OK.  After all my tinkering with this pdf to get it on the blog, it got a little blurry.  Still I wanted you to see it because 1) I really appreciate all the effort our friend Jill has gone to in order to put this event together.  (Plus, I love her “Home to Haiti” play on words!) This was her idea and she wanted to get a flyer put together before her school year started (today) so that she could invite some of our kids’ former classmates to the event throughout this week.  She’s so thoughtful!And 2) I am hoping…

Beyond all the fun we had with the teens at the recent OMS International Missions Conference, we were also given the privilege of addressing the entire conference audience on Friday evening in order to raise awareness of what we are doing in Haiti and our need for support in getting back to work there this fall.The schedule was pretty tight, so we were asked to write out ahead of time what we planned to say.  Below is the text of what Melissa and I shared that night. “When Melissa was first introduced to OMS’s ministry in Haiti, a stop at…

A week ago Melissa and the kids and I spent a few days at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana for the 2014 OMS International Missions Conference.  It was a fantastic gathering of folks united together in their desire to see the fulfillment of Jesus’ Great Commission.  We went with a trunk full of goodies … … because while everyone else was listening to special speakers, attending break out sessions, and drinking coffee at various receptions (first honoring a retiring president, then the new president, then the 60th anniversary of Men For Missions), we had the privilege of working with the…

Sunday was the 21st birthday for Ruysdael, one of my three “Haitian sons”.  I can’t tell you how sad I was to be a thousand five hundred and seventeen miles away in Columbus, Indiana.  (I Googled it. It feels farther than that.) We first arrived in Haiti on August 13th of last year and before the month was spent, God had already brought Ruysdael (and then Johnny and Mikenn) across my family’s path.  Here’s my earliest picture of Ruysdael, hanging out with Caleb on the patio at Cowman School before the school year started: He came back a second day, shyly hanging back…

Each day I get a little further behind in keeping this blog up-to-date.  The days have been full and the internet connection has been spotty.  Here’s the most up-to-date portion of this blog post: Today we leave for a week in Iowa.  Our plan is to make it to Cedar Falls tonight and have an easy finish to the trip to Le Mars on Saturday morning.  We are anxious to see friends in Le Mars (where we’ll be speaking on Sunday morning at the Presbyterian UCC) and also our friends in Grundy Center (where we get to share Sunday, July…

Unfortunately, travel plans did not fall smoothly into place.  We were hoping by the end of the day to fly to Fort Pierce, rent a van, drive to Orlando and meet Grandma Trudy at a resort there – where we would then spend a couple of days relaxing before returning to Grandma’s house in Indiana, our home base for the summer.Our Missionary Flights International flight was delayed so long that when we arrived in Ft. Pierce, Florida, the Budget Rental office was already closed.  MFI folks were super accommodating and put us up for the night in a trailer home…

These last few weeks have been emotional, tiring, rewarding and … blessed.  We’ve been wrapping up our first school year at Cowman and prepping for a two-and-a-half month long trip back to the States.Here is a small fraction of the pictures I’ve taken in the last 14 days or so: 

One evening nearly three weeks ago now I logged onto Facebook to find distressing news: an old friend had died too young – a massive heart attack at age 36.  I first met Jason when I arrived in Le Mars, Iowa in 1991 as a newly trained youth pastor, fresh out of college.  Jason was finishing junior high that spring and it didn’t take me too long to get to know him, his parents, Bill and Jodee, and two younger sisters, Jennica and Jonalee, and his little foster brother named Spencer.  I was young, single guy 700 miles from my family and…

Sweet and sacred moments with our littlest one tonight.  Sarah, our seven year old, came out of her bedroom a full half hour after we put her down for the night.  She whined to Melissa, “I can’t get to sleep … and I REALLY need to sleep.”Having attended a funeral last week for a 36 year old father of a little girl not much older than Sarah, I have returned home determined to simply BE with my kids more than I have been in the past.  None of us know how much time we have with our precious little ones.  So…