thank you Lord for letting us see the beauty and not just the negative things about this country.
God has shown his goodness so clearly lately. I want to share a few of the ways, though there are more. As you will see in the picture Chris got to help with another delivery on Sunday. He really wanted to deliver a baby while here and has gotten to help with 4. So cool! Since the team has been here, Chris and I have become less famous with the kids, which in some ways is nice and in others is a little bittersweet. It's great to see how much the team loves the kids and vise-versa, they are really enjoying the time playing and trying to communicate! So in the midst of the new excitement there's one little boy (Loubens) who has brought us a new picture he drew almost every other day. Each one has both our names on it, some flowers, and the last one even had some Creole words with English translation :) It's meant a lot to me! Tonight as we were walking back from dinner we stopped and watched a huge thunderhead rolling by against some blue sky with lighting going through it and it looked so cool. In the distance I could hear a group of Haitian women singing Come Thou Fount (in Creole, but I recognized the tune) A neat God moment. Even up on the ladder scraping that paint away I thought, How blessed am I, to be here working beside my husband? Thank you Jesus! Despite the team being here, and family members no less, we have had some good time with Kris and Cory, as Kris has gone to the clinic with Chris, we have looked at wedding and family pics, chatting while scraping paint, and adding more experiences to a friendship started over two years ago now. And as Anna and Eli are having a blast with their cousins and helping with projects, we're thankful for the two weeks we got to hang out with them before everyone came! Finally, and like I said, this is an inconclusive list, a neighbor just knocked at our door and said, Fre Chris, Anana! Which means, Chris, pineapple! And gave us a pineapple.
Well, that is my spiel for the evening. Have a great night!
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11

Hello! It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Haiti. This morning we got to go to the beach, Chou Chou Bay to be exact. It was awesome! The team is here (13 in all) and doing great. They have jumped right in to projects, playing with kids, helping with laundry, and absorbing all they can and trying to process their experiences in Haiti. It's been fun to get to know them, and to hear their reactions and thoughts about Haiti and their time here. They are gracious to invite us to join them for devotions each evening which has been neat.
So the past few days we have been doing our usual routine plus a bit extra with the team here. Chris has been going to clinic each morning and now and then he will get to go down in the afternoon if someone comes in needing medical care. On Thursday he was able to watch a birth, see two stab wounds sewn, and a little guy's finger stitched up as well. We spent a good amount of Friday scraping paint with some team members and Kris in the hospital rooms at the clinic. After trying a few methods of scraping we resorted to using machetes, which worked great! It was super hot but it felt so good to do some hard work. We were all very thankful to discover that only two of the rooms needed to be scraped before the new paint is applied! Yesterday afternoon we all took a walk to see Gener (Cory's gardner)'s garden across the river. What a beautiful walk. It was fun to let him show off his plants and various plots of land that he owns and plants on.
Talking and playing with kids has been one of the teams' favorite activities so far. It is interesting to get their perspective on the kids we have seen so often the last time we were here and the first two weeks of this trip. It's cool to see each person on their unique, individual journey. You definitely can't take everything in and learn everything God has for you in one day, or even one trip. Even after eight months we couldn't sum it all up easily!
Tomorrow will be the kid's program's big party on the compound. Everyone is pretty excited about it. There will be a parade with instruments, refreshments, a puppet show, and who knows what else. Some big thunder heads seem to be coming our way, which has happened the last few days as well. We haven't had a huge downpour in a while, so we'll see if these clouds are playing tricks on us to. Have a great Sunday, and Happy Father's Day to our wonderful Dads!!! ( a little late :)

Chris delivers his 1st baby! (and other news)

Good evening! It's been a pretty hot day here so far, although in the evening there are sometimes a few more cool breezes to enjoy. So here are some pictures from the various activities of the last few days. The first was a program for the volleyball and soccer teams that have competed this year. The young people that participated received certificates and applause as we looked on and checked out their table full of trophies. After the little ceremony we all enjoyed some Haitian food together. The next few pictures are from Saturday, when Chris and I were able to accompany Cory on a banana distribution. The men loaded up the back of the truck and we drove a ways down the road, handing out a banana plant to each house that had not already gotten one. Cory showed them a few pictures and some information about the specific kind of plant it was. Cory said that this is the fun part, and it really was! It was interesting to stop by people's houses and talk to people we'd never seen before and get a small glimpse into their everyday lives. The picture with all the kids is from a kid's program at the church...one of many that have been happening lately as graduations and end of school parties and programs are going on. We went to one such program in Port Margot yesterday, which turned out to be a party, in which we were introduced, asked to say something to the kids, had a fan plugged in and pointed only toward the blancs, and then ate beans and rice with about 100 kids and parents! Wow. If there is one word that comes to mind for this trip so far it is, Humbling! People here always seem to treat us as guests of honor, even if we have done absolutely nothing for them, just shown up! I came here thinking, I need to find ways to help these people, to encourage them, to help change their situations for the better. And while that isn't necessarily bad, I am learning that trying to make a Haitian's life more like a North American's not only doesn't work very well, but isn't the right approach. The people here have so many gifts and talents and are definitely being used by God to do His work. Despite their difficulties they lead children and adults, praise the Lord, and bless US as best they can. This has led us to really pray for wisdom about how to minister to not only Haitians but people in general. In a book I've been reading (When Helping Hurts) the author talks about approaching poor people with the attitude that, we are both broken, needy individuals who need a Savior and need to grow. Instead of, I have to fix you and make you more like me, because I have the answers and the best way of life! Again, it's been humbling. There is so much we have to learn. As we read books, talk to people, and spend time trying to think of ways to help while we are here, we are continually humbled to prayer asking for direction and for God to show us where He is at work.

I, Chris now, was very busy in the clinic yesterday (Sunday) with Dr. Kris. We were called out of church a few minutes before it ended to go see a woman who was in labor. It was her first. One of the medical things I wanted to do while in Haiti was deliver a baby and I thought this might be my chance. So I asked Kris if I could and she said she would come back down to the clinic and help me. So we hurried up and changed clothes and I glanced at a midwifery book that had the bullet points and we went back to the clinic. It was a perfect delivery. It really went well... well, from a doctors stand point. The mother who was in labor for 11 hours before coming to the clinic may have a slightly different view. So I was the first person to lay hands on a beautiful baby girl...awesome! And God granted a safe delivery. The experience gave me a little jolt of excitement to continue my medical training...thanks Lord. Little did I know that as Kathleen and I were getting ready for bed Jean-Pierre would call to me from outside my window and tell me there was another woman in labor. This was ten thirtyish. Well, I hurried up and waited. This time I didn't have Dr. Kris to pass the time with. She usually spends the time telling me medical stories and teaching me... tonight it was the haitian nurse, Miss Ermadine, the pregnant mother (who kept calling me doc - I kinda liked it), and two of her friends. I missed about 90% of the conversation, but it was still a great learning experience. After taking the baby's heart rate and mom's BP several times and almost falling off a stool asleep I got to catch my second baby for the day at 3:45 am... a healthy "gason" a boy. Thanks again Lord. This lady was a riot though. She was singing and humming hymns right up until the final push. Awesome opportunity to learn and a great reminder to why I am glad I am not a woman!!

A few more days have gone by and we have settled into a little routine. It will only last about one week, since there is a team coming next Wednesday, but it's been quite a familiar week as we've taken up a similar routine as we had last year! Chris has continued to go to the clinic each day this week and it has been an interesting experience as each day brings in a different mixture of ages, sicknesses, and conversations with the patients. He has mostly been shadowing Dr. Kris, and spent one morning with Dr. Jean Pierre (whose English has improved, which Chris is grateful for) One unique thing about this clinic is that Dr. Kris is able to talk to the patients about their faith and pray with them. This has been a really good experience for me (it's Chris now ;) because it has gotten me thinking about how I want to shape my practice and how I want to impact my patients. Many times in Haiti the doctors do the best they can with what they have and the rest is up to God or chance or whatever the patient believes in. Often what the doctor has is very limited in Haiti, but I know I will run into the same problems in the states. There never will be enough tests and cures. No matter what I do as a physician people will become ill and every one of them will die at some point. This sounds very pessimistic I know, but I am thinking about how as a Doctor I can make the visits they have matter and the knowledge I have mean something. Do they leave my office hopeful or hopeless? I may not have the answers, but I believe that the christian church does and it is Jesus. I hope to be able to integrate my faith into my practice in a way that encourages my fellow believers, but challenges them to live a life in the best way we know how. Dr. Kris asks people if they attend church and if so she will talk with them about the choices they are making and whether they line up with what God wants for them. That's great. And for those who aren't Christians I am equally excited to be their doctor if not more. Not so that I can force something on them, but so that I can provide the best care possible and be someone they can trust in those trying times. So to sum it up I am learning a lot.
We have settled back into our Haitian life. After a little more than a week we have seen many of our friends and old students. It has been fun to reconnect. Kathleen and I have again been able to teach English... but not in a classroom setting. People will ask us if they can visit and practice their english with us. Most of the time they don't show up, but sometimes they do. The pic to the left is of a kid named Walfy who has been bringing his school books to ask for help with English. Most of the time it is just helping with pronunciation. It is neat to make people so happy by just reading aloud or correcting their "th" sound (which is the hardest sound for Haitians to master).

This morning Kath and I went with Cory and Gener to Limbe to deliver about 75 banana plants to a Wesleyan church there. We also are delivering another 75 this afternoon to homes a couple miles from the compound. Cory is try to get the more bug and disease resistant plants out into the community so their value can be recognized.
It is a lot hotter today than it has been. The sun is pouring out all its warmth.... and making me sweat! Its not terrible but it is warm. Fans are high on the list for all time best inventions in my book. Well that is all for now. We will have to write more later about the celebrations we have been attending, but I have to get this hot computer off my lap :) Thanks for reading

First days of our Visit

We're back! (good movie by the way if you like dinosaur cartoons) We got in on Thursday morning and spent most the day in the biggest city in northern Haiti, Cap Haitian. We went shopping, waited for cargo at the airport, bought frozen chicken, and went out to eat. We went to a place called "Gwo bebe" meaning "big baby" but for some reason the sign had the picture of an older woman who looked very motherly. I had goat with lots of bones in it, plantain, spicy sauce, bean sauce, beans and rice, and a sprite for 200 gds. (about 5 dollars). It was awesome! Kath went with the chicken. I have been craving haitian food since we left. Kathleen and I were tired enough from our travels that we actually fell asleep in the car, something neither of us ever thought possible because of the road conditions. For dinner we had beans and rice with chicken and sauce....again amazing. Okay enough about food...
It is hard to sum up what is different between the states and Haiti unless you have been here. I kinda feel like I am just stepping into a different world. It is not a bad world by any means but very different. For example, I don't know too many kids in the states who would wait most the day at someones house for a person to arrive. When Kathleen and I got to the compound there were around thirty kids waiting to greet us (some we didn't know). It is nice to feel loved. Another difference is the length of the days. Because we stay in one spot and don't hop in the car two or three times a day the days seem longer... even though we go to bed at nine! This presents awesome opportunities to spend time reading, talking with people, playing games, and spending more time with God. Kath and I both are looking forward to this month for the blessing we have to reflect and to reconnect with each other, the Thedes, and our Haitian friends.
This weekend we had a tea party with Anna, helped transport 150 banana plants to Port Margot, went to church, went to the kids club, and played Settlers of Catan. All a good time. This morning I was able to go with Dr. Kris to the clinic for the first time. We saw seven patients with a variety of ailments including stomach pain, fever, and headaches. Maybe some malaria. We will find out when we get the lab results this afternoon. Well that's most of the report. Have a wonderful day. (Pictures to come, they wouldn't upload today....)

Here We Go

Kath and I are feeling a lot of different things about this trip. Right now we are in the midst of traveling. Last night we spent the night at the Patton's home in Nashville and last night we stopped over in Atlanta to see our family (Kath's sister). It has been a great way to break up the trip. Today we will be driving the remaining ten hours to Ft. Pierce, FL and we are to be at the airport at 6 am tomorrow.
Are we ready? I think so. We are getting more and more excited as the time grows closer. It is a totally different perspective going for one month rather than eight. All the relationships that we built over the eight months were important to us, and we are praying that we would be able to remember names, faces, and creole.
The medical clinic seems a little daunting right now. I am a quarter M.D. I know, but that has just shown me how much I don't know! I will be spending a lot of time in the clinic with Dr. Kris and the haitian doctors trying to learn and get some hands on experience. I don't know what I will encounter and how much I will actually be able to help, but I pray that somehow my presence in the clinic would be a blessing to someone. Kathleen and I feel that way about the whole trip. We just want to be used by God however that may look. I know this is short but we are getting ready to go. Thanks for reading.

Lord, keep me safe?

I've admitted to Chris a couple of times that I would much more eager to visit Haiti this summer if we didn't have to fly on an airplane to get there. (I don't like flying much at all) This has sparked conversations between us about fear, trust, being held back, and how different the two of us are. Chris fears very little and isn't held back by much (which explains why he loved skydiving) I however am cautious. I like to know what is coming. I've heard many times that statistics say driving a car is much more risky than flying, but it doesn't help my apprehension much. Flying requires trust in a lot that's out of my grasp-the pilot's ability, the maintenance people, the actual plane's structure/functioning, the gas tank that I didn't personally fill, the weather. Logically, it doesn't make much sense to be afraid of flying, but I still don't look forward to getting on that plane June 2 and looking down to see only the blue ocean for a few hours!!
So, do we pray that God will keep us safe? Hmmm. I have prayed that He will. I have also prayed that He will make my desire to obey Him and for eternity with Him greater than anything in this world! Today in church we sang "How great is our God", and there's a line that goes "Time is in your hands, the beginning and the end." I've always taken this to mean the beginning of time and the end of time, but today I think the Lord let me hear it as the beginning of my life and the end of my life- in His hands. Psalm 139 immediately came to mind, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." And then the entire chapter talks about how personally God knows us and the events of our lives. And I felt a surge of trust! Thank you Lord! He is helping me to give this over to Him, one plane ride I have to face at a time! Trusting Him is so hard sometimes, but it's so freeing-almost too good to be true. Thank you Lord that you care enough to put us in situations that we HAVE to lean on you. Help us to do this every day even when we might THINK we are the ones in control!

Going Back!

Yes, it's true! We have been praying this year about taking a trip back to Fauche this summer, since it is Chris's last official summer break and my job ends in May. When we left Haiti, we definitely had a desire to come back and visit, and God has made a way for us to go. We're so thankful that Chris's school (IU-Terre Haute) will be funding his entire trip, since he will be working in the clinic and getting medical experience. So we aren't going to need to raise support or delay. Thanks Lord. So we will be going June 2-June 30th, and flying on MFI. (another praise, that we were able to get seats on this missionary airline)
Going back is so different than going to Haiti for the first time. We know so much more of what to expect and can actually visualize what everything looks like. We also aren't going as strangers, which is comforting and exciting since we will get to spend time with the Thede's and visit with Haitian friends. Chris will shadow doctors in the clinic and participate with much more knowledge, which will be neat. Also, there is a team coming from the States during the second two weeks which I (Kath) will get to help out with. Those are the two main things we have planned about our trip.
Wow, going for one month versus going for eight months seems completely different! Suddenly a month seems very short, while before it would have seemed like a very long missions trip. It is also different- in a cool way- going to a place that we have been before. All school year we've been talking here and there about the possibility of going, and what we could do there, but also what we could do instead. Honestly it's been hard not to choose to do our own thing in June. We love Haiti, there are so many aspects to draw us there, but it's also not a vacation spot. We prayed that God would make it happen or keep us here- so we are going with gratitude, God has definitely provided!
It has been interesting talking with friends, family, and co-workers about Haiti this year. We are still unsure about how to talk about it! We don't want to romanticize it, don't want to make it sound worse than it was, want to be honest but not too negative or go too deep when someone is just asking to be polite (haha) and don't know how to explain things or what we've learned very well! I'm sure this is a completely common experience for people who go overseas. Or even for people who go away to college or go through any time in life away from the "norm." I have found myself trying to explain not giving to everyone who asks to co-workers who simply could not understand and felt like I needed to defend myself and people they don't even know, we have found ourselves telling stories about Haiti and then later wondering if people are sick of hearing about it!, and many other scenarios. I wish I had the perfect response to everyone, and a way to tell about God's faithfulness, but it can't be summed up very easily! We feel protective of Haiti and the Thede's and their ministry and what we learned through being their "kids" for a few months. But it is just impossible to share it all! Which has been a challenge! But it's also been fun to talk about and discover what we learned, how we changed.
Well, all this to say that we are really anticipating our trip and whatever God has in store. Thank you Lord that we are able to go back. Thank you Thede's for taking us back, and thank you cockroaches and spiders for kindly evacuating our house before we return. Please pray for us as we prepare to go!
(picture of Chris doing a sweet volleyball pose at Sloan family Easter)

Suddenly I wanted to write a blog!

Maybe this is self-centered but I've been reading back through some of our blogs this week and enjoying it! It's been a while since I've visited our blog and I used to look at it and at least try to write something so often last year. There are so many memories and experiences to cherish in writing and picture form here!

While we think about Haiti all the time the subject of our/my thoughts changes as the days go by. Based on the news, what we hear about our friends in Fauche, updates from the Thedes, and what has most recently brought on the thoughts: what we are doing here in the US that corresponds somehow to what we did or where we were last year. Right now, it's Christmas-time.

I remember fighting for contentment last year when Christmas time rolled around. I love Christmas. And yes I love the true meaning, but I also can't deny a love for the music, lights, shopping, basically everything that has been added on to the real reason for the holiday. In Haiti it was hot, muggy, there were very few Christmas decorations around town, our shopping mall was the Port Margot market, and there were no familiar family gatherings. My mom and dad came to visit, which was so great! But it still wasn't the same. Sometimes I would sit and anticipate next year (now this year) when all would be back to normal and we would be back home. Deep down I felt like I would be happy then, and that everything would be right. Not that I wasn't happy in Haiti. I loved our time and knew that I would miss it when it was over. but so many changes and stretching experiences made day to day life a struggle at times. We were safe, well-fed, and had each other, but I felt such a pressure to figure out how to be content in an uncomfortable reality. How to be the perfect missionary woman I always pictured and wanted to be!

Anyway, I'm having kind of a weird moment because I am sitting in our living room next to a lovely Christmas tree with Christmas music on, heat in the house because it's cold out and there's snow, knowing we are leaving in a week and a half to go to my parents house for Christmas and then on a trip with Chris's fam after that. Comfort!! Familiarity. And as much Christmas shopping as I want. (I mean, within reason, :) And I knew this would happen, but I am coming to the understanding that joy, contentment, happiness, which all mean slightly different things but are generally related, don't come with all this stuff. Yes it's so nice! And I love it! But I feel the familiar unrest that I felt last year, and the desire to be grounded so well in the Lord and to trust him so much that peace and joy never leave. Maybe that doesn't completely happen until we are physically with him, in eternity! But I hope that in this life we can keep getting closer to him- letting the things on earth we hold so dear get less important to us.

God has been so good to us. Chris and I were given such a special gift when God made a way for us to go to Haiti and spend our first year of marriage there. We are still learning so much from it. It's so exciting to see how God has a plan for us. I always want to walk in his ways and grow closer to him. I'm thankful his joy is so deep that I can't figure it out and that it comes no matter where we are. I'm glad this Christmas season hasn't given me the ultimate happiness I secretly thought it would. I'm glad that can only come through a right relationship with the Lord!

Needless to say, this blog is long overdue! It is harder than we imagined to keep up with it while back in the fast pace of life in the U.S. We are not used to having so many places to go, people to see, and details to attend to. We have been asking the question, is it possible to live a simple life here?
Yes, but sacrifices are required in order for that to happen. Some of those sacrifices are doable, and probably even a good idea...less commitments, less t.v. watching, taking Sunday as a day of rest, etc. But some are trickier. Relationships require a great deal of time and energy, and if we aren't willing to be busy for people and become selfish with our time in hopes of achieving a simple life, that can't be what God has intended for us. In Haiti we were able to do both it seemed. We had more time, because we didn't have 9-5 jobs, and our finances were taken care of. Less was culturally expected of us too. Back here we are faced with expectations for what kind of house we will live in, jobs we will have, how often we see people, what ministries we are involved in. It's all a little confusing, but we are trying to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and what he requires of us.
As Chris mentioned in the last blog, we aren't able to successfully define how we've changed in Haiti or put into good words all the things we learned! It is difficult to even talk about sometimes. The place and people that became very dear to us is suddenly very far away and we are back in a different life. Our exposure to poverty hasn't led us to sell all of our possessions or make drastic changes, although we do have a different perspective which we pray will be honoring to God as we embark out on our own! We don't feel that we have many answers or profound things to share other than that God is so faithful. His faithfulness to us is beyond words. He has brought this trip to completion and that alone is amazing! He answered many prayers, big and small. We are confident that God is alive, he is big, and he is with us.We need prayer for Chris as he starts medical school in August. Praise God-he got a great scholarship that will pay all his tuition and fees in return for 4 years of service in an underserved area in Indiana after residency. He is so thankful because he feels like now he won't have to rush out after med school and rake in as much money as possible to pay off loans. One thing our time in Haiti confirmed is his desire to be a family doctor and have a practice that is different. Not sure exactly what that will look like, but how cool that God has already set his course in that direction. We also need prayer as I am looking for a job and trying to be wise in the process. Please pray that we can find a good church family and get to know our neighbors when we move as well.
Thank you for reading. And for being patient with us. We aren't the perfect short term missionaries, obviously! But God is bigger than our shortcomings, thankfully!
The last two pictures are from our house in Terre Haute. As Anna predicted, the house and even the bathroom seem spacious to us! And the porch reminded us of Cory and Kris's house on La Gonave. They say it gets really hot in there in the summer. We'll see how that compares to 'hot' in Haiti!

We are still alive and surviving in America

Hey everybody. Sorry it has been so long. If there is one thing that has been hard to adjust to it is how we have hit the ground running! This is not a bad thing... it is more the nature of life when you try to see and do as much as you can in a little amount of time.
We are currently in the northwest suburb of the windy city feeling the chill of spring weather. We just returned last night from a long visit to Indiana where we spent time with the Sloan's in Kendallville. During our time in IN we drove down to Terre Haute to look for a place to live. We didn't really know what to expect, but we knew that we needed to look. We don't have a lot of free time between now and the time we want to move so at least we wanted to see our options and what the housing market is like. We quickly decided on finding a rental house because of the nature of owning a home (I, Chris, would have to fix anything wrong with it) such as trying to sell it when we move from Terre Haute. After visiting 30 places in two days we found a great little cottage that we decided to lease for two years. God answered our prayers. We are very excited to move in early July and to finally be able to open and use our wedding gifts in our new home.
A great part about being in Terre Haute was that we got a chance to see a college suitemate of mine, Steven Hartman, and stay with his grandparents. It was great to see old friends and to be made to feel so welcome! Thanks Hartmans.
We had the opportunity to speak at Main Street Wesleyan Church in Jonesboro, IN last Sunday. We felt like we had stepped back into college days when we attended there. We were in charge of the speaking for the morning so we did our best. We don't know exactly what we said but we hope that someone was blessed by it. I don't know how or when but God will continue to use this experience in Haiti to change us.
I do not feel as changed as I thought I would. I thought I might come back and want to live in a cardboard box or something equally as extreme. Yet, I don't think that is why we went to Haiti or what God had in store for us to learn in Fauche. We went out of obedience and we went to grow up a little. Kathleen and I have grown so much in every area of our lives. Some of this growth could have taken place here in the USA but not all. We are settling back into American culture and doing things that most Americans do with a little difference in us that we cannot pinpoint. We will continue to see what this looks like as our lives unfold.

We are in Schaumburg Illinois and in my parent's house, safe and sound! Praise God. Many prayers were whispered as we flew across the ocean and into FL during a storm. Thank you so much for praying for us.

Haiti feels far away, but it is SO close to our hearts as we see everything familiar again! We can't begin to express an answer to the question, "How was Haiti?" and know that it will take some time for us to understand all that we learned (probably, we never will!) and realize that we did indeed go to Haiti, live there, and now we are back. In the land of carpet, squeaky clean toilets, and cold weather it is hard to make sense of the other world we lived in only yesterday! But we are doing well. Goodbyes are always so tough. Pulling out of campus on Sunday it did not seem like we were the ones being driven to the airport. But the time had come and now we trust that though we are different God is the same and he will help us as we figure all this out! We will write more when we are less sleep-deprived and in this strange state of culture shock! :) Thank you again for the prayer!

It's Thursday already and we are starting to pack up. It's sad! Although we can't deny our excitement about going home, seeing our families, and being back where things are familiar. Though Haiti has become familiar to us in many ways. We are now used to being a minority and ignoring stares and laughter as we walk down the road, and it will be weird to simply blend in again. Going to the grocery store will be quite a different experience than going to the market here. No negotiating for the price, getting confused about Haitian money and drawing a crowd, having people yell out Blanc! as you walk past their little assortment of veggies, and definitely a bit more variety when it comes to cereal and things like that. We decided there should be an emotion called "Transition." You can't put your finger on exactly what it's like, it's not all happy or sad, it's a mixture of a bunch of things. That's how we feel!
We will miss the Thedes who have become like family to us. We have eaten lunch with them every single day (minus a few due to sickness) for the past eight months, not to mention going on church visits, eating dinner some nights, going up to their house at least once a day to ask a question, borrow a movie, do laundry, help with school, borrow a cup of sugar (literally, I did that today) and countless other times. We have learned what it looks like to open your home to someone and how to live so closely with another family that is not technically family. We won't know how many sticky situations we have been spared of because of their wisdom about Haiti and culture; they gave us a lot to chew on as we came in with no experience and lots of grand ideas. We're so thankful. We hope to see them in the winter when they travel to the US for a few months. Until then we will keep in touch through email and letters.
I have not mentioned what all these pictures are about. The first is from the little party our first class threw for us on Tuesday. Here is a peak into the slowness of life around here. It was supposed to start at 4pm. At 4:15, we started thinking we might have the wrong day, since there was no sign of anyone. (We should have known!) We called Jasmine, and she assured us that she was coming, the party was today. After a bit, some students started to meander their way up to the guest house. They let it slip that there was a "gato" or cake, coming, but it wasn't ready yet. So we sat, talked, and were entertained by our students who took turns singing, talking, and telling jokes for us, while a few people at a time would slip out to go check on the gato which was being made at a house nearby. At about 5:40, the gato arrived! It was HOT out of the oven, and frosted a lovely pink with our names on top! We ate large pieces and enjoyed it. Our students then surprised us with two more gifts, a wooden sailboat with our names painted on it, and a rose. We were taken aback, it was so nice! After many thank you's back and forth, we all waited out the rain together for a while, then eventually went home feeling really blessed.
The other picture is of us and David, our Creole teacher and now English student. He came by to take some pictures of us yesterday. The picture with the many many kids is from the children's program that took place yesterday afternoon. Can you see our little white faces stuck in there??They also thanked us more than we deserved. John Pierre and the two other men that run the program presented us with two wooden carved things- So neat! They were so happy to give us these things. They probably don't realize how much of a blessing they have been to us, rather than vise versa.
Lastly, I just wanted to throw in the picture of the new occupant to Bitsy's old spot next to our house. I don't think I mentioned this, but after we came back from Port au Prince, we found out that Bitsy is no longer with us :( Though we are all pretty happy for him, since he looked near-death most of the time. But we (okay just I) have missed having our unofficial first pet around. It was good to see his spot filled by this skinny little guy!! And Chris does have a soft spot...He was the one who fed him bread this morning!!

Thanks for reading, and praying. All this change is about to be thrust upon us, and it's hard to keep our feet on the ground. We pray we will keep our eyes fixed on Jesus these next few days.

Personalities

This is a picture of the men in our second class on the last day. There are definitely a few characters in this group. It's kind of like grade school or high school...there is a class clown (second guy in from the right, always making awkward comments and laughing at them), the popular, confident guy (striped shirt on far left, dances to the ringing cell phone in class, etc.), the brainiac (White shirt, third from the right, always answers questions), the teacher's pet (second from left, told us during class last time that the number 18 was just flashing in his head because that's the date we leave, and it's so sad!), and the guy with a million questions, who doesn't wait for the full answer before asking another on top of it (shiny blue shirt in front). It's been fun seeing these dynamics and the different personalities that come together. The girls in this class were quieter and less involved. Gina, who is in the white shirt below, was our class accountant and took care of the money for us. She is a very professional lady who always smiles. Andremine in the green wasn't very talkative, but is always nice. She knows English pretty well. When I picture her I will think of her peeking over her glasses at us with a baseball hat on. The women in our first class were a bit friendlier, probably because they weren't as dominated by all the men! On Friday we had our final meeting for English club. The idea for this club came from a rather distressing last meeting with our first advanced class in December. They were unhappy that the class was ending and there was nothing else for them beyond that level. We came up with the idea of an English club that would meet on Fridays for 2 hours to discuss various topics. The last few months, we have had about 4 regular attenders. A few times we had a bigger group, but after the earthquake, we consistently had 3-4. We asked for suggestions about what they would like to talk about, so we could find articles online and bring them. Although it wasn't an earth-shattering success or anything, it has been a good experience. The 4 men that come are very good at English and so we've been able to get to know them better. On Friday, they wanted to just talk. So we sat outside for few hours and they asked us questions about our time in Haiti, what is the best/worst thing we've learned about Haitian culture, does Chris feel like Haitian guys have shown his wife respect, do we have mountains where we live, what are schools like in the US, did we feel welcome here, what will we say about Haiti when we talk to people at home, and how did we find the church services to be. It was a unique time of reflection! This week we will be doing a lot of reminiscing and thinking, and trying to see all the people we have come to know to say goodbye, and hope to see you again! Please keep us in your prayers as we go through this week. These last two pictures are from the Sunday kid's program, there are SO many kids! Thanks for checking in. Have a great week. :)

Last Days of School

Time is flying by here in Fauche. Maybe it is because we are closer to the equator and therefore rotating at a faster speed than you in Indiana and Chicago...haha...okay bad joke. sorry.... We have spent our time in Haiti thinking of it as eight months and now we only have 9 days. Hard to believe the short time we have left. Monday and Tuesday we gave our first and second classes their tests. (left: Kath and Phania, above: Guery and me) They did well. We had the whole range of grades. So we spent a lot of time printing tests and certificates. If you get a certificate in Haiti it better have a stamp on it!
On Wednesday and Thursday we gave out certificates to the class and took pictures with them. The ones here are with the first class (above). They were a smaller group which made it easier to get to know each of them better. They both were great. When we were done with pictures and talking on Wed. our class made us wait for them as they had a discussion in Creole. We knew what they were talking about, but we let them talk. When they were finished they told us they would like us to meet with them next Tuesday at 4 for a little "fet" (party). Kathleen and I are touched and excited for this. It is one thing to give them something, but it is touching for them to give us something. We have found Haitians to be very generous people! (below:Samuel and I)Today we have English club and we are done teaching - a bittersweet moment. I will no longer be embarrassed when I am trying to teach grammar and then find out I am wrong...oops, but we will miss our students and the relationships we have had with them.
I am still shadowing docs in the clinic. It has been a great opportunity to have so much exposure to medicine before school and before my training. There is a new Dr. Cesar here who is doing his year of service in Haiti. He has an energy about him that I think comes partly from being just out of medical school and because he likes people. He is a neat guy.
In other news, Kath and I have been battling at Scrabble! This last game that has been going on a couple of days hasn't been going well for me, I am trailing by forty with only five tiles left in the bag! But I did beat her the last two games in a row after she soundly beat me the first time we played. Its getting pretty tense around here ;) haha This is the start of the game we are currently playing (Kath went first).
Below are some select quotes that both classes wrote in response to our question: What did you think of this English Class? We will honestly never forget our students and the time we have shared with them! As you can see they have varying levels of English ability. The way they put words together often makes us smile!

• Naturally, I see this English class is a good job, I like it, if we have been many times, we will be to learn plus. I’m sorry the teachers come back. Thank you. (Geury)

• I’m very glad to pass the good moments with you in English class. I hope to have you again God bless you. (Frandy)

• I very proud of you because you explain very well. You’re gonna to miss me. Thank you. (Chantal)

• I think: this English class is the best, I am learning very well, the teachers are nice and intelligent, I love you, and I miss you, Congratulations! (Phania)

• In English class, I think a teacher, also I think a students. (Wisvelt)

• This English class is a good opportunity for me to improve better my English. It’s entertaining and interesting. Thank you to be patient, to teach us very well. Thank you for being with us. (Kernessant Emmanuel)

• I couldn’t find any words to describe what I’m thinking about this class, for me it’s one of the great moment I’ve known in my life. (Theodore)

• In my English class, I think always before finish, the teachers like read the holy Bible it was very important for me and my to teachers has an example for the futures married. (Metellus Ernide..from PAP)

• As you know it, study is something very important but the way you teach me made me happy and feel…I have really enjoyed my time with you. Thanks and keep on. God bless you. (Jean Julien)

• The English class is good, I am ok; when I listen your words in this class. I thank of you for this class. I also happy when I take conversation with my friends. Thank you for this class. God bless you. Baybay. (Simon)

• I think of this English class. When I in the class I feel good. I do love you. I think so to continued to practice English everyday. (Ernso)