It has been a very busy last day here in Deye Mon.  Everyone has been working hard to finish up all the loose ends and pack up everything. Sorry, no time to upload any photos.  :(

The construction team finished the roof and gutters for the house and school office.  The ceiling of the house was replaced.  Most of their day was spent packing up the shop and making an inventory of everything that is staying here.  They also packed up a truck of tools and supplies to take back down the mountain.

Liane had her final sewing class (with help from Whitney) and bid a bittersweet farewell to her students.  The ladies all finished their quilts and were ecstatic at their success.  They each received a certificate and one lady even picked up Liane in a great big bear hug to thank her.

The medical team gave worm medicine to every student at the school today.  They also registered all of them and recorded their weights.  Amy taught the basic hygiene seminar to all the students with the help of various interpreters.  Andrea saw over 50 patients today in between packing up the pharmacy and helping with the school kids.  All the older students received vitamins today as well.

Tonight the mission house is a flurry of activity.  Everyone is busy packing their personal items, bagging up coffee, packing team items, cleaning up, helping create various inventories of kitchen equipment, household supplies, misc. tools, etc. etc. etc.

The plan (and we all know how tentative that can be) is to finish packing up and leave Deye Mon tomorrow morning.  We will eat a packed lunch on the road and hopefully arrive safely at our overnight location in Port-au-Prince in the early evening.  Thank you for all your prayers for us these final days.  We have two long days of travel ahead of us.  Please keep praying for safety and energy as we travel home.  God has been so good.  We praise Him for His promises, provision and presence.

Tuesday Feb 26

Today was another busy day  in Deye Mon Haiti.  Here is a bit of how we all spent our day.

Bud, Thomas and Andrew worked hard to finish up the roof.  After replacing rotten beams all day yesterday, they put on the metal sheeting today.  It has been a messy, hot job.  But God held off the rain for three good days of work, and sent a wonderful cool breeze too.

Mark worked on spouting for the new roof.  The roof not only will help protect the house from further water damage, but serves as a collection site for rainwater.  There are no wells in this part of Haiti.  So rainwater is precious and roofs serve an important role in collecting it.

The medical team of Andrea, Heather and Sue saw over 90 patients today.  There were more serious cases today, including some sad stories.  They prayed, helped where they could and left the rest to the Lord.  Pastor Herve helped interpret for the clinic and the education seminar.  Jaclyn (wife of Pastor Wilfred) helped with registration and in the pharmacy.  Denel was another translator that helped with the clinic today.  Rene spent the morning counting pills for the clinic and Amy did the education seminar in the morning.

Whitney spent her morning as a gopher for many different groups all doing different tasks.  She and Rene spent the afternoon painting.

Joe and Steve fixed a door on the church this morning, worked on the roof to the school office and other miscellaneous tasks this afternoon.

Jeff, Kent and Allison finished up the desks today, with the help of several local kids.  They loved putting on the hardware and using the drill to tighten the bolts.  The desks have been moved into the classrooms and look great!

Liane and Amy spent the afternoon packing and doing inventory at the mission house.  After four weeks of hard work, there are a lot of supplies to pack up, store or move to a different location.

So ends another busy day for Week 4.  Tomorrow we plan to see the school children at the clinic, Liane has a final sewing class, and the packing up will begin in earnest.  We appreciate your prayers so much as we work to finish strong and complete many loose ends that need to be done before we leave Thursday morning. (Sorry for only one sideways photo, but the internet is not cooperating.  We'll try to get more on another day.)

Praises to God for His Abundance on the First Day of Medical Clinic

Our devotions this morning reminded us to look for the abundance of God and fill our minds with praise.  So we offer the following praises to God for His abundance:

We praise God for His abundance in providing Pastor Moise and Ruth for a few hours this morning to help get the clinic started. 

We praise God for stretching our time so we could see all 115 people with only one medical provider.

We praise God for the many donated medications to treat the people who came to the clinic. 

We praise God for the help of Pastor Wilfred and others who helped translate, especially since we were unsure if we would have any translators at all.

We praise God for keeping the rain away all day so we could work on the roof uninterrupted. 

We praise God for steady, encouraging progress on the desks.

We praise God for our little Haitian helpers.

We praise God for the cool, breezy and beautiful weather today.

We praise God for all the ladies in sewing class who finished their quilts today (about half of the class) and for all the people who helped provide supplies to make the sewing class possible.

We praise God that Tom didn’t fall through the roof.

We praise God for playtime with the school kids during their recess as they examined our work and pulled us to take a break and play with them.

We praise God for the help of interpreters to conduct two education “classes” about basic hygiene, hand washing, water safety and proper toileting.  All 115 people who came to the clinic heard this information.

We praise God for ibuprofen.

We praise God for no major injuries or sickness.

We praise God for prayers from home.

(And finally, we would like to wish Diane Basinger a Happy Birthday from her brother, niece and many friends.)

Liane and one of her sewing students rejoice at the completion of her quilt.

Andrea talks with a patient at the clinic.

Sunday Morning Worship Service

This morning, like the teams who came before us, we attended the worship service at the church.  A few of the highlights:  Pastor Herve', Pastor Moise and Pastor Wilbur spoke; two groups of Haitian women sang special music, Heather did impromptu special music (singing a hymn) and Allie and Tom organized a group to do a painting of Jesus to a recording of "Jesus Paid it All".  This afternoon we are resting.  Some are taking much needed naps, some are going on a hike up the mountain, others are counting pills for the clinic tomorrow with the school children.  Thank you for your continued prayers for safety, energy (especially for those who have been here almost a month) and completion of many projects before we leave.

Group Picture before church

The painting in progress...

Finished painting

Project Update - Student Desks

One project that several teams have worked on is designing and creating desks for three classrooms at the school.  This has been mentioned in several blog entries and we thought those of you back home might appreciate a bit more description of what this involves.

First, long metal bars were purchased and hauled up the mountain.  (This is not as easy as it sounds.) Often the metal must be cleaned with a wire brush before it is cut into pieces and welded together.  It is a long, hot, arduous process. 

Steve welds the metal frames together for the desks.

Next, boards must be cut and created for the seats and desktops.  This has been done by previous teams.  The boards must be stained with a couple coats and then the desktop pieces are varnished for a smooth writing surface.  The welded frame pieces must be painted and dried – which is a tricky process since they have many different surfaces. Finally, the rails along the bottom of the desks (which hold 4-6 desks each) and the frames must be drilled for assembly.  This project was a bit of a challenge yesterday.  Since school is starting Monday, we cannot assemble the desks in the classroom.  However, since there are 4-6 desks all hooked together, we weren’t sure that we could get them in the classrooms on the second floor of the school once they were all together.  So we assembled one in a classroom and brought it out – successfully.  This hopefully means that we can do the final assembly outside the school and move the desks into the classrooms.

Kent works on assembling all the prepared pieces for the desks together.  When complete, there will be about 5 desks on one set of rails.

This is just one small example of how a project in Haiti involves many people, all doing different jobs, as part of a team.  It is a reminder of how we are all parts of one body in Christ.  “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”  1 Corinthians 12:12 

 

Week 4, Day 1

The “Pampered” team arrived last night, tired, dirty and ready for some horizontal sleep.  After an introduction to life at the mission house in the evening and a wonderful hot meal of spaghetti, we headed to an early bedtime. 

This morning we received our “marching orders” from Captain Mark and assigned weekly chores for everyone.  Bud, Andrew and Tom spent the day on the roof.  They tore off the old, rusted, leaky tin and put on a nice, new, green tin roof.  Jeff and Mark helped balance each other over a steep part of the church roof to scrub it and paint it. Andrea, Heather, Ruth and Sue worked to organize the pharmacy area, count out medications and prepare for the clinics next week.  Joe and Steve were hard at work on the welding, designing and making more parts for the student desks.  Kent and Allie worked on assembling the desks for the school.  Whitney, Rene, Amy and Sue stained and varnished desktops and seats.  They also painted ceiling boards, desk frames, a door frame and a bathroom.  Liane made a fantastic potato soup for lunch and enchiladas for supper.  (We all think she should put together a cookbook for us!)

In other big news for previous teams, the railings for the new school steps are painted and one is installed and ready for Monday.  We are impressed and humbled by the hard work of the other teams who made those new steps a reality.  All in all, we are busy, productive, laughing a lot and enjoying each other’s company.  We are excited about the chance to join the local people at church tomorrow morning and meet more of them.

Shout Outs:

Joe says:  “I love you, Joyce!”

Andrea says, “Happy Birthday, Eric!  I love and miss you, Noah and Anna.”

Whitney says, “Happy 1^st Birthday to Brielle, sorry I couldn't be there!”

Rene says, “Kayla don’t forget to pick me up!

Kent says, “I miss you and love you, Tammy!”

Amy says, “We made it!  Thanks for the prayers!”

Liane says, “Shout out to all the St. John ladies who helped with the sewing stuff and love to Lynn.”

Sue says, “Love you and miss you to George, Eric, Chelsea and Asher. Chelsea – Monita says hello.”

Heather says, “Diane – I love the Snickers!  You are the best!”

Bud says, “Love you and miss you, Chelsea and Asher.”

Steve says, “Earlene, I love you.”

Allie says, “To Stacy Michelle – Modrel was asking where you were today.  And then he wrote your entire letter in English on the chalkboard.”

Sue, Ruth, Andrea and Heather count out medications for clinic.

Local boys were fascinated by Kent & Joe installing the railing for the new steps.

Friday February 22nd

Hello again,
Sorry for yet another short post but we just wanted to let everyone know that everyone from the week 4 team has arrived here in Deyemon safe and sound. They have been fed, and are currently getting cleaned up and settled in. Thank you all once again for you continued support back home, your prayers are most certainly important and we ask that you keep them coming as this week will be very busy trying to finish all our projects up, especially considering wednesday (our last work day) will be mostly spent closing the house and packing. Love and miss you all!

Thursday, February 21st

Hello all,
It is our last thursday-friday "weekend" as we call it. The week 3 team left this morning leaving a small group of 7 here at deyemon. The last group will be arriving tomorrow evening. Many projects are or have come to a close but there is still a lot of work to be done this final week. Please pray that God multiplies our time as we seek to serve his people here! Sorry that this post is very short, we just wanted to say thank you for your continued support back home in sending the needed supplies and prayers.

We love and miss you all!

 As week 3 comes to a close, we have a lot of accomplishments to be proud of. We have had the privilege of putting the final touches on some projects such as: 16 bunk bed are being used, new desks are almost finished for the school just need assembling, the floor has been poured in the new office addition, the pharmacy is so close to being fully moved, and most exciting the children have been using the new (and much safer and prettier) stairs, but some projects are still in process. Joe and Steve have been working on railing for the new stairs. Butch and Tim have been blocking off the old stairs so they are totally disabled. A large group of guys have been working on various roofing projects. The roof to the new office addition on the school is ready to be put on. Herves house has half tarp and half sheet metal trying to keep the rain out and is also being painted in multiple rooms. They have also had to fix a few leaks in the church. Amanda, Shari, and Gail have had very successful seminars, and we have had a special guest, our familiar interpreter Doctor Ruth, who was also helpful in the kitchen while Liane and Monita prepared our traditional Haitian meal served with American Coca Cola.  Please pray for both teams as they travel to and from Haiti. We are all thinking of you back home.  A special hello to Joyce Suter, Joe misses your coffee in the morning. Your love and support has been very much appreciated. 

Rain

Monday – February 18, 2013 (9 p.m.)

Rain.  The rain that moved in on Sunday continued throughout the morning.  While the rain certainly changed a few of the plans for the day it was greatly welcomed by the people of Deymon.  By the end of the day much had been accomplished.  This was a great reminder of God’s grace and power and our need to not focus on our own plans, but trust that our God is in control.

The rain did not stop people from coming to the clinic and the sewing class that were both held today.  The medical team or Ruth, Shari and Gail saw a steady stream of patients throughout the morning and into the afternoon.  Liane’s sewing class worked on market bags.  While the rain did impact some of the construction projects much was accomplished.  Steve continued his welding work on the pharmacy door and Joe began work on the railings for the stairs at the school.  Rusty, Reuben and Mark B. spent time cutting and routing the wood pieces for new desks in the school.  Heather and her crew of Stacey and Charlie stained the wood for the desks and painted the pharmacy.  Bob worked on repairing the roof of the shop got started on the roof on the school addition.  Butch (Thomas) and Tim prepared the floors for concrete pouring and were joined in the afternoon by Amanda and Thomas H. in creating forms and mixing concrete for the railing support pillars at the top of the stairs. Lynn stained and he and Jeff spent a good portion of the day cleaning out and beginning to organize the shop.  Becky assisted with tasks at the house working to make sure that many details were taken care of.  Allie was busy throughout the day, and also got to try out the router and sanded the wood pieces for the school desks with the help from and very energetic group of local boys.  Mark M continued to provide great leadership for the activities and seemed to be involved in nearly everything that was going on throughout the day! It was hard for him to be everywhere at once, but he found a great way to get around!

It's Raining on Sunday...and Monday

Yesterday morning we had a wonderful time worshipping with the congregation at church.  Some of the groups did cardboard testimonies with the youth kids, there were 29 of us total, and it was a neat experience.  Then Pastor Herve asked for people in the congregation to come up to the front of the church who wanted to pray for our team.  It was such a blessing to be prayed for by them and was a great picture of the amazing way God has designed his Church to care for and support each other. 

In the afternoon there was a seminar for the women in the community but the evening service was cancelled due to heavy fog and rain.  It rained throughout the night and this morning it is still raining, pouring actually. 

Thank you for your faithful prayers, we can feel them here.  Please continue to pray for our team that we would recognize the entirety of what God is doing and his Sovereignty, even when things go differently than we expected.      

Another beautiful morning in Deymon!  The week 3 team arrived safely last night after their long ride up the mountain.  Liane had wonderful meal prepared.  Beds were made and they had a good nights rest.  We continue to be thankful for all that God provides!

Friday February 15th

Today is the second day of the transition of teams.  Yesterday we said goodbye to a great group who had served the Lord well as they had painted, mixed cement, built beds, laid block, attended worship, assisted in teaching classes of sewing, hygiene and birth/delivery.

Today the local church has fasted, prayed, and worshiped.  Tonight the church has a service planned from six to eight thirty.  Lynn will be speaking at the service.

We have all felt that the people are open and are excited to see us here.  Sewing class had as many as twenty nine come and we had hoped for fifteen to twenty.  The interest level in all the classes has been great!  Everyone seems to want to learn.  Classes continue next week.  The classes Amy and Sheri have taught to the women have been received enthusiastically.  One statement, “The midwives should be here to hear this.”

Thanks for praying and continue to pray.   There is a great deal of potential for ministry and outreach.  Pastor Wilford shared with us that the church had prayed for three years for someone to come and help.  Now he says they have gone to praising God for His provision.  They are encouraged.  We are encouraged to hear this report.  Continue to pray.  Thanks for making this trip possible through your participation.  Our desire is to be faithful.  All are doing well and serving faithfully.  

Thursday – February 14, 2013

Today was a day of mixed emotions.  We said goodbye to some of our team and while it was certainly difficult to see them go, we rejoice in that another group is on their way!  A highlight of the morning was the official unveiling of the sign designating “Laing & Lutfring’s Lounge and Latrine”.  A line quickly formed with nearly everyone looking to enjoy time relaxing and doing their business.

It was also another beautiful day in Deymon; our second day in a row without rain!  Many of us took the opportunity to do some wash and the clothesline was full of our clean laundry.  The warm sunny days also mean that the end of the day ends with a warm shower!

Work continued today with progress being made on the pharmacy, beds, and scraping/painting at the house.  Tonight at dinner we made plans for our tasks tomorrow.

We thank all of you who have and continue to pray for the work in Deymon and for the safe travels of the teams.  We feel your prayers and appreciate your continued prayer support.  We know that with God all things are possible and we continue to put our trust and faith in Him.

Blessings from Haiti!

Wednesday

Yesterday was a rainy day at Deymon, but it didn’t stop us from working for too long.  Bob “Boz” was able to still work on the Pharmacy he is building in the front of the church with the help of Ariel and Tony.  They got to work to the chorus of raindrops on the tin roof.  In the meantime, Shari, Amy, and Krystal spoke to a very attentive audience in the church about birthing and first aid for newborns.

Greg was able to complete laying the block for the office addition and Jon and his crew made forms for the steps which will be poured today.  This week there is no school so instead of distracting classes with the sounds of saws and hammer drills, we have been distracted from our work by the presence of Haitian kids wanting to play slap hands, or catch.  This has been a most welcome distraction indeed.  J

For a few hours a group of six kids followed us around while we were making the forms for the steps.  They quickly caught on to what we were making so they helped us by handing us 2X4s, sheets of plywood, or screws at just the right time.  Interacting with them made for a wonderful afternoon.

Through the rain Steve and Jeff continued to made bed frames for the bunk beds that will soon be put into our rooms.  When a set was completed Heather, Mark B. and Brittany would paint the beds.  Liane was in the kitchen with Monita and once again did not disappoint with the meals presented to us. 

We ended the evening with our Tuesday night tradition which is having all the married people (who aren’t in bed already) tell the story of how they met their spouse.  Each story is filled with a testimony of their lives and the ways God has directed their paths.  Our God is so good and I’m so glad he has placed all of the people here in Haiti that he has, for such a time as this. 

Thank you everyone for all of your prayers, encouragement, and the supplies you send (especially the chocolate and coffee creamer).  We can’t wait to share more stories with you when we return.    

Pictures - Deyemon Week 1

Here are just a few pictures from the Deyemon Week 1 Team.  If you have Facebook, you can see more by searching...
Mission Possible Haiti Feb. 2013.

Monday at Deymon

Yesterday Liane, Heather, and Allie spent the afternoon hand washing laundry.  We also had the help of Monita who has a lot of experience doing laundry this way.  When we finally got all of the laundry hung on the line it started pouring down rain.  The rain was much needed for the crops here and to fill our sistern but pray for lots of sunshine today so we don’t run out of dry clothes!

From Greg Amstutz: Yesterday we started laying block for the office addition to the school.  It is a little different style than what we are used to but it’s coming together. 

From Mark Bourassa: Awesome day yesterday!  If every day is like yesterday, it’s going to be a great two weeks for me; did a little bit of a lot of things.  Looking forward to church and working on the steps for the school.  Please send pens with Gail!      

From Boz: Jackie I love you and miss you dearly!!

From Heather to Sandy Hall: Send Snickers!

From Tony: Tony says “Hi!” to Jackie.  I’m doing well and eating better here than at home.

From Tom to the first week girls: I waited until you left to fix the door to your room.  There’s no more hole! 
From Stacey: I wish my family a happy un-birthday!
From Allie to Marissa: We found your camera!  Your pictures of Job have been preserved!

The picture below shows the progress that we have been making on the addition to the school,  Jeff and Jon are doing a great job "supervising" the project!

Deyemon day 8

Bonswa (Good evening),
Over the last two days our team of 8 has been working hard getting the house
ready for the 2nd week team to arrive. The woman have been cleaning and
organizing the house (Alot of work), while the men have been at work getting
the new stairs at the school ready to be poured with cement. Our living
quarters are significantly better than when we first walked in. The summer kitchen
is set up and functional, screens are put together and on the windows, and
the house is clean. Liane prepared us a wonderful lunch today of beef and noodles and
fresh homemade bread! Dinner is ready and waiting for team 2 to arrive shortly.
Word is that they are cold,
wet, and hungry from the long trip up the mountain. We will do our best to
make them feel welcomed and comfy. We set up an outdoor shower under the
stars, we are sure they will enjoy it :) Especially the refreshingly
cold water! Sorry but solar shower bags only keep warm a few hours.
The nights are very dark here as the moon is never visible, but the stars are
incredible!

We are looking forward to what the Lord has in store for the coming week!
Please keep praying for us as we serve our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Farewell

P.S. We will try to do a better job of keeping up with the blog site

Deyemon Week 1

Greetings Family and friends from Haiti!  Sorry for the delay in posting but we just got internet this evening.  The week 1 team will be leaving tomorrow morning and will return stateside on Friday evening.  Please pray for them as they make the long, treacherous and terrifying path down the mountain. Just kidding.  Kind of.

All joking aside, God has been providing for and protecting us in amazing ways.  We can't wait to share more stories and pictures soon!  We're making good progress on our projects here so far and can't wait to see them completed.  Please also pray for the other teams that will be coming soon!

Love and miss you all!  Happy Birthday Kent Diller!  Your daughter loves you!