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Monday, November 26, 2012

Prayers for the Week

Here's what we're praying about this week, and and an update from last week.

  • Tania, the high school student who passed out at school, is doing better. She spent a few days at home after her visit to the hospital, but is now back at school. Please keep praying for her health.
  • Jeff Smith, the student in grade 9--not my uncle in Indiana, preached a powerful message during church yesterday. Praise God for students who are willing to share the word of God with others!
  • Pray for God's favor to rest on Arold's visa application as it passes through the hands of the Embassy employees. 
  • I'm teaching several students how to crochet in the hope that they'll be able to earn a little money for their families by selling crocheted items. Please pray that I will be able to teach them effectively and that there will be a market for their crocheted items. Our next class is Dec. 1st.
  • Rosias's aunt is looking for work. Pray that God will provide a job for her soon. She's been out of work since her former employer died about a month ago. 

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Unusual Requests

If you are coming to Haiti in the coming months and you are interested in bring donations with you, consider bringing something from the following unusual requests. 

  • feminine sanitary napkins--in the past the school office has kept a supply of sanitary napkins that the girls can ask for when they need them. This year, Arold hasn't had any to give out. If you'd like to help with this very real need, please bring a package of maxi pads with you.
  • colorful grocery bags (like Wal-mart bags)--I am teaching some students to crochet and we have some projects we'd like to do with plastic yarn made from these bags. We have access to white plastic bags here, but would like some with color.
  • light weight fabric--we also have some crochet projects in mind that can be made with fabric. If you find yourself in a store that sells fabric by the yard, check out the clearance section for us. Or, if you have bed sheets you no longer need, we can use those as well. We don't need anything beautiful. In fact I used an ugly brown fabric to make a toy basket for Isaac and I think it looks pretty awesome. 
(our hope is that the students can sell the crochet projects and use the money to buy more supplies to crochet with, but getting the initial supplies is what we need help with.)

And, thanks in advance for thinking of our students!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Male Bonding

Isaac recently enjoyed watching a soccer game with his dad.

Actually, he just really likes "watching" TV on his dad's phone. The screen flashes and it makes cool noises. What could be better than that?

Monday, November 19, 2012

Prayerful Monday

Update from last week and prayers for this week:

  • The student who needed stitches last Monday is doing well. He busted his forehead open on the playground, so he got stitches and a tetanus shot. Arold said the bandages have been changed (probably at a clinic or the hospital) and he is doing just fine. Praise God!
Church closed with Ricky-J singing a closing song with
the 78 new believers behind him
  • Praise God for the 78 people (mostly students) who made decisions to follow Christ at church yesterday. 
  • One of our high school students had an episode at school earlier this month. It's not clear whether she passed out or had a seizure, but her parents came to get her from school and took her to the hospital. Reports are that she's at home now, but she hasn't returned to school yet. Please pray for her healing.
  • We finally heard from the Embassy that the initial paperwork for Arold's visa was approved. Praise the Lord!!
  • The end of the semester is about a month away. Pray for the students and teachers as they wrap up this semester.
  • The youth choir that Arold is leading had their first performance last week. They are excited to sign praises to God and are planning a Christmas performance/party.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Yippeeeeeee!!!!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! We are definitely celebrating in the Charles house today.

We finally heard from the Embassy regarding the first round of paperwork we dropped of on October 15th. Our petition to file for a visa was approved, and we can begin working on the actual visa application. (It's a long and complicated process. I totally get why people go the States without the proper paperwork!)

We are incredibly thankful for God's faithfulness to our family. Now we are trusting that we can complete the paperwork and return it to the Embassy as soon as possible. I would say as soon as humanly possible, but the truth is if we want to be in the States for Christmas (and we do!) it will take a miracle. We would need to have approval for Arold's visa and the paperwork in hand exactly one month from today to be home for Christmas. That, my friends, will take a miracle.

But God has brought us this far, we are trusting that he will continue to give us favor in this visa process. Please pray with us that we'll be able to get the visa in time to travel for Christmas.

Man of Many Faces




 I love this little guy. Can't believe he's 7 weeks old already!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Computer Classes

A big part of our ministry in Gramothe is the after school computer program. Last year I taught three classes that included about 45 students. This year Arold is the primary teacher (I'll help when I go back to teaching in
January), and he has 80 students split up into 5 different groups. He also created a curriculum and book for the students with the basics in it. We are excited to be able to expose so many students to the computer and hope they'll be able to use these skills to get jobs after graduation.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Prayerful Monday

Here's what we're praying about this week:

  • Update @ 1:12pm: One of the students needs stitches (no idea what happened at this point), so Arold is taking him to the Baptist Mission Hospital. Pray that the student will get the medical care he needs in a timely fashion. 
  • Saturday was the last day of clinic for 2012. This week the team saw some patients with pretty intense issues. Pray for their healing. The next clinic team will arrive in early January.
  • Isaac is 7 weeks old today. Praise the Lord for our healthy baby. He is truly a blessing!
  • Pray for smooth travels as the current team makes the long journey back to Northwestern U.S. and Prince George, Canada. It's a 2.5 day trip for the Canada group.
  • Please pray that we will hear from the US Embassy today! We need to move forward with this visa application.
  • We're thankful that Isaac's US passport and certificate of birth abroad (proving US citizenship) arrived this weekend. Now he can travel out of Haiti when we are ready.
  • Pray for wisdom as we are in the process of hiring someone to stay with Isaac while we are working. We are both a little nervous about leaving him, but we're praying God will give us peace when we find the right person.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Kissy Lips


Sometimes our little guy gets to snuggle in bed with Mommy after Daddy goes to work. Who can resist those sweet little kissy lips?!?



Friday, November 9, 2012

Golden Nuggets: Curing Baby Hiccups

If you have kids, you know how freely other people give advice about raising them. Apparently everyone has strong feelings on how babies should be be taken care of. This unwarranted advice can be helpful, but most new parents find it irritating. This phenomena of giving new (and not so new) parents advice about how to raise their kids seems to transcend cultures. At least, I've found it happens in Haiti as well as the U.S.

I've found that raising my son in another country means that I not only get advice from friends and strangers alike, but I also get very... interesting advice. I've heard all of the following:

  • babies younger than 1 month old cannot be held in an upright position because they are too young to sit
  • babies need to wear a hat to keep their head warm (remember 70* is a LOW temp here)
  • babies cannot suck on their hands/fingers or they will be "distracted" later in life (my husband's family seems to think Isaac will have a lower IQ if he sucks on his hands, which he does a lot)
  • if a baby cries, he's hungry--just feed him
But my favorite advice so far as been about curing baby hiccups. So without further ado...

The Haitian Way to Cure Baby Hiccups
  1. Take a thread from the mother or father's clothing. If the parents are away, the caregiver's clothing will do.
  2. Lick the string.
  3. Place the string on the baby's forehead between his eyes.
  4. Leave the string there for as long as it takes.
Let me know how you fare in getting rid of baby hiccups with this method.


Thursday, November 8, 2012

Video of our Ministry


One of our supporting churches recently asked for a short video of our ministry that they could share during their Missions Sunday services. We were given a time limit of 2 minutes, and I think we were able to capture all the different areas of our ministry in that time. Here's a quick look at what we do in Gramothe. Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Prayers for the Week

Here's what we're praying about this week:

  • Still waiting to hear from the Embassy. Please pray they'll call us soon.
  • Praise God for the Oregon and Canada team that is here this week. They are working in the clinic and  building benches for the school. Pray for the patients that will come through the clinic and the providers who will treat them. 
  • This week is the last clinic of 2012. Our next clinic week is in early January. Pray that all the people who come to the clinic this week will be able to be seen.
  • Praise God for our health and well-being. Arold recently had a cold, but he's better now and Isaac and I didn't get it at all.
  • Arold's after school computer classes are going really well. 
  • We've recently been discussing some new ideas for our ministry here to Haitian young people. Pray that God will guide us and give us wisdom as we think about the future.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

singing in the rain

Well, I don't know that they were singing as they walked down the mountain during Hurricane Sandy's rains, but its fun to imagine, right?
 I found these pictures that my hubby took last week. I'm really glad I wasn't with them!

Friday, November 2, 2012

little friends


These are some of Arold's littlest friends at school. He visits them on their playground several times a week. Aren't they cute?