QUICK UPDATE

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 6th). If you are close by, we'd love to see you!

Here are a few pictures from recent days as we've been on the road. For now, I am just including the places where we have formally shared about Haiti.  There has been so much fun and blessing and "relationshipping" in between, that those times deserved a separate post!  (Maybe tonight's hotel will have internet!)

Our first Sunday, June 8th, we got to speak at our home church in Columbus, Indiana: CCC. How great to be back.  Notice we're not quite adjusted to air conditioning at this point!

That evening we got to share with the younger grades youth group.  They were full of questions!

The following Wednesday night, we had the chance to share with the Senior High youth.  What a great group of young adults and a fun evening!

Speaking of great young adults, that evening I got to formally meet Cameron, who put on a "Hoops for Haiti" event earlier in the school year and sent several hundred dollars to us to benefit "our" orphanage, The Potter's House.

Then we headed East.  June 15th we had the pleasure of sharing at Lebanon Christian Church in Artemas, Pennsylvania.  A very warm and welcoming congregation, for sure!

Inside Lebanon Christian.

I didn't manage to get a picture of our midweek sharing at Needmore Bible Church (What a great name, huh?), but I did get a picture of our friends who hosted us midweek - Troy and Dina.  We all LOVE the Laytons! 

The following Sunday, June 22nd, we were in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, at The Refuge.  Another great congregation and dear friends!  The church building, situated between a 7-11 and a pawn shop, is much bigger on the inside than you would expect.

The worship team at The Refuge.

Our Sunday evening was spent with the fine folks of Snyder's Bible Church in Hedgesville, West Virginia.  I'm telling you, some of these small country churches are the most lively and mission-minded you will find anywhere in this country!

This past Monday we drove up to Erie to see friends, stayed a couple of nights and then drove back to Indiana on Wednesday.  Yesterday was spent visiting with family, catching up on sleep and laundry and getting some shopping done. Our evening was spent with a small group from our church - people who are especially near and dear to Melissa's heart.  This group was the one that nurtured her young faith so many years ago when she was a new Christian. 

I want to make sure I thank Tim Bell, who works with OMS and went above and beyond in setting up our appointments with the Pennsylvania and West Virginia churches. We also thank the Lord for all He is doing to work in the hearts of individuals and congregations to further the Kingdom in Haiti.  We are so blessed and so grateful. 

Like I said, there's been so much packed into the in-between times that they deserve a separate post.  I look forward to sharing with you about Hannah R. and her family, our day in Gettysburg, the pastors we met, meals with friends and family, and our time at the Sweatman farm.  But for now, I need to load suitcases into the van!

GOODBYES AND HELLOS

 



I'm a bit behind on my blogging!  It's been over two weeks since we said goodbye to friends in Haiti, packed up our bags and flew to Florida.  We haven't had a "normal day" since and we're loving it.

 

Here's what the start of our return to the States after completing our first school year in Haiti looked like:

 

Hugs all around for Mikenn, Johnny and Ruysdael.  These three gifted young men will be watching over Buddy, the rabbits and the house and yard for us for the next two and a half months.

Even Daniel made a special trip to say goodbye.

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 the ministry owns close by.

Not quite Orlando!

The next morning, though, we were on our way.  With only stops for necessities.

Did I mention that our final night in Haiti Melissa came down with a fever?  Turns out that it was the onslaught of this Chikungunya disease that was making headlines.  Imported from Africa, it is a mosquito-borne virus that is sweeping through the Caribbean at a quick pace.  Fever. Rash.  Headache. Pain in every single joint of your body.  Hannah had had a mild case the weekend before and I had developed a medium case.  But for Melissa it was full on. 

This made the final packing process excruciating and the airplane ride highly uncomfortable. By Wednesday morning when we stopped on the way to Orlando for a few supplies, Melissa found riding in a wheelchair to be much preferable to walking. 

Before long, though, we were reunited with Grandma Trudy at the resort. 

The kids were ready to swim.  Melissa was ready to nap.

 

 

My joints were still a bit achy, so the hot tub was a perfect place to hang out.

 

 

By Friday we were up for a full day's drive back to Indiana.  With only stops for necessities along the way.

And by 4:00 am early Saturday morning the kids were back in familiar surroundings at Grandma's house.

 

Over the next several days, it seemed our main concern was reuniting our kids with their friends.  And what joyful reunions they were, too!

Sarah with Ellie and Megan.

Hannah with Anna.

Caleb and Samuel with Matthew.

 

Samuel with Thomas.

Sarah with Lindsey.

And, of course, there were reunions with FAMILY as well.

Sarah with Uncle Spencer.

Seems that friends and family are pretty much as we remembered them.  The kids are all a little taller.  Or missing some baby teeth.  Or their voices have changed. 

Oreo is a LOT fatter.  The kids said, "I don't remember her head being so small..." She waddles now.  A friend suggested she's now "double stuffed" Oreo.

I have to admit that in the midst of this whirlwind of fun reunions, I am feeling a bit lost.  I'm surprised by how much I am missing Haiti. 

 

And I am wondering how much I myself have changed in the past year.

 

The changes are just not as obvious at first glance as Oreo's.

   

HITTING THE ROAD

There's been so much to process throughout the entire process of packing up in Haiti and returning to the States.  It's been somewhat overwhelming and I will post some pictures and thoughts soon, but since we hit the road tomorrow in starting our funding tour, I wanted to get our calendar posted here ASAP. 

Here's what we have scheduled so far:

Sunday, June 15 - Preaching and sharing at Lebanon Christian
                   Church in Artemas, Pennsylvania.
                  Worship at 9:30 am, Sunday School at 11:00.

Wednesday, June 18 - Sharing at Needmore Bible Church in
                   Needmore, PA.  6:30 pm.

Sunday, June 22 - Morning service at The Refuge in Berkeley
                  Springs, WV. 
                  Evening service at 7:00 pm at Snyder's Bible Chapel in
                  Hedgesville, WV.

Monday, June 23 to Wednesday, June 25 - Erie, Pennsylvania??

Thursday, June 26 - Sharing with Pletcher small group in
                  Columbus, Indiana in the evening.

Sunday, June 29 - Sharing at the Presbyterian United Church of
                  Christ in Le Mars, Iowa during morning worship.

Sunday, July 6 - Sharing at the United Methodist Church of Grundy
                   Center, Iowa during morning worship.

Thursday, July 10 through Sunday, July 13 - We'll be working with
                   the youth at the One Mission Society Conference in
                   Marion, Indiana.

Sunday, July 20 - Preaching and sharing at Hope United Methodist
                   Church in Hope, Indiana.

Sunday, July 27 - Open

Sunday, August 3 - Preaching at Freedom Chapel in Columbus,
                   Indiana.

Sunday, August 10 - Open

Sunday, August 17 - Open in the morning.
             Evening Ice Cream Social with Shiloh Church outside
             Spencer, Indiana.

Thursday, August 21 - Tentative flight date for our return to Haiti.

We certainly hope that if you are close to any of these places, you will get out to see us.  If we're going to be anywhere near your area and you'd like to meet up for a meal or coffee, let us know!  If you have a suggestion for a mid-week venue or something for a Sunday morning we have open, please let us know!

Contact me at steve_gross@juno.com or on Facebook or give me a call or text (812-371-5114).

WRAPPING UP OUR FIRST SCHOOL YEAR

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: 



End-of-year testing.

Sarah giving her little friend Lilly a goodbye hug.  The Ayars were the first missionary family to leave the field for the summer - we'll be next.

The last days of school were filled with all sorts of special events.  Like the Parents Vs. Teachers soccer match.  The teachers had a pretty intimidating starting line-up, no?

Not surprisingly, the parents won the trophy.  They were quite proud. My sister-in-law, Kristine, would get a kick out of knowing that I had to leave the game early after taking a soccer ball to the face and losing a contact.

I've lost count of how many times we've had our "last time with the Heckmans".  This was our last time with the Heckmans at the beach.  Last night, they surprised us and our kids by taking our four for an overnighter at their house out at the seminary.  So our kids spent all day yesterday with Haylie and Ethan at a pool (pictures below) and then overnight at their house and then to church this morning together.  It's Sunday night as I write this and Hannah just stumbled out of her bedroom after a four hour nap saying, "Where is everybody?" "They went out to eat with the Heckmans." "Without ME???" "We asked you four times if you were going to get out of bed - we figured you were sick, and I'm running a fever so the two of us stayed home." Then she burst into tears at the thought that she missed her FINAL "last time to see the Heckmans" for the summer.  Poor thing.

This past Sunday I got to sneak in a new experience - my first time preaching on a Sunday morning to a Haitian congregation.  Pastor James Israel (who teaches next door to me at Cowman) invited me to come to his church, Grace en Zion, and he acted as my translator.  I preached on Joshua 1 and the Lord telling Joshua to be "courageous and strong".  I got a few laughs and a few Amens, so I must have done alright.

The last three academic days of the school year were all themed - Monday was Mis-Match Day.

Tuesday was Dress Like an Adult Day.

Samuel dressed as his hero.  ;-)

Wednesday: Crazy Hair and Hat Day.

Two of my students reading their last letters from their pen pals in Mrs. Prestel's class back in Indiana.

Thursday was the last day in school and the afternoon was "Fun in the Sun" time.  Johnny, Mikenn and Ruysdael had no school, so they volunteered to help fill water balloons.  Not sure they knew what they were in for!

Coach David carting balloons to various spots around the campus for all the different game stations.

Caleb and Jake helped too.

My station was Water Balloon Volleyball.

My Friday morning was spent in finalizing report cards and then the afternoon brought our closing program at the Radio 4VEH station next door. Can't believe Caleb will be in 8th grade, Hannah in 7th, Samuel in 6th and Sarah in 2nd next year!

Everyone was quite dressed up!

 

 

Each class performed a song or read poems.  Here, Melissa's kindergarten and first grade perform "Who Let the Letters Out?"

Pastor Steve MacInnis helped us close the program with a song that reminds us that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

After the Cowman program, there were tons of refreshments and then it was off to my final adult English class of the year. Philippe gave me a wooden sculpture of Haiti as a year-end gift. Remember that Haitians don't generally smile for photos.  The result is that it looks like I forced him - and the students below - at gun point to pose with me for a picture.  But the pictures were THEIR ideas!

On Saturday (yesterday), we finally got to relax a bit.  This time it was a Cowman staff pool party.  Here's Hannah with an exceptional young lady named Susie who worked with us at Cowman over the last three months or so.  Hannah made her a bracelet and ring as a going-away gift.

Sarah and Kristina were inseparable all day.

The Heckman kids, Bundy kids, and Gross kids.

We have a full day tomorrow of last minute this and that and a few more goodbyes.  Tuesday we board a plane for Fort Pierce, Florida.  From there we rent a vehicle and head to Orlando for a few days of "decompression".  Melissa's mom is flying down from Indiana to spend those days with us and then will help drive us up to Columbus, Indiana on Friday, June 6th.  God willing!!

It is shaping up to be a busy, but fun, summer.  I will post a schedule soon.  We want to see EVERYBODY!  ;-)

Time to take the plunge!