Preparing for school and learning a new languege

Sorry to be so long in writing. Hopefully we will get better.

We spent most of the first week getting acclimated and painting the school that we are working in. Doing that has provided great opportunities to bond with our team. It is neat to think about each one and see how God knit this team together. The people are very spiritually mature and are an encouragement daily. Also they have loved on Luke and Abigail like they were there own family. It was fun working in the school thinking about the kids and the opportunities that we will have to share with them in the coming months. The only difficult part was dodging the misquotes.

Sunday morning we had the first opportunity to worship with our Haitian brothers and sisters. The service was much like the one David experienced in Africa. The music was great. They did their best to translate the service. Since it was our first Sunday there they called us up front and prayed for us. Sister Gladys (leader along with Pastor Henri of the orphanage) told the people that they have no excuse not to know that God loves them because we were there. What a humbling thing to here, to know that God chose to love these people through us. Two words come to mind, not worthy.

This week we continued to work on the school, to include everything that teachers and administration do prior to beginning school. We have also continued our Creole lessons. The process of learning another language is humbling. I often think about people in America, including myself complaining about foreigners in America speaking a language other than English and then appreciate the Haitians being a little more patient with me than I would be in a situation where the roles were reversed. Mwen renmen ou.

Luke is doing well, he has made so many new friends. A new Luke line is "I want to go play with my friends". It makes sense though, he loves to be outside and he loves to play with other kids. Abigail is doing well, she is so hot natured but she is adjusting and of course everyone loves her. Their adjusting so far has been good and a blessing from God.

Thank you for your prayers. Love you.

Hello

Greetings from Haiti. Anna, Luke, Abigail and I are getting settled in nicely. We have a two bedroom apartment with a beautiful porch. We are still unpacking our eight check bags, yes eight. We also have our own bathroom and almost all day power. Praise God for all the batteries.

I miscounted our luggage on Monday so I had to go back to Port au Prince yesterday. It takes about an hour and half to get to PAP so when you go, you make a zillion stops for this and that. It was a good experience and education. We saw many families in tents. Many is an understatement. I wondered to myself, how could I (we) make a difference? One by one? I believe God spoke to me and said no, plant churches, biblical churches that will evangelize there areas, disciple them, and plant more. I believe that is the biblical model. The vastness of those in need of whatever can be overwhelming.

Today we worked in our room more trying to get situated and develop a good routine. We are encouraged that Luke is making friends. It is an answered prayer. He plays with his new friends like they have known each other a while.

Thank you for your prayers. Hopefully as we are here longer we will get better at communicating with all of you all. We love you!

Update

We wanted to give all of our praying family and friends some updates.

We are getting excited as the departure date nears. However, there is still so much that needs to be done. I wish there was enough space on this blog to list all the things that God had done. Anna and I through this process have developed a different, new level of trust and intimacy with the Father. It seems ludicrous to have lived any other way. We have stepped out on faith and believed and trusted that God would do XYZ, and He has, over and over again. Speaking of stepping out on faith, it is not a blind step, He has given us direction for the step, it just requires willingness and obedience.

Please pray that God would help finish the preparation and that these last days would be smooth. We are glad to know that God doesn't call the prepared but prepares the called.

Thank you again for your love and prayers. Hopefully the next post will come from Haiti with a video of our new home and surroundings.