Because that's what it is.
In about a week and a half, I will be driving down to Fort Pierce, Florida to catch a flight to Haiti where I will have two full weeks before returning to the States.
The trip has several purposes:
1) To deliver some classroom supplies for the kindergarten at Cowman International School. These are items Melissa pulled from her current classroom during the summer. They will be put to use when the school year starts at Cowman on September 3rd in the classroom where Melissa, God willing, will be teaching in January.
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| The Princess (age 5) and The Dog (age 9) pose with 200 lbs of kindergarten supplies bound for Cap Haitien. |
2) To meet my students. Cowman has been strictly a grade school for years. It was never practical to imagine having a full high school staff present on the mission field and so older students would eventually outgrow Cowman and need to go on to other schools, be home schooled or travel to a boarding school far from family. Now, with so many good options for on-line courses, a high school program could function with a single staff member present to monitor the students as they work at computer terminals. That will be part of my role when we move to Haiti - teaching Language Arts in person and monitoring the students as they work on-line with their other courses.
The Principal asked me a few weeks ago if I would be willing to begin teaching English this semester from a distance - they have a young man willing to monitor the students this semester, but no on-line English curriculum.
I jumped at this opportunity since I am growing impatient with the slow pace of the funding process and I am anxious to GET STARTED with this next chapter in our lives. So I am going to Haiti now so I can meet the older students in person, assess their reading and writing levels, and help them get a solid start so that I can more effectively teach on-line the rest of the semester.
3) To help in any way possible to prepare the school for a new year. I will arrive in Haiti the Thursday before school starts on Monday, so I anticipate being able to lend a hand in a variety of ways. God only knows (literally) what that will look like.
4) To meet with Matt and Stacy Ayars at Emmaus Biblical Seminary. I need to further explore ministry possibilities that might be available for me there once we settle in Haiti full time. Melissa and I met the Ayars briefly last summer in person at the airport - they were re-entering Haiti as we were exiting. Matt is president of Emmaus and we've had a few brief email discussions regarding the need for youth ministry courses there. I hope to have a few hours - maybe an afternoon or more - to put our heads together on ways I may be able to contribute to the incredibly important ministry going on at Emmaus.
Check out Emmaus' website HERE.
5) To catch up with some old friends during the drive down to Florida and back. Since I am transporting some freight, I will be renting a vehicle to drive to Fort Pierce rather than just fly out of Indy. The drive gives me several opportunities to catch up with old friends. Looking forward to seeing Lance, Aaron and Ivy, Bill and Melanie, and Jamie!
6) To ...?????? (I am always aware that God may have other purposes in mind whatever my own goals may be. God's purposes may well involve Joy or Suffering or Learning. Who of us really knows ahead of time? But God is wise and omniscient and omnipotent. So I will definitely be keeping my eyes open.)
I would certainly appreciate your prayers for my trip and for Melissa and the kids during my absence! Thanks so much!
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