1.I go do laundry and I wonder how much soap I should use. The box says ‘one scoop for soft water, two for hard or very hard water.” So, how many scoops for ‘ultra hard slightly crusted over city water I am using? It has a plethora of bad bacteria in it. Maybe 3 scoops.. or how about 20?

2. Brandon killed a centipede right inside our house last week. I like to think that our place is pretty secure-with lots of mire mesh, screen, door sweeps.. and yet we killed another one just outside our house yesterday. For those who don’t know.. those small suckers are poisonous.  I wonder what else is lurking in here waiting to be discovered…

3. Yes, I am learning the language. But, I sometimes no matter how hard I try, I can’t get what I need. That is why, for a small window, I have a gigantic curtain. Yes, I did try twice to get a smaller one. But, the woman getting them for me still didn’t understand me-that or they didn’t have any smaller ones. And someone once told me that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing expecting a different result.

4. There are lots of bugs here. It’s just a way of life. They come in all shapes and sizes too. I used to hate the big ones, until I realized that the little ones are far worse. They are hard to see and hide more easily. Such was how I found the most recent friends. I opened a container of pancake mix and started to mix it with water. Then I remembered in this new way of life I have to always to check for bugs.. so I did. Much to my dismay, I noticed the whole thing crawling. A friend here in Haiti told me that if I were to throw out all the food that has bugs-I won’t have any food left to eat! And so, I stand alone in the kitchen debating with myself. “If I cook them, won’t all the bugs die? but will I still taste them?” or “maybe I can try to sift them out”  But, in the end, there are just too many. My dislike for tiny crawly bugs outweighs my want for pancakes.

5. Since the water in our house is unclean, we buy clean water down the street. And we use that to drink, brush our teeth, etc. But, when I shower, and the water runs on my face, I can’t help but wonder. I hold my breath, close my eyes tight, and pray that no microscopic germs find their way into my eyes, mouth, nose, and ears.

6.Avocado. Just saying this word brings a smile to my lips. They are in season right now, and in abundance! How is it that after a hard, long, hot, tiring, frustrating, unproductive day that all I need is this simple fruit and all is well with my soul again.

Port au Prince.

We visited last week. The goal of our trip was two fold. One, we planned to pick up the generator. That’s right!!! It’s been paid for, the wire transfer complete, and simply waiting for us to pick up. This generator is plan G, as it’s one OTB bought in PAP.  This was purchased using funds from the rotary club, in addition to donors who gave as well. (The other generator that nwhcm bought for the entire campus (including a school and housing for teams) won’t make it’s way to us until Christmas time.) Hence why we are on plan G with this new generator. When we arrived in Port au Prince, we learned that the huge army truck that was needed to haul this thing all the way to port de paix was not ready!! We were told it had “cleared customs” and was ready to go. Well, it did clear customs, but still did not have the necessary paperwork to legally drive. And so, we wait. We were told it would be ready by the 30th, then that turned into the 1st, then that turned into the 4th. This is Haiti afterall, and we don’t believe things until we see them with our own eyes!!

The second reason we went down there was to check out a potential partner organization. OTB is deciding if the Lord wants another kitchen in Haiti. And, since this is Haiti, it takes a long time to do anything. So, we are simply meeting with other NGO’s in Haiti-all over Haiti-and seeing if there is a possibility of partnership. We very much want to wait until the pdp kitchen is up and running before we move forward with another kitchen in Haiti. In the meantime, we will start some very preliminary conversations.

We were so thankful for the opportunity to see more of Haiti. God provided safety as we traveled, and we praise Him for it. Port of Prince is a big city-much bigger than Port de Paix-and that city is a lot to take in. Please continue to keep the hundreds of thousands of people in prayer there. They are living in difficult and uncomfortable situations because they have no where else to go. They are moving on with life, trying to make the most of what might seem like an impossible situation. You can see shops set up all along the streets, in front of piles of rubble. Vendors are walking around selling anything and everything. People are hopeful and trying to move on.

Meet Rose. She’s a Haitian woman, married, with seven kids. God has blessed them with the ability to take care of their seven children-including the ability to send them to school, and even two are in college. She doesn’t just use the money God has blessed her with to help her own family, she seeks to find those who need help. And she has found them right in her own neighborhood. Rose feeds about twenty kids ranging from young kids to young adults. She usually feeds them once a day. Once she started doing this, she discovered that several of the younger children didn’t have parents to take care of them. No wonder they were coming to her looking for a meal to eat. So what did Rose do?  Nothing short of what Jesus would do.. she took them in. She converted an extra room they had next to a small shop they own, and made a place for them to sleep. Them. Now there are seven children that usually sleep there at night, because they don’t have anywhere else to go. She can’t just feed them once a day, knowing they pry won’t get food from anywhere else. So, she tries to feed these children three meals a day.  We met Rose through some new friends we’ve made, who teach English right across the street from us. (What a huge blessing they are!!) They introduced us to Rose, and the whole family. As we sat in their home listening to what they are doing, I couldn’t help but cry. Tears flowed as I tried to explain to her in Creole how much I love to hear her heart and all what she is doing for those kids. She started cry too, and told me “how can I not help when I see how much they need it”. What a heart of gold. We hope that OTB can help.  OTB can offer her the opportunity to feed more kids.  And since she just so happens to love the Lord, she can not only tell them about His love for them, but continue to show them how much He loves them by her actions.