It’s hard to believe we have been here for an entire week and God’s Blessings are piling up. Here is just a taste of what we’ve been experiencing since leaving home.
Upon arriving at MFI (Missionary Flights International), Bud and I took notice of the van packed full of all of the things that we had acquired to make our new house a home. Things like a small generator, counter top, chair, clothing and even a small freezer that a dear friend generously provided for us. I began to worry that we wouldn’t have enough money to pay the cost of freight and we hadn’t even added our groceries yet!
After running some errands for MFI, I finally got a chance to stop into the office to pay for our tickets and arrange the freight. I began with “We might have to leave some of this behind so I can pay for it later” but before I could finish the secretary informed me that someone had anonymously put one thousand dollars on our account that very morning. What a blessing! This enabled us to take everything in one trip! We did not know who did it but we are so grateful.
When we arrived in Cap a Pastor friend was at the airport. He did not know we were coming but quickly lead us through customs and made all the arrangements for our cargo to make things easier for us. Then he followed us to our home. Susan from Life Water was also there to pick us up with two trucks for all of our belongings. We are so blessed to have good friends here. When we arrived at our cottage our landlord and friend was just dropping off the last of the things she had stored for us. There it was all piled in the middle of the living room/kitchen and the front yard. Where do you begin? I quickly began to set up the bed with Pastor John Alex’s help and Bud started working on getting us electricity.
Quickly we found out we did not have any water. The over-head storage tank was empty and I had a very dirty house. Soon, our yard worker was up the tower and with a couple of his friends in tow they began to fill the tank, bucket after bucket in the oppressive heat. When Bud found out what they were doing, he asked why that way? They told us the local power company had not sent power in a while and this is the only way to do it. We asked them to stop as it was simply too hot to do it now. We would wait for power or the cooler evening and neither came that night. Finally the power came and they were able to fill the tank.
Since we have been here the power has only been on during the last two days. Word is the people are doing their version of “communication” with the power company by throwing rocks and bottles. While it may not be the best way, we have to admit it seems to be working. Gasoline is $5.00 a gallon and our generator is burning about 10 gallons a week when the power is not on.
Since we arrived the Haitians have been streaming to our home with eggs, pineapples, oranges and other gifts. One man came yesterday and noticed my shoe was coming apart and took it to repair it. A friend of ours brought us a car to help us with transportation for 3 days and another came to help us set up our connection for power. We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from the Haitian people.
We have a young man who lives here in a small house outside of ours to help with security. He is wonderful. His name is Jeslyn. He is learning to eat American because I feed him and that is all I know how to cook.
Another Haitian friend has offered to loan us a vehicle. Please pray with us that God would open a way to a more permanent solution in this area as I will need transportation to begin working.
On October 1st Pastor John Alex will be opening a school to teach English in Cap Haitian and I will be working with him. We are using this as a tool to evangelize and to raise money for another project he and I have been dreaming about. We want to begin a kid’s sports club called Junior Athletes for Christ. We will be using sports and games to bring the good news of Christ to these children. Three Saturdays a month we will bring children to the church to play games. We will need soccer balls, tennis rackets, volleyballs, basketball and a net. The first hour will be singing, Bible lessons and such and then the games begin. It is our desire to have 4 to 5 hundred children participate, each in a group that meets once a month during the school year. In order to feed these children we need people to sponsor a child at the cost of $15 per year. This does not seem like a lot of money but multiply it by 500 kids. If you would like to help with equipment or food please contact me at budandjane@gmail.com and I can tell you how.
I will be teaching English four afternoons, plus two mornings each week. That leaves lots of time for other things as well. I am still trying to get with Pastor Migueloson and Pastor James to see how we can become active in what they are doing. We will not be working at the orphanage as we first thought because they have successfully found Haitians to watch over the children affording the current missionaries a chance to go home for a visit. I will though be teaching sewing to the girls there. We are still working that out.
Bud met with another organization that has a job for him to do which will benefit several other mission organizations. He will be organizing supplies and assisting a mechanic who comes into the country to work on a specific kind of vehicle. All this is still in the planning stages so I will let you know how that goes.
Today we walked a little over a mile and a half to attend a meeting and it was so much fun seeing old friends along the way!
God is good and we are so excited. Our home is finally settled and we are so comfortable. I used to love the mountain that was behind the OMS compound but it was hard to see. Now we live at the foot of it and I look at it from my porch every day. What a great place to pray.
As you pray for us, please remember our dear friend John who has been diagnosed with a very serious form of cancer. He’s a big part of our small group back home and it’s so hard being here and not there with them. Please join us in praying for a miracle.
Can I share one more blessing? We are so thankful for one of our wonderful daughter Gretchen who is our lifeline. We live in a place where it is hard to get anything done but a call to her and it is handled. Thank you Gretchen and thank all of you for standing by us. Jane
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