Merry Christmas

Today is the first day I’ve felt “Christmasy” so when I say Merry Christmas, I really mean it! My mom, with the help of many others I’m sure, sent Christmas presents for ALL of the kids here (luckily I’m still considered a kid in her books) and some of my extended family & friends chipped in some money to make a Christmas dinner. Yesterday I went to the market with a few of the older girls & bought food for the dinner & today I sorted through the gifts from my mom & wrapped a present for each child here… yes my fingers are raw! Even with the preparation for the kids I was having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. But, when I passed by Pastor Luc’s house this afternoon I heard Christmas carols playing! Now I can’t stop humming & I doubt I’ll sleep tonight b/c I’m so excited for tomorrow! Christmas is not celebrated by many here, but the ones that do, celebrate it on the 24th. So tomorrow morning I’ll hand out the presents & tomorrow night “nou gen fet!” (we’re having a party!). We’re making macaroni salad, rice & BEEF! And what’s a party without the fizzies!! We have 5 cases of pop in a neighbour’s freezer so pray for power tonight! And because the 25th is when my family celebrates Christmas I’ll open my stocking from my mom (no mom, I haven’t peaked yet) & we’re going to have a mini party in the evening… peanut butter sandwiches, strawberry yogurt (thanks to some UN friends) & hot chocolate!!

I’ll post the Christmas pictures next week but I have some other pictures I want to share. Thanks to some very generous cousins (Anders & Heidi, you’re famous here now!) I’ve been able to buy an evening snack for the kids several times this month. Usually the snack consists of peanut butter sandwiches & “fake” juice… that’s what the kids call juice made from powder. Well last week we made “real” juice. We bought 2 huge bags of fruit in the market - the kids were so excited! We had way too many cooks in the kitchen & our methods were incredibly inefficient but it was a blast! My pictures don’t capture the excitement of the kids so you’ll have to enhance them with your imagination.


The making of the juice:












The drinking of the juice:

A time of Thanksgiving

Ok, I know I’m suppose to be getting into the Christmas spirit but I kind of missed the Thanksgiving holiday this year so bear with me ☺

Some friends, Albert & Scott, came to Haiti on December 1st and left a few days ago. Before moving here I had been on several mission trips to Haiti with Scott & Albert so it was great having them here again! Because of our previous experiences together, they were able to relate to some of my struggles & give me encouragement & counsel like few could do. THANK YOU Albert & Scott for a great visit! As I said in my last blog, they brought some amazing care-packages from family & friends! I’ve had a few sleepless nights reading through letters & unpacking the 3 bins from my mom. THANK YOU everyone for the thought that went into what you said & what you gave – I really appreciate it all.

Scott & Albert spent most of their time in Grande Goave (where I’m staying @ the H2H Children’s Home). They spent lots of time with the kids, did some maintenance around the compound & started laying the foundation for more new classrooms in the new school. We also took some road trip - we went to Kenscoff to visit Joyce & Molly @ GLA (where I spent 3 months last year) & to Basin Blue in Jacmel. I had never been to Basin Blue – it’s a series of 3 waterfalls / basin that you hike up to. It was amazing! Unfortunately the batteries in my camera died so I don’t have any pictures but I’ll post some when Scott & Albert send them to me.

Because I’m coming home in December I wanted to go to Grande Savande & take some recent photos of the new church there. Scott has a real passion for Grande Savande so when he heard I was going he changed his flights & came with me. We had a great time! They’ve laid the floor & started building the crossbeams for the ceiling. Again I’ll have to post pictures later… I just don’t think like a tourist anymore so my camera was tucked away safely in my bedroom at Grande Goave. Seeing the excitement of the people in Grande Savande & Boava (a small mountain community close to Grande Savande where we always stay when visiting Grande Savande) was inspiring for Scott & I. The church will become a community center & a ‘strong-house’ during the hurricane season & people have already started building new houses around it! We had a great talk with Pastor Luc & Jean Francios (the local Pastor) about their vision for Grande Savande & it includes finishing the church & quickly moving on to a medical clinic. Grande Savande is an area filled with Voodoo & currently when people are sick they feel their only option is to go to the Voodoo Priest. Having a medical clinic associated with the new church will allow us to meet their physical needs as well as their spiritual needs. Every trip to Boava / Grande Savande has been special for me (sharing testimonies with teams, meeting families of kids that now live in the Grande Goave Children’s Home, almost falling in the outhouse…) & this one kept with tradition. I saw the biggest tarantula so far & I translated the entire church service for Scott! This might not seem substantial to you but this is the first time I’ve understood all of what was said. I’m still shocked when I think about it!

I returned to Grande Goave yesterday and as we drove through Leogane (a neighbouring town) we were stopped by a demonstration to raise awareness of the damage done by the recent hurricanes. These types of demonstrations can quickly become dangerous & while I had known that before, yesterday made it reality for me. As soon as our car had stopped people saw me & the car was swarmed by demonstrators… it was more then a little unnerving… the windows were quickly rolled up & the doors looked. The demonstrators weren’t swarming us to harm us… they saw an opportunity… get the white girl through the demonstration safely & earn some money. Because there were so many people they started to argue before even talking to us! THANKFULLY, we spotted someone we knew (he pumps gas at the local gas station) & he quickly jumped in the back of our truck & started yelling directions. I felt as naïve as it did on my first trip but things went smoothly… thanks to the gas man ☺

Thanks to my Auntie Mary, our family has a tradition of writing something you’re thankful for when we all get together for Thanksgiving Dinner. After we’ve all written we swap paper & read them out loud. If I had been there this year this is what I would have written…

I’m thankful for all of the life experiences I’ve had that have prepared me for how God is using me in Haiti. The tough times have shaped my character & integrity; the easy times have shown me how I can make life easier for others; the busy times have taught me to work hard, be efficient & use my resources well; the slow times have allowed me to build relationships with family & friends that encourage me & sustain me in the low times.

Love you all & I’m looking forward to seeing many of you soon. I’m especially looking forward to a mandarin chicken salad (courtesy of Wendy’s) & a slurpee… maybe my “taxi” will be fully stocked when it picks me up at the airport ☺



Albert, Woody, Rebecca & Wood with the hats Grandma Rose made - big hit Grandma!!! (for the rest of you... I know what you must be thinking... touques in Haiti??? But they love them! They keep the sun off their head when it's hot & believe it or not, it's actually chilly here some evenings... I guess you can get use to any weather!)

A word from home

Some friends of mine, Albert & Scott, arrived yesterday & they brought with them several letters from family & friends… along with presents, care packages & who know what else… I haven’t had time to look through the bins!!! I had a very late night last night reading through the letters. They were such a huge inspiration to me that I bounced out of bed this morning (after very few hours of sleep) & I felt as if I was seeing the kids for the first time again. So THANK YOU!!!!

I want to share part of the letter my mom wrote me… I haven’t asked her for permission so if you see this blog entry mysteriously disappear you’ll know why ☺

"I was listening to the 106.5 Praise station on the way home and a boy came on and talked about orphans. He said (paraphrased);

"We seldom hear the word ‘orphan’ nowadays. It is ‘refugee’ or ‘adoption stories’ but the meaning of orphan is downplayed.

An orphan means someone with no mom or dad. Even tho a child has food, clothing and shelter, to be an orphan means not having a mom/dad to give encouragement when you are sick, scared or sad. It means no parent is pushing you to do and be your best, cheering for you at a game, standing proudly at your graduation or celebrating at your wedding.”

You are very right when you say “you just don’t understand until you’ve been here to see and experience it for yourself.” I will admit that my prayers for you have been just that – prayers for you. I didn’t get it – I didn’t see the bigger picture. You are, for all intents and purposes, the momma to all these orphans – and the impact of that on you must be overwhelming. And because they are children, the importance of you being in their lives will probably not be realized until you are no longer there.

We can send people, money & gifts, but nothing takes the place or even comes close to what you are doing 24/7. And you need your own encourager, cheering squad and times of celebration. I will pray that God will send you those encouragers when you need them.”

I won’t include the rest of the letter as it gets a little personal ☺

I wanted to share part of my mom’s letter with you for a few reasons. First of all it was an incredible encouragement to me & I know some of the people that read this blog are working in similar situations to me (Joyce & Molly especially) ~ I hope these words are an encouragement to you as well! Secondly, I wanted to say another huge THANKYOU as I have a great “cheering squad”. My parents, sister, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends & many people I haven’t even met before!! The letters I received last night will be reread many times over the next few months.

I’ll end this with some great news…. I’M COMING HOME!!! Thanks to a very generous friend, I’ll be coming home from December 28th – January 16th. Email me so we can get together and Danielle & Teriann… start planning the New Years party!!