Life Change

Have I mentioned that I'm getting married? 

Well, I am, and I'm SUPER excited about it!

Arold and I are planning a small wedding in Haiti on December 30th. We hope to have a reception in Indiana when we visit during the summer of 2012. 

Marrying Arold won't change my position with MTM or my plans to return to the States for a few month this summer and fall. What it does change is the fact that I now have a life long ministry partner.

And that, my friends, is life change worth celebrating!

Life Change

Have I mentioned that I'm getting married? 

Well, I am, and I'm SUPER excited about it!

Arold and I are planning a small wedding in Haiti on December 30th. We hope to have a reception in Indiana when we visit during the summer of 2012. 

Marrying Arold won't change my position with MTM or my plans to return to the States for a few month this summer and fall. What it does change is the fact that I now have a life long ministry partner.

And that, my friends, is life change worth celebrating!

Oh, how I love these girls!

These four girls are in Seconde. (That means they are in 11th grade, but they have two years of high school left because Haiti has a 13 grade education system. Nothing is ever simple in Haiti, but I digress.) They're also in my after school computer class, so I've gotten to know them pretty well. However, in the beginning I could not get them to talk to me. They didn't attempt to talk to me in English, so if they needed something they would get one of the boys to translate for them. I was really sad that they wouldn't talk to me for the first couple months. But now it's a different story. 

For all of February and most of March they teased me saying they were coming to my house after school. They have an obsession with the food that I eat. The constantly ask me what I will make for dinner after I get home. Often it's a sandwich, and they think that's funny.  I've yet to figure out why.

One day a few weeks ago these girls asked me if I would take their picture. I didn't have my camera so I told them I would do it tomorrow. Well "tomorrow" turned out to be a no uniform day at school, for what reason I have no idea. Anyway, they chose special clothes for these pictures. I thought we were just going to take one group photo, but I quickly learned it was a photo shoot! First I took their individual pictures. Then a group photo. THEN they wanted to change shirts and take more individual pictures. I said, "Are you kidding me?!?" To which they said, "What does that mean?" 

 Ameline has an easy smile, is down to earth, and makes me laugh. While she's friends with the other girls, she is a bit more independent and doesn't feel the need to do everything with them. She also probably has the best English vocabulary of the four girls.

 Romanie is persistent, attempts to speak in English more than the other girls, and also speaks slowly for me in Creole. I appreciate that a lot!

Ogimene is the ring leader of this group. She's curious about everything, gets excited easily, tries to talk to me in English but often switches to Creole because it's easier, and she is a whiner when she doesn't want to do something.

 Tania is a punk, plain and simple. The girl has attitude, but it's generally not directed toward me. She has no problem telling others what to do, and she especially likes to boss the boys around. She also very rarely even attempts to speak English. She'd rather get someone else to do it for her.

Eventually we took this final picture where they look so happy to be alive. But don't let them fool you, they are definitely giggly teenage girls. It's just that Haitians don't smile for pictures.

Oh, how I love these girls!

These four girls are in Seconde. (That means they are in 11th grade, but they have two years of high school left because Haiti has 13 grade education system. Nothing is ever simple in Haiti, but I digress.) They're also in my after school computer class, so I've gotten to know them pretty well. However, in the beginning I could not get them to talk to me. They didn't attempt to talk to me in English, so if they needed something they would get one of the boys to translate for them. I was really sad that they wouldn't talk to me for the first couple months. But now it's a different story. 

For all of February and most of March they teased me saying they were coming to my house after school. They have an obsession with the food that I eat. The constantly ask me what I will make for dinner after I get home. Often it's a sandwich, and they think that's funny.  I've yet to figure out why.

One day a few weeks ago these girls asked me if I would take their picture. I didn't have my camera so I told them I would do it tomorrow. Well "tomorrow" turned out to be a no uniform day at school, for what reason I have no idea. Anyway, they chose special clothes for these pictures. I thought we were just going to take one group photo, but I quickly learned it was a photo shoot! First I took their individual pictures. Then a group photo. THEN they wanted to change shirts and take more individual pictures. I said, "Are you kidding me?!?" To which they said, "What does that mean?" 

 Ameline has an easy smile, is down to earth, and makes laugh. While she's friends with the other girls, she is a bit more independent and doesn't feel the need to do everything with them. She also probably has the best English vocabulary of the four girls.

 Romanie is persistent, attempts to speak in English more than the other girls, and also speaks slowly for me in Creole. I appreciate that a lot!

Ojimene is the ring leader of this group. She's curious about everything, gets excited easily, tries to talk to me in English but often switches to Creole because it's easier, and she is a whiner when she doesn't want to do something.

 Tania is a punk, plain and simple. The girl has attitude, but it's generally not directed toward me. She has no problem telling others what to do, and she especially likes to boss the boys around. She also very rarely even attempts to speak English. She'd rather get someone else to do it for her.

Eventually we took this final picture where they look so happy to be alive. But don't let them fool you, they are definitely giggly teenage girls. It's just that Haitians don't smile for pictures.

Update List

I send out an update about my life and ministry in Haiti once a month. In fact I just sent the April update today. Sometimes these updates have repeat information from my blog, but the majority of the updates are not repeat information.

If you would like to receive these updates, leave a comment on this post. All you have to do is include your name and e-mail address in the comment form (not to be confused with the comment section) when you leave your comment, and I'll gladly add you to the list. Or you can e-mail britneyLsmith (at) gmail (dot) com with your desire to receive the updates.

Update List

I send out an update about my life and ministry in Haiti once a month. In fact I just sent the April update today. Sometimes these updates have repeat information from my blog, but the majority of the updates are not repeat information.

If you would like to receive these updates, leave a comment on this post. All you have to do is include your name and e-mail address in the comment form (not to be confused with the comment section) when you leave your comment, and I'll gladly add you to the list. Or you can e-mail britneyLsmith (at) gmail (dot) com with your desire to receive the updates.

Crusade

Every year there is a group of churches that put on a crusade in Thomassin, my town/area. It sounds like it's normally held on the soccer field at the top of 48 (near the guest house) in December, but this year the crusade was moved to Holy week. The location had to be changed because the soccer field is too muddy, so the crusade is being held on the school yard next to my house.

I went to the opening night festivities on Sunday with my boyfriend. The crusade officially starts at 6pm, but the singers and organizers start preparing ahead of time. I could hear music starting well before 5pm. I love listening to worship songs play throughout the neighborhood. The crusade has some fantastic musicians, so their music is especially appreciated. When we arrived it was worship time. We sang songs for about an hour, but we stopped a couple different times for some really long prayers. One of the prayers was for all the people who lived in the area. The guy prayed for people who are sick, dealing with marital problems, looking for employment, and who are dealing with a host of other issues.

Singing is my favorite part of church, especially when it's all in Creole. I'm getting pretty good at singing the select Creole songs I know. But what's even better is that I am picking up other songs pretty quickly. Sometimes I only catch phrases, and other times I know the English words to the same tune. The crusade allowed me to practice some songs I have been learning at church, but also gave me exposure to some songs I've never heard before.

After the singing there was an offering. I felt like the offering was a little awkward. Some guys stood in front of the crowd and anyone who wanted to give something walked up and dropped their money in a basket. It was a very drawn out process. I suppose the awkward part was that I felt like sharing the Good News with people should not be preceded by asking for their money. There are 30 churches who are working together to put on this crusade, and it seems like they should be able to share the costs so that they don't have to ask the community they are trying to reach for money. I guess I need to explore a little further my thoughts about taking an offering at a crusade.

After the offering a pastor was introduced and he gave the message. He read a long passage in Ezekiel chapter 19. I should probably look it up and see what it was about. After that he talked for a long time, and said the phrase "moun ki aksepte kris..." or "ou bezwen aksepte kris..." about every other sentence. (That translates to people who accept Christ... or you need to accept Christ...) Seriously, it was a bit repetitive. However, at the end there were some people who came forward for the alter call. There were pastors standing by ready to pray with anyone who wanted to accept Christ for the first time or rededicate their lives to him. There were several little old ladies who went first and then some more people. In all there may have been 15 people who eventually went forward.

I was super excited that people are eager to begin or renew a relationship with Christ. I'm especially excited about the young people I saw go forward. I don't know any of them by name, but I recognized a few of them from school. Their new found commitment to the Lord excites me. I hope that the crusade continues to refresh and awaken the faith of those in my community.