Gods birthday gift

Today is my 39th birthday. My haitian friends told me not to work on my birthday. I said it was just another day. Maybe I should have listened.

I was using coconut trees that I cut down to build a support so I can put a porch swing in our yard. After we put the main beam across I began to nail it together. As I was hammering a piece of the nail flew off and went into my eye. I knew right away it way imbedded into my eye ball. I put my hand over my eye and told everyone helping that this isn't good. Then I went looking for Theresa. After I found her I opened my eye for the first time. I didn't know how bad it was. I was lucky the metal sliver was about an 1/8 inch away from my pupil. Just beside the edge of my contact lenses. But it was still stuck in my eye. We call a doctor friend and he called his friend who is an eye doctor his name is Dr Dennis. He told us to come.

We got there about 4 pm. As he looked at my eye I could tell it wasn't good. He told Theresa and I that he could remove it but he was scared it might be too deep and the inner fluid would leak out. He recommended he call a friend who has an eye clinic in Port Au Prince. He could remove it and had the items that could suture my eye if it started to leak fluid.
Dr Dennis tried to call his friend many times but couldn't get through. He then told us he wanted to call some friends in the states to ask their opinion if they thought it could stay in my eye until Monday. Monday is when the Dr in Port Au Prince had office hours.
After talking with his friends they all decided it had to come out today. If my eye leaked fluid it would be a small amount and we could deal with that until Monday. We agreed.

First he put a couple drops of  liquid to numb my eye. The he took a pair of tweezers and was going to grab in. Then he said I'm going to use smaller tweezers. He turned and got them. Spun back around and looked back into his microscope to take out the splinter. As he looked he said you are not going to believe this but God already took the splinter out. It was gone. The wound was there but the splinter was gone. He flushed my eye out with drops but we didn't find the splinter. Can you believe that? What a wonderful present from God.

I had sent a message out on Facebook for prayers as we were leaving for the doctor's office and  Theresa and I prayed a lot during this whole thing. PRAYER WORKS!

Thanks to everyone who prays for  us. We couldn't do it without you!

The mountains

We went into the mountains today to see some kids. We picked up our friend Joe and headed out. It is a long drive that has many beautiful views.

Once we got there we went to the kids house. They were happy to see us. These kids are the kids we brought out of the mountains to go see our Doctors. They had parasites on their feet and fingers.

One little girl had things that looked like ring worm all over here body. We told the mother she need to go to a doctor. The problem is it isn't easy to get down the mountain.

We then went with Joe to homes and gave them dresses and shoes. There was one small boy who took a stick and made it into his toy horse. It was a great day. The mountains are so beautiful.

What do you believe?

Do you believe in God? Do you believe in Satan? Do you believe in angels? How about demons or evil spirits? Do you think they can be on the Earth? Before I (Theresa) came to Haiti, I would answer yes to the first three. I didn't want to believe in demons, I mean how could I? They aren't real, right?!? You read about them and the aweful things they do, but you just put that all in the back of your mind, just tucking it away. At least that's what I did. I was one of THOSE people, oh there's no such thing as demons or evil spirits! But now, after living in Haiti, I will answer yes to all those questions. Here's my story of why yes...

This past Saturday Watson and I took a team into the mountains. Now, we have taken teams into the mountains before, but not to do what we set out to do on this day. We were going up there to evangilise! I was excited to do this as I have gone on prayer walks with groups before, but never in the mountains! I knew we would pray for people and give out some much needed bibles and maybe, just maybe, have somebody come to Christ. Little did I know that God had even bigger plans for this day. Oh, did I mention that this group was made up of 10 teenagers and 7 adults. Along with Joe (who is familair with the mountains), Watson, Loveline, Miranda, Ariel, and myself, off we went. We seperated into 3 groups- Loveline taking the girls and married couple with her, Watson taking the guys, along with the youth Pastor and Miranda & Ariel, and Joe taking most of the adults and myself. It was kinda of odd how we split, I know, but it was all HIS plan.

We started out just like I thought we would. Went to a house, asked if they knew Jesus (they did), asked what they needed prayer for and prayed over them. After doing this with several people I asked Joe to ask the young lady that was leading us around if she knew anyone who didn't know Jesus. She did!! So, off we went to a middle aged woman's house who didn't know Jesus. Here it was, finally the moment that we had been waiting for, and it was WONDERFUL! She was spoken to in a simple way, nothing complicated. She was ready to change her life and she did!! Mesi Jezi!! Thank you Jesus! Now, for those of you who haven't been to Haiti, when white people are walking around, you tend to get a following that goes with you the whole time. So, with that being said, we had a farmer who had been following us around and after this lady accepted Jesus, he started chatting with us. He had some ailments, his wife has some problems, and he is raising 2 of his grandchildren. He thought is was great what we were doing and he was happy that we were there to tell people about Jesus. We offered to go to his house and pray for him, he agreed. While there, he was asked if he know Jesus, and he said he knew who Jesus was but wasn't a Christian. So, the group told him everything that Jesus had done for him and he understood, but wasn't ready to make that commitment yet. Ok, but at least the seeds are planted and he accepted all the prayers we could pray for him. On to the next house. This was a young lady who didn't know Jesus and again God worked through us and she is now a sister in Christ. Mesi Senye!! By now I was thinking, this is great, 2 people accepted Jesus today! This couldn't get any better! OH, but God doesn't disappoint as our day was not over! We moved on and came to a young mother that happened to be the wife of Joe's friend. She said she knew Jesus, but right now she had a voodoo curse on her. Uh-oh, I've heard this before and it can't be good. She proceeded to tell us that sometimes she can't walk, other days she can't use an arm, and other times her head or stomach hurt. She just had all sorts of things going wrong with no explanations. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, just take her to a doctor and they'll figure it out. Well, that's not always the case, especially here in Haiti. I looked at different members of the group and then to Rod (Team leader with his wife), he said "this is real isn't it", and I agreed. I told them that she probably does have a curse and we need to pray over her to help erradicate whatever is ailing her. I knew it wouldn't hurt! We gathered around, laid hands on her, and Rod began to pray. After about 30 seconds, she let out what was like a mix between a cough and gasp and immediately the child in her lap began to cry in terror. Someone removed the child to calm her down. Rod continued to pray, she did this 3 more times ( I'm getting goosebumps as I write this), and as he was praying I started to get a tingling sensation all over my body. This sensation went out my hand that was touching her and then a warm, calming sensation came back through the same hand and into my body. I also felt lead to pray and prayed for her to have peace. When we were finished, she was trembling, but ammittedly felt good. Did all her problems leave? I don't know, but, I know something left that young woman's body on Saturday. And, I know the Holy Spirit was there working hard too, because I felt it. Afterwards,one of the other ladies said she felt the same sensations I did but was afraid to admit it because that was the first time she ever felt it and didn't want to sound crazy. THAT, was the Holy Spirit and GOD was amazing on Saturday!! Of course he is everyday, but somedays it's more in your face than others!

The other groups had awesome stories to tell as well...
One teen girl prayed out loud for the first time ever. She said she didn't realize she could pray so well and the words just flowed eloquently out of her mouth. The boys prayed for a witch doctor. Yes, you are reading correctly, a witch doctor! On that day his father became a Christian too, so again, some more seeds planted. Maybe when we return to take some more bibles up there, the witch doctor will have changed his ways! The youth Pastor baptized a man in a parasite infested creek. Props to Logan for not even thinking twice about getting in a Haitian creek! A young boy stopped the group and said that HE wanted to know who Christ is right after his brother accepted Christ. They also challenged the young boy's brother to start a bible study. We will be returning to check in on everyone because follow up is key.

So...
I believe in good and bad spirits. I believe that there is a spiritual struggle everyday here on earth. I believe that with God all things are possible because GOD is all powerful. Satan and evil spirits may not be in your face everyday like this, but they can use things in your life to distract you from your walk with God. What do you believe?

Gods Grace

Greetings from Haiti! It is hard to believe it is June 2013! I now believe time does go faster the older you get. We have had an amazing year so far. I won't lie there has been many trials too. But I think that is when we know we are doing God's will. Satan will attack us so much more when he sees us working for God.The team this week will find this out when they return back to the States.
On Saturday Theresa and Watson took the team into the mountains with seven bible and a desire to spread the good news. When they got back the stories they told were like stories right from the Bible itself. They told about casting out Demons, baptizing a person in a stream, and  most importantly they told stories of people accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! Isn't this the reason we are here? And I don't just mean the Snyders in Haiti, I'm talking about each and every person who asked Jesus to save them.
Are you afraid to grab your bible and go out and preach the good news? Are you one that will say I don't know the Bible well enough to lead people to Jesus? Do you think that "I could never do that"? All I have to say is God Grace is enough! He has and will give you all the tools to share the Gospel. He will speak through you.
Theresa plans on blogging the stories. I felt led to say what I said.
God Bless.

Spirtual Warfare

Wow what a title! Is spiritual warfare real? I believe so because I have been battling it since I came to Haiti. This has been one of the most challenging eight months of my life. And what is funny I just realized last night that so much of the difficulties was coming from spiritual warfare. My past illness really made me question God "why am I here?" I could be in the states right now having a lot easier life. I asked God what have I done to make a difference here in Haiti.
Well God had an answer for me yesterday. A man came to visit me because he heard I was sick. When I saw him I gave him a hug. You see this man is Alex and Athenson's father. (They are two of my Haitian boys) Him visiting me was special because about two months or so ago he was very sick, he was the one who couldn't get out of bed. His boys told me he had been cursed by the witch doctor. That is when God told me to go pray over him.
I asked the team that was here and a couple of missionary friends to come too. As we prayed you could sense the spiritual battle .going on it this man. My prayer was for God to be glorified through healing this man. Show everyone God has full power over evil.
The next day the father called me to tell me that he was able to sleep for the first time in a long time. He now has made a full recovery. He wants to go to church on Sundays and he praises God for his healing. Praise God!
So back to my battle, as I walked my visitor to the gate to see him off God whispered softly on my heart "Here is one life that you made a difference in for Me". I had to smile to myself as I walked back to my house. God always knows how to encourage me when I'm down, only God can protect me as the flaming arrows fly, and only God deserves all the glory when a heart is changed for Him! I praise God we are in Haiti serving Him today, I pray he will continue to use us for his glory.
I guess if the arrows aren't coming we aren't gaining ground for God!

Mother's Day

Bonswa tout moun!! Hello everyone!
Happy Mother's Day to all!


John 19:25-27
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the diciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27 and to the disciple, "here is your mother." From that time on, the disciple took her into his home.


Today is the day we all try to take care of our mothers, no matter what age we are. Our mother's take care us from the time we are made in the womb until they no longer can. Through our whole lives here, they tend to our needs as a child, start to let us have independence as teenagers, and then let us go as adults to start our own families. All the while, maybe secretly or not, wondering if they've done enough to send us out into the world. No matter our age, our moms always think about us and if we are "OK". No matter what our relationship is with our mom, she still wonders "how things are going". No matter her age, she still trys to "take care of" us. No matter where we are, she will "contact us". No matter what her needs are, she will put "ours before hers". A mother's love is unconditional!


Mary's love for Jesus was exemptlatory! She trusted God from the time she was told she was going to birth him until (and after) the day he died. We do not know much about his childhood, but from our own experiences (whether your a mother or not), we can safely assume that she put him before herself in all facets of his childhood. We know that when he was lost, that she along with Joseph, frantically looked for him in the temple. As Jesus walked this earth, she was following him and "keeping an eye out for him". Always knowing what he was into and doing, probably trying to make sure he was safe, all the while knowing his destiny. It is hard to know, feel, or even comprehend how she felt on that day. Was it bittersweet for her? Her son had to die, be the ultimate sacrifice, to save others even herself. But, even on the cross, bleeding, in pain, thirsting, wanting it to end, Jesus was thinking of her! He knew she was grieving for him, wanting to help him, to "take care of" him, as any mother does when seeing her child in pain. So, in the midst of it all, he told her, "here is your son" standing next to you. And, to him, "here is your mother", take care of her. Before Jesus died he had made sure that his mother was taken care of AND that she had someone to care for too. Not to take his place in her life but someone to help her along the way of life. Life without her son, the chosen one, the one who saved us all by dieing for us. The one whom loves us all and all we have to do is say "YES Jesus I believe"!


Today is Mother's Day, may we all bless our mothers today and everyday. There will come a time when the tides turn and we will have to take care of our mothers in some way. May we look at Jesus's example, and try to do the same for ours as he took care of Mary.


Blessings to all,
Andy, Theresa, Miranda, Ariel, & Zacchaeus

Time

Does your days, weeks, & months go as fast as ours? It is so hard to believe it is the end of January. I look back at our two and a half months in Haiti and just stand in awe of everything that has been completed. We now have power on the whole campus. The town of Borel has clean drinking water from the solar powered well pump that God provided, and we are on our fifth work team of the 2012 year. (It would take a long time to list all the jobs that was done by the teams.) This has been a great two months of getting things done. So much time spent work on things. Then I asked myself how much time has been given to God? When I ask this question I mean quality time with God. Like a father and child taking time to grow closer together. I'm so ashamed to admit that I haven't spent anytime with God it the past two months. People have a misconception that missionaries are these so holy people that have it all together when it comes to time with God. Not true. I just spent two months working for God, but not taking time out of my day for God. It is so easy for us to work for God and think we are going to grow closer to Him. I'm reminded of the two sisters in Luke chapter 10:38-42, one sister is working so hard to prepare food and make everything perfect for Jesus while the other just sits and spends time with him. Jesus is pleased with the one spending time with Him. So I challenge you, just as I'm challenging myself to spend that time with Jesus. Just sit at His feet and listen to Him, read your bible, spend extra time praying. If you feel distant from Him it is because you are walking in the wrong direction. I've been walking in the wrong direction, but starting now I'm turning around.
I also promise to post more about the things Gods is doing here in Haiti.

Everyday life..

Things are going well here in Haiti. We are getting a lot of things done on the campus preparing for the arrival of team. Today I had a guy come and trim off the dead palm branches off the trees above some of the houses. He came with two ropes and a machete. As was amazed when I saw how he was going to climb the trees. He had full trust in his ropes. It took him about 30 minutes per tree, I don’t know how his legs and feet still had circulation. I’m always impressed with the way Haitians work. There is never a job that one of them can’t do. And they are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever been around. (not all of them of course)
Everyone in the family is doing well. Zacc has a couple of Haitian boys that he plays with everyday. Kishmee and Daniel, I can hear him speaking Creole words to them. It excites me that he is learning Creole. Ariel started an English class. She has four students. I see her writing on the chalkboard and having the kids remember poems. I’m not sure if she realizes but I think it is helping her learn Creole too. Miranda has been playing soccer and riding her bike a lot. She has really been helping us around the house. Theresa is busy home schooling and getting things unpacked. We do have a new member of the family it is a puppy named Zeus. Duckenson brought it for the kids. At first I wasn’t happy but he has really grown on us. I will post pictures later. Well that is all that is going on in our world right now. Nothing amazing just everyday life. We hope everyone is well and giving their best to God.

settling In

We made it to Haiti without any major problems. We traveled with 12 checked bags and 10 carry ons. We had a good person check us in curbside at Regan International. He told me some of my bags were heavy, which I knew. He said he would check us in too so we didn't have to pay extra. That saved us a lot of money, $100 per bag. The Port Au Prince airport was a little harder to get though. As I was getting our bags I had Ariel get in line for a cart. After I got all of our bags I looked and Ariel was next in line. I went over to her and she told me people kept cutting in front of her. In Haiti that happens a lot.
The next day was busy, Theresa home schooled the kids and unpacked our bags. I hooked up a well pump so we would have water from our new well. I have been also working to upgrade the power lines on the campus. We have a lot to do to get ready for the teams that start coming December 28. We are almost booked full until the end of March. We do have a week in January if anyone is interested. We had a team cancel.
The kids are adjusting great. Ariel and Zacc have been playing with the cooks kids. Miranda has been playing soccer and her DS game. We praise God for everything good. It is hard to believe we are here. It has been two years since we first started talking about it. God is good.

God at work

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging, but I promise I will try to keep everyone updated. This weekend we went to speak at a church in Manassas, Va. We spend Saturday with our friends Ryan and Karla touring the Smithsonian. Then this morning we spoke at their church.
As some of you know I wanted to put a solar pump on the well in Borel that supplies water to the town. I have been researching the cost and how they work. I'm currently waiting on a bid from a company so I know the end cost. I figured it will be around $3600. I wanted to order everything we needed this week so I was going to use our money with hopes of getting paid back later.
I have been praying that God would send the people to Manassas to help us pay for the solar pump. We got to church this morning ready to speak and Theresa said to me, I don't think we should show pictures today let's just speak. I gave her the deer in the headlights look because we are going to speak in 15 minutes and I'm prepared to show pictures not just speak. I knew she was right so we changed our presentation. We let God lead this morning and talked about what He wanted everyone to hear. I told the church about the solar pump and the cost. The church allowed us to put a basket out for donations. After the service I was counting the money hoping to have a couple hundred dollars, but thankful for any amount. Then I came to a check for $3600. I was shocked. I showed Ryan and he looked at the name on the check. He told me that today was the first time this individual had come to this church and the person asked the pastor how long we would be there because he wanted to run home and get his check book. Just think about that for a minute. I always say God can't surprise me any more. Then He does. God is always working in our lives. Are we willing to put faith and trust in Him? Our God has unlimited resources. God answered the prayer of a guy who wanted to put a solar pump to provide water to a town. I also think He answered a prayer of an individual who asked God where do you want me to give your money. Thank you God for all of your hard work!!!

Love

We have only been in Haiti for two days, but it feels like we never left. Everyone is having a great time. We brought Zacc’s bike so he has been riding all over the compound, Ariel has been playing domino’s and cards every night since we got here, and Miranda has been helping work in our house getting it ready to paint. We will be really glad to get into our house so we can unpack all of our things. We are staying in the guest house with the current team. They are a great group of people!
The team has the task of putting a roof on Watson’s house. On Monday we went to St. Marc to buy all of the supplies, that meant I would be driving the big truck. I really didn’t want to drive a stick through the busy streets of St. Marc, but it went well. It took most of the day to get the supplies needed. We had a truck full of lumber and sheet metal. I pulled the truck off the road by the path that leads to Watson’s house and we started to unload. As we carried the items back to his house more and more people started helping to carry the supplies. It was amazing to see how everyone just started helping. I watched a lady come up to the truck and grab a 16 foot 2x4 and carry it to the house. It made me think about the US, how often do we take the time to help out our neighbors? Are we willing to go and help without being asked? The more time I spend in Haiti the more I love the people. The Haitian people don’t have much, but they are HAPPY, They have a love for one another that is awesome and many have a greater love for Christ. Maybe Haitians focus so much on God and each other because they don’t have all the distractions that we have in our lives. We as Americans tend to focus our LOVE on things and not people or GOD. We are always thinking how things will make us happy, but the TRUTH is only GOD’S LOVE will make our hearts content.
I will try to post every other night. The internet has been slow so I will post pictures and video when I can. I have been uploading a video on youtube for the past hour and I still got 15 minutes to go. The video is of the worship service Watson had for the local children. I started it in the summer and told Watson he need to continue to teach the children about Jesus. It started that first Sunday with a hand full of children and on Sunday there was about 80 to 90 children. The video is at the beginning of the service, kids just kept coming. I ask that you keep this ministry in your prayers, these children are the future of the Church and of Haiti. It only takes a little spark to start a fire!

Satan Hard at Work

Have you ever felt lead to do something for God? And as you go on that path follow Christ you keep getting hit by satan. That is how this last week has been for me. Every time I turn around I see a reason for us not to come back in January. Satan is hard at work here in Haiti, He doesn't want Gods Will to be done.
I was outside tonight just looking at the sky when my friend Marcus come by me. He said "that I was quiet tonight." He also asked "what would I tell my friends and family when I went home about Haiti." I told him that I had a good time but have been over whelmed a lot. I asked him how he would feel if everywhere he went people asked for things, even the shoes on your feet. The constant need overwhelms me. Everyday you hear another story of someone in need. I told him that I don't have a lot of money and I can't help everyone, How do I decide who to help and who not too? What he said made me almost hit myself in the head. He said "you could have a lot of money it doesn't matter, what you need to do is to ask God to lead you. He is all knowing and will tell you who to help. That was exactly the answer I should have already thought of, but satan had me so discouraged my vision was blurry and I was trying to do things on my own. When we try to do that we let satan get his foot in the door. That is when we will struggle!
Marcus also told me that he hopes I start a church here on the compound. He wants to learn the Bible. I told him I want to have a Bible study during the week and some kind of worship on Sunday night. After the conversation with him I seen the most important reason why we will be coming back to Haiti in January. That is to share Jesus Christ with as many people as we can! I can see the hunger for Jesus that many of the people around us have. No matter how hard it gets here, Gods strength will get us through it.
Theresa has had a great week. She told me yesterday "Is it wrong that I feel bad about leaving and would stay longer." She has people bringing her presents all the time. Yesterday and today two young girls brought he cherries. Marcus told us the second week we were here that all the Haitians know Theresa. He said everywhere he would go people would be talking about Theresa. I'm sure blessed to have such a wonderful wife.
The kids are ready to come home. Zacc said he wants to see his meme and maam. The girls are anxious to start school and see all their friends. I have asked them if they wanted to come back in January and they said yes. So God has been very good to us here in Haiti. We had no major sickness with anyone and we were able to meet a lot of great people, Haitians as well as Americans, oh yeah I can't forget about my Canadian friends too. We ask for your prayer for strength as we try to get everything done we need to get done before we go. (which is a lot more than we had to get done before we left the US.) Also please pray for our friends we leave behind. I know there will be a lot of tears shed on Sunday when we leave for Pierre Pyen.

Bible Study

If you don't know it Haiti is full of voodoo. I recently read a blog from a fellow Haitian Missionary he was talking about voodoo and the beliefs. Please read his blog on voodoo before you read mine so you have some insight on voodoo. (http://newvisionhaiti.blogspot.com/) After I read it I decide to talk with a couple of my boys about it. I couldn't believe they told me everything he had written. They told me that Athensian had an older brother die after being flashed one night. I asked if they were scared about voodoo, they said they were. I told them I wasn't afraid of anything, and then I showed them Ephesians 6:10-18. These verses talk about putting on the armor of God. It is perfect for them. Athesian was so impressed that he asked if I could speak about this when we had our next service. So today we had our service, I would call it more of a Bible study with lots of questions. Athensian brought a friend, as we read the verses I could see that the new boy was taking everything in. After we finished reading the questions started. I could see he is searching for the answers, I did my best to answer them and add insight when I could. I got him a Bible and told him I would mark some verses for him. He wanted to know how he could get the armor of God. I told him it all has to start with Christ. So if you are reading this please pray for him. Pray that God will help me talk with him. He is so close. We are planning on having a Bible study on Thursday, I will encourage him to bring his questions then. I pray that Watson will keep our group going so the boys will have someone helping them to come to have a relationship with Christ.

Work team

We had a great time with all the work teams we have had here. The last team that was here was a great group of people. They worked very hard and accomplished many things. They got the roof finished on our house, and also painted it. They also painted Steve's roof too. I really like the colors. One thing cool was the team got to work with some of the Haitian boys. They got interact with them, even though they spoke different languages you could really see the bonds forming. This really gets me excited, because not only did we get things done around the compound, the team was able to teach the Haitians different forms of work. The team was also able to see how hard they work and how dedicated the Haitians are. The boys were here first thing in the morning everyday ready to work. I know that the team went home having a different outlook about the Haitian people.
That is one of our goals, we want a changed person getting on that plane in Port Au Prince. I want people to come and experience what God is doing here. He will change your life if you are willing to let Him. God works through all kinds of people. I see it here in Haiti all the time!
It is hard to beleive that the summer is almost finished. We only have 11 days to go. On one hand I'm excited to get back to the States, but I'm also sad because all of my friends are sad we are leaving. Please pray for them. They come to the compound everyday, their lives will have a huge hole when we leave. There is so much work here that needs done. And when I say work I'm not just talking about physical work, I'm also talking about Spiritual work. The harvest here in Haiti is ready, God just needs the workers. So if you think that God wants you to come to Haiti, don't be afraid.

Great People

I'm sorry that it has been so long since I blogged. Two teams left the compound today. We had 3 awesome ladies from Canada, and a couple form VA. We had a great week. It started with us putting a tarp on Athensons and Alexs' roof. Then we went out and measured feet to give out tennis shoes. Theresa and Karla was in charge of this task. I told everyone that this wasn't my rodeo, and that I was the rodeo clown. I was there to make people smile and make sure noone got hit by the bull.
They left and are now home enjoying the AC.
We now have a new team. Some of them speak creole, because they were missionaries to Haiti. The first day of work went great. It was a slow start, but as we got the ball rolling a lot of things got done, and better than that the team has got to inner act with Haitians as they work. That is why I want teams to come to Haiti. Sure I like when we are able to complete project, but I feel the most important thing is that teams let Christ's love shine through them. I watched as different team members worked with the Haitian boys. The boys loved it. They started to take off the roof and started to paint the old part. I will try to keep up with our blog. I got up today at 4:30 so I could write. God is so amazing. He is so Alive. Each person that comes here has been sent from God. Last night I was in need of prayer. I just got done telling a team member about a prayer request, him and I walked out of the bedroom where we were putting up his mosquito net. We were talking in the hallway and another guy say he needs to talk with me. We go into the room and he said the spirit wants him to pray for me. It was my prayer request. Unreal! God is good. Well I got to go. Already being called, we are out of water.

Sunday Service

Well today was our "come as you are service". We got up at 6:15 because we were to have a 7am service. I know what people from our church are thinking, 7 am they are lucky to make 9:30 Sunday school on time. Anyways, 7 came and went no boys. Theresa told me don't get to upset if they don't come maybe they forgot. Then around 8 the guard from the outer compound came and was all fired up speaking creole fast. I went and got clona to translate. He said the boys tried to get in on the compound and the guard would let them in so one of the boys hit the guard with a rock. The reason the guard wouldn't let them in is because no one is allowed on the compound on Sunday. I didn't realise that or I would have told the guards last night.I asked the guard if the boys told him they were coming to church he said no. So I sent someone up to Rollands house to get the boys to come down. The guard wouldn't let them on the compound so we had to walk out to the front gate. The whole time I was praying for Gods wisdom to solve this situation. When the boys came I got their side of the story. They said they told the guard that they were coming to see me, but the guard told them he didn't work for the whites. And that they couldn't enter. There was a verbal altercation and the guard was pushing the boys. Asking them if they wanted to fight. Addison said he was scared and picked up a rock, and hit the guard on the shoulder. This took place outside of the gate. I talked with others who saw this and they told the same story. So I had to figure out how to resolve this conflict. I understand why everything happened, but hitting someone with a rock is unacceptable. I explained to the guard why they were coming in, I wanted them to hear about Jesus. He understood but was still very mad. I asked him if Addison could come in today for church and then he couldn't be on the compound for a week. He wanted three weeks. Through the work of Christ I was able to bring the guard to the compromise of one week. I really feel bad for Addison, because I know things just got out of hand and the guard overstepped his boundary too. It was such a touchy situation, but give glory to God all side are okay with the solution.
Around ten we were able to have service. It was funny, but what happened to Addison played right into what I was going to talk about. I was talking about how things happen to us that we don't understand, I told them that we see just a small piece of the puzzle but that God sees the whole picture. After I was done speaking I asked if there was any prayer requests, two of the boys opened up. It was powerful to here them speak. Addison said he could relate to struggles, he has dealt with them his whole life. He said he prays all the time that God will help him. God gives him that peace he needs to get through his struggles. He said when he comes to the compound and works, that takes his worries away. He said that is why he is always smiling, when he is here. Please pray for him. He is a great kid, he is 18 yrs old. He said his mother needs prayers too, they are living in another persons' house. They were told they could stay there for 5 years, well the five years are up and his mother feels guilty because they have no where to go. He asked for God to give them a place to go. He also understands Why I said he couldn't be on the compound for 1 week. He is sad though. I told him we will go and visit him.
The other kid Samuel told us his mother came to Christ when she was younger, she met a man and she told him if he wanted to become her husband he must come to know Jesus. The man did and they got married. The man became a pastor, and someone allowed them to build a church on their land, however after some time the owner of the land kicked them out and now they are holding service at a house. He was asking for prayers for his parents to be able to find some ground and build a church. So I ask you to keep this in your praayers.
I feel the service went really well! I wish things would have happened differently, but I only see a small piece of the picture. I pray that God's WILL will be done for all situations. I pray that we are able to be at peace with that. Whether WE feel His WILL is Good or Bad. Help us to understand that HIS WILL is ALWAYS GOOD.

Misc Stories

As most of you would agree whenever you drive somewhere in the US you are bound to run into road construction. Well the same is true for Haiti. They have been working on the road in a couple of places from Borel to St Marc. The big difference between here and the US is how you drive through the construction site. In Haiti they usually don't have a flagger, you just weave in and out of machines working on the road. While we were in St Marc they were working on the main road through town. I don't know how the workers could concentrate on their jobs. Cars and trucks were everywhere. The steam roller just kept going and the cars had to get out of his way. Since I have been driving I have come to learn that there is many rules to know when driving in Haiti. I thought at first that it was mass confusion, but I have learned that it is organized confusion. The horn is definitely an essential piece of equipment on your vehicle. I bet I honk my horn 50 times in one trip. In the US if you honk your horn it is because you see a friend or someone has mad you mad. Not here, you honk it to tell people or cars to get out of your way. The amazing thing about it is they get out of your way and they don't get mad.
As you can see in one of the pictures I have tied a dead tarantula on Ben's backpack. When he came back to the house to get his backpack he lifted it up and the tarantula swung around. He screamed like a little girl. Everyone enjoyed that. I'm not sure he is ready for my sense of humor.
Now back to every ones lest favorite subject, the rat. We went to the Delimart, which is the store we go to in St Marc. Above the store is a restaurant named Mac Epie. It is Haiti's version of McDonalds. From the restaurant you can look down on DeliMart. We were sitting there eating and Miranda said a rat just ran across the market floor. No one else saw it so we all kind of blew it off. Then we see the workers down below trying to catch (kill) it. As you can see in the picture they put crates in a line so they could herd the rat. It was fun to watch this take place. We then went down to get a couple of items from the store, Watson was standing next to a Delimart employee and I snuck up behind him and scratched his leg. I bet he jumped two feet off the ground. I'm not sure if they got that rat or not.
Everything is well here. The kids are doing great. I was able to pick a bike up for Ariel the other day so she is very happy. Miranda has been riding Bens bike. The Haitian boys push Zacc on Ariel's bike. Theresa is still having English class for two Haitian boys named Cleevens & Harrison. She also helps Watson in the evening. Sunday we are going to have a worship service here on the compound. The boys that we took to the beach, don't go to church, they say it is because they don't have the right clothes and shoes to wear. I guess the church will tell people that they don't have the right shoes or clothes. Clona wore sandals one day and they told her next time she needed to wear the right shoe. So we are going to have come as you are service. I will give the message, Clona is going to translate and lead the singing , she has a beautiful voice. I told the boys about it and they are very excited. I ask that you add this to your prayers. We pray that God will lead us in the service and that we will be able to reach people that feel they don't belong. We are starting at 7am Haiti time. 8 am Eastern time. I'm excited about this!!!

A day at the BEACH!

A day a the beach is always a great day. It is even better when you get to take friends along that don't ever get to go. That is what we did on Sat. I asked Theresa do we want to go sailing or do we want to ask the boys, that come on the compound and work hard for no pay, to go to the beach with us. She said "Go ask the boys" I first went up to Rolland. He is the hardest working 15 year old I have ever met. He comes to the compound every morning by 7 am. Right away he will ask me for a shovel or pick, and then he goes right to work. I paid him some money the first week because we had much rain that we had to dig ditches everywhere. The next week I told him I didn't have much money so there wasn't any work. He told me No problem and went to work. It is hard to watch people work so hard for free. That is why I felt they deserved to go to the beach. Later that day I told Alex, Atterson, and Lamar. I told them we would be leaving at 9 am the next morning. The next morning at 8 am they were here ready to go. We took a big cooler of water and stopped in St Marc and bought PB&J. When we got to the beach I got three items out of my back pack. The first was a Frisbee, no one grabbed it, Then I pulled out my football (again no one grabbed it) Then I took out our soccer ball, they all wanted that. So off they went to kick the ball around. There was some other people at the beach that came over and was kicking the ball with our guys. So they setup rocks for goals and was time to play soccer. They asked me if I wanted to play, I said no because I never played soccer before, but I told them Theresa would play because she loves soccer. She played for a little while then wiped out in the sand. So they called me up from the bullpen. Oh yeah that's baseball, well anyway they told me to play defense (it seems that everyone wants to play offense and they stick the new guy on defense) That was fine with me because I didn't have to run back and forth in the 100 deg heat on sand. Just running on defense was almost killing me. I did okay for my first time playing soccer. I really had fun, especially because we got to play with other people. I think the game was a tie, I'm not sure. But I do know this playing soccer on the beach in 100 deg temperature is not easy. My body feels it today. Yesterday was one of the best days I have had in Haiti. Not only did I get to spend it at the beach. We were able to spend it with some kids that deserved a break from their not so easy life. I wish I was able to write everything that I see and feel here. God is on the move here in Haiti. He has some great things planned. Please be in prayer for His will to be done. Some ideas that He has placed on my heart I wonder how is that possible, then the spirit tells me all things are possible for him who believes.

The Baker

There are a lot of food items we miss from home. However there are things here we get to enjoy everyday that we wouldn’t even be able to get at home. The first item is the mango. There are mango trees all around the compound. This is a favorite of Zacc. Another one is the fig. It is like a banana but smaller, they are so sweet. This is Theresa’s favorite. And then you got everyone's favorite, FRESH BAKED BREAD! We needed bread the other day so Watson took me to the local bakery. Now I know you have a picture of this bakery in your mind, but you need to erase that picture. Now picture this; we get inside and look around the floor is dirt and the oven is an old stone oven, and the fuel is wood. We watched the baker as he rolled out the dough, he had an automatic roller (two men on either side cranking a handle) He then cut the dough and put them on metal sheets and covered them with plastic, to let them rise. He told us it would be three or four hours until the bread would be ready.
So three and half hours later we are in the truck headed back to get our fresh baked bread. As we walked into the mud and board bakery we were overwhelmed by the smell of baking bread. The baker greeted us and removed a piece of sheet metal coving the hole to the oven. We looked inside and could see one sheet of rolls baking. He told us that he put them in special for us, and that they would be done soon. I asked him how long he had been baking and he said a long time, he said he started around the age of ten. We waited for about 30 min and then the bread was ready. They were very hot so he fanned them cool and we laid them on a bag and took them home. It took all we had not to eat them on the way home. As soon as we got in the door the feeding frenzy began. I made a PB&J everyone else just grabbed the bread and ate it. The bread is so amazing! Since it is cooked using wood you can taste the flavor of the smoke. This is one thing that we are thankful to have here. The cost of 24 rolls is 100 gourds. (About $2.50) The amount of work that the Haitians do amazes me. The temperature in that building was hot 100+. But the baker does that everyday. Some people think that Haitians are lazy, I would have to disagree. There just aren’t a lot of work opportunities here. The Haitians that have jobs work very hard.

Haitians Helpin Haitians

On Tuesday our friend Josue called me and told me he was coming to Borel, and asked if I could help him put up a tent. I said sure, but told him he could stay in our house while he was here. He said that the tent was going to be for a family who lived in Borel. Josue had met them in Jan when he was staying here with us. I agreed and on Thursday we went to the families house. The house they were living in was made of strips of wood and held together by mud. One of their walls was just some blankets hanging up. We also took a box of food and Hygiene products. The tent sleeps eight it was huge. They were so grateful. I told Josue to make sure that the family knew he was the one responsible for the tent not me. Josue was the one who went to Port and got it. He was the one who has been praying for this family. Do you know what he told me? I'm no the one responsible for this, This is the work of JESUS CHRIST. He is responsible for this family getting this tent. We are just the workers. How true is that! We are all servants of Jesus, He is the one who makes all things possible. But he needs people like Josue and others who are willing to do his will.