A NEW NAME

Somewhat akin to God renaming Abram as "Abraham" in order to reflect the reality of his identity as "the father of a multitude of nations", our School Board has determined that Cowman International School will this year become "Cap-Haitien Christian School". This new name is meant to reflect at a glance both who we are and where we serve.

Over the last few months, I have discovered that most people - even many of our students - have no idea where the name "Cowman" even originated. I have taught here six years now and it has never been clear to me whether the school was named after Charles Cowman (the founder of One Mission Society) or Lettie Cowman (famous author of the devotional classic, Streams in the Desert, and wife of Charles) or both. 

Both were truly admirable believers, worthy of great respect. But neither had any connection to Haiti specifically. 

To be certain, as news of the renaming has trickled out, the reaction has been a bit mixed. (Change is hard!) As far as I can tell, though, most opposition to the change derives from a sentimental attachment to the old, familiar name - a name that folks have rightly taken great pride in.

Nevertheless, with the school separating legally from OMS this year (a completely friendly separation at the behest of OMS), our board thought the time was ripe for a name change - a bit of a fresh start for a new era in the school's history. 

Here are a few other considerations that motivated the switch:

• There is another school within walking distance of ours that is called "Charles Cowman School". This causes frequent confusion looking for our campus for the first time, especially since their name is painted across their front wall in bright, bold letters. 

• The word "Cowman" is a bit tough for Haitian tongues: Creole has no "ow" sound! Plus, some students have told me that they end up translating the name into Creole very literally for their neighborhood friends and so it becomes "Neg Bef", which is sort of like saying "Guy Cow".

• Finally, in the age of the internet, we want to make it as easy as possible for anybody from anywhere around the globe to find our school. 

Ultimately, though, our intention is simply to be completely up front about the fact that we are a Christ-centered school, seeking to serve Him in Cap-Haitien, Haiti.

To those who are uneasy with the name change, I can say with full confidence that the spirit and mission of Cowman School will not change, only the name. I pray that Cap-Haitien Christian School will know many years of service to the Lord in growing boys and girls into Christ-like men and women who love Him with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind.

P.S. Our new logo was designed by my very talented niece, Lauren. The center of the cross lies directly over Cap-Haitien's position in Haiti's northeast. The blue circle represents the world beyond and the arrows indicate that CHCS is a place of preparation before our students are sent out to serve Him wherever He leads.

COMING HOME

It's 4:30 am and I'm at the dinner table with my laptop, trying to make good use of my time after being awakened an hour ago when our battery packs died. The sudden lack of fan action never fails to rouse me from sleep. I slipped on some shoes and made my way in the dark out the kitchen door up to the generator house. This morning the monster needed fuel before I could start it, and by the time I was back in bed, smelling faintly of diesel fumes, I was wide awake.

So I am missing Indiana a bit at the moment (and our kids a whole lot more) but Melissa and I are back home - at least for the next week - and that's a great place to be.

We're back home in Haiti on a special mission: to help a dear family get settled into their new home - both house and country. The Teichmers (Shawn and Jaime and their two little ones, Abigail and Keenan) knew they needed time to get settled before the school year gets started mid August,  so they booked 4 flights to Haiti for July 1st. Melissa and I followed suit because we want them to get as good a start as possible. When school DOES start, Shawn will be teaching some classes and acting as principal for the junior and senior high school. Jaime will be splitting her time between kindergarten and the library. 

July 1st was the culmination of YEARS of preparation and support-raising for the Teichmers, and the beginning of their lives in Haiti and Melissa and I thought it was well worth interrupting our Indiana summer in order to be available to help in any way possible. Besides, Melissa has some mid-summer Director work to do at school requiring some face to face meetings. (Bonus: the amount we would have paid to ship in all the school supplies and curriculum we packed in our 6 suitcases probably equals what Melissa's flight cost.) 

We met up at the gate in Miami so that we could fly into Haiti all together. The Teichmers are a fun clan anyway, but it's especially fun to see Haiti afresh through their enthusiastic eyes. We are reminded all over again why we love this place and this people so much!

Amos, from OMS, picked us all up once we arrived in Cap-Haitien and - after giving the truck a good push - we were on our way to the house. The Teichmers are going to be staying in our home over the next few weeks as they work on remodeling a house across the street. That house has been two apartments up until now, so they will need to knock down a couple of walls, apply plenty of fresh paint and remodel a kitchen.

Shawn and Jaime and the kids had never even seen the inside of their prospective home, so a tour was the number one priority after unloading all our suitcases at our house.

Melissa and Jaime immediately began dreaming about the placement of sink and stove and fridge. (We could use my mom's expertise on this one!)

Our first dinner together: a stir fry with a tiny helping of rice. The only rice Melissa could find in the house that wasn't full of bugs was a little instant packet meant to feed probably two people. 

Brandon joined us for dinner. He and his mom house-sat for us while we were away, caring for the animals and the generator. Melissa and I were so grateful to see Ginger healthy and strong after the loss of her puppies to the parvo virus. 

Yesterday morning, after sleeping in just a bit and enjoying a breakfast of banana muffins and eggs, we were ready to do some cleaning and demo in the new house. 

Ruysdael and Popote and others showed up to lend a hand. 

Popote even helped with the lunch dishes:

In the afternoon, it was time for a drive into the city to shop for groceries and appliances.

Valerio Canez is our go-to place for good furniture and appliances at reasonable prices. 

While the adults are occupied with all sorts of concerns and decisions, the kids have been champs.

Abigail has already crafted a sign for her parents' proposed "coffee bar" and Keenan makes sure we pause occasionally to visit the turtle pond. 

The most important moments so far look something like this:

Today we hope to get some paint purchased. That's the easy part. We have big questions about how to safely and effectively get electricity to the house from our generator. And plumbing questions - all WAY outside MY expertise. Just like this time last year, we could sure use some outside help from folks with handy-man qualifications if anyone is looking for an excuse to enjoy a week of July or August in the Tropics! 

All is off to a good start so far with the Teichmers, but we ask that you would join your prayers with ours that the Lord would continue to bless them in their new surroundings, that the kids especially would quickly come to think of this as home, and that He would protect them all as they begin this new journey together.