THANK YOU, WEMO

For the uninitiated, WEMO is short for West Morris Street Free Methodist Church, a congregation where we were privileged to serve in the early 2000s and still one of the dearest churches we know.

Last summer our family had the opportunity to speak to WEMO's VBS about Haiti and the kids there took our four as their mission focus for the week.  They raised enough money to get our kids each a bike. 

Melissa managed to pick one up for Caleb a few weeks ago on an excursion into Cap Haitien, but we were having trouble finding a time to take the whole family to pick out bikes and then get them transported back home.  Christmas break seemed a perfect time to get this happy chore done!

Melissa's teacher's aide, Rose, went with us to translate (we still have a long way to go in learning the language!) and to haggle. 

Mostly to haggle. Rose LOVES to haggle.  She is a no-nonsense, master negotiator.  And there is no way she is going to allow us to be charged the "foreigner price" for something in the market.  She has been known to take a vendor to task over high prices: "Are you trying to charge me more because I am with her?" she once asked while helping Melissa find a new lunch box for one of the kids. She pointed at Melissa and continued, "She doesn't have a lot of money.  If she did, we wouldn't be shopping HERE!"  Priceless.

So when Rose is leading, we can feel confident that we're getting a good deal. 

We stepped into the middle of this particular corner  in downtown Cap where several men sell bicycles and, I tell you what, those guys saw four kids browsing and their eyes lit up.  Within two minutes we were surrounded by these fellows and their bikes.  At one point Melissa had to ask them all to back up and give us some space.

This was the first time we have braved the markets with the entire family in tow.  Sarah was none too excited about being out in the heat and crowds until ...

... we found HER bike.  Now we'll just have to teach her how to ride without training wheels.  I have no doubt she will pick it up quickly.

In the end, we came home with three new bicycles and managed to stay within budget.  (Thanks, Rose!)  This was a wonderful extension of Christmas for our kids.  They will get a lot of use out of these bikes.  Thanks again, WEMO, for your thoughtfulness and generosity.  God bless you all!