A Christmas Mission

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
The old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth goodwill to men

This Christmas season this song stuck in my head and rolled around for a long time. This verse was stuck for a long while:

And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on earth" I said
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth goodwill to men"



Listening to the news and the problems here and around the world made me bow my head in despair. I thought to myself: there is no peace on earth. I became sad and a little overwhelmed with the lack of peace, but the more I listened to the song, the more the last verse became brighter to me.

Then pealed the bells more loud an deep
God is not dead nor does he sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth goodwill to men!

I started looking for what God was up to this Christmas. I found one thing that was incredibly beautiful. Our staff has been saving to do a mission on their own this year. It happened the week before Christmas that several of our guys went up to Mirbalais to start building a church for a congregation in need.  They worked hard digging the foundation together with the help of many church volunteers who were inspired by our guys to serve. 

These are some pictures that tell the story of our Christmas mission.  One that reminded me of the hope we have in Christ.

Taste of Haiti

The question inevitably comes from people visiting Haiti: what should I bring home? There are the typical suggestions of a painting, wood crafts, jewelry, or painted tin carvings. But what should be brought home?

 If you are a person who likes trinkets and a lot of variety in the decor of your home, the typical suggestions may work well, but I have started to suggest a taste of Haiti. Three things I have decided are fun and fool proof gifts for family and friends (I also enjoy them) are Haitian peanut butter, Haitian vanilla, and Haitian coffee.

From time to time, I walk down my stairs and wonder "who is burning toast?" as I smell the air. Then I remember that it smells like burnt toast when someone is roasting coffee and it doesn't take long for the smell of freshly roasted coffee to take over the house. Mmmmmm. Here, they roast the coffee beans with the tiniest hint of natural cane sugar. This gives it the perfect sweetness. Haitian coffee is something you must try while you are here and something that will remind you of your time here every time you brew a cup!

Natural juice is something I miss when I am in the states. Tropical fruit juice just isn't the same in Minnesota. A secret ingredient in many Haitian juices is a splash of Haitian vanilla. For those who have been here and bought Haitian vanilla in the past, you know, it is so great for baking too! We have had participants ask to fill their suitcase with vanilla so they wouldn't run out before they come back to Haiti. 

You can get Haitian peanut butter two ways: spicy and non-spicy. Both ways are all natural, so they need mixing before each use but it is worth it. I prefer the spicy peanut butter. It just has a wonderful kick to it that goes so good with bread and jam. It's fun to see the reactions of people you serve this treat to, but it may be a good idea to warn then that this is not regular peanut butter!

People are always wondering if these food products are so good, how come we can't find them in the states? I'm sure there are international markets that have some of them, but I have no idea why these delicious products aren't exported. I am glad they are being produced and consumed here! For now, I love being able to bring back to the states a little taste of Haiti for my family and friends!

Not Your Average Slaw

When our teams are going through the food line on trips, I like to pour the juice so I can hear how everyone is doing, learn names, and help them make sure they get the most out of their Haitian meal.  They usually aren't too timid about taking the rice, meet, and lettuce salad, but the slaw needs to come with a little bit of a warning.  As people pile the colorful slaw onto their plates, I think to myself, "I hope they don't take a giant bite of that..." I chuckle when I think of when I didn't know what was in it and took a big bite.  It was quite surprising, you see, because it is not your average slaw.

This salad is called "pikliz" and, although it looks like coleslaw, it has some major differences that people should probably know about.  Pikliz is often times very spicy!  Sometimes spicy enough to make your nose run, your face turn red, and your eyes water.  It really does need to come with a warning, which is what I do when I'm pouring the juice.  "Hey, guys, that's a little spicy.  You may want to mix it in with your rice or put it on your fried plantain to tame it down a little bit."  I also like to share my favorite way to eat it:  you put your meat on a fried plantain, add pikliz, and top it off with another fried plantain--yummy!

So, what makes this pikliz so spicy?  If you would like to try this at home to see, here's how it's done.

For an "eat today" pikliz, you will need:

-a package of coleslaw mix from your local super market (cabbage and carrot typically)

-lime juice

-vinegar

-a small onion

-a green bell pepper

-salt

-one or two scotch bonnet peppers

Here's what you do:

-Thinly slice--not dice--the onion, bell pepper, and scotch bonnet peppers

-Put the coleslaw mix, onion, and bell pepper in a large bowl

-Add scotch bonnet peppers--depending on how spicy you want this, you may not want to add all of them

-In a separate bowl, mix lime juice (1-2 TBSP), vinegar (1-2 TBSP), and salt (1 tsp or to taste).  NOTE:  you may need more or less of this depending on how much you are making

-Pour the lime juice/vinegar/salt mixture over the top of the veggie mix

-Toss/mix together well

-Enjoy

WARNING:  this may be hot!

Days such as these

8:25am: Al and I jumped into my parents white ranger pick up and drove the 4 miles to Elim Lutheran Church where we were greeted by familiar faces. Al sat at the drums, sticks in hand, and I stepped up to the microphone. It was time to practice.

9:15am: a white board, a single sheet of lined paper with handwritten (by Almando) notes, and 4 pictures of kids in uniform. It was the first day of Sunday school, so it was the perfect place to share about the life of a child in Haiti.

10:40am: the organ had finished the prelude, the welcome had been made, and the call to worship had been read. Time to sing praises to our King! A beautiful sound. 

10:55am:  and GO! 10-15 minutes to update the church on what God has been doing in Haiti! So many stories, so many lives touched, so many pastors encouraged. Time flies! 

12:00pm:  food! Nothing quite like a good old-fashioned church potluck for some fellowship time!

1:30pm: what it takes to host a team, build a bathroom, encourage pastors, and simply live in Haiti. Question and answer time in a casual environment with no time limit. 

Lots of time sharing, lots of good questions, many hours of preparation. It ended up being a great time of fellowship, encouragement, and blessing for Al and me.

The final question was this: how can we pray for you personally?  The pastor explained to us and those present clearly that we cannot pray for the ministry without praying specifically for the ministers. The ministry will not happen if the ministers are not being lifted up in prayer.

We are blessed by days such as these. Blessed.

My English is Not So Long

Summers are incredibly busy for us.  We have led 9 short term mission trips in 9 different communities since May.  Besides leading those groups we have coordinated the staff, lodging, and projects for most of the other short term mission groups coming to serve here throughout the summer.  We have spent many days making and answering calls, texts, and emails communicating with all of our staff and pastors to make this summer of ministry as effective and encouraging as it can be for all involved.  This has been a challenging task this summer and has often left us exhausted at the end of each day.  What makes it worth it is knowing that we do all of this for the glory of God--and HE IS WORTHY!

Pastor Jacky stood in front of one of our teams this summer and spoke to them in English for a good while, then he threw his hands up and said, “My English is not so long!”  He continued his welcome speech with the help of Almando’s tongue.  We sometimes feel like that at this point of the year when we have been going and going and serving and serving and giving and giving.  We feel like throwing our hands up in the air and saying, “My strength is not so long!”  But God’s is.  His strength is made perfect in our weakness.  We rely on Him for our strength, of course, but as we start stretching ourselves to the limit, we know that His strength increases!  “Our strength is not so long!” But His is.

The stories we are hearing of God’s faithfulness coming out of all our mission teams have been amazing and encouraging.  We know that this is why we do what we do.  We love what we do and know that it is for God’s glory that we are doing all this and this is the busy season, so we prepared ourselves for that, but we are also grateful that this season will end soon and we can rest.

We are currently stateside for some time with family and some time visiting some of you!  We will be there for around 6 weeks and we are looking forward to what God has in store for us while we are there, whether that be travel, meetings, fellowship, or just rest. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to serve and give God all the glory.

Precious Water

My heart sank and tears came to my eyes. "The well is dry," Almando told me. I tried to wrap my head around what that means and talked through potential solutions in a panic. "Are the pipes too short to get the water in the well?" I wondered. No. The water is simply gone. 

Rainy season is mostly behind us in Haiti, with the exception of occasional showers throughout hurricane season. The problem is it didn't really rain here this year. Everything is dry and dusty including the plants, the roads, and the well that has been supplying us with water for over a year. The water table has dropped so wells that are shallow--like ours and several others in the community--no longer have water. The deep, machine dug wells still have good water supply, but, without rain, there is a good chance they would dry up as well.

Water, at our house, has become a precious commodity. We think twice before flushing the toilet, jumping in the shower, or washing dishes. Bityah's bath water becomes the mop water and the laundry gets prioritized. Water has become so precious and we no longer can take it for granted.

So, what are we going to do? Pray for rain and trust that God will provide. Period. Many people have been praying for rain for us and I would request that you all continue. We really do need water. The city turns water in every once and a while, so God provided for us that way the other night when our tank was just about empty. We were able to run a hose from where the city water is to fill our tank completely! Praise The Lord! 

We don't really know what we should do for the long term. We have considered digging a deeper well--an expensive option. We have considered having city water run to the house--a possible option. We pray for rain a conserve water--definitely a must do option. 

Friends, please be praying for us as this is an unexpected challenge at the end of a very busy season. Please be praying for our community as we all deal with the challenge of getting water to our homes. Pray for rain. 

Wednesday Evenings

This summer, we have had anywhere between 1 and 7 trips happening every week in different locations.  It has been amazing to hear all the stories about how God is working in each team, community, and staff member.  Since I have not necessarily been on a trip every week, but still have much responsibility to make sure trips happen well, I have been getting into a routine on Wednesday evenings (sometimes Thursdays).

I sit down with my computer and review the trips that will begin in the next week.  I double check that the staff are all assigned correctly and make any necessary changes.  Number changes, staff availability, and a number of other variables make changes almost inevitable.  For each trip that will begin, I start a "conversation" for all the staff on facebook.  The trip leader, assistant trip leaders, and interns all get a message reminding them that they have a trip to lead together.  They can use that message to communicate about what time to meet at the airport, whether or not to bring air mattresses, what ministries to look forward to and prepare for, and details about the team that is coming in as well as the community they will be serving.
Here is an example of what I sent this week:

Hey Pelicans! You all are going to be serving with a team north of PAP this week. You will be staying at a familiar lodging location, so that means you will have to be making sure of several things as soon as you get there--lights, water, garbage cans, toilets all working, etc. Please take initiative to make sure everything goes smoothly! Enjoy the week and let God use you all! GO MAD!

After this message is sent, it's up to the trip leader to make sure each individual staff member knows where to go and what to do.  Sometimes they do this in a text message, a call, or they simply add on to my message.

Another part of what I do on Wednesdays is go back through all the trips that are going to end in the next couple of days and send a message to all the staff members who have been serving this week.  I thank them for all they have done and ask that they would review the trip and let PPM know how they felt the trip went that week.  I enjoy doing these things and making sure everyone feels valued, informed, and important.  I am grateful for things like facebook that helps me communicate with everyone easily and coordinate everyone.

This is just a little peek into what I do behind the scenes to make sure each mission trip has the leaders in place and ready to serve with each team.  I know that I am working for the Lord, even in these little details as we continue to go through the summer.  It is all for His glory and fame!

Continue praying for all the teams that have come, the communities that they have served, and the staff who have served with them.  And, of course, be praying for the upcoming weeks as we still will be hosting many teams in many communities.