In Haiti
July 17, 2010
Back in Haiti again. Why does Port au Prince look like nothing has changed since the earthquake, yet Jacmel looks like a lot has changed? I am very impressed with how well Jacmel is being cleaned up after the quake.
So, we just had a team leave this morning that was here all last week. I only got to spend one day with them, but it was good to get to know them, and Fenel told me that they were awesome. We were supposed to take the team to Basin Bleau for a fun day, but as we were heading out, it began to downpour, so we had to quickly abort mission. I am so excited that this team, along with our master carpenter Fenel, built bunk beds for our mission house! Sweet!!! No more sleeping on air mattresses, although the truth is that the air mattresses are super comfortable. The team also did a lot of outreach in some of the communities where we are ministering. They showed the Jesus Film a few times, Fenel preached a salvation message, and 4 people committed their lives to the Lord. God is moving in our midst. They also spent the week ministering to the orphaned children that we are working with.
The team left this morning and another team (team of 4 from Calvary Chapel in Uncasville, CT) arrived a few hours later, therefore I spent the whole day in Port au Prince, leaving at 4AM to drop off the team that was leaving and then getting back to Jacmel this evening after picking up the arriving team. Needless to say, I am beat. The team is great. They are very excited for the upcoming week as this is the first mission trip that any of them have been on. 2 guys will be building a house this week for a family that is helping the orphaned kids, and the 2 women will just do some serious loving on many children throughout the week. I am very excited to see what the Lord is going to do.
I miss my wife and kids, but it was good to see them today via video chat…
Biltmore Baptist Brings the Love of Jesus to Haiti!!!
June 19, 2010
What an AWESOME week it has been to have the team from Biltmore Baptist with us in Haiti to reach out to the people with the love of Jesus. The team consisted of 14 people, all of which have showed such love and care to the people of Haiti. The group was divided into 3 different teams: The construction team which has been helping repair the home of the pastor that we are working with in the community, the outreach/orphan team which has been doing various outreaches in the morning and then ministering to the group of orphans that we are currently supporting, and the soccer team which has been joining the outreach and construction team in the morning and then have conducted soccer clinics/games in the afternoon with a large group of kids from a school in Marigot that we are partnering with.
Day 1
The team arrived on Monday afternoon. After having to file claims for 8 lost bags, we left the airport and began our 3 hour drive down to Jacmel. I absolutely love having new teams that have never been to Haiti before. Their comments and observations remind me of what my very first visit was like. I too would marvel over seeing pigs in the streets of Port au Prince eating the garbage, or the sight of a person bathing in dirty brown water. But, now after having lived in Haiti, its like I don’t even notice those things anymore because they are just so common.
Anyway, after getting to the mission house in the evening, the team was greeted by our awesome house staff with a meal that knocked their socks off. I had told the team that they would not suffer with regards to lack of good food. I think they finally believed me after eating dinner. They all ranted and raved over the food!
It was so late by that point and the team was so exhausted that I decided to postpone our orientation/devotion time for the morning. After dinner, everybody crashed hard. Well…not exactly. First, the girls got all wigged out because there was a huge cockroach in their room. So, after disposing of that, they found another one. So, after taking care of that one, I heard one of the girls say, “um…Cody…there’s a crab in our room…”. I didn’t believe them at first, but they insisted that they were telling the truth, so I went downstairs to investigate, and sure enough there was a crab about 5 inches long crawling in the corner. So…being a man as well as a missionary as well as a great host, I um….well I uh…kinda…got wigged out and asked one of the ladies to capture it so that we could get it out of the house. hahaha. Francie stepped up to the task and captured the little bugger and then I threw him over the fence. After sweating off a few pounds in the intense heat, the team finally fell asleep with the sound of fans blasting throughout the house.
Day 2
The day began very early for both Fenel and I, as well as our house staff, which consisted of a woman from the states named Sharon, who is kind of like Fenel’s adopted Mom as he spent 3 years living with her family in Ohio many years ago. Anyway, Sharon came down to help specifically with the team and she did an incredible job. So, Fenel was at the house early trying to fix our water pump which just happened to break just before the team was arriving. As he was working on that, I was on the phone with American Airlines trying to track down the lost luggage from yesterday. They told us that the bags had arrived and that we could pick them up at the airport in Port au Prince. So, my schedule for the day was instantly changed as I now had to spend the day driving to Port au Prince…again. Sadly, I had to take a team member with me so that the bags could be claimed. I felt bad having to take a team member since the whole group was so excited to start their week of outreach and ministry.
So, as I headed out to Port au Prince, the team broke up into their groups and headed out. The construction team headed down the street to work on Pastor Jean Franko’s house which sustained lots of damage from the earthquake. He was so happy to have a team come down and spend the week repairing his home. The outreach team headed over to the Sister’s of Charity orphanage to minister to the children. They had an awesome time holding babies and playing with children. They also saw baby Mackenson and prayed over him. They said that he looked very good. Praise the Lord. The report from the soccer team was great as well. Levi gathered the entire group together before starting and shared the gospel of Jesus with them, letting them know that this was most important. Many of the kids said they wanted to pray to receive Christ. Then they did the clinic and it went great. I think he said there were about 75 kids that showed up.
After making the long drive to Port, picking up the bags, and driving straight back, I felt like I wanted to take Robin (the team member that had to go with me and miss all the other outreach) to the places that the team went to earlier and even to some other places so that she could still get to reach out to children that day. So, we first went to the hospital infant room and prayed over a newborn baby who was very sick. Then, we went over to Sister’s of Charity orphanage and she got to see all the babies and little children. We also saw baby Mackenson. He looks great!!! He looks so healthy. I was so happy to see how well he is doing. I held him, kissed him, and prayed over him. I also got him to smile and giggle which made me so happy. It was hard to imagine that this was the same baby that was nothing but skin and bones when we first brought him in. Many thanks also to Hands and Feet orphanage who have helped care for him and visit him often. This is definitely a team effort and we are so blessed to be part of it.
After leaving the orphanage, I brought Robin to see Peterson and his wife. Peterson is the guy we helped get married by providing the funds, rings, clothes, etc. Unfortunately, Peterson was not home, but we did sit with his wife and other family members for a bit and spent some time with them. It was really good.
Lastly, we headed over to Hands and Feet orphanage to say hello to the staff and children there. It was great to see them. They are such cute kids. They call me Ti Kabrit, which means little goat. They are a lot of fun.
We then went back to the mission house for dinner with the team and then followed that with a recap of the day and a time of prayer and devotions. It turned out to be a fantastic day for everybody.
Day 3
This day was definitely the highlight of my time spent in Haiti. First, after the construction team departed, we headed up into the mountains to Kap Wouj, which is my favorite place to go in the mountains. The team was in shock with the steepness of the drive to get there and the level of poverty that they saw along the way. We did an outreach at the school where we are partnering with. There were about 100 or so kids, and they were very happy to see our group. The BBC team taught them a song in english, then told them a bible story. After that, we all went outside and just played like crazy! We played soccer, jump rope, did the limbo, threw a football, etc. Then, we gathered all the kids together and I shared a short message about sharing God’s love with others. We then gave them each a little stuffed animal on our way out.
When we got back to the Mission House, the team started preparing their craft activity for the orphaned children that would be arriving shortly while I took some time to work on my message since I would be preaching later that night.
Having the orphaned children come to our mission house was really a milestone for our ministry. Remember that our original vision for coming to Haiti was to develop a ministry for orphaned children. And now, the Lord has brought us a group of 23 orphaned children that we are starting a ministry to help care for them. This brings great joy to our heart as we are able to bring great joy to their hearts.
The kids all arrived and the team was so excited to see them. It was the first time for us to have children from the community into our home, and it was such a beautiful sight to see these 23 kids come in with anticipation of having a good time. We sang songs about Jesus. We shared the word of God with them. We did a craft activity. We did face painting. We measured their feet so that we can give them shoes the next day. We took a profile of each child so that we can begin getting these kids sponsored. It was an amazing time we had. The kids were so happy and thankful. They all gave us kisses and hugs before they left. It was definitely the highlight for me because I believe that it was the first fruits of many great things that the Lord is going to do now that we have a mission house to bring kids from the community into for discipleship, love, and encouragement. Many thanks go out to the awesome Calvary Chapel Castlerock Colorado team that came down a few months ago to paint the inside of the mission house in anticipation of what we are now experiencing. Again, a great partnership effort in order to grow the Kingdom of God.
After the kids left, we had just a few minutes to shovel down some good food and get ready for church and the fun night that we had planned for the church after service.
So, church was awesome. I love preaching the Word of God, especially in Haiti. I shared from Psalm 62. I talked about the victory that we have in Jesus, that the victorious life is not at all one that is pain and problem free, but rather one that can rejoice in the deepest pains and struggles of life because of our hope in Jesus and the power and love that He has. Just like David said in Psalm 62, “He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress. I will never be shaken”, we too can say the same thing because of our hope in Jesus. It was a good message that the people could relate to, and of course, I can relate to also. It is in the ability of us to be able to rejoice in the midst of such pain that will be a testimony to the world around us that Christ is indeed real and powerful and loving, and this testimony will bring glory and honor to God.
After service, we set up shop to make peanut butter sandwiches to give to everybody as well as juice. Then, we set up the projector and showed some Tom and Jerry cartoons. Everybody had such an amazing time. I am so thankful that the Lord is using us to be able to minister to this church. I really love Jean Franko and the people. They are very special to me.
Day 4
Well, this was my last day in Haiti and I had to get up at 4:00 AM to get to the airport by 7. I flew back to Ft Lauderdale at noon, jumped in my car, and headed north as far as possible to try to get as close to Asheville as I could before having to crash at a hotel. I made it to Savannah, GA.
The rest of the team is staying until Sunday. So, their plan for this day was to go to the school in Marigot where we are partnering with and deliver them food for our feeding program that we have started. Then, the team would have the orphaned children come to the mission house again for some fun and outreach. The team would also give clothes and shoes to each child. It would be a great day again for the team. The following day, they would go around our neighborhood in the morning to spend time with the kids in the area and just get to know them. Then in the afternoon they would go to an after school program in Jacmel and do an outreach with the kids.
Today (Saturday), the team is having a fun day. They will have a short tour of Jacmel in the morning, then in the afternoon they will go to Basin Bleau and swim at the waterfall, and then they will go out to eat at Cap Lanmandou Restaurant for dinner. Then, they will fly home early Sunday morning.
It has been a great blessing to have the Biltmore Baptist team come and serve with our ministry in Haiti. I know they had an awesome time, and it was so great to have them share in the work that we are doing in Haiti. I only hope that they will come back again.
I was very pleased with my trip back to Haiti. While there, Fenel and I spent some time planning and strategizing for the future of the ministry. I will say that I am VERY excited to see how the Lord is blessing the ministry and I am VERY excited for the things that we have planned for the future. I will be sharing more about this soon.
I also will post many pics on the next post, once I figure out how to upload them from my new Mac.
Colorado Represents!!!
April 17, 2010
The Colorado team that has been here this week has been awesome! The only problem is that none of them have up to date SD cards, therefore I don’t have many pictures to share at this point. So, they have really connected with the kids around our mission house and this has enabled us to get to know them more. This morning, they led a bible study outside the gate and several kids and adults came to hear the word of God. One kid gave his heart to the Lord!! These guys are serious when it comes to sharing the word of God.
On Wednesday night, we went to the church down the street that is caring for many orphaned children. We went to the evening service and then afterwards we had an outreach for the kids and adults there. We gave them peanut butter sandwiches and showed Tom and Jerry Cartoons on our projector. It was awesome!!! The kids loved it!!! I never had so much fun and laughter watching Tom and Jerry. This gave us a great time to get to know the kids. We are trying to develop a program that will help care for these orphaned children as well as orphaned children in other areas. We also are praying about helping rebuild this church since it suffered a lot of damage in the earthquake. The pastor’s name is Jean Franko. He is a very humble man who loves God so much and really loves the people who God has put under his care. We are going there tomorrow for Sunday services. The pastor asked me to preach there some time. I will take him up on that in the near future.
Today, we took the team up to the mountains in Kap Wouj. We didn’t have anything planned, but it turned out to be a great time. We walked around the village just spending time with families and many children. Then we gave some frisbees, bubbles, candy, and other things away to the children. We played with them for a while and the kids had a great time. I also learned from the school director up there that there are about 25 orphaned children who are attending the school. We also were at the school in Marigot yesterday and learned that there are about 15 orphaned children that attend that school. So, as we are preparing to start a ministry to help orphaned children, it seems that we have quite a few orphaned children to get started with. Please keep these things in prayer as the need is so great.
We had the team over here for dinner tonight. We fed them chocolate cake for desert and they all felt guilty for suffering for the sake of the gospel:) We ae about to kick them out so that Maria and I can watch the newest episode of LOST.
The team has had a great week. They have been a real blessing to us. They painted the mission/discipleship house, so soon we will open the doors to begin discipleship among the youth in the community. I just spoke with a handful of kids who have been hanging outside the gate of the mission house all week I asked them who would be interested in starting a bible study that would meet in the discipleship house. Every kid there raised their hand with eagerness. I told them that this would not be a time to mess around or make jokes or whatever, but this would really be a time to learn the bible and worship Jesus. They all said that they would definitely want to do that and they asked me when this will begin. So, it looks like we already have our first discipleship group ready and waiting to go.
I look forward to seeing what the Lord does as we begin to get more intentional on sharing and teaching the word of God to the kids in the community. We still need to furnish the house with chairs, couches, benches, etc, so please pray that the Lord will provide all that is needed so that we can get things started.
We thank the Lord for all of His provision, mainly His grace that has saved us from our sins and bought us a place in heaven for us who trust in Him. He is good!!!!
From Mississippi to Colorado
April 13, 2010
So, our Lifebridge team left last Saturday. They did an absolutely amazing job building a house from virtually start to finish within a week. The family was so happy. I drive by them every day and they are still all smiles and waves every time I pass by.
Now, there is a team from Calvary Chapel Colorado that is here visiting the area and doing ministry. They have connected well with the kids in our neighborhood and are really enjoying getting to know the haitian people. They have also been helping us get our new team house in order. Tomorrow, they will begin to paint it and hopefully they will complete it before the end of the week. There is a Calvary Chapel house up the steet from us, therefore we see a lot of the teams that come through there. We work well together and we help each other out often. It is good kingdom building work that is going on between us.
So, we really enjoy these Calvary Chapel Colorado guys that are here for the week. This is their first mission trip, and they are loving it! Tomorrow, after painting, we will bring them down the street to a church that we have been helping. We will do an outreach for the children there, 20 of them which are orphans who we are wanting to begin a ministry to support them. So, we will bring them some sandwiches and snacks and we will show a kids movie for them. We should have a great time.
Getting back to what we love to do…share the love of Jesus!
March 16, 2010
It is so good to be back in Haiti. God has given us a real love for this place and its people. After chilling out for the weekend since we got in late Friday, we are now back in the swing of things and are reaching our community with the gospel of grace.
One quick note worth mentioning…before getting back to ministry, while I was chilling out for the weekend, I finally got the chance to do something that I absolutely love to do. …GO FISHING!!!! Yeah Baby!!! I was planning on fly fishing Saturday, but my fly rod broke before I even got my first cast in the beautiful blue caribbean. So, after church on Sunday, I headed back to the ocean in hopes of redemption. My spin fishing rod and reel is really small because I usually only have used it for bass fishing in the states, so I knew that if I happened to hook a big fish, that it would be curtains for me. And that is exactly what happened. After about an hour fishing without any action, I put on a lure for bonefish, and after a few casts, BAM!!! Fish on!!! I was so pumped!!! But I couldn’t do anything. My rod was bent in half and then the fish just took me out to lunch. It just ran straight out and was ripping all the line off my reel. It took just about all my line out, and I knew that if I didn’t tighten the drag more, that the fish would have just taken all my line and then snap me off. So, I tried tightening my drag little by little, but the big fish just kept ripping out line. So, I tightened it a little more, and then after several more bursts from the fish, the line snapped. So…you know what’s on my mind these days in addition to building houses and preaching the gospel…
Ok, back to the stories of how God is using us to be fishers of men. On Monday, we visited with a haitian friend of mine and his family who we have been ministering to. His name is Petersen. He called me to tell me that his mother is dying (she is very old and she knows the Lord, so he wasn’t in great distress) and he was really hoping to be able to go to where she lives and spend the last days by her side. So, we went to visit Petersen and his family and we gave him some money that would get him to where his mother lives and enable him to be with her for a few weeks. We spent some time laughing and hanging out together and we also spent some time praying together. Petersen is a Christian and wants to draw closer to the Lord. I have spoken with him often about God and how we can draw closer to Him. Petersen now wants to marry the woman he has been living with for several years because God is convicting him of the fact that he should not be living with a woman that he is not married to. So, I have talked to him and his wife and have encouraged them to obey God and seek to do what is right. I told him that we will pray that the Lord provides for him to get a suit and for his woman to get a wedding dress and both to get wedding bands so that they can get married. So, is there anybody who would be willing to help out with this? If so, please leave a comment and I will be in touch to give you further information. It would be easiest to just get money given so that we could buy the clothes and rings for them here, but we are also open to the idea of having clothes sent to us…it just might take a lot longer for us to get them, thereby delaying them getting married.
The houses are all completed. Praise the Lord that through many people who have given money, time, resources, etc. that five families now have brand new homes to sleep in. We visited the homes today and the people were so happy. What a blessing to see the joy on their faces and seeing them give thanks to God for His provision. We brought Isabela down with us when we visited the families. I love having our children see what the Lord is doing and being able to share in that. All the families love our children and they are really coming to love us. Now, when we go down to visit with them, they get so excited when they see us coming and they give us big hugs and kisses. While we were gone in the states, Fenel and a few of the Calvary Colorado group that was here showed them the Jesus Film and shared the gospel with them. Many people there prayed to receive Christ. And now, we have the friendship, trust, and relationship where we can really sow into their lives spiritual truths, teach them about the Lord, and help them grow in their faith. God is so good.
We also visited the orphanage today where Makenson is now staying. He is looking much better, but still severely under weight. Please keep him in prayer. Our greatest prayer is that he would no longer be HIV positive when tested again. The orphanage is run by catholic nuns through Mother Teresa’s organization. The children and babies there are in great need. Many of them are suffering from all kinds of problems. But it was a joy to go there and just show love to as many as we could. We would like to think about further ways that we can help support orphanages like these. This is something that we are praying about. We know that the Lord has called us to minister to the orphans and we are just seeking Him to know how to best go about doing that. We do believe that He is giving us wisdom and direction.
We have a team from Lifebridge Church in Madison, MS coming in the beginning of April. We are very excited as they will be coming to build a house for another family that we have connected with. We will also be doing a lot of outreach such as giving out clothes to specific families in need, playing with the children, taking food to the mountains, etc. It should be a great week.
Tomorrow we head to Port au Prince to run a few errands. We will also be heading to the orphanage at Tytoo to drop off the many Christmas gifts that were given for the children there. They had been held up in customs for so long. The kids and us are really looking forward to seeing the children there.
Here are some pics of ministry in the last few days…enjoy
This is my good friend Petersen. We are trying to help him get married. He needs a nice suit and a wedding band to give to his woman. Ede li tanpri…
This is Petersen and his woman. She needs a wedding dress and a wedding band to give to Petersen. They are a very sweet couple.
Here is Maria hanging out with Petersen’s girl and many other ti fi yo.
Here I am trying to convince Petersen that he is a short dude. We all got a good laugh.
The orphanage where Makensen is staying. This is a good clean orphanage for Haiti standards. I know it is sad to see so many babies lying in metal cribs with so few people around them. But thank the Lord that people like our good friend Paul have been visiting with these children several times a day just to hold them, play with them, feed them, etc. Perhaps the Lord would have you come down some time soon and do the same. It is a priceless experience to be able to be the hands and feet of Jesus to these beautiful little ones.
Here is Makenson. He is looking so much better than the first time we ever saw him. We pray the Lord continues to breathe life and health into him.
Now these babies are getting some lovin’
This is Michelle, our fellow missionary friend, from Hands and Feet Orphanage. She is cool. We like her and everybody else at Hands and Feet.
This is Dyela. She latched onto me the minute I saw her. She is a very sweet little girl.
New house #1
New house # 2 front room
New house # 2 back room
New house # 3
New house # 4
I’d love to get a mission team to come here and help paint all of these houses so that they can look really nice. Any takers?
Many thanks go to all the people that worked so hard in helping build these houses as well as the people and organizations that provided the finances and resources to get the job done. Glory to God for all that He has done and all that He continues to do in our midst.
Little baby Mackenson…
March 16, 2010
We went to visit little baby Mackenson at the Sister’s of Charities Orphanage in Jacmel. He has been at the orphanage for about two weeks now. His mother decided that it would be best to release him to an orphanage because she has been unable to care for him. The baby was tested positive for HIV and must undergo treatment and doctor visits in order to continue to stay at the orphanage..
Little Baby Mackenson in his crib at the orphanage.
Baby Mackenson sleeping.
The room where Baby Mackenson stays with many other babies at the Sisters of Charity orphanage in Jacmel.
Wide awake.
His tiny skinny legs.
Babies who tested positive for HIV can test negative later. Here is what the March of Dimes’ website has to say about it:
“The HIV antibody test is not reliable for an infant born to an infected mother. This is because the mother’s antibodies may be present in her baby’s blood for up to 18 months, even if the baby has not been infected.”
We are working with the staff at the Hands and Feet Orphanage to ensure little Mackenson attends to all the required doctor visits.
Please pray that Mackenson tests negative by the time they test him again. We truly love this baby and would love to see him grow up as a healthy little boy. Many thanks! –Maria
January 12, 2010–a date all of Haiti will forever remember
January 14, 2010
I was actually on my bed chatting via Facebook with my friend, Karen, when all of the sudden the house started to shake. My first thought was, “Honey, you left the pump for the water tank on and the tank is overflowing.” I truly had no clue what was going on. I just froze in the moment. Then I heard the girls crying and screaming. They were saying that the house was shaking. Then Cody came back into the house saying, “It is not the tank. It is an earthquake.” And I froze again. When I finally realized what was going on, I took the girls hands and ran outside as quickly as I could.
On my way out, I saw our dresser moving, the kitchen cabinets shake and spit out all sorts of cans, and the house moving as if it was made out of jello. I had never seen anything like that. But I only realized it was an earthquake when I finally got outside and saw people running in all directions. Some crying. Some rushing. Others wailing. Wailing as if life was pulled from within them.
I still cannot believe what happened here. Just three hours before the earthquake, we had fed more than a hundred children in a small school along the the southern coast of Haiti. We had such a wonderful time bringing smiles to those little ones. We were praising God for using us once again to bring food and the gospel to the precious children of Haiti. And after the earthquake happened I completely forgot about those little ones. I only remembered them when I sat down to import pictures on my computer to upload to our blog. Of course, now my mind is going back to those little faces and I wonder how are they doing. Do they still have a home? Are they okay? I just don’t know. But I do pray that in this moment the food given to them will last them long. And the message that Cody and Fenel spoke to them about Jesus being the bread of life will remind them that He alone is the real bread that truly satisfies.
The school in Marigot that we went to visit the day of the earthquake.
Some of the happy children that were fed on that day.
Some of my favorite faces in the whole wide world. I truly love the children of Haiti. They are absolutely beautiful.
Don’t you love them? They have the stamp of the Creator right on them.
A sight to see a few hours later. The Catholic church in Jacmel. Part of it is gone.
A house in downtown Jacmel. You can actually see the inside of the house.
A roof on a house fell down in downtown Jacmel.
The roof on this house looks like make out of clay.
Here is a look from afar.
Here is another house in downtown.
Here a street in downtown Jacmel. See the Total gas station over there?
Here is a closeup of it. It is now totaled.
There is rubble all throughout the city.
Some homes look like someone big enough shook them up and then dropped them.
Others look even worse.
Rubble. And an exodus in Jacmel.
They are headed to the airport to spend the night away from their homes. They either totally lost their homes or the structure may not be safe for them to go in.
Here is the restaurant where Cody took me for my birthday.
This is how it looks now. Sadly, not a place I’d go to again. 
People are camping out on the airport field.
I know that this all sounds like a very bad dream. The people of Haiti could surely use a break from the devastation and all the pain they have endured for many centuries. Yet, God is still in control. And we are trusting in Him to see us and them through this. We are very thankful that our home is okay and that it can be a shelter of refuge for others. Please keep us in prayer. We need wisdom to know where to how to best minister to the people. We love these people so much! But certainly the poorest have now become the poorest even more. –Maria
Our new home in Jacmel, Haiti
January 10, 2010
We are very very excited about our new home in Jacmel, Haiti. The place is not only big enough for us, but it is also big enough for a handful of children that we hope to house in our home. We took some pictures of the home so that you could see what the home looks like and what the future children’s home look like.
This is the front of our little pink home. And that’s Cody and I, the happy renters. The house has a lower terrace on the left side. There is also a larger terrace on the second floor. The house is made out of concrete just like most large homes in Haiti. There is only electricity in the home for twelve hours from 2pm to 2am.
When you come into the house, you will enter into the living room. That’s the front door that you are looking at.
Please excuse our mess!! This is the living room. You are looking at it from the front door. The room to the left (your right) is the first bedroom. That room will become the room for the children we will be hosting. The door to the left leads to the lower terrace.
Here is the living room with a few couches and chairs on it.
This is the lower terrace. You are seeing it through that door from the living room that I just showed you.
This is the lower bedroom, our future children’s room. Yes, I know… I already made it messy. 
This is the bathroom in the lower bedroom.
Here is a view to the living room from the dinning room.
This is a view from the dinning room to the stairs that lead to the upper rooms and kitchen area.
Here is the dinning room. Pretty soon we’ll have many children eating at our table.
This is where the magic happens! The kitchen!!!
Here is another view to our kitchen. No, those are not your fancy quality cabinets. They might look like it, but they are actually made out of plywood.
This is the bathroom on the second floor. We will share this bathroom with our girls.
I hate to confess that I took this picture of the girls’ room when they were sleeping. I just couldn’t wait until the next morning. 
So, here it is. This is their bedroom which is located on the second floor, right across from us.
This is the hall that leads to the bedrooms.
Here is the upper level terrace. It is actually big enough to have picnics, gatherings, worship times, and for the kids to ride their bikes. No worries, we already covered the steal bars that are sticking out. Those were left by the owner for future expansion.
Here is a view to our front yard from the upper terrace. Can you spot Susana down there among all those fruit trees? We have guavas, coconuts, papayas, almonds, peas, lime, oranges, avocados, and who knows what else.
Here is our bedroom. I won’t hide the fact that we have no bed frame. We do have mattresses and nice coverings that were donated by some nice person in Asheville. Our bed, however, is mounted on some blue bins. That’s is actually Cody’s idea. One that I am still very opposed to. Every night I have to pray that I don’t fall off the bed ten feet down to the ground. I hope that one day Cody realizes that concrete blocks will do just as well.
Here is our closet. It is also made out of plywood. Hey, like they say in Haiti, “degaje” which means to make it work or make do.
Here is a closer look to our backyard. There are more fruit trees in the yard. This is where Casey and the kids play.
Here is our cistern. Basically, this is just a large concrete box that collects non-drinkable city water to pump it into our home. I have to say the water in our home is actually warm. It feels good to take showers here.
Here is the tank that the water gets pumped into. This tank holds over 200 gallons of water. And the reason why our water is warm is because this tank is on the roof of the house and is made out of plastic which gets warms and warms up the water for us.
Here is a view of our home from the gate.
Here is the gate closed. The gate is actually made of steel. And we actually have a house number. Can you tell what that number is? Most homes in Haiti don’t have addresses. In fact, some have to make up their address whenever they are asked for one. There is no postal service here.
For those of you wondering if we live in a secured place, this is our security system. The house is wired all throughout the gate and walls with these razor blades. Unless you are Elastic Man there is no way you can climb through these.
These babies are pretty sharp.
That’s our neighbor’s cow. For some reason we are back living next to cows. This time the cows are actually many pounds less and they don’t look very happy. Haitians tie their animals to whatever they can find. This cow is tied up to the palm tree. Pretty sad.
And there you have it! This is our new home in Jacmel. We truly love it here. And we are truly excited about what the Lord will do in and through us during our time here. So, now that we have a permanent home, why don’t you come and visit?–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.
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