So much has happened since we returned to Haiti a week ago and I still have so many thank yous to relate and stories to tell (and setup to do in my classroom), but I JUST HAVE TO POST a quick “Hallelujah!” for what took place this afternoon.The picture below is of a meeting in my new classroom during which our principal, Angie Bundy, offered a full-time job to one of my “Haitian sons”, Johnny Placide! Now two of my three Haitian sons are employed at Cowman. (Mikenn finished a successful first year as a teacher’s aide and is back…

I hesitate to call it a “green” light, but praise the Lord, we are going to keep our August 18th flights to head back to Cap Haitien, Haiti.  Our family is going home. On time.Melissa and I met with folks at Headquarters Thursday and they, like us, had done a lot of praying and crunching numbers and talking through possibilities.  They had reached the conclusion that putting us back on the field in time to prepare for the coming school year was a necessity, BUT it was going to be possible only by shifting part of our financial burden onto…

Here’s the text of a letter we put in snail mail this week as we continue to seek additional support in order to return our family to ministry in Haiti on time to start our third school year. I include it here in an effort to reach folks whose address may be missing from my list. Thank you to all who have already responded so generously!  ******************************************************************************* “If you do away with the yoke of oppression … and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in…

At this point in the summer, our kids are a bit pooped out, but even as tired as they were, they couldn’t resist being pulled in by these new young friends. Julie and Matt were gracious enough to host a pool party at their place Saturday night to give us a platform to share with some of their friends. In one of those “It’s a Small World” moments, one of the men in attendance had actually been to our neck of Haiti just a few months ago, working on the air conditioning units at Radio 4 VEH! Sunday morning, Pastor…

A hearty “Thank you” and “God bless you” to folks who have already responded to our need for a healthier support account with both new and increased support!  We are overwhelmed by so much love and care expressed for our family already and so much sacrifice on behalf of our ministry in Haiti.  My goodness, it is humbling. (If you missed it, see my previous post about our need and the easiest way to contribute financially, if you would like.)And it’s certainly encouraging to make progress toward our goal. And even though “we’ve only just begun”, the generosity we’ve already…

Can I be upfront with you?  Melissa and I have had a wonderful/horrible week. I don’t mean to be a Negative Nelly, but I have to write about the horrible side because it’s crushing my heart at the moment. Something we’ve been fearing for a year (or so) happened yesterday.We met with some folks at OMS headquarters yesterday and were told that we cannot assume we will be returning to Haiti in August.  Although many people are supporting us financially – some through occasional large gifts and others through regular monthly giving – over the last few months our support account…

Thank you to all who have been praying (for months!) over our house situation. I write today to say, “Please keep praying!”  For those who don’t know, Melissa and I bought this house in Columbus, Indiana about ten years ago, thinking we were going to be staying put there a good long time.  That was just before the American housing market bottomed out and a few years before the Lord called us to serve in Haiti!So when we got serious about going to Haiti, we moved out of the house and started renting it out while we lived at my…

Tomorrow we finish what has been a wonderful week at Seneca Hills Bible Camp in Pennsylvania, where we have had daily opportunities to share about missions in general and Haiti in particular. The food has been top-notch, the scenery gorgeous, the counselors enthusiastic … and our kids exhausted.  Caleb, Hannah and Samuel have had the pleasure of being campers and mixing in with the other kids here, living in the cabins and playing all the crazy games.  At the beginning of the week, Sarah was quite sad that she was not going to be a camper herself. (Apparently she didn’t…

… like a cup that runneth over!This past week has seen a lot of activity.I spent a good chunk of time working at our old house, trying to get it ready to sell. Lots of weeds to pull and I got the back deck power washed and ready to paint – whenever the rains give me a window to do it. The older kids and Melissa helped out with VBS at our home church while Sarah was a participant. We house – and pool – sat for some friends.  A great place to stretch out a bit and a great…

While we’re in Haiti, I have trouble keeping this blog up to date – lack of energy, lack of time, lack of internet.  There are so many experiences from the past year and so many day to day realities that I have never addressed here, I figured over the summer I might try to post on some of those – along with updates of life “on the road” this summer.Here’s one of those day to day realities we’ve gotten used to: Where we used to live in Indiana, we were literally a block behind a Target store.  There was a grocery…