DAN AND JILL WERE HERE! - Part I

Dan and Jill arrived early Monday morning a week ago on a flight from Florida - our first official visitors!  Jill was Caleb's 6th grade teacher last year and they developed one of those rare teacher/student bonds that will, undoubtedly, last a lifetime.  Jill's students (with her guidance) were the ones who got behind Caleb's efforts a year ago to raise supplies and funds for The Potter's House orphanage in February 2013. 

I'm guessing Jill never imagined that she would be here a year later on her spring break with her husband.  The Lord works in mysterious ways!

I picked Dan and Jill up at the airport at 8:00 am, dropped their luggage at our house and then headed straight to Cowman.  After a short reunion with Melissa and Sarah outside the kindergarten building, they got right to work.

Jill came bearing gifts bags from her students back in Indiana who have been writing to my students as pen pals.  We were impressed, along with Jill, that her students had put these gifts together on their own initiative.  It was such a pleasant surprise and a great way to start our week together.

Here's Hannah sporting a little butterfly necklace that was part of the gift bag sent to her.

It was St. Patrick's Day and the girls' bags just happened to have green bows that doubled as hair clips.  And finger nail polish that needed to be sampled IMMEDIATELY. 
 

But once the presents were distributed, Jill launched right into teaching poetry - and learning names.

And, meanwhile, Dan worked alongside Coach David in introducing some new sports to various classes throughout the day.

After the first day at Cowman, we found there were a few other things Dan and Jill brought with them beyond the student gifts.  First of all, they delivered Mikenn's laptop.  (Thanks so much, Sherry, for your generosity and for going out of your way to mail the computer to Jill.  I am sure Mikenn will put it to good use as he continues his medical studies.) 

Secondly - JUNK FOOD, to spoil all of us with a variety of treats we just can't get here. 

And, as if that was not enough, they brought crafts for Sarah and a variety of Ipods for the older kids.  Hannah, especially, couldn't imagine a more thoughtful gift.  She couldn't wait to get an ITunes account set up and to get some new music - and Dan obliged her and patiently wrestled with our internet service to get her going. 

(The kids had brought one old DC Talk CD with them to Haiti and they have listened to it on the kitchen player REPEATEDLY over the last seven months.  So I was almost as thankful for these gifts as the kids were.)

Back at school on Tuesday, Jill worked with the students on various types of poetry - cinquains and haiku and clerihews.  In the afternoon, she had the 5th graders outside to observe nature and to write.  We had a blast and the students really got into it.

 

Several poems, of course, were dedicated to Cowman's resident puppies...

Here Jill and a student count out syllables to see if he's got the right number for a proper haiku.

We were right there on the school grounds - familiar territory - but even I was seeing things that were new and surprising. This lizard was hopping across the hood of our truck like a frog would!

Jill chased down the lizard and got ahold of him. This was my first hint that Jill had an adventurous side.  (Well, this and the fact that she came all the way to Haiti to visit a former student!)

 

After school hours, we had our own fun with Dan and Jill, including an evening pool time at the Villa Cana.  Dan got a workout hoisting various Gross kids into the air.

 

 

I need to pause here and finish relating the rest of our incredible week another time.  We had a lot of laughs and a lot of tears, too.  I have so many pictures and stories to tell, but they will need to wait until I am a little more awake. (Too many late night chats!) But let me finish for now by saying a heartfelt Thank You to Dan and Jill for coming so far, doing so much and for being such an encouragement to our entire family.

 

May the Lord bless you and watch over you, as you travel back to Indiana and always. 

 

 

 

(We can always use another English teacher around here!)

BUNK BEDS AT THE POTTER'S HOUSE

It's been way too long since we last visited the kids at The Potter's House.  We saw them at Christmas, but then time got away from us - Saturdays were occupied with this or that other concern.  We didn't even get to help them when they made the move to the new house since it was a school day when it happened. And then, more recently, the orphans started passing around chicken pox and we thought it best to keep our family at a distance.

Even yesterday, as we had time and reason to visit the House, we heard the chicken pox still hadn't finished its rounds and so Melissa and I left our four at home.  We went to check how everyone was doing in their new surroundings and to see firsthand the progress on a bunk bed project some young friends back in Indiana had raised money for over the last few months.

Vernel appeared to be the last to get chicken pox!

Upon our arrival, it was immediately evident that the kids and the workers were all loving the bigger, brighter house.  When our friends Bud and Jane had "stumbled" upon the orphanage a year and a half ago after heavy rains had knocked down one of its outer walls, the kids were living in a cramped four room house with no electricity and a garden hose from a neighbor's yard as the only source of running water.  At that time, the kids were spending their nights sleeping on the concrete floors - all the boys in one bedroom and the girls in the second.  Jane had helped them find some twin size beds and Caleb's classmates had helped with bedding, but space limitations had dictated multiple kids per bed. 

With the orphans' move to the new house approaching, a whole bunch of hoosier kids - from Community Church of Columbus and Little Seeds Preschool - spent several of the last few months collecting money to make sure each kid could have his or her own bed.  All told, about $1,200 was raised and the director of the orphanage was able to contract with a man to build enough bunk beds to sleep all 22 kids. 

We went today to see the beds and to sign off on final payments for their construction.  We agreed with the director that one important element was missing - safety rails for the top bunks!  Thankfully, the builder has agreed to return and weld rails on each bed before they will be used.

 

This little guy followed us around while the Director showed us the various bedrooms and the beds.

And then he distracted me while Melissa finished negotiating plans to finish up the beds with the Director.

Just for comparison, here is a picture of the gathering area in the old house - making up one half of the available space in the building:

And here's the gathering space at the new house:

As always, the kids were so enthusiastic about our visit.  One little guy tugged on my shirt and asked, "Samuel? Samuel?" I assured him that we would bring all our kids the next time.

Melissa brought along enough suckers to give one to each kid.

We were pleased to hear that there is even enough money left over from what the Columbus kids raised to purchase some of the extra mattresses needed to furnish the beds.

A great big thank you to all the kids of Community Church of Columbus and Little Seeds Preschool (and all the adults who organized things behind the scenes)!  Thank you all for caring for the orphans and providing for their needs!  We will go back and get more pictures once the beds are complete and the mattresses are purchased. 

SOSUA BY THE SEA

I am one of those who would gladly live on the seashore, given half a chance.  Walking the beach. Snorkeling.  Hunting for shells.  Listening to the waves.  Enjoying seafood.

So these past five days were fully therapeutic.  We joined all the other OMS missionaries for a retreat in the town of Sosua along the northern coast of the Dominican Republic.  It took the better part of a day to get there and the better part of a day to get back, but the three days in between were so incredibly sweet.

We traveled in the large van with the Aberles and their kids.  It took Sam just an hour and a half or so to get us to the border, but then it seemed to take forever to work out all the details for our group to actually get from the Haitian side to the Dominican.

But once across, Sam made a beeline for the nearest ice cream shop. It turns out there are a lot of things you can get in the DR that you just can't find in Haiti, including reasonably priced ice cream.

Back on the road, Cammie had the unenviable job of holding Hannah's laptop in the right position for the kids to watch a movie - we still had several hours to go yet.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we quickly determined that the view alone would make the trip worth every minute of travel.

But when we saw the buffet, it was LOVE.  And EVERY MEAL was a buffet.

 
ALL of the missionaries enjoyed the buffet.  I can't tell you how many hours in an average week our family spends in fixing meals (where everything is made from scratch) and then hand-washing every plate, glass, pan and fork afterwards.  To have food cooked by someone else and then to be cleaned up after - it was a beautiful and refreshing part of the retreat.





Not to mention the fact that the buffet often included pans FULL of foods we just can't get easily (or at all) from week to week back home. 

Here's Ethan's first serving of bacon on Sunday morning.  He even wore his special bacon-eating shirt for the occasion.

Each morning and afternoon the adults gathered in one room for discussions led by some friends of OMS who came just to minister to us for a few days.  We were blessed by Craig and Deb coming to share their insight and counsel.



And while the adults met in one room, the kids enjoyed lessons and crafts and games with new friends Bex and Elisa in another room.

They had a blast.

 

 

The kids were especially excited about the part where they got to make their own tie-dyed shirts.

 

 

 

When we weren't eating or in a session, there were plenty of other things to do.

 

Like Swimming in the pool.

 

 

Or playing in the waves.

 



 

Or just soaking in the beauty of God's creation.

 

 

 

 

 

There are other aspects of our retreat I could go on and on about - air conditioned rooms, "Banana Mama" drinks, and a store "like a Wal-Mart" - but you get the idea.  It was a wonderful few days all the way around and we returned home feeling rejuvenated. 

With the strength God provides, we are eagerly anticipating the next few months.  March will bring our first visitors. (Yay!) April will bring a small team from our church. (Yahoo!) And May will bring the end of the school year.  (!!)

Early in June, God  willing, we will be back in the States.  We are hoping to fill up our summer calendar with visits and preaching and sharing our experiences.  Please let us know if you or your church would be willing to put us on YOUR calendar! (Email me at steve_gross@juno.com or track us down on Facebook.)