All the way up to Kap Wouj!
December 30, 2009
Today, we were invited by a friend to accompany him to a mountain top village called Kap Wouj. In my opinion, the road to Kap Wouj was a bit scary. It was curvy, rocky, and steep. But we managed to get to our destination safely and do what we went there to do. Our goal was to deliver food to children at a school in the village where most children suffer from malnutrition. Here are some pictures of what we did.
You can actually see down below to the river when you are driving up towards Kap Wouj. And no, there are no railings here. This was actually a not so bad spot. There were some parts of the road that I dared not take my hand out to take a picture. I felt like if I leaned over to close to the door I might fall out or the car might tip over.
I have to admit, the view was just spectacular. No wonder Haiti (Ayti) means mountain land.
This is what we saw on the way up up up the mountain. Can you see the mountains kissing the clouds?
I love Haiti! In many ways I can picture the Bible much better by just looking at the way people live here. Ever seen whitewashed tombs? Here are some. We saw these in a handful of spots on our way. Some of them were in people’s yards. Nice decorations!
Here are some more tombs. Take a look at the ground. The dirt is actually red. Now you know why they called it “Red Peak” or Kap Wouj.
I took some pictures of some of the houses that we saw on the way to the school that we were visiting to distribute the food.
I wanted to capture how some of the people in the mountains live.
They truly don’t have very much. Their houses are very simple.
And they use whatever have at hand to build them. This one is made out of mud.
This one is practically made out of sticks. I can hear the big bad wolf blowing this one to the ground.
Here is the school we met the children at. That’s the truck that made it all the way to the top of the red rocky mountain. And that’s the good looking guy that made it all possible.
I think Susana is afraid that Daddy will let her fall. Can you see the cloud so close to the ground? We are high up!
Here is Isabela. I tried so hard to have her keep her clothes clean, but that only lasted a few minutes. At the end of our time there she was all covered in red dust.
Some of the kids in the village. No matter how many times I tell them to “souri”, which means to smile, they just won’t do it.
The red path to the village. We walked for a little bit on it.
Awww! Little princesses holding daddy’s hand on the way back to the school to meet the kids.
Cody and our friend and language teacher, Fenel sharing the gospel with the children.
Some of the kids listening to the message.
They are all beautiful kids.
Sharing with the children.
Isabela and Cody putting packages of food together for the kids.
The team had a very productive assembly line going. Little hands and big hands were equally involved.
The kids are patiently waiting to receive their food package.
Susana was managing the spaghetti station. She did so good. I loved watching her get involved.
There are my girls. One managed the rice the other the spaghetti. Cody kept track that all was evenly distributed.
Keep that pasta coming.
It takes team work to get the job done!
We even need someone in charge of the seasoning. 
After all, we are making lots and lots of these packages for the kids.
When the assembly line had completed their task all the children received food for one week.
This is Fenel. He is a friend who invited us to go with him to Kap Wouj. He is also our language teacher. And he too has a heart to help the children.
And here we are. Part of the assembly line and me, the photographer.
Cute kid looking at me through the window while I waited for Cody and Fenel to finish in the car.
Here is another cute kid who could not stop posing for me. Children in Haiti love the camera. By the way the word for camera in Creole is Kodak. Couldn’t get simpler than that.
Here is part of the whole gang of children that receive a bag of food. I tried taking a picture all of them, but they were all too spread out.
These children went home knowing that they will at least eat for the next week.
Here they are carrying their bags home.
We really had a great time sharing Jesus and sharing food with these little ones. I was truly touched in many ways. To me, it was amazing to see that not only we were loving on the children, but we were also teaching our own children to do the same. It was truly a gift from the Lord to watch Isabela and Susana share Jesus with others too.
The people of Kap Wouj are very sweet. Despite the fact that they don’t have a lot we experienced their friendliness and warmth. And we all look forward to going back to serve them. Yes, I will go up the scary mountain again! –Maria
Christmas Eve Paaaaaartyyyyyy @ Tytoo
December 27, 2009
We had so much with the kids at Tytoo Gardens for Christmas Eve. We hired two Haitian women to cook a great meal for the kids and the kids were so happy to have so much food. Here are some pictures of our party.
All the kids received a card from our family with a little gift of cash inside.
This is Louchmie. She is one of the older girls at Tytoo and one of the six that were very ill with both Typhoid fever and malaria a few weeks ago. She is doing great now.
This is Micheline. She just turned 13. We had a cake for her birthday. Did you know that cake in Creole is gato. In Spanish gato means cat. It was kind of funny to think the kids were having a cat for birthday. LOL!
This is Alexandra. She is very good friends with Isabela. Isabela says she loves her very much.
This is Dashca. She is, in my opinion, the sweetest girl at Tytoo. She has a great attitude and is fun.
This is our friend Santalin. She is the slave girl that Cody wrote about in a past post. She is not part of Tytoo, but we gladly invited her to our party.
Here is Blondina. I call her “tapaje” which means “trouble maker”. She’s really sweet and funny. She can really make you laugh.
Here is Nannal. He is probably the most resourceful kid in Tytoo. He loves animals, plants, and his bike.
Here is Cody’s tapaje girl. This is Nerlande. She is adorable. Very sweet girl.
These are the two ladies that cooked the big meal for the kids. The were pretty busy in the kitchen for many hours.
This is what you get when you put Haitians in the kitchen.
And here is what you get when you let them work. YUM!
I found out that the kids hadn’t had a meal this big in a very very long time. We were very glad that they enjoyed every bite of it.
Fried chicken!!! They do fry the chicken quite a bit in Haiti. I was wondering where did the meat go.
Here is happy face–Yoline. She the youngest girl. She is only three years old.
Here is Jessie. He is the youngest boy. He is only three too.
This is sweet Lovely. She was the first girl that had symptoms of Typhoid and malaria. But there was no typhoid and malaria in this party, only sweet smiles.
Here is a sample serving of what the kids got. Now I must say this is just one serving out of the three or four servings these kids got. They just kept on going for more.
Christella is certainly not shy about taking the first plate and the first bite.
Oh yeah!!! The feast has begun!
You always get smiling faces after you feed the bellies.
All the little ones are happy. Look! That one in the front is Celine. She is the funniest little one at Tytoo.
See what I mean?
This is Daphne. And for her an empty plate means a very happy heart!
Did Louchmie go for thirds?
I guess so, ‘cuz the food is all gone.
Cody and our friend Oscar. He has been a tremendous help to us at Tytoo.
Micassia and Isabela. I love Micassia. She has all it takes for success: beauty, spunk, and a great love for God.
The newest member of Tytoo, Feker. He is funny and he loves the camera. If there is a camera around there is also Feker posing in front.
Josue, me, and Christella. There is supposed to be a Christmas tree behind us too.
Cody, Wyrlande, and Susana.
Me and my sweet friend, Madeline.
The dudes of Tytoo: Kendy, Cody, Nannal, and Matthiew
Cody and MarieCarmen. She is one of the oldest girls and the seamstress in the house.
Feker, Susana, Micassia, and Yoline. Having fun in the wee hours of the night.
What a crowd!!!
Here is Bedine (in the green blouse). She is the lady long legs of the group. Can you see those long legs?
And we ended the night with worship to Jesus.
We had a great time with the kids. It was truly a blessing to see them so happy. My favorite part was getting many hugs and kisses and I love yous. Even though our Christmas wasn’t as fancy in many ways as it would normally be in the USA and we weren’t with family and didn’t have any material presents to open, I would not trade this year’s Christmas for anything. Being able to see many smiles in the faces of children that live in absolute poverty made me the richest, happiest, and most content woman in the world. Fancy has a new meaning to me. After all, we were celebrating Jesus–the man born in a stable in similar conditions to the ones we see here in Haiti. Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you for your support which in turn gave the kids of Tytoo a spectacular day! –Maria
Merry Christmas from Haiti!!
December 25, 2009
Last night, we had a big Christmas party for the children at the orphanage. We had a wonderful time eating, playing, singing, dancing, and hanging out. We hired two women to cook a huge feast. The kids were so excited!! We played the “WOW Christmas” CD which was rather interesting to hear songs such as “Let it Snow” or “Jingle Bell rock” when we are hanging out by the Caribbean Sea in shorts and a t-shirt. But we all had a great time. We gave each kid a card with some money in it so that they could buy exactly what they wanted. They were so happy.
To close the party, we all gathered for a sweet time of worship. I absolutely love playing my guitar and singing worship songs in another language. It is like a small picture of what heaven will be like as we worship the Lord in all languages. The generator and inverter went off in the middle of worship, so we just continued worshiping and praising the Lord in the pitch black. It was beautiful just to lift our voices to the Lord and give Him thanks for all of His love and goodness.
Now, we are about to have our own small Christmas celebration with our kids. Thanks to some of you, our kids will get to open up some gifts and they are so excited. We are so thankful for the effort and expense some of you put into sending some gift packages our way. After our own little time this morning, we will go over to our mission base down the road and have a big party today with the other missionaries. We should have a great time. Then tomorrow…we’re off to Jacmel…one way
This morning as we celebrate the most amazing gift that was ever given to us, the gift of Emmanuel “God with us”, we also remember so many of you that have been “with us” through prayer, giving, and so much encouragement. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. We are happy to be here in Haiti for our first Christmas. Even though we do not have a tree or any decorations (simply because we are in a period of transition), our hearts are filled with joy knowing that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is right here with us. And that alone makes our Christmas so very special.
We pray that your Christmas day is filled with love, laughter, and overflowing joy.
What is your favorite thing to do in the whole world?
December 21, 2009
Do you think that any 10 year old that you know would have any difficulty answering that question? Even as an adult, I know that I can answer that question with ease. I have a list of most favorite things to do. As a matter of fact, I cannot even just choose one, there are too many. I love to fly fish. I love to snowboard. I love to play my guitar. I love to play with my children. I love to go to the movies when my wife and I have our date night. And the list goes on and on.
I know that I am no different than you. We all have our favorite things to do. I know that my 2 little girls have fun answering that question. Isabela would say her favorite thing to do is play with her friends and dress up like a princess. Susana would say her favorite thing to do is play with her baby dolls, especially Brown Baby. As a matter of fact, I often ask that question to children I meet just as a way to get them to start talking. That’s the question that I asked Santalin the last time I saw her. Her answer was one that I have never heard from any other ten year old ever.
The first time I saw Santalin, I was visiting the home of my Haitian friend who lives with his wife and two children in a very poor two room concrete home. Santalin caught my attention as soon as I walked in. She was not dressed like the other children in the home. She had on a ragged dress that was filthy dirty. She was not playing with the other children in the home. She was washing the floor. I heard her very softly humming a song to herself, so I spoke to her in Creole and told her that she sings very nice. Then I playfully asked her to sing a song for me. Almost mechanically, without question or change of facial expression, she just stood there and started singing. It was rather weird. I knew that something was not right. She told me her name was Santalin and that she was 10 years old.
The next time I was at my friend’s house, I saw Santalin once again dressed in rags and working in the home. I asked my friend who this girl is. He told me that she is his wife’s neice. Her mother abandoned her and so my friend’s wife thought that she could come live with them and that she would be able to help out around the house. I learned that Santalin does attend school, but not at the regular time that the other children attend. This was all becoming too clear…
You see, Santalin is a restavek, a child slave. This girl has abuse written all over her face. She comes from way back in the mountains. Whether she was abused and forced to work just in her own home or was forced to work in other people’s homes I don’t know. But I do know that she has suffered a lifetime of abuse, and she is still being presently “abused” just by the fact that she works non stop in their home even though my Haitian friend fails to notice. I know that he wants her to have a good life, but he has not yet seen that his wife is taking advantage of the fact that this girl has been programmed to work. Unfortunately, restaveks are almost woven into the Haitian culture. It is accepted by many. But it is still dead wrong.
Santalin is working every single time I see her. She goes to school in the afternoon so that she can work in the home during the day while the other children are at school. She sleeps on the concrete floor. She will do anything that is asked of her. She will sing on command. She will dance on command. She would probably even hop on one foot and bark like a dog if asked to do so. She is mechanical. She is dirty all the time. She is a child slave. She is created by God. She is beautiful.
God has really burdened my heart for this girl. Every time I see her, I give her a little bit of money and tell her to buy something just for her. When I give some clothes and resources to my friend and his family, I make sure that I give her some things that are really nice, such as sandals and sun dresses. Last time I saw her, I held both of her hands and told her in Creole that Jesus loves her very very much and to always remember that. I think I saw a tiny trace of a smile.
I guess it shouldn’t surprise you now what her response was to the question. I asked her in Creole, “Santalin, what is your most favorite thing in the world to do?” She paused for a moment, and then without much facial expression gave a one word reply, “work.”
This is why we are in Haiti. These are the kids God has called us to rescue for His own. And we will not rest until little boys and girls come up with some different replies. – Cody
Jacmel… beautiful place with beautiful people
December 18, 2009
Here are a few pictures from our trip to Jacmel. Jacmel is a small city in the southern part of Haiti. We truly enjoyed our time in Jacmel getting to know the Mangines and the Pyes. They are two couples that work with orphaned children through Haitian Children’s Home.
The road to Jacmel reminds me of the Blue Ridge Parkway, only Caribbean style.
Isn’t this a beautiful view?
Oh Haiti! God graced you with beauty. I just love looking at these mountains.
Sadly, you can see part of the deforestation of the land as you keep on driving towards Jacmel.
Jacmel has many colorful homes and small businesses. And yes, practically every one owns a motorcycle.
The beach in Jacmel. Yes! Yes, this is the Caribbean Sea.
Even though Jacmel is very poor, it is a very clean city. The Mayor takes good care of the city.
Who said that you cannot cook every where?
Can you smell the ocean?
Love the waves!
Here is your beach front property.
Even though there is much beauty in Jacmel, the poverty is still all throughout.
I did see some street signs which is very rare in Haiti.
I am not sure if this is a little store, but some Haitians do have little stores that look like this.
Taxi motos. A very popular way of public transportation in Jacmel.
The view of downtown Jacmel from where we were statying at Haitian Children’s Home.
Downtown Jacmel from the roof of the guest home.
The beach we came to on our last day.
Beautiful!
Susana and I and the waves at our feet.
Cody, diving in the Caribbean.
My Susana is testing the waters. Yes, they are warm.
You know it! They are having fun.
I forgot to mention…there is a garbage truck in Jacmel.
Unfortunately, they don’t know that the river is not a good place to dump the garbage. LOL!
Many buildings are run down and there is much poverty in this pretty part of the country.
We loved the time we spent with our friends there. We are thankful to them for their wonderful hospitality and kindness towards us. Mangines and Pyes, you guys rock!!! –Maria
Steps to doing laundry in the Whittakers’ home
December 16, 2009
Today was laundry day! And I (Maria) wanted to share with all of you what a wonderful experience it is to do laundry in our home.
Step 1: Fill up an extra large blue container with clean fresh water from your shower.
Step 2: Make sure your washer is properly connected to the power source and away from water where you can be electrocuted.
Step 3: Make sure your washer is in proper working order and in a safe place.
Step 4: Load the washer with 14 buckets of cold fresh (well salty in our home) water. You must repeat this process twice. Once for the wash cycle and once for the rinse cycle.
Step 5: When clothes are clean remove from washer into a laundry basket.
Step 6: Take laundry basket up the small metal and dangerous steps all the way to the roof to be properly hung on the clothes line.
Step 7: Stop for a moment to enjoy what has been accomplished through much hard work.
Step 8: Repeat process with three additional loads.
Step 9: Wait about 1 hour for all loads to completely dry before removing them from the line.
As you can see, life in Haiti is just a bit different that life in the United States. Maybe…Just maybe, next time you dread doing your laundry you stop and thank your washer for being properly connected and in perfect working order. And you may want to give your dryer a big kiss too. — Maria
Haiti Update
December 16, 2009
To our awesome and wonderful support team,
We hope and pray that all of you are coming into a time of thinking on and celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior during this special time of the year. I have to admit that it has been difficult for us to get into the “Christmas spirit” for several reasons. One being that it is so hot and tropical and I, being from the northeast, am usually wearing turtlenecks and am shoveling snow at this time of the year. Also, we have been so incredibly busy with both overseeing the orphanage that we are temporarily directing as well as looking for the permanent place where God will have us go. So, we are in a very transitional time right now. We are so thankful to those of you who have sent packages for both the kids at the orphanage as well as our own family. What a blessing it will be to receive those things knowing that they were sent with so much love and prayers.
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. 6 of the children at the orphanage came down with both malaria and typhoid fever at the same time. Most of my days were spent serving as the ambulance to bring them back and forth to the hospital and medical clinic as well as the nurse to take care of the children and make sure that they were doing what was needed to regain their health. We thank the Lord that He has used us to care for these kids during this time where many have been ill. We have enjoyed the time of being able to build some relationships with the children, but we don’t want to develop too much of a bond knowing that we are only here on a temporary basis, therefore we don’t want the kids to get hurt when we leave. So, we have just been holding things together while the board of directors of the orphanage seek a more permanent plan. We certainly pray that the Lord brings in the right person for this role
One of the things that Maria and I both have been discussing lately is the need to really like a place where we live in order to be most effective ministering in that place over a long period of time. So, we don’t just want to settle into any particular area simply because there is tremendous need there. There is tremendous need in every single city, town, or village of Haiti, but we want to settle into a place that not only has great need, but also is a place that we really like. We need to be able to say, “We really like living here and we could see ourselves raising our family here as well as giving our lives to serve the people here” Our vision for starting a children’s home will require a very long-term commitment, probably no less than 12 years or so. We are basically talking about taking in orphans and abandoned children and raising them in our own family. It’s almost like adoption. We plan to be with these children until they are of age and ability to go out on their own and sustain themselves with the tools and resources that hopefully we have equipped them with. Therefore it is very important to settle in the right place that fits our likes, our talents, our personalities, and our vision. So, that is what we have been trying to do.
We have continued to visit different places around this area as well as other parts of the country to give us a better idea of where we may want to settle. We just came back from an area in the south which we thought was a great place for starting a children’s home. We spent a few days with some missionaries there who are doing almost exactly what we envision doing and are wanting to expand the work there. Our kids had such a great time playing with the other children of the missionaries who were of the same age. These missionaries are about the same age as us so it was also really good to make friends with them. We all felt like we really connected well with each other. Both of missionaries have a children’s home and so we had a great time spending time with their children. It was so much different than spending time at an orphanage where a person often feels pity because the children look sad and withdrawn. This was more like a huge happy family of 20 children all running around a big house and having the security of their “mama” and “papa” right there playing with them. These kids were happy. They have truly been redeemed and they know it. It was awesome and it confirmed all the more to Maria and I of our vision to have the same thing.
The area has some amazing beauty to it, but is also filled with tremendous poverty which would provide plenty of opportunity for us to minister to the people and seek to make a difference in their lives, especially the orphaned and abandoned children. We both really like the area and could see ourselves settling in there and ministering to the people. We are praying about this as a serious possibility. We need to make a decision soon as our time here at the orphanage is coming to a close. Please be in prayer for us.
We are very excited about the possibilities that are in front of us. We just want to make sure to move with wisdom each step of the way. Like I said, it is so easy in Haiti to get swayed by the need because there are needs everywhere. We want to be led by the Spirit of God rather than just the needs that we see everywhere. So, after almost 2 months of just getting transitioned into this 3rd world country and starting to get a small grip on the language, we believe that the time is soon approaching where we will settle into a permanent place of our own where we can build relationships with the people, continue to learn the language, and shine our lights that will point people to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Thank you to each one of you who have faithfully been praying for us and supporting us with the financial means to bring the message of hope to the hurting children of Haiti. We simply could not do this without you. Thank you for being such a great team. We hope to send another update soon with some good news, Lord willing. May the Lord bless you and may we all come closer to the living God during this special time of the year. Merry Christmas
Latest Happenings
December 12, 2009
It has been a week of malaria and typhoid fever at Tytoo Gardens, 5 of the children tested positive for both. It has been a week of driving back and forth from the orphanage to the medical clinic, then to the hospital, then back to the medical clinic, etc… These girls were absolutely miserable for days. I felt so bad for them. Thankfully, they have all recovered now and are feeling fine. They completed their 3 day malaria medication today and will continue the antibiotics for the typhoid for another week. We have had to keep our 2 girls inside the house for the last several days because we did not want them getting sick also as Typhoid is contagious. It hasn’t been much fun for them being stuck inside and unable to play with the kids, but we had to do what we had to do.
We will be heading down to Jacmel to visit another missionary couple on Sunday. We are excited to go as we have never been to the south part of the country and we hear that it is very beautiful.
The heat here is insane!! We are sweating every night unless we have the fan on full power blowing 3 inches from our face. Then we don’t sweat…we just wake up every morning with a dry sore throat and a stiff neck. Haha. I should get the A/C in my 4runner serviced. With it so hot, the A/C has easily become the WA/C (warm air conditioner.) We saw a billboard today of some scene of snow capped mountains. We wanted to crash our car right into that billboard and somehow feel the coolness of that scene.
Please continue to pray for us as we seek the Lord for direction regarding His will for our lives here in Haiti. It is so easy to get swayed by the need as it is everywhere you turn, but we really want to only be led by the Lord as to where He is calling us to go and what specifically He is calling us to do. Much prayers are needed.
The Shock Factor
December 9, 2009
I am still so shocked by the level of poverty in Haiti. Yesterday, I brought my Haitian friend to our container where we have some donated things. This is the guy who has a decent job (orphanage director) and lives in a 2 room home that doesn’t even have beds for his children. This guy loves Jesus and wants to be a pastor. We talk about the Lord all the time. He is my brother and he was in need. So, once again I am reminded of the book of James where it talks about what we should do if we see a brother in need. So, I hooked him up big time. I gave him 2 good pairs of shoes (Kenneth Cole and Dockers). I gave him a 50 pound bag of rice so that he could feed his family for a while (thanks Kristi and Joe). I gave him several pairs of shoes for his children. I gave him some clothes. I gave him a big bag of beans. And I gave him a pillow for his sister’s neice who lives with them and sleeps on the floor. A few days before, we had given him an air mattress and bedding so that his children could have a place to sleep. I also gave him $25 since I found out that his 2 week vacation that he was currently on was without pay.
After hooking him up, I went to his house to just spend some time in his world. He gave me the tour of the whole house (all 2 rooms) He showed me where he bathes every day (a big metal pan that he fills with water). He showed me where his wife cooks (a tiny corner with a pot on top of charcoal). He showed me where they use the toilet (I won’t go there). He showed me where his kids were sleeping until we gave him the air mattress (on the concrete floor…every day of their lives). He told me about how it has taken him 10 years to build his home. And then he shared with me his hope of one day having a bigger home. But he also shared with me his greater hope of his eternal home that awaits him in heaven. Man, if I had $15,000 I would buy this guy a bigger home in a second. They were so thankful though for the things that we were able to give them. And this guy never once asked me for anything. He is a humble man who trusts in the Lord. We shared together about the verse in Mat. 6:33 that says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else will be added unto you.”
Then today, we went to Epidor (the closest thing to a fast food restaurant). Maria and the girls thought their food was nasty and they couldn’t even eat it. She was about to throw it away, but I stopped her and said that somebody will definitely want that. After seeing locals in the village digging through our trash everyday, I knew that some person would want this food that we so often easily throw away. So, on our way home from Port au Prince, as usual, street kids come up and try to wipe off our car in hopes of a few coins. I asked this one kid if he was hungry, to which he of course replied yes. So, I handed him the big plate of food that was almost discarded. He took it and a huge smile lit up his face. I looked in the rearview mirror as I was driving away and I saw him wave his arms in the air and jump up and down for joy. He then motioned to his other street friend who I was approaching yelling for him to come down. His friend was kind of ignoring his request until I drove by and simply said, “Anpil manje pou ou se la ba” which means, “Lots of food for you down there.” As soon as he heard that, I saw him make a sprint towards his friend who was doing the victory dance.
Yes, the garbage that we often throw away without thought is the answered prayer of many a Haitian.
Visitors to Tytoo Gardens Orphanage
December 9, 2009
It has been a whirlwind of activity these last few days. Malaria has come to Tytoo Gradens Orphanage. Typhoid Fever has come too. 5 children are holed up in a room laying on mattresses on the floor moaning and groaning in pain. I feel like a nurse these days more than anything. 5 have malaria. Of those five, one also has Typhoid Fever and I have to bring the other 4 to the hospital tomorrow to get them tested for Typhoid Fever. If they test positive, then all 22 of the children will have to be tested since that might be an indicator that they are all drinking from an infected water source. Prayers are needed in so many ways.
We are trying as much as possible to keep our 2 girls away from the children at this time since there is so much rampant sickness going around. Our daily prayers have certainly changed since moving to Haiti. What used to be the bedtime prayer of, “Lord, help us have a good night sleep and have sweet dreams” has now become, “Lord, please keep the mosquitoes off of us. Please don’t let us get malaria. Please prevent us from getting sick…and oh yeah…please let us have sweet dreams too.”
Please keep us in prayer as we continue to seek the Lord for His will as to whether or not He is calling us here at this orphanage permanently. This interim time has certainly given us much insight into the way things are over here. There are many things that we need to consider and we ask for your prayers.
Our Creole is coming along as we have been put into a situation where we are forced to use it all throughout the day. I am pretty much able to communicate with the people things I need to say (with a charade or two thrown in) but it is often difficult understanding what the reply is. I have to ask the people to speak slow (and use their own charade or two if necessary) so that I can understand them. I still would like to get formal instruction, but the way things have been at the orphanage with all the sickness going on, I just do not have the time for formal class.